Kenny Dalglish - will his tactics work for Liverpool in 2011?

At Liverpool, Dalglish was the last in the great dynasty of the boot-room, his job to an extent merely to keep the flame alive. Tactically Kenny Dalglish's system essentially followed the same model established by Bob Paisley: a basic 4-4-2 with a genuine winger (John Barnes) on one flank and a more tucked-in midfielder on the other (Ray Houghton), and a deep-lying forward (Peter Beardsley in the role Dalglish himself once occupied) off a hard-working front man who worked across the line. Both full-backs were encouraged to push on, and at least one of the centre‑backs had licence to stride out with the ball into midfield. In 1987-88, when it produced 87 goals in 40 league games, and to a lesser extent 1988-89, their football was majestically fluent, but by the time Dalglish left in 1991, a caginess had started to set in. His last full season yielded 77 goals, but a starting eleven away to Arsenal that featured six players who'd spent most of their career in defence, plus Ronnie Whelan, was indicative of a growing mood of caution.

There was a moment during the 1990 World Cup when England's manager Bobby Robson was asked if he thought 4-4-2 was done with. Snappishly, he pointed out that Liverpool played 4-4-2 and asked whether anybody thought they were finished. They did not, of course, but Liverpool have not won a league title since. Off-field matters – the emotional aftermath of Hillsborough, the appointment of Graeme Souness to replace a shattered Dalglish and a failure to adapt to the new commercial possibilities of the Premier League – were of course a greater cause of the decline than tactical conservatism, but the fact remains that no side has won in the last 20 years with that old-style 4-4-2. In 1994-95, Dalglish had Blackburn Rovers playing a far more direct style than his Liverpool had, with two mobile centre-forwards who were both good in the air, two advanced wide midfielders and a protective screen of two holding players in front of the back four.

Sacking a manager two games into a new season is, of course, absurd, but there was a basis to the allegations of over-defensiveness. After the cavalier football of the Kevin Keegan era, Newcastle managed a paltry 35 goals in 38 games in 1997-98. A negative approach in the FA Cup final, with Alessandro Pistone deployed on the left side of midfield, was perhaps justifiable, but when Newcastle started the following season with Nikos Dabizas and Dietmar Hamann in the middle of midfield against Charlton Athletic the outrage was understandable. It was not even that they were there to service a pair of attacking wide-men; rather the use of Rob Lee and Gary Speed left Newcastle desperately short of width. That had Alan Shearer isolated, with Andreas Andersson ineffective in an unfamiliar playmaking role behind him. That Charlton had a man sent off after 25 minutes and Newcastle still couldn't break them down only added to Newcastle's frustration.

A trophy is a trophy, and finals of course carry additional pressures, but Dalglish's final piece of silverware carried an unmistakable sense of anti-climax. Under John Barnes, Celtic had beaten Aberdeen 5-0, 7-0 and 6-0 that season; to beat them only 2-0 was emblematic of Dalglish's caution. In the 7-0 game, Barnes had fielded a midfield of Craig Burley, Lubomir Moravcik, Eyal Berkovic and Paul Lambert, a quartet of passers and creators. Dalglish returned to something approaching the old Liverpool shape, with Vidar Riseth, often a full-back, deployed on the right of midfield, Morten Wieghorst and Stilian Petrov holding in the middle, and the playmaker Moravcik exiled to the left, from where he swooped in to link with Tommy Johnson to create for Mark Viduka. In personnel and style, though, this was a pale imitation of his Liverpool.

[size=6]Liverpool given green light to make £17m move for Spanish star[/size]

Liverpool have been given the green light to make a £17m offer for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo.

Negredo, 25, has been attracting interest from a number of top clubs following his impressive displays in La Liga.

Liverpool are keen to bolster their forward line and give some much needed support to Fernando Torres who looks well below his best this season.

Kenny Dalglish has just taken charge of first-team affairs but the club have been working hard to bring new faces into the squad.

Reports in Spain suggest that Sevilla would not block a sizeable bid for their star forward and would consider a £17m offer.

Negredo is refusing to be affected by all the speculation surrounding his long-term future but is aware of the interest from Liverpool.

Negredo said: "I read something, but my representative has said there is nothing happening at the moment. I am comfortable with the situation and will just focus on playing for Sevilla."
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/4374/6/liverpool-given-green-light-make-%C2%A317m-move-spanish-star

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/jan/10/kenny-dalglish-tactical-2011-liverpool

Bit of a marathon read but Wilson raises some good points here.

Correct but,



You can clearly see here Fabio Aurelio is at right back and Johnson is at left back. It's just because you made you formation go from Goalkeeper downwards it looks like it's the other way round, I think you've confused yourself.

true, but from my angle its still LB and RB left and right

so is maxi playing left wing and joe cole on the right?

A right backs right foot is one the outside of the pitch, same for a left back with their left foot, meaning Fabio Aurelio is at right back and Johnson at left back, Cole is on the left flank, Maxi is on the right.

Correct, to the main point:
Step 1: Look at our Screen
Step 2: Look at the diagram of my formation
Step 3: Look at Fabio* and Glen# on the diagram
Step 4: Look Left* then right#
=d> =d> =d> =d> =d> =d>

I'm getting confused now, as Imno said, retarded discussion :lol:

Correct, to the main point:
Step 1: Look at our Screen
Step 2: Look at the diagram of my formation
Step 3: Look at Fabio* and Glen# on the diagram
Step 4: Look Left* then right#
=d> =d> =d> =d> =d> =d>

Afro, is that you?

I wouldn't want us spending so much money, but I want us to be signing players like this.

Two things - first, that tactics can be outdated. Look at Pep Guardiola. Not ten years ago he was out of style as a player - playmaker and tactician sitting deep - but this Barce team is based on exactly the kind of player that Pep is. And shock, they're winning.

But let's face it - Dalglish's Liverpool were one of the best sides of all time. It's difficult to replicate that shit.

But the thing is, they weren't all huge name players. Back when he was managing his title-winnings sides had similar qualities to the one that sits at anfield right now. HE just got the best out of them, which is what we're asking him to do now.

They say he's "out of date" and "out of touch", and sure he hasn't been the lead man at a club for the better part of a decade, but he's still been heavily involved in football.