Crystal Palace 3-1 Liverpool: Post-Match Thoughts

When the fixture list was released earlier this year, Liverpool fans were quick to notice the twist of fate that saw us host Chelsea and then head to Selhurst Park for the next game – with memories of last season’s capitulation fresh in most fans’ minds, this pair of games seemed the perfect opportunity to exact some sort of revenge upon the teams who cost us our first Premier League title. However, far from looking fired up with determination to make the two London clubs pay, consecutive poor performances meant we failed to take a single point from either game. Sadly, these lacklustre showings are hardly an anomaly: Liverpool now find themselves just four points off the relegation zone, having accrued a measly 14 points from 12 games. This shocking run of form is showing no signs of abating – on the contrary, the club are now on a four game loss streak. Consequently, Brendan Rodgers’s future at the club is starting to come into question.

The only sign of improvement in recent weeks is that the quick start that was such a feature of Liverpool’s play last season has shown itself once more. Against Chelsea it was Can who put us into an early lead; at Selhurst Park it was Lambert who fired home after a glorious pass from Adam Lallana. Sadly a football match lasts longer than 10 minutes, and Liverpool’s defensive weaknesses were soon exploited. Seventeen minutes in, as if the sense of déjà vu wasn’t strong enough already, Dwight Gayle tucked the ball into the net to draw the hosts level.

An hour of very little action followed this – the tendency of the reds last season to spring rapid attacks and win the game early is gone, but what we are witnessing is by no means the ‘total football’ that Rodgers said he would bring to the club either. This terrible hybrid takes the worst elements from the two philosophies: our side now has a lack of incision that one might associate with the so-called death by football approach, but has a hugely exposed defence that is common in a team who likes to quickly throw men forward. This failure to create a clear team identity is Rodgers’s main problem. He should either have stuck to his guns and instilled the passing game as Liverpool’s default, or totally changed tack and built the team around pacey bursts forward. His claims of pragmatism are unfounded; indecision would be more accurate.

Another of his key problems is his failure to bring in any good defenders during the transfer window (coupled with his stubborn refusal to get a defensive coach in). Yannick Bolasie is a relatively good player, but Dejan Lovren managed to make him look like an amalgamation of Ronaldo, Messi and Maradona. It was Lovren who was at fault for the second goal; Bolasie flicked it over the Croatian’s head with ease, dumbfounding him to the extent that he fell to the floor. Unchallenged, Bolasie then pulled the ball into the area – Joe Ledley was on hand to slide it past Mignolet. Some fans have said that Mignolet could have done better with it. Whilst this may be true, I feel that the Belgian keeper has been used as a scapegoat throughout this season; his defence are hardly giving him any protection, and he has pulled off some good saves to keep us in games. Admittedly he has very little presence in the box and often fails to claim aerial balls that he should be collecting, but he is by no means the root of the problem.

Nobody could blame Mignolet for the third Palace goal, which was an absolute peach of a free kick from Mile Jedinak. The alleged foul by Martin Skrtel on Dwight Gayle was dubious seeing as they were holding on to each other’s shirts, but by this stage most fans were beyond caring. Jedinak took full advantage of the referee’s decision by curling the free kick beautifully around the wall and into the top corner. This capped yet another bad day at the office for LFC, who now sit perilously close to the relegation zone.

This is even more shocking when you consider the title challenge that Liverpool mounted last season. It seems a world apart from the repeatedly awful performances we are currently witnessing from our team, and the rapidity of the downfall is truly astounding. Whilst it can partially be attributed to the sale of Luis Suarez and partly to the lengthy absence of Daniel Sturridge through injury, a lot of the blame has to fall on Rodgers’s shoulders. A deadly combination of poor judgement followed by stubbornness has led to a series of shambolic performances from a team vastly inferior to the one we had last year, and if Rodgers can’t find a way to turn this around soon then he surely has to go.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

West Ham United 3-1 Liverpool: Hammered

Yesterday, Liverpool travelled to the Boleyn Ground to face West Ham United. It was never going to be an easy trip; whilst many fans were wantonly predicting a comfortable victory prior to kick-off, it seemed quite clear to me that it would be a tough game for us. Even discounting the fact that we’ve been playing some pretty lousy football of late, West Ham have put together a very strong side over the summer. It proved to be every bit as tough as I thought- Liverpool failed to raise their game at all from the standard shown against Ludogorets and Aston Villa, and consequently got comfortably outplayed.

Things started to go horribly wrong within minutes. It took just 75 seconds for Winston Reid to open the scoring for West Ham, tapping the ball in after receiving a knock-down from James Tomkins. Five minutes later they were on the scoresheet again, this time courtesy of a clever lobbed effort from Diafra Sakho. The two goals were undoubtedly deserved- the Hammers were all over us in the early stages, and our defence, as it has done so many times already this season, looked shockingly inadequate.

