I was impressed with the manager’s comments post-match. Although the result was the important thing we need to improve our level of performance. We picked the right formation to deal with Palace and also to maximise the quality of the players who were available.
First of all the positives.
Mignolet had another good game. He is commanding his area better as well as improving his distribution. After a couple of years being desensitised with Pepe’s ability to block shots, it’s a pleasant surprise to see our new keeper utilising his reactions. He will be worth a significant number of points this season.
Sakho looks a perfect fit. Not only is he a beast physically but he has great passing stats and isn’t afraid to distribute the ball to the midfielders when they are under pressure. The more we are able to do this the better our chances of penetrating will be. He also offers goal threat in the form of his heading ability. He is the kind of defender you build a defence around.
Henderson played well in central midfield – he improved the tension in the midfield and allowed Stevie to provide his incisive passing range. Sterling also played well as the wingback and was identified by Holloway as one of the main reasons his team weren’t able to cope with us. Both these players have some adjustments to make in these positions but their performance was encouraging.
Although Enrique can occasionally appear brainless his delivery in the final third is improving and he seems to have a great understanding with Suarez. Hopefully if we can maintain our form he will improve the consistency of the better half of his play.
And finally, of course, the triumvirate of SMS have a good understanding and will only get better. I’m sure people will be writing lots about the strikers but Moses has fit in well and offers speed and strength in his game along with a good level of technical ability and a good understanding with the front two. He doesn’t appear to have Coutinho’s vision, adeptness or guile yet but I think he keeps possession better which is important in this system.
Which brings me on to the negatives.
I like the 1352; I have liked it since the days we played it under Evans. With the right personnel it can work out well in this league which is still generally based on a 442 or 4231 philosophy.
But it leaves us with some problems integrating our best players once everyone is fit.
Over the Summer, it seems clear that our recruitment policy has been to accrue the highest level of players we could and to build the system around them. Luckily there aren’t too many teams who use aggressive high quality wing-play so the traditional weakness of the formation can be patched up to a large degree.
The first problem though is that we have to assume that Gerrard will be playing in a deep-lying midfielder role for every single match that he is fit. If Lucas is to be included in the team therefore, we become too defensive for the majority of opponents as we have a two man shield in front of three centrebacks in the centre of the pitch but we have relatively little tension to press play later on in matches. Defending deeply can work as a strategy against the likes of Palace and Sunderland however teams like Arsenal will harry us in midfield and potentially cut us apart unless we can get on the front foot. The warning signs were there in the Southampton game.
In the most recent match, we seemed to look far more potent when we attempted to carry the ball to disrupt the opponents formation. Skrtel did this on occasion and it nearly led to a goal – but we need players who are able to do it more often,
Secondly, once Coutinho is back in the team, playing as a “10” he is a legitimate target for the opposition to double up on him and that will cut off a lot of the supply for the two strikers as he loses possession too easily in my opinion. Yes, he provides mind bending passes but there’s no point having an additional cannon up front if you can choke off the supply of ammunition. What usually happens in this circumstance is that Suarez gets frustrated and drops deeper which will affect his conversion rate the same way it was affected under Kenny.
In order to make the formation work, I would try Lucas as the central defender with Toure / Agger on one side and Sakho on the other. Henderson and Gerrard could then start in the middle with Moses ahead of them. After 60 minutes I’d pull Stevie off (and replace him with Lucas) and bring Coutinho on for Moses with another CB making up the back three. This would be a major change in our pattern of playing the captain but unless we countenance that there is no way to play the best team using this system.
Our overall progress will be limited by the fact this is another transitional season. Until we finish the campaign knowing our best style, formation and first team we’re not going to be able to make the final jump to maximising our resources.
EDIT:
/snip/
Part of what I saw from Henderson was a deferment of responsibility to Gerrard. I can cope with that at the moment, although I do think Henderson has more in his locker than we are currently seeing. His technique isn't as bad as people seem to think. In fact I think it's one of his best attributes.
I was struck by Henderson' s post match interview:
"Going forward we were outstanding, ...some of the stuff [the attacking players did]were fantastic, we see that every day in training, so it's nothing new to us really; so hopefully they can keep doing what they're doing and we can keep doing our job and supplying them and keeping clean sheets."
I don't know if this is a role he is being coached into but I would lke to see more offensive responsibility and verve taken by him.
