Brendan’s Reds have walked away from their
first 5 fixtures with a similar result – 1 point earned against Man City Liverpool ,
with a new manager, adjusting to a new system, played against established sides
that finished 1st - 2nd - 3rd the season
before. Kenny’s Liverpool
from last season managed 2 points in the exact same fixtures – and he had the
fortune of not having these games in such close proximity to one another, at
the start of the season. And anyone sensible who watched the matches under
Rodgers would have seen that stupid defensive mistakes (and a “complicated”
referee, in one case) undermined positive performances in all 3 fixtures.
But of course, many Liverpool
fans were, and still are, even with the recent 7 points from 9 available,
insistent on judging the team too early, and losing total faith with the system
and Rodgers himself.
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| Rodgers' tactics differ in important aspects to those of Dalglish |
Rodgers
vs. Dalglish
That’s not to suggest the results are
acceptable. Of course they are not. Liverpool are hardly the type of club to be
satisfied with even the recent 7 point recovery (against Norwich, Stoke and
Reading) that has culminated in a
current 12th place slot in the league table. I’ve seen these sentiments echoed on social
media, informed blogs and pub conversations, and the concerns seem to be the
same. Would results be different under
Dalglish? Is Rodgers really the man to
take the team forward?
We can’t know what the results would have
been under Kenny, but of course, so many things would have been substantially
different, and all we could do is speculate about the transfers, the tactical
decisions and, ultimately, the results.
Can we really know if Kenny would have offloaded Charlie Adam? Would he have even considered someone like
Joe Allen?
There are clear signs to read in the
Rodgers regime, and one just needs to pay attention to them. Some fans suggest
that Kenny’s Liverpool also prioritised
passing and held possession well. The
statistics do correspond to this. But
there is a marked difference in the approach under Rodgers. Liverpool
now play far more patiently, dominating possession to far greater levels, with
less emphasis on a more direct attacking style.
It’s not to say that a patient approach hinders the effectiveness of the
attack – in fact, I’d argue Liverpool’s ability to penetrate defences is better
now than it was under Kenny. At times,
it sometimes felt like Kenny’s Liverpool
relied a little too much on that flash of individual brilliance from someone to
make the difference in a game. Under
Rodgers, that reliance is decreased to an extent, because the team’s tactical
approach is far more conducive to being more creative in the final third. We’ve seen goals this season from various
players, and what’s been encouraging is the fact that many of them have come
from midfield already – Gerrard, Sahin, Shelvey. Suarez may have missed a ton of chances under
Rodgers – but I’m struggling to remember him getting so many clear, obvious
chances under Kenny. We can bemoan Andy
or Luis’ conversion rate under Kenny, but good chances were at a premium. Now, the team is better configured to
creating the right quality of chance, as opposed to a huge quantity of them.
Under Rodgers, Liverpool
are also, quite significantly, playing 4-3-3 and similar variants (4-2-3-1,
4-3-2-1, etc). Kenny often used a 4-4-2 system.
Kenny also focused on very different types of players, and prioritised
different technical qualities - for example, if he was still manager, would
Suso have played as much? Or would we
still see Stewart Downing bombing crosses expectantly, hoping for bodies in the
box? Would we have been hoping for one
of Carroll’s rare standout performances as opposed to the intelligent off the
ball movement of Borini? Again, it isn’t
fair to speculate, but it isn’t clear that Kenny would have applied Suso and Sterling
You
can’t win anything with kids… or can you?
Alan Hansen’s infamous quote above has run
miles in my head since the season’s start.
Rodgers has been true to his word about playing those who illustrate
that they are good enough. If the likes
of Sterling and Suso can keep someone like
Downing on the bench or out of the squad, it says a lot about the tactical and
technical priorities of the Liverpool manager.
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| The young boys delivered well against Young Boys of Switzerland |
I, for one, cannot help but feel a
significant debt of gratitude to Rafael Benitez. The legacy he has left in the academy with
bringing players like Sterling , Suso and Shelvey
to Liverpool may well be his most significant
long term contribution.
Rodgers’ application of the “kids” is
significant. The 3 mentioned above along
with Wisdom, Allen, Borini and Coates have all had moments of sparkle – some
more than others (Sterling and Allen have
arguably been Liverpool ’s best players thus
far this season). Rodgers has had no
favours done to him by recent history - Liverpool ’s
last few transfer windows have had more bad memories than good. Ex-Red Dietmar Hamann emphasised that point
in his recent tweet about Liverpool’s spending last summer in particular, which
set terrible precedents in what Liverpool pay
for players, not to mention which players were chosen to be signed. Imagine for a moment if instead of Downing, Liverpool had pursued Juan Mata, as was rumoured. It could have been the Reds dialling
9-Juan-Juan on occasions where attacking impetus was required.
