Pass and move can once again be the Liverpool groove

After witnessing Liverpool’s match against our Europa League opponents FK Rabotnicki, it seems as though Roy Hodgson has instilled into the players the attitude and the mindset of a pass and move style of play. I, for one, am delighted if this is to be the case as, just like last night somewhat proved, consistently passing and moving is the perfect recipe for successful, attractive attacking football. On many occasions on Thursday night the link-up play between defence, midfield and attack was superb. Often you would see either Joe Cole or David N’gog tracking back in search of the ball looking to link-up with the wide players ad create attacks. It was the type of football that was sadly not seen enough under Rafa Benitez and ultimately led to his dismissal as the fans grew tired of the Spaniards negativity. By the looks of last night’s team-sheet the days of two holding central midfielders at Anfield are long gone and it looks as though it is going to be Steven Gerrard plus one more in the heart of the midfield. This is what I believe was the major change that had to be taken if Liverpool were to move forward from the way in which Benitez had the team playing. Luckily enough we were able to find the perfect player, in Joe Cole, to play the role off the striker and allow our captain to dominate, as he does best, from the centre of midfield.

Of course, Liverpool fans are not going to get carried away just yet as we know that the opposition on Thursday night, FK Rabotnicki, are one of the weaker oppositions that we will have to face this season, with all due respect to the Macedonian outfit. However, if the type of football that was on show on Thursday is repeated throughout the season, regardless of the opposition, teams are going to struggle to keep Liverpool from scoring goals. With the additions of Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic it gives Liverpool more firepower in attack and more options in terms of players with the ability to score their fair share of goals. As evident on Thursday night, both Cole and Jovanovic have an eye for goal and both players are keen on getting a shot in when possible. For me, that is what the team was crying out for last season, players who will have a go at goal rather than trying to feed everything to Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard. Only Torres was able to reach double figures in terms of Premier League goals in the 2009/2010 campaign, a disappointing statistic. Liverpool cannot afford to pin all their hopes on the goals scored solely by Torres. Hopefully, with the addition of more goalscoring midfielders and the introduction of the pass and move style of football, there will be 4 or 5 Liverpool players able to bag 10 or more goals in the upcoming Premier League season.

On Thursday, I was equally impressed with the areas in which I considered the weakness of the team last season; full back and on the wings. All 4 full backs and wingers were keen on getting forward at every opportunity and, especially the excellent Martin Kelly; they were willing to get the ball into the box first time. Even the defensive aspect of Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly was solid, unlike many occasions last term. The link-up play between Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard was an exciting prospect. The two players know each other well through the England setup, however, the way they found each other with ease on the pitch, it was as though they’d been playing week in week out for years. For me, Joe Cole was man of the match, although he was run very close by an outstanding performance from Anfield debutant Milan Jovanovic. The only thing lacking from Cole’s performance was a debut goal. The new signing provided a glimpse of exactly the things the fans were instantly excited about upon hearing of his arrival at the club.

My final point regarding the game on Thursday heads back to the first point I made, the passing and movement of the team against FK Rabotnicki was highly impressive and gave us a glimpse of, hopefully, what is to come in the 2010/2011 Premier League campaign. It is a tactic and style of play not hard for Liverpool to master with players such as Steven Gerrard, Maxi Rodriguez and Alberto Aquilani in the squad; all three excellent distributors of a football. Pass and move is the style of play I would certainly be using if I was Roy Hodgson as I believe it is fundamental to a team looking to play successful, attacking football as well as impressing the fans along the way. More of the same please, Roy!

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