Tactical Flexibility A Key To Success

Whether you focus on the hard-line stance, along with FSG, when keeping hold of Suarez. His nurturing of younger players who are still fresh and sing his praises in every interview. His positivity regarding team performances, which had previously tended towards excessive eulogising, now being more balanced. His refusal to enter into the tit for tat petit mind games that Mourinho loves so much, and that Sherwood tried but miserably failed at prior to his team’s 4-0 thrashing at Anfield. Rodgers has got a lot right.

In a recent article I spoke of how Brendan’s focus on self-development alongside developing his players has made him a much improved manager this season. Just like young players improve with good coaching, so do young coaches. One area that he has improved on, and consequently the team has improved on, is tactical flexibility.

A major strength of Rodgers is that he is always looking to learn. During his early coaching career he spent much time studying the habits of players and coaches abroad, spending time in Holland amongst other countries. During these periods he continued to develop and evolve his footballing philosophy, one that he has tried to instil, with differing levels of success, at each of the clubs he has managed.

While his philosophy has always been the same, the tactics he’s used this season haven’t been. The team, at various times, has played remarkably different systems. This was not always the case.

At Swansea he virtually always played the same system, usually only changing personnel when injury, form or tiredness became issues. When he first joined Liverpool, Brendan, before even assessing the squad, talked always of a 4-3-3 system, reinforcing many times why he felt a single striker was the ‘modern’ way to play the game. The three specific roles in midfield also seemed sacrosanct and he didn’t seem willing to change even when results at Liverpool weren’t what even he expected.

He wanted a defensive minded ‘controller’ who sat deep and dropped deeper when the centrebacks split, a recycler whose role was to always be available and keep the ball moving (this was the specific role Joe Allen was bought for with much fanfare and unnecessary Xavi comparisons) and then an attacking midfielder (initially earmarked for Steven Gerrard) who’d get forward to support the lone striker. Things didn’t work like he wanted.

Allen struggled with the expectation and criticism he received, looking bewildered at times, when even his simple passing game wasn’t working. Rodgers persisted with him regardless. The loss of Lucas to injury became an issue and while Allen started well when filling in the deeper role, he was soon targeted by opposition teams who would simply out-muscle him or rain in high balls that he was unable to win in the air.

Steven Gerrard didn’t excel in the attacking midfield role, he wasn’t able to get up and down the pitch with the freedom he used to, and his liking for long distance cross-field and Hollywood type balls seemed anathema to Rodgers’ preached shorter passing game. Steven wasn’t playing naturally, and seemed to always be over thinking where Rodgers would want him to be in a particular moment within a game. Others like Jonjo Shelvey and Jordan Henderson were tried in every conceivable position, but still in the same tactical 4-3-3.

Bit by bit however Brendan began to experiment and learn what the strengths and weaknesses of his players were. What was working well and what wasn’t. He tried 3 centre backs briefly last season. He began to recognize the energy that Henderson could bring with forward runs. He realized that Allen needed time out of the team and, eventually, dropped him.

Most importantly in came Sturridge and Coutinho, who were both so good it forced his hand somewhat. With Suarez’s 10 game ban, Coutinho excelled in the No.10 behind Sturridge’s lone striker, in a system that Rodgers knew well, but with Suarez’s return Rodgers had two strikers that he simply couldn’t drop. He tried first Sturridge out wide in a front three and then had the confidence later in the season, to put Suarez out wide.

However earlier on in the season, to keep both together and utilize the many centre backs he had he played 3 at the back consistently. The success of this initiative, which helped propel Liverpool to top at Christmas, gave Brendan the confidence to tinker as and when necessary. Injuries to Gerrard, Sturridge and Coutinho at various times created the opportunity to change systems and Rodgers has become better at judging when to change systems and against which teams.

This season we’ve now played 3-5-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 4-4-2 standard and 4-4-2 diamond amongst other systems. However the style of the team is always the same. After a year of practice players know when to be pressing and how to do it together. They fill in for each other and rotate positions with freedom when they have the ball, but with discipline without it. More than any other team our tactics have changed this season with players adapting likewise. Gerrard’s move to the controller role is just one of these. Jordan Henderson has been ever present all season, and barely ever substituted, but has played from left side of a front three, the defensive midfield and also right wing back. The fact that players have learned to play so many positions has been a significant factor in developing the fluidity of the team.

This is an incredibly difficult thing to accomplish. Manchester United gained much success over a long period with a system that while the personnel changed, always relied heavily on pace and wingers. However when that system needed to change in order to deal with more sophisticated top European clubs, the players struggled as they had no experience playing differently.

We can only admire Rodgers work and the intelligence of our players, particularly the younger ones, who’ve adapted and learned so quickly. We all hope Brendan continues to pick the right tactics, like he did against Southampton when utilizing the diamond formation and more recently against Spurs when he changed back to 3 up-field with Sterling providing width.

Massive games are on the way as we challenge for the title and we’ll need all our tactical flexibility to get the  wins we’re all hoping will take us to the title.