Topic: Rawk round table THFC 0-5 LFC

[Weytske]

Flanagan has held the most conservative position of either of our fullbacks, though, in the games that he's played. So he hasn't done anything against what Rodgers was talking about. Johnson is the "bombing on" fullback, in that he pushes forward and stays there. Flanagan plays like a traditional fullback, choosing his moments to go forward, but generally sitting off in midfield helping to add numbers to the central defenders if needed.

This is what I thought but it makes me wonder how Rodgers sees his fullbacks functioning in an ideal XI. With Coutinho comming inside there is obviously a lot of space for the fullback to go forward but on the other hand Rodgers likes to create a 'duo' on the flank I think. Does Rodgers like it that both flanks have other dynamics or is there a sort of preference...

[GrkStav]

Flanagan has held the most conservative position of either of our fullbacks, though, in the games that he's played. So he hasn't done anything against what Rodgers was talking about. Johnson is the "bombing on" fullback, in that he pushes forward and stays there. Flanagan plays like a traditional fullback, choosing his moments to go forward, but generally sitting off in midfield helping to add numbers to the central defenders if needed.

Fair enough. What I was implying was that Flanagan has been 'seen' (and increasingly so) much further up the pitch than a truly old-fashioned regular English full-back (Cf. Hodgson). I know he is more 'reserved' or conservative than Johnson but that's (in my view) neither here nor there, as Johnson generally is a very attack-minded, marauding fullback. Even with England and/or under Hodgson in general, Johnson would probably be the more adventurous fullback. Or so I am assuming based on not the most careful of analyses.

When I see Flanagan in the opposition defensive 1/3 or even in the opposition 18-yard line, I do not think "there's our traditional fullback right there". I think "hey, look at that, Flanagan is being a bit more adventurous today, hope it works out for him and us".

[PhaseOfPlay]

Fair enough. What I was implying was that Flanagan has been 'seen' (and increasingly so) much further up the pitch that a truly old-fashioned full-back. I know he is more 'reserved' or conservative than Johnson but that's (in my view) neither here nor there, as Johnson generally is a very attack-minded, marauding fullback. Even with England and/or under Hodgson in general, he'd probably be the more adventurous fullback. Or so I am assuming based on not the most careful of analyses.

When I see Flanagan in the opposition defensive 1/3 or even in the opposition 18-yard line, I do not think "there's our traditional fullback right there". I think "hey, look at that, Flanagan is being a bit more adventurous today, hope it works out for him and us".

How old-fashioned are you talking about, though? Attacking fullbacks have been around since at least 1960. A fullback has been expected to get forward since at least Facchetti made it popular, if not before. So I'm not sure what you mean by "traditional" or "old-fashioned", unless you mean W-M-era fullbacks?

[GrkStav]

How old-fashioned are you talking about, though? Attacking fullbacks have been around since at least 1960. A fullback has been expected to get forward since at least Facchetti made it popular, if not before. So I'm not sure what you mean by "traditional" or "old-fashioned", unless you mean W-M-era fullbacks?

I don't think I will get anywhere with this. I think you know exactly what I am saying, though.

If you would like to convince me that Flanagan has not been more adventurous and more attacking than he was when Brendan Rodgers had that little talk with him, I am not going to be a receptive audience.

Your overall analysis is well-taken and you have convinced me that there hasn't been as big a transformation as it appeared to me.  No transformation/development, though? I am not buying that.

“Your strength is your reading of the game, so stay behind the ball… you’re not the one bombing on…you’re the boy that stays behind, serves the ball simple, gets organized from behind, gets possession.”

We've seen much more than the above. At least I have.

[rickardinho1]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/huokfPgsZok" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/huokfPgsZok</a>

Brings "Miracle on ice" to my mind. Hope our kids can replicate it on the grass.

About the Sunday's match. I keep watching it over and over again. Brilliant team effort.

Does that mean that Man City are the russians (big bad team everyone has a tough time beating?)... I suppose that would mean Chelsea are sweden (top team that win every few years), arsenal are czechoslovakia (underdag that sometimes get it right), united are canada (top team that fell away early), and spurs are the finland (little engine that could, but never gets to the finish line) 

[PhaseOfPlay]

I don't think I will get anywhere with this. I think you know exactly what I am saying, though.

If you would like to convince me that Flanagan has not been more adventurous and more attacking than he was when Brendan Rodgers had that little talk with him, I am not going to be a receptive audience.

