Newcastle 1-0 Liverpool: Discontent Grows as Reds Slip to Defeat

For the last few weeks, Liverpool have been nowhere near their scintillating form of last season. At first the excuse was that the new players needed time to gel to with the team, and that we were still adapting. We are now 10 games in, and the finger is pointing in a much more worrying direction: Brendan Rodgers. His stubborn refusal to switch the formation and put someone up front to partner Balotelli has led to woeful performances and lots of dropped points. It was the same story today, as Liverpool lost 1-0 to an average Newcastle side.

The performance was sadly one we have become very much used to this season. It was lacklustre, uninspired and frankly poor. Nobody could create any chances – Sterling was wasted out wide, Coutinho was far from his best and Balotelli was horribly isolated. These problems would have been addressed by putting Sterling up front with Balotelli, but Rodgers opted to stick with the 4-3-3. Fortunately Newcastle were putting in a fairly poor shift as well, or things could have got very embarrassing. One of the dullest first halves of football Liverpool fans have witnessed for a long time ended goalless, and this scoreline flattered the reds.

The second half saw a slight improvement in quality, and it looked for a while like Liverpool might be able to take all three points away from St. James’s Park. Steven Gerrard’s inclusion in a midfield three (alongside Henderson and Allen) gave him licence to push up the field, and he rolled back the years with some good passes from advanced positions. That said, no clear cut chances were being created; the only genuine test of Krul was a close-range header from Coutinho, which was incorrectly called back for offside anyway. The referee had a poor game, and both Janmaat and Sissoko were lucky not to see red. As it was the magpies were allowed to carry on with a full compliment of 11 men, and there was an awful inevitability about their goal in the 73^rd minute. A failure to clear the ball from Moreno allowed Ayoze Perez the opportunity to nip in and smash the ball past a helpless Mignolet, giving the hosts the lead.

Any hopes of Liverpool being fired up by going behind quickly faded. By contrast, they had looked much more of a threat prior to conceding. It was Newcastle who played the better football for the last 15 minutes, and it would have finished 2 or 3 nil had it not been for some excellent saves from Simon Mignolet. The introduction of Lambert had absolutely no effect, throwing into question whether he was really worth buying as a ‘Plan B’. The game ended 1-0 to Newcastle, and Liverpool now find themselves 12 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

Unless these performances can improve rapidly, we can wave goodbye to hopes of a top 4 spot, let alone another push for the title. The return of Daniel Sturridge towards the end of the month will definitely be a help to us, but certainly doesn’t solve the core issue of defensive frailty. Brendan Rodgers opted to spend a sizeable proportion of the money from the sale of Luis Suarez on Dejan Lovren: this is a very painful thought. Suarez was one of the best players in the world, whilst Lovren is an utter liability. A defensive pairing of him and Skrtel is laughable, and Rodgers’s continued insistence that we don’t need a defensive coach brought in is worrying indeed. The first step to curing any problem is acceptance that the problem exists, and until Rodgers does that we’re in big trouble.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool vs Swansea: Late Goals Send LFC Through to the Last 8

Yesterday, Liverpool faced fellow Premier League side Swansea in the Capital One Cup. The reds put in a solid display, but it looked like they were going to be sent crashing out of the competition until two late goals turned the match on its head.

It was clear from the start of the match that Rodgers had sent out his players with instructions to press high and put Swansea under pressure. This resulted in chances being created – for the first half an hour Liverpool were posing an almost constant threat. Borini was particularly good at this; his hunger for the game and determination to prove himself meant he happily chased down every ball. However, the pressure never really materialised into efforts on goal. Tremmel was barely tested in the first half, with good positions being squandered. This served to highlight how much we are missing Sturridge; Coutinho’s through balls were on point, but there was nobody there with the confidence and quality to provide the finish. For the final fifteen minutes of the half Liverpool eased off a bit, and consequently Swansea applied a little pressure of their own. Brad Jones looked very uncomfortable with the ball at his feet, rushing multiple clearances. The Welsh side were unable to capitalise on this period of vulnerability, and the half ended with the game still scoreless.

