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Its ok.

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agger needs to get in the team, I'd like to say I don't care at whose expense but I think we'll suffer more long term if it's at carra's expense.
 
[quote author=Sheik Yerbouti link=topic=36270.msg957359#msg957359 date=1254677112]
We've come unstuck against any half decent side we've played so far. Last season was our chance to win the league. I just can't see it happening this season.
[/quote]

I agree.

Forget the points issue for the moment, the inescapable fact is that teams with a defense as dodgy as ours (is looking) don't tend to win leagues.
 
[quote author=Sheik Yerbouti link=topic=36270.msg957359#msg957359 date=1254677112]
We've come unstuck against any half decent side we've played so far. Last season was our chance to win the league. I just can't see it happening this season.
[/quote]

I'm inclined to agree, top of the 'top 4 league' and unblieveable start and finish to the season, plus chelsea had a blip.
 
[quote author=SummerOnions link=topic=36270.msg957470#msg957470 date=1254681096]
It's not just Carra's fault Oncy.

I just can't imagine it uplifting the team, to be frank.
[/quote]Im not looking at today in isolation mate.
We've conceded 21 goals since the start of the new campaign.
Carragher has played in (i believe) every one of those games. He is yet to play well, he is making mistakes and costing us points. I would make the change now, before its too late.
 
[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=36270.msg957479#msg957479 date=1254681647]
[quote author=SummerOnions link=topic=36270.msg957470#msg957470 date=1254681096]
It's not just Carra's fault Oncy.

I just can't imagine it uplifting the team, to be frank.
[/quote]Im not looking at today in isolation mate.
We've conceded 21 goals since the start of the new campaign.
Carragher has played in (i believe) every one of those games. He is yet to play well, he is making mistakes and costing us points. I would make the change now, before its too late.
[/quote]

I'm inclined to agree. Sadly.
 
You know what, I reckon we need to change formation to be honest.

We are being found out this season as we no longer have the same players that suited the formation last season.

Its true Alonso was perfect for the deep lying playmaker. But we dont have that anymore so why persist with a formation which is not working.....

In my view we need to do the following.

DROP LUCAS, PLAY 442, PUT GERRARD AND MASCHERANO IN THE MIDDLE.

PLAY KUYT UP WITH TORRES, PLAY RIERA LEFT AND BENAYOUN OR BABEL RIGHT.

Fuck the Gerrard is better behind Torres shit, where has that got us so far this season...... More losses after 2 months this season than the whole of last.

Rafa you said we'd see a different team, well..... we fucking didnt.

Sort it out and realise the team is not working in a 4231 formation. After all you are the king tactically supposedly.....
 
[quote author=gene hughes link=topic=36270.msg957482#msg957482 date=1254681782]
[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=36270.msg957479#msg957479 date=1254681647]
[quote author=SummerOnions link=topic=36270.msg957470#msg957470 date=1254681096]
It's not just Carra's fault Oncy.

I just can't imagine it uplifting the team, to be frank.
[/quote]Im not looking at today in isolation mate.
We've conceded 21 goals since the start of the new campaign.
Carragher has played in (i believe) every one of those games. He is yet to play well, he is making mistakes and costing us points. I would make the change now, before its too late.
[/quote]

I'm inclined to agree. Sadly.
[/quote]

I don't. I can't see how dropping Carragher will improve us. We will lose his organisational and leadership skills and the main voice on the field. He doesn't seem to trust Skrtel that much. Last season Carragher was cleaning up in behind Skrtel but role's seem to have been reversed this season. Agger needs to come back in to the fold but I would play him with Carragher.

Saying all that Drogba went by him too easy, the only defence is that it was very late in the game when energy levels were at their lowest but thats clutching at straws.

The Carragher issue is a very sensitive subject but I wouldn't drop him.
 
[quote author=Bernowatson link=topic=36270.msg957483#msg957483 date=1254681798]
You know what, I reckon we need to change formation to be honest.

We are being found out this season as we no longer have the same players that suited the formation last season.

Its true Alonso was perfect for the deep lying playmaker. But we dont have that anymore so why persist with a formation which is not working.....

In my view we need to do the following.

DROP LUCAS, PLAY 442, PUT GERRARD AND MASCHERANO IN THE MIDDLE.

PLAY KUYT UP WITH TORRES, PLAY RIERA LEFT AND BENAYOUN OR BABEL RIGHT.

Fuck the Gerrard is better behind Torres shit, where has that got us so far this season...... More losses after 2 months this season than the whole of last.

Rafa you said we'd see a different team, well..... we fucking didnt.

Sort it out and realise the team is not working in a 4231 formation. After all you are the king tactically supposedly.....


[/quote]

we clearly need to change a system that no longer works after we lost alonso. as for whether rafa will do this, i wouldn't bet on it.
 