Your overall analysis is well-taken and you have convinced me that there hasn't been as big a transformation as it appeared to me.  No transformation/development, though? I am not buying that.

“Your strength is your reading of the game, so stay behind the ball… you’re not the one bombing on…you’re the boy that stays behind, serves the ball simple, gets organized from behind, gets possession.”

We've seen much more than the above. At least I have.

Do you know that "behind the ball" just means "not in advance of", rather than "stay in your own half"? And that he is referring to start positions rather than restricting himself in the flow of play? Johnson will get forward ahead of the ball, even when the ball is in our half, as his job is to offer attacking width, especially when the right forward cuts in. What Rodgers is referring to is moving up WITH the ball, but starting behind it, so that if the ball is at the level of the opposition 6-yard line, the opposite fullback can be pushed up that far. That doesn't stop them from making a penetrating run when it is on. It just means it's not their first option - they have to wait and see the play develop.

[Gnurglan]

Been a couple of days now, but it was a seriously impressive display. It IS one of those games we will remember for quite some time. Spurs were poor, but we made them pay for it. We did our part. We could have scored more goals too. Sakho's header from like 1 yard, Suarez one on one from the right,... It was expected that AVB would be sacked. I like that we won back the dropped points vs Hull. And this without Enrique, Gerrard and Sturridge. Let's not forget that. We've shown we can beat big sides. It's all about consistency now. The quality is there to finish top four, or (let's whisper it) even challenge for more.

[DangerScouse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJDZn7qyMjA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Video by Lfc Tika Taka of our pressing game on Sunday. Really is a joy to watch.

[GrkStav]

Do you know that "behind the ball" just means "not in advance of", rather than "stay in your own half"? And that he is referring to start positions rather than restricting himself in the flow of play? Johnson will get forward ahead of the ball, even when the ball is in our half, as his job is to offer attacking width, especially when the right forward cuts in. What Rodgers is referring to is moving up WITH the ball, but starting behind it, so that if the ball is at the level of the opposition 6-yard line, the opposite fullback can be pushed up that far. That doesn't stop them from making a penetrating run when it is on. It just means it's not their first option - they have to wait and see the play develop.

Once again, fair enough and thank you for the clarification.

Have you seen any development or transformation in Flanagan? What you may be telling me is this:

Flanagan has not become more like Johnson. He has become a more refined version of the type of player BR described him as to Flanagan at the beginning of last season. His strength is still his reading of the game, he still stays behind the ball, he's still not the one bombing on, he's still the one that stays behind, serves the ball simple, gets organized from behind, gets possession.

Do I finally have it right, then, PoP?

[PhaseOfPlay]

Once again, fair enough and thank you for the clarification.

Have you seen any development or transformation in Flanagan? What you may be telling me is this:

Flanagan has not become more like Johnson. He has become a more refined version of the type of player BR described him as to Flanagan at the beginning of last season. His strength is still his reading of the game, he still stays behind the ball, he's still not the one bombing on, he's still the one that stays behind, serves the ball simple, gets organized from behind, gets possession.

Do I finally have it right, then, PoP?

I'm saying he reads the game well, so chooses his moments to go and not to go. He's not restricted to sitting beside the defenders the whole game. At the same time, he's not obliged to get into the attacking third every time we win the ball. He reads the game, which is exactly what Rodgers complimented him for.

[GrkStav]

I'm saying he reads the game well, so chooses his moments to go and not to go. He's not restricted to sitting beside the defenders the whole game. At the same time, he's not obliged to get into the attacking third every time we win the ball. He reads the game, which is exactly what Rodgers complimented him for.

Rational consensus has been achieved, the force of superior argument has prevailed. Thanks, PoP!

[the_red_pill]

Correct. Kelly is a trained CB who's adapted to an FB role, but Flanagan is a boner fide FB, the type whose foundations you can erect a pass and move game on. He's perhaps not been so adventurous going forward in the past, but as we saw, he's clearly been working hard on his attacking game, and there is more in tent in his shorts and long distance supporting runs.

I see what you did there

[houkura]

Flanagan looked like Carra at one point to me in the game-he was running up the left at about half speed with his head up. His gait really reminded me of Carra. Anyone else notice that. He's really grown up.

[PhaseOfPlay]

Flanagan looked like Carra at one point to me in the game-he was running up the left at about half speed with his head up. His gait really reminded me of Carra. Anyone else notice that. He's really grown up.

I'm calling it now.

He needs a moustache.

He would look like a 70's footballer with a moustache.

