The Tomkins Weekly #2 - Striking a balance
Five wins out of five, and an average approaching four goals a game. I could get used to this. Of course, it would be foolish to allow myself the luxury of believing this will become the norm, or that games this early in the season are indicative of what lies ahead. However, I can only go on the signs, and the signs are good.
The strikers are notching at a very healthy rate, and last season's 13-goal midfielders Luis García and Steven Gerrard are back in the scoring habit, the latter spectacularly so. The games against TNS showed that if you can work space for Gerrard in and around the box, he can be devastating.
Just as Frank Lampard –– a midfielder, no less –– was Chelsea's top scorer last season as they won the title, then Gerrard is capable of doing the same for Liverpool; so long as he's top scorer with 20+ goals, and not 13, and the forwards (like Drogba and Gudjohnsen) aren't too far behind in the mid-to-late teens. If five or six players weigh in with impressive tallies, it doesn't need one 30-goal player.
I'm encouraged by the goals the Reds have scored, but not particularly disheartened by those conceded. If that seems like choosing to concentrate on the positives while ignoring the negatives, there is a valid reason.
The striking permutations in the five games have been mostly Rafa's first choice –– 'first choice' being any two from all four main strikers, given there are no outright favourites, and only time will prove if any particular two are so effective together that they become the preferred selection. Or indeed, if Rafa plays only one striker (although even this can mean Cissé still getting a game on the right wing, and Morientes in the 'hole').
The four main strikers aside, Le Tallec is getting a chance to play himself into Rafa's plans, but is likely to be little more than a promising reserve this season, behind Sinama-Pongolle and possibly Neil Mellor when they return.
Morientes, with a superb finish against Olympiacos, now has three goals; Cissé also has three, and Baroš leads the way with four (despite sitting out two full games and two halves). Crouch only has 45 minutes under his belt (into which his mother had to punch several extra holes).
But the defence, with which Rafa has been experimenting, has been a total mixed bag, with the inclusion of promising rookies such as Medjani, Whitbread and Carson, as well as Warnock, who is only partially established. Josemi (looking fit and fresh, and actually like a footballer again) and Riise, who never totally convinces in the role, have had periods in the back four. Even Zenden has played at left-back.
Perhaps this suggests that while Rafa can replace Crouch and Cissé with Baroš and Morientes (or even Le Tallec and Sinama Pongolle, who have nearly 100 Liverpool appearances between them), he can for the most part only look to hugely inexperienced defenders, especially centrally.
While players like Medjani and Whitbread have looked comfortable, and in no way out of place, it is easy for a young defender's inexperience to see him caught out on just one or two occasions and to end up paying the full price.
A back four is also constructed on understanding –– the 'unit' –– and as such, I am not in the slightest bit worried about the three goals conceded to Wrexham and then Olympiacos. Four of those six goals were conceded after blanket changes. If we were shipping goals with our first choice back line it would be more worrying, but even then, pre-season is about blowing away the cobwebs. Rustiness leads to mistakes.
Having said that, another centre-back remains on Rafa's shopping list. (Which leads to amusing images of a mix-up in the Benítez house, as Montse goes to Tesco and asks for a packet of Milito, while a confused Rafa wonders why his scouts have recommended Duncan Ferguson, given the word 'Tampon' is scrawled on his piece of paper.)
Steady start for Crouch
Peter Crouch showcased his talents to good effect against Olympiacos, and maybe people will sit up and take note of his qualities, now he is at a high-profile club with a pass-and-move tradition. He showed good running off the ball and some nice touches, all of which highlighted what an intelligent player he is, and in one run that took him past three defenders and led to the first goal, he showed how quickly his feet can manoeuvre the ball.
He's a footballer who happens to be a bit of a freak; not a freak looking to make a career in football. He'll be judged by his goals, but as the fulcrum of the attack, if he can occupy defenders while the three who play around him find space, and play them in on goal with his deft touches, he'll be doing his job. If the team scores more goals with him in it, then he'll have proved a success.
Baroš –– proving a point?
In a recent internet article, in which I discussed our striking options, I was pulled up for not including a look at Milan Baroš. I've always been a big admirer of Baroš, and remain so, but his days at Liverpool appeared numbered. For all his pre-season exploits, that seems to remain the case, but nothing in football can be taken for granted. Things change.
Rafa doesn't seem to rate Baroš as highly as some managers might. It appears he's not desperate to see the back of the Czech, but rather could 'take or leave' him. That's never great news for a player. You want to be in the manager's plans, not on the borderline. It appears to be less about the player's quality, which is abundant
when he's on song, but his style. Team-play and temperament are two areas that let the player down. By the latter I mean in his failure to subvert the desire to play as an individual and do what's best for the team. You get the impression that he likes to do his own thing rather than follow the manager's instructions (sometimes off the field, too, when he has reacted badly to being dropped).
I like selfish strikers (I distrust those who look to pass when a shot is on), but there's a time and a place.
It's not too late for Milan, but can pre-season sharpness eradicate any doubts his boss might retain? After two 'in and out' seasons (down to injury, rotation and inconsistency), Baroš really needed to prove he could take over from Michael Owen and deliver 20+ goals in 2004/05. By December he was halfway there, but he failed miserably in front of goal in the second half of the season.
The comparisons between Crouch and Czech giant, Jan Koller, lead to obvious assumptions that Baroš could hit new heights alongside the new arrival. It's certainly a water-holding theory. But is it too late to find out?
I certainly have no objections to another season of Baroš at Liverpool, to see how it pans out. He's an exciting player, and he can score goals at the highest level. He just hasn't scored quite enough for Liverpool (as yet), and while he can create chances for others, he's not going create enough to warrant a place in the team if the goals aren't flowing.
If he plays against Kaunas, whose main threat will come from the sharpness of being halfway through their league season, then the chance of him staying will increase.
Departures
As well as Baroš being tipped for an exit, I've read on more than one occasion that Benítez apparently doesn't rate Cissé (the latest being Joe Lovejoy's piece on Crouch this Sunday), but I feel such statements are often (if not always) the product of journalists seeing a new signing as a precursor to a sale. All big clubs have four, sometimes five top strikers.
When a manager likes to rotate, as does Rafa, it means he needs to feel totally happy with all of those at his disposal. He doesn't want 'reserves' in his four main striking options, but equals (in terms of ability) who offer different qualities for different situations. You don't whisk an egg with a carving knife. (As my recent guests learned through harrowing experience, when I fed them my unexpected delicacy: thumb gristle omelette).
As the Reds only had three fully established strikers last season, including Morientes (who only signed in January), the arrival of Crouch does not have to signal anything other than adding numbers and variety where necessary. Even Baroš doesn't have to be sold due to too many strikers on the roster; there are other issues surrounding his future.
Rafa has said he's working on Cissé's movement, as he knows how dangerous his pace is, and how good a finisher he can be. You wouldn't want four players like Cissé to choose from, just as you wouldn't want four like Crouch.
One of each, and two further options, sounds sensible to me.
© Paul Tomkins, 2005
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