KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Christian Poulsen

I was in Copenhagen yesterday and watched Denmark defeat Iceland 1-0 at Parken.

It was great to see Agger and Poulsen link up with the national team and I paid special attention to Poulsen's style of play (I'm not a Dane so it was my first time watching out for Poulsen).

He's probably the most unspectacular player you can imagine. Nothing fancy about his game. Just good positional sense, quick closing down as a DM. He's not like mascherano who charges around like a pit bull. More a seasoned DM who knows where to be at the right place at the right time. Most of his passes are 'safety bets' sideway or short passes (a bit like Hamann) even though he plays in a deep role like Xabi when attacking (but without his superb passing ranges). However, he knows when to launch accurate through passes or crossfields as and when needed. Being the captain of the team, it's obvious he is an integral figure in the national setup. Very seasoned and well respected. The prim and proper 'shirt tucked-in' captain. His job was to protect the back 4 and he did the job well with no fuss.

He should be a useful squad player for us but one thing I noticed is his apparent lack of pace. I'm concerned because we play at break neck speed in the league and he might be terribly exposed in that sense. I just hope his good positional sense will cover that flaw.

Certainly, I know poulsen since couple of years.. First of all, i didn't appreciate u comparing him with masch!! Its not necessary to have same type of player wen some1 leaves.. The objective is to feel the gap left by masch and i think masch came to anfield to feel the gap left by hamann, so was masch same like hamann huh?? As far as i know poulsen he will feel the gap fairly well.. Certainly, he will not score or create many but he wil surely kick ass of many.. Poulsen is a very strong tackler..
A DM doesn't need to have pace!! The thing is a DM is a tactical player who has the job to read the tactical approach of opponents and then stop them!! A DM will rarely run after a player because his job is to limit the ball flow into opponents' midfield.. So my opinion poulsen will position himself in front of central midfielder to close them down and stop them from feeding the stikers.. So wats the use of pace for DM?? I suppose u don't expect poulsen to chase walcott, isn't it??

Actually I disagree.

If you observe Poulsen's game and I'm sure you know, he plays very deep. When the CBs go up for corners or free kicks, very often he plays as the holding last man. Or he would tuck in and cover when either RB or LB ventures up.When the opposition breaks and counters, he faces the task of closing down and chasing opposition forwards/wingers with full length field behind him. So the possibility of him chasing a walcott is certainly very possible!

Well, u are partly right on defending set pieces.. Poulsen will certainly hold back but he will not be alone back there.. Carra rarely goes to attack set pieces.. Eventually if carra moves forward for set pieces then The other CB will hold back.. Carra will be the last man and poulsen will be there too but he will be looking to break the counter attack right away rather than chase walcott.. Football is an unaccurate science, u cant predict anything.. But in case poulsen find himself the need to chase walcott, probably he wil make a professional foul and get himself booked rather than play tom and jerry with pacy players like walcott!! Just name me 5 DMs anywhere in the world who have got pace.. The main purpose of DM is to play in-between mid and def and not play behind def but there are situations where CBs are nowhere near and DMs find themselves the last man so that does not point to having pace otherwise reina wud need to be pacy as well coz often he is one on one with forwards!! lol

What I've observed of Poulsen continues to be the same. Boring, unspectacular play. An absolute pain to watch at times. He is no alonso in terms of passing the ball, no grit in winning the ball like masch, no driving energy like stevie when we go on a break, just an unspectacular player who doesn't offer us much. Sorry to compare him with the best but that's what LFC is about isn't it?

Some people slag Lucas off for our negative play on sunday... but I would apportion half the blame to Poulsen as well. Even masch was more inventive than him as a DM and I think that's saying a lot.

Thing is Im willing to give Poulsen a chance, Lucas has had about 100 chances to show me what his got to give us and so far Ive been pretty unimpressed by him. Poulsen has had about 6 chances so I would rather see him start ahead of Lucas.

If Poulsen continues to play as he is I cant see him being at Liverpool for long. In the games he's played a part in so far he's offered nothing.

better than lucas imo. but those two should never be allowed to play at the same time again.

i think poulsen can do a job for us if paired with meireles or gerrard. he's more powerful and more secure with the ball than lucas is.

now that cole is back and meireles is ready i can't see any reason why lucas should start a game in the league in the coming months...

Im interested to see how Roy accomodates Cole, Gerrard and Raul. Obviously all three have to start. Raul replaces Lucas obviously. But who will Cole replace, Poulsen or Jova?

Roy could just go for it and play 4-3-3 with Kuyt and Cole behind Torres and a midfield centre three of Raul, Poulsen and Gerrard. Poulsen would hold deep and Gerrard would roam forward and wide right to deliver the ball, same goes for Raul who has played left midfield. Obviously Cole and Kuyt could play the channels too. I think with those 6 we would have lots of creativity and both Cole and Kuyt would get in the box to help Torres and so could Raul or Gerrard when those move out wide.

yea that would be interesting to see. i believe poulsen and meireles will be playing together with gerrard in front of them. cole will probably be at one of the wings despite the "promise" of a central role.