First choice left-back?

[comme]

Inspired by a thread on another board, I wanted to settle who Liverpool's first choice left back is when fit.

Please play along.

John Arne Riise, Fabio Aurelio or Alvaro Albeloa?

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Here are my thoughts on our left back situation.

Riise - Used to be the first choice left back. But he has been disappointing as of late. He gets turned inside out by any quality right sided player, and also lets players in behind him way too easily. And his usual positives of the occassional goal and quality set piece has dried up as of late. Also he tends to suck at putting balls into the box. Maybe he is just in poor form.

Arbeloa - Arbeloa is right-footed. So that hurts him a little bit right there. But he gets forward well, and he can be very effective in shackling a certain player on the opposing team (see CL against Barca last year). Not really a threat or helpful on set pieces. But he is a solid defender and a decent offensive threat if he can combine well with the midfielder.

Aurelio - Yet to see the best from Aurelio. But if he is fully fit and in form I give him the nod as our first choice left back. For three reasons. 1. He is left-footed. 2. He is sound defensively. 3. He is still an offensive/set-piece threat. I would like to see Aurelio stay healthy for a long stretch of time to see what he can actually do with consistent playing time.

Final thoughts. If we are playing a team with out a ridiculous right sided player I would start Aurelio, otherwise Arbeloa gets the nod for his defensive abilities. Otherwise, I would pick Aurelio, then Arbeloa, then Riise. That all being said, I think we can find a better left back out there and would like for Rafa to try and sign a quality left back that is on par with Clichy, A. Cole, Heinze, Alves, etc.

[Grinners89]

Inspired by a thread on another board, I wanted to settle who Liverpool's first choice left back is when fit.

Please play along.

John Arne Riise, Fabio Aurelio or Alvaro Albeloa?

As i said to you on that other thread (yet you didnt agree)...our #1 LB is Aurelio

[AussieLFCfan]

Arbeloa. I'd prefer him on the right though. I think Finnans legs are slowing down. We need to buy a first choice LB in my opinion.

Then run with....

Arbeloa(Finnan)----Carra(Hyypia/Hobbs)----Agger(New)----New(Aurelio or Riise...whoever doesn't get sold!)

[Twenty26Six]

Inspired by a thread on another board, I wanted to settle who Liverpool's first choice left back is when fit.

Please play along.

John Arne Riise, Fabio Aurelio or Alvaro Albeloa?

We don't have one, really. But, by default - it is Riise.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

We don't have one, really. But, by default - it is Riise.

That's true I guess. The question is who is the first choice left back, not who we think should be the first choice left back.

[Twenty26Six]

That's true I guess. The question is who is the first choice left back, not who we think should be the first choice left back.

Yea, I think Benitez is forced to pick Riise by default. I really don't think we have a legit LB at the moment.

[revelationx]

Arbeloa seems to have the favour of Rafa at the mo. It seems he is being consistently picked and has generally risen to the challenge. Despite his age he is relatively inexperienced in terms of first team football. Arbs is probably our most improved player from last season. Kewell does not count as he did not have a last season apart from 3 games at most.

[Grinners89]

Arbeloa seems to have the favour of Rafa at the mo. It seems he is being consistently picked and has generally risen to the challenge. Despite his age he is relatively inexperienced in terms of first team football. Arbs is probably our most improved player from last season. Kewell does not count as he did not have a last season apart from 3 games at most.

Are you talking about LB's or left sided players...btw who have been the people voting for Riise...the thread is who would be our first choice left back when all three players are fit...clearly he has shown that his attacking and defending is worse than Arbs and Aurelio...if you have been voting for Riise, then im absolutely shocked

[revelationx]

Are you talking about LB's or left sided players...btw who have been the people voting for Riise...the thread is who would be our first choice left back when all three players are fit...clearly he has shown that his attacking and defending is worse than Arbs and Aurelio...if you have been voting for Riise, then im absolutely shocked


I was talking about Kewell in the context of improved players from last season.

I voted for Riise. He is the first choice LB for Rafa or at least ths was clearly the case at the start of the season. Aurelio is plainly behind Riise in Rafa's mind. You may consider Riise to be in worse form than Fab or Arbs but that was not the question. If you ask me who I would prefer at the moment it would probably be between Riise and Arbs depending on the opposition attackers.

[Grinners89]

I was talking about Kewell in the context of improved players from last season.

I voted for Riise. He is the first choice LB for Rafa or at least ths was clearly the case at the start of the season. Aurelio is plainly behind Riise in Rafa's mind. You may consider Riise to be in worse form than Fab or Arbs but that was not the question. If you ask me who I would prefer at the moment it would probably be between Riise and Arbs depending on the opposition attackers.

