Left Winger for the CL final???

Reganio 2

Right me and my mate were arguing about this all day and it is still annoying me now. The choices are Zenden, Kewell or Gonzalez. Riise wasnt counted in this so its just these 3 assuming Riise plays LB. I will give my opinion on this cause it really wound me up today.

Zenden - I want to see him play TBH by no means a great player but I would rather him play than the other 2. He will work for you non stop and keep pressuring.

Kewell - I really DO NOT want to see Kewell feature at all. How bad would it be for your morale if this guy didnt play a game all seasoon and suddenly declared himself fit for the big one piss off thats what I would be thinking. I mean he wasnt even in England with the team he went off to Australia for the season and decided to come back for the biggest game of them all. The cheek of him aswell to wind it up by making it public and saying its all down to the manager as if to put pressure on him. I bet if he dosnt get his game he becomes "injured" again and fecks off.

Gonzalez - Nothing bad against the guy but all he has is pace and I again would rather see Zenden.

Let me know what you think lads. BTW my mates were voting for Kewell we asked alot of my mates and I think it ended up something like 23 - 1 in favor of Kewell (and the guy that agreed with me didnt know anything about football )

Cheers

KdjaCL

Riise if that spanish lad is fit for LB, they are stronger for it.


kdjac

Reganio 2

Yeah but we were going on the theroy of Riise playing Left back then who would you pick.

Vokes

Reganio 2 wrote:

Kewell - I really DO NOT want to see Kewell feature at all. How bad would it be for your morale if this guy didnt play a game all seasoon and suddenly declared himself fit for the big one piss off thats what I would be thinking. I mean he wasnt even in England with the team he went off to Australia for the season and decided to come back for the biggest game of them all. The cheek of him aswell to wind it up by making it public and saying its all down to the manager as if to put pressure on him. I bet if he dosnt get his game he becomes "injured" again and fecks off.

Where did you hear that ?

KdjaCL

Reganio 2 wrote:

Yeah but we were going on the theroy of Riise playing Left back then who would you pick.

Oh makey uppy Zenden great player when fully fit.




kdjac

Cormic

I voted for Kewell. He looks fit and he can make a difference. Zenden is not good enough and Gonzalez is still too green.

I would prefer Riise to play ML though.

Mr Alan

i think if Kewell was really fit and training well, i'd give him a chance. its not his fault he has been injured all year, and he looked fit and trim at the weekend playing. From what i've seen, Milan seem to play more through the middle than down the wings so i think that playing Zenden there to be more solid defensively might be a bit of a waste. plus how up for it would Kewell be after 2005?!?!?!?

Reganio 2

SofaKing wrote:

Where did you hear that ?

I dont have it in writing but he only came back over to England 6 or so weeks ago I remeber hearing it cant remeber where.

~Rebel~

personally id have gerrard there over a poor zenden and an unfit kewell and gonzalez doesnt have the experience yet. Gerrard left attacking a dodgy enough Oddo, Pennant right and Masch and Alonso central.

And BTW Kewells wife lives in england so he probably lives with her...sure she was even going on before about how antsy he was when injured.

Mr. Presentable

Milan don't really play wide, so I'd say Seedorf is a close to left wing as they'll have. Or is it a given there is only one team involved?

yayamark

~Rebel~ wrote:

personally id have gerrard there over a poor zenden and an unfit kewell and gonzalez doesnt have the experience yet. Gerrard left attacking a dodgy enough Oddo, Pennant right and Masch and Alonso central.

thats not bad, i'd go with it. there be more scope for change IF anything was to go wrong

jesus i cant wait

oh by the way i'm goin! :eek: :cool:

Jesus Wept

yayamark wrote:

thats not bad, i'd go with it. there be more scope for change IF anything was to go wrong

jesus i cant wait

oh by the way i'm goin! :eek: :cool:

you lucky fecker

Chucky the tree

No way in hell Kewell should start.

Nunu

Chucky the tree wrote:

No way in hell Kewell should start.

Why not? You go with your best team. Can't be worrying about offending players...especially when the 2 players in question Zenden/Gonzalez have been flops this season.

