Liverpool Face Spurs in NextGen Knockouts, and Other Monday Notes

By: Noel | January 16th, 2012

With Howard Webb’s inconsistencies, Jamie Carragher’s likely contract extension, and finally some news about the next stages of the NextGen Series, there’s plenty to talk about that probably doesn’t need to devolve into wild screeching about why three at the back against Stoke means Kenny Dalglish should be fired. Which of course is very different from saying that it all won’t devolve into wild screeching about why three at the back against Stoke means Kenny Dalglish should be fired. So grab your bourbon and your shotgun, it’s time for the news and notes…

* It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had news to update people on when it comes to the NextGen Series, the Champions League-like competition for u19 players at some of the top academies in England and across Europe, but with January well underway, the dates and venues for the quarter-finals have now been announced. For Liverpool, that means a relatively short trip to London to face Spurs at White Hart Lane on February 1st.

Meanwhile, Inter will visit Sporting—the side that handily won Liverpool’s group—on January 25th, which will give some measure as to whether Sporting is truly as strong as they looked against Liverpool and further help coaches and fans to judge just where the revamped Liverpool academy stands. Rounding out the action, Marseille will head to Villa Park on the 25th while Ajax makes the trip to Barcelona’s Mini Estadi on the 8th of February.

It’s good to finally have solid information information on the next round of this intriguing but still evolving tournament, as originally there was talk that the knock-out rounds would be played in quick succession at a neutral venue—possibly somewhere in the Middle East. Continuing play with games at the home stadiums of the higher finishing sides, then, is a welcome development for fans who may now have a better chance to make it to the matches while also keeping the format closer to the senior Champions League. And as always when it comes to youth competition, as much as it would be nice for the players to take home a trophy, further advancement is mostly important for the further experience it allows players like Raheem Sterling, Conor Coady, and Michael Ngoo.

* Following news of Steven Gerrard’s contract extension last week that will see the Liverpool captain end his career at his boyhood club, news began to leak out that the club planned similar discussions with defender Jamie Carragher. Given that he was handed a lucrative new contract by Christian Purslow days before John Henry and FSG bought the club it might seem a little soon for renegotiation, but equally it’s good to know that in spite of any reservations there might be about Carragher’s playing ability at the twilight of his career the club intends there to be some role for him at Liverpool until the day he hangs up his boots. Said Kenny Dalglish of the club’s plans for Carragher moving forward:

We will have the same conversation that we had with Steven with Carra, to see what his plans and ambitions are, as it’s hugely important for the football club to keep great servants in some way, shape or form. He and Steven are fantastic assets for us, on and off the field.

As for the man himself, he has no plans to pick up his coaching badges and hoof off into the sunset any time soon, instead seeking to keep his entire focus on playing—at least for the time being:

If the manager has mentioned [an ambassador role] I’m sure we will discuss it in the future, but that’s not something I want to talk about at the minute. I still want to concentrate on playing. I want to get as much out of my career as I possibly can.

We will speak about something in the future. I’m the same as Steven—we love playing for the club and we just want to help in any way that we can.

Two seasons removed from Carragher leaking to his friends in the press that if Rafa Benitez began to ease him away from the starting eleven he’d agitate for a move elsewhere to finish his career, it’s heartening that both the club and player appear to have realised that while his career may be winding down, it’s in everybody’s best interest for it to wind down at Liverpool.

* Following the Stoke match, there was much gnashing of teeth in some quarters over referee Howard Webb’s staunch refusal to grant the home side a penalty that could have won them the game. Given that there were a small handful of penalty shouts that on another day might have gone the other way might have provided reason for fans to ask “what if?” while finding an easy scapegoat in the form of Webb, a man hardly thought well of by Liverpool’s supporters, but with none locks and Liverpool failing to create much on their own it was always a stretch to try to blame the referee for Saturday’s result. Kenny Dalglish, however, did wonder about why Webb allowed Stoke players to escape with no more than a warning for infractions they had already been warned about:

It is difficult to understand when he talks to the players and explains something to them and then they commit the same crime immediately after it. I think we have stopped trying to work out the logic of referees nowadays.

In the end, though, he rightly shied away from blaming Webb for the outcome:

The responsibility was on us to be more imaginative and to break them down and we didn’t manage to do it. The couple of opportunities we got we didn’t take and in a game like that you have to take them.

We looked pretty solid at the back—they had one shot in the first half and not much more after that—but it is our responsibility to break them down and on the day we just weren’t good enough.

