Diamond formation....

[Dreambeliever]

4th game in a row we've deployed it even though we played very different sides with very different set ups against us.
Funny that out of that lot the Utd game was by far the easiest 🙂

So is it here to stay with some small tweaks or is a formation to accommodate Allen and Henderson while giving Gerrard the time to pick his much loved Hollywood balls while maximizing SAS.

My only real problem with it is your left choosing between Coutinho and Sterling which I don't like.

Sterling deserves to be in the side.

So will we see this for the rest of the season and beyond?
Or will it get changed for Sunday?

 

[Ryan]

Coutinho was always going to play last night cos Sunderland were certainties to play deep, and Sterling will play on Sunday cos Spurs play a high line and we can break quickly against them.

I predicted this 2 days ago, you should read more of my posts Dreamberg.

 

[Mystic]

I like this formation, but I think Chelsea will pick it apart. Sunderland did a very good job against us last night, having 5 at the back, staying back, allowed them to block out the middle, as well as drastically reducing the amount of space our full backs usually get, luckily our overall talent showed through in the end but it was hard work. Chelsea, the best defensive team in the league, will be able to emulate that performance (with four at the back), however they will counter with Hazard, Oscar and Willian, and score. That game, and less so the game against City will be the ones that define whether this formation is good for the long run.

 

[FoxForceFive]

He won't play the diamond against Chelsea, & if he does it will operate very differently to how it did last night.

Chelsea still worry me most, cos Mourinho knows how to nullify teams of all standards, but hopefully Suarez & Sturridge will be the exception, like stevie & Torres were against his dogged defence in the past.

 

[Brizzle]

Rodgers will have already spent hours and hours working out how to line up against Chelsea. He is up against his old mentor and this could be the most important game of his career (assuming we don't lose ground beforehand). Exciting times!

 

[svennis]

I'm not a big fan of this system. I think we should stick to 4-3-3 system we used to beat Everton and Arsenal.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

My contribution in the post match thread:

Don't ever post, but here goes:

I'm surprised not more is being made of this formation we're playing, this 4-3-1-2 / 4-1-2-1-2, diamond, whatever you want to call it. I'm hoping its not a long term thing, and just something Rodgers thinks will get us through the next few games. I've always seen it as a bit of a flawed formation.

Firstly, your full backs are horribly exposed, so your two shuttling midfielders Hendo and Allen have extra work on their hands because not only do they need to support the front 3, they have to also be in position to support the full back when the ball is on that side of the pitch. There was one moment last night when Sunderland were running at us, and you saw this narrow bank of 3 in front of the back 4. Decent sides with decent wide players and a shrewed enough manager (Chelsea) would horribly expose the system. Going forward, you rely on your full backs for width, so they too have to work harder. And lets face it, our full backs arent Cafu and Maldini at the moment. WHat you often find with this system is that there's no easy outball to the wings and its easier to get pegged in - as we saw last night with some heart in mouth moments with the centre backs and Ming.

Secondly, proper pressing includes pressing the oppostion full backs so that opposition can't build attacks easily - this system gives opposition full backs a much easier ride.

I know Brendan's trying to maximise our two best assets at the moment, but it just doesnt feel right to me.

Long term, it's got to be 4-3-3 with Suarez wide left, or 4-2-3-1 with a monster DM next to Stevie, and Suarez at number 10, who drifts deeper when we don't have the ball. He works his balls off anyway, so we wouldn't lose that much from midfield.

 

[Spaghetti Legs]

Nice post, you should post more.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Coutinho was always going to play last night cos Sunderland were certainties to play deep, and Sterling will play on Sunday cos Spurs play a high line and we can break quickly against them.

I predicted this 2 days ago, you should read more of my posts Dreamberg.

Will be strange to see Coutinho dropped after a mom performance...

Not that I disagree with your view but that is harsh on the Brazilian.

I see Lucas hasn't had a start yet since being back too

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

I like this formation, but I think Chelsea will pick it apart. Sunderland did a very good job against us last night, having 5 at the back, staying back, allowed them to block out the middle, as well as drastically reducing the amount of space our full backs usually get, luckily our overall talent showed through in the end but it was hard work. Chelsea, the best defensive team in the league, will be able to emulate that performance (with four at the back), however they will counter with Hazard, Oscar and Willian, and score. That game, and less so the game against City will be the ones that define whether this formation is good for the long run.

No they won't.
We will beat Chelsea. Plus clean sheet. You read it here first.

 

[Ryan]

Coutinho was always going to play last night cos Sunderland were certainties to play deep, and Sterling will play on Sunday cos Spurs play a high line and we can break quickly against them.

I predicted this 2 days ago, you should read more of my posts Dreamberg.

Great post.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Will be strange to see Coutinho dropped after a mom performance...

Not that I disagree with your view but that is harsh on the Brazilian.

I see Lucas hasn't had a start yet since being back too

Even better post!

 

[juniormember]

Great post.

Give yourself a like.