SILENCE often reveals as much boom and bluster and where Liverpool have been noisy in their pursuit of attacking talent to bolster their ranks, there has been not the slightest of murmurs about additions to the central midfield.
In fact, there has been a reduction in the resources available to play in the centre of the park. Jonjo Shelvey has been sold and Spearing departed as quickly as he returned from his Bolton sojourn. This leaves Gerrard, Lucas Allen and Henderson to take the midfield places.
However, things are not quite as they seem in that regard. Last season those players and the departed Shelvey (as well as Nuri Sahin) were battling for 3 positions in the team, the two centre midfield roles and the more advanced midfield position. Now, they will be battling for just the two deeper positions.
What was evident last year was that the midfield was disjointed until the arrival of Coutinho. This was because most of these players like to take up the same positions on the pitch. Rather than having a more natural attacking player, all three took turns in getting forward to support the attack with variable success.
Sahin even complained about having to play in the number 10 position but he was deployed there because he was more naturally suited to that role than any of his team mates.
With the midfield operating fluidly, the central areas were often caught out when possession was conceded. One ball from the opposition often bypassed our midfield and the defence was left exposed. There was also hesitancy in the centre, with players often not being sure when to drop in or when to get forward.
The arrival of Coutinho saw him moving in off the left flank to provide the pivot at the top of the attack and allowing space for other players wider. Rodgers has recently stated that he sees Coutinho as playing in the number 10 role for the team and this is a logical step.
This coming season will most likely see an attacking quartet which, with a full squad available, will allow a team of Sturridge, Suarez, Aspas and Coutinho and ideally another forward (the current link being Willian) actually displacing one of those four.
The greater strength in the attacking positions will allow the central midfielders to operate with more certainty and there will be less necessity for them to contribute with goals as the forwards should provide these. A more potent and intelligent attack should also open up space which may even allow the midfield to score more often.
In theory the increased attacking options make our midfield seem much stronger and the system will certainly be more robust than last year. However, the question still remains as to whether the personnel are good enough.
Gerrard has been one of the greatest performers in the Premier League era and his quality is unquestioned. That said, we should not expect our talisman to play quite as many games as he has done before. Although he managed more minutes last season than he has for a while, his game time is likely to be reduced in the coming seasons.
This impact may not be felt so keenly this year given that there is no European football to contend with but it is something that must be considered.
As for Henderson, he is developing nicely and had a great end to the season after forcing his way into the team. There is talent there to be harnessed and hopefully he will grow as he continues to collect match experience and as his responsibility increases. But for all his positives, he is not yet in the upper band of Premier League midfielders.
Lucas will feel that he has something to prove this season having missed large portions of the last two campaigns. Since the return from his injury, he has not recovered the tenacity and poise that we had seen previously and he will be eager to cement his place in the first team. However, there are question marks over him particularly as the game has seen less of a reliance on defensive midfielders as tactics have adapted.
This leaves Joe Allen, who suffered a fan backlash and nosedive in form after his injury. He is fortunate in that he has a fresh start this season with most fans optimistic that the real Joe Allen will shine through this time around. So while pre-season optimism may allow us to believe that Allen will prove to be a success, the reality is that the jury is still out on our Welsh maestro.
So the question is whether our midfield is up to task next season. It’s certainly a distance behind the strongest midfields we’ve had in the past but it would be fair to say that the depth and quality is reasonable.
It is clear that other areas of the team needed much more urgent surgery and indeed still do with a left back and centre half a priority. The positives are that Allen and Henderson will have the opportunity to prove that they can cut it at the top and at the very least the middle of the park is fit for purpose.
Overall though, if our ambition is to fight at the highest level in the Premier League then our current players will need to either step up or step aside in the future.
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Can’t remember Liverpool ever having such a weak midfielder. If Rodgers persists with picking his little pet Joe Allen then our season with be a disaster like last season
Don’t crucify Joe. Now tha the injury is behind him, he can once again prove his true worth.
Rubbish . The injury was minor . Stop with the excuses
I can remember watching Allen play a few times for Swansea and he never once struck me as Liverpool fc quality, I could see this along with many others, and we only improved last season once Henderson had replaced Allen in the team, so Why would Allen start now ahead of Henderson?, and why would any fan want him too going by the facts of last season?.
http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/allen-flattered-at-monthly-award
Disgrace
Lol
Allen played 3 games in that month.
West brom where everyone was awful
City . Yes 1 good game
Hearts. Everyone was awful
Lol
Allen won that on the back of ONE good performance
His other 39 were S H I T E
Why the emphasis on left back so much? We need a young stalwart center back and one good attacker.
Yeah agree regarding left back. Hardly the most important position is it? As for joe allen, he can’t be as bad as last season. I want henderson in for him though. Henderson was coming good in the 2nd half of last season. I can see him developing in to a top player. Don’t want him sitting on the bench just because rodgers loves allen
Allen was our key player early doors and before injury. A tidy Sumner as well.