It was a tough loss for many, returning to Anfield days after an ugly but uplifting victory at the Etihad only to see Liverpool’s opponents do the same to them as they had to Manchester City during the week, but as much as the fans may not like Webb it was that lack of creativity in the final third and not the referee that decided the match.

We’ll be back later with any breaking news. Unless the comments section turns into an excuse for thumbtypers to call for the resignation of Kenny Dalglish in under 140 characters, in which case we know where you live and our brutal retribution may not leave a lot of spare time for getting new content up. So in the meantime…

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Category: Champions League, Miscellaneous, Premier League, Team News

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poorscouserbobby

We suck again!
James Tyrrell

http://www.theanfieldwrap.com/... Great article on Rafa
purify_the_body

Their podcast was killer this week, too...Didi Hamann(~!!)
James Tyrrell

Ye they do great podcasts with good banter. Love the German Scouse accent on him, seems like a sound gent!Could do with him in next few games!
justin

Spotted this somewhere on twitter, "Let's face it, Hodgson would've been assassinated had he spent £35m on Andy Carroll. #lfc"

Well, the truth is, Hodgson wouldn't have spent £35m on Carroll, he'd have splurged it on Ol' Mighty Carlton Cole.
jpr

And we'd still be in 15th place.
Parkje04

The day I trust ESPN for my football news is the day I quit drinking. But still....thoughts? Do we need a striker? Don't we need a holding midfielder more?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/n...
purify_the_body

We don't really need a holding midfielder, though a good one would be quite welcome. We need creativity and goals in attack, any players who are "clever" as Rafa used to say -- anyone who has quickness, technique, close control, game intelligence.

An out-and-out striker would be fine, but along with him we need someone like Jovetic, Hoilett, Moses...anyone who can beat a defender, whether with pace, dribbling, or clever movement.

At the moment we are predictable -- so the opposite of that, please.
Geoff Twentyman

"We need creativity and goals in attack, any players who are "clever" as Rafa used to say -- anyone who has quickness, technique, close control, game intelligence"

Yes, yes, yes yes yes.

A holding midfielder inthe deep lying playmaker mould rather than destroyer mould to compliment Lucas would be ok.

and either a Nasri/Silva type attacking midfielder or classic no 10 perhaps, plus a proper right sided midfielder/winger.

Jovetic would be class.
Geoff Twentyman

Would he be alluding to Lucas Barrios?

The future's not looking bright for Kuyt...
Parkje04

That's what I love about the article. They mention that one of the strikers is a "South American playing in Holland" but then go on to name Defoe and Moussa Sow. Quality, right there.

Barrios is playing in the Bundesliga, so no idea who Grobbelaar was referencing. Could be a bunch of hogwash too.
Geoff Twentyman

Lol - its important to get my facts right before posting!
Geoff Twentyman

Uraguayan David Texeira perhaps?
Parkje04

Apparently we are only buying Uruguayans now. Your suspicions could be correct.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/spo...
Suarez from the car park...

I was shocked how good Sporting's nextgen team were and presumably Spurs are too. It made me moderate my praise for our new academy team.

If we do buy a striker it will make me happy. I can't see us extending Carra's contract, maybe 1 year, but we still need to get the other strikers firing.

Carroll just isn't moving like he was before his injury. Our physical department need to up their game with him and get him sorted. I think that's why he looks out of sorts. You have to think and act quickly in the PL - it's why it is unique, and he clearly isn't doing that.

A bit more early movement, being on his toes not his heels would make all the difference. There's no doubt if he can move himself into a bit of space he wins the headers and cracks the ball with his left foot.
purify_the_body

Actually, there were articles saying the first thing we did when Carroll came in was put him on a more serious training regimen, including weights. When you look at his Newcastle highlights, he looks leaner and more dynamic...so it may be that our 'physical department' are already to blame for some of his troubles.
Red2death

Sporting's academy is perhaps second only to La Masia(?). Maybe one of the top South American ones could rival. I may be exaggerating out of ignorance, but I do know they are very much respected in terms of developing quality footballers. So, kinda sad to see us being simply outclassed by them, but it's not the end of the world.

Borrell and Segura have had control of our development program for some time now. But they haven't had as much influx of quality young talent as Barca or probably Sporting. Ideally they'd want kids like Gerrard who join at 8 years of age and mature at 20 or 21, completely steeped in the system. As of now our best performers are still those we managed to poach in their teens as and when we had money to (which was quite seldom until this year).

