True Grit: Liverpool grind-out win at Villa Park

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”.

Is it the Demise of Tiki-Taka? Is this the End of an Era?

Over the past couple of weeks, the terms “The End of an Era”, “The demise of Tiki-Taka” and “Changing of the Guard” have been echoing strongly across the world of Football. These strong statements were the result of the dominant performances put-in by the German clubs Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich against Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively which sent shockwaves across the globe.

The much anticipated Classico in the Champions League final suddenly became an all German affair!

So let’s take a closer look at the above statements and dissect them accordingly…

1. The Demise of Tiki-Taka

Before we discuss the eulogy of Tiki-Taka, how about we take a look at how the term saw light.

During the 2006 World Cup match between Spain and Tunisia, late Spanish announcer Andres Montes described Spain’s intricate and quick short passing as Tiki-Taka.

So we can define “Tiki-Taka” as a style of football characterized by short passing and movement, maintaining possession and working the ball through the various channels. It is a style focused on individual orders rather than the traditional thinking of a rigid football formation.

But was Tiki-Taka first implemented by Luis Aragones during the world cup in 2006?

The answer is a definite No!

This style of play adored by the football pop-culture first became famous with Ajax under the management of Rinus Michels during the late 60’s and early 70’s although some football historians claim that remnants of this tactical approach was witnessed by Ajax as early as 1915 and by the Hungarian national team in the 1950’s.

At the time, this tactical approach was known as “Total Football” where every outfield player could take over the role of any other player in the team. In Total Football, a player who moves out of his position is covered by another from the same team, thus retaining the team's intended organizational shape. In this fluid system, no outfield player is fixed to a single role; anyone can be successively an attacker, a midfielder and a defender. The only player with a fixed position is the goalkeeper.

Under the tutelage of Rinus Michels, Ajax were to enjoy their most successful era while also leading the Dutch national team to the World Cup final in 1974.

Flexible movement and adaptability are key components for the success of Total Football and so was the constant creation of space as ex-Ajax defender Barry Hulshoff explains: “We discussed space the whole time. Johan Cruyff always talked about where people should run and where they should stand, and when they should not move. It (total football) was about making space, coming into space, and organizing space - like architecture on the football pitch.”

When the term “Total Football” is spoken, the name Johan Cruyff immediately comes to mind. He became the man who personified this tactical style both as a football player and later on as a coach.

During his playing days, Cruyff who was deployed as a forward, wandered all over the pitch and popping up where he can inflict most damage to the opposition defenses (rings any bells?). The players around him would move dynamically adapting themselves around his movement, switching positions to ensure no tactical gaps are left open.

Sounds very familiar doesn’t it?

A version of “Total Football” appeared with the mighty Liverpool teams of the late 70’s and early 80’s under the guidance of Messrs Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish which was simply titled “Pass & Move”.

Johan Cruyff then brought “Total Football” to Barcelona as manager during his tenure between 1988 and 1996, an era which saw the Dutch legend claim 11 trophies.

But, Cruyff’s greatest achievement was establishing “Total Football” as the foundation for the Barcelona sides that followed. The Dutch tactician did not just apply his brand of football only on the first team but ensured the reserves and youth teams were well versed with the requirements to implement Total Football.

After Cruyff’s departure from the Nou Camp, the youth and reserve teams continued to be trained on delicate short passing and movement under the keen eye of Pep Segura and Rodolfo Borrell which eventually gave rise to Barcelona’s golden generation which include the likes of superstars Xavi, Iniesta, Pique and Messi to name but a few.

In the summer of 2008, Pep Guardiola was appointed as Barcelona’s first team manager to take “Total Football” to its next level of evolution.

Guardiola implemented the basics of “Total Football” he acquired under Cruyff with a twist!

Messi was deployed in the “Cruyff” role with Barca’s stars dovetailing around the mercurial Argentine. The flexible movement, adaptability and space creation of “Total Football” was complemented by defending from the front and a high defensive line.

The young Spanish coach, who spent one year with Barcelona’s team B, ensured that his team plays with a high defensive line with his players pressing and hassling opposition players high up the pitch. The Spanish tactician famously stating: "You win the ball back when there are thirty meters to their goal not eighty."

Pep’s Barcelona became a tactical conundrum as they maintained high percentage of possession while they broke down defenses with ease. Guardiola added high fitness levels to the attacking talent of his team while instructing them to defend from the front. Opposition teams did not just struggle with the likes of Messi, Eto’o and Iniesta offensively but were also suffocated at the rare occasions they had possession.

Guardiola’s Tiki-Taka brought Barcelona the most successful season in football history with the Balugrana winning every competition they participated in; a total of 6 trophies.

The dominance of Barcelona’s Tiki-Taka waned during Pep’s last season as teams found ways around the intricacies of this tactical approach.

This season, Tito Vilanova’s edition of the Tiki-Taka continued the downfall witnessed last season - but, is this really the end of the Tiki-Taka?

Perhaps this is the end of the media friendly term “Tiki-Taka” as “Total Football” continues to develop and evolve.

Versions of “Total Football” are now being deployed at several clubs including Ajax, Bayern, Dortmund, Liverpool and Swansea. Football is evolving and the days of long-ball based tactics are dying quickly with the reliance on short passing and high pressing become more common.

“Total Football” will now choose a new home, or return to an older cauldron to continue its adventure of growth and evolution bringing rewards to the team which implements this approach successfully.