But as it is, Rodgers is getting some
unique performances out of the youngsters.
The Capital One Cup match against West Brom was, for me, Liverpool ’s most complete performance thus far, if
nothing else because a significant number of Rodgers’ boxes were ticked.
Patience, possession, passing, penetration.
Defending with the ball. And a
winning goal which was ultimately created by the system, not by one player’s
unique individual brilliance. Most of
the team that produced that was 22 or younger, with only Downing, Carragher,
Assaidi and Sahin as the “elders” in the team.
From a transfer point of view, Rodgers’ gem
is by far Joe Allen, and I hardly think many Liverpool
fans will disagree that a midfield 3 of Gerrard, Sahin and Allen looks far more
intimidating than last season’s dysfunctional configuration of Downing,
Gerrard, Adam and Henderson. When Lucas comes back, it’s going to be
intriguing. We haven’t had a midfield
orchestrator of Allen’s quality, with fantastic awareness, ball control and
passing touches since a certain Xabi Alonso marshalled the midfield. If Allen and Lucas (in theory) are automatic
first choice players, it could be an interesting competition between Sahin,
Shelvey and Gerrard for the final attacking midfield spot (especially
considering Gerrard’s form is mixed at present).
Improvement
needed…
Naturally, the positives need to be taken
account with a sense of perspective.
It’s clear that while Liverpool has
made progress, there are still several things that they need to work on.
One thing that has been very common in Liverpool ’s adoption of the system is the issue of
holding the ball, especially when defending a lead. The match against Reading
was a blatant example of how not to do it – it became more “death by football
for anxious Liverpool fans” rather than for
the opponents. Ironically, I think it
was still an important result. Liverpool produced a 6/10 performance with a clean sheet
and 3 points, and most importantly, got away with it. Notwithstanding the striking issue, and
Suarez’s inability to score the “easier” chances, Liverpool have to be
realistic that until they can recruit a quality #9, they need to get used to
defending with the ball and stacking up the 1-0 wins. That’s why, in a strange way, the
disappointment of deadline day has a unique silver lining – the lack of the
goalscoring punches means that the team will be forced to master certain
aspects of the system which otherwise may have been treated with complacency.
Understandably, it won’t happen
overnight. After all, typically if
Liverpool is 1-0 up, one doesn’t exactly expect the voices in the Kop to cheer
for defending with the ball. The last 10
minutes against Reading were completely characterised by long “Hollywood”
passes down the field, anxiously being chased by Sterling and Suarez, but
ultimately resulting in careless turnover of possession. Liverpool eventually needs a mindshift, and
the execution on the pitch will follow.
I would argue, ironically, that the 2nd goal would have been
far more likely to arrive if the ball had been retained better. Reading, needing to chase the game would have
tired themselves out and overcommitted in attack, leaving far more favourable
spaces for Liverpool to exploit. And
besides, one thing that we can all guarantee is that it would be impossible for
Reading to get back in the game without the ball; hence the importance of
making them work for it!
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| Gerrard's form has been mixed in terms of adapting to Rodgers' philosophy |
One of the biggest culprits here is Steven
Gerrard. This is dangerous territory for
me to criticise – after all, Gerrard often plays that long ball because his
vision allows him to get away with it and the result is often outstanding. I hope that Gerrard, and many of the others
who prefer those long passes will take their cue from Joe Allen. He is a great example of the right attitude
towards retaining the ball, playing the short passes that may not be
spectacular, but keeping the ball.
Something else that has been inconsistent
is the pressing and the defensive shape of the team. For example, against Manchester United,
Liverpool immediately defended far too deep following Gerrard’s opener – their
defensive line was just about on the 6 yard box for Rafael’s strike. Man Utd didn’t play their way into
Liverpool’s box through superior skills or attacking movement – Liverpool
practically invited them in. There are
many other examples where the pressing game dropped off, especially against
Udinese, and the 2 goals conceded against Norwich.
Not that Liverpool should be pressing too
much – you can’t press for the full 90 minutes - but that’s where defending
with the ball comes in handy to help the players rest. So the two concepts are always going to be
linked.
