On Sunday, March 19 2006, Liverpool went to St James’ Park and strolled to a comfortable 3-1 win over Newcastle.
The match will be remembered in the North East for the antics of two Frenchmen, one who wound them up by celebrating a goal and another who wound them up even more by living up to his bungling reputation.
Djibril Cisse attracted the ire of the Gallowgate end by extravagantly enjoying the scoring of a penalty kick, while Jean-Alain Boumsong was given the bird for conceding the penalty from which his fellow countryman put the game beyond any doubt and was promptly sent off.
But for Liverpool fans, the significance of the game was the system Rafa Benitez utilised on the day as the Reds boss deployed a 3-5-2 set up which surprised everyone, not least the Newcastle players.
Daniel Agger, Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher operated as a trio of centre backs with Jan Kromkamp and Stephen Warnock playing as wing backs.
Steven Gerrard took command in central midfield while Peter Crouch and Cisse played up front.
According to the ensuing BBC match report “the system gave Liverpool plenty of attacking fluency”.
The ECHO went further still, pointing out that while the “changed formation had everyone shaking their heads in confusion before kick-off,” it ultimately “worked perfectly”.
There is an old saying in football that it is players that win games, not systems, but on this occasion it was the system that got the most of the players Benitez had available to him as his bold selection paid rich dividends.
No doubt the Reds boss recalls this particular game with great fondness and it might be worth him rooting out a video of it from his stockpile of tapes because it might just provide the solution to Liverpool’s ongoing problems at home.
Not many teams come to Anfield and play all out attack so a flat back four is rarely necessary, particularly if the full backs available are Alvaro Arbeloa who despite performing well this season is rarely a threat in the last third and Andrea Dossena who struggles defensively.
When Martin Skrtel returns to fitness he will have four top class central defenders available, so why not play three of them?
Any one from Dossena, Fabio Aurelio and Albert Riera could operate as a left-sided wing back with fewer defensive responsibilities while Dirk Kuyt and Arbeloa could compete for a place on the right.
A five-man midfield would allow Steven Gerrard, Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso to all get onto the pitch at the same time in positions that suit them.
It would also give Robbie Keane the opportunity to play in his favoured position just off the main striker, a role which is obviously tailor made for Fernando Torres.
So many commentators believe the greatest quality of this Liverpool side is the make up of its spine so surely a system which maximises its strengths yet minimises its weaknesses deserves consideration?
It worked “perfectly” at Newcastle two and a half years ago and could work again because Liverpool undoubtedly have the players to make a success of 3-5-2. Not many teams would fancy coming to Anfield knowing they had to contend with Torres, Gerrard and Keane coming at them from their most favoured positions.
And after three consecutive disappointing draws at home cost the Reds six crucial points anything is worth a try.
The match will be remembered in the North East for the antics of two Frenchmen, one who wound them up by celebrating a goal and another who wound them up even more by living up to his bungling reputation.
Djibril Cisse attracted the ire of the Gallowgate end by extravagantly enjoying the scoring of a penalty kick, while Jean-Alain Boumsong was given the bird for conceding the penalty from which his fellow countryman put the game beyond any doubt and was promptly sent off.
But for Liverpool fans, the significance of the game was the system Rafa Benitez utilised on the day as the Reds boss deployed a 3-5-2 set up which surprised everyone, not least the Newcastle players.
Daniel Agger, Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher operated as a trio of centre backs with Jan Kromkamp and Stephen Warnock playing as wing backs.
Steven Gerrard took command in central midfield while Peter Crouch and Cisse played up front.
According to the ensuing BBC match report “the system gave Liverpool plenty of attacking fluency”.
The ECHO went further still, pointing out that while the “changed formation had everyone shaking their heads in confusion before kick-off,” it ultimately “worked perfectly”.
There is an old saying in football that it is players that win games, not systems, but on this occasion it was the system that got the most of the players Benitez had available to him as his bold selection paid rich dividends.
No doubt the Reds boss recalls this particular game with great fondness and it might be worth him rooting out a video of it from his stockpile of tapes because it might just provide the solution to Liverpool’s ongoing problems at home.
Not many teams come to Anfield and play all out attack so a flat back four is rarely necessary, particularly if the full backs available are Alvaro Arbeloa who despite performing well this season is rarely a threat in the last third and Andrea Dossena who struggles defensively.
When Martin Skrtel returns to fitness he will have four top class central defenders available, so why not play three of them?
Any one from Dossena, Fabio Aurelio and Albert Riera could operate as a left-sided wing back with fewer defensive responsibilities while Dirk Kuyt and Arbeloa could compete for a place on the right.
A five-man midfield would allow Steven Gerrard, Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso to all get onto the pitch at the same time in positions that suit them.
It would also give Robbie Keane the opportunity to play in his favoured position just off the main striker, a role which is obviously tailor made for Fernando Torres.
So many commentators believe the greatest quality of this Liverpool side is the make up of its spine so surely a system which maximises its strengths yet minimises its weaknesses deserves consideration?
It worked “perfectly” at Newcastle two and a half years ago and could work again because Liverpool undoubtedly have the players to make a success of 3-5-2. Not many teams would fancy coming to Anfield knowing they had to contend with Torres, Gerrard and Keane coming at them from their most favoured positions.
And after three consecutive disappointing draws at home cost the Reds six crucial points anything is worth a try.
No comments:
Post a Comment