[lfc-news] Mark Lawrenson column - Post

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Liverpool Daily Post, 31 Aug 2004
Continuity will prove the key for Rafa's men
By Mark Lawrenson, Daily Post

IF YOU take any football team, then add four new players, a new manager and
your central defensive linchpin getting injured early in a game, then that
team is going to struggle.

So it proved for Liverpool against Bolton, who were the more settled of the
sides just because of the continuity of personnel and leadership.

That is not a criticism, it is just a fact of life for Rafael Benitez at
the moment and it will be that way for the next few months, maybe even
until Christmas.

During that time he will be faced with a difficult challenge - the need to
implement his tactical changes at every level of Liverpool's performance
while at the same time keeping winning games.

At the moment while the players are struggling to come to terms with his
changes, it is throwing up some anomalies.

The most obvious of those is Steven Gerrard's positioning. Let's be honest,
at international level, he is forced to play out of position to accomo-date
other people and because of the lack of a left-sided player.

At club level though, you do not move the best English midfielder in the
Premiership around willy-nilly to fit in alongside other players - they
should do that so he can play where he wants.

As to who plays along Gerrard, then I would choose Xabi Alonso ahead of
Dietmar Hamann.

He is a class player and a brilliant passer of the ball and while he may
take a few games to settle in, he still offers more options in attack than
Hamann will, although everyone will have to work that bit harder to make up
for the German's defensive nous.

Still, at least there are options for the manager in midfield. Up front
Liverpool are going into the Champions League with Djibril Cisse, Milan
Baros and Florent Sinama-Pongolle.

Even the most optimistic Liverpool supporter must concede that they are
stretched for resources with Michael Owen going.

I remain to be convinced that Baros and Cisse can play together as they are
yet to complement each other and are too similar.

Pongolle looks like he needs to play regularly somewhere else to knock the
rough edges off him, but even he is similar to the other two.

To me in a perfect world another striker is required just to make up the
numbers, and he must offer something different.

Be that a target man or a Teddy Sheringham type of player, Benitez should
strengthen even if Cisse and Baros suddenly prove me wrong and start
playing as a partnership instead of individuals.


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