Liverpool’s movement to create space and
passing options is also in need of improvement, especially in the final 3rd. Sometimes the players look static and it
takes a skilful move from an Allen (usually) to beat or attract defenders and
open up a pass. It was intriguing that
instead of berating Skrtel’s poor pass to Reina against Man City, Rodgers
instead suggested that he was concerned that Skrtel’s teammates hadn’t given
the Slovakian enough passing options, forcing him into a dangerous pass. I’m sure many Liverpool fans would disagree
with the assessment, but it does illustrate just how the manager wants his team
to implement the system.
Other intriguing issues have been
highlighted – is Suarez really fit as the #9? Once a #9 is signed, will
Suarez be more heavily leveraged as the creator? His assists against Norwich and Reading
certainly provide some evidence. Does
Gerrard warrant his automatic starting place anymore? The form of Shelvey and Sahin, added to
Gerrard’s costly turnovers of possession, do build a case, but there must be
doubts if Rodgers really has the courage to drop the talismanic leader.
There are also hints already of possible
further transfer priorities in January.
The natural #9 is the obvious one, but Liverpool also need further cover
for Lucas (Allen can deputise, but he can’t play every game either!), possibly
Reina (although Brad Jones is certainly playing his way into consideration) and
without doubt, a new first choice left back if Jose Enrique cannot meet the
standards that Rodgers has set (I wonder if the Spaniard is not another name in
those infamous envelopes).
Signs
of progress
But while there are things that need
improvement (and there always will be), there are definitely signs that
Rodgers’ regime is beginning to show fruit.
For starters, Liverpool haven’t had a
controlling midfielder the quality of Allen since Alonso, and that is possibly
an understatement since the Welshman has already drawn comparisons with the
Barcelona maestro Xavi. Allen is just
22, and it’s scary to think the recently crowned Welsh player of the year could
be even better in a couple of years.
Rodgers’ other signings have also had their moments. Sahin already looks a dangerous prospect in
that attacking midfield role, while Borini’s off-the-ball movement has already
paid dividends – check out how he opened up space for Shelvey’s second goal
against Young Boys as an example.
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| Sterling scored the first of many (hopefully) against Reading |
The emergence of Sterling, Suso and Shelvey
in particular into the system is fantastic.
All of them have made significant contributions. Sterling’s impact has been incredible, and
someone of his ability to keep his head up and be more aware of the options
around him can only flourish in a system like this. Suso is also well suited to the Rodgers
style, and his second half substitute cameo appearance against Man Utd was
quick to produce a meaningful attack that led to Gerrard’s goal.
What has been most impressive however, is
how the team has taken to the passing style.
It’s not perfect, but pragmatically, I was expecting the team to
struggle to adapt. That adaption has
been faster than expected. Liverpool
look a far stronger team tactically.
They play attractive football.
They are creating greater quality of chances and even though several
players have been offloaded, the system
is threatening to bring out the best in many players, and suddenly even Steven
Gerrard has potential competition for his 1st team place. Liverpool’s second string side has looked
effective – granted, they lost to Udinese after the wheels came off in the
second half, but the first half performance provided clear evidence of what
they are capable of. They were never
going to get it right perfectly, but the system is coming together. When, as examples, youngsters like Jack
Robinson or Andre Wisdom can play under a system like this and look effective
enough to compete for first choice fullback positions, that creates depth
practically out of nowhere.
The tactical approach is extremely
sound. Only in one game so far this
season has Liverpool been tactically outsmarted – against Arsenal (and even
that may be of debate). The rest of the
poor results come down to poor execution of great tactics, a far cry from some
of last season’s matches where Liverpool’s tactics weren’t always designed to
get them to naturally come out on top.
For example, contrast the home fixture against Man City last season,
where the game was relatively even, vs. this season – Liverpool were by far the
dominant side this time around – points were dropped due to stupid mistakes, as
they were against West Brom. Even with
10 men, Liverpool dominated Man Utd and still deserved the 3 points against the
old enemy. That comes down to the value and strength of the system that Rodgers
has introduced.
There may still yet be speedbumps –
Liverpool enter a difficult patch of fixtures with Everton, Swansea, Newcastle
and Chelsea coming up. But even if the
results aren’t ideal in those matches, the signs are there for Liverpool fans
to see the improvements, if they choose to.
And if we can be patient and allow the team to continue working to
master the system, allow the January transfer window to bring its
reinforcements (hopefully!), and tolerate the results for a bit… it’s possible
that Liverpool could surprise us all.
Time will tell – we need to support in
spite of the results… and be patient.
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