Personally, I don't think he'll start because of lack of match practice, but that should be the only reason he doesn't play because he's a better player than the other 2

Maybe Riise will play left-mid?

~Rebel~

if we had aurelio fit id go with riise left mid alright, but im just not sure about Arbeloa on his wrong side with Kaka bearing down on him. I know he did well against Barca, but on the other hand he looked poor against Chelsea, so all in all id prefer the experience of Riise at LB. Our stable confident back 4 is one of the best things pool have going for them so id stick with it. Id like 4-4-2 really, but with rafa you never know. An attacking 4-5-1 could be good as well, but i just have a feeling kuyt and crouch would do well against the Milan back 4, once they had decent support running on.

redzerdrog

out of them 3 id pick harry but saying that id prefer gerrard/riise

Dont be at yourself

Kewell is one of the few players in the squad who offers a big attacking threat, so I'd like to see him play at least some part in the game, if fully fit.

Zenden was absolutely shocking against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and nothing more than average in the second leg. We can't afford to carry him against Milan.

I wouldn't mind Riise in left midfield either. He's got a great understanding with Stevie G, and he's capable of getting a goal. We'd need Aurelio or Arbeloa for left back though.

LuckyLloyd

This discussion is silly without Riise being included as an option at left wing, and Ardebola at left back.

Vokes

Cant afford having Riise left-wing.

Our defense is at its best / tightest when hes at LB alongside Agger / Carragher / Finnan.

Rafa will have Zenden at LW for definite.

redspider

> Right me and my mate were arguing about this all day and it is still annoying me now.

My advice would be not to get too wound up in such discussions ....

Also, there are two questions:
a) who would you pick?
b) who will Benitez pick?

The answers to a) are by and large academic. The answer to b) is the only one that matters and one which we have no control over.

As for the choices, if Riise is presumed at left back, then I would prefer Gonzalez, although unfortunately he hasnt been given enough game time of late, is young and may make the odd mistake or two. Rafa prefers Zenden in the scenario you paint.

He does have other options though and could play Gerrard at left and Pennant on the right. Rafa can surprise as we know.

Like others, I hope that he plays Arbeloa at left back and Riise at left midfield.

choices, choices .... and its Benitez that has a big one coming up .....

Redspider

Mr Alan

.......and its Benitez..... so ya can be pretty sure there will be a big shock in there somewhere!

Reganio 2

Nunu wrote:

...especially when the 2 players in question Zenden/Gonzalez have been flops this season.

That is part of the reason why it kind of annoys me aswell. Kewell played well for Liverpool in about 3 games when he first came. He plays alright in 2 games against Charlton and Fulham in nothing matches and everybody forgets about how crap he was before he fecked off to Australia.

Lex Luthor

They'll prob start with Zenden out left and then end up with Kewell if we need a goal after 65/70 min.

~Rebel~

Reganio 2 wrote:

That is part of the reason why it kind of annoys me aswell. Kewell played well for Liverpool in about 3 games when he first came. He plays alright in 2 games against Charlton and Fulham in nothing matches and everybody forgets about how crap he was before he fecked off to Australia.

Personally i thought Kewell was one of our best players last season, actually made in a difference in many of the games he played. Was a massive loss this season. I want us to win this final - if playing kewell over someone else gives us a better chance of that then thats what i want.

He'll be an impact sub for the last 30 probably, which suits me down to the ground. Its not like he wanted to be injured. im wary of the suggestions he spent the whole season off in australia as well, im sure he was over and back, he is australian after all, but i doubt he fecked off and left his wife here for 9months.

The Rooster

Personally I think Arbeloa is a better defender than Riise and that Riise's best position is left midfield. Therefore I'd go with Arbeloa - Riise.

If it was a pure choice of Zenden, Kewell and Gonzalez, I'd have to go with Gonzalez because Bolo is useless and Kewell isnt fit enough to start.

There is no chance of Rafa picking either Kewell or Gonzalez to start on the left.

Actually I've just re-thought what I'd do. I'd go with Finnan - Riise on the left. Put Arbeloa on the right and ask him to man-mark Seedorf - his wanderings around the park caused the mancs a lot of problems in both legs.