I don't agree that the system needs a wholesale change. On the contrary, having to switch to 4-4-2 and then (potentially at least) back again when Aquilani comes in might do even more damage. 4-2-3-1 would still work if Stevie were back in Alonso's old position with Yossi playing behind Torres.
 
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=36270.msg957517#msg957517 date=1254683594]
I don't agree that the system needs a wholesale change. On the contrary, having to switch to 4-4-2 and then (potentially at least) back again when Aquilani comes in might do even more damage. 4-2-3-1 would still work if Stevie were back in Alonso's old position with Yossi playing behind Torres.
[/quote]

but for whatever reason rafa won't do this.

also, from what we've heard about aquilani he'll play further up the pitch.

it really isn't making any sense at the moment
 
I'd be livid if we dropped Yossi again all season. And I don't think it was a bad idea to start Riera but Benayoun proved he is undroppable for us. Would start him until he is too fatigued to start.

And its the Great Hope of 2009 that Aquaman is the bees knees for us.
 
[quote author=Assulin link=topic=36270.msg957541#msg957541 date=1254685583]
I'd be livid if we dropped Yossi again all season. And I don't think it was a bad idea to start Riera but Benayoun proved he is undroppable for us. Would start him until he is too fatigued to start.

And its the Great Hope of 2009 that Aquaman is the bees knees for us.
[/quote]

angry_baby.jpg
 
[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=36270.msg957464#msg957464 date=1254680908]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=36270.msg957463#msg957463 date=1254680798]
[quote author=SaintGeorge67 link=topic=36270.msg957456#msg957456 date=1254680619]
the clue was where he said Carragher needs dropping
[/quote]

only injury would make me drop carra, he offers more than just flinging his body in front of a shot. I suspect rafa is the same.
[/quote]Yes. And you and Rafa are wrong. He's having a fucking mare and needs dropped. We are shipping 2 goals a game. Our title will be over and done with if we dont change soon.
[/quote]

I thought Carragher had a pretty good game apart from his two mistakes, one for the second goal and the other when he let Ballack have a free header from a corner/ free kick.

His mistakes always seem to cost us these days.

Mascherano was similar, he played pretty well today but got caught out once and we got punished.
 
Carragher is still the best CB at the club, even in this funk.
Agger is not the answer to our current defensive woes.
 
Hmmmm, some strange responses on here in my opinion. I thought we were pretty shit to be hone, and don't agree that a 0-0 would have been fair. But for a few intermittent spells, Chelsea did all the pressing, played a higher line, and were more inclined to win the game. Yes, the goals came out of our own mistakes, but I think it was a clear how it transpired - 3 players harassing Mascherano. Contrast that to the freedom of London we afforded Essien, and you've got the game encapsulated in a nutshell.

While we're on it, I'm obviously a Mascherano critic, but even I wouldn't lay too much blame upon him for this one. It pretty much demonstrated our attacking inadequacy that Masher had to resort to trying to dribble through opponents near the halfway line. If you get the chance again, have a look at the options and movement offered from Masher's teammates before he decided to take it on - cos if you can see any you've done better than me.

This is gonna rile, but I felt today exemplifed the loss Alonso is/was. Everything we did was disjointed, attacks coming sporadically and without fluidity, absolutely no pressure on the Chelsea ball-carrier (usually Essien) and a gap bigger than Watford's between the forwards and midfield (hence the lumped balls to Torres for 90 minutes). In a side that was crying out for leadership from the central of the park, Chelsea offered it all.

You can't blame Lucas for not being Alonso, I thought the Brazilian had a fine game, put himself about and rarely gave it away. But he doesn't dictate games, he doesn't control the pace and flow the way Alonso could. A telling point in all the games we won last season late on in matches was how Alonso's influence grew. He was the fulcrum for all attacks, and so so many of our late goals came as a result of him lifting and bossing the game's tempo. We miss that badly. It's ok to blow shit like Hull away, but against good sides we're unbalanced and lose something badly in centre midfield. And before people start - Gerrard doesn't have to start in a central midfield position to actually go and fucking do something in centre midfield. It's not a case of 'well I wasn't on the tactis board in that role, so this Ghanian cunt in blue can do whatever the fuck he pleases'.

Ancelotti got it about right yesterday. Play experience in centre midfield, drag Mascherano out of position, and get numbers in the centre to overcome Lucas. They didn't really look like threatening (mainly because everything was played in front of us), but they were the ones forcing the issue. As I expected, our attacking thrust came from the wings, but generally I was disappointed with Dirk and Riera. Riera in particular. He saw an incredible amount of the ball, and did precious little with it, espeically against a pretty raw right-back in Ivanovic. If you can't take the game to him, then you're not really the World's best left-winger are you? How many times did he get in behind him? Zero was my count. Dirk too, far far too worried about Cole's influence from left-back. This held Glenjo back too, and it was only really in the second half when we got forward through him.

