AFTER Thursday’s performance against Young Boys, obviously defensive frailties and temperament will be one thing Brendan Rodgers will want to address.
The other thing may be something of a nightmare which managers usually like to have – the headache of more than one player performing well in a single position.
Joe Cole’s had more downs at Anfield than ups, but his commitment against the Swiss side would suggest he isn’t ready to give up on turning the tables on his Anfield fortune yet.
Of course it’s not to say one performance shows he’s back in business – far from it.
However with Rodgers showing he likes to use Sterling in other roles as well as tinkering with the formation to eliminate the traditional winger position every now and again, Joe Cole may come in handy.
If nothing else, he’s experienced. He retained possession fairly well, long enough for either Shelvey, Suso or Henderson, providing him with options down one end of the pitch.
That also opens up the possibility of spaces being created on the other side for the team to exploit. That’s how the second goal was scored as well, when Downing and Assaidi were interlinking with Gerrard and Suarez, allowing Cole to sneak in out of nowhere unmarked.
The two goals conceded are obviously a huge disappointment. The first one was a blinding finish but as Gordon Strachan pointed out, had Henderson stayed back it could’ve been avoided.
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The second was also more than avoidable. Nuri Sahin seemed to be tracking one of the men involved in that counter attack but couldn’t keep up with his physical strength; neither could one of the defenders get a block quick enough to avoid Elsad Zverotic’s cannon ball strike.
Pepe Reina won’t be happy either with the ball fizzing through his hands, but in real time, the velocity of that shot was unbelievable.
Despite the setback of needing a win against a side that won at Anfield, the performance in general may be viewed as progress nevertheless.
But it needs to be said, there’s still a bucket load of work to be done by Rodgers and all of his players.
It hasn’t looked like a step back so far.
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NO – one decent game v a midtable swiss team at home is not enough even to be considered
Fail to see how a game against the 5th place swiss team shows anything really. He was among the better players alongside Assaidi, Sahin, and Suso.
But the performance was not good enough
Fair play to Joe , he tries his best but i think he is past his best . i would rather see Morgan or Ngoo given time .
Let Joe go in January
Young boys are like a league 2 side , he needs to do it in league games
joe is a good guy , who tries but that injury meant he was never going to be same player he used to be .
hodgsons fault ~should never have signed him