[ElstonGunn]

Don't know if everyone saw these, but worth posting. (Via @BassTunedtoRed)

In the build up to Sterling's goal, every LFC player touched the ball:




And the game ended with 63 (!) uninterrupted passes, the final ball just eluding a Flanagan tap-in:

[DanA]

Where I think Flanno has improved is that he is winning more of the ball and been intelligent with his decision making. His aggressive, positive defending has always been a feature of his game and since moving to LB it's been brilliant, too me that stands out as his most valuable contribution to the team and really fits in with our recent aggressive pressing game. I thought the Arsenal game he was used poorly and was shite playing exactly the way Rodgers said didn't suit him. But against Tottenham and Everton he was used pefectly in keeping with his skill set and has been fantastic. 

There's a stark difference. The role at Arsenal was to be a key creative outlet, an advance support point on our right flank. It's a role perfect for Johnson but ill suited to Flannagan. The role against Everton and Spurs was different though, he stopped everything down the left side and aggressively won the ball back, in terms of defending it was much more aggresive than Johnson and suited our pressing style to a tea. Offensively though he didn't do much beyond ghost into vacant space when the opportunity presented itself and he did so to great effect earning Walker a yellow and scoring a great goal. That's very different to being asked to make the play though and I think that's what Rodgers means.

[Trendisnotdestiny]

It’s not often that Liverpool can go away to Spurs, and dominate White Hart Lane as if it was their own home ground. But dominate they did, in a stellar attacking performance that some might say masked some real defensive problems – but which, overall, put down a marker that stated that Liverpool, on their day, will hunt for any weakness shown by an opposition team, and exploit it to the fullest. There were three key points to the game against Spurs - the team shape, the work of Henderson, and the pressing defence. Taking away from that was one negative aspect of the performance, but not a crippling one. In fact, the game against Spurs might have shown possible solutions to some future problems.


Team Shape


This was an interesting game in terms of team-shape, because our shape was very, very dynamic. With Lucas dropping in between the defenders when needed, Allen and Henderson taking it in turns to press forward, Flanagan holding part but also choosing his moments to go forward, and Coutinho and Sterling moving in behind Suarez, Liverpool left a lot for Spurs to keep track of - their own team shape was quite static, with the exception of Capoue who didn’t seem to have anything remotely resembling tactical discipline as a central defender.

At times, we played in the near-3-4-3 formation that signified some of our best performances last season. Although the central defenders weren’t as split as they were last year, the fact that Lucas was able and willing to drop straight into the middle of the defenders, rather than that half-role he often takes, suggests that with two more mobile midfielders in front of him, he was more comfortable leaving that central area to other players and could drop in and play in the central space more effortlessly.

The key to the attacking mobility was the front three, plus Henderson. In 4v4 coaching, the continuous shaping and reshaping of a diamond arrangement of players is paramount – it’s a very Dutch thing to use the geometry of a diamond shape to trigger movement and support positions, and it is something that Barcelona base their football on, rather than the triangles people seem to associate with them. We could see elements of that in the types of penetrating runs being made by Sterling and Henderson, always trying to establish depth in front of, and width either side of, the ball. With this movement, coupled with penetrating fullbacks, and a makeshift Spurs defence, it’s easy to see where Liverpool’s attacking domination was coming from.




Henderson

Henderson was a deserved Man of the Match. His physical output was one of the keys to how Liverpool won the midfield battle. If it wasn’t enough for Lucas to be playing the holding role as well as he has in quite a while, and adding to that Allen’s continuing regeneration as a legitimate £15m player, then the sheer athleticism, intelligence, penetration and work-rate of Henderson was the icing on the cake. A laboured midfield of Sandro, Paulinho and Dembele might have made a mark on an equally laboured midfield, given their physical power – but a midfield three that played with pace, purpose and ball-movement was always going to give them something to think about. Nobody personified that more than Henderson in this game. We can see this by the amount the field he covered, in both attack and defence:




The majority of his work was done in central midfield, but he ran the length of the field to help the team, balancing his work on both the left and right sides, with a slight bias towards the left side – a helping hand that Flanagan was surely helpful for at times.

In terms of his attacking output, he handled the mantle of “Gerrard Replacement” with aplomb. In terms of his passing, he made the most passes out of the whole team at 63 passes, with an astonishing 92% accuracy. As if that wasn’t enough, he also replaced Gerrard’s long passes in quality and quantity – Gerrard averages 7.1 long passes per game with a 74% accuracy level. Henderson played 7 long passes against Spurs, and all 7 reached their target. He also played 4 key passes in the game, which is higher than Gerrard’s average of 2.7 key passes per game. Perhaps the successor to Gerrard is someone we are already looking at on the books.

