The international break dragged didn’t it, just like it always does. But on Sunday the mighty Reds once again took to pitch against an out of form QPR side who look like they’ll be in a relegation battle this year. No one expected a routine win and that wasn’t the case. Instead, we witnessed one of the most surreal final 10 minutes for a few years now.
1) 4-2-3-1 doesn’t work, yet.
Rodgers persisted with 4-2-3-1 formation he’s utilised on many occasions this season, with Henderson and Can the two holding midfielders whilst Gerrard played just behind Mario Balotelli. However that only lasted until half time, with QPR very unlucky not to be 3-0 up already. Gerrard, who failed to make an impact due to the lack of service, dropped into a deeper position where he could begin to get on the ball more and is one of the reasons behind the improvement in the second half.
But it may work one day. Imagine if we bought a proper defensive midfielder, someone similar to Chelsea’s Matic, who’d allow Jordan Henderson to bomb on more often. It would allow us to utilise the three attacking midfielders of Coutinho, Sterling and Lallana supporting Sturridge. That midfield combines brilliant passing, dribbling and would help us to both control games in possession and penetrate defences much more often. So the 4-2-3-1 may be a long term strategy for us, depending on who we sign.
2) Patience with Mario
I know he had a very poor game, I realise he has been quite average at best since signing but he has bags and bags of potential. How different would things have been had he scored that open net? For both own goals, he was stood directly behind Dunne and Caulker in a brilliant position for a tap in. It shows that he’s learning to play as the lone striker you need to get close to the goal, rather than standing on the edge of the box.
As fans, we’ve shown down the years plenty of patience towards owners, manager and players alike. We need to do the same with Mario; we need to treat him differently to how Man City did. If he is properly managed and given time, we will have a very very good striker on our hands. We just need to be patient.
3) Our centre backs need to sort themselves out, quickly.
I really feel bad for Rodgers, he gets the blame for our poor defence but it’s the players that are letting him down big time. Poor decision making, awful execution and a worrying number of sloppy mistakes are becoming the norm, which is incredibly worrying.
I actually think we have three good centre backs in Skrtel, Sakho and Lovren. But they’re all just playing without thinking about what they’re doing. There’s no communication there at all, which is one of the reasons we bought in Lovren in the first place. Sakho was one of best CB’s at the World Cup in Brazil, once he replicates that form for Liverpool we have a brilliant defender.
Cut out the ridiculous individual mistakes and we’ll stop conceding so many goals.
4) It isn’t all doom and gloom…
Yes, it was another poor performance and we didn’t deserve to win. But we did and we’re 5th. Not bad for a club in crisis, is it? The team will get better, the cohesion will slowly and surely come back and Sturridge will play for the club again, hopefully. So as bad as this season has been so far, we’re getting points on the board and with every win we get that little bit closer to another champions league finish.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, when you don’t play well 3 points are all that matter and it doesn’t make a difference how you get them. Thankfully we got the win we needed and we’ve put ourselves in a good position, taking advantage of Arsenal’s draw and Tottenham’s defeat. Another win next week against Hull and things will look a lot better.
Comments.
Loading comments…