Steven Gerrard will suffer a severe case of deja vu if David Moyes gets his way at Anfield.
The Everton manager will have noticed how Liverpool captain was so successfully stifled by Claude Makelele when England played France in Paris the other night and he will ask Lee Carsley to perform a similar role today.
Gerrard has really been hitting it off playing 10 or 15 yards deeper than Fernando Torres for Liverpool because he has been granted the time and space in 'the hole' to drive forward.
Makelele ensured Gerrard didn't get either at the Stade de France by fulfilling the role of anchorman in exemplary fashion. He hardly moved from his post in front of the back four, an area Gerrard was out to exploit and so his opponent hardly got into the game.
Gerrard has been successful in that role with Liverpool because he doesn't have to deal with Makelele every week but Carsley is one of the nearest things you'll get to the French international.
Carsley might not be as disciplined as Makelele and he does like to wander forward but, on this occasion, he will be told to smother Gerrard and generally get in his way to make his afternoon an awkward one.
There is, however, a way for Gerrard to get the better of a good solid operator like Carsley and that will be to launch his attacks from a wider berth in the old outside right position and the same could apply when he's on England duty.
That's an area where he used to do best attacking work for Liverpool before Torres arrived and maybe Rafael Benitez will want him to return to his old ways in the derby so he can be more influential for his club than he was his country.
The way Gerrard plays will probably prove pivotal to how the game unfolds and maybe who finishes fourth and fifth this season.
Sometimes it appears as if David Moyes has his team playing the match in quarters. For starters, he'll adopt more direct tactics which are designed to force opposing defences to turn around. Only then will his team's pass-and-move tactics kick in as things settle down and opposing defenders have been given the run-around. It's a process that is repeated after half-time with the change in tactics so finely tuned it's as if the players hear an alarm clock.
Meanwhile, Carragher knows he won't have to chase Yakubu out wide because the Nigerian striker rarely wanders out to the wings, instead preferring to make angled runs between the centre-halves because he's quick on to the ball, strong, sharp and has a terrific eye for goal. He also has a powerful shot.
The Everton manager will have noticed how Liverpool captain was so successfully stifled by Claude Makelele when England played France in Paris the other night and he will ask Lee Carsley to perform a similar role today.
Gerrard has really been hitting it off playing 10 or 15 yards deeper than Fernando Torres for Liverpool because he has been granted the time and space in 'the hole' to drive forward.
Makelele ensured Gerrard didn't get either at the Stade de France by fulfilling the role of anchorman in exemplary fashion. He hardly moved from his post in front of the back four, an area Gerrard was out to exploit and so his opponent hardly got into the game.
Gerrard has been successful in that role with Liverpool because he doesn't have to deal with Makelele every week but Carsley is one of the nearest things you'll get to the French international.
Carsley might not be as disciplined as Makelele and he does like to wander forward but, on this occasion, he will be told to smother Gerrard and generally get in his way to make his afternoon an awkward one.
There is, however, a way for Gerrard to get the better of a good solid operator like Carsley and that will be to launch his attacks from a wider berth in the old outside right position and the same could apply when he's on England duty.
That's an area where he used to do best attacking work for Liverpool before Torres arrived and maybe Rafael Benitez will want him to return to his old ways in the derby so he can be more influential for his club than he was his country.
The way Gerrard plays will probably prove pivotal to how the game unfolds and maybe who finishes fourth and fifth this season.
Sometimes it appears as if David Moyes has his team playing the match in quarters. For starters, he'll adopt more direct tactics which are designed to force opposing defences to turn around. Only then will his team's pass-and-move tactics kick in as things settle down and opposing defenders have been given the run-around. It's a process that is repeated after half-time with the change in tactics so finely tuned it's as if the players hear an alarm clock.
Meanwhile, Carragher knows he won't have to chase Yakubu out wide because the Nigerian striker rarely wanders out to the wings, instead preferring to make angled runs between the centre-halves because he's quick on to the ball, strong, sharp and has a terrific eye for goal. He also has a powerful shot.
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