Aston Villa vs Liverpool Match Report – 24 August 2013
Over the years, Liverpool fans watched on as rivals went on to snatch three very important points when it mattered most despite having an off-day – you know, that Giggs very late goal at Craven Cottage or when Macheda rifled that screamer at Villa park.
“Bloody Luck” the Kopites claimed!
The Reds on the other hand were often bereft of that “luck” as they saw dominant performances undermined by conceding a late goal resulting in two dropped points and even worse at times costing Liverpool the three points haul. This phenomenon was repeated agonizingly during the Benitez and Dalglish eras and was featured again last season during Rodgers’ first year as Liverpool boss (Liverpool were of course hardly dominant while Hodgson was in charge).
Liverpool FC also needed to play well in order to win – watching Liverpool claim all three points after a bad performance was as rare as David Moyes winning a trophy.
Winds of change seem to be blowing around Anfield these days though!
Brendan Rodgers stuck with the same side which defeated Stoke a week earlier at Anfield. The 4-2-3-1 formation deployed by the Reds relies on building slowly from the back with the fullbacks stretching the play by taking advanced positions on the opposition touchline with Jordan Henderson and Coutinho cutting inside while the LFC forwards interchanged intelligently. Lucas and Gerrard were responsible for marshaling the midfield with the Brazilian asked to play the deeper role.
Liverpool began the game on the front foot against their Claret and Blue opponents with the very fluid front line causing a series of problems to the Villa defense and on the 20th minute Brendan’s Boys made their dominance count. After Agbonlahor was dispossessed in midfield, the ball reached Jose Enrique on the left who drilled a low cross into the Aston Villa penalty box which found Sturridge after a clever dummy by Coutinho but it was all Sturridge after that point – the young England forward skipped past the surrounding Villa defenders and goalkeeper before shooting the ball into the roof of the net.
The goal was Daniel Sturridge’s eighth goal in seven appearances for Liverpool and his second goal in two starts this season.
"Daniel is a player I believe will prove when he is fit and playing that he is one of the top strikers in this division," said Rodgers. "He has all the attributes - he's super quick, has a wonderful touch, a great mover and you saw his finishing and composure today”.
The Reds maintained a high defensive line throughout the first 30 minutes of the match with the forwards pressing the Villa players relentlessly - Lambert’s team simply struggled to make it past the half-way line. Despite their dominance, Liverpool failed to create more clear cut chances.
Lambert decided to change things around during the last few minutes of the first-half as his midfielders got closer to one another and congested the middle of the pitch. The Reds meanwhile dropped deeper with Aston Villa now controlling possession.
The pressure from Villa resulted in a shot by Benteke which forced a save from Mignolet. Andreas Weimann also came close a few minutes later after his shot deflected off Agger and over the net.
The half came to a close with Liverpool leading from the only shot they had on target – odd isn't it!
Villa, who won at The Emirates and performed valiantly at The Bridge, started the second half brightly as they hassled and hurried the Liverpool players. The Villans maintained a high defensive line with Antonio Luna and Matt Lowton pushing forward and Jores Okore allowed to run with the ball.
The Reds meanwhile remained compact at the back and allowed little space for the Villa forwards to maneuver. The Liverpool forwards failed to support the defensive cause at times with Coutinho and Aspas lack of pressure on the Villa players – Rodgers decided to rectify that issue by bringing on new loan signing Aly Cissokho for Iago Aspas with the Frenchman taking the left midfield position and Coutinho moving centrally behind Daniel Sturridge.
As the match went on, a combination of fatigue and nerves affected Brendan’s Reds who became too reliant on hoofing the ball up field and Liverpool’s creativity dried out. The Liverpool midfield seemed outnumbered by the Villa counterparts with Lucas specially looking out of sorts and out of position on several occasions as runners got passed him frequently.
Despite the Villa pressure and possession, they failed to create enough opportunities to test Simon Mignolet. Aston Villa are a team who rely on counterattacks to trouble the opposition and it was evident they lacked the creativity in midfield to carve out opportunities for their forwards when confronting a compact defensive unit.
Lambert tried to force the issue by bringing on Nicklas Helenius with the big Danish forward asked to provide the knock-downs and lay-offs to Christian Benteke. The plan nearly worked as the Dane set-up Benteke who attempted a half-volley which Mignolet saved with a strong fist!
The Villans failed to create more opportunities with Liverpool holding on to maintain their perfect start to the Premier League season.
Rodgers stated: "Our record last year with our goals wasn't too bad. I feel we've got a lot of creativity in the team, but we can't always be the Harlem Globetrotters! It's about winning and for us, a 1-0 is as good as a 4-0 or 5-0”.
As reasonable as that sounds, Liverpool looked tired in the second half. Their energy levels also dropped during the last 15 minutes against Stoke so perhaps The Reds are facing fitness issues?
After the game, Rodgers added: “Tactically we had to play differently today. In the first half we controlled the ball and the spaces well. In the second half, we had to control the zones, defend half a pitch and deny them the space to run into and obviously that means conceding a bit more of the ball.”
Brendan’s Liverpool have been showing tactical adaptability since the turn of the year; playing a deeper defensive line against a counterattacking team after taking the lead was a sound tactical switch.
On this occasion the switch worked due to the following factors:
The first being Kolo Toure who was asked to man-mark Christian Benteke and boy did he excel at it! The Ivorian’s physical presence neutralized the attacking threat of the Belgian striker who was subdued throughout and was only limited to two shots on target. Toure also played a key role in improving Liverpool’s defending from set pieces.
The second was the very impressive Simon Mignolet. Several Liverpool fans doubted the wisdom behind loaning out Pepe Reina and replacing him with the ex-Sunderland keeper but Mignolet has been key to Liverpool’s clean sheet record so far this season. The Belgian keeper is proving to be an excellent shot stopper.
Beyond the performances of Liverpool’s new recruits, a further new addition will take full credit for the triumph at Villa Park…that new addition is Belief!
Liverpool’s determined performance was inspired by the undoubted belief they carried. The Liverpool players believed that they could make it passed the final whistle with another clean sheet. They believed that they had it in them to claim the three points. They just knew that a Liverpool win was the only outcome of the contest at Villa Park!
The Reds are showing plenty of heart and the mental strength thus far with Mignolet’s last minute penalty save at Anfield last week and the team’s gritty performance against Villa perfect examples.
Rodgers concluded: “There's a real togetherness throughout the club - from the team right the way through to the youth academy, we're very much one club. There's no magic formula other than having a vision of how we want to work and everyone pulling together and working their socks off”.
It is still early days in the Premier League this season but if Brendan’s Reds keep this up then the word “Luck” will slowly but surely be replaced with “Belief”.