I still have high hopes for our academy. But it'll require a lot of patience. On the right track.
Redarmy

I think the quality of the academy is not the only important thing. You have to give those 18, 19, 20 year old guys a chance to play in the first team. Very rarely a 19 year old will be a better overall player than an established 28year old starter.
Now if you really believe in developing your own players you play them anyway, even if someone is not an instant hit, you have to find out by playing him.
Just look at Flanno, he was forced to play and he was a revelation. But we go out and buy Enrique, who definitely is a better overall player than Flanno, but at the same time it kills the idea of 'developing your own players'. When will we see him again? in 3 years?
fastrail

Agree with you about the striker (and so do everybody else I bet). And yeah Sporting really had a fantastic academy and produces a lot of fine players down the years. Maybe we should look at their example on how they manage their youngsters.
ShedYourYellow

DALGLISH RUINS FOOTBALL. BRING BACK HODGSON 2K12.
NotTooXabi

Don't panic. I speak fluent peyote. *finds decoder ring*

BAD TROLL, SOIL A LUNGFISH. OH, BRING BACK 2K12 DONGS.
(yes, actual anagram)

Picking up what you're throwing down SY2. Insightful. Pass the brownies.
jpr

I see you found Ed's peyote. But, you were supposed to save it for Ed.
ShedYourYellow

THAT TWO HEADED WALRUS HE WAS TALKING ABOUT IS AWESOME.
Ed

Stop being so selfish.
James Tyrrell

Roy Evans is the man for the job! A co-manager anyone??
fastrail

YEAH WE REALLY NEED HODG....WAIT WHAT?!!
KC

Does anyone here know more about Esteban Granero? We've been rumoured with him quite a lot
ShedYourYellow

As a Madrid fan myself, I don't have very strong feelings about Granero; that could just be due to lack of playing time and an inconducive playing environment.
Geoff Twentyman

24, hasn't quite made it at Madrid, I think it would be a bit of a gamble personally....
fastrail

I really really love to see one or two players from the reserves get a game or two before the season ends. I mean cmon our youngster are highly rated and with all the praise about how talented they are, I bet a lot of the supporters would like to see some of them in action for the first team.

I understand the worries of getting them in the first team too early and ends up underperforming but it's not like our first teamers are doing that good either. I bet some of them are even better than our first teamers (just an opinion, no facts to back that up lol).

Well that's how I feel, cause there had been a shortage of heroes coming from the academy these past few years ala Gerrard, Fowler (I won't mention Owe....almost). How about you guys? Would you love to see one or two of them in action now or wait for a few more years?

p/s: and I was very disappointed that Kenny didn't put Coady in the game vs Stoke, not even on the bench. But I guess he had his reason, he's a man with a footballing brain after all, not me (I mean tactically).
KC

The thing I'm most scared about is that because they're young, they injure easier and if someone tackles them or they get injured badly, it'll ruin them. But that's kinda the same for every player so I don't know why I'm that worried after all
Geoff Twentyman

You've certainly got to mange their integration to the first team. I had this discussion yesterday - Insua was thrown in too quickly and after initial success he started to look overun. Yet Pacheco has never been given the chance. Both are now plying their trade elsewhere.
fastrail

Yes, was quite dissapointed with how Pacheco was managed. I thought he looked good in a few games he's played.
Geoff Twentyman

I think Kenny's in a hard place. I think he'd like to bring some of them through, but he's in a results driven business.

If you are really going to put stock into your academy, then we should have a cull of the older squad players and start using the academy ie au revoir Aurelio, Robbo is going to start when we rotate Enrique, and if Robbo is unavailable, then Smith gets the nod.

Thats a brave move though and you'd need a strong say 16 man first team squad to pull that off.
fastrail

You made great point on that. I do still hope Kenny will give one or two run for some of them later this season though.
Geoff Twentyman

And I agree tha Coady should have at least been on the bench as an option as a holding midfielder - yes its a step up, but surely thats better than shoe horning in someone else not suited to the role....
Redarmy

If you really put stock in your academy, you sell Glen Johnson tomorrow, so that Kelly can start
Geoff Twentyman

Thats on the premise he's seen as a future right back and not centre back where he's played the majority of his football.
nebhamoo

