Liverpool have made one of their better starts to a Premier League season this campaign, accumulating 10 points from a possible 15 and are currently sitting joint third in the standings.
But the Anfield club is struggling with symptoms of “Jekyll and Hyde” performances between the first half and the second.
During the first half, Brendan’s charges reveal their beautiful, attractive and riveting side of their personalities as they look a class above their bewildered opponents. The vigorous Reds dominate possession, push-up the pitch and strangle their opposition with a high-pressing game. Liverpool look to use intricate passing and clever movement in the attacking third to break down defenses when holding possession.
In the second half though, particularly after the 60 minute mark, a metamorphosis of the team takes place as Liverpool take-on the form of their ‘darker’ side!
Possession based football is abandoned and replaced by deep defensive tactics as the Reds sit back to protect Simon Mignolet’s goal with the team looking to counter attack quickly using the wide midfielders Jordan Hednerson and Victor Moses. Brendan’s tactics are also reliant on long balls from deep within the Liverpool half for Daniel Sturridge to chase.
It feels like watching two completely different teams!
During the first three games of the league season, reverting to such defensive tactics could be described as the realistic and logical approach with Brendan Rodgers looking to defend a one-goal advantage. Many hailed this approach as pragmatic. But as pragmatic as Rodgers could be, he is still the same man who said the following:
"If you are better than your opponent with the ball you have a 79% chance of winning the game".
Had Rodgers been able to follow his philosophy against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, his side would have won the contest.
The “pragmatic” approach would have been to sit deeper and defend the one-goal lead but surrendering possession and gifting the middle of the pitch to The Swans was far from practical. The tactic implemented only invited more pressure from the Welsh side who in-turn looked a class above their rivals in the second half.
This got me thinking…something must be forcing Brendan’s hand to relinquish his philosophy after the 60th minute?
The answer came to me during the second half against Southampton in the Premier League match at Anfield.
For the first time this season, Liverpool had to chase the game in the second half and the cracks started to show. With no attacking influence from the fullbacks, due to the injury to Glen Johnson and the unfit Jose Enrique, the attacking impetus from the Reds center midfield became vital if the Reds were to find a way back in the second half.
Unfortunately, neither Lucas nor Gerrard produced the impact required.
Both Gerrard and Lucas looked tired beyond 65 minutes and it only got worse as the game wore on. Gerrard, who only produced two key passes throughout the 90 minutes, could not marshal the attack from a deeper position nor could he rely on his usual engine to push closer to the Southampton penalty area.
Lucas, who was also moving up-field, struggled against the Southampton pressing and gave the ball away on several occasions. The Brazilian, impaired by his fitness, also failed to win key duels in midfield.
Eventually, Brendan’s side could only muster 4 attempts with just one on target and most importantly, no goals.
Furthermore, with The Reds forced to use Gerrard and Lucas further up the pitch, the Reds left space in the middle of the park which Southampton used to instigate dangerous counterattacks. This resulted with Southampton creating eight attempts, six of them on target.
With Liverpool playing deeper and looking to defend a goal advantage, Lucas and Gerrard have enough in them to close-down their opponents and ensure space is covered at the back. But, as an attacking threat, Liverpool’s current center midfield partnership lacks the fitness requirements to pose any impact beyond 60 minutes.
This change in tactics during the second half has Liverpool producing the following stats:
Stats after 5 Matches
|
First Half
|
Second Half
|
Possession Average %
|
54
|
46
|
Total Attempts
|
38
|
25
|
Total Shots on Target
|
19
|
8
|
Total Goals
|
5
|
0
|
League Position
|
2
|
18
|
Abysmal reading for Brendan Rodgers!
The Liverpool boss discussed the apparent fitness issues in a recent interview with The Times:
“Funnily enough we have sat down this week and looked at that. For me it has been mostly in the last two games.”
“We intentionally dropped our lines a bit deeper against Aston Villa because of their pace, and that was fine. Against Manchester United we dropped too deep, too quickly. Even though we looked comfortable that was not the type of game we want to play” Rodgers continued.
“And against Swansea we were very good in the first half but were not how I expected us to be in the second half” concluded the Northern Irish coach.
Despite the Liverpool boss playing down fitness issues ravaging his team, the backroom staff at the club must make the resolution of this issue top priority if the Reds are to continue their chase for the Premier League top-four successfully.
*Data collected from Squawka.com and Football365.com
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