2. Changing of the Guard

Now that we have gone over the faith of “Tiki-Taka”, let’s look at the recent regression at Barcelona and the potential change of the guard in European football.

The recent defeats suffered by Barcelona to Bayern Munich have been compared to the 4-0 defeat suffered against Milan in the 1994 Champions League final as an omen for the end of an era at the Nou Camp.

So what happened at Barca over the past couple of seasons that got them here?

Transfers

Before we look into tactics and the difference in approach between Guardiola and Vilanova we’ll start with what I believe is the root of trouble at Barca and that is transfers!

Imagine being a club supporter with Samuel Eto’s as your number 9 – Eto’s just scored over 30 goals in the 2008/2009 season and he is approaching his prime at 28 years old.

Then suddenly, the club you support decides to give your leading scorer away plus an extra 46 million Euros to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovich. Now, no disrespect to Ibra, but Eto’o would cost 30 million Euros at the very least – so potentially, Barcelona just gave 76 million Euros away.

To make matters worse, Zlatan ended up falling out with Guardiola and was then loaned to Milan. Do I need to keep crunching the numbers to depict this financial catastrophe?

Ah, but wait, there is more; see the table below:

Player Name	Signed For (£)	Number of Appearances	Sold For (£)
Henrique	7 Million	0	Free Transfer (Contract Cancelled)
Aleksander Hleb	14.8 Million	19	2 Million
Martin Caceres	14.5 Million	13	2.6 Million
Dmitro Chygrynskiy	22 Million	12	13.2 Million
Total	58.3 Million	44	17.8 Million

The table above shows that Barcelona have suffered a 40.5 Million Pounds Sterling on just four players. That’s a 0.9 Million Pounds per game for the above players!

How much do you think David Villa will cost when he is eventually sold? Are you happy with the contribution of Alexis Sanchez? What about Cesc Fabregas? How about Alex Song?

The above four have cost over 120 Million Euros and none of them are members of the starting eleven!

Recent managers at Barcelona, including Pep Guardiola, have failed to bring the best out of their new signings with the onus set firmly on the players to adapt to the current model.

Adaptability is part of parcel of Tiki-Taka as mentioned earlier but neglecting certain traits in a player who costs over 20 Million pounds and simply asking them to adapt is certainly disruptive to the player, the club and the club’s finances.

Tactics:

There are two main tactical approaches to a game of football.

You have managers like Rafa Benitez who sets his team up to nullify the opposition while managers like Jupp Heynckes looks to dominate the opposition – both managers maintain a good balance between the two approaches though.

And here lies the problem at Barcelona tactically.

The dominant Tiki-Taka has forced several teams in the Spanish League and the European Champions League to throw the towel even before a ball was kicked but to expect that at all times from all teams is arrogant whether or not Barcelona possess the best player in the world or not.

Barcelona have shown a continuous weakness in adapting their tactics against the key strengths of the opposition.

Tiki-Taka forces the opposition to adapt more often than not but what Barca have lacked this season is the pressing high up the pitch thus allowing opposition midfielders more time on the ball thus allowing them to impose their will further.

So is it the end of an era? 

There are so many variables to this question!

Personally, I believe Tito Vilanova should be shown the door at the end of the season – the Barcelona head coach showed a lack of respect to the history of the club in the defeat to Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp by resting key members of the team.

Bringing in a new manager at Barcelona, however, is a dilemma – they need to recruit someone who believes in “Total Football” and that limits the choices available.

Whoever is the manager at Barcelona next season, the team will still possess the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Dani Alves, Pique, Jordi Alba and Messi of course.

You can’t count a team with so much talent out.

The answer would have been far easier if Jupp Heynckes was to stay at Bayern next season as they are the club ready to take the reins from Barcelona.

But with Guardiola coming in, expect the kind of revolution he embarked on when he was appointed by Barcelona. Keeping that in mind, we could see the likes of Ribery, Robben, Mario Gomez depart the club.

If Guardiola was to settle in quickly into his Bavarian surroundings then Bayern Munich will have the edge to start a new era of dominance.

How about the domination of the Spanish Armada?

This is slightly easier to answer.

Spain will remain a force – yes, the likes of Xavi, Puyol and Villa are nearing the end of their international careers but the Spanish youth supply lines continue to produce adequate talent.

Tiki-Taka was first deployed by Luis Aragones to maintain possession and protect a susceptible defensive line and I believe future Spanish coaches will maintain this approach.

Having said that, I believe the current crop of German internationals who were key to Bayern and Dortmund dismantling their Spanish opposition will be crowned with a major international tournament sooner rather than later.

I can’t see a European nation winning the World Cup in Brazil but by 2016 most of the current German stars will be at the ideal age to lead their nation to glory at the European Championship or the World Cup in Russia.

A power shift on the international stage is at hand!

Bayern Teach the World how to Beat Barcelona!

While I reflect on the latest fiasco surrounding Luis Suarez, I decided to take a break from matters related to Liverpool and take a look at the sublime performance put in by Bayern Munich and their coach Jupp Heynckes last night against Barcelona.

Jupp Heynckes is certainly doing his absolute best to ensure Pep Guardiola feels the pressure. On the day that Bayern announced Pep’s first signing, Dortmund trequarista Mario Gotze, Jupp came back to ensure that the limelight returns to where it belongs – the here and the now with the reigning Bayern Munich manager.

Unlike most sides who face Barcelona, Heynckes did not simply set the tactics to nullify Barcelona’s offensive assets and pray for the best – the German veteran prepared his team to impose their will instead! 