Too many short-sighted opinions regarding Allen. I wish we could all read your comments about Lucas at the first steps of his LFC career. Would soon confirm my suspicion of armchair fans.
Yawn. did you make up sad excuses for poulsen as well ? Allen was NEVER a key player . Never played well , unless you count 5 yard backward passes . Allen is a wimp . A disgrace to LFC
Wimp… Disgrace… Who do u think u are? Pull your head in. The day of the new season and this vitriolic bile is the only thing u can spit out.
The only disgrace is you to liverpool supporters. Oh and I’d love to see u say that to his face… Wimp!
The dumbest guy on this site strikes again . Ozred the fool. Never one intelligent comment
http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/allen-flattered-at-monthly-award.
Player of the month? Disgrace
But he wasn’t really was he?, that was Rodgers heaping unjust praise on one player, Allen was no-where near our best player at any point last season I don’t know where that comes from. Regarding lucas, I never thought him in the same class as Alonso, Masch, gerrard and still don’t, I would replace lucas as well in an ideal world, its why we don’t compete anymore, we have accepted players like lucas as “world class” when in reality he is very average, as was shown when in a midfield of great players, his sort-comings were there to see and still are.
http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/allen-flattered-at-monthly-award
Allen is a disgrace. Just like joke armchair fans like yourself
the team need surgery,do we have a left winger in liverpool? I dnt think so bt i sincerely hope we can lure willains to anfield,dnt see that happening though.
The team still neads a central defender & an attacking midfielder.
Allen is the most over rated player ever. A shocking waste of 15m. Fact is if he wasn’t brendas little favourite he would never even get close to being a Liverpool player
If Allen plays we are weak in midfield . It is no coincidence that we massively improved last season as soon as Allen was out injured. Simply an awful awful signing
That’s why we played well v stoke : because Allen was not playin
Very mature calling someone a girls name. Says everything we need to know about you.
First half v stoke, to my surprise we look very good, the passing is crisp and sturridge is finding himself un-marked on numerous occasions, Coutinho is a class act and we are hustling and challenging them, brilliantly, I know its only Stoke and I am one of the most critical of Rodgers and the team but this so far has been really good and if it continues I will gladly eat my own words over what I said of Rodgers recruitment. 1-0 so far, lets go out and bang in a few more.
Wait til we play some decent teams
guest
10 hours ago
What you are saying is true, and its got a whole lot worse since Rodgers arrived, Other fans can see what a poor job he is doing, some of our own fans can see it also, but there are a whole lot of lfc fans who just believe and parrot everything the club tells them, and FSG has turned most fans into accountants, more interested in whether fsg are cutting costs/wages than actually wanting us to make a real effort in the market.
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Just shows how fickle you lot are, one win and you talk about the possibility of changing your mind.
Well done Liverpool and well done Mignolet on the Penalty save, good win, good performance, well done to Rodgers for choosing Hendo ahead of Allen, theres hope lol.
Nice article Brendan. I think especially with Shelvey also moving on we’re short in thus area. We don’t have adequate backup for Lucas, (Allen isn’t a proper deputy for that position), and losing out on Mkhitaryan means we don’t have a quality attacking central midfielder. Stevie plays deeper nowadays and can’t be expected to cover the distances he used to. I’d have liked us to get Wanyama to challenge Lucas and Kevin Strootman who went to Roma. But if we go for someone like Wilian there simply wouldn’t be the cash for midfielders so we’ll have to hope Henderson continues to improve and Allen takes a big leap forward. Best bet us play Lucas & Gerrard with Coutinho ahead.
I must say Hendersen did well yesterday . Full of fire and good running. Pity he didn’t score though. At the rate he is improving , he should start the games over Allen. Was quite pleased with the team’s overall performance . Though we couldn’t kill Stoke with a second goal.
-For those of you who dontknow how childish and stupid no sheep is …READ HIS COMMENT HERE
http://live4liverpool.com/2013/07/view-from-the-kop/lfc-can-no-longer-afford-to-lose-the-transfer-poker-game/comment-page-2#comments
After a load ofidiotic hypothetical nonsense he goes on to say, and I quote
“we will genuinely bestronger without Suarez”
“he is a luxury player who simplyappeasesthe fanswith theoccasional screamer” lol lol
“Suarez is not really that great ” lol
“Suarez takes away from the team more than he gives back”
“Suarez is not good enough and not world class”
LOL LOL LOL
no sheep really is THE dumbest ofthem all . Go on read it , it will makeyou laugh
Ha ha we went thru this before, and you made yourself look a tit. Don’t have the energy to argue with a clown. Anyone who wants to see how it would go should just google what tommy the tit has just posted above and click on the 2nd or 3rd result. The guy is pointless and never been to a professional football match in his life.
Tommy not everyone has as little game knowledge as yourself , so go on now and post under your diffrent names, but remember that making it look like people agree with you does not make your posts look any more knowledgable.
Now I will not reply to your usual drival. Because unlike yourself I have a life that involves other people.