The second half started, and Liverpool were once again producing football at a level they’ve failed to reach for much of this season. Coutinho was really pulling the strings in midfield, often drawing two or three men before playing a lovely pass to a teammate. That said, clear cut chances were still very much at a premium – most of our shots on goal were speculative long range efforts. Although the team were managing to keep up their attacking momentum from the first half, a little of the defensive solidity had been sacrificed. This led to a much more open game; Swansea were starting to worry the notoriously shaky Liverpool back line. After 65 minutes the visitors did manage to exploit the defensive weaknesses of the hosts: a ball over the top left Lovren in no man’s land, and Marvin Emnes finished excellently to give Swansea the lead.

The goal was followed by a worrying spell for Liverpool. They were in disarray having gone behind despite being on top, and Swansea could easily have doubled their lead. Gomis had the pick of the chances, finding himself unmarked in the box from a set piece but firing his header straight at Jones. Eventually things settled down, but the Reds still didn’t look likely to score the goal that would bring them back on level terms. With 10 minutes to play, Brendan Rodgers took Lambert off for Balotelli. This change should have been made much earlier. Lambert looked off the pace all game, as his lack of speed and mobility prevented him from properly integrating himself into the high pressing system. Balotelli had a positive effect on the side immediately, combining well with Coutinho and Borini to carve out chances. It was Borini who got the assist for Balotelli’s goal in the 85^th minute: an inch perfect cross was attacked well by Balotelli, who knocked it home from close range.

 

With the scores level, Liverpool really kicked on. Federico Fernandez was shown a straight red with just minutes left to go – it was never a red card offence (and arguably not even a foul), but the dismissal left gaps for LFC to exploit. Into the 95^th minute it looked as though Swansea would get the chance to go in and regroup before extra time, but Dejan Lovren of all people scored a late winner to send Liverpool through. It came from a set piece: Coutinho’s lovely ball in was totally misjudged by Tremmel, and Lovren got his head to it. He headed the ball downwards, and it bounced into the net. Liverpool are now through to the final 8 of the Capital One Cup.

It’s excellent that the two heroes of the game are the two most under-fire Liverpool players. Balotelli in particular will surely be relieved to have found the net after his long drought, his last goal coming against Ludogorets. Hopefully both Lovren and Balotelli can kick on from here and start really returning on the investments made in them. Borini will be hopeful of a place in the starting line-up when Liverpool face Newcastle on Saturday – he played fairly well on the whole, and combined nicely with fellow countryman Balotelli. Whoever starts at the weekend, the reds will fancy their chances of victory if they put in another performance like this.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool 0-3 Real Madrid: Post-Match Analysis

Yesterday, Liverpool played host to Real Madrid in a Champions League tie at Anfield. Playing the reigning champions of Europe was never going to be easy, and so it proved: the errors that have manifested themselves throughout this season were brutally exploited by the Spanish giants, and the game ended 3-0.

The game started very promisingly for Liverpool; the high press and the rapid attacks were reminiscent of last season. Real looked shaken by the intensity of the start – some uncharacteristic unforced errors were made, with passes going astray and crosses being wasted. The only real issue was the failure to test Casillas. Although Liverpool were applying pressure and looking the stronger side, the final ball was lacking and consequently the Real Madrid goalkeeper had little to do. Even the LFC defence looked better than usual, with Johnson putting in his best performance in a while and, at least for the first twenty minutes, dealing with the threat of Ronaldo.

Sadly (but somewhat predictably), it was too good to last. The effort that the men in red were exerting was clear, and after twenty minutes the intensity started to drop off. It didn’t take Real long to punish them for the lapse; 23 minutes in they showed their class and came up with a stunning goal. The passing was rapid and accurate, culminating in a lovely Rodriguez chip over the top which Ronaldo converted excellently. Unlike most of the goals we’ve conceded this season, it was down to the skill of the opposition rather than a glaring defensive error.

