Brummy Preview
By: ed_ | September 21st, 2007So, Birmingham tomorrow and Steve Bruce has cleverly identified Jermaine Pennant as the danger-man his side needs to keep quiet. Talk about a Kop-out. If I was a highly paid manager, what if I picked the one player I knew the most about, regardless of the talent of his team-mates, and focus on him?
Why not just say “I watched the highlights on Sky but I’m too lazy to watch the full tapes of the Liverpool games to come up with a proper way to beat them so I’ll cheat and pick on the guy who was far and away our best player when I got the club relegated.”
A few matches aside *ahem Porto ahem*, Pennant has been on fire pretty much all of 2007 but is he our main threat? No.
To focus on Pennant means Babel has more space to work his magic on the left or, as we saw against Derby, on the right.
To focus on Pennant gives Gerrard more freedom, more room to roam, for those devastating forward surges and lethal shots on goal.
Focusing on Pennant also gives the strikers more time – the last thing you want to give someone as brutally quick as Torres is time.
Focusing on Pennant will give your midfield a lop-sided nature meaning when you’re in possession, the odds of Mascherano breaking up your disjointed venture forward will sky rocket.
No, focusing on Pennant is not the answer. If I were Bruce, I’d hope that my side could repeat its performance against a lack-lustre Chelsea side and scrape a draw but with Torres finding his scoring boots and if our midfield clicks like it had before the international break, I wouldn’t put any money on it.
Just checked a forum I read regularly and a lot of “pundits” are backing Benayoun to start on the right and for Torres to be rested. What do you guys think?
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Category: Liverpool Match Day Preview
Tags: babel, benayoung, Birmingham, Gerrard, Liverpool Match Day Preview, Mascherano, Pennant, steve bruce is an idiot, TorresSubscribe
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Comments
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So who would you pick out as the ‘danger man’ in Liverpool’s line-up? You make the questions sound as if it is impossible to answer. And maybe it is, but …
Even as a fan of Ajax, I would dare Babel to beat me before giving an in-form Pennant too much room. So much promise, but he often fails to make good on his threatening runs. You may have purchased him a year too soon, but you also probably saved yourself a bundle. (See: W. Sneijder, R. Madrid)
Posted from
United States
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matt – i wouldn’t want to manage a team that played liverpool unless i had a top notch squad. if i can use an educational metaphor – it’s not an impossible question but you do need to give a complete, as opposed to partial, answer.
clearly birmingham can only answer one question (pennant) which leaves them woefully short on other areas where they will lose marks and, hopefully, goals.
the point is that liverpool offer a multitude of threats – whether it’s babel’s trickery, torres’s pace, gerrard’s power, finnan’s ‘wrong footed’ crosses, kuyt/voronin’s workrate and industry or sami’s power in the air. even if these threats are nullified, there’s a plethora of talent on the bench, just waiting to come on such as crouch or benayoun.
Ed
Posted from
Canada -
Doubt he will target pennant tbh. Probably just mind games.
If I was Rafa and I heard this I would leave Pennant on the bench, and bring him on at the hour. That would ruin any plans Bruce may have in place, however doubtful this is.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
We murdered em but the finishing oh how I wish rafa would leave the strikers have a run so they can get some sort of momentum going:-(
Posted from
United States -
it was kidology and it worked upto a point
Posted from
United States
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