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Set piece switch offs scuppering Reds

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Oscar LiverpoolANOTHER week, another two goals conceded resulting from a corner. A depressing pattern has begun to emerge over the course of this season and it’s something that we badly need to deal with over the summer – we cannot defend set pieces.

Obviously the second goal was from a penalty, but Chelsea had five corners that I can remember during this match and every single one of them resulted in pandemonium in our penalty box.

Oscar scored from a header and Suarez conceded a penalty for a handball as Torres seemed set to get a header in.

With the impending retirement of Jamie Carragher, we are losing our biggest organiser and the biggest voice. That is going to be a huge blow and is an issue we need to address urgently. But even still, we are conceding goals because we aren’t doing basic defending 101: set pieces – one of the best bets of scoring, or in our case, conceding, a goal.

Like it or not, a lot of goals in this country come from set pieces. It’s something we need to be able to do. The ease with which Oscar escaped the attentions of our defence on Sunday, particularly Daniel Agger, was alarming. If you watch the replay of the goal he doesn’t even run to the edge of the six yard box, he just takes a leisurely jog.

If you concede a goal against the likes of John Terry or Branislav Ivanovic then it becomes more understandable and the inquest is likely to be less extensive. But Oscar is neither of them. It was a bit of clever and well timed movement but for me was a very concerning goal to give away. The Brazilian isn’t exactly a towering figure.
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It wasn’t just that corner though, every time Chelsea had a set piece it became a massive worry. I don’t know if Torres was going to score with his header, but I do know that if Suarez hadn’t handled it, he was going to win his header. Glen Johnson had got under the ball and to be honest, I do understand why Suarez raised his hand. There was a good chance Torres could score (but then you remember that it’s Fernando Torres we’re talking about) but we’ll never find out whether or not he would have.

One big worry is that we’re a small team in terms of height and that’s difficult to address. The likes of Joe Allen and Lucas will compete but are going to regularly get beaten to headers from set pieces. But on the flip side, we can’t sign someone exclusively because they are a world beater in the air, they need to be able to play a bit otherwise they will be a massive detriment to the team. That being said, a great betting tip would be to say that Rodgers will address this in the summer.

But one thing is for certain – we need to do better at set pieces because they are bread and butter football. We won’t keep enough clean sheets to do anything if we don’t resolve our defending when the ball is swung into the box.

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I'm a fully trained journalist who shunned a career in the profession due to my disillusionment with the tabloid press, instead hoping to become a professional author. I've written for The Liverpool Way for 7 years and am a regular on the forum using the name Agt Provocateur.

A passionate member of supporter group Kop Faithful, I've been a season ticket holder of 8 years and a regular match goer since 1995.

When not criticising diminishing refereeing standards in football, I can be found at Langtree Park, the home of St Helens Rugby League Club being highly critical of non existent standards of refereeing in Rugby League. I'm is also a massive Lancashire and England cricket fan.

11 comments

  • fotheringham says:

    What do we expect ? Wee Brendan is building a team of lightweight midgets

    We are only going to get worse , under this clown of a manager

  • lfc4life says:

    Wot are you on about Brendans the best manager we had in a while hes got us 2 really good signings (countinho and sturridge) and the teams hes put out have been good and worked well apart from the defence and some silly mistakes from them and reina, give him a chance to get some good defenders in the summer and I think we’ll be fine.

    • Tommy says:

      Ha ha ha ha deluded fool

      Rodgers is worse than Hodgson even

      And Rodgers wasnt even responsible for sturridge and coutinho – the transfer committee was

      If we don’t sack Brenda – another disaster awaits next season

    • GAZ says:

      lfc4life? Are u a Manu fan in disguise ?

      Only a complete cabbage would think rodgers is doing a good job
      Duh. It’s worst season in over 50 yrs. Get a grip

    • Mark Henry says:

      Bell-end!

  • kirbyking says:

    Rodgers system and tactics are naive , our defence was fantastic last year and all our defenders are top class…yet under Rodgers all our defenders look poor

    It’s simply bad organization and poor management

    Rodgers seems tactically inept and his system will never work

  • Mark Henry says:

    He ain’t ready!

  • liverbaby says:

    3rd best defence in league last season
    We were rock solid
    Skrtel was fantastic

    Rodgers has ruined our defence
    A worse manager I have never seen

  • Raymond says:

    i’v been callin out for patience but after sunday i’v been starting to doubt rodgers
    1 . why did sturridge not start the match ?
    2. why is our defense which was rock solid last season are conceding an average of 2 goals per game ?
    3. why are we not changing our formation when we are 1 or 2 goals down?
    4. why did we waste 15 million on allen when we could have got a CDM and a striker which was more important ?
    5. and the most important WHY IS HE NOT LEARNING FROM HIS MISTAKES ?
    from these it’s clear that BR IS still learnig his trade , But i feel he should be given another season coz in terms of attacking we are one of the best . the coming transfer window is very important .i hope the owners back him with the necessary funds coz we as liverpool fans really want to our 19th title. YNWA

    • liverbaby says:

      Are you mad ? You are only starting to doubt Rodgers now ?

      It’s been obvious for months thst Rodgers doesnt learn – and that he is a useless manager

      Another season with him – we might never recover

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