After his side’s dismal start to the league campaign, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has a lot on his plate and numerous problems to rectify.
The form of his 3 star players is perhaps the most pressing concern (aside from the off-field problems of course). Pepe Reina, Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez are fundamental players in Liverpool’s squad and so far, the three leading lights at Anfield have yet to ignite. Rodgers must get them firing again, but is it possible and if so, how?
Steven Gerrard – Phenomenal player though he is, Steven Gerrard appears to be struggling to adapt to Rodgers’ 4-3-3 system more than most. He has been positioned regularly as the most advanced player in the midfield 3 and hasn’t looked at ease very often.
Against Arsenal, as he did on the opening day at West Brom, Gerrard gave a slack ball away in the opposition half and within seconds Liverpool found themselves 1-0 down. When he was at his best under Benitez, Gerrard played predominantly as a second striker behind Fernando Torres where his starting position would be similar to what Rodgers is asking of him these days, but under the Spaniard he was allowed to neglect his defensive duties a lot more. At Anfield against Arsenal, he frequently left Sahin and Allen alone in midfield and noticeably took a long time to get back into position when the reds lost the ball. Perhaps it was down to fatigue after 3 games in 7 days but in general Gerrard hasn’t yet hit top form for Liverpool and is not fitting into the new system very impressively.
Countless times this season already we’ve seen Liverpool work themselves into an attacking position with patient build up play only for Gerrard (and Suarez) to play a careless, rushed pass and surrender possession in a hasty attempt to create a chance. Gerrard’s game has always been about dynamism, pace and power but in Liverpool’s new formation he has to start using his brain more and his ageing legs a little less. His natural instinct is to try and drag Liverpool by their bootstraps into a game and create something out of nothing but while he has been the saviour so many times in the past he now needs to adapt and use his bursts of energy less and more intelligently.
He isn’t the 25 year old tornado that he was in Istanbul and he needs his team mates to share the burden of winning games with him. He has all the tools to succeed in pretty much any position on the pitch but he needs to step his game up a few levels and quickly.
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Pepe Reina – The 2 poor mistakes in a week against Hearts and Arsenal were symptomatic of the last few years for Reina. While he is still regarded as one of the finest goal keepers in Europe, this is a reputation based on his performances from a long while ago as, since Rafa Benitez exited Anfield, the keeper’s form has generally fluctuated from the poor to the mediocre with some horrendous aberrations thrown into the mix.
Reina is doing well with his distribution, as expected, but in terms of shot stopping, concentration and positioning, the Spaniard is a long way short of his best. Reina has several times publicly yearned for the return of his former goal keeping coach Xavi Valero and maybe that would help him to regain his former glories, but the problem for Rodgers is that while his number 1 is out of form, there is no viable replacement. Brad Jones simply isn’t up to it and Doni seems to have vanished from the face of the earth.All this leaves Rodgers with a goalkeeper who has been sleepwalking his way through the past few seasons and who looks low on confidence and, at this moment, an accident waiting to happen. The manager has little choice but to persist with the Spaniard and hope he can shake off his current malaise and recapture his form. It is risk, but Rodgers has no other choice but to trust in Reina.
Suarez is Liverpool’s biggest threat and opposition teams know it. He is consistently double marked and is trying to do too much. Like Gerrard, he is guilty of playing this season in fast forward mode. Every time he receives the ball, his first instinct is to attack defenders or play a difficult first time pass regardless of his chances of success. The burden of being the only player in his squad likely to score upwards of 10 league goals is obviously weighing heavily on his shoulders and his agitation and frustration are there for all to see.
Silly bookings, petulant outbursts and bad decisions have all been evident thus far. The problem is, unless someone steps up to the plate to ease the pressure on the mercurial number 7, nothing is likely to change. Suarez is Liverpool’s only regular match winner and he needs help. Perhaps altering his role in the side to play from a wider position with Borini through the centre would help but Rodgers has resisted that temptation so far and will have his reasons. Either way, Liverpool need more from Suarez and Suarez needs more from Liverpool.
Couldn’t agree more, Dave. I know people have given Pepe stick for his poor form in the past few games but Gerrard and Suarez have been just as much to blame. They’re our only 3 recognized ‘top class’ players, so they need to stand up and be counted or they may well find themselves in trouble.
the early we start inserting confident into our young strikers(morgan n co) by giving them more playing time the better for us.surez should play 4rm winger.
we(fans) need to play suaraz 4rm right winger,sterlin left winger suso center.