• You may have to login or register before you can post and view our exclusive members only forums.
    To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Flip Reverse It.

Forums Unread posts
Status
Not open for further replies.
ILD

ILD

Very Well-Known
Member
Has anyone tried to make sense of the fact Enrique is playing further up the field than Downing? Like tactically evaluate the situation and outline the positives we gain from it. Credit to Enrique, he is doing really well in the advanced position as he's always had a natural instinct to get forward but surely Downing doesn't have natural defensive instincts? I know Enrique's defending can be suspect at times but surely he is more natural there than Downing. Downing's positional sense while defending isn't anything to write home about so obviously he isn't claiming the LB spot on merit.

Fair enough Downing has space to run into due to the fact he's running from a deeper position but is his deployment at LB a little pointless and even embarrasing for him? Maybe embarrassing is the wrong word but it can't be doing his confidence any good.

I suppose one positive is Johnson reverting back to the right who has impressed on both flanks anyway. Is Enrique at LB and Assaidi/Downing/Suso/Sterling ahead of him not the obvious move or am I missing something?
 
Enrique cant defend.

Downing can't attack.

Makes sense.

What doesn't make sense, is that we paid £27 million for this set up.
 
So is Downing at LB pointless? He doesn't have any defensive instincts or positional sense. Maybe if he had Carragher roaring at him he'd slot in but we can't persist with him there.
 
It means that we are in transition... And everything stupid can be put into that account. Dont worry, the system will fix it!
 
If we reverse it, they'll both be shit. At least with Enrique ahead of Downing, we get one half decent player out of the two.
I can't believe we don't have 12 yr olds on the books that aren't better LBs than Downing.
 
If we actually managed to score some goals there would be praise in this thread instead.
The team doesnt look out of shape with the line up we got now.

It needs goals. We dont have them on the bench either.
 
So is there no tactical or logical explanation for Downing to be playing LB?
 
Its shit and stupid and costin us goals.
And he shouldnt have to justify having these cunts like Enrique and Downing in the team because they arent his cunts. He should concentrate on justifying Sahin, Allen and Assaidi in the team being as he fucking chose those cunts.
 
ILD said:
So is there no tactical or logical explanation for Downing to be playing LB?
Click to expand...

Enrique has been pretty good as a left midfielder though. Thats the only reason I can think of.
Robinson isnt ready and Wisdom vs Bale would have been suicide
 
Is an unready Robinson any worse than a winger who's shit in his natural position, never mind one he's not used to? Rodgers is starting to piss me off with this Downing nonsense.
 
Hansern said:
Enrique has been pretty good as a left midfielder though. Thats the only reason I can think of.
Robinson isnt ready and Wisdom vs Bale would have been suicide
Click to expand...
Hes been fucking wank. That fucking chest effort on saturday gaaaaaah. That fucking header back today gaaaah.
Im sick of fucking defending this bunch of fucking mongy cunts. He probably gets paid 60k a week and is so shit at his job that he is being fucking shunted into another job where he can cause less problems and do a slightly better job than the useless fucking plastic wanker who did that shite job last year.
They can all get fucked the useless fucking wabs.
 
Herr Onceared said:
Just for one night mate.
This whole fucking season is boring the shit out of me.
Click to expand...

Fuck that. You can't treat us like some sort of fuckbuddy that you waltz in on after some angry night out, unload your jizz all over us and then fuck off for a few weeks.

You're either here or you're not you big vagina.
 
Enrique is a better LB than Downing. Enrique should therefore play left back. Enrique has done well in the advanced positions but he isn't exactly Gareth Bale or insert decent winger here. Enrique can run from deep and still hurt the oppositon RB. His performance against Arsenal last season showed us he is capable of that. If Downing starts LB at the weekend i'll be furious. It's pointless and will cost us points.
 
Fucking hell.... We have a problem on our hands if we want to shift one or two of these fuckers out.........

They are so gormless they can't even put themselves back in the shop Window by putting up one decent performance
 
Why are people asking what other options do we have at LB bar Downing? Am.... how about Jose Enrique, who has played there all his career. He mightn't be Paolo Maldini but fuck it, he;s still better than Downing in that position.
 
On current form, I want to see Enrique continue in front, on the left. I still remain an advocate of keeping Johnson at RB for balance, but Enrique's performances in these last few games have added a dimension that we've been lacking for most of the games prior - someone who would consistently make runs into the box from out wide (Borini seems to be the other who would do that but he's injured).

In the last few games, he's scored against Wigan, nearly had one against Chelsea, had a goal controversially scrubbed off against Swansea (if I remember correctly, he also just missed connecting on another occasion), and then had one or two chances against Spurs but finished meekly. All these were attempts after off-the-ball runs into the box. He's doing what Maxi used to do for us in Kenny's caretaker spell, except not finishing with the same accuracy.

On the other hand, guys like Assaidi, Sterling and Suso carry the ball with them or move it around and provide the supply, but they don't make the runs he did on a consistent basis these few games. I don't think they're instructed to do differently because Rodgers has mentioned about wanting his wide players to make these cuts. So while Enrique isn't the best LW around, his work offers a goal-scoring option.

Playing Enrique back at LB takes away from this dimension I suppose because the defensive responsibilities weigh on him. The question then is who do we fill the gap at LB with if we keep Enrique up above. Certainly Downing is the worst option now (I was initially open to the idea of trying him at LB but suffice to say, he's shittier than Insua/Dossena there). So that leaves Johnson playing out on the left with Wisdom on the right, or trusting Robinson to develop quickly.

The good thing is that the next 7 games, on paper, provide us a softer fixture list where we can take some risks on seeing if Robinson could make a claim for the LB with help from Enrique (which he's been doing very well in helping the idiot playing behind him). If so, we can then keep Johnson back at RB and it's a win-win-win.
 
Enrique has done well in the advanced role but is it worth playing Downing out of position to an extent that it will cost us goals?
 
Why won't he give Robinson a go at LB. Surely he'd be better than Downing there. Anytime I've seen him I think he's looked quite good.
 
ILD said:
Enrique has done well in the advanced role but is it worth playing Downing out of position to an extent that it will cost us goals?
Click to expand...

Well I did say Downing isn't an option. Rodgers made a gamble yesterday and it was a terrible mistake. We didn't have a good matchup yesterday and his roll of the dice sacrificing defensive ability for offensive contribution failed (he got one part right but not the other). In the next few games though, with Wisdom back and with the softer fixtures list, we would have the opportunity to continue with this. Just don't field Downing, anywhere.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Hansern
  • Locked
Transfer wish list/short list 2024
2
Replies
33
Views
632
The Nomad
The Nomad
rurikbird
    • Like
  • Locked
Slot – first impressions?
2 3 4
Replies
103
Views
3K
Oncy
Oncy
rurikbird
    • Like
Young players watch
2 3 4 5 6 7
Replies
191
Views
5K
Modo
Modo
Squiggles
  • Locked
Weekends Other Games 31-8-24
2 3 4 5
Replies
138
Views
2K
Mamma Mia
Mamma Mia
Farkmaster
    • Like
  • Locked
How good is this team?
2 3 4
Replies
116
Views
2K
Champ
C
Back
Top Bottom