After this, Liverpool’s resistance totally disintegrated. The game turned into the exhibition that so many had predicted pre-game, and by the half an hour mark Madrid had made it 2. This time it was Benzema: Toni Kroos crossed it in, unchallenged by anyone, and Benzema beat Johnson comfortably at the far post to loop it over Mignolet and in. Though the finish itself was nice, the cross should never have been allowed to come in. Five minutes before half time they had a third, again through Benzema. This was the worst of the lot, and typified our defending so far this season. It came from a corner – the defence were totally unable to clear after Pepe knocked it down, Mignolet failed to claim the ball and Benzema poked it home from close range. The game was nearly made interesting again by Coutinho, who was our best player on the night- seconds before half time his long range effort cannoned off the post.

Balotelli was taken off for Lallana at half time – this left Liverpool without an out-and-out striker. It was Sterling who functioned as the false 9, and he looked fairly dangerous. The renewed pace in attack allowed the hosts to threaten for the first ten minutes of the half, but soon enough control had been seized again by Real. Kroos and Modric pulled the strings, toying with Liverpool and preventing them from getting a touch of the ball for prolonged periods. This slowed the tempo down massively. It is likely that Madrid had El Clasico on their minds, as if they’d wanted more goals in the second half they probably could have got them. As it was, the second half ended at a pedestrian pace and finished 3-0.

Although a hefty defeat is never pleasant, the game wasn’t as bad as many people are making it out to be. It should not be forgotten that Real Madrid are current champions of Europe, and that they are 10 times winners of the prestigious tournament. It is also unfounded to suggest  that Liverpool didn’t show promise; it’s fair to say that if we’d started against QPR like we did against Real then we’d have had the game wrapped up in the first twenty minutes. Coutinho looked back to somewhere near his scintillating best, and Sterling was excellent as usual. The only real problem the match highlighted was one we are all very aware of already – our defence simply isn’t good enough.  If the club are going to continue the progress they have been making in recent times, this issue has to be dealt with.
-James Martin
Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

QPR 2-3 Liverpool: What Just Happened?

After a frantic finish at Loftus Road, QPR and Liverpool fans alike were left in a state of utter shock. Four goals in the last seven minutes turned a dreary 1-0 affair into a mind-boggling 3-2 victory for the reds. Despite being dominated by QPR for large periods of the match, two own goals and a nice strike from Coutinho saw LFC take all three points. The win fires them up to 5^th in the table, although wins for Swansea and/or Manchester United would see them drop.

The first half was one of the most lacklustre performances Liverpool have produced in living memory. They barely produced a chance of their own, allowing QPR to apply mounds of pressure onto an extremely shaky defence. Some of the clearances were nigh-on suicidal; it’s a minor miracle that Rangers didn’t manage a goal in the first half. Leroy Fer struck the bar twice, and a goal line intervention from Glen Johnson was needed to stop Rodgers’ team going a goal down. Mignolet was also called upon on multiple occasions. He had a very good game, making three or four vital stops. The few times Liverpool did venture forwards it ended in frustration- Mario Balotelli was hugely wasteful, taking poor shots from ridiculous areas. Another issue in the LFC attack was the more advanced role Gerrard was playing in. His lack of pace prevented Liverpool from springing attacks quickly, and consequently many a blistering run from Raheem Sterling went to waste. With the possible exception of Adam Lallana, Sterling was the only player in a red shirt who looked capable of creating any sort of chance.

Liverpool started the second half a lot better, but that wasn’t hard. In truth we still looked pretty awful; a few chances were being carved out, but they didn’t look like being taken. Defensively there was little improvement- Bobby Zamora continued to terrorise our back line. This doesn’t bode well for our clash against Real in just three days time; if Zamora, Austin and Phillips can make our defence look so weak, what will Benzema, Ronaldo and Bale do to it? All we can do is try to outscore them, but based on today’s evidence that might be tough. It took nearly 70 minutes for the reds to eventually get the ball into the QPR net, and even then they had to rely on Richard Dunne to do it for them.

