Sorry to start another "pick on Livo" thread but I went to the game yesterday (vs Hawthorn) and sat behind the goals so had lot of time to watch Livo.

All he seemed to do all day was sit tight behind Williams which meant Williams just burst on the lead and Livo had no chance.

My question is who is coaching Livo - is SOS having some input because to me he just seems to make basic defensive mistakes. I didn't play AFL but I know that a lot of Full-Back play is about cutting off the angles. Livo seemed to make no attempt to get between Williams and the ball coming down the ground or no attempt to block his run at the ball from in front - he was very one dimensional in playing him from behind and hoping the delivery to Williams was poor to allow him to spoil. Seemed to have no Plan B.

Do you think these are his instructions ?

Good question.

But

For so much of the last few years when Livo could get a game he's been on the big guy, the power forward ie Hall, Lynch, that McPharlin fella. I reckon Livo has done well enough on these guys, although of course Hall did beat him. Perhaps I should rephrase - Livo has been improving and had some good wins.

Williams as a FF has posed some big problems for FB's across the comp, not just Livo. Williams was way too fast off the mark for Livo and beat him hands down. Given the loss of Thornton, our only other options were Sporn (doing well on Franklin), Norman ( Bullants), Morrell (Bullants). Interestingly, Carrazzo played on Williams last time and did well, althoughhe injured himself during that game.

Yes, I acknowledge that this makes Livo a bit 1-sided. But we may just have to accept that Livo can only play on certain players.

besides, when Mal Michael gets beaten at the Bears, what do they do? Have a replacement and swap them over. Our real problem is too much to to few, too many similar 6 foot 3 players who arent anything special. We need to give some support to Livo.

Correct !!
And some of that support needs to come from upfield pressure not just Defenders

_________________
I know a little secret. And i'm not sharing.

Sums up everything..............No Plan B

_________________
All my dangerous friends

Livo is a very average footballer to state the bleeding obvious. He is defintely not a full back and his only hope is if they can find a spot for him on a half forward flank. Surely there must of been better players to come in at #4 in the 2000 draft?

Lastly he needs to take some anger pills. Too f***** nice is Livo. Needs to show some aggression.

Disagree and disagree that it's bleeding obvious. I think he is 1 dimensional and won't be a great for us, but he can be very serviceable and hold down a tough spot in a time where our midfield is extremely leaky to be polite.

Did you see him outmuscle Gehrig only to be penalised by the umps? Did you see him beat McPharlin, Lynch?

What we have is a troubled defence (Waite and Whitnall starting back???) that is getting pounded & pounded. We need a number of new running defenders, a return to form of Thornton and 1 other tall to see where Livo can play. This all reinforces our extreme disappointment in Norman, he could have made it.

But his read of the flight of the ball is pathetic! He really doesn't know where the ball will land.

Put a Silvagni or Michael on the opposition best forwards and Livo would be obviously be higher rated if he was taking the opposition 2nd or 3rd best forwards.
But he at least puts his body on the line unlike talented players like Houlihan and busts his ass out there on the field.And hopefully his taking the bigger forwards will extend Thornton's career who is even more undersized than Luke.

A lot of our backs were having trouble with that yesterday. I noticed Teague and Whitnall totally mis-judge a few too.

Livo was a poor choice to play on Williams but sadly the only choice. Maybe Waite could have been tried, maybe Fisher, but Livo lacks legspeed for the smaller players.

It WAS good to see him have the confidence to leave his player, run forward to receive the ball and kick it to Fevola for a shot at goal.

Maybe Karl could've been given the job on him??

Livo was a forward as a junior IIRC. I'd like him to complete a full season unhindered by injury before making any final judgement on him.

gee that Welsh stitched up Archer today - who's teaching him how to play back?

_________________
This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

Livo was far from a perfect matchup for Williams. We don't really have a proper matchup for Williams or smaller full-forwards. Carrazzo played on Williams the first time before going off injured but even he wasn't a great matchup. I would maybe have gone with Teague and Livo on Franklin early on but even then Teague is a bit slow. So we didn't really have an outstanding candidate for Williams.

_________________
Formerly Blues-Back2003.

Leave Livo alone he has been good this year.
Imagine blaming our woes on Livo....

He will be back bigger and better next year...

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

If anyone did some research on Livo they would know that Livo had one of the quickest sprints off the mark in the 1999 Draft Camp. He may have been our only defensive choice on a quick leading player like Williams.

Probably Norman was the only defender on our list that could have been a better match for Williams - but for reasons best known to the MC he is not in the senior team.

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

The one that sent a chill up my spine was Teague on Everitt.

Yeah, what was that about?

_________________
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

Teague was playing on Franklin at that stage...Franklin followed the ball up the ground, Teague stayed back as a loose man and picked up Everitt when he drifted forward.

Remember Manton playing very well on Everitt despite giving up plent of cm's. Manton and Teague different players though.

_________________
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

The club have no choice but to continue with Livo and hope he improves...Williams was always going to be too slick and even in one on ones he is no mug in the air either.
Livo needs some real coaching in the art of Fullback play and I dont where he is going to get it from..Libba, Mitchell, Elshaugh...all midfielders..Carey a forward...what is SOS doing at Collingwood and what hope does Livo have of really learning quickly with expert guidance...Have we a defensive coach ina similar role to Carey?

_________________
"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

McPharlin kicked four yesterday against the Dees and only 1 on Livo last week.So Luke can't be that bad if he can hold an athlete who is great overhead and lightning quick to 1 goal!