Flaws and all exposed against Villa

Liverpool showed fighting spirit to get a point against Aston Villa on Saturday; however the performance highlighted a few issues which need to be addressed by Brendan Rodgers and his coaching staff soon as possible.

The team should have been aware of the threat between Villa’s front three before kick-off as Agbonlahor, Benteke and Weimann ran rings round our defence last season and rightly deserved their 3-1 win.

We looked on edge and lacked the energy and impetus that has served us well this season at home. From the first minute you could see that Aston Villa were going to cause us problems by their sheer pace and counter attacking prowess. This should have made us step up and give us the kick we needed.

It was very evident in the first half that we were missing Lucas in the midfield area, Brendan should take responsibility that he got the team selection wrong, it was a brave decision not to start the Brazilian so that he could accommodate Sturridge in a 4-4-2 formation. However like a number of times this campaign our midfield was completely over-run, gaps were opening up to allow Villa to run through at times without a challenge.

Gerrard who for a few games has been off the pace had two or three players surround him during the first 45 minutes and was unable to pull the strings from his deeper position, it will take time for him to get used to his new role but I do think he can play in a four man midfield or even moving in to the back four as a centre half after all he reads the game so well.

One thing about our captain is that he never shirks from responsibility and stepped up when called upon to slot the penalty passed Guzan (more about that later) Gerrard even admitted he didn’t have the best 45 minutes maybe other players have to be honest and say the same.

Sadly because of Agbonlahor’s pace Kolo Toure was totally exposed and could not keep up with him, completely weak in his legs, Skrtel could not handle the physical presence of Benteke and lost his man a few times. Worryingly when they have both played as a partnership we have conceded eight goals.  The sooner Mamadou Sakho is fit the better as we are missing the no nonsense Frenchman.

Johnson needs to be taken out of the firing line as he has not been able to maintain his high standards he is now unsure when he has the ball, he needs to attack like he did earlier in the season, now he plays the ball backwards in to our own half which stops the momentum of the attacking play us fans have come to expect over the last few months. Whether it is a lack of confidence or an injury remains to be seen.

As for Aly Cissokho; he seems bewildered by the pace of the Premier League, his first touch is extremely poor at times non-existent, along with his poor crossing of the ball. He looks clumsy and totally of his depth I am afraid that Aly does not have the close control necessary to be a success with a club of the standards and ethos of Liverpool FC.

Now worryingly Simon Mignolet is getting found out for what he really is an average all round keeper. Apart from shot-stopping which he excels in, he needs to improve on all other expects of his game. Now I have mentioned numerous times this season what his weaknesses are and I have been criticized for it but now other fans are noticing his flaws.

Before kickoff Brad Jones was demonstrating various crosses that Aston Villa could do during the game ironically the exact cross that Agbonlahor made which lead to their goal Mignolet flapped at in practice. Now if you are going to punch the ball make sure you get height on it away from danger.  At times his kicking is awry and it suddenly it becomes a 50/50 ball.

When the ball is at his feet he looks very nervous and like a hot potato he wants rid.  He lacks composure on his line and is far too static he needs to be able to move along it at the right time. Unfortunately he does not communicate effectively with his back four. Now if you are unable to get the basics right this means that inconsistencies arise and remain frequent.

Pepe was a leader and was excellent at marshalling his defence.  Even with Pepe’s errors last season he was miles better than Simon. If the opportunity arose for Reina to restart his career under Rodgers next campaign I would give it a go. It might actually benefit Simon having quality competition.

The addition of Lucas at half time (should have been earlier) allowed us to revert to 3-5-2 which steadied the ship and gave Gerrard the licence to get forward more and influence the game in the way we know he can do.  Lucas’ injury which fingers crossed is not another ACL tear just heightens the fact that we desperately need a quality DM more than ever to give us the steel in midfield and to stop opposing players getting through with ease.

Yann M’Vila who currently plays for Russian side Rubin Kazan could easily fit the bill due to his ball-playing technique and composure, alongside his physical strength, athleticism and incredible stamina. His distribution and positioning also makes him a perfect shield in front of the back four.

Of course with Sturridge and Suarez in the team we always will have a chance to get goals and scoring opportunities. Daniel’s goal before half time gave us the confidence to try and turn things around.

Now for the controversial moment of the match. It was penalty in every sense of the word; Guzan came out running out of his goal at full speed and with doing this made himself liable for the decision especially against a quality attacker like Luis, Guzan may of pulled his hands away however it was clip at the back of Suarez leg which gave the contact to go down. What is Luis going to do jump over the keeper which is hard to do at speed that the keeper was coming out or go down in the box because contact was made.

We played better in the second half but the draw felt like a loss due to the fact we the fans have been spoiled by the free flowing football we have come to expect at home. The two points dropped on Saturday should serve as a wakeup call especially as we have the Merseyside Derby and Arsenal at home on the horizon.

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