The Curious Case of Liverpool FC

It is difficult to criticize a team that is currently in the Premier League’s top four after a solid start to their season but Liverpool have been a team plagued with conundrums across each and every aspect so far this campaign – a factor that has left critics wondering how much have the Reds really developed during this 2013/14 Premier League season?

To find out, let us take a closer look at the enigmas swarming Brendan Rodgers and his men…

Attack:

With 25 goals scored in the first 13 games in the Premier League, Brendan’s men are currently the third highest scorers this campaign behind Manchester City and Arsenal. In terms of chance creation, the Anfield club also maintains a lofty ranking as they lie fifth with 146 chances created.

The SAS are playing a major role in Liverpool’s attacking success as they are the league’s most prolific strike partnership in England with 18 goals between them – but, apart from Sturridge and Suarez, only Gerrard, Coutinho, Moses and Skrtel have found the net for their club this season.

If we take a closer look at the goals Liverpool have scored after 13 games, we notice that 10 goals have come from set pieces – in fact, The Reds did not score a single goal from open play during their last two games away to Everton and Hull City with the goals coming from a corner, a direct free kick, a crossed free kick and another direct free kick by Steven Gerrard at the KC Stadium.

Liverpool have struggled to create enough chances from open play during the last couple of matches.

Brendan Rodgers preaches “Possession and Penetration” and his club is certainly maintaining the lion’s share of possession in their Premier League contests so far with an average of 53% but Brendan’s men are not showing enough in terms of breaking down opposition defenses.

This could be due to the creative deficiencies afflicting the team’s center midfield, wingers and fullbacks. Steven Gerrard, despite the question marks on his fitness, leads Liverpool’s assist charts with six while Jose Enrique lies second with two assists prior to his injury. The worry though, is that only Allen, Henderson, Sterling and Cissokho have notched in assists from open play.

Under Rodgers, Liverpool rely on the attacking impetus of the fullbacks, wingers as well as the forward movement from center midfield to supply the frontline. With the fullbacks mustering only three assists and the wingers notching in with just a single assist so far, we notice a drought in the input from two of three critical supply lines.

In attack, Liverpool are overly reliant on Sturridge and Suarez while Steven Gerrard’s inspirational influence is yet to be replicated by another member of Liverpool’s first team squad.

Defense:

Defensively, Liverpool have conceded 16 goals in their 13 matches so far this season, averaging 1.2 goals per game – an average which is similar to the club’s defensive record last season. 

As a statistic, this might not seem too alarming but if we consider that Brendan’s men have allowed 28 attempts on goal in the last two matches against Everton and Hull City then that is certainly becomes a cause for concern.

Simon Mignolet was forced to produce a series of one-on-one saves at Goodison Park as the Toffees rained-in a total of 12 shots on target.

Liverpool have been stricken with several injuries to their defensive ranks with Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger, Kolo Toure sidelined while Jose Enrique is not expected to return before next February.

Meanwhile, Martin Kelly’s prolonged return from injury and Aly Cissokho’s loss of form only seems to make Liverpool’s squad look thinner in terms of fullback options.

The injuries though, are not the only reason behind the defensive inconsistencies for the Reds this season – Brendan Rodgers must raise his hand and accept part of the responsibility for that.

The Liverpool boss is yet to settle on a stable back four or even a first choice center defensive partnership with Kolo Toure, Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho competing for the vacancies. 

The chopping and changing of the back four, whether forced through injuries or due to managerial decisions, are not allowing the defenders to build the chemistry and understanding akin of a solid defensive unit.

Liverpool have only kept one clean sheet since the 1st of September, which came during the demolition of Fulham at Anfield, and since then the Reds have conceded six goals in two away matches.

It is not all doom and gloom for Brendan’s men defensively with Martin Skrtel showing resurgence in form while Mamadou Sakho has the makings of a domineering center back for the coming years. The key though, is for Rodgers to settle down on an established back four to take the team forward for the rest of the season.

Squad:

After the recent defeat to Hull City, the Liverpool boss stated: “The quality of our squad isn't big enough to cope with two big players (Sturridge & Coutinho) like that missing. No doubt it was a disruption.”

Liverpool have struggled with injuries and suspensions to attacking talent this campaign with Suarez missing from the first six matches of the season, Coutinho and Aspas injured for six weeks and now Sturridge out for up to eight weeks.

Top class players such as Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge are certainly hard to replace but this must not veil critical errors conducted by the Anfield club during the summer transfer window.

Rodgers stressed the importance of adding 20 more goals from new signings this season. Yet, after the conclusion of 13 matches, Liverpool’s new signings have produced only three assists (Toure, Cissokho and Aspas) while Moses is the only new signing finding the back of the net.

After Liverpool’s early foray of signings at the start of the summer transfer window, Brendan Rodgers announced that the focus during the remainder of the summer would be on players who would improve the first team.

Unfortunately for Rodgers and the Reds, apart from Simon Mignolet, none of Liverpool’s new signings have forced their way on to the first team.