Pressing

One of the key features of this game was Liverpool’s pressing game. It had all the hallmarks of a genuine pressing game, rather than the mere “pressure” game that is the norm under Rodgers. The midfield hunted for the ball in packs, the forwards put the Spurs defenders under pressure, and the team played fairly compact to cut the spaces between the lines. We can see from this image how we looked to win the ball high and early in Spurs’ half:



The high number of tackles and interceptions in the Spurs half shows a concerted effort take the game to the opposition, and it’s a policy that Rodgers should really make permanent as an away tactic, because the more cagey game of recent matches doesn’t suit the personnel or personality of the team. They look like a team that likes to hunt the ball, and that mentality would be a better means of getting maximum points from away games than the recent policy of patience and sitting back and letting the opposition take the initiative.
In terms of individual players, especially in the midfield, we can see, again, the continuing revival of Allen as a serious player. His eight tackles was the most of anyone in midfield, defence or attack. His work meant That Lucas could focus more on winning the second ball from the press, which was indeed the case – Lucas won 4 interceptions, the most on the team in the game, and a lot of these interceptions can be attributed to the pressure the team was putting on the Spurs midfield and defence to play rushed passes and take bad touches. The sending-off helped in this respect, but the damage was being done before that moment, truth-be-told.

Johnson

If there is one negative to take from the game, it is the performance of one of the more experienced players in Johnson. His performance was not in synch with the efforts of the rest of the team, and indeed could almost be said to be sloppy in inverse proportion to the tidiness of the work of Henderson, for example. Johnson had 47 passes in the game, but only had a 70% accuracy with them. By contrast, Flanagan had less passes at 35, but crucially 89% of his passes reached their target. Johnson also, in 90 minutes, had only 1 tackle in the game – contrast this with Alberto’s 2 tackles in less than a half of football, and given that Spurs attacked mostly through their left side with Chadli, and you can see a pattern of carelessness in Johnson’s play. Even in terms of getting the ball forward, he was ineffective. He attempted 5 long passes, and not a single one reached their destination, while Flanagan attempted 2 long passes with 50% accuracy. It might be tempting to think that as soon as Enrique is fit, Johnson might well be challenged legitimately for his spot by Flanagan. Perhaps a fitter Kelly would be doing the same. Either way, there is a clear drop in Johnson’s performance levels and as churlish as it is to point them out in a resounding 5-0 away victory, it is precisely the nature of that victory that emphasises the shortfall in performance that Johnson exhibited. A team is only as strong as its weakest link, and for so long Johnson was one of the strongest ones. The turnaround in circumstance might give Rodgers pause for thought as we enter the transfer period.

Overall

The take-home lesson from this game is that Liverpool shouldn’t fear any other team in the league. The football the team is capable of is more than enough to trouble even the biggest squads. Only 11 players can play at any one time, and what Liverpool’s first 11 might sometimes lack in player-for-player quality, it makes up for in togetherness, tactics, and mobility. The celebrations after the goals yesterday, and after each half ended, showed a team that believes in the talent of the collective, rather than the number of its parts. Sometimes, that is enough to make up for any “quality” deficit in individual player match-ups. We’ll see more about that in the next three games.

Outstanding PoP!  Have you ever thought about developing a course on this material?

[woof]

Would it be fair to say BR will only employ a full (or almost full) pressing game when mobile midfielders are playing, i.e., when Stevie G is not playing?

We pressed quite a bit last season but not this season and I thought it's because BR wanted to condition the players to last the entire season. Pressing is physically taxing and it's been used sparingly this season. However, against Spurs, as PoP quite right puts it, we pressed like hell.

[DanA]

We've done it a few games but not quite to that extent.

[TheDarkKnight]

Forgot to mention in my post yesterday that it truly was a defining game on Sunday.

Said in the pre-match thread that 'Spurs' 2-1 opening day victory over us 2009/10 sped up our demise that year as well as give them a huge boost on their upward spiral. Hopefully we can win at White Hart Lane on Sunday, not only because it's three points for us and denies them any, but also as psychologically it could have a similar affect to the aforementioned, evidence that we have overtaken them after four years of being in their shadow.'

Lots of people in football struggle to deal with change. Look at Man Utd fans, many of whom are wondering how they can be so behind the teams at the top after storming to the title last season. Tottenham fans, in their pre-match thread seemingly super confident of turning us over by a couple of goals in many cases- they've finished above us four years in a row, surely that means they will beat us?

An emphatic win like the one on Sunday is memorable for so many reasons- Suarez' genius, Henderson's stepping up to the plate, Sterling and Allen's doggedness, I could go on... for me, presuming we finish above Spurs by a fair few points as I expect us to, I'll look back on it as the game where we put ourselves back in the minds of many as a serious force.

[gazzalfc]

Before we started to really dominate the match (around the 3rd min ). The commentators made a passing statement about how small and narrow the pitch is at WHL and that their players had mentioned that it was a problem for them. I'm wondering how much that allowed us to play our direct game and get at them and also press them so hard and prevent them getting the ball out to wide areas.

[scared_person]

Would it be fair to say BR will only employ a full (or almost full) pressing game when mobile midfielders are playing, i.e., when Stevie G is not playing?

We pressed quite a bit last season but not this season and I thought it's because BR wanted to condition the players to last the entire season. Pressing is physically taxing and it's been used sparingly this season. However, against Spurs, as PoP quite right puts it, we pressed like hell.

Could it be something that Brendan is holding back so that we can be 'let off the leash' in the home stretch of the season in the same way Rafa did in 2008/09? In an odd way in that season it helped that Torres and Gerrard both had injuries because it meant that in that home stretch they were fit and raring to go, and hadn't played too many games.

I know it sounds daft, but can the injuries that we've had (and Luis' suspension), coupled with no European competition mean that our players will be that much stronger in the second half of the season? I hope so.

[RedKenWah]

I thought we were excellent overall, can't complain about stuffing a side who previously have been a bit of a nightmare team for us to play against, and at their own ground! How very satisfying that feeling must be can't be underestimated.
Can't add much more then what people here have been saying here, the pressing was good, the pressure we put them under when off the ball was excellent in parts as well. Sterling in particular was absolutely fantastic in this respect as well, and was able to force them into an early change, which definitely gave us an advantage.


Do we think Henderson maybe feels unshackled by absence of Gerrard?

I feel the whole midfield probably feels unshackled by his absence. it's only been one and a half games since Gerrard was forced off with injury but it has to be said that the change in how how midfield plays has been quite evident. The question is how long they will be able to keep up this tempo because there will be some tougher games coming up, Cardiff will be a side that will more then likely try and be compact and physical especially within the centre mid areas, and Man City & Chelsea, we know what we are going to expect from them. It's different options for us, an option to allow our midfield to play like that will work against some teams, and a midfield with Gerrard will allow us to play better against other sides. Personally i think Gerrard should be fielded further up the pitch by the opposition's 18 yard area and be a threat from there, i think he's more effective in that role then he is in the role he has been occupying since Brendan has come in.

Do we think Sterling is perhaps just beginning to get it?

He's improved these last few weeks, and hopefully he can learn that by applying the work rate he did against Spurs, that he will get some joy. His constant harrassing and out muscling of opponents was a beauty to see, Spurs LB Naughton after his first duel with Sterling, had basically lost his mental battle and thus lost the physical battle with him. I think it helps if he plays on the right and we have Johnson bombing forward as well then that will cause defenders a nightmare. They don't know who to pick up, whether it be Sterling or Johnson and i think that also showed during this game. In the end Johnson didn't need to assert himself too much, but again it's all about players providing different options, and as long as they are utlilised in the correct way, then we will be successful.

Do we wish we could play them like that every week...

I believe if we applied that same work rate against most teams then we will be doing alright. opposition sides will be dreading the fact that when they get on the ball in certain areas that they will be closed down effectively and quickly, and that will affect how they use the ball when they have it, and hopefully end up making mistakes. Some teams we will end up facing though will be up for the challenge against us for various reasons, like for instance Cardiff, unless their situation with their manager escalates any further, i am sure they will be putting in a very combative performance and won't nearly make it as easy as Spurs did.

One thing i will say though, Mignolet and the disallowed goal.. why are our defence playing balls like that, it was very silly and rash to play such a crappy ball and we were only fortunate for it to come up against a striker who instead of using a bit of pace, was stupid enough to committ a foul and then argue as to why it was a foul. That part needs sorting and that side of Mignolet's game he will need to work on. Obviously though that takes time and i'm sure just like how our team are playing now is reaping rewards, i'm sure he will reap rewards with the more time he spends at Melwood.

[Alonso_The_Assassin]

Crumbs.

One of those days where the other fans will be saying what the fuck happened there.
Perhaps the most impressive thing for me was that apart from a couple of moments, it didn't look at all like Spurs were threatening, and it also looked like it was a routine match for us.

Do we think Henderson maybe feels unshackled by absence of Gerrard?
Do we think Sterling is perhaps justbeginning to get it?
Do we wish we could play them like that every week...

Johnson was perhaps the weakest player on the field, and him and Sakho gave me the jitters occasionally, but otherwise what a lovely treat.

Haven't been in front of a computer since Sunday. Obviously still buzzing over the result, which in my opinion, is the best away job since that infamous day in 2009 at Old Trafford. Sure, we've had a couple of good results at Chelsea since then under Kenny, but I felt that everything that Brendan has attempted to achieve since he walked through the doors last summer came to fruition on Sunday.

Do we think Henderson maybe feels unshackled by absence of Gerrard?

Not too sure. I'm certainly sure that Hendo plays better through the middle and am also sure that over the last 6 months he's developed a good understanding with Luis Suarez. Hendo is a confidence player and from here hopefully he can kick on and bag more goals. I've always loved having him in the team and personally, I think with him alongside Allen and Lucas, our midfield works as a team at both ends of the pitch on a far more consistent basis. We press teams and make them feel uncomfortable on the ball which makes our counter-attacking option far more of a threat simply because we are able to counter more often.

Do we think Sterling is perhaps justbeginning to get it?

Had the game of his life, didn't he? His balance was first class. He's always pressed well and pound for pound has always been able to put in a good challenge, which is a facet of his game that goes unnoticed. I've never seen him take defenders on the outside as much as he did on Sunday. A feature of his game that I'm sure many will hope continues. Made up that he scored. He deserved it.

Do we wish we could play them like that every week...

Here's hoping, but at the end of the day a win's a win, no matter how it comes. Home teams might be wary of us after that display and may choose to sit a little bit on their haunches. Make no mistake about it; we've sent shockwaves through the league after that display. Should we scare City and Chelsea, those shockwaves will not doubt continue and many may see us as a genuine title threat.

[Bird Bird Bird The Bird Is The Word]

Just re-watched the game, pleasant viewing indeed.

Suarez's finish for his first goal is brilliant, the composure to cut onto his left foot and sell the defender is something I don't think we would do when he first joined, he's no longer rushing his finished, he's using surgeon like precision instead of smashing away like an insane "Uruguayese" rhino.

The second goal is three brilliant pieces of individual skill knitted together to create a mouth watering team move. Sterling's inch perfect pass to Coutinho, Coutinho's sublime deft touch to effortlessly lay it into Henderson's path and Henderson's perfectly timed run to get in on goal.

The third goal was another lovely team goal, a Henderson forward run met by another sublime Coutinho through ball over the top of the Spurs defense. The run from deep against a static defense with a high line was always going to end messily for Spurs, especially with someone like Coutinho who will split defenses for fun.

Johnson is a real worry. He is forcing passes and losing possession in situations where our defense is vulnerable, with our midfield further up the pitch not providing protection as they're not expecting the ball to be lost under no pressure. He's also started to do this thing where he chests the ball dead in the 18 yard box and glances at Mignolet to get him to collect the ball, when Mignolet is in no position to and it creates confusion where it isn't needed.

Henderson was brilliant but I'd like to pick out Joe Allen who was imperious, the amount of times he nicked the ball with his toe or harried a player into dispossession was great to see. He was extremely tidy on the ball too, using the space around him well and not taking long on the ball, passing as quickly as he receives it.

Skrtel and Sakho were good overall but a few silly moments from both. Sakho's pass back to Mignolet in the first half was stupid but it didn't cost us and I doubt he'll try it again. Skrtel's shirt pull on Soldado was even more stupid, could easily been given as a pen but we got away with it. This is probably our best partnership at the moment, but I would like to see an upgrade on Skrtel. Sakho is brilliant, he's a scary looking bastard and I'm so glad we've got him, he's aggressive but shows real intelligence in when to come forward and tackle, his positioning is spot on too, made two or three neat interceptions on the edge of our box. An encouraging sign from our defense is they are starting to hone in on when to play out from the back and when it to clear it up front.

[fowlermagic]

Was away in the States but caught the game in the local with a few friends and loved nearly every minute. Think we did start a bit slow where even Spurs could have nicked a goal if a bit quicker as Simon was struggling to handle the back passes but after the goal went in it was our game to win and by a canter too. We really did put them under the cosh as quite often we had the same number of men in their half as they had. Spurs just did not have the cutting edge with the ball that you would expect where in our case we sliced through them again and again. Delighted to see Flannagan bang in a peach of a goal and he is looking really steady when it comes to defending/supporting the attack when needed. Great win and a lovely boost into a very important week or two.

[steveeastend]

Flanagan looked like Carra at one point to me in the game-he was running up the left at about half speed with his head up. His gait really reminded me of Carra. Anyone else notice that. He's really grown up.

I actually wanted to write something similar as to me, just as in the Arsenal game, he took on his "Carra" cape and worked himself into the game. If he can do this on a regular basis then there is no reason why he shouldn´t have a PL player career despite his technical limitations. I have been very critical on him but the way he forced himself into that game was quite impressive to watch, very Carra like...

Overall though, I think this game proved what Rodgers is capable of whenever the players do follow his instructions and are up for a professional job in terms of keeping concentration up and putting in the necessary effort in order to work as a team. The difference is clear to see in almost any respect you can think of and it just shows how little sense it makes to critise single mistakes of players in contrast to their workrate for team in regards to the requirements for a position being played in.

Considering this it´s more important to me that Johnson tries to get behind the ball in time in order to defend in a triangle rather than wether he misplaces a pass a couple of seconds before. But he didn´t and for that he was our weakest players as he still doesn´t seem to "get" what Rodgers expects from a player. This question may be  true for Gerrard as well though when looking at our team display in this game no? Did the team peform better as there was noone trying to force the hollywood ball for the sake of it, refused to get behind the ball in front of the defending line whenever needed?

To me, Gerrard is still a tremendous player and of course would improve the majority of teams in europe but the question wether center midfield is still the position where he could help the team best is a valuable one, very valuable as first and foremost the effort for the team to be important and not the other way around. This game  as a proof, a win at a place where we couldn´t win for years despite, a lot of times, having way more indivual quality around.

Speaking of individual quality within a tremendous team effort I want to single out Sterling here. As some mentioned I think we weren´t that dominate in some periods of the game, definitely at the beginning as you could sense a certain nerviness among our players. It took young Sterling to set the tone then, show some guts in his duels, tackles and first and foremost in his workrate on the wing. I thought that if there was just a little bit more of that in all our players to be find, this combination of flair, discipline and guts, we would be close to watching brasilian style football in the northwest of england. Oh wait.. we had that before no? The glory days of pass and move just finally coming back and I am pretty sure it´s just around the corner..

Finally, which hasn´t been highlighted around here, I think the flexibility of our defending line was outstanding in this game, a very mature performance in a difficult away game especially when thinking of the problems we had here so far under Rodgers. There was not a single situation where I thought that we were either too deep or too high in regards to particular game situation and I think Rodgers and his team have been putting in some serious work in training here as the improvement looked massive to me. A couple of back passes just don´t mean anything, as mentioned before, it´s the performance from the entire team in defending and the flexiblity of the defending line which was important and a joy to watch in this game.

[robgomm]

I'm calling it now.

He needs a moustache.

He would look like a 70's footballer with a moustache.

[PhaseOfPlay]

It's a goer...

[robgomm]

I seem to have drifted to Noel Coward/Spanish porn star

[DanA]

I actually wanted to write something similar as to me, just as in the Arsenal game, he took on his "Carra" cape and worked himself into the game. If he can do this on a regular basis then there is no reason why he shouldn´t have a PL player career despite his technical limitations. I have been very critical on him but the way he forced himself into that game was quite impressive to watch, very Carra like...

Overall though, I think this game proved what Rodgers is capable of whenever the players do follow his instructions and are up for a professional job in terms of keeping concentration up and putting in the necessary effort in order to work as a team. The difference is clear to see in almost any respect you can think of and it just shows how little sense it makes to critise single mistakes of players in contrast to their workrate for team in regards to the requirements for a position being played in.

Considering this it´s more important to me that Johnson tries to get behind the ball in time in order to defend in a triangle rather than wether he misplaces a pass a couple of seconds before. But he didn´t and for that he was our weakest players as he still doesn´t seem to "get" what Rodgers expects from a player. This question may be  true for Gerrard as well though when looking at our team display in this game no? Did the team peform better as there was noone trying to force the hollywood ball for the sake of it, refused to get behind the ball in front of the defending line whenever needed?

Johnson didn't play a great game but I don't think that was because he didn't get Rodgers tactics. I think Johnson has a very different role to Flanagan and from time to time he will be caught out up the field. I  suspcted Rodgers willingly takes that risk because he feels the build up play we gain down the right is worth it. Part of the problem also might be he's not yet found a rhythm with Sterling.

[poseidon]

Great comments all. Nothing further to add that hasn't already been said already, except:

(1) Think Brendan should be consistent and use the same approach for the upcoming games - especially the upcoming games against City and Chelsea? Is this the best way for us to play against them (with current personnel), or for that matter, against any team?

(2) Related to (1), do you see us being able to achieve the same success against City and Chelsea, given that (i) they are unlikely to play such a high defensive line; (ii) they are likely to be set up differently than Spurs (iii) they have better players, at least on paper (iv) they have managers who are not as stubborn and in particular, Mourinho is very astute tactically and has the players at his disposal to change strategies/tactics in-game if things do not work out.

My take is:

Yes for (1) because it maximises the attributes of our squad. I don't see clearly superior options for us to be set up against City and Chelsea.

As for (2), not taking anything away from the Spurs performance, but we should be mindful that City and Chelsea will be very different propositions altogether. City's attack through Negredo, Navas, Fernandinho and Silva can be quite frightening. And while their holding capability in midfield in Yaya Toure cannot be underestimated, their key strength lies in their ability to attack both by executing and finishing dangerous moves and punishing slack play. It will be key for our defenders not to make mistakes - but even then, I think it may be tough to match them.

As for the Chelsea game I am slightly more optimistic, since Chelsea has demonstrated a soft underbelly when pressed - which suits our game precisely. I would be more concerned of finding the correct angles to get behind their defence, and our strikers being able to operate effectively in more limited spaces in the penalty box, as opposed to the situation at WHL where our attacking players were generally speaking, firstly, afforded time and space to pick their passes, and secondly, had a long runway to think and move after getting behind Spurs' high defensive line.

For me, a draw against City will be an excellent result, and we can and should hope for a win against Chelsea. Of course I can hope that our midfield trio can pull off another super performance and win both - that will really underline our title credentials.

[Hank Scorpio]

Don't know if everyone saw these, but worth posting. (Via @BassTunedtoRed)

In the build up to Sterling's goal, every LFC player touched the ball:




And the game ended with 63 (!) uninterrupted passes, the final ball just eluding a Flanagan tap-in:

That is feckin awesome.  Thanks for posting mate.

I like the way Sterling injected some pace into that move.  Even at 4-0 up with a minute + injury time to go we were looking for a goal (or maybe just Sterling).  You can tell it also caught Spurs by surprise as it looked as if we were running down the clock.  You can only admire that mentality.  But you wonder what we would have done had it been 1-0 or even 2-0?  Gone for the 2nd or retained possession mitigating the risk of a counter attack.

Also, I'm sure it has been mentioned but 5 goals all from open play.  I know we've scored a fair few from set pieces so it shows we have many avenues of quality.  Nice to see.

[Zeb]

Just in retrospect, the manager's view.

   

Brendan Rodgers believes the “watershed moment” of a season packed full of highlights for Liverpool FC came against Tottenham back in December.

The Reds hadn’t won at White Hart Lane in their previous six visits but they put that right with a stunning 5-0 demolition.

The manager says the manner of that triumph fuelled Liverpool’s title challenge in the second half of the campaign.

“We’ve had a number of remarkable performances throughout the season. Just look at some of the scorelines – 3-0 Manchester United, 4-0 Everton, 5-1 Arsenal, 4-0 and 5-0 Tottenham,” Rodgers told the ECHO.

“But certainly the game I will look back on as a watershed moment was [Tottenham]

“I just think it was the one which gave the team the belief in how we had been working. We had been improving and developing really well.

“We had been growing as a team but I felt that was the first away game where against a rival  we were able to demonstrate our ideas of football.

“Tottenham is deemed a rival and they were deemed a club ahead of where Liverpool were. Plus, the club’s results at White Hart Lane hadn’t been so good for a number of years.

“To go there and be so complete and play a perfect game in terms of how we want to pass and how we want to press, with penetration, with goals and young players in the team performing really well.

“I look back on that day as the moment the players truly believed in how we work.

“From that day on I saw just that 1% change in terms of how they trained and how we could approach the games.”

Echo

Maybe at times we do create narratives. But sometimes there's something 'just so' about things.