Defence line.. How should it look like??

I agree that our defenders should provide more of a goal threat, when Terry Carvalhio Gallas Vidic and Ferdinand go up for corners they provide that threat.
last season our defenders seemed scared to cross the half way line Sami provided our only real goal threat.
This season I think Arbeloa could really cement the right back spot and make it his own, he has never let us down and I feel there is more to come from him, He is a good player.

The middle of our defence has to have Agger in it if fit this guy is class , cool as a cucumber and never panics, he is also good at bringing the ball out from the defence.

Carragher allways gives his all he is a very committed dfender and very reliable, all defences need a steady player at the back a leader and Carragher fits that bill, I think you are a bit harsh in your assessment of Carragher. CARRAGHER LEADERSHIP QUALITIES ARE WORTH HIS PLACE IN THE SIDE ALONE.

Equally agree that Skrtel will eventually be Carraghers replacement, but I still prefer Carragher for the time being, Skrtel is a no nonsense player and again gets in where it hurts, he looks a good player in the making and he has yet to let us down, eventually he will become a regular in e back four.

Dossenna could become a great player for us , I agree with you he loves to get forward and may well become this Summers bargain as long as he adapts to the pace of the Premiership, Left Back has been a problem position for some time and I have a gut feel that Dossenna will become a big favourite with the Kop faithfull.

Insua is also good back up for this position and I'd like to see him given the odd opportunity to shine, I'm glad to hear that he has just signed a new three year contract at the club.

Aurelio is an ok player, appears injury prone and to my mind shoul be offloaded, he isnt the worst but isnt a hot pot either.

Sami should be given a coaching post, he has been a superb player for us over the years and is a legend in my book, any young player coudnt fail to learn from Sami, his positional sense is what makes him stand out, and he is great in the air both at the back and attacking corners. Its a shame his legs have gone.

I would run with Reinna, Arbeloa Carragher Agger Dossena,
One things for sure our defence looks fairly solid , with a question mark about its goal threat.

have to dissagree, carra has more heart than agger or skrtel. he plays his nuts of every time. we would have let many goals in if it was not for him. secondly skrtel, and agger are better going forward. and with there ball distrubution. but no way are they better defenders. carra like sg are l,pool. yes carra has gone slow, he can,t beat players, but he has got somethink the others have,t lfc in his veins. the man is a legend ask any l,pol fan, why do you think he is so high up in l,pool,s top rated players ever. voted by the fans. no this one you have called wrong. skrtel has along way to go to match carra, agger too. and there honest they know they do... watch carra,s arwarness, his tackling. and most of all his passion yet to be matched by any l,pool defender. the others are good, but carrais the man..

thats plain stupid man...u are akin the best defender to it downon the bench...everytime there is a goal saving tackle ul see its carragher...skrtel and agger in the middle and carragher on the rite ..with maybe arbeloa and dossena on the left ...will be a good line up...

no need to get all harsh.. Criticalmind was barely stating his opinions.. aren't we all open to opinions? isn't tat we we call dis a forum? will a man dare voice his an opinion again if this is the kind of response he gets?

besides, his nick is CRITICALmind so wat do u guys expect? flowers n butterflies? lol :p

anyway Carra is definately slowing down but his tackling n positioning is definately up there.. n many times he has saved us wit his last ditch tackles.. one must never forget our Champs League victory.. :)

Red4life

ya i agree with the fact that carra got a bit slow....and he cant beat plyers now-a-days...but how the hell can LFC thnk without carra?? his partnr should be HYYPIA...neithr SKRTLE..NOR AGGER....they can be usefull in UCL matches but in league...we must play HYYPIA...

well what do u guys thing abt ARBELOA?? i knw..we dun have options on RB....finann?? well..he ll leave LFC in few days...

DEGAN? u can find him in hospital...

my suggestion will be to play carra @ RB and give skrtle/aggar....along with HYYPIA as a CB......

Personally I think Carra is at his best at CENTRE BACK, ok he doesnt get that many goals and he should get more, but his performances at the back have been close to brilliant, he is allways prepared to put his body in the way and I reckon he is the best defender in England at present, head and shoulders above Terry or Rio.
I an not convinced of Arbeloa at Right Back ( I really thought he would make that position his own this season, but he has started poorly ) so I reckon we should either reinstate Finnan ( very dependable ) or better still give Darby a chance ( he won't let us down ). Equally I'd like to see Insua involved either at Left Back or in a more advanced left midfield role.
Rafa has a tendancy to play players out of position, but I hate that, Bennyoun, Babel are struiggling as a result, he should play Bennyoun and Babel on the Right wher they feel comfotable, playing players out of position, weakens the team, Benitez needs to stop doing it.

I reckon we will sign Reirra this week for 12m, but does anyone really know much about him, he played for Man City and everyone says he flopped, however Ive heared he was an ok player playing in a poor City side.
Ive also heared he has played very well in Spain last season. Is He any good ?

everone knows my choice quasmera. but we are not going to get him. i have seen riera play a few times, he is no world beater but he can play.and i remember last season the barcalona chairman saying on his day he is the best winger in spain. yet how many good days will he have? whatever has happend to vincente? he would be a superb signing.we do need a winger is riera a good choice i really don,t know time will tell, if we get him..

its think..not thing ...srry

Reira is on his way the fee has been agreed 10m with 7m as a downpayment, he chose us over the toffeenoses, at least it brings to an end the Barry off/on saga, and gives us a wide player. Lets hope he does well in an area of our team that has remained a problem for far far too long.

i am prepared to give riera a chance. i have seen him play,better than kuyt, i know thats not hard but he ,s not bad when he played with city he was one of there better players. but city were poor. he got passed defenders with some neat skill. but if i am honest he is not a real out/and out winger because he cuts in all the time, he can score goals thoe. my only concern is lack of pace he.s not the fastest, but nor is kuyt. and i would prefer anyone to kuyt..