Barcelona were allowed possession of the football were it mattered the least – next to Victor Valdes; with Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller pressing Pique and Batra relentlessly. The pressing continued with the disciplined Bastian Schweinsteiger keeping a keen eye on the movements of Xavi and Iniesta while Javi Martinez gave an ideal “Holding Midfield” performance. 

But the real heroes of this triumph were the Bayern contingent positioned on the wings and this is where Jupp eventually won the game. Ribery and Robben formed a constant nuisance in attack forcing the likes of Alba and Dani Alves to reconsider every time they thought about providing the attacking overlap. Bayern’s wingers also produced a responsible performance of the highest caliber as they tracked back to support their midfielders and defenders in doubling up on Barca’s attacking options. 

Meanwhile, Alaba and skipper Philip Lahm were simply perfect – they shadowed the movement of Barcelona’s forward trio into surrender as Messi, Sanchez and Pedro looked inept and futile. 

The center backs were commanding but in truth Dante & Boateng only confronted whatever remained of Barca’s attack with Bayern producing the perfect team performance. 

Barcelona were limited to 2 shots on target and 4 shots in total! 

Yes, Messi wasn’t fully fit and Yes Barcelona did miss the likes of Puyol and Mascherano but you can take nothing away from that German triumph. 

Tito Vilanova failed to alter his tactics – the presence of an out-and-out striker to trouble the Bayern defense was a necessity. In the end, Villa was introduced far too late. 

Jupp Heynckes’ belief in his team is what made the difference – the wily German forced the questions out of that Barca lineup and instilled the right attitude into his players and he deserves full credit to this footballing massacre!

Liverpool's Strengths & Weaknesses - Part II

I have been trying to write this article for weeks but I could not place myself in a state of mind to look at Liverpool’s weaknesses this season on the back of positive results against Swansea, Zenit, Wigan and Tottenham. 

12 goals in the last 3 premier league games, a 3 game win streak and the Reds finally defeated a top 4 team this season. Rodger’s Liverpool seem to have turned the corner at long last! 

Then came Southampton….and the weaknesses I could not get myself to write about suddenly rose to the surface….again! 

So, enough procrastination and let’s take a look at the repetitive errors that have haunted Brendan Rodgers and his Liverpool side so far this season… 

1. Fear of the Target Man! 

Christian Benteke, Romelu Lukaku, Rickie Lambert, Kenwyne Jones – four players who looked like world beaters once facing Liverpool. Hell, even Oldham’s Matt Smith looked like a seasoned Champions League campaigner against the Reds defense this season! 

Liverpool have struggled massively to deal with physical target men this season and the Reds have shown no sign of turning that around. 

Brendan’s Reds have dominated possession in almost every game they have played this season – teams accept that now and the physical sides of the Premier League hit back by the oldest trick in the book – route one football to the big bad target man! 

Stoke City, for example, tripled their attempts of aerial duels when facing Liverpool which produced positive results – Stoke earned 4 points against Liverpool this season. 

The story was repeated again yesterday against Rickie Lambert – neither Agger nor Skrtel managed to keep the big Englishman at bay with the Southampton forward managing to keep possession or earning a free kick on several occasions. 

2. We come not to fight! 

Liverpool have a well documented style of play – suffocate the opposition by dominating possession. 

Too many times this season though, Brendan’s Reds easily accepted being on the back foot if the opposing team decided to put on a fight. 

Oldham showed no respect to the Reds and the Liverpool players were simply bullied by the fight shown by the Owls. Stoke City also dominated the Merseysiders at the Brittania through their sheer physical strength. 

Once the going gets tough, too many times the Reds did not get going! 

3. Slow Starters! 

Brendan’s Reds started several games without the required desire to win. 

Manchester United away and the game against Southampton are perfect examples of Liverpool only coming into the game after conceding the second goal – only a few teams in the Premier League have the capability to win the game after being two goals down and a club in transition simply does not fall under that category. 

4. Repeated Tactical Errors! 

Brendan Rodgers is in the process of adapting his favorite formation to the players he has available at Liverpool. 

The Northern Irishman started the season with a 4-3-3 formation which has recently morphed into a 4-2-3-1 formation but that transition hasn’t quite worked out so far. 

Take a look at the following data: 

Against West Brom, Rodgers started with a solid 4-2-3-1 formation with the midfield comprising of Lucas and Gerrard in the holding midfield roles, Stewart Downing as the Right Attacking Midfielder, Jordan Henderson on the Left and Jonjo Shelvey down the middle supporting Luis Suarez. 

In an attempt to win the game, Rodgers takes off the responsible Downing and Henderson and brings on the lightweight Sterling and the attacking minded Borini – in the 78th minute Shelvey was replaced by Coutinho. 

Two minutes later West Brom take the lead. 

Brendan Rodgers weakened his midfield and left Lucas exposed – Gerrard was asked to influence the game further up the pitch while neither Sterling, Borini or Coutinho offered defensive support in midfield. 

Liverpool lost the game 2-0. 

A one-off? 

Look below... 

Against Zenit at Anfield, Rodgers starts the game with another solid formation with Lucas, Gerrard, Allen, Downing and Henderson in midfield. 

Liverpool dominated the game and scored 3 goals by the 59th minute – they needed one more goal to qualify. 

Again to boost the offence, Rodgers decides to weaken his center midfield options to add more width – Liverpool’s chances dry out in the last 30 minutes and the Reds are eliminated. 

Wait there’s more! 