Lol . This comment proves you are the dumbest troll on here . Everyone should read it
This sad kid no sheep makes a fool of himself every time he posts. Keep it up
We win the opening game of the season for the first time in years and this nonsense is all u can come up with…
Take your misery elsewhere tommy
Lol. Yea we know you and no sheep are the same person . Typical armchair fan hasn’t a clue
Are u ok? I know winning must be hard for u to accept. Winning and playing well must be excruciating.
Yes armchair fans… At least we can call ourselves fans. Beats sitting in an armchair wallowing in misery and bitterness hoping we lose so u can have something to whinge about.
Lol. Im very happy winning. Stay in your armchair , it’s easy supporting from a far. Once again you prove aussies don’t know fk all about football.
Haha. Because I’m happy we won I know nothing. Apologies for not making it to anfield for the game from Australia. I take it you were there and your head went into your hands when huth hit the cross bar. We were so close to going behind. Must have been very exciting for u standing in the Kop cheering for stoke and canning rogers all afternoon. If only liverpool did play shyt and we lost… Oh we’ll, always next week sook.
That’s just amazingly ignorant and stupid comment. Yes I was there and why would any red want stoke to score ? That’s stupid. And yes like most real fans I have no faith in Rodgers . Hope he gets sacked quick or proves me wrong , either road leads to w better future for LFC.
Because u r a narcissistic tool who derives pleasure from whinging and being miserable.
Get back to aussie rules . You dont seem to understand our club or football in general
No tool. I’m more than happy supporting my club. Being happy when they win… The stuff normal supporters do.
I understand its a hard day for u so maybe best u just sleep it off and have a wet dream about us losing the opening game.
Then u can wake up, put on your track suit pants, sit in your chair and be bitter and miserable about 3 points coming our way in round 1.
Tommy, you’re probably the biggest know-nothing, whining, miserable nerf herder on this site.
You know as much about football as a mouth breather knows about nasal strips.
Back under your bridge, you ignorant troll.
Brendan had the lads playing wonderfully. Pressing was superb, Henderson was inspired, and Mignolet, who I KNOW you’ve slagged here before, mad a few saves Pepe would’ve had a laugh at attempting.
Don’t bring your “my wife is boffing the milkman” misery here. Everyone knows you’re a fool.
Bejnad and ozred don’t give him the attention he wants. The guy try’s to use the fact that he has been to anfield as a pedestal to look down his nose at you. But i can garrienty that he is not a season ticket holder nor has he been to anfield more then twice (if even that).
1. Although there are some old fans that believe you need to be from liverpool to be a proper fan, those fans understand the game inside out. Which tommy has little more knowledge then a 10year old. I’d laugh to think of this clown on the kop, people would try to educate him first but no one on the kop would be shy about putting this plant pot in his place.
2. Below I have picked out a post to prove that he is a liar. This post is about aspas.
He clearly slags of aspas without knowing any thing about him. Something you never do at anfield, you never judge a player before he is given a chance. At least a few competitive games under his belt.
3. He openly slags off Rodgers. Something that is not done at anfield. The guy got a great cheer when he came out.
Modern fans know how important a world wide fan base is. So keep on supporting the team cause you money goes just as much to paying the players as ours.
Tommy
May 30th, 2013
Cant blame Suarez . He is one of the worlds best . Liverpool need to some more ambition to keep a player like him
Buying average cheap players and having a average cheap manager is no way to gain success
Anyway
Are Ayres and Rodgers full of cr@p ?????
Ayres categorically stated 3 weeks ago
– “Suarez will not be sold ”
Rodgers categorically stated 3 weeks ago ” we will not be selling Luis Suarez under any circumstances”
Well….???
Do we believe the 2 clowns ? ….or were they bull* the fans AGAIN
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Ps.
Do you really think someone who has a season ticket would put Suarez before the club. Don’t make me laugh tommy. You are noting but a troll.
Op awaiting moderation.
Lol.
No sheep you prove once again you must be a small kid
A large portion of fans at anfield realize Rodgers is rubbish
When did you last hear them singing his name ? Apart from 30 or 40 fools the odd time
Aspas is average , some people do actually watch football apart from premier lge
And many many fans would rather a great great player like Suarez to stay. But not silly kids like you
I do go the games, you obviously have never been judging by your naive little comments bastion guesses
Anyone who actually thinks “Suarez is not really thst good a player” really deserves nothing more than to be laughed at
Blah blah blah blah…I’ve met a total of 4 actual fans that are cometely against Rogers and his work here, and they were all nostalgic drunks, in the same family.
Knowing you’re a marginalized troll is step 1. Step two is to stop while you’re only being laughed at by a small blog of people on the internet, Tommy, and not everyone else as well.
Lol . Nice try no sheep
Haha. Imagine being a liverpool supporter and not being able to enjoy a win… Tommy and poor old Dennis who like any true supporter has gone to ground completely following a ripper win in rd 1… Pathetic dribblers!
Ripper win ? What u smoking ? We beat relegation favoritess at home . Calm down FFS.
Any win to kick the season off is a ripper win. And it was as much about the way we dominated the game as the end scoreline.