After the breakthrough, the game went dead for a while. For a glorious fifteen minutes, Liverpool fans started to hope that their team might be able to calm the game down, prevent QPR from getting forward and grind out a 1-0 win. What were we thinking? In typical LFC fashion, it didn’t all go according to plan. With just three minutes of normal time to play, substitute Eduardo Vargas scored to put the London outfit back on level terms- the chance was created courtesy of some shambolic defending from Jose Enrique. The anger and despair didn’t last long. In the 90^th minute Coutinho drilled the ball excellently into the far corner to restore Liverpool’s lead. He deserved a goal for the impact he made on the game; after replacing Lallana in the 66^th minute he vastly improved the LFC attacking threat.

Unbelievably, the game was far from over. Barely a minute after Coutinho had scored what most people were sure would be the winner, Vargas scored from a corner with a glancing header. The ball nicked off Steven Gerrard and somehow crept in at the near post, making the score 2-2 in the 92^nd minute. In the final minute of added time, it looked like QPR might even go on and snatch the victory. They won a free kick in a dangerous position, but the delivery into the box was poor. This allowed Liverpool to break- Coutinho played an inch perfect pass through to Raheem Sterling, who’s attempted ball across goal to Balotelli was diverted into the net by Steven Caulker. Rangers barely had time to kick off again, meaning that Liverpool somehow left Loftus Road with all three points. 

The performance can hardly be called inspiring; whilst Sterling played well and Coutinho made a strong case for inclusion in the starting line-up against Real, the team as a whole played extremely poorly. The only real positive to take from it is that we got the three points; in one sense that’s all that matters, but we won’t be able to rely on two own goals to get us the win every match. We need to up our game, and we need to do it soon.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool vs Everton: Jagielka Wonder-Strike Snatches a Point for ‘That Blue Team’

Having both made poor starts to the season, Liverpool and Everton met in the first Merseyside derby of the season with even more desire to win than normal. Liverpool played well, but in the end a late goal from Jagielka ensured that neither side got their wish; the match ended as a draw.

As soon as the match kicked off it became apparent that Liverpool were more up for this fixture than they had been for any other so far this season. The pressing was good, the intensity of the play was excellent, and overall we looked very dangerous. The attacking play was clearly too strong for Barry; he mis-timed a tackle in the very first minute of the game and was subsequently booked. Everton showed some attacking intent of their own- Lukaku’s bursting run into the box was halted by Moreno pulling him back, and the Blues had a big shout for a penalty. However, the referee opted not to give it, and replays showed that the foul started just outside the box anyway.

Minutes later, Martin Atkinson had another big call to make. Barry, who had already been booked, blatantly raised his arms into an unnatural position in order to block Raheem Sterling’s vicious drive. Had this been deemed a foul- as, clearly, it should have been- then Barry would surely have been off the pitch for a second yellow. Moments after that, Barry was in trouble again. He slid in to rob Balotelli of possession, but caught a fair portion of the man before getting anywhere near the ball. This time Atkinson did give a free kick, but again failed to produce the second yellow card. Had he done so, the game may well have gone very differently.

As it was, Liverpool were forced to try and win the match against Everton’s full compliment of players. The signs were much more encouraging than in previous games; with the exception of Markovic, who is still adapting to the English game, everyone looked dangerous going forward. Lallana was particularly impressive- he played some nice passes and showed good close control at times. Despite this, the teams went in for half time at 0-0. Nobody had predicted this before the game, but two of the worst defences in the league so far had performed admirably. In the end, it took a piece of magic from under-fire skipper Steven Gerrard to break the deadlock. Balotelli won a free kick in a promising position, and, though the Italian looked interested in taking it, Gerrard stepped up. He hit it gloriously, curling round the wall and in, just close enough to the corner that Howard’s touch on the ball was not telling enough to keep it out.

It looked for a while like the impossible was going to happen- Liverpool were going to keep a clean sheet. Admittedly Everton had offered barely anything going forward, but when they had launched an attack the defence had remained solid. It wasn’t until stoppage time at the end of the game that they finally conceded. Mignolet should have come to claim a cross but didn’t, then Lovren’s clearing header fell to Jagielka, around 25 yards from goal. It wasn’t awful defending, but we probably should have done better with it. What happened next, however, everyone was powerless to prevent. Jagielka, hardly renowned for the goals he scores from centre-back, rocketed the ball with unerring precision into the top corner of the net, just grazing the underside of the bar on the way in.