Against Tottenham, Rodgers starts with an attacking formation with Lucas and Gerrard in the holding midfield role, Downing on the right while Coutinho and Suarez interchanged in supporting Sturridge. 

The Reds failed to control the midfield and were in danger of being overrun in the second half – Rodgers takes off Coutinho and strengthens his midfield by bringing on Allen during the 59th minute. Liverpool end up coming back from being a goal down to win the game 3-2. 

Not convinced yet? 

In the game against Southampton, Rodgers once again starts with an attacking line-up with Coutinho and Suarez supporting Sturridge. Liverpool struggled to maintain possession and lost the midfield battle against a pressing Southampton side. 

Pochettino sealed the game for his team by adding another midfielder in the second half as Steven Davis replaced Gaston Ramirez – Rodgers failed to react to that change and Liverpool lost the game. 

The key to Liverpool’s is by winning the midfield battle – Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing allow the Reds to dominate the midfield as they possess the physical strength and tactical responsibility to track back and aid the holding midfielder. 

Rodgers has a dilemma to incorporate both Sturridge and Coutinho at once in his team - he needs to find balance between the attacking and defensive aspects of his team. 

5. Stubbornness!

We as fans will never have the opportunity to assess players like managers do as they see the playing staff in training daily while we view our favorite stars once or twice a week on the telly or in the stadium. 

Still, one cant but wonder regarding the sheer stubbornness regarding certain players. 

Take Joe Allen for example – Brendan Rodgers insists on deploying the Welshman in the defensive midfield role despite the obvious lack of balance and physical strength. 

I feel sorry for the little guy as he gets shoved off the ball with ease. 

The worst part of it is that the midfield and the whole back line lose confidence when Allen plays instead of Lucas in that holding role – Gerrard does not have the confidence in his midfield partner to move forward and have a bigger influence on the game. The 2 center backs also think twice before passing the ball to Allen when trying to build the attack from the back. 

Another example is Nuri Sahin who recently criticized Rodgers for playing him out of position – now we all believe that a player should put his head down and do as told but when Jurgen Klopp asks: “Whats was Rodgers thinking?” one must stop and take notice.

Now, I cant guarantee that switching Sahin to the holding midfield role next to Gerrard would have worked wonders with Joe Allen playing the forward role but it was certainly worth a try specially in the early Europa League games. 

Again, we never know if this was tried in training or not but the utter stubbornness regarding Joe Allen and certain player roles certainly raises some questions. 

Eight Games to Go! 

Despite all the criticism I highlighted above, I still have great faith in Brendan Rodgers and in his philosophy regarding our football club. 

I believe we are moving in the right direction and the massive improvement in the goals scored this season is evidence of our moving in the right direction.

The young Northern Irishman must adapt quicker though – he needs to find answers to several questions that have repeated themselves all season without proper response; most notably the Liverpool manager must find balance between attack and defense.

He must also be more open regarding certain views, players and their roles. 

Onwards and upwards...

Liverpool's Strengths & Weaknesses - Part I

With two-thirds of Brendan Rodgers’ first season at Liverpool through, I thought this would be the right time to take a look how the Reds have fared so far.

I have divided this article into two parts, the first focusing on the positives accumulated by Rodger’s men while the upcoming second part will shed light into the negatives and the areas of improvement.

Positives:

1. Luis Suarez

The mercurial Uruguayan exploded into life at the Premier League with the excellent performance and famous dribble in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Manchester United at Anfield last season. And despite several magical moments under King Kenny, Suarez failed to establish himself as a goal scorer ending the 2011-2012 season with 11 goals.

Under Rodgers though, the story is completely different.

Luis Suarez already has 21 goals to his name, 17 of which have come in the Premier League. Luis Suarez is the 2nd placed goal scorer in the English top division – a single goal behind Robin Van Persie.

The improvement though is not just in the goal scoring charts; Liverpool’s number seven has improved in almost every attacking aspect – Suarez now more often and hits the target at a higher accuracy. He also improved his chance conversion and clear-cut chance conversion.

Last season, Suarez would convert 25% of his clear-cut chances – this term the percentage has risen to 52%.

The following stats by EPLIndex give us a clear indicator of the massive improvement enjoyed by the Uruguayan so far this season:

Figure 1 - Suarez in 2011/2012

Figure 2 - Suarez in 2012/2013

The way Brendan Rodgers has deployed Suarez this season also resulted in a major hike in the Uruguayan’s creativity.

Suarez is currently second in the top chance creation table behind Everton’s Leighton Baines with the Liverpool forward creating 64 chances this term – the same number he accomplished last season. Luis Suarez is the most creative player in the Premier League from open play with just 5% of the chances he creates coming from dead ball situations.

Here are some numbers collected through EPL Index:

Figure 3 - Suarez Creativity in 2011/2012

Figure 4 - Suarez Creativity in 2012/2013

The telling number in the comparison between the above tables is that of the number of minutes per clear-cut chances created with Suarez needing 319.6 minutes in 2011/2012 while the Uruguayan needs just 197.7 this season.

Whatever Rodgers is doing, it certainly is working with Liverpool’s number seven.

2. Steven Gerrard

The Liverpool captain has been struggling with form and injuries for a few seasons now and perhaps one of Rodgers main tasks was to ensure that Steven Gerrard returns to his talismanic best.

The Northern Irishman devised a special role to Gerrard to maximize his creativity while accepting the fact that the Scouser is no longer the marauding midfielder of seasons gone by as Gerrard simply does not possess the physical strength needed from a box-to-box midfielder. The new role was also influenced by the injury to Lucas at the start of the season which meant that Gerrard would have to assist Joe Allen in dominating the midfield and protecting the back four.

Liverpool’s number eight endured a slow start to the season as he got to grips with the individual instructions handed by the new Liverpool manager.

Gerrard’s role in Liverpool’s new system is pivotal – the focus is on the Liverpool captain to provide the incisive pass or cross. In the games when Gerrard failed to create a telling assist, Liverpool performed badly and suffered negative results (the defeats to Tottenham and Stoke).

As the season progressed, Gerrard was finally able to combine his creative responsibilities with positional discipline and defensive duties. The England captain’s total of eight assists after 21 games is his highest in 5 years.

Gerrard is now leading the Premier League Assists charts with 13 assists – the highest in his career. His previous record was 9 assists in Liverpool’s 2008/2009 campaign.

In a recent interview Rodgers stated: "Steven was outstanding in a slightly deeper role - the controlling role - which I think he can play as the years go on. He can dictate the rhythm and tempo of the game with his passing and invention."

Brendan Rodgers must take credit for the rejuvenated Liverpool captain!

3. Daniel Sturridge

Four goals in his first six games for Liverpool – not a bad start for the player Sir Alex Ferguson labeled a gamble!

Daniel Sturridge has been a revelation since his move to Liverpool showing the confidence he desperately lacked at Chelsea. The young Englishman possesses predatory instincts that other strikers (including Suarez) lack at the club as demonstrated by his timing and positioning for the goals at Mansfield and Old Trafford.

On many occasions Liverpool would create an opportunity which would bounce off the keeper but would not be followed up and the chance would go begging. Sturridge provides a very necessary solution to the problem that has marred Liverpool’s attack over the past few seasons.

Moreover, Sturrdige offers a much needed distraction to the opposition defense who are now forced to keep an eye on the pace and movement of a forward apart from Luis Suarez thus providing the Uruguayan with more time and space.

The partnership has been an instant success with the two forwards enjoying natural chemistry as they linked together seamlessly. In the four games that Suarez and Sturridge have started together, Liverpool scored eleven times.

The gamble is paying off.

4. Man Management

Many managers would come into a club and would simply cast-out members of the playing squad but not Brendan Rodgers.

Perhaps he was forced to give everyone a chance due to the lack in depth of the squad and the lack of the transfer budget but the Northern Irishman made the best out of it.

Rodgers laid down a public challenge to senior members of the squad who were under performing – first it was Stewart Downing, then Jose Enrique and Jordan Henderson and credit to the boys, they all responded by producing their best form since joining the club.

All three responded with their dismay through the press. Stewart Downing had the following to say on the incident: “I was upset but you’d have to ask the manager what he meant by it,” he says.

“I try my best, I’m not one who’s going to run around tackling people, that's not my game, but I always try, I give my best and I’m always available to play, so you really have to ask the manager what he meant”.

Jose Enrique spoke of his anger towards Rodgers’ comments recently: “When the manager said what he did, of course I was angry. I thought to myself, 'Okay, now I have something to prove and I must train even harder'. I didn't want to be ­finished at Liverpool. I wanted to stay here and play under the manager" he continued. "It is true that it worked. He also said some things about Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson, but all three of us are in the team now. I know I have to ­improve to keep my place."

Jordan Henderson, who was offered to Fulham as part of the Clint Dempsey deal summarized it perfectly: “The manager didn't go too far, not at all. What he did was good man management and it has given us all the kick up the backside we needed. It has made sure that the focus is on what we need to do. He was right to say what he said and that goes for the whole team and not just certain individuals.”

We are always reminded of a manager in Manchester and his famous hair-dryer approach which keeps his stars on their toes – Rodgers is making sure that at Liverpool the players must be at their best every week and despite the public groans it seems to be working.


5. Youth

After the summer transfer window closed last September, Brendan Rodgers had huge gaps to fill in his first team squad with positions available across the pitch.

Rodolfo Borrell’s reserves were the biggest beneficiaries as several youth team members joining first team squad with Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom making the jump with distinction.

Brendan Rodgers’ belief in youth was one of the main reasons why he was chosen by FSG as the Northern Irishman continues to give opportunities to Liverpool’s fledging academy graduates.


6. Possession

Brendan Rodgers is a huge believer in “Tiki Taka” – the possession based brand of football made famous by Barcelona.

During his first few interviews as Liverpool boss, Rodgers stated: “I like to control games. I like to be responsible for our own destiny. If you are better than your opponent with the ball you have a 79% chance of winning the game…for me it is quite logical. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are, if you don’t have the ball you can’t score”.

The keyword here is possession!

Well, in Europe’s top five leagues this season, Liverpool are the 3rd highest possession team with an average of 59.4% behind Barcelona and Bayern in the top two positions respectively. (Via @footballadd1cts)

Not bad for the new Liverpool boss who is still within the first seven months of his reign at Anfield.


7. Chance Creation

I know what you’re thinking: “All that possession without creating chances counts to nothing!”

Correct!

But take a look at the following stat:

"Liverpool have had the most shots (425) in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season, but 87 of the 98 teams have a better conversion rate (7.6%)" - (Via @WhoScored on January 19, 2013).

EPL Index defines Liverpool’s style of play this season as: “High general possession, not high up the pitch, very high chance creation, average scoring of goals”.

Brendan Rodger’s Reds are averaging 1.5 more shots per game compared to last season. Liverpool have also seen an improvement in chance conversion – a sign that the Reds are creating easier chances than last season.

Liverpool have also improved massively since the start of the season – Rodger’s men have scored 25 goals in the last 10 Premier League games.

Another very pleasing statistic for the Reds is that the reliance on Luis Suarez seems to be reducing with twelve different players scoring for the Merseysiders in the last twelve games (Via @TheTotalLFC).

Brendan Rodgers is successfully turning possession into tangible results – chance creation and goals!

Data collected from: @TheTotalLFC, @EPLIndex, @WhoScored, @Footballaddicts 

Liverpool Comeback Complete: Significant Win for The Reds

West Ham United vs Liverpool Match Report

Liverpool have scored 19 Premier League goals this season; 10 goals have come from one source, that source being Luis Suarez. 

With Suarez suspended, Brendan Rodgers has the task of taking his team to Sam Allardyce’s West Ham United without 53% of his fire power. 

To replace Suarez, the young Liverpool boss decided to play attacking midfielder Jonjo Shelvey in the “False number 9” position that Suarez usually occupies. 

Prior to the game, Rodgers stated: “There's no doubt that if you are missing Luis Suarez, you are missing a world class striker. Any team would miss Luis but we have got Jonjo who can play in that role. He's an attack-minded player and we have worked that way before”. 

Jonjo Shelvey was indeed the only change to the side which beat Southampton at Anfield one week earlier, with the Reds lining up in their familiar 4-3-3 formation. 

To cover up for the loss of an identified striker, Brendan Rodgers would rely on the quick forward movement into the West Ham penalty area as Sterling and Downing would cut inside while Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique stretching the Hammers through their forward movement down the touch line. 

Lucas continues his return from injury with his second consecutive Premier League start as the enforcer in midfield supported by Steven Gerrard while Allen played the advanced role in a three-man midfield. 

Westham United, on the other hand, buoyed by their impressive 3-1 win at home to Chelsea, restored the dominant Mohammad Diame to midfield in place of James Tomkins while Matt Taylor also returned to the starting line-up in place of Gary O’Neill with Carlton Cole spearheading their attack. 

Liverpool started the game brightly with most of the pressure coming from the right-hand side as Glen Johnson, supported by Downing’s movement, pushed forward to produce a corner in the very first minute of this encounter. The marauding right back continued to be Liverpool’s main outlet and in the 10th minute, Johnson picked up Gerrad’s pass on the right wing before cutting inside past Jarvis and rifled a screamer to the top left corner of Jussi Jaaskelainen’s goal to give Liverpool a deserved early lead. 

The Anfield outfit continued to dominate the game until an injury to Jose Enrique in the 27th minute imposed a change on Brendan Rodgers’ team with Joe Cole coming on for the injured Spaniard. Stewart Downing moved from right wing to left back. 

West Ham’s marauder woke to life a few minutes later as Diame started to impose his will on Liverpool’s midfield with the Hammers now pushing further forward and in the 35th minute West Ham launched a counter attack which lead to Guy Demel shooting into Joe Allen’s flailing arm inside the penalty area and a penalty was awarded. Mark Noble duly slotting home past Pepe Reina. 

The Hammers kicked into higher gear after the goal with the Reds going to sleep. Joe Allen continued his drop in form while Steven Gerrard looks a shadow of his old self. Diame, meanwhile, maintained his domineering presence in midfield. 

While Jarvis struggled defensively against Glen Johnson, he improved massively as the Hammers controlled possession and it was through a right footed cross by the Englishman that West Ham took the lead after Steven Gerrard nodded the cross past his own goalkeeper. 

2 West Ham goals in 7 minutes. Brendan Rodgers was not best pleased to say the least. 

After the introduction of Joe Cole, Liverpool failed to stretch the Hammers’ defense and Rodgers looked to counter that after half-time by switching Sterling and Cole with the 17 year old England international now positioned on the right wing. 

Sam Allardyce also had a switch of his own with Guy Demel going off at half time to be replaced by left back George McCartney to enforce West Ham’s left hand side against Glen Johnson’s offensive runs. 

West Ham began the second half on the front foot lead by the ever-impressive Mohamad Diame with the Liverpool midfield continuously struggling to deal with the physical presence of the Senegalese international. 

Liverpool failed to create much in the second half as Allardyce’s men pressured the Reds high up the pitch thus preventing Rodgers’ boys to build from the back. 

Rodgers brought on the improving Jordan Henderson for Lucas. Another 70 minutes now under the belt of the returning Brazilian will go a long way in restoring both confidence and fitness. 

Joe Allen was moved to play the holding midfield role while Jordan Henderson pushed forward down the right wing. Joe Cole was again moved to the right hand side with the freedom to roam and support Jonjo Shelvey while Sterling hugged the left wing. 

It was a game which was meant to be decided by injuries and substitutions though. 

Mohamad Diame, leading another attack down the West Ham right flank, agonizingly pulled his hamstring and was lifted off the pitch on a stretcher. James Tomkins his replacement. 

The changes made by Rodgers and the injury to Diame produced an immediate impact as the pendulum swung back in favor of the away side. 

Within two minutes, Sterling received the ball on the left wing and cut inside before passing to Shelvey who laid the ball back to Raheem Sterling who in turn spread a perfect through-pass to the mobile Joe Cole and the previous West Ham man made no mistake in placing the a left-footed shot into the net. 

Two Liverpool goals by two former West Ham players. Both showed class by not celebrating against their former club. 

Energized by the goal, the Reds took control of the game and it was through the right side that Liverpool took the lead yet again. This time, Glen Johnson passed the ball to Henderson who used the space behind McCartney to produce a low cross which Shelvey attacked and produced a touch enough to loop over Jaaskelainen. Turnaround complete! 

Sam Allardyce brought on another striker in the shape of Modibo Maiga in place of Mathew Taylor while Liverpool’s boss introduced Sebastian Coates in place of the tiring Joe Allen. Brendan Rodgers now switching the formation to 5-3-2 in order to try and seal the game. 

Liverpool successfully held on to score their second away win this season. 

This win is a very significant for this young Liverpool team. It is a sign of the progress that they are making under Brendan Rodgers. It is a sign that they can score goals without the influential Luis Suarez. This is a Liverpool team with character and this is the first time they have turned a game around this season. 

An ecstatic Rodgers stated: “I think you saw today the quality in the team and equally the fight in the team and that was very pleasing.” 

Rodgers added: "We're just trying to build momentum. We had a difficult opening fixture list and when you couple that with trying to play a certain way of football, it was always going to be difficult. But certainly over the last few weeks we have progressed - let's just see how we finish. We're making steady progress in climbing the league and that's important for us. It's a very tight league this season. We've supposedly had an unbelievably bad season up until now, so once we really hit form we'll be alright." 

A baffled Sam Allardyce bemoaned this “bizarre” game: "I wouldn't have expected five goals today. Liverpool don't concede many but also, at the other end, they don't score many. And then they've lost Suarez, who has scored more than 50% of their goals. You wouldn't expect us to concede three and you wouldn't expect two old West Ham players to score two goals." 

At the end, this game was not about the missing Luis Suarez but was about the Liverpool players who had a history with West Ham United (Jonjo Shelvey trained as a youngster with the Hammers). Liverpool are a mere four points away from the coveted Champions League spots now and with several “winnable” games coming up in December accompanied by their improved form and the returning Lucas Liverpool can look to a positive end of a long 2012.

He Walks Alone: Rafa takes over Chelsea Reigns

“We don’t need to give away stupid plastic flags to our fans to wave, our supporters are always there with their hearts and that is all we need. It’s the passion of the fans that helps us to win matches, not flags. Chelsea fans lack passion.” 

The above quote was made by Rafael Benitez back in 2007, praising his Liverpool supporters at the time – the supporters with the “stupid plastic flags” belong to Chelsea, Rafa’s new club. 

When Rafa left Liverpool in June 2010, few could have imagined seeing the Spanish tactician taking over Chelsea a couple of years later. 

Since his appointment as Valencia head coach in the summer of 2001, Rafa built a very impressive CV by winning two La Liga titles with Los Che in 2002 and 2004 thus breaking the Real Madrid and Barcelona dominion of Spanish football. Rafa’s Valencia did not stop there and claimed a famous double by winning the UEFA CUP trophy by beating Marseille in the final. 

Despite the success of the 2003-2004 campaign, Benitez had a public fallout with Valencia’s Director of Football, Jesús García Pitarch, over control of new signings with Rafa famously stating “I was hoping for a sofa and they've brought me a lamp”. The dispute led to Rafa quitting the Spanish Champions in July 2004. 

Liverpool came calling only a few days after Rafa’s departure from Valencia and Benitez excited by the history of the English club and the potential behind this sleeping giant could simply say no to such an opportunity. 

On the 16th of June 2004, Benitez was confirmed as the new manager for Liverpool football club. During his first press conference as Liverpool manager the Spaniard stated: "It is like a dream to be here. I am very, very proud to be joining one of the most important clubs in the world in one of the best leagues in the world - and I want to win." 

At Liverpool, Benitez continued to establish himself as one of the top coaches in world football by claiming the UEFA Champions League trophy in the summer of 2005 by beating AC Milan on penalties in the final after being 3-0 down at half time. This was followed by another penalty shootout win in the 2006 FA Cup final with the match again ending in 3-3 after extra time. 

Rafa continued to produce the magic in Europe after leading Liverpool to another Champions League final in 2007; this time falling to AC Milan in the last hurdle. 

After the Champions League final in 2007, Benitez was at it again as he publically criticized Liverpool’s new American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett due to the lack of financial support regarding transfers. He said: "I am angry and frustrated. I am working with the Americans but you have to explain the crucial time is NOW. Do they understand that? I'm not sure. 

"You can say, 'It's OK, we will be there', but if we don't spend the money quickly, forget it. I spoke to the owners on Wednesday night and I'll speak to them this weekend but we are moving too slowly. They don't understand when and how to make our move." 

The American owners responded to Rafa’s public attack by signing (on debt) Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Lucas Leiva and Andriy Voronin. 

Despite a solid start to the 2007-2008 season with Rafa’s Reds leading the Premier League for the first time during the Spaniard’s tenure, further public fallouts with Hicks and Gillett followed with the American owners contacting Jurgen Klinsmann to take over from Benitez. Liverpool supporters backed their manager as they marched outside Anfield demanding that Rafa stays on. Benitez survived to see out the season with Liverpool finishing forth while reaching yet another Champions League semifinal. 

The strained relationship between Rafa and the American owners continued at the start of the 2008–2009 season but on-field results were not affected as a Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres inspired Liverpool pushed Manchester United throughout the Premier League season before finally ending the season in 2nd place with a record 86 points, four points behind Man Utd. Liverpool’s season featured historic wins at Old Trafford (4-1) and at home to Real Madrid (4-0) while also ending Chelsea’s 86 game undefeated home record. The Reds played attractive attacking football with the club scoring the highest number of goals in the Premier League with 77 goals while racking up over 100 goals in all competitions. 

The season however featured more of Rafa’s public displays as he criticized Sir Alex Ferguson’s impact on refereeing decisions, an episode which is famously titled “Rafa’s Rant”. Benitez also continued to use the media in his disputes with Hicks and Gillett as he demanded a new contract as well as more control on transfers. 

Liverpool’s final season under Benitez was far from memorable with the club finishing the season in 7th position while also being eliminated from the group stages of the Champions League. Rafa left the club by mutual consent on June 3rd 2010. 

Much like his departure from Valencia, another major club came calling; this time in the shape of Italian giants and Champions League title holders Internationale Milano. Benitez accepted. 

Inter enjoyed a very successful two seasons under the stewardship of Rafa’s arch rival Jose Mourinho. The player’s loyalty to “The Special One” accompanied by a lack in transfer funds would make this challenge the Spaniard’s toughest to date. 

After enduring a difficult start to the season in Italy, Rafa lead the Nerazzurri to the Fifa Club World Cup Championship in Abu Dhabi. Benitez once again returned to the media to put pressure on the club owners: "There are three possibilities for the club," said Benítez after the game. "One, 100 per cent support for the coach and buy four or five players to build a stronger team with competition among the players to be able to carry on winning matches and trophies. Two, carry on like this without a project, without planning, and go ahead with one person to blame, for the whole season. The third is to speak to my agent to reach an agreement if there is not this support. Simple." 

Inter president, Massimo Moratti, would not succumb to the pressure:”Maybe I was not very satisfied, regardless of the statements (from Benitez), up to the success in the Club World Cup, but then after the statements of the coach I no longer had any desire or patience to get on with it.” 

Rafa was sacked by Inter on the 23rd of December 2010. 

Since then the Spaniard has struggled in finding a new club – Rafa was a proven tactician but he also became a notorious trouble maker to the higher echelons at club football. 

Which brings us to Chelsea... 

Put yourself in Rafa’s shoes for a moment… 

Chelsea are the perfect opportunity for Rafa to redeem himself… 

A Mourinho influenced team…Check 

A strong squad able to compete in the Premier League and in Europe…Check 

A difficult owner which would allow Rafa to display his new found diplomatic skills…Check 

If this goes well, even on interim basis, this would get Rafa back in the hunt for the big coaching vacancies in Europe. The rewards are far too many for Benitez to simply reject this chance. 

Benitez knows he will not obtain the support of Chelsea’s fan-base but that is not what he is concerned with. Rafa has been waiting for an opportunity like this and when it finally came calling, the brave Spaniard would not say no. 

The Blues faithful have been vociferous in their criticism of Rafa’s appointment booing the Spaniard once he made his way out of the tunnel in his Chelsea debut against Man City. Chelsea supporters greeted Rafa by singing:”Rafa Benitez, you're not welcome here". 

The home support meanwhile, continued to showcase their dismay at the firing of club legend Roberto Di Matteo by applauding the Italian during the 16th minute (Di Matteo’s shirt number while at Chelsea) of the encounter with the Premier League champions. 

Rafa did what Rafa does best. He organized his team and minimized Man City’s offensive attempts to give his Chelsea teams a respectable draw against the champions while keeping their first clean sheet in 10 games. 

Chelsea supporters were not best pleased – and neither was Abramovich (is he ever). 

Despite Geoff Shreeves’ attempts to highlight the lack of support Benitez received from Chelsea fans, Rafa showcased his diplomatic skills by simply shrugging it off: “"Really pleased. For me, it was a challenge. I'd had a lot of offers but I'd been waiting for a club like this to challenge for trophies. I was really pleased. I thought it might be difficult, but it was the same things, same routines, just different faces." 

"The first impression is that, against a very good team, we were quite good in defence; a clean sheet for the first time since September. That's quite positive. In terms of the things we were trying to do in training, the movement in defense, it was good. 

"In terms of attacking and possession, it was difficult. The team had 46% possession against Juventus and conceded three times. This time, we had about the same but didn't concede. We have to find a balance." 

Rafa’s Chelsea (I can’t believe I’m typing that) were once again too defensive in their second game at the Bridge with yet another stalemate against Fulham. Rafa may well have to thank his ex-player Riise for the clean sheet as the Norwegian wasted a glorious opportunity to win the game for Martin Jol’s side. 

An honest Benitez stated after the match: “"Everybody here is disappointed at the end," he explained. "We have to give credit to Fulham who worked very hard, but these are the games we have to win. You cannot be satisfied when you haven't won these games." 

As expected, the English media began to doubt Rafa’s position at Chelsea two games into his tenure. With Abramovich though, a couple of disappointing games might be enough for a sack (just ask Di Matteo). 

Chelsea’s latest performance under Benitez, an away defeat to West Ham, shows much is required to rectify the problem – and with Abramovich we now know that things need to change quickly. The Blues have looked far too predictable so far with the creative free players shackled by their defensive responsibilities. 

Benitez must find the balance between attack and defense. Rafa must also look to get the best out of fellow Spaniard Fernando Torres who looks like a ghost of the frightening striker he used to be when he was under Benitez at Liverpool. 

Rafa knows that he needs to start winning and keep winning – not just to gain the trust of the Stamford Bridge faithful but more importantly to prove his credentials as a top manager once again.