I dont see how you can prefer the lesser player when we have 2 other options...id much rather see an inexperienced Insua play at LB instead of Riise. Benjani scored that goal because Riise got caught ball-watching (something hes made a good habit of recently) and then when he managed to close him down and try to fix his initial error, he defended Benjani to the outside when EVERYONE knows that you defend goal-side of all players so that they have to take the longer route. Another example, Matt Taylor just came on and Riise again got caught ball watching and Taylor just waltzed behind him and if the pass was better he wouldve been able to have a shot on goal, yet due to the poor pass he wasnt and from the resulting foul and free-kick we were let off. Near the end of the game we were on the counter and Riise saw an opportunity for one of his diagonal balls and hit it straight into a portsmouth player and it went out for a throw. He also added no attacking threat or support for Kewell/Aurelio throughout the whole match and all of the free-kicks that he took were harmless. SG took one free-kick from the byline and hit it onto Hyypia's head...if Riise cant do this then he should move away from the ball...period. These examples are only in the ONE GAME...if you want me to explain ALL of his errors and mistakes then ill keep going.

[el-capitano]

If he could stay fit, I would say Aurelio, before Riise. I like the red headed lad, but he's way down from where he used to be at the moment.

[revelationx]

I dont see how you can prefer the lesser player when we have 2 other options...id much rather see an inexperienced Insua play at LB instead of Riise. Benjani scored that goal because Riise got caught ball-watching (something hes made a good habit of recently) and then when he managed to close him down and try to fix his initial error, he defended Benjani to the outside when EVERYONE knows that you defend goal-side of all players so that they have to take the longer route. Another example, Matt Taylor just came on and Riise again got caught ball watching and Taylor just waltzed behind him and if the pass was better he wouldve been able to have a shot on goal, yet due to the poor pass he wasnt and from the resulting foul and free-kick we were let off. Near the end of the game we were on the counter and Riise saw an opportunity for one of his diagonal balls and hit it straight into a portsmouth player and it went out for a throw. He also added no attacking threat or support for Kewell/Aurelio throughout the whole match and all of the free-kicks that he took were harmless. SG took one free-kick from the byline and hit it onto Hyypia's head...if Riise cant do this then he should move away from the ball...period. These examples are only in the ONE GAME...if you want me to explain ALL of his errors and mistakes then ill keep going.

Look, I gave my opinion. If you don't agree that is up to you.

Using an example of one game to prove a point is ridiculous. It is clear that Arbeloa has missed out on certain challenges that have cost us more goals this season than Riise. His positioning at set-pieces needs to be improved.

You seem to not like Riise and that's your choice. I, however, do like Riise. He is pretty solid and dependable with great stamina. It is clear that he has not been in the best of form this season but you make him sound like a chump similar to Bramble or perhaps Senderos. This is not the case. Aurelio played a few really good games last season and then got injured just as he was displaying a high level of consistent play. He has not had the playing time this season yet to demonstrate he is ahead of Riise.

Arbs has exceeded all expectations and as I said is probably our most improved player from last season. However he is still inexperienced at this level and at LB. Riise is experienced and especially so at LB. It may be the case that Arbs becomes our first choice LB but I see him as cover for LB and RB and possibly a replacement for Finnan down the line.

You claim you would prefer Insua instead of Riise? So you'd have played Insua against Man U and would rather play Insua at Chelsea and Inter in Feb instead of Riise who has played in 2 CL Finals! That's extremely bold of you!

I am not trying to argue with you, mate. The question was asked and I gave my answer. This differs from your answer but you'll have to live with that. You seem to think that choosing Riise to start a match rather than Arbs or Fab is some sort of shocking heresy when really it is not controversial at all. Arbeloa is enabling Rafa to rotate our fullbacks to a degree and Rafa picking Riise for some big games is hardly newsworthy like dropping Crouch or Torres has been.

It may be the case that if Riise does not recover his form he will play less and be replaced. That's fair enough. As it stands in my mind he is still first choice LB. There are good reasons for supporting the case of Arbs but the position of first choice LB is not clear cut at this point. If it was then there would be no discussion on this point would there? There is no thread asking who is Liverpool's first choice Keeper is there? This is because there is no doubt about that answer. The LB question though has several possible answers and not merely one.

[Matt Clark]

We, of course, don't have a first choice left-back. Anymore than we have a first choice player in a range of positions all around the spine of the team. One thing that is rarely remarked upon when assessing Rafa's purchases in the transfer market is that he will always strive to buy complimentary players, building up a range of skills in any given position. He inherited Riise, who is dynamic, strong in the tackle, tireless and usually fairly concentrated. He added Arbeloa, who is defensively the equal of Riise, doesn't do the barnstorming stuff like him, but does distribute better. Aurelio completes the set as the one who is probably the least assured in a pure defensive role, but offers the most going forward. Insua is, like many of the players Rafa has bought, perhaps not really intended for consideration as part of this picture yet.

Rafa won't stop there of course, it will be continual evolution. Had Heinze come in, Riise would have probably been gone by now. As it is, I can see him going in the upcoming window because Rafa needs the funds and because he may actually have decided that Insua can step up for the second half of the season after all, but as what would amount to third-choice LB in a more explicit hierarchy than we have now. Although of course it all depends on who Benitez has in mind as an addition: we know he thought about Chiellini and also, of course, that Kaladze was in his sights. One of those goes ahead and it's ta-ta John Arne, always to be remembered for that goal against the Rags and the ten bazillion aimless punts from the left-back spot since then.