Once again, this current Liverpool crop found their way to a big match and once again they got bounced unceremoniously, failing to show their mettle when most needed. Sunday’s FA Cup 2-1 semi-final loss to Aston Villa ended any hopes of silverware from this season and likely will leave this side looking at a long list of what could have beens. However, for most supporters, it wasn’t just the losing, it was the manner of the losing that leaves a bitter taste to linger.
Everything was set for this to be a statement match, a marker on the way to a final appearance in a campaign that started slow, included a glorious run that fanned hopes, only to splinter into multiple missed opportunities. Manager Brendan Rodgers and his bunch still haven’t won anything and that fact is now starting to settle in for a haunting spell until it can be exorcised.
Here are four findings from Sunday’s match.
Big match blues
For all the potential this side shows, it is still a young squad with a young manager. Those with the most quality in the side that took to the pitch at Wembley were 24 years-old and younger. It is not just a function of playing youth, however, as Villa’s 19 year-old Jack Grealish running rampant suggests. This is a group of youngsters that still have lessons about winning yet to be mastered. Some, like the new recruits, may be studying anew, but others look like they are still suffering from the hangover of expectations that they have earned. The side looks as though they must still learn that pressure is a privilege and wearing a Liverpool shirt brings a different kind of privilege altogether. The long shadows of Boot Room legends crowd the available light and the greater the distance from those glory years only leadens the load. Moreover, the manager has plenty of learning to do too.
Too much tinkering
Brendan Rodgers is a good manager, but he is still in the up-and-coming category. Not for the first time has he prepared a side that looked underprepared and overwhelmed at a critical moment. Certainly this match result was not all his fault, but his culpability can be in no doubt. A genuine positive that can be said about Rodgers is that he does learn and adjust. Yet, in-game adjustments are not one of his clear, and obvious strengths. Every good manager makes changes to the shape and tactics of the team during matches, seeking an advantage, but when multiple major adjustments are warranted questions about preparation have to be asked. Plus, Villa did not exactly shroud their tactics in secrecy. For all the note-taking and scheming, Rodgers was bereft of solutions. Asking Steven Gerrard to somehow summon form of years past when it increasingly look like nostalgia, throwing Mario Balotelli on to lead as a single striker option off the bench again after so many positive results, and shuttling the 20 year-old Emre Can around to play three different positions during the course of the match are just a few from the list of failings.
Too many passengers
Rodgers aside, the players also share considerable responsibility for a lacklustre performance. The best players shine on the biggest stages and this side has been shown to shrink. Generally, it is not a good sign when the best player in the side is 20 years-old and Raheem Sterling has been that player, despite disappearing during critical matches. Philippe Coutinho, only 22 years of age, brightened things with the goal but was more glimmer than gleaming. Then there is the problem of Steven Gerrard, the fading talisman that no longer has the magic to drag his team to podium peaks. Add to that Jordan Henderson who shrinks more than succeeds while Gerrard remains, Joe Allen who will never win physical battles over the length of any match, and Lazar Markovic who has done nothing to dispel the one-for-the-future label that looks increasingly like a millstone, and the entirety of Liverpool’s attack lacked the mentality or means for rising to this occasion.
Midfield overrun
The key to this match was always going to be in the midfield. In theory, this should have played to Liverpool’s strengths. Given that the Reds were short a Daniel Sturridge, as well as any other proven striking solution, the middle of the pitch was where Liverpool were to dominate possession, press the opposition, and play on Villa’s half of the pitch. Yet, how wrong that turned out to be. Villa was energetic and sharp from the opening kick, flooding the midfield with pace and poise. The Reds could deal with neither Fabian Delph nor Jack Grealish, who together outplayed Liverpool’s entire midfield, regardless of how it was composed. Injuries created complications, no doubt, but there should have been enough quality in the side to manage against a team that is nary out of the relegation battle. Both the players and the manager were exposed and shown short of speed, sharpness, and sheer graft.
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