I said the other day that there was a rush to get Gerrard back and he proved yesterday why. The man is a phenomenon. You sometimes lose sight of how good a player is when you are watching them in the flesh, but sometimes you've got to sit back and take stock: Gerrard is immense.
Elsewhere, I thought Spearing was magnificent. Not only did he plug the proverbial gaps, he actually showed Henderson and Adam up in the passing department. Look at Gerrard's goal. Great interplay between Henderson and Stevie and a superb finish, but it was Spearing before that with a probing, forward ball that got Tiote and Cabaye turning back rather than shuffling sideward.
You know, I watched Spurs match against Norwich, and I was going to complain in the Blackburn round table about our passing in comparison to theirs. They (and they all have been doing it more or less every match I've seen them this season, although Modric and Van der Vaart are the most obvious exponents) were passing crisply and their passes brought their own players into good positions and put the opposition on the back foot. Our passing against Blackburn (I know, I'll link it to Newcastle shortly) was precisely the opposite, and dire. Consistently (though I except Gerrard's cameo), the passes were not only slow, but also behind their intended recipient. Again and again, our players, particularly those out wide, had to wait for the ball, check their runs to drop back to collect it, have no option to let the ball run past them rather than turn towards it. As a result, the Blackburn defence and midfield were rarely put under pressure enough to make them crack, they always had time to reposition, not only the individual defender, but the whole team could rearrange themselves as though in the old training drill where you blow the whistle after a pass, everyone stops, and the team without the ball all find their new optimal positions to defend. If this is the way you pass, you may have a lot of the ball, all of it even, and never look like scoring. It is too easy for the opposition.
Except for a few of his long passes, Adam was one of the worst offenders. Carroll was and is another, though, as I said in the post-match thread, I think it is because his confidence in his first touch is so shot that he's looking down at the ball as he tries to get it under control and no longer has any idea where anyone else is, missing the clear pass as a result.
In the Spurs Norwich match, their killer goal came from exactly the opposite sort of passing (and control). Van der Vaart hit it very smartly at Adebayor in the area, who had three Norwich defenders in range, but the pass was so crisp, and Adebayor's control so good that they still couldn't put in a tackle, and he slipped it to a now completely free Bale. It was a really fine goal and, in light of our match against Blackburn and our position relative to theirs, thoroughly depressing.
Against Newcastle, however, Spearing to some extent, and Gerrard to an extreme extend showed us the difference crisp passing, either to feet, onto head (Carroll and the bar) or to bring a player forward makes. And Spearing's pass for Gerrard's goal was of the same sort as Van der Vaart's against Norwich, and I was delighted to see it, and also to see that Henderson was able to handle it and give a fine pass of his own. That is what we must do if our pass and move is going to break teams that come to defend at Anfield and who do it at all well. Our movement has been much better (thank you Kenny) but, disturbingly, it is our passing that, particularly since Lucas went down, has let us down. Barring purchases in January, Jay must play in midfield I think, unless Adam and/or Henderson pick up their game. I think there may be space for Shelvey at either of their expense too, as he seems to have the arrogance to actually hit the ball quickly to someone and to suggest to them, with the pass, where they ought to go.