After 20 minutes of total domination from the hosts, Rodgers realised he needed to switch things up. Manquillo was withdrawn and Sakho came on in his place, and the team re-shuffled into a 3-5-2 formation. This had a positive effect. Although we still looked a terribly long way from our dazzling best of last season, our performance was markedly improved by the change in shape. We managed to push out a little and start making some attacks of our own, and the first genuine opportunity that we carved out was taken excellently by Raheem Sterling. Henderson put a cross in to Balotelli, who brought it under control beautifully. His shot was blocked and came out to Sterling, who rifled it emphatically home from the edge of the box. The technique was exemplary; to strike it with that much power whilst retaining the pinpoint accuracy is quite a feat.

The Reds (or, in this game, yellows) didn’t succeed in using this goal as a springboard. The rest of the first half passed without any real event, and neither side looked likely to get a goal. We came out strongly in the second half, inspired by the introduction of Lallana, but the period of intense pressure didn’t last long. West Ham were soon creating chances of their own again, although the central defenders, in particular Lovren, looked marginally more comfortable and capable of dealing with threats in a three than they do in a straight back four. A couple of good chances fell Liverpool’s way; Borini had an opportunity to square it to Moreno- admittedly the pass would have been tough, as the angle was tight-  but opted to shoot, and saw his effort comfortably saved. The other notable incident was when Adrian raised his foot to bring down the oncoming Borini; at first glance it looked innocuous, but the replay suggested that it could well have been a penalty.

That said, the referee can be no real excuse for us. He was consistently poor- he gave a lot of decisions against West Ham as well. The real problems were our defensive incompetence and lack of flair and creativity going forward. Defensive frailties were exposed again late on; Sakho headed the ball into no-man’s land, allowing Downing to take possession. He played a lovely pass to Amalfitano, who slotted it coolly past Mignolet. The game ended 3-1, and Liverpool can have no real complaints.

So what’s the matter with us at the moment? Why are we so badly underperforming? The main reason is clearly the absence of Daniel Sturridge. His pace, finishing and link-up play with Raheem Sterling is being sorely missed. Without the excellent attack that we have become renowned for, our defensive weaknesses cannot be excused. It does not bode well for the season that our results are extremely reliant on our most injury-prone player- we need to address the real problem, and sort out the defence as soon as possible. Maybe the way to do this is hiring a new defensive coach; all I know is that the defending we’ve witnessed this season would be laughable at League 2 level, so to see it at the Premier League runners-up of last season is alarming indeed.

In the short-term, things are looking brighter. Although our defence is still awful, Sturridge is set to return from injury in time for the Merseyside derby. His return could be enough to inspire us to what might well be a turning point victory.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Manchester City vs Liverpool: Post-Match Thoughts

Yesterday, Liverpool faced their first big challenge of the season when they came up against Manchester City. Despite being the clearly superior team for large parts of the game they could not capitalise, and the clinical Manchester City ended up winning 3-1.

Much like our game against Southampton last week, Liverpool failed to make their trademark fast start. It’s disappointing to see this element of our game disappearing, as it was this that allowed us to be practically home and dry in some games after just half an hour last season. That said, we were into our rhythm before too long. After five minutes or so of having the lions share of possession, City were pushed back, and Liverpool started to get on top. Daniel Sturridge created one of the best opportunities, beating Vincent Komapny excellently with some skill then forcing a smart save out of Joe Hart at his near post. Despite all the pressure, Liverpool failed to make a breakthrough. This was, in part, down to some good defending from the reigning champions. However, the system of using a lone striker may also have played a part. Sturridge looked isolated for large parts of the game, and Coutinho’s poor performance meant the play from midfield into attack was, at times, disjointed.

It was inevitable really that, having dominated the game so much for so long, Liverpool would concede a soft goal. Such a goal came just before the break. New signing Alberto Moreno, who up to this point had looked good, was caught on the back foot when Dejan Lovren’s headed clearance fell towards him, and Stefan Jovetic nipped in to steal the ball and lash it home. It was a harsh welcome to the Premier League for Moreno- the pace of the games is quicker than perhaps in any other league in the world, and waiting for the ball to come to you will often, as it was on this occasion, be brutally punished. Due to this, Liverpool went into the break undeservedly behind.

Perhaps this shook Liverpool, for it was not the same bright, attacking side that came out for the second half. The defence looked worryingly vulnerable, and this proved to be the case after just 10 minutes of the half. It was Jovetic again who capitalised on some woeful defending, this time from Dejan Lovren. The Croatian wandered forward aimlessly, seemingly totally unaware of where he was in relation to the rest of the back line. This left Nasri with bags of room to slot a pass through to Jovetic, who finished well. Liverpool rallied a little after conceding, and the introduction of Lazar Markovic (in place of Philippe Coutinho) on 59 minutes certainly livened up our attacking play. Indeed, his clever interplay down the left with Moreno very nearly produced a goal just minutes after he came on. We started to produce some sustained pressure, and it looked as if we might just be able to drag ourselves back into the game. Sadly, it didn’t pan out that way. Aguero came on for the injured Dzeko with 21 minutes to play, and scored just seconds later, essentially killing off the game. Once more, question marks were raised over the defence. A nice ball from Jesus Navas carved open the entire back line, and Aguero raced through to smash the ball home past Mignolet.

