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If goals are the lifeblood of football, Liverpool have chronic anaemia

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Rosco

Rosco

Worse than Brendan
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If goals are the lifeblood of football it is anaemia that leaves Liverpool looking as if they are about to pass out. Following that 1-1 draw in Lyon, they will probably be carted away from the tournament. The misery of the last minute equaliser from Lisandro López does tend to distract attention from the punchlessness of Rafael Benítez's side.

This was not an affliction that had suddenly struck them down at Stade Gerland. After six hours of football in Group E the team has scored three goals. Only Atlético Madrid, Apoel Nicosia, Besiktas and Maccabi Haifa have been more sterile. Allowances must be made for a relative lack of means at sides in Cyprus and Israel. Liverpool's case is in a different category.

The team were forthright at Stade Gerland and would have been praised lavishly if they had not conceded that goal. There is an immediate temptation to blame defenders for buckling. A little sympathy can be extended to Emiliano Insua for rushing towards Michel Bastos without getting close enough to stop the attacker from glancing the ball into the space he had just vacated.

Any 20-year-old left-back could have made that misjudgement, but he should have enjoyed better cover from the experienced Sotirios Kyrgiakos, whose weakness left Lisandro to score single?mindedly. The incident will dominate everyone's memory because of its lateness and the immediate damage inflicted on the visitors. Nonetheless, the side had opportunities to win both matches with the Lyon side.

Benítez is hobbled by injuries to influential players, but he is also in an intermediate period. While he wants a more adventurous line-up, and should be congratulated on that, that flowering is still to come and, in the meantime, the old resilience has been diminished. Liverpool have had a single clean sheet in their past nine games. Crucially, the attackers can find it hard to compensate for those deficiencies.

Ryan Babel's 30-yarder against Lyon was rousing, but it was not all that consoling in a wider perspective. Liverpool have needed to hit the net more often in their Champions League games and cannot count on doing so in that euphoric manner. Where Andriy Voronin is concerned, pessimism is so entrenched that fans would have been surprised if he had finished authoritatively when he went clear against Lyon.

He stayed true to his Liverpool reputation by bashing his shot against the advancing goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. In his loan spell with Hertha Berlin last season, he averaged fractionally better than a goal to every two Bundesliga outings. Voronin looks unable to withstand the disabling pressure at Liverpool. The result of all that is a dependence on Fernando Torres that now reeks of desperation. He had a wasteful moment in front of the Lyon posts that his side could not afford.

Prior to the match, Benítez verged on the reassuring when he said of the attacker, "He is playing sometimes with pain but it's less pain every time." Following the match, the observations about the effects of Torres' hernia were more disturbing: "He was inconsistent with his running, in that he had to keep stopping and then starting again." Many will suspect that Torres should not have been on the pitch.

There is a disquiet over Benítez's previous dealings in strikers. Fernando Morientes, Peter Crouch, Craig Bellamy and Robbie Keane come to mind among those who were bought but never assimilated. Babel, regarded as a forward when he arrived, has faltered.

An exercise in retraining was called for in the case of Dirk Kuyt, who became a model of diligence on the flanks. Benítez deserves some sympathy in his present plight that has, in part, been brought on by injuries to Steven Gerrard and others. It may be too late in the Champions League, where they will be eliminated if Fiorentina win their next game, at home to Lyon. The truly engrossing time is still to come.

Against the likely backdrop of lost Champions League revenue, there will be a demand that Benítez demonstrate he is still producing a brighter and better Liverpool. Most of all, Torres may have to be convinced that life at Anfield will consist of more than bearing the crushing burdens now being placed on his aching frame.
Click to expand...
 
Most of all, Torres may have to be convinced that life at Anfield will consist of more than bearing the crushing burdens now being placed on his aching frame.
Click to expand...

Heh. Hi Fernando - welcome to A.Madrid again!
 
With Gerrard out we have one world class goal threat, one good (in the CL) and a lot of mediocrity.

The issue is they don't get the ball that much.
 
I occasionally check out the Guardian chalkboards just to see if anything ineresting can be picked out, and the one thing that stands out every week is how little our midfielders pass the ball forwards.

They almost never find Torres with a pass.
 
