THERE are a lot of different levels to the Jose Enrique story. Given a good telling off in pre-season training for keeping hold of the ball too long, dropped in the early parts of the season, back into the team as a rampaging left winger, and then slipped quietly back in at left-back, the Spaniard has had a weird old season.
After a very promising start to his Liverpool career, it’s fair to say that Enrique went off the boil in the second half of last season and has only just begun to show signs of recovery.
So much so to the extent that I am hopeful that Brendan Rodgers no longer has to think about the left-back position until summer at the earliest – if he needs to at all.
I think that Enrique is a good footballer. I have concerns about him defensively as I think his positioning is occasionally atrocious and at best, suspect. He also holds onto the ball far too long sometimes, as Rodgers identified in pre-season and as you can see for yourself. He backs his strength too often and can sometimes get dispossessed needlessly or miss out on a good ball.
However, as our form has improved piece by piece over recent weeks barring the aberration against Aston Villa, I think that Enrique has hit form along with us. He gets forward well and carries a threat, he isn’t afraid to have the ball and can put a good cross in.
Crucially, he appears to have struck up an excellent understanding with Luis Suarez. As our main goal threat, the Uruguayan cannot get enough good service and Enrique has hit it off with him in recent weeks.
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The most notable moment was the goal at Anfield against Newcastle United, for which Suarez controlled a long ball from the left-back superbly before taking it into his stride and scoring what will surely be one of the goals of the season. But there have been numerous occasions when Enrique has picked Suarez out. That partnership is one to watch because I think there are more goals to come from that link.
Even though he’s only scored the one goal for us, Enrique is a threat in the opposition penalty box. He has good feet and isn’t afraid to take people on. When he gets that far forward he does look to pick out a pass or a cross, as he did for Suarez’ goal against Fulham on Saturday. He showed his best assets in one go – holding off the Fulham man, escaping his attentions, getting to the byline before looking up and picking out Suarez.
This is a very impressive turnaround because in the early parts of the season, Enrique couldn’t even make left-back – or if he did, it was for Europa League games when the squad was often rotated. It seemed a long way back. But for now, the Spaniard deserves a good run in the team. I’ve found the left back position a bit curious as Rodgers has happily used Glen Johnson there, and Stewart Downing but has yet to consider young Jack Robinson, and this is a manager who is not afraid of using the youngsters in his squad.
Ultimately, Enrique has revived his form through a combination of hard work and patience. He has waited for his chance to get back into the team and taken it with both hands. For this, he deserves a lot of credit.
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Fair play to Enrique , he has been superb , top class . I always thought criticism a bit unfair , every player go through dips in form sometime
When a player goes through a bad patch – he should be dropped immediately until he finds it again in the reserves etc
Liverpool has been guilty too many times in recent years of playing people who are not playing well , giving them too long to find form . If they dont do it – drop them – dont wait 5 or 10 games – drop them
I think he has been our best player along with Suarez. And i don’t agree with your statement about his defending. He has done a good job at it, crucial tackles and quite a strong lad too, pushing and shoving attackers off the park.
About his positioning, BR wants his wingbacks to overlap the wingers and gives them a lot of freedom to go forward, and he just about follows the exact system of Barcelona even if he says otherwise. They do same thing aswell, Alba and Adriano spend most of the time on the other half, and infact Alba is mostly on the penalty box but he does know when to pop in and when to go back on defence, which is what BR is trying to promote here