The Liverpool FC Thread XII

As I said, I really rate Sakho on the ball. He gets a bad rep - unfairly so. It's because of how he looks - he looks clumsy, he looks gangly, he looks awkward. But he's very comfortable and accomplished playing out the ball from the back.

Cup ties are always weird at Anfield, because we give the opposition the whole of the Anfield Road End and they are naturally boisterous. It was the same for Middlesbrough early on in the season.

Think it makes a world of difference that we have Can and Sakho who are both able to play out from the back. Skrtel is able to keep it simple as the link man but has options to either Can or Sakho on either side or the wingbacks (Markovic/Moreno) or Henderson and Lucas come deep which I think makes it difficult to press us up the pitch now.

So do I. Even players like Kolo Toure - for all their faults - are really good at passing the ball.

You don't play at Arsenal, for as long as Kolo did, without being a cultured player these days.

Can't wait for tomorrow night. Feels like it's going to drag till then.

Sturridge might even make it to the bench
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/daniel-sturridge-bench-liverpool-fcs-8516517

Don't think I've ever been so chuffed to have a player return from injury, bar Alonso post-broken foot in 2004/05.

Whenever Torres was out injured, that was pretty painful too.

I imagine it will take him a while to get going again? 4 months is a long time not to be playing.

Although I'd love it if he scored a few against Chelsea

Just praying he isn't psychologically affected.

Think you need to upgrade on Lucas anyway he's just important to the side because you have nobody else capable of doing that role Lucas offers especially with Gerrard going. I'd personally just play Can there and see if he can give it a go but since Rodgers is unwilling to do that Lucas is looking better than he actually is.

Lucas couldn't be more crucial to our resurgence in form. I se Can filling that role long-term, but he can ply his trade in the back three for the next six months or so while Lucas/Henderson's partnership flourishes.

Yeah but that has nothing to do with the point. When you actually get a player who made your clearly imbalanced team of last season and the start of this season a bit more balanced you're going to go in a resurgence of form. It's similar to the return of Carrick and Manchester United's resurgence in form or Arsenal with Arteta a couple seasons back, that doesn't mean that he's that good for them, just that he's better than the average options they currently have.

Would Chelsea/City/United actually need Lucas in the lineup or even the starting 18? I can only think of City with Fernando. Lucas would start for Arsenal though but they're using Coquelin so that doesn't say much.

Lucas has always been underrated. Personally I think he's a great player for us just that a lot of it goes unnoticed and doesn't make the highlights reel. Mascherano used to get raved about but I remember watching him lose the ball/playing a loose pass and then the highlights would show his last ditch tackle but not the mess up before. Lucas doesn't do that as much imo.

Lucas might not be as good as Matic but he's probably a better choice than Ramires or Mikel?

There are plenty of other positions which need improving before we start worrying about spending 20mil on a DM.
A goalkeeper, a centreback, a right back, a left back, another striker etc all need to be sorted first.

Na. Ramires offers a lot in his box to box movement, his tenacious nature and his speedy transitions which we're lacking from Fabregas in the big games.

Mikel I dunno guys very off form this season but he does have a lot to offer. I think he is a problem with pairing. Fabregas and Matic are very slow which means that it leads to a lethargic performance. He performed well with Ramires e.g. but problem is they don't offer enough in their all round game.

I think midfield pairing is one of the most important parts to a teams style of play. I think that the midfield is the most important part of the team. If you have the correct midfield, you can stifle a teams play(e.g. the Luiz Matic combo last season) and if you have a top quality midfield you can also control a game(Modric and Kroos or Xavi, Busquetts, Iniesta of a few seasons back)

Fair enough but I guess it's what you think they offer to your own team.

Lucas pairs with Henderson well because Henderson has the legs and energy so Lucas can be a bit more intelligent. It doesn't work when he's now paired with Gerrard tbh.

Lucas just shields our backline better than any other team in our squad but it's a bunch of other things too like he wins a lot of headers in that area whereas others aren't able to. His passing is massively under-rated but actually he helps tick it around in quick triangles like Rodgers' likes the team to play. We've seen such an obvious improvement in our play and fluidity along with the defensive side improving. If Lucas was just a poor DM, only the latter would have improved and not the rest of the play.

Personally I think Henderson and Lucas are among the first names on the team sheet now. With other players like Sterling, we have a couple of other options we can rotate with.

Yeah I know his importance to the team. Just saying that he needs to be improved upon if you want to become one of the dominant forces in english football.

Yeah I know his importance to the team. Just saying that he needs to be improved upon if you want to become one of the dominant forces in english football.

As I said, I really rate Sakho on the ball. He gets a bad rep - unfairly so. It's because of how he looks - he looks clumsy, he looks gangly, he looks awkward. But he's very comfortable and accomplished playing out the ball from the back.

Cup ties are always weird at Anfield, because we give the opposition the whole of the Anfield Road End and they are naturally boisterous. It was the same for Middlesbrough early on in the season.

absolutely spot on.
i won't lie, when he first came to the club and he wasn't doing amazingly, i noted how awkward he looked on the ball.
but even though it looks like he's gonna mess it up, he just always seems to make the right pass.
he has vision going forward which is rare for a CB, and it really helps to supply our midfield when the opponents are pressing us

absolutely spot on.
i won't lie, when he first came to the club and he wasn't doing amazingly, i noted how awkward he looked on the ball.
but even though it looks like he's gonna mess it up, he just always seems to make the right pass.
he has vision going forward which is rare for a CB, and it really helps to supply our midfield when the opponents are pressing us

as zerf said, with Can's passing ability and awareness on the ball, we'll do really well building an attack from the back.
a backline of Can-Skrtel-Sakho actually seems pretty solid right now.
never thought i'd say that.

Glad you see where I'm coming from.

My brother raised a good point - he looks like Traore did when he had the ball. But, he's much more accomplished. I don't fear when he gets the ball.

So far I think I rate Sakho's passing from the back higher than Can's although that may be just because Sakho gets pressed less as a tactic and because he has Coutinho in front of him who's a delight to watch.

Out of those 3, you still feel there's the odd brain fart waiting to happen. Can seems the most likely to make a mistake - it probably won't be the last penalty he's given away.

I'm guessing everyone wants/expects the following line up tomorrow?



With hopefully Gerrard being replaced by Sturridge and swapping Sterling back into behind the striker role.

Knowing our luck, Rodgers will try to double-bluff Mourinho and pick a ridiculous lineup which makes no sense.