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=36980.msg980762#msg980762 date=1257493341]
I occasionally check out the Guardian chalkboards just to see if anything ineresting can be picked out, and the one thing that stands out every week is how little our midfielders pass the ball forwards.

They almost never find Torres with a pass.
[/quote]

Perhaps this will show people why our midfield cannot contain 3 hard working players (Mascherano, Lucas & Kuyt) every game - especially since all struggle to make 'attacking' passes regularly.
 
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=36980.msg980762#msg980762 date=1257493341]
I occasionally check out the Guardian chalkboards just to see if anything ineresting can be picked out, and the one thing that stands out every week is how little our midfielders pass the ball forwards.

They almost never find Torres with a pass.
[/quote]

Mascherano does his job, which is limited. Lucas doesn't influence the game enough on the ball.

A lot of people shit on Riera, but he's a very useful outlet ball with good ball control. I'm looking forward to his return. We play almost nothing down the left anymore, it's all down the right, and if you can pin Kuyt to the sideline, he is nowhere near as threatening as when he can play a through ball. We have no balance front to back, or right to left.

Hence the hoofing.
 
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=36980.msg980764#msg980764 date=1257493692]
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=36980.msg980762#msg980762 date=1257493341]
I occasionally check out the Guardian chalkboards just to see if anything ineresting can be picked out, and the one thing that stands out every week is how little our midfielders pass the ball forwards.

They almost never find Torres with a pass.
[/quote]

Perhaps this will show people why our midfield cannot contain 3 hard working players (Mascherano, Lucas & Kuyt) every game - especially since all struggle to make 'attacking' passes regularly.
[/quote]

Kuyt has a better eye for a pass than most on our team. His pass to lucas with the outside of his right was brilliant against Man U.

He's not just some ox, but he can't do much without interplay with the fullback, and an AM. He just gets marshalled out wide.
 
[quote author=Farkmaster link=topic=36980.msg980771#msg980771 date=1257494553]
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=36980.msg980764#msg980764 date=1257493692]
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=36980.msg980762#msg980762 date=1257493341]
I occasionally check out the Guardian chalkboards just to see if anything ineresting can be picked out, and the one thing that stands out every week is how little our midfielders pass the ball forwards.

They almost never find Torres with a pass.
[/quote]

Perhaps this will show people why our midfield cannot contain 3 hard working players (Mascherano, Lucas & Kuyt) every game - especially since all struggle to make 'attacking' passes regularly.
[/quote]

Kuyt has a better eye for a pass than most on our team. His pass to lucas with the outside of his right was brilliant against Man U.[/quote]

Hence I said, "struggle to make 'attacking' passes regularly".
 
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=36980.msg980772#msg980772 date=1257494700]
Hence I said, "struggle to make 'attacking' passes regularly".
[/quote]

I think he makes them regularly, but not when the rest of the team is as it is now. Whereas Lucas, and to an even greater extent Mascherano, rarely do.
 
[quote author=Farkmaster link=topic=36980.msg980778#msg980778 date=1257495547]
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=36980.msg980772#msg980772 date=1257494700]
Hence I said, "struggle to make 'attacking' passes regularly".
[/quote]

I think he makes them regularly, but not when the rest of the team is as it is now. Whereas Lucas, and to an even greater extent Mascherano, rarely do.
[/quote]

You watched the Lyon game - he had one BRILLIANT opportunity to release Benayoun and he passed backwards. I think that's what he would do most times, no matter the personnel. I'm not saying drop him, or he's shit, but he's limited in the attacking capacity which is a problem considering we have Mascher (who's meant to be a DM, so I don't expect penetrating passes in games) & Lucas starting with him almost every game. Hopefully the return of Riera & Aquilani rectify this and return some balance to our midfield.
 
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=36980.msg980796#msg980796 date=1257496739]
You watched the Lyon game - he had one BRILLIANT opportunity to release Benayoun and he passed backwards. I think that's what he would do most times
[/quote]

I think he's not at his best right now, but I think he often looks to play a forward pass, I guess we just see different things in him.
 
Mascherano is actualy playing more passes forward in Xabi's absence. Lucas for a hyped brazilian doesn't do enough for me. Kuyt thrives on movement and constant interplay. The confidence has drained from the players. However, the Fulham and Lyon games showed that we can play some footy. our problem has largely been converting the numerous chances that we create and our porous defence.
 
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