At this point, Rodgers took off Sterling and brought on Rickie Lambert. The change certainly had a positive impact on the team, but not because of the quality of Rickie Lambert; it was the change in system that caused Liverpool to improve so dramatically at this point. Having two forwards instead of one just seemed natural, and our play became much more fluid and attacking. It was the two strikers, Sturridge and Lambert, who combined to get Liverpool a consolation goal. Sturridge whipped a ball into the box, and Lambert turned it goalwards. After some ricocheting off Hart and Zabaletta, the ball somehow found its way into the goal.

The fact that we improved so notably when playing with two strikers in encouraging. We have just brought in Mario Balotelli from AC Milan, and though some people are questioning whether he will succeed at Liverpool there is no doubt that he is a talented striker. Astute though the purchase of Lambert was (for just £4million, he offers a nice alternative option for desperate situations), he simply isn’t viable as a regular second striker as he cannot function in Liverpool’s high-pressing, fast-paced system. Balotelli, on the other hand, should be able to function well alongside Daniel Sturridge. It’s a shame the Italian wasn’t registered in time for the clash with City; if he had been, things might have panned out differently.

It is naturally extremely frustrating to have lost, especially to a team that come the end of the season are surely going to be right up there with us in the fight for the title, but it is only one game and the season is yet young. Although the game showed that there were still definite defensive deficiencies that need to be addressed, there were also lots of positives to take from the performance. To have outplayed the champions for the majority of the first half is an achievement, and, aside from being glaringly at fault for the first goal, Moreno had a pretty good game. For me, though, Markovic was the most encouraging thing to take from the game. When thrown into the mix, he immediately injected positivity and pace into our side, and made us look altogether more dangerous. It makes a refreshing change from last season to have players waiting on the bench who are good enough to come on and make a genuine impact.

Next up in Liverpool’s fixture list is another potentially challenging game. We play Tottenham at White Hart Lane; though I’m sure we all remember how well that went for us last year, Tottenham are already looking an improved side under Mauricio Pochettino. Indeed, though it means next to nothing so early on, Tottenham currently top the table. However, I think that, should Balotelli be able to make a smooth transition into the team right from the off (admittedly a big ask), then we have a very good chance of taking all three points.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Sturridge Show at Craven Cottage

On Sunday 12^th May, Liverpool faced Fulham at Craven Cottage. Despite going 1-0 down, Liverpool romped on to a 3-1 victory, and frankly it could (and probably should) have been a lot more.

Unusually, Liverpool weren’t able to get off to a quick start. They saw more of the ball early on, but weren’t being at all incisive, and struggled to create any real chances. Fulham were also struggling to come up with any decent attacks. However, on 31 minutes, Sascha Reither put in a lovely cross, which allowed Berbatov to head home from close range. It was obviously disappointing to go behind, but in my opinion we weren’t positive enough in possession, and consequently were asking to be caught out by a one-off attack.

Fortunately, Fulham’s goal acted as the stimulation Liverpool needed. They came alive, and just 3 minutes after Berbatov’s strike we equalised through Daniel Sturridge. The striker was picked out in the box and looked to have dwelled too long on the ball, but then showed a quick burst of pace to get past his defender, then blasted high into the net, past a helpless Schwarzer. Despite a couple more chances for Liverpool, the teams went in level.

Liverpool came out strongly in the second half, as they should have done in the first. Fulham were pinned back, and both Phillippe Coutinho and Glen Johnson had goal-scoring opportunities. They didn’t convert, but eventually the LFC pressure paid off,  Sturridge latching on to Coutinho’s deflected shot and guiding it smartly round the keeper. This effectively killed off Fulham, and despite being only a goal behind, they never showed any signs of being able to salvage anything from the game. Liverpool then created a plethora of chances, but somehow failed to add another until five minutes from time, where Sturridge completed his hat-trick with a lovely chip over the oncoming Mark Schwarzer.

Daniel Sturridge played brilliantly, and is so far proving to be an excellent signing. He certainly made the difference in this game. However, his form is slightly hit and miss, and he does have a tendency to be too selfish. Had he passed a little more yesterday instead of desperately trying to complete his hat-trick it may well have been 5 or 6! On the whole though, he has the makings of a potential key player in Liverpool’s upcoming seasons, as he is the potent goal threat that (other than Luis Suarez) we have been lacking recently.  With two clinical strikers (once Suarez returns from his ban), Liverpool will hopefully no longer have the issue with wasting chances that they had at the start of this season. If we are able to make a couple more quality additions to our squad over the summer, there’s no reason why we can’t push for the top 4, or potentially even higher, next season.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013