And finally a word on our substitutes bench - makeshift. Chelsea could afford to leave Joe Cole and the 18M (I think) Zhirkov on the bench yesterday, my how we were crying out for someone like Cole. Benayoun's a great impact sub, but that's all we've got. Look at the options we've got off the bench week in, week out, and they're just not enough to scare teams. When our starting 11 aren't doing it, we just don't have enough quality on the bench to change games. Whacking the ball over to Yossi for the last 30 minutes and expecting him to create something out of his are, whilst all fucking others stand by and watch him, is shit and unfair on the Israeli. Maybe that's unfair on our bench strength, and more of a reflection on the distinctly ordianry performances put in by our bright-lights yesterday. If that's the case, then Rafa's rebuke that our 'senior players aren't performing well enough' from a few weeks back needs revisited.

Disappointing all round.
 
Re: Alonso ... We missed him today, yes. I actually made the comment a few times, but that ship has sailed unfortunately.

If it makes you feel any better, he was absolute shit today for Madrid and has struggled to display any of the form that he showed last year.
 
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=36270.msg957659#msg957659 date=1254699531]
Re: Alonso ... We missed him today, yes. I actually made the comment a few times, but that ship has sailed unfortunately.

If it makes you feel any better, he was absolute shit today for Madrid and has struggled to display any of the form that he showed last year.
[/quote]

Ha, yes it does actually.
 
[quote author=Ryan link=topic=36270.msg957654#msg957654 date=1254699106]

While we're on it, I'm obviously a Mascherano critic, but even I wouldn't lay too much blame upon him for this one... If you get the chance again, have a look at the options and movement offered from Masher's teammates before he decided to take it on - cos if you can see any you've done better than me.

[/quote]

He had a very simple lay off to Lucas, about 5 yards off him, who could have then played a simple cross field ball that would have opened up the left wing for Insua, with Riera outside him...

You're right that he didn't have much, but he did have one very simple option that he didn't take. He didn't have to do what he did...
 
It's not okay. Four teams any good, four defeats. Aquilani is absolutely not a replacement for Alonso, he plays far further up the field and appears to be very good at it too. We miss Alonso collecting the ball from the defence to start moves. Agger's return will help with bringing the ball out however Gerrard may well move back to do this for the team.

Reina

Johnson Skrtel Agger Aurelio

Gerrard Mascherano

Aquilani

Benayoun Riera


Torres
 
We must win 7 or 8 on the bounce and must beat Utd and City.

Also we should drop Gerrard back and ease Aquaman in slowly.

Yossi deserves more time behind Torres.
 
[quote author=Dreambeliever link=topic=36270.msg957703#msg957703 date=1254715521]
We must win 7 or 8 on the bounce and must beat Utd and City.

Also we should drop Gerrard back and ease Aquaman in slowly.

Yossi deserves more time behind Torres.
[/quote]

7 or 8 on the bounce? We don't need to do anything like that thankfully.
 
[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=36270.msg957346#msg957346 date=1254676890]
We played ok today, we looked strangely toothless up top, but we played ok.

We were 6 points behind Chelsea 2 weeks ago and we are still 6 points behind them having played them at their ground. Thats ok that is.

We are no more out of the title race than we were 2 weeks ago and are no further away than we need to be.

Buuuuuut we have to get things sorted at the back or we really are finished. Carragher needs dropping and Agger taking his place now he's fit. I know that wont be popular, but he is a liability at the minute, and we MUST change. If you remain the same, results will remain the same.

Heres my HOPE for our next game in 2 weeks.

-----------------------------------Reina---------------------------------
Johnson--------Agger---------------------------Skrtel---------Insua
---------------------Mascherano-----Aquilani-------------------------
---------------------------------Gerrard---------------------------------
Kuyt----------------------------------------------------------------Yossi
----------------------------------Torres----------------------------------

[/quote]

finally someone that is smart and agrees that carragher should be dropped!
 
[quote author=Farkmaster link=topic=36270.msg957704#msg957704 date=1254715898]
[quote author=Dreambeliever link=topic=36270.msg957703#msg957703 date=1254715521]
We must win 7 or 8 on the bounce and must beat Utd and City.

Also we should drop Gerrard back and ease Aquaman in slowly.

Yossi deserves more time behind Torres.
[/quote]

7 or 8 on the bounce? We don't need to do anything like that thankfully.
[/quote]

You really don't think we do?
 
I actually think we played reasonably well yesterday. We paid for one mistake.

Our 'stars' did not really turn up for the game. They know who they are!
 
Ryan, when you say you thought we were pretty sh!t "to be hone", was that "hone" as in "pogue ma hone"? (sp?) .
 
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=36270.msg957775#msg957775 date=1254730214]
Ryan, when you say you thought we were pretty sh!t "to be hone", was that "hone" as in "pogue ma hone"? (sp?) .
[/quote]

Póg Mo Thóin
 
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