I think back to last season when flanno and robbo got a start and how excited we all were to finally see some really exciting youngsters on the pitch, and I a little disappointed that the king for all the initial talk about being the link between the first team and the academy that he has not used any this term...but the 4th place which we seem hellbent on not grasping has probably made it more difficult, however if you think about what we have been missing in attack it is a real go-getter, someone who has something massive to prove and I think in that situation getting a mentally strong kid from the academy may actually be beneficial to the entire squad. There's also a knock on effect when the older blokes are shown up by the youngsters it tends to raise their own game, case in point is Glen Johnson, probably playing career best football at the moment and I'm certain having Martin Kelly clipping at his heaps has a lot to do with it.
fastrail

Sorry for the double post, fking Disqus.
AdamSonOfIstanbul

From what I can remember, Spurs had one helluva a group stage. Should be a tough ask of the young boys, but having watched more reserve team LFC this year than any other, there are a few similarities between the reserves and the first team, and the most obvious has been inconsistency. Would be absolutley thrilled if we could go deep in this tournament.
purify_the_body

Not happy about Carra getting any kind of new deal unless it is necessary to speed up his retirement and cut his current contract short. Stop being sentimental and get his bloated salary off the books! We need that money for a good young player who can contribute something to winning titles, not to keep paying creaky old has-beens because we get all sniffly about their glory days.
Red2death

Why the debate around extending Carra's contract? I'm not his biggest fan, but the fact is we don't have experienced defensive cover. Agger's touch and go, so is Skrtel's form. Coates is inconsistent, and it looks like Wilson and Coady aren't ready to step up yet. Besides, all three of the latter are very young, and experience, leadership and a level head is what you need in the heart of defence, even if it comes at the expense of pace. Given that, why not have Carra around for another year?
purify_the_body

Because he's done and without the nostalgia of Istanbul he wouldn't even merit a spot on the bench. His contract is absurdly expensive and goes until 2013 already, why waste even more money?

Think about it, all the fans this week saying they miss Meireles who left because we refused him a raise that is probably 1/4 of Carra's wages, how if we are a big club we wouldn't have to sell...and meanwhile we are paying incredible amounts to geriatric over-the-hill has-beens like Carragher and Joe Cole. Cole and Aquilani will be moved off the books ASAP, and so should Carra.
Geoff Twentyman

Shanks rebuilt the side more than once and Paisley was pretty ruthless at letting the older players go - even legends.

I'm conflicted on this one.

As Carra is already 33, its not as if we're going to get much money by selling him, so it makes sense to have his experience n the books, but I don't like the idea of him stunting the development of Coates/Kelly or Wilson.

Gerrard is a slightly different prospect because at 31 he's still got a couple of seasons left if he's used correctly but he'll effectively end his career here too as we've missed the opportunity to cash in on him (looking at it from a purely business sense) due to his injuries.
prad

Even from only a business point of view, I don't think it ever made sense to have sold Gerrard. T-shirt sales alone probably recover his pay, and frankly, bad fan morale is bad business. After Nando, if Gerrard had also left, we'd probably have so many depressed fans (including me) that the only happy people would be liquor store owners.
Anyway, it's painfully obvious that apart from Suarez and Lucas, he's the only true world class player we have that isn't a defender or Reina.

(Sorry, I know you aren't suggesting to sell Gerrard, I just get irrationally defensive of the man regardless.)
Suarez from the car park...

It's good to have experience to draw upon and of course we wouldn't get rid of Gerrard, but getting rid isn't necessarily a bad thing.

We should learn to do without Stevie and build a team that is going to have to do that.

In a lot of ways the current purchases were aimed at that, with Hendo needing a couple of seasons, Adam in theory the experience in the centre, Jay coming along. Lucas to hold the fort.

However despite hendo's mobility, we haven't got a real advanced Midfielder to take the place of Gerrard, or even to line up with him. With Lucas there, Adam could move forwards but he's no Gerrard replacement.

Perhaps we need that 4th spot to attract those players.
At the end of the day, whether it's Adam or Hendo, they must give us a goal contribution which is the big worry (think VDV and Modric).

The wide men should add something but currently only Maxi does that. And we have to have 2 strikers firing at least 15 goals/season each.

It's a tall order from where we are now.
jpr

Maxi gets into the box. Adam and Hendo don't. Are they scared? Ghosts?
nebhamoo

Shelvey and his dong?
Luis Suarez dentist

I kinda see both sides with this one.

Carra is a legend and it's good news that he will become an ambassador for the club. But from a purely playing point of view it does seem strange extended the contract of a veteren second choice centre back whos best days are behind him.

