KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum The Morning After the Night Before

Yeah at 4-0 I'm not really bothered, think it was closer game Stevie would've definitely taken it.

Well whatever about the penalty decission be it right or wrong, and I’m inclined to think it wrong- Sturridge should work on the field for his hat-trick, and if anyone other than Gerrard it should’ve been the player who earned it.
Anyway a great victory. Has anyone any analysis on how the game panned out i.e possession being 69% to them and 31% to us, was this accidental or was it tactical? any analysis or opinions?

I think you will find at melwood today the decision to allow sentiment to rule clinical professionalism will be seen as an error last night and won't happen again

You can be sure of that

I'm pretty sure this was the first time Coutinho has ever played as a true central midfielder for us. Even against Bournemouth he was a clear #10 rather than a third CM. It was something I'd wanted to see tried for a long time, but didn't really think he was up to defensively and worried that his passing would be too "immediate" (i.e. looking for the killer pass) for the role. He really proved that wrong today.

Now, I know it's a bit silly to call it the "Iniesta" role, when a) Phil isn't anywhere near that level yet and b) that was about as un-Barca-like a performance as you're likely to see from a dominant team. Let me explain why I think it's relevant, though. I've been saying for a couple of weeks that Coutinho should "embrace his inner Iniesta." that is, accept that he is a creator, someone who creates space for others rather than a goal scorer. Now, I'm not saying Coutinho could never become a goal scorer (and Iniesta scores goals when it's needed of him for Spain), but we need Coutinho to knit the play and keep it moving, not take a million shots from outside the box. That's why Iniesta is such a perfect model: he's an incredible dribbler and passer, but shoots less than once per game. Phil, in contrast, shoots more than Neymar! So it was very, very encouraging to see him less concerned with getting on the score sheet today, and more concerned with playing those brilliant passes he's capable of.

What was maybe even more interesting, however, was the other way he imitated Iniesta. I can't think of another performance where Phil was so calm, and so willing to play the simple ball into space when the killer ball wasn't on. He over and over again used his incredible touch and dribbling skills to weave through the EFC team in transition, looked for the assist, and when it wasn't there, passed the ball off to the man in space. It was wonderful, and really knit the team together in a way that usually doesn't happen for us.

Compare his performance today with his other best performance, the game against Newcastle last year. He was a genius in that game, we can all agree. And yet it was a very different kind of genius. He had a lot of trouble making the ball stick--especially during the period at the start of the second half when NUFC were in the ascendancy--and kept trying flicks, tricks and killers passes that weren't always coming off. He was so good that he punished them anyway, and it was a clinical performance, but today IMO was much more mature, and much more encouraging. This was the Coutinho we want playing against the big boys. There's plenty of number 10s who do well against the dross of the league and disappear in big games. Coutinho had been one so far. There's nothing wrong with that, but he showed today he's capable of much more. (And I haven't even mentioned his actual assist or his pressing yet!)

Sturridge/Suarez Out Wide

Rodgers has seemed to resist pushing one of our strikers wide since the game at the Emirates last year. Suarez did well defensively in that game, but really struggled to be an influence going forward, and seriously tired toward the end. Until Bournemouth, I don't think one of them had started wide since. (Unless the Reading game was after, but that didn't really work either!)

3-5-2 or 4-4-2 seemed the only way to get both in the team, and when you've got 2 of the 5 best strikers in the league, you can't leave one out. Now, I have no problems with either formation per se, but I do with the way we'd played them in big games. Both strikers would press, but they would basically stay high up the pitch when we got into shape and not contribute to the defense or midfield (the game at the Emirates this year was the worst example). Compare it to the way Costa and Villa drop into midfield for Atletico. It's totally annoying when people dismiss the 4-4-2 as inherently outdated, but the way we were playing it was just never going to fly at the very top level without a Toure/Fernandinho-type midfield, which we all know we don't have.

That's why it was so encouraging to see the 4-3-3 work so well yesterday. It was a particularly good decision to have the two of them rotate positions naturally, as neither one got overly tired or frustrated from tracking back. Obviously, it helped a lot that Stones was at RB instead of Coleman, but it really worked brilliantly. They both helped out a lot defensively, and were ready to break past Stones on the counter. Superb.

Gerrard at DM

I'm sure others will write plenty about this. But let's say this: We just played the biggest match we've played under Rodgers. We played it without 4 of our 5 top defenders and without our top 2 defensive midfielders. We deliberately sat back and let a team with the best 20 year old in the division playing #10 have as much of the ball as they wanted. Gerrard played defensive midfielder--not Regista, not the Pirlo-role, straight-up defensive midfielder--and he was [oops] boss.

Oh, and Brendan Rodgers

It's been clear for a while, but not only is Rodgers excellent at his job, but he's really not the manager we thought we were getting. We were sold a Guardiola, instead we got a Ferguson.

He was sold (including by himself) as a precocious, brilliant idealogue who would bring "death by football" and "tiki-taka" to Liverpool. Instead, he's been the most adaptable manager in the league--happy to play virtually any formation and any style if he thinks it suits the players and the game--and has most stood out as someone who gets the best out of talented players. Look at Sturridge's interview after the game. You can just tell how much respect he has for Rodgers, and how important it was to him to tell everyone he wasn't disrespecting his manager when he was upset.

Rodgers has helped Sturridge, Coutinho, Sterling, Henderson, Flanagan, Allen--yes, Allen, who was nothing before Rodgers and is now quietly one of the best midfielders in the league on the defensive side of the ball--hell, even Leon Britton and, of course, Luis Suarez take their games to an entire other level.

thats one of the great things about BR his ability to learn from mistakes. some managers would take a whole club down rather than admit a mistake.

also think stevie G has had a lot of influence in the style of footy we play and how BR manages.

When you're up 4-0, letting someone else take the penalty doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. Sturridge had an excellent game apart from that.

But by and large, I agree with your analysis of Rodgers. He's doing pretty well in my opinion. The biggest area I think he needs to improve is signings, but in many cases he's not being backed, so I'm not sure it's his fault. Sturridge, Coutinho, Toure, Sakho and Mignolet look like business very good; Borini and Aspas look like they need some time but may not be up to snuff; Allen looks decent; but I really don't understand Ilori or Alberto. What do they offer that Shelvy, Suso, and Wisdom didn't?

I just feel that Alberto and Ilori aren't as good now as Suso and Wisdom were last season, let alone this one. I'm glad they're getting experience, and hopefully they come back much improved, but I don't see why we needed 2 more kids to sit on the bench. The ones we had were as good or better, and they left because of lack of game time.

Who hits a peno that hard anyway

Phil Jones

Didn't watch the game because it was a bit late starting at midnight in the midweek after a long day's work and a busy following day. Must admit that if I was not too upset with the transfer window (so far) I might have made the effort to stay awake, but my bad, missed a top game (I'll watch today). For the penalty, I understood we had already won the game by then, so not too bothered by Sturridge taking it, our goal difference is good enough and it's good to help somebody to get a hat trick, bring a bit of joy to the team.