Lest we forget, Liverpool produced a rampaging run towards the end of last season with Daniel Sturridge coming off the bench as the Reds deployed Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing as inverted wingers with Coutinho impressive behind Luis Suarez.

The beleaguered Stewart Downing never won a popularity contest at Anfield but Liverpool are yet to replace the tactical qualities provided by their former winger. Moses and Sterling are both right footed and would struggle in cutting inside from the right wing.

In a recent interview, Rodgers confirmed his preference of the 4-2-3-1 or the 4-3-3 but the Northern Irishman does not possess the qualities in his squad needed to implement these tactics optimally.

Another critical first team gap, not addressed in the summer, is Liverpool’s dearth of flexibility in center midfield. Jordan Henderson is a hard worker who could cover several positions and is improving all the time but he cannot provide the creative spark from midfield. Joe Allen, on the other hand, is struggling with injuries and seems weighed by the expectations of playing for the Anfield giants. Steven Gerrard, who will be 34 next May, does not seem to have the fitness levels needed to influence the game beyond the 60 minute mark while Lucas lacks adequate cover.

Failure to add reinforcements in the summer to critical first team vacancies resulted in an imbalanced Liverpool squad which is resulting in confusion to Brendan Rodgers and his back room staff. Running the club sustainably is all well and good but expecting to sign players such as Coutinho at the bargain basement every transfer window is simply unrealistic – FSG, the Recruitment Committee and LFC management must learn from their repeated failures during the summer transfer windows.

Tactics:

Brendan Rodgers has shown tactical adaptability and a sense of pragmatism this campaign as he shuffled his team and personal orders to nullify opposition attack and ensure victory.

This worked a charm when Liverpool gifted possession to Aston Villa who are a team far more comfortable on the counterattack – the Villans struggled to break down the Reds’ congested defense with Brendan’s men emerging victorious. The success against Manchester United a few days later was yet another example.

The Liverpool boss must also take great credit for switching tactics to a 3-5-2 formation. A series of injuries forced Rodgers into a creative solution and the Northern Irishman responded with a tactic which extracted the best out of the players available for selection and amassed 10 points out of a possible 12 before reverting back to his favored 4-2-3-1 formation in the second half against Arsenal.

But, in Liverpool’s world of quandary, tactical ingenuity walks hand-in-hand with strategic errors.

There is no shame in losing to a dominant Arsenal side but the defeats to Southampton and more recently Hull City were extremely avoidable.

Against the Saints, the decision to play four center backs across Liverpool’s back four proved to be a very problematic decision by Brendan Rodgers. Pochettino’s own depiction of the 4-2-3-1 features a very fluent and interchangeable trio in the shape of Lallana, Rodriguez and Osvaldo –Toure and Sakho struggled in dealing with their direct opponents on the flanks while also failing to provide any positive impact going forward.

During the defeat to Hull City, Brendan Rodgers again decided to shuffle his back four with Toure partnering Skrtel in center defense. With the Tigers maintaining a high pressing game throughout the contest, the need for a ball playing center back who could help build attack from the back was there for all to see – Brendan Rodgers failed to act and the result was a very disappointing defeat.

The loss to Hull City also revealed another dent in Liverpool’s armor – the Reds have repeatedly struggled against teams which play with high intensity and an advanced pressing game.

Coutinho, who was superb for Liverpool towards the end of last season behind Suarez in the Trequarista role, has been predominantly positioned on the left this campaign. With Rodgers playing the Brazilian out of position, the youngster is yet to provide a single assist from 557 minutes this season. 

Dilemmas dilemmas dilemmas!

So back to the main question…have Liverpool really improved?

The answer has to be a yes! Liverpool have already racked up seven wins this season – it took the club until December 30th of 2012 to get the same amount of wins last season.

The Reds continue to move in the right direction under Rodgers – but – the main worry for the Merseysiders is their tendency to repeat old errors.

For the third straight summer since FSG have taken over, the club endured a poor transfer window and failed to address key gaps in the first team.

After the defeat to Hull City, the Liverpool boss issued a rallying cry to his youngsters and reserve squad members to stand up and be counted. 

That rings bells doesn’t it? 

Brendan Rodgers issued a similar cry last season after failing to improve the squad during the summer window. It is about time the Reds show a long term approach to their transfer policy instead of shooting themselves in the foot every year between July and September!

During the second half of last season, Liverpool felt like a perfectly synched team with all players pulling their weight in the same direction – the club was not reliant on one or two players being in top form to get the desired three points. This has been the main difference this season – Liverpool have returned to old habits of relying on the star names of their squad. With Gerrard aging and Sturridge now injured, Brendan Rodgers must restore productivity to every single member of his starting eleven in order to continue the Reds’ push four top-four finish come next May.

The Reds are improving, yes, but the club needs to move on from repetitive and continuous blunders. The best news for Liverpool is that there certainly is a massive room for further growth and development.

Sources: squawka.com, transfermarkt.com