Rodgers’ new resilience brings end to ‘soft touch’ Reds

BACK in January Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford. The first 45 minutes made for particularly gruesome viewing.

That day the gap between the two teams seemed as large as I could remember it being. Liverpool’s performance in the first half was listless. It was men against timid boys and the Reds like looked a soft touch as United walked all over them.

The most glaring problem in that awful performance was the fact that Liverpool we’re dreadful without the ball. Their pressing ranged from inconsistent to none existent. Defensively the side was a complete mess and every time United attacked it felt like a goal was imminent. It was perhaps the worst performance of the season from Liverpool despite an improved second half.

Even after that game, as the season progressed and results picked up somewhat, the balance of Liverpool’s side still wasn’t quite right. More goals we’re being scored thanks to the attacking additions of Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge but the Reds still looked vulnerable to counter attacks and at no stage last season did Liverpool’s defence look particularly sturdy. Their midfield was quite easy to play through and there was always an undercurrent of vulnerability to their play. The 3-1 defeat at Southampton is the perfect game to cite as an example.

8 months on from that freezing day in Salford and defensive progress for Liverpool is evident.  The Reds haven’t sparkled yet this season in regards to their forward play. They’ve missed the guile of Luis Suarez and  have been unable to counter attack as incisively as their fans would like (Victor Moses with his pace and power should help out in that department). What has impressed though, is how Brendan Rodgers is now fielding a side that is far more accomplished when on the back foot and particularly adept at defending a lead.

Both at Villa Park and against United at home, Liverpool sat back and we’re almost Houllier-esque in their defending at times. They didn’t use the ball nearly well enough in either game but, when not in possession, the players busted a gut to get back into position and make it difficult to play through them. Jordan Henderson is the most obvious example of this. Against United we saw him coming off the line a lot from his initial wide starting point to link up play in the middle of the park but, as soon as the ball was lost, he would shuttle straight back over to the right hand side to get in the face of Patrice Evra.

Iago Aspas was the same. He had somewhat of a shocker with the ball at his feet in that particular match but his work rate and defensive play was exceptional. Even Daniel Sturridge was closing down and making a nuisance of himself despite carrying an injury. Liverpool have finally begun to resemble a solid, well drilled outfit when out of possession.

During those two gritty performances at Villa and against United, Liverpool conceded  just two real goal scoring opportunities. Christian Benteke’s late half volley at Villa Park and van Persie’s sliced effort at the Anfield Road end. Neither Villa nor United ever looked particularly threatening despite dominating possession for long spells. Villa resorted to hitting long balls that were mopped up well by Kolo Toure and the midfield shield of Gerrard and Lucas while David Moyes’ tactical game plan seemed to consist of giving the ball to Ashley Young and getting him to attempt cross after cross until he’d pissed off enough away fans with his lack of quality that he needed to be hauled off and replaced by Nani. Basically, Liverpool now appear to be bloody difficult to break down and hard to beat even when nowhere near top form. It’s quite a contrast from last season where they often came away with hard luck stories despite dominating games.

Another key reason for their new found solidity is the new number 1 (or 22 to be accurate), Simon Mignolet. He may have looked more than a little nervous on his debut against Stoke and he’s hardly Franz Beckenbauer when he’s on the ball, but he’s already doing something that Pepe Reina hadn’t been able to do for a while: making match winning saves.

How many of those frustrating defeats and draws over the past couple of seasons have come when Liverpool’s opponents have only managed to create 1 or 2 decent chances? Teams so often seemed required to do next to nothing to score against the Reds. Think Clint Dempsey at Craven Cottage, Ramires at Wembley and Aguero at the Etihad. All those goals cost Liverpool big time and were down to some pretty ordinary goalkeeping. It remains to be seen whether Mignolet will prove to be a better all round keeper for Liverpool than Pepe Reina was, but the season is three games old and the Belgian has kept three clean sheets and produced two genuinely important moments that have won Liverpool four points. His double stop against Stoke in the last minute was as fantastic as it was crucial and while Benteke’s shot late on at Villa Park was angled towards his near post, it was hit like a rocket and plenty of keepers would have been beaten by it. The old saying that a top keeper wins you 10 points as season springs to mind and Mignolet has already won Liverpool 4.

Liverpool’s pressing, defending and shot stopping from their goal keeper have all improved significantly and it is paying off big time right now. Brendan Rodgers has displayed admirable pragmatism since he took charge in L4. He’s switched the formation from his preferred  4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 that suits his squad and while he has made his share of mistakes, he does appear to be learning from them. Chief amongst them is starting the season with the previously under used Henderson over the less mobile Joe Allen who had actually impressed in pre-season. Clearly the manager has recognised the need for more athleticism in that particular area of the team and has acted accordingly regardless of whether he signed Allen for big money or not.

When Rodgers came into Anfield he didn’t start building from the back like many managers do but belatedly it appears that he’s rectifying the problems that were so obvious in that department last season as well. With Kolo Toure, Aly Cissokho, Mamadou Sakho and Thiago Ilori all coming through the Shankly Gates this summer, the defence now looks extremely well stocked and, significantly, there is increased pace and power in that area. Hopefully those added bodies will help to signal the end of performances where the likes of Christian Benteke and Oldham’s Matt Smith bully Liverpool to defeat.

In hindsight, that game at Old Trafford back in January was probably the catalyst for change at Liverpool. As mentioned earlier, Jordan Henderson has been selected with far greater regularity since that day, Rodgers has also brought in three centre-halves, a new goalkeeper and been able to adapt his side’s play sufficiently to the point that they now look commanding when defending a lead. When you think about the attacking players who are yet to appear this season and the fact that Coutinho hasn’t really got going at the time of writing, the scope for improvement at Anfield is promising.

The Reds don’t look so much of a soft touch any more.

Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com

Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool and ‘Like’ us on Facebook