After Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles’s goal scoring exploits in January and February, there was justifiable praise for the Portuguese international’s performances. He scored some important goals in the Merseyside Derby against Everton as well as the winning goal against Chelsea away from home. After not scoring at all since his arrival from Porto in the summer, his goal against our Merseyside rivals was a start of a hot streak in front of goal which got many praising his contribution to the team.
Since then however, many Reds fans have noticed that the Portuguese star has gone off the boil slightly. Considering Meireles has never been a prolific goalscorer in his career, he was never going to become a 15 goal a season man overnight despite his good form in front of goal, but it has led some to ask what else does he contribute to the team other than goals?
I have heard suggestions that as he doesn’t tackle as well as the best defensive midfielders, or pass as well as Xabi Alonso used tp, he might not be as useful as some have stated over the past couple of months. I disagree with this assessment though as Raul has one fantastic attribute which will hold him in good stead for his entire Anfield career: his ability to make forward runs.
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You may say, well doesn’t every midfielder make forward runs? Well, no. Although there are many midfielders who like distributing the ball from deep with their passing range, or to run at opposition defenders with the ball, the ability to make a perfectly timed run from deep to carve open an opposition defence is a fine art, and Raul just has that knack. He will never control the midfield area with his passing range or go in with crunching tackles but he will always be a threat around the opposition penalty box.
Useful one-two passes, runs late into the box, venomous long range shots; he is in many ways similar to Steven Gerrard and it has caused a problem all season in my opinion as to where to play the pair. It hasn’t always been a problem this campaign as both have had injuries but when both are fit, Dalglish has tended to play Gerrard deeper while Meireles has played more advanced. Of course, this is when both players have played centrally as Meireles has invariably been moved wide right, and even wide left against Sunderland to ensure the midfield has enough midfield bite.
Especially with the return to fitness of both Suarez and Carroll, the temptation will be to play them as a pairing, leaving one less place in midfield. Against Sunderland, Meireles was moved wide left so he could be accommodated into a 4 man midfield, but he was noticeably less effective. The question in the long run will certainly be how to fit Gerrard, Suarez, Carroll and Meireles into the team without sacrificing their best attributes. The problem may become especially apparent if, as expected, Kenny Dalglish looks for wingers in the summer
I am big fan of Meireles and believe he will only get better with every game as he slowly adapts to the Premier League in his first year. We may begin to see the best of him next season, but the question remains that if he doesn’t play in the position that bests suits him, as an attacking central midfielder, will we actually see him at his best?
Read more of David’s articles at Live4Liverpool
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