The Mind Lounge

A letter for Mr. Rafa

Dear Rafa,

I had high hopes for last Sunday's encounter with Man Utd. Considering the way we have played and our form (winning 7 games on the trot prior to the match) , I was in a confident mood that we could give a good game.

Sadly, it did not go as I had hoped. We were devoured 3-0 at Old Trafford. I have been analyzing the tactics and personnel involved, there are some things I'd like to point out.

First, let's see what's wrong :

Ok, so we got the pretty standard back four with Reina in goal which is fine by me. Skrtel has come in and been doing a good job there with Carra. In an ideal world, I would love Carra to be a good passer of the ball because he seriously suck at it. I'm glad we have someone like Agger and Skrtel who can play a passing game.

With a 4-2-3-1 formation, we normally deploy 2 holding midfielders or 'anchors' in the middle to protect the back four. Mascherano normally does the dirty work and ball retrieving while Alonso sits and pulls the strings in the middle. This combination is superb and gives Gerrard freedom to roam forward . On the left wing we got Babel which is a very promising talent if we really use him properly. I would really like to see him in a striker's role one day with Torres . I do that all the time in Winning 11 and won few times with the Torres-Babel combination. However, I still agree with the current Torres-Gerrard partnership upfront which is almost on the borderline of being a telepathic relationship between the two.

Now what I don't agree here is this guy on the right wing:

Kuyt! Now whatever happened to Pennant or the creative Benayoun on the right? It baffles me when I see him not being substituted when things aren't going our way. Instead, during the Man Utd game you changed Babel , who I thought represented a real threat on the flanks to Man Utd. For 90 freaking minutes, I don't see what the hell does this guy contribute to the team play. He did nothing man, Rafa come on ! What do you see in this guy?? His first touches were woeful and he's reaction time is too slow for such a fast paced game that night. He's more suited to a European game. And then there was Mascherano's red card to make things more difficult.

So 2 mistakes we can learn :

Please consider playing someone else on the right . Someone who can penetrate the flanks with pace . Mascherano's absence made the defense lose its focus and shape. Alonso's a creator and puppet master , not a tackler.

My proposal would've been like this :

Change Kuyt for Lucas, play Lucas in midfield with Alonso . We need to maintain that passing rhythm and play a more narrow formation. With Kuyt, every single attacking movement gets hampered because he takes too much time to even control the ball. By allowing Babel upfront with Torres , we can have a counter attacking opportunity. With Gerrard being the attacking midfielder providing the passes, we could've had a better chance at getting back in the game. The fullbacks can provide us with the width ala-AC Milan style.

So there you go Rafa. Next time please don't use Kuyt during fast-paced games. Put him on at the last minute .

You'll Never Walk Alone .