Ah, the joy of procrastination. I’ve been planning to tear into Liverpool’s season of diminishing returns for sometime now, and just as I get started the Reds go and put a whipping on Besiktas in the Champions League. Eight unreplied goals at Anfield mean I have to tone down on the vitriol I was about to hurl at my favorite club and especially manager Rafa Benitez. Eight goals mean that maybe Liverpool still has something in the tank for the rest of this season. Eight goals mean, perhaps, all is not lost yet and maybe, just maybe, this could be the confidence boost needed to re-ignite a season that had started with so much hope and optimism.
Okay, bear with me. I know it’s just one game and I know that Besiktas aren’t exactly in the top echelon of European soccer. But this is my MY TEAM in question here so if I get a little emotional and start clutching at straws I trust you’ll understand. Besides, no one mentioned Slavia Prague’s place in European soccer hierarchy when drooling about Arsenal’s 7-0 thrashing of the Czech’s 2 weeks ago. So there.
Truth is Liverpool’s form in the last four weeks as been simply frustrating, no less.
I couldn’t believe the poor fare they offered in the 2-1 loss at Besiktas two weeks ago. They certainly didn’t look anything like title contenders on that kind of form. The last-gasp win at Everton was wonderful, but again, the team hardly performed until Everton were reduced to 10 men in the second half. They played decently enough against Arsenal at Anfield, but couldn’t seal the deal, missing a great opportunity to close the gap on the Gunners. Then came the Blackburn game last weekend. With Arsenal and Man U having shared the spoils earlier in the day, here was another opportunity to get back in the mix with a road win. Okay, Blackburn on current form was never going to be easy. But Liverpool had the chances to win this one – once they got down to attacking in the second half – and, despite Blackburn hitting the woodwork twice, this can only be seen as another two lost points.
So what’s gone wrong with Liverpool after such an exciting start? They certainly looked the part in the thrilling 1-1 draw with Chelsea in week 2, and I was quite impressed with the 4-0 pounding of Toulouse in the Champions League Qualifiers, especially since this was achieved with almost a second-choice line-up. It’s always easy to blame Rafa and his constant tinkering – and, frankly, I wondered what he was smoking when he left Torres on the bench against Portsmouth and Birmingham, at a time when the Spaniard was in great form - and I do think that's part of the problem, especially with many new faces - Torres, Babel, Voronin, Benayoun - just getting adjusted to the team.
For me though, there are two key issues. One is the constantly changing tactics – 4-4-2 today, 4-2-3-1 the next – and the second is the never-ending search for Steve Gerrard’s best position.
Yes, it’s alright to amend your tactics to suit the opponents, but when you combine that with the kind of wholesale changes in personnel that Rafa so loves, then what you get are the kind of disorganized, off color performances that we have seen much too often this season. Now, that is not to say that Rafa's approach cannot work over the course of the season. But by the time the results start coming, it's more than likely that the championship would be well out of reach.
As for Gerrard, Rafa needs to trust the surrounding cast he has expensively assembled and just keep things simple. Gerrard is most comfortable and effective playing in the centre of midfield and that’s where he should play. Not in some advanced second striker position – as he did against Blackburn – or out on the flank. There's this sense in certain games that the team needs two defensive midfielders to accomodate Gerrard's contribution on the attacking end. On the contrary, this takes away from the team. For one thing, it's harder for Gerrard with his back to goal - he is certainly more dangerous driving through from midfield. And for another, the team misses his midfield passing and organization. Alonso, when he is in form can organize as well, but Sissoko's passing is far below par.
This was the beauty of Tuesday’s thrashing of Besiktas: Gerrard in the middle with the excellent Javier Mascherano – probably the best defensive midfielder in the game –in a straightforward 4-4-2, Benayoun and Riise raiding down the flanks, and Voronin - who was involved in 4 of the goals - buzzing around Crouch in attack. Liverpool fans will be looking for more of the same as the season progresses.
The African Nations Cup are coming up in January, and after some harassment from close quarters – they know themselves – I will be delving into the African scene over the next few weeks. The Nations Cup groupings sure look interesting and I’ll offer my humble opinion on the way I think things will go. I’ll also vent at will about my favourite team, Nigeria’s Super Eagles, and the stewardship of Mr. Berti Vogts. So, if you love the African game, keep an eye out – but if Liverpool run up another cricket score ………….
2 comments:
We'll be on the lookout for further posts here especially since the Nations cup is up coming.
Rafa is often smoking 'weeds' period (LOL). He seems like one of those 'gamblers' that found their themselves on the 'coaching bench' ! At times, he does not have confidence in his own tactics. This is the same coach that left his top striker, Peter Crouch, on the bench for 70 minutes in an important semi-final champion cup (or was it UEFA) game early this year. Yet, your team was struggling to score that game.
Although I don't expect him to be like many a Nigerian coach that operate on the gospel of 'you don't change a winning team', he should adopt a common-sense approach in his tactical changes. Based on the resources available to him, he has a killer squad in place if he could simply get his formation right. 3-5-2 or flexible 4-3-3 formation might bring out the best in the players that he has now on his rosters.
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