Nice to hear a fellow Liverpool fan on here talking about winning titles. Sometimes I think people have forgotten about all that and think that scraping top 4 is success.
jpr

No one here is content just with top 4. Henry's stated goal is to bring an EPL championship to Liverpool. Top 4 is what we want this year as a reasonable goal...to get us into Europe. We all want an EPL title. Especially while Stevie G. is playing at his peak. And not just one.

Carra and Stevie G. as ambassador's and coaches at the club is the way it should be. Who better than those 2 guys? Great move for the club and great move for Carra and Stevie (5 more years for Stevie, though).
alex_snow2

Moussa Sow has just said he would love to play for Liverpool. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG PLEASE CAN WE GET HIM PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Geoff Twentyman

Sow would be a bit of a gamble wouldn't he? A bit of a late developer who has only really 'done it' in the lower standard french league for the last two seasons.
jpr

January 16th, 21 games, 24 goals (3 or 4 OG?), 7th place. Please, Lord Jesus, take a gamble on a striker or two. Even if we have to sell a few players at a loss over the summer, who cares, we need goals. We can't do much worse in productivity than our recent signings. We'll be getting Luis back, sure, but we need some help. We need and deserve Europe this season.
Geoff Twentyman

Yeah but check his previous seasons stats; I'm not saying he'd be a poor signing, I'm saying that last season was a freakishly good season since being with the club since 2004 - all other seasons he's not got into double figures.

Saying that, stats aren't everything and its his style of play which is just as important - no more square pegs and round holes.
purify_the_body

He wasn't with Lille since 2004, just joined in 2010 and was part of an attack that featured Gervinho, Hazard, and Cabaye...that's another level above what we have at Liverpool.

He definitely took full advantage and scored a lot last season, but it's hard to say unless you watch Lille every week to what extent the lower goal tally this season is down to Lille losing Gervinho and Cabaye last summer.
Geoff Twentyman

No thats right, his scoring record was poor with Rennes.
jpr

That's what I like to hear GT. Round pegs in round holes. It's the "lightning pace, unselfish play, lightning change in direction, leaving defenders for dead, clinical finisher" quotes that pique my interest. I did see the recent goal explosion stats, though. We'll see if any truth to it. Let's go you REDS.
fastrail

You're being too excited..is he really that good (as your comment suggest?). Personally I've never seen him play...and he's not well known (at least for me, idk bout him at all). Players that I know at Lille are Hazard, which I know is an unrealistic target and our lovey-dovey little Joey. But if he really has lightning pace and a clinical finisher like jpr suggests, then I suppose it's a nice change from a slow , big and 'strong' striker.
jpr

$16 to $20 mil transfer fee for a striker who would make a difference immediately. Reports say he has lightning pace and is a clinical finisher. Apparrently we will be discussing Sow with Lille when we finalize Cole's move. Let's get him. We also may be in for DeFoe and some South American striker plating in Holland. Would be nice to get two clinical, pacey strikers, eh? It would break me out of my recent depression anyway. A little excitement in January.
nebhamoo

Firstly let me start off by saying that I think football manager and games in the same ilk should be banned because they provide people who don't have a clue with a "reference" as to why they really truly do have a clue.

But in saying that, the time surely must have come for us to either use the academy or buy some strikers that can score right now, not a season or two from now, with a defensive record like we have this season we by all rights should be at the top of the table this year.
Geoff Twentyman

We need to sign Hummels (regarded as the best young defender in Germany), M’Vila (the best Defensive Midfielder in France), Hazard (the new Messi), Gotze (The new Ozil) and Neymar (the most talked about prospect in world football)’

Then we wud b top of da league.
jpr

That's only 5 guys. Let's go for ALL of them. Top of da damn league. It's where we all want to be.
Geoff Twentyman

Sorry jpr, i was going along with nebhamoo's post about football manager games and their ilk.

Those 5 woul prbbaly cost in the region of 200m plus exobitant wages and they're probably all thinking about Utd, Cit or Chelsea's $$$$, Real or Barca, Inter or AC Milan and perhaps Bayern before us.
jpr

GT, I was joking pal. I'm familiar with the $ for transfer fees and wages.
jpr

If we had Torres at his peak and Suarez, we would be lighting up the league. That was the original plan. Although, it's debatable whether Nando would ever get back to his peak after the injury.

Everybody has an opinion about who would help us. I could care less whether it's an "expert" one or not. I still want to hear the original thoughts and other commentors opinions. If someone here offers an opinion and it is shit, they will hear about it. (Nicely, though).

