Suarez to Sterling, Sterling chipped through ball back to Suarez, flick to Coutinho, Coutinho shoots, great save by Hart….. Boxing day 2013, Joe Hart arguably denied Philippe Coutinho goal of the season. A chance created by a team in full flow, playing some exquisite football, going toe to toe with a football heavyweight in their back garden. A joy to watch.
Liverpool lost that match. Twitter exploded, Raheem Sterling was deemed offside, a referee’s integrity was questioned. No one mentioned Coutinho’s chance or indeed his goal.
Fast forward to the 18th of January when Aston Villa visited Anfield. Liverpool were a shadow of the team that performed so well that day in Manchester just over three weeks later. Brendan Rodgers got it wrong; he would be the first to admit it. Liverpool’s midfield was over run, their defence exposed, their play disjointed. Fortress Anfield was breached.
Jamie Redknapp commented at half time that Steven Gerrard’s first half was his worst half of football ever at Anfield, he’s not far wrong. He’s not suited to this defensive midfield role, and I personally believe he still offers too much going forward to be burdened with it. His much improved second half and his wonderful pass to Suarez for the penalty is testament to this. Either Lucas or Allen must start and if Lucas is facing a lengthy spell on the side-lines then signing a defensive midfielder must be a priority, if it wasn’t already.
A special word on Glen Johnson who continued to look like Larry Johnson in Space Jam when the aliens stole his basketball talent and looked nothing of the player he used to be. It really is something that must be a huge concern to Brendan Rodgers, what was a huge asset to Liverpool in recent times is becoming a huge liability. I’m convinced he’s carrying an injury akin to Joe Allen last year, his form of late has been dreadful.
Added to this, Brendan Rodgers has the worries of left back and his goalkeeper to contend with. Teams are clearly targeting Cissokho, Charlie Adam spent a huge amount of time in the right wing position last week and our left back is doing nothing to deter them from it. Granted not many teams have a strong second/third choice left back but it is a problem area. Simon Mignolet is struggling of late too and had another mistake for Villa’s second goal. Rodgers can’t do much on this front only cross his fingers and hope he gets over his current blip sooner rather than later.
However, the first half performance by Liverpool was not the only shocking thing on the day, the continued over reaction on social media sites and online discussion groups should also get a special mention. It makes one wonder, do people enjoy football anymore? Fans were outraged about everything on the day. Off days are disappointing but also must be expected now and again.
There are positives to take from the match, Liverpool were on the ropes, down and out, in recent years they lose that game 2-0. But they didn’t, they stuck there heals into the ground and got back into it. Daniel Sturridge added an excellent goal and showed again is going to be vital to Liverpool’s ambitions this season.
Liverpool have been a joy to watch this season, very much still in contention to qualify for the Champions League, playing some wonderful football and fortunately we are a far cry from the days of Roy Hodgson claiming that a 2-0 defeat to our Merseyside rivals was a wonderful performance and our best under him. Sure there are many issues to be ironed out, but this is our most exciting season in years so sit back enjoy the glorious football and if you want to tweet, tweet about things like Coutinho’s chance and the wonderful attacking play.
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