Obviously it was frustrating not to take all three points from a game where we were on top throughout, but things like a wonder goal from a defender simply cannot be accounted for. Of course it would be great to be getting more points on the board, but at least now we’re looking recognisable as the team who did so well last year. Hopefully this performance can be a springboard for us; our next three games are all winnable, so hopefully the confidence from the way we played yesterday combined with the return of Daniel Sturridge will be enough to enable us to take maximum points.

-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

Liverpool vs Villa: Rodgers Rests Raheem and Pays Painful Price

Yesterday, Liverpool took on Aston Villa at Anfield. There was a definite sense of nervousness in the days leading up to the game; our key man Daniel Sturridge was out, and Villa are a team we’ve struggled against in recent times. Rodgers, however, was apparently not concerned. The day before the game, rumours started circulating that Sterling, who has been without a doubt our best, most influential player so far this season, was going to be rested. I dismissed it as rubbish, but, sure enough, when the team sheets were released an hour before kick-off, Sterling was notable only by his absence in the starting eleven. We went on to perform extremely poorly, and ended up losing 1-0.

Of course, blaming the defeat entirely on Sterling’s absence is unreasonable, but it did play a very large part. Right from the outset, we missed his pace and urgency. A lot of our players seemed to be strolling around the pitch, barely exerting any effort at all. When we did get the ball in a decent area, there always seemed to be a whole crowd of Villa players barring further progress. Even a 9^th minute goal for the visitors (surprise surprise, it came from a badly defended set piece) didn’t seem to jolt the Liverpool players into action. Rodgers eventually seemed to realise that we needed Sterling’s creative impetus and spark on the pitch, and brought him on midway through the second half. The difference was immediately apparent; he made space not only for himself, but for others. Sadly, it was too little too late, and the closest we came to an equaliser was a curling Coutinho effort which struck the post.

Another reason we put in such a lacklustre performance is the formation we used. The 4-2-3-1 simply doesn’t suit us, and it showed. Neither Henderson nor Gerrard (particularly the latter) work particularly well in a defensive ‘2’, and whenever we use the formation our lone striker looks woefully isolated. Some would point to the injury of Sturridge and say that playing one up front was forced on us, but again I have to come back to Sterling. Although arguably better in the hole, he has proved already this season that he can do a good job up top. Playing our usual 4-4-2 diamond with Balotelli and Sterling as the attacking partnership would surely have improved our performance immeasurably. Even when Sterling did come on (for Lallana) the formation wasn’t changed- Coutinho played where Lallana had been before, and Sterling operated down the middle. The change may well have been more likely to lead to an equaliser if Sterling had been moved up top with Balotelli.

With twenty minutes to play, yet another bizarre decision was made from the usually extremely tactically astute Rodgers. Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert came on in place of Mario Balotelli and Lazar Markovic- admittedly neither Markovic nor Balotelli had been particularly effective, but the change, if anything, made us look worse. Lambert was clumsy and often wasteful whenever he got on the ball, and Borini barely had a touch! I genuinely forgot that he’d come on; he made no notable contribution whatsoever in the time that he was on the pitch. To be fair, seeing as both Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge were injured, our options off the bench were limited. That said, it seems clear, at least in hindsight, that no change would have been better than introducing Borini and Lambert.

To sum up, what we witnessed yesterday was a rare tactical misnomer from Rodgers. He doesn’t make them often, and it certainly doesn’t change the fact that he is an excellent manager who is extremely well suited to LFC, but there’s no denying that he messed up. Obviously some of the blame has to fall on the players- up until Sterling came on, none of our attackers were working anywhere near hard enough- but I maintain that if we’d started Sterling up front with Balotelli then we would have won the game.  Hopefully we’re able to move on from this defeat and bounce back with a win in our return to the Champions League (yay!!) against Ludogorets on Tuesday.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013