Quantcast
Featured

Liverpool providing answers but questions remain

|
Image for Liverpool providing answers but questions remain

LiverpoolLIVERPOOL’S 5-0 demolition job at White Hart Lane provided us with much to savour and a few things to ponder. David Martinez takes a look at what Sundays’s match proved and what lies around the corner for Liverpool.

Liverpool can cope without Gerrard against top sides

Joe Allen, Lucas Leiva and Jordan Henderson don’t have the same quality as Steven Gerrard. Nor do they posses the same levels of experience. Individually none are likely to achieve close to what the Liverpool skipper has in his career. That said, the midfield trio showed that took to the field against Spurs showed that what they do posses as a group is the one thing that Gerrard lacks these days: Dynamism.

Against better sides this season, Gerrard has copped some criticism. He’s looked immobile and unable to press effectively against teams looking to get on the front foot against the Reds. It’s a fair assessment that he’s struggled when placed in central midfield against the likes of Arsenal, Everton and Southampton. Those three sides in particular, got the best of Gerrard and his impact from open play on those matches was minimal. Brendan Rodgers’ preferred central midfield partnership of Lucas and his captain simply hasn’t have the physical qualities to cope in games against Champions League chasing rivals.

Against Spurs, Allen, Lucas and Henderson’s ability to hound Paulinho, Dembele and Sandro (and Holtby when the Brazilian went off injured) was perhaps the most impressive aspect of Liverpool’s play. The pressure exerted by those midfield players allowed the Reds to get in Spurs’ face and press the home side back. They forced errors right from the start of the game when Henderson and Allen pressured Sandro into a mistake in just the second minute. That relentless pressure never dwindled and Spurs couldn’t cope with the perpetual movement and ball winning ability of the Liverpool trio. Undoubtedly, there was a dynamism against Spurs that was missing against the likes of Arsenal and co earlier in the season.

But can they cope without Gerrard against the lesser sides?

Gerrard’s absence may well be more pronounced against Cardiff this weekend than it was against tougher opposition on Sunday. That may sound counter intuitive given Spurs’ obvious superiority when compared with the Welsh side, but when Liverpool are having large amounts of possession against teams intent on defending deep, Gerrard comes to the fore. His quality from open play and his delivery from set pieces gives Liverpool another attacking dimension against the lesser lights of the Premier League. His phenomenal technical ability is still evident when he is allowed time on the ball and has fewer defensive responsibility. Gerrard has unlocked plenty of stubborn defences this season already for Liverpool, contributing 6 assists. His passing is more penetrating than Allen, Lucas and Henderson’s and Liverpool will miss those qualities when they are playing against a less adventurous side than Spurs.

Liverpool dealt well with the absence of their captain against a Champions League rival on Sunday. Can they replace him effectively when they are faced with a smaller club who will likely come to Anfield and defend for their lives? We’ll soon find out.

Sakho should be first choice

Mamadou Sakho had a few iffy moments against Spurs. He gave one of the dodgiest back passes of the season to Simon Mignolet which almost cost Liverpool a goal and he also lost the ball a couple of times when attempting unnecessary dribbles. That said, his physical presence and utter dominance of the aerial ball demand that he be in the Liverpool starting eleven these days.

Sakho is called a beast by his team mates and you can see why. He’s a monster in the air. He rarely loses a header and he adds a much needed combative streak to Liverpool’s central defence. He clearly relishes a scrap. On the ball he is generally very good also, at least when he’s not trying to go on a mazy down field. His passing is accurate, crisp and decisive and he seems at ease when in possession. One back heel in his own area at the weekend showed in no uncertain terms  that he doesn’t lack for confidence with the ball at his feet.

