[QUOTE=âSandymount Red, post: 1019776, member: 1074â]Hilarious stuff from the Liverpool brigade on here tonight. Quarterbacks on the pitch, Sturridge better than Suarez, Come back please Alonso, Lucas is shit again, question marks over Rodgers.
Promises to be a hugely entertaining season as they struggle to finish in the top 6.[/QUOTE]
Havenât had a chance to check the scores yet, how did ye get on today lads?
Weâre not bragging about winning fuck all though ladâŚbar we will win the ould uefa thingymabobâŚ25-1 = jam
Toure is a bag of shite. He doesnât have a fucking clue.
Thats multi millionaire multiple Premier League Winner Kolo Toure to you pal.
Still a steaming pile of shite.
Another defensive shambles.
That was a very harsh free against Sakho for the equaliser
[QUOTE=âtazdedub, post: 1021472, member: 312â]Toure is a bag of shite. He doesnât have a fucking clue.
[/QUOTE]
Saved ye there
That actually surprised me.
[SIZE=6]Whoâs to blame for Liverpoolâs defensive woes?[/SIZE]
Following Liverpoolâs disappointing 3-1 defeat to West Ham came Brendan Rodgersâ admission that Liverpool might be unable to compete for the title. Perhaps, he conceded, Liverpool âpeaked too earlyâ last season.
âPeakedâ is a rather unfortunate word to use â the best, Rodgers surely believes, is still to come. Nevertheless, it underlines the fact Liverpool punched above their weight in 2013-14, despite falling at the final hurdle. They started the season as outsiders for a Champions League place, they finished it devastated not to have won the title.
By common consent, Liverpoolâs major failing was their leaky defence. Fifty goals conceded is unacceptable for a title challenger, and their âgoals concededâ tally was worse than Crystal Palaceâs â the side who most famously exposed Liverpoolâs defensive frailties.
The pattern has started again this season. Liverpool have conceded eight goals, fewer than only Crystal Palace, QPR, Newcastle and neighbours Everton. You didnât need statistics, however, to observe the fragility in the Liverpool back line at Upton Park.
The most obvious piece of evidence didnât actually involve conceding a goal. It came after 35 minutes, when Dejan Lovren was injured by his centre-back colleague Mamadou Sakho, as both players jumped for an aerial ball. It was the ultimate Sunday League cockup, and a defensive failing a schoolboy side would be chastised for â put a name on it!
Itâs worth remembering that Liverpool started last season in excellent defensive form, registering three consecutive 1-0 victories. While Luis Suarezâs return from suspension was clearly the primary factor in the clubâs title challenge, Rodgersâ determination to play Suarez and Daniel Sturridge up front together arguably disturbed the balance of the side, and particularly the defensive shape.
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Brendan Rodgers has often sacrificed defensive stability for attacking unpredictability, and it shows in the clubâs goals-conceded record.
Around this time last year, Rodgers switched to a 3-5-2, which made the SAS unstoppable, but Liverpool didnât keep a single clean sheet with that formation. The 3-5-2 might not have lasted long â a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal exposing its limitations, with the formation abandoned at halftime â but the intention was clear. Rodgers was focusing on attack at the risk of defensive structure.
This pattern continued into the new year, with spectacular attacking performances undermined by shaky defensive displays. Liverpool conceded three goals at Selhurst Park in the penultimate game, but theyâd done so against Swansea, Stoke and Cardiff â scoring four, five and six, respectively, in those matches. Rodgers never sorted out the defence.
One problem is that constant formation tweaking, which has worked wonderfully in an attacking sense, but has also harmed the defensive section of the side. Defending, more than anything else on the pitch, is about cohesion and understanding, which isnât possible when playing a different system every week.
However, that analysis lets the defenders off the hook, and theyâve made some astonishingly basic errors. The Lovren-Sakho mix-up is simply a lack of basic communication, and in this respect, itâs clear Liverpool miss natural leaders such as Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger.
While never officially the club captain because of Gerrardâs presence, Carragher was nevertheless the true organiser in the Liverpool side, an on-field coach forever gesturing to his teammates, pointing to them to drop deeper, to push up, to get tight. âIâm as likely to give instructions to my teammates as receive them from the boss,â Carragher once admitted. A similar, if less vociferous, character was Agger, mysteriously dropped and later sold by Rodgers.
Liverpoolâs centre-backs are currently suffering from something similar to those at Manchester United, which we can â slightly uncharitably â term âJonny Evans syndromeâ.
The Northern Irishman has been a fine defender for many years, underrated because of his cool, effective method of tracking opponents, staying on his feet and winning possession calmly. Alongside Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic, he was often outstanding, but as the senior centre-back alongside Chris Smalling, Phil Jones or Tyler Blackett, he looks incredibly nervous and borderline incompetent.
This is Sakho, Lovren and Martin Skrtelâs problem. Individually, these are good defenders â Sakho is a good tackler and formidable in the air, Lovren is an intelligent player in a positional sense and good at anticipating play, while Skrtel is excellent in his own box, and specialises in the dark arts of defending. None of them, however, are leaders.
So where is the leader? Itâs not at full-back, where Spanish duo Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo are newcomers still learning English. Itâs not between the posts, where goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is an unusually unassuming goalkeeper.
But most problematically, itâs not Gerrard, either. The ultimate in leading by example, Gerrard isnât capable of that in this deep-lying midfield role. He lacks the commanding presence of, for example, Javier Mascherano, or the excellent positional skills of Xabi Alonso. Even Lucas Leiva, at his best, was a better defensive screen. Gerrard isnât entirely suited to that role, especially in front of a nervous back line.
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Dejan Lovren was brought in to stabilise Liverpoolâs back line, but he hasnât been the commanding presence many on Merseyside had hoped for.
Gerrard was first deployed in that position during the 5-3 win over Stoke early this year, that scoreline rather summarising the benefits and drawbacks of him in that role. Itâs useful in an attacking sense, but Gerrardâs defensive frailties were obvious even throughout the title charge. The likes of Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and David Silva all outwitted him last season, and this campaign players as basic Gabriel Agbonlahor and Stewart Downing have caused problems by simply marking Gerrard, then spinning off behind into space when possession is won.
It was particularly worrying that Rodgers failed to change his defensive shape in the second half at Upton Park. His early switch to a three-man defence stabilised Liverpool and got them into the game, but by the midway point of the second half, West Ham were offering no attacking threat whatsoever. Liverpool continued to play with three centre-backs, plus Gerrard incredibly deep.
Why did Rodgers not remove one centre-back and introduce another attacker, like Lazar Markovic? Surely Gerrard is capable of protecting two centre-backs when his side have all the possession, and need to take risks going forward. There was a sluggish, almost resigned look to Liverpool at 2-1 down, partly because they simply didnât have enough attackers on the pitch. But thatâs the extent Rodgers felt the need to keep numbers in defence.
This weekendâs Merseyside derby against Everton should be a goal-fest â Everton have conceded more goals than any other side in the Premier League this season. With 10 goals in the clubsâ two meetings last season, an open, attack-minded contest might suit Rodgersâ side. Another poor performance from Gerrard, though â with Steven Naismith likely to play the role perfected by Agbonlahor and Downing â and there will be further questions about whether Rodgersâ system is causing these defensive worries.
Vastly overstating Aggerâs contribution there.
Câmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan
Jose Enrique has played well tonight . A solid defender in my view.
Fuck her right in the pussy.
Fuck off you fucking cunt.
That was Manchester United-esque.
Just as well Gerard Houllier is no longer managing us or Raheem Sterling would never play for the club again.
Braindead from Toure. Jamal Blackman could step up and be the man here.
What channel is it on?
Sky Sports 1