We need goals, now, obviously. The academy (IMO) won't provide them. We need someone in his prime. A pacey striker who can finish clinically is just what we need. Is Moussa Sow that guy? I don't know, never saw him play. I know he's been lighting up the French League and Arsenal and Spurs are interested. Was looking for other guys thoughts here.
Geoff Twentyman

Thats right, the academy should be providing players like Kelly/Flanno/robbo, who can be integrated in over a more medium term rather than throwing them in at the deep end and seeing them flounder.
fastrail

Yes we need pace real badly, and not Downingesque pace, more like Bellamyesque pace, or better. And I wonder who that South American striker is.
Geoff Twentyman

Uraguayan u20 David Texeira - plays for groningen, bought for 1.5m earlier this year nad scored 7 goals.
fastrail

Wow..you got quite the intel...have you seen him play?
Geoff Twentyman

No, I don;t get to watch enough global football, but he made an impressive start for Defensor which earned him the move to Groningen this summer.

This season so far its 13 starts and 7 goals, but they signed him as an unkown for 1.5m, so there must be some insider knowledge on his ease of transition to eredivisie for us to be uin the hunt for him.

I don't have any other scouting knowledge like his style of play etc, this is just o
jpr

You are the man GT. You know about 50 guys I've never heard of much less seen play.
Suarez from the car park...

Would we really go in for Defoe? At his age? I know we need a finisher but he'd likely demand a 4 yr contract and a hefty wage.
fastrail

Well I just generalize what we need. Not certainly Defoe and I am very much not into him joining us. Just a player who could provide us with a burst of pace like Bellamy and one who can do better than Downing/Carroll at this fucking moment.
jpr

Looks like Sow fee is more like $8mil. Some talk also that Lille would accept a Cole for Sow switch. So, might cost very little out-of-pocket.
Geoff Twentyman

Then for 8m or a swap, its worth a gamble anyway. 8m is squad player money.
Suarez from the car park...

the speculation is nearly interesting. The Taxeires chap (Uruguayan) is only 20 so would be one for the future not for this season really.
Don't know anything about Moussa, let's hope he's not a Sow (!)

Defoe follows the EPL tried and trusted route, but that clearly has it's drawbacks!!

If someone teaches Downing to shoot curlers into the corner rather than blasting it, it might do some good.
jpr

Bellamyesque pace for sure. Clinical strikers with pace who can finish. Midfielders who can get in the box and take on defenders and burn them easily. This shit with one guy or even two guys in the box with 4 or 5 defenders to beat and no midfield support has got to end. Against Stoke we didn't complete one pass in the box and I don't remember any midfielders running at defenders with pace into the box either. We don't even challenge the keepers with those 25 or 30 yard shots. High or wide or both. The only guy I can remember trying to run at defenders near the box was Coates. My head is going to fucking explode.
fastrail

Yeah it's quite depressing with the "one guy in box trying to score a goal thing". It's been like that since Rafa days. Put in a crosses and then only Torres in there (sorry for mentioning him), right now it's Carroll. If you look at Man Utd(again sorry for mentioning them, they are a great example of getting people into box when a cross come in) they had like 4 players in the box to make things happen, that's why they still able to nick a goal even when they're playing badly. I wonder if we are really afraid of counter attacks THAT BADLY, thus the one man in the box thing.
Scotty

Couldn't agree more. Been playing that way all season. In contrast, look at the goal Rooney scored against Man City in the Cup from open play. Man Utd win the ball, get it wide and then there are 3 or 4 players to aim for in the box very quickly.
jpr

That was one nice damn goal. Rooney wins the ball, plays it out to Valencia then sprints into the box. Great cross from Valencia into Rooney's path and clinical header from Rooney. Nani and Rooney both on the end of the cross. We have one or two stationary guys in the box to float balls into with 4 defenders marking. So frustrating.
jpr

The ManU example is a perfect one. When they cross into the box, they have 4 or 5 guys waiting for the ball, so they always look like scoring from those crosses. We have one guy in there with NO support. So even when Andy heads it back it just goes directly to a defender. Why are we so afraid to get numbers in the box? Are we so worried about the counters? We'll still have plenty of guys defending. And quality defenders, too. It's still not easy for teams to counter from their own box against us when we have 6 guys defending. With 3 mids coming back. It's so frustrating.
fastrail

True. I thought I was the only one seeing the ManU tactics like that. Whenever I saw them play almost everytime they scored a goal because they put a lot of bodies in the box. And everytime I always thought "why can't we put bodies like this". Sad to put ManU as an example but it's true.