Given the type of player Sakho appears to be though, mistakes will undoubtedly occur. He’s a proactive defender rather than reactive. To draw an analogy from Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher’s excellent debate on the art of defending, Sakho is more of a David Luiz than a John Terry. He constantly looks to nip in in front of a striker to win the ball and will back himself in a one on one battle every time. Where other defenders would retreat, he will attack. When that goes wrong it will look bad, but the fact is that Sakho dominates most of his opponents and is giving Liverpool’s back line some much needed steel that should remain.

Coutinho: Understated but vital

Philippe Coutinho hasn’t quite shone as brightly yet this season as he did last term. There just haven’t been as many of those jaw dropping individual performances from him so far. Against Spurs, players like Jordan Henderson, Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling clearly outshone him in terms of individual brilliance. That said, Coutinho remains a fulcrum of Rodgers’ side. Rightly so. His ball retention when up against Kyle Walker, a tough opponent, was exceptional on Sunday. Time and again he ran with the ball and despite a lack of eye catching contributions, he was still fundamental to Liverpool’s victory. His persistent movement infield and in wider areas tormented Spurs and created vast amounts of space for Suarez and Henderson in particular to exploit.

He is obviously a key player for opposing sides to focus on this season and he’s getting less time and space to weave his magic, but his touch for Jordan Henderson’s goal showed that his quality endures. It was an exquisite lay off that went largely unnoticed, probably because such brilliance is now expected of the Brazilian. He’s not quite firing on all cylinders yet but, despite a hard time with niggling injuries and more attention from opponents, he is still contributing effectively to the side. Now that he’s over his injury and playing more regularly, it is surely only a matter of time before he truly ignites once more.

Henderson’s coming out party

On Sunday the rest of the country finally seemed to come to the same realisation that has been dawning on Liverpool fans for the past 12 months: Jordan Henderson isn’t an £18m flop, he’s actually a very impressive footballer. His performance in north London was undoubtedly Henderson’s most effective and eye catching display in a red shirt. He was a force of nature that overwhelmed Spurs with his lung bursting bursts forward, his accurate passing and his persistent pressing.

In truth, he’s displayed all of those talents many times for Liverpool already, but he’s never married them all together as splendidly as he did on Sunday. When Luis Suarez bags two goals and three assists and still loses out on the man of the match award to you, you know you’ve delivered big time. The challenge now for Henderson, who has started every league game for the Reds this season, is to maintain this level. He’s been good for Liverpool for a year or so now and his place in the side is no longer in question. His improvement to this point has been marked and it must continue. He can add more goals to his game. His passing can become consistently more incisive and perceptive, as demonstrated on Sunday when he was spraying 40 yard passes to Philippe Coutinho without even looking. Henderson has transformed himself into a very good player, he can go even further and, given his desire and commitment, who would back him not to?

Share this article

28 comments

  • elias says:

    we need to step up in lower sides.no underestimating cardiff.henderson and allen should maintain the consistency

  • Emeka says:

    Henderson beta dan cleverly even a madman agrees

  • Chris says:

    Jst half the way we pressed tot’ham and cardiff will shatter…hat trick for suarez

  • Yana says:

    Correct. Gerrard has past his sell by date and should be treated as fringe player until his contract expired. Bench him for all PL matches and only play him when we are 3 goals up. We must serious about benching Gerrard if we want to win PL this session. Maybe we can throw that old man Gerrard for FA cup games.

    p.s: “LFC play way better without Steven Gerrard”

  • NigeraiRed. says:

    Well written article.Very insightful.

  • ian says:

    I think the boss has to judge this Gerrard situation wisely, whether it’s not being afraid to take him off early enough ‘if’ he’s having a negative impact against certain teams. Nor afraid to start him on the bench and bring him on if games are passing us by.

    At other times, if we are winning comfortably, not necessarily by large margins, just controlling and in pole position to collect three points, his legs would benefit from being rested.

    Either way, the day he hangs up his boots will be a sad day indeed.

    looks like Agger may not be around much longer, another sad situation.

