A bit of context

Spike · October 2, 2006

I read all the way thru season on the brink last night and my god did it give me some perspective on things at the moment, and also made me realise some of the underlying factors.

Firstly, Paco Herrera has left and been replaced by Ablett on seeing his involvement in our setup beyond the ressies you can't underestimate the impact of him leaving:

Paco Herrera, now the reserve team manager, is also a vital component in Liverpool's scouting operation. He has taken on the job of rebuilding what Benitez judged to be the club's insufficiently stocked database of potential signings. Furthermore, he analyses rivals using cutting edge technology to prepare videos of the strengths and weaknesses, successful tactics and flaws in opponents. This material then became the basis for Rafa's technical briefings

Secondly, we've had a fair few new players this year and the introduction of two new wide men, a new left back, two forwards as well as injuries to players like Riise, Kewell, Carra etc which means that we have had players who may otherwise not have played in that position as early as they did in this campaign. If anyone thinks that selecting a team is simply a formation thread where you swap one player or fomation for the other then you're wrong. Experience in playing in Rafa's teams and understanding what he asks, the various tactical systems etc are probably much more complex than any club they have previously experienced as this anecdote reveals:

Early on on Ranieri's reign (at Valencia), Amadeo Carbonari asked his new coach what would be the best way to defend. Raniei answered 'just like you did last year'. To which the puzzled defender responded 'but we had five ways of defending last year, depending on the opponent and the situation'. Ranieri's alleged solution was 'just use whatever you feel like then'.

It's gonna take time folks as we are not only learning to play with a greater pace, and width, but also with new personnel who may need time to understand the job that is being asked of them. Not just in a game, but in various situations within a game.

Thirdly, Guilleme points out a lot that Xabi and Gerrard playing in the centre leave us defensively vulnerable to any team that has a player operating between the lines (f*** what Sky c**** say about it all - SG is best doing what SG does best and that's not always a strict positional role) and that's why Didi's introduction stopped Kaka in the bul and allowed us to play more expansively for those wonderful 6 minutes.

Finally, you cannot understimate the impact of the WC on our team in terms of getting to know each other. This is not an excuse but already we are into our third international break and yet we're just 7 games in. I always fecking hate the thought of our lads being trained by inferior folk to Raf and being asked to play in games where they get overhyped by the numbnuts press against a team a YNWA 11 could do some damage against.

Belive, believe, believe, cos the red are coming up the hill boys. Who'd have thunk of number 5 this time two years ago?

October 2, 2006

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