When 4-4-2 is not 4-4-2

Brendan Rodgers, when he first came into the club, seemed very insistent regarding the exact formation he wanted the team to play, 4-3-3, and even the exact type of players he wanted to fit that system. In came players like Joe Allen that Rodgers felt were critical for his system to work. Out went players that Rodgers felt wouldn’t fit, and out almost went other players who Rodgers had already decided wouldn’t fit without giving them the opportunity.

Rodgers made mistakes in the early part of his Liverpool managerial career, and this turned a proportion of fans who were initially cautiously optimistic, into being rather worried and uncertain of his credentials. Brendan wanted us to play the right type of football, he talked of having the technical players that Liverpool’s past successes have often relied upon, but the decisions he made yielded mixed results during the first half of his first season and it took him time to better understand what mistakes he was making, before he could begin to correct them.

It is noticeable that Rodgers’ initial poster boy, Allen, has barely played during Liverpool’s improved form from the second half of last season (coinciding with the return of Lucas) and the continued good form this season.

I am not going to go into depth regarding the mistakes Brendan made, or indeed the good decisions he has been making more recently. I only want to highlight one ‘theme’ of mistakes, which was that of being too ‘prescriptive’ of what would work and what wouldn’t when he first arrived, rather than seeing what he had and making decisions based on that. Brendan was so eager to show that his way of doing things was the right way, that he was willing to discard players or systems straight off the bat. Today’s Brendan Rodgers seems to have learnt from this mistake.

The Reds are benefiting from the form that Jordan Henderson, a player who Rodgers tried to usher out, is exhibiting and Liverpool haven’t really played a typical 4-3-3 for much of the season. From playing too many short passes, too often backwards, in his first months as a manager, many of Liverpool’s goals have come from the quick transition to our very dangerous strikeforce ‘pairing’. I’ve been pleased to see that Rodgers is willing to learn and adapt, and this has been a big part of our improvement.

I have discussed in the past how a 3-5-2 system can be useful for us against certain types of opposition, particularly if Coutinho played in that central role behind the front two and both Enrique and Johnson were fit to play the wingback roles. But 4-4-2 is a system that should work well against Everton. I don’t give much credence to the system we played having much of an effect on the result against Fulham. Fulham have been that poor, and we were always likely to be on our game after the disappointing defeat to Arsenal in front of our own fans, that any system would have most likely have led to a positive result.
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However against Roberto Martinez’s team, there is much to be said for playing the same starting 11 and system that faced Fulham, with the sole exception of starting Enrique in place of Cissokho, if he is fit.

I agree with everyone else that we should not split up the SAS. They are so mobile, and take up wide and deep positions so naturally, that playing them upfront together makes it even more difficult for the opposition to mark. Although we would have only two central midfielders, Lucas and Gerrard should not be overrun, in particular because the two wide midfielders are midfielders rather than wingers. Coutinho will always drift infield and add another body to the central areas, allowing Enrique (if fit) to provide the width, while Jordan Henderson can be trusted to provide his boundless energy to compensate for Gerrard’s lower stamina, while both supporting the defence and the attack.

In fact, Henderson may well prove critical in helping Johnson neutralise the dangerous pairing of Pienaar and Baines. If we had been planning to play two wingers, say Moses and Sterling, alongside the SAS I would have been worried that our central midfielders would not have got enough support against a team that plays three midfielders. But that won’t be the case.

While the back 5, and Lucas and Gerrard, have fairly standard tactical roles within this system, the front 4 of Coutinho, Suarez, Sturridge and, to a lesser extent, Henderson, will have very fluid roles, meaning a 4-4-2 description of the system is somewhat inaccurate. If Henderson wasn’t playing as well as he has been, Brendan Rodgers may well have stuck to the 3-5-2 system when Coutinho had returned with Jordan dropping to the bench, but at the moment it is difficult to leave him out of the team.

The Everton game is a big game, as always, but perhaps more so given both teams are fairly high up the table. Roberto Martinez’s team has the same defensive organisation inherited from David Moyes but with Lukaku and a better passing mentality, are more dangerous in the final third, even if that hasn’t yet translated to too many goals.

Regardless, our players should not be too hesitant going into the game. Ultimately we still have a strong record against Everton over recent years and we have the better squad and better starting 11. If we play to our best, and they play to their best, there should be only one winner. Derbies don’t always work out like that. But let’s hope this one does.

 You can catch more from me on my own blog: http://taintlessred.blogspot.co.uk/

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