    We need a Coutinho mk2 so they can both spur each other on like Corzola/Ozil and Hazard/Oscar have the ability to do with their clubs. Nothing wrong with Couts tho.

    Sakho is beastly, working well with Skrtel and him currently. Allen and Henderson are ok but will probably struggle in Champions League, more quality required if we are to progress beyond this season.

    • troll hunter says:

      You are so boring . Total troll aaron.

      • ian says:

        Cheers troll hunter, glad to be getting tips from someone who never says (booooring) anything different in their posts.

        My name is ian tho, says it at the top of my comment.

        • troll hunter says:

          Ian /Aaron whatever you choose today , your just a boring troll

          Idiot

          • ian says:

            Christened Ian.

            I’ll always have solace knowing that even if I’m boring, I still have some way to match your expertise, you do boring so well I might write a screenplay about you and have Jude Law play your character.

          • tr0ll hunter says:

            Still trolling ? Idiot

    • no sheep says:

      ian i think by the time his injury has recovered he will be rested enough, im big lucas fan, but i can see stevie being played as the holding player and reckon it would suit him very well, good at reading the game, positional play, good in the air, can tackle and as the song goes he’s big and he’s f-ing hard. plus it would give him more time to pick out those 40 yarders.
      we have 4 very good players fighting for 2/3 spots depending on what set up we go with.
      hope we have another 2 years at least with him before he hangs them up.

      we have another countinho out on loan, suso should be back next season fighting for a start.

      as for allen and henderson, dont think we have seen anywhere near what those too are capable of yet in a red shirt. we will need more depth in the middle if we want to rule the continent, but that is some thing that would be looked at in the summer.

      • realist says:

        I think it’s a given at this stage , that the imbecile who thinks Liverpool should dump Suarez , and who doesnt think Wilshire is a first teamer has absolutely no clue about football

      • ian says:

        I can see Gerrard in the holding role but only for limited amount of years. If we can get someone now who can learn from him before eventually taking over, that would be cool.

        I like Lucas but he doesn’t offer anything going forward, this is needed in the modern era.

        Henderson/Allen will need to continue their progress rapidly if they are to cut it in the continent, they don’t have too much experience abroad.

        for once, regardless of outcome against CFC/MCFC, the future is looking bright, it’s looking Red. Another goal scorer badly needed.

  • amicable says:

    misbehaving kopites.say something abt lfc nt urself God 4saken boring altitude.gosh.

  • pino pino says:

    Yana and No sheep are not lfc fans,we should get M vila or Fernando of Porto and drop Lucas,Get Muriel or Bacca to be Luis Suarez understudy and try to get Cabaye then I will stand at my backyard and roar like a Lion GIVE US THE PL TROPHY cos we play the most beautiful football in the entire universe.

    • no sheep says:

      Tell you what il support my local club, if you support you local club. You can stand at your door all you want and roar like a lion. Wonder what continent that local club of yours is on?

      T.I.A

      • realist says:

        Don’t mention continents etc to no sheep . He wouldn’t understand . Education is not his strong point .

  • TaintlessRed says:

    Dave, good points well made. Agree with all of them.

  • kevin says:

    yana is sick. i dnt think he is even a kopite.

  • Winston says:

    Yana is 6 years old . No sheep is just dumb.

    • no sheep says:

      Another troll how original. You have humbled me with your argument. I’m sure you were one of the real fans who was calling for time and that Rodger is the right man of the job. Yes? Tell me what that humble pie chef Rodgers has been serving up lately tastes like? Cause my self and other real fans who know that a manager needs time to mould the squad into the team he wants, don’t know what it tastes like?

      • realist says:

        Real fan ? Ha ha ha ha . The total and utter foooool who wanted Liverpool to sell Suarez . The same fool who was probably waiting patiently for Hodgson ‘to mould his squad’

        Ha ha ha ha ha ha. No sheep you always amaze me (and everyone else) with your unbelievable stupidity.

        Well done

Comments are closed.