I 100% agree with you Rouman, any player has to be given a chance, I truly hope he is a huge success. He has played for his national team so he can't be that bad.
Now we have him on the left I would like to see Babel given a chance on the right, as you say Kuyt sadly lacks in everything but effort, how he gets picked every week is beyond me. I'd really like to see this line up given a real run of games as I feel it's our best elevan -
REINNA DARBY CARRAGHER AGGER DOSSENA
MASGHERANO
BABEL GERRARD REIRRA
TORRES KEANE
SUBS CAVELLARRI SKYTEL NEMETH BENNYOUN INSUA

Anyone not mentioned I like to see sold off with the exception of Sami who is an inspiration ( legend ).

I hate agreeing all the time but your spot on in your assesment,
Voronin, Pennant, Alonso and Kuyt are all surplas to requirements as far as I'm concerened Finan is unlucky not to be in the team, and if there is truth in Arbrloa needing to go back to Spain due to personal reasons then we should let him go, collectively this lot are worth around 30-35m sell them all and bring in Two more because playing them just devalues our team. Harsh but true.

Good points eddie and rouman but the thing is guys does rafa see it like we do? we all know kuyt is crap but why is it we can see he's crap and rafa cant coz he keeps playing the fcuker weeek in week out apart from his running around the pitch kuyt brings zero to the team END OF! he would of been sold ages ago if he was at any other top prem club! its the likes of him and voronin thats stopping us reaching our potentional! they need 2 be sold no questions asked! the sooner they go the sooner we can play proper football instead of playing it back everytime kuyt gets the ball it so depresing seeing kuyt in the side all the time.

another thing id like to know guys is when is rafa gonna give nemeth a game he's much better than elzahr id also like to see ngog given 20 mins or so aswell he was very good in pre-season what u think guys? and on the "signing" of riera he has a lot to do 2 prove me wrong id rather we signed the polish guy from borussia we got 2 many spanish players the only best one is torres and arbeloa what ur thoughts on the iminent arrival of riera?

You are right about giving Nemeth and ngog a try but in fairness I cannot see that happening until we are brezing a game up 3-0 with 20 minutes left to go. Re Riera AS Rouman says lets give the guy our full suport , lets see how he goes, I don't know much about him but he plays for Spain so can't be all bad, a Man City mate of mine reckoned he was wasted at city in a team not on his wave lengh, he reckons Riera is a good player.

Two points I picked up on this week re Rafa why does he bring on Defenders as substituteswhen attacking players are needed ? and why does he play players out of position ? seems crazy to me.

I'm looking forward to seeing Monster Masch back in the side and Ican see us back at our best against Leige 3-0 is my prediction.
I am convinced that Keane and Torres will become a real force this season, and I'd like to see Babel played on the Right and Darby played at Right Back.

Is it just me , but why do we favour passing the ball backwards so often ? Ive noticed Kuyt , Plessis, Alonso,Pennant, Bennyoun, Babel seem obsessed with it, why ? Gerrard is about the only one who goes forward.

So far this Season and all of last, our corner kicks have been abysmal, makes you wonder if we actually practice them in training, and I hate to say it cos I love him but Stevie G is our biggest culprit.

Very rarely do our corners beat the First Defender, and with the exception of Hypia ( when he plays ) rerely do our corners get really attacked, Chelsea ( Terry and Carvalio) Arsenal ( Gallas and Troure ) and Man U ( Ferdinand and Vidic ) score goal after goal from set plays we need to improve in this area. Our corners pose no threat whatsoever. Surely it's not that difficult to cross a decent ball from the corner kicks or wide areas.
Stevie G should step down from taking them and position himself on the edge of the box to hammer home any knock downs, Carra and Skrtel Agger Torres should be attacking these crosses with a vengence, we should score fifteen to twenty goals a year from set plays and are missing out.

The tactics are down to Rafa, (a manager i support) however he is responsible for our short comings in most tactics, its not all down to not having the right players, iam sure if we wanted we could find a player capable of putting that ball in the box from the corner, even without gerrard.
Stevie should be in the mix waiting for the drop ball, ie scholes how many times has he pinged one in from the 18yrd box after waiting for the rebound out of the box? we should be mixing our tactics also, ie short corners,long,deep,close with pressure to the keeper etc etc

Now we are all back to the basic where this topic started up the page, where our defence system wa discussed.. Why?? Simply coz as Eddie noted " Chelsea ( Terry and Carvalio) Arsenal ( Gallas and Troure ) and Man U ( Ferdinand and Vidic ) score goal after goal from set plays we need to improve in this area." Our defenders are the ones who ca bring us the title.
If we want to break teams who are just defending in a very organised way and blockig each of the move of our strikers and keymidfielders, the the only way to win is by surprise goals from fullbacks or defenders.
As Stulivered said Rafa is a tactical genius.. But his plans are not implemented.. According to Guillem Ballague(Rafa's friend) the reason why Rafa wanted Barry on the left and bought Dossena is that, Dossena as well as Aurelio can go forward and Barry would have covered the defence durig that laps. The same applies for the right side also with Macherano covering.. Even for the Corners barry would have had been the perfect player to take them if we had got him.. But thats past, lets nt moan about it now.
We need another player than Gerrard to take the corners, our defenders should go forward to score goals, be more aggressive like their rivals, they need to practice a lot in training, and i also agree we should play short corners most of the time when playing against well organised teams.

I 100% agree criticalmind, you mentioned it in a previous post, that got me thinking of our piss poor corners. Our defenders should strive to get us 10-12 goals a Season when teams pack there defence our full backs need to get forward and our centre back need to be more adventurous.