Not More Full-Backs For Liverpool, Surely?
Artile by Red Phil
Subscribe to the e-Football Podcast for FREE on iTunes (Click Here)
Still shell-shocked from the nightmare at The Emirates and barely able to force a smile since our dismal performance against United on our own bit of grass I cannot believe that I am still looking at Liverpool-based websites and seeing that, according to some people, we are likely to sign yet more full-backs, this time Martin Montoya from Barcelona and some guy from Leeds. I somehow doubt if they will be anything other than small in stature!
Call me old-fashioned if you wish but when our central defence has been shambolic, at best, in recent times (excluding Skrtel, more often than not) and looking more like a poor Keystone Cops movie than a group of highly trained, incredibly fit athletes on a skip-full of money each and every week I am just wondering why a team that tends to play without recognised full-backs seems to be intent on purchasing every diminutive footballer who hasn’t got a hope of ever playing in the middle of the back four . . . which is most certainly where our main weaknesses lie?
Too many times in recent years other teams have detected a vulnerability in our central defence and they play on that weakness with high balls, as Wimbledon did, remember?
We seldom make many chances so I get the feeling that the next bit of business we do is likely to be another defensive midfielder, on top of at least two new full-backs. That should leave a couple of grand left to deal with the real problems facing the team.
As we almost certainly won’t be in the Champion’s League next year, and with rumours abounding that both Sterling and Henderson might be looking to move elsewhere, dare I respectfully suggest that any money we do have should be used to solve the clearly visible weaknesses within the team rather than give us an endless crop of full-backs to cover every eventuality, such as two of them being hit by malaria (or a bus), one falling in the bath and breaking his leg and another one tripping over his wallet and dislocating his knee?
Our chronic lack of creativity must be addressed, our central defence MUST be improved by the purchasing of people capable of dominating in the air . . . a rare concept in recent years . . . and we must get a striker, or two, who can play more than ten or twelve games a season. Were Roger Hunt or Ian Rush EVER injured?
I may be out on a limb here but, amidst the praise for Henderson, can anybody tell me what he does, other than run around more than most? I don’t recall him making too many chances? He certainly isn’t one of the most creative players in this league so how many chances has he created? He’s not a regular scorer and doesn’t do the rampaging runs into goal-scoring positions that Stevie G does, or did.
So, is he a defensive midfielder? A Souness he is not! If he is primarily a defensive midfielder, are we taking to the field with Lucas, Allen and Henderson ALL providing cover for the worst central defence in Liverpool’s history? Am I missing his input here, other than his seriously good work-rate? If he wants to go, I wouldn’t really stand in his way as long as we got a good wedge for him.
If he thinks that signing for Chelsea, as predicted, and spending many months on the bench, between appearances, is better than possibly being the captain of L-i-v-e-r-p-o-o-l Football club, one of the most famous clubs in the known universe, then he is one deluded young man.
Similarly, with Raheem Sterling, I hope that he will stay but if his mind has been altered by his agent, or whoever, as long as we get the right amount of bunce in a several industrial-sized wheelbarrows I’m happy to wave bye-bye . . . as long as we don’t spend the money accrued on more bloody full-backs or second-rate defensive midfielders! It is patently wrong, by the way, in my humble opinion, for Raheem Sterling to be playing striker, then wing-back, then winger, then ‘number ten’. Too much pressure on one so young.
Both of these players, good though they are, can be replaced if the money is spent wisely . . . but that might be were the problem lies . . .
RED PHIL
© e-Football 2015 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
Subscribe to the e-Football Podcast for FREE on iTunes (Click Here)
Still shell-shocked from the nightmare at The Emirates and barely able to force a smile since our dismal performance against United on our own bit of grass I cannot believe that I am still looking at Liverpool-based websites and seeing that, according to some people, we are likely to sign yet more full-backs, this time Martin Montoya from Barcelona and some guy from Leeds. I somehow doubt if they will be anything other than small in stature!
Call me old-fashioned if you wish but when our central defence has been shambolic, at best, in recent times (excluding Skrtel, more often than not) and looking more like a poor Keystone Cops movie than a group of highly trained, incredibly fit athletes on a skip-full of money each and every week I am just wondering why a team that tends to play without recognised full-backs seems to be intent on purchasing every diminutive footballer who hasn’t got a hope of ever playing in the middle of the back four . . . which is most certainly where our main weaknesses lie?
Too many times in recent years other teams have detected a vulnerability in our central defence and they play on that weakness with high balls, as Wimbledon did, remember?
We seldom make many chances so I get the feeling that the next bit of business we do is likely to be another defensive midfielder, on top of at least two new full-backs. That should leave a couple of grand left to deal with the real problems facing the team.
As we almost certainly won’t be in the Champion’s League next year, and with rumours abounding that both Sterling and Henderson might be looking to move elsewhere, dare I respectfully suggest that any money we do have should be used to solve the clearly visible weaknesses within the team rather than give us an endless crop of full-backs to cover every eventuality, such as two of them being hit by malaria (or a bus), one falling in the bath and breaking his leg and another one tripping over his wallet and dislocating his knee?
Our chronic lack of creativity must be addressed, our central defence MUST be improved by the purchasing of people capable of dominating in the air . . . a rare concept in recent years . . . and we must get a striker, or two, who can play more than ten or twelve games a season. Were Roger Hunt or Ian Rush EVER injured?
I may be out on a limb here but, amidst the praise for Henderson, can anybody tell me what he does, other than run around more than most? I don’t recall him making too many chances? He certainly isn’t one of the most creative players in this league so how many chances has he created? He’s not a regular scorer and doesn’t do the rampaging runs into goal-scoring positions that Stevie G does, or did.
So, is he a defensive midfielder? A Souness he is not! If he is primarily a defensive midfielder, are we taking to the field with Lucas, Allen and Henderson ALL providing cover for the worst central defence in Liverpool’s history? Am I missing his input here, other than his seriously good work-rate? If he wants to go, I wouldn’t really stand in his way as long as we got a good wedge for him.
If he thinks that signing for Chelsea, as predicted, and spending many months on the bench, between appearances, is better than possibly being the captain of L-i-v-e-r-p-o-o-l Football club, one of the most famous clubs in the known universe, then he is one deluded young man.
Similarly, with Raheem Sterling, I hope that he will stay but if his mind has been altered by his agent, or whoever, as long as we get the right amount of bunce in a several industrial-sized wheelbarrows I’m happy to wave bye-bye . . . as long as we don’t spend the money accrued on more bloody full-backs or second-rate defensive midfielders! It is patently wrong, by the way, in my humble opinion, for Raheem Sterling to be playing striker, then wing-back, then winger, then ‘number ten’. Too much pressure on one so young.
Both of these players, good though they are, can be replaced if the money is spent wisely . . . but that might be were the problem lies . . .
RED PHIL
© e-Football 2015 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
No comments: