Following a disappointing 2-2 draw against a Newcastle side that for 60 minutes played with only ten men, it’s understandable that many Liverpool fans were not ready to attempt to identify any positives, from what was undoubtedly a missed opportunity and two points dropped.
The Newcastle match was yet another example of Liverpool paying the price for their team’s lack of an effective midfield pairing and provided further evidence that this season’s LFC are struggling to maintain any sort of control on a game for 90 minutes.
Though the midfield pairing of Gerrard and Henderson received deserved praise after their performance against Crystal Palace, on Saturday they struggled to form a cohesive unit and were frequently overrun by the greater number of midfielders Alan Pardew chose to deploy.
Such tactical deficiencies were brutally exposed in the lead up to Newcastle’s first goal, where Johan Cabaye was allowed to jog through a vacant midfield and fire a fiercely swerving shot past a despairing Mignolet, from 35 yards out.
After only ten minutes of play at St. James’ Park, it became evident that the direct style of play the reds were attempting to play wasn’t working and actually provided Newcastle with greater momentum, by unnecessarily conceding possession.
The fact that Rodgers has continued to deploy Moses in the number 10 role is partly responsible for such football, considering that Moses has spent most of his career on the wing or as a forward and his primary attributes are his intense energy and ability to go past a man.
Though Moses’ athleticism has proved useful for the reds, enabling them to quicken their counter attacking transitions, the Nigerian had a poor game on Saturday and frequently lost possession on the counter through seeking to drive forward alone, instead of offloading the ball to a better positioned teammate.
Moses was not alone in such direct tactics however, with the Liverpool captain also demonstrating the one repetitive flaw in his career as a midfielder.
Despite Gerrard scoring his 100th Premier League goal, a milestone that should never be underestimated when achieved from a midfield role, the Liverpool captain was guilty of aiding Newcastle throughout the game.
Although Gerrard’s tired legs have ensured that his off the ball movement is frequently insufficient, the Liverpool captain usually makes up for such a deficiency through his distribution of the ball during a game.
Every so often however, Gerrard attempts to thread a pass that is either too difficult for even him to provide or too risky for him to play, given his teammates’ relative positions.
In forcing an attacking move rather than letting it develop more methodically, Gerrard is often guilty of causing the breakdown of many a Liverpool attack and as Carrick has displayed for England on the bafflingly few occasions he’s been selected, Gerrard benefits greatly from being partnered with a more metronomic midfielder.
Considering this, the qualities Luis Alberto’s displayed in his second half cameo for the reds may have provided Rodgers with a solution to ensure greater control in the understaffed ‘engine room’ of his Liverpool side.
Alberto was on the pitch for just over thirty minutes but showcased how beneficial his skill set could be, retaining possession efficiently, making angles for the pass when off the ball and providing incisive passes in the attacking third.
Many around him appeared to panic and sought to solve Liverpool’s problems through surging forward alone, only to lose the ball and allow Newcastle opportunities to relieve the considerable pressure on their defence.
Contrastingly, Alberto’s performance conveyed the often-undervalued virtue of composure. The Spaniard didn’t panic on the ball (aside from one ill judged shot towards the end) and instead calmly retained possession where he could, whilst making intelligent passes in and around the box.
Whilst I’m not suggesting that Alberto will solve all of Rodgers’ personnel problems in midfield, his composure and undoubted footballing intelligence when it comes to retention of possession are valuable commodities that should not be ignored by this current Liverpool side.
Despite the Reds’ relatively strong start to the season; injuries to key personnel and Rodgers’ decision to deploy a formation that accommodates his side’s defensive riches, has resulted in a counter attacking team that rarely imposes control over a game for extended periods.
When involved in difficult away fixtures, the value of taking time out the game with periods of frustrating cycles of prolonged possession is difficult to overstate and considering Rodgers’ love of such a philosophy, it’s remarkable how little of it we’ve seen from Liverpool this season.
With Liverpool’s small but mighty Brazilian scheduled to return next week against West Brom, it is likely that Moses will be relieved of his role as a stand in trequartista and take up a more familiar position on the wing.
Coutinho is yet another player able to provide Rodgers with a degree of the control one imagines he is desperate to achieve in the long-run and alongside the options of Allen and Alberto, the Liverpool manager must find a solution to such a persistent headache.
Following a performance that again highlighted the flaws such a counter attacking formation can expose, one hopes that Rodgers will endeavour to strengthen his own midfield, for what is sure to be another difficult match against a strong and purposeful West Brom counterpart.
