Champions League Final Buildup: Liverpool

Rafa had predicted way back in January that the two finalist would be his reds and ac milan. How true he was. Liverpool come into this game after a poor run towards the end of the league season. The reason behind this is mainly down to the fact that rafa was protecting his prized assets and fielded out weakened sides.

For the final, Liverpool will be definitely missing out on two players. luis garcia and favio aurelio are both out due to long term injuries. There are also doubts on the fitness of mohammad sissoko. Other than those 3, rafa will have a full squad to choose from after zenden,dudek and kewell have been passed fit for the game. So how will they line up?

Rafa is a nightmare for football pundits. One can never really predict his first team lineup. Remember the 99 game run where he did not field the same lineup for 2 consecutive games. So predicting his lineup will be near impossible. Here is how 18YB feel Liverpool will line up. We could be dead wrong of course.

From all the hype and media reports, we see the side playing a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1.

4-4-2
We say a 4-4-2, which would surprise many parties, because there has been reports that alonso might be on the bench for this game. This could mean a central midifeld pairing of mascherano and gerrard. The wide positions would be filled with pennant and riise/kewell. Many rumors have mentioned that kewell will be starting. The two strikers up front would then be kuyt and crouch/bellamy. The expected back four fielded would be finnan agger carragher riise/arbeloa

reina
finnan carragher agger riise/arbeloa
pennant gerrard mascherano kewell/riise
kuyt crouch/bellamy

rafa often dont play with two out and out wingers, so riise or zenden could play ahead of kewell if pennant starts. And if gerrard starts wide with alonso in the middle, kewell would get a start. Basically he prefers one of his wings to be more defensive.

maschernao will be defensive and play as front sweeper in front of the defence. Gerrard will be the more adventurous of the two, with runs from deep. kuyt and bellamy looks like a good pairing of strenght and pace. A kuyt and crouch pairing lacks speed. If they are to go with the latter. Expect them to bomb crosses into the box for the two front men. Reports have mentioned that Liverpool had been spotted practising crosses yesterday. A 4-4-2 formation will see them be more adventurous in attacking. Expect balls out wide to bypass the central midfield of Milan who often plays narrow.


4-5-1
This is the formation which we feel makes more sense and more suited for this game. THe back four will make up of finnan, carra, agger and riise. The central midfield will see the strongest the reds can field with masherano, alonso and gerrard. If reports are true alonso could be dropped for the better defender, sissoko. Wide players would be pennant and kewell/zenden. The lone stiker would most likely be kuyt. rafa seems to prefer the dutchmen over the other two.

reina
finna carra agger riise
pennant mascherano gerrard alonso/sissoko kewell/zenden
kuyt

If this system is employed, Liverpool will play the counter attacking game. They will set out much more defensively than a 4-4-2. This formation will match Milan's central midfielders in terms of numbers. This formation aims to stop the passing and movement of milan's midfield. Mascherano and Alonso will be protecting the defence whilst breaking up the attack. Gerrard could play that free roaming role behind kuyt. This is better than him starting down the right where gattuso can keep him quiet ala ronaldo. Give gerrard to license to roam to keep milan constantly on the backfoot looking out for his movement.

The wingers must ensure that they pick out the attacking fullbacks of Oddo and Jankulovkski. They must be disciplined in retreating to position when not in possession of the ball. An alternative is to pin teh fullbacks back not allowing them to move up by playing further forward. Milan is expected to play with one striker so expect agger to be man marking the man while carra be the covering man. Kaka is the dangerman but we dont expect any particular man marking job on him. Liverpool will play a zonal defensive system and Kaka wil be picked up when he enters the zone corresponding to Alonso or Mascherano's area of coverage. They will have that system in place to handle Kaka.

Bu then again, we are talking about rafa so we dont really know whats in store do we?