The Can Opener.

[Mystic]

There's been much said about how much better we look playing without Benteke upfront, and playing with that fluid, hard working front three of Firmino, Lallana and Coutinho, and rightfully so, we look much better, our high press works at it's best, our midfield looks more composed, and our full backs enjoy even more freedom, however there's one positive of the formation I don't think gets enough recognition, Emre Can.

When we play like this Emre Can is often the most advanced of the midfield three, he's released from the defensive shackles of a more strict two man (or three man with one of the other three at the top) midfield, and he's afforded more of a license to get involved in the build up play around the box and attack, and frankly, he's very good at it.

We saw this last night, and the other performance that immediately springs to mind is the City game, we saw that despite the fact he looks a bit cumbersome, and a little slow, he's really not, he's super effective, his passing around the 18 yard line, and ability to surge towards the defence with the ball really help our attacking game, and when we play the 4-2-3-1, he can't do that half as much.

Basically I created this thread for two reasons, firstly to use that god awful thread title, and secondly to say that if we keep playing this formation, and keep playing Emre in that position, he's quickly going to develop into a very good player.

 

[Jack D Rips]

I hope you didn't open a can of worms

 

[Gary25]

He's slowly but surely winning me over (bet he's delighted with that)

Was the only one to show a bit of balls at West Ham and he seems to be maturing with every passing week.

 

[ILD]

Can open, Worns everywhere.

 

[Judge Jules]

Good thread, good point. Big guys like Can who play in midfield can sometimes get shoehorned into more defensive roles when that really isn't their strength (one example is Jan Molby who was poor when we played him as a libero, which we did too often in the latter part of his career, and I could mention others). Can is most certainly better in that more advanced role, and one effect of sorting our defence out properly will hopefully be that we don't have to keep playing him further back because we don't have another viable alternative.

 

[gkmacca]

He's just got to have time to develop. He's got plenty of potential, but he'll be much better next season, especially if the midfield around him is strengthened in the summer. At the moment I suspect he'll go on exciting, frustrating and maddening in pretty much equal measure.

 

[moron]

I actually think we need to look after Can. His physical attributes, speed, and retention of the ball, make him a prime target for the big clubs sooner or later. I guarantee - that sooner rather than later an offer from a big club will come in. I can see the likes of City, Real Madrid and Barca coming in for him within 2 seasons.

 

[manwithnoname]

I actually think we need to look after Can. His physical attributes, speed, and retention of the ball, make him a prime target for the big clubs sooner or later. I guarantee - that sooner rather than later an offer from a big club will come in. I can see the likes of City, Real Madrid and Barca coming in for him within 2 seasons.

And what would you suggest our strategy to avoid this possibility should be?
Maybe build a big fucking tower like in rapunzel, and only let Klopp ever see him?

 

[manwithnoname]

He's just got to have time to develop. He's got plenty of potential, but he'll be much better next season, especially if the midfield around him is strengthened in the summer. At the moment I suspect he'll go on exciting, frustrating and maddening in pretty much equal measure.

Yeah. If he get some top quality midfield talent in, he could be a good player for us. I've been critical of him on several occasions, but that West Ham display, and last night, were very encouraging and he deserves the plaudits.

 

[moron]

And what would you suggest our strategy to avoid this possibility should be?
Maybe build a big fucking tower like in rapunzel, and only let Klopp ever see him?

don't know yet - but make sure in his next contract talk we give him lots more money and people like you make him feel loved and fucked.

 

[manwithnoname]

don't know yet - but make sure in his next contract talk we give him lots more money and people like you make him feel loved and fucked.

Thanks for clarifying, moron

 

[Mystic]

don't know yet - but make sure in his next contract talk we give him lots more money and people like you make him feel loved and fucked.

We tried that with Raheem and he ended up with 40 different families and pissed off anyway.

 

[mark1975]

And what would you suggest our strategy to avoid this possibility should be?
Maybe build a big fucking tower like in rapunzel, and only let Klopp ever see him?

He'd have to grow his hair first.

 

[tombrown]

The Can Can - la la, la la la, la la, lallana

 

[Dreambeliever]

He's starting to slowly look like the player we all hoped he would be.

 

[cloggypop]

His hair is still better than him.