Topic: The Attack

[Nosss]

Rodgers seems to have sacrificed the attack in his quest for clean sheets. Unfortunately, the defence isn't good enough to keep the sheets clean even with the entire team built around making that happen. I don't understand it, our strength is obviously attack. All our best players are attackers, and even our defenders are better at attacking than defending.

Sturridge won't fix this on his own. We need to build towards him, Coutinho and Sterling being given free roam in attack. They are good enough to score the goals we need. We might let in a few goals but at least we'd be playing to our strengths (and we're letting in goals regardless anyway).

[groove]

No one thing will "fix" our attack but Sturridge returning will be the biggest boost we receive towards "fixing" it.

[penga]

Try Lambert + Sturridge, Sterling CAM, Coutinho/Lallana side of diamond with Henderson other side for me.

[JackWard33]

Can we get Sterling central please - or at the minimum on the left.
I have to clue why he keeps getting stuck out on the right where he's clearly way less effective

[Brentieke]

We are absolutely atrocious going forwards.

Seriously, as bad as anything under Hodgson. We're one paced, labored, un creative, have no goal threat and have completely seem to have lost the knowledge of how to create a chance.

In the 7 games Sturridge has missed, we've won 2, lost 3 and drawn 2. We've scored 7 goals in those 7 games- 2 own goals, another deflected effort, a goal from a free kick, and 2 well worked goals against West Brom.

We're barely creating chances too. Brad Guzan had fuck all to do at Anfield. Tim Howard not much more. We created next to nothing vs West Ham. Tim Krul did not have to make a single save in the first half and just kept out a couple from distance in the second.

We've completely lost our attacking game. A few months ago we had the most scintillating attacking play since Kenny's boys of 88. Now, we look like Roy Hodgson's Liverpool when we go forwards.

One thing I don't get is that in those 7 games, we've played the diamond just a single time- and for 15mn (against West Ham). I don't understand this. It's a system that gets the best out of Sterling, Coutinho, Henderson, Gerrard and gives space for the full backs to attack. It also provides Balotelli with someone to play with.

Once Sturridge gets back, surely the plan is to partner him up with Balotelli. Why then are we not playing that system from now, and getting the team used to playing it again.  What are we gaining from a system that isolates the forward, puts Sterling in a position he's not great in, limits the space for our full backs and has generally been proven to be not good for us?

We look absolutely atrocious with either Mario or Ricky Meijer leading the line alone, we may as well be playing with 10 men. They are incapable of being lone forwards. We've seen this game after game during this run, in the league, cup and in Europe. Why are we persisting with it? Is the plan to keep playing it when Sturridge gets back?

I just do not understand what we're doing at all.

[redmark]

Once Sturridge gets back, surely the plan is to partner him up with Balotelli. Why then are we not playing that system from now, and getting the team used to playing it again.  What are we gaining from a system that isolates the forward, puts Sterling in a position he's not great in, limits the space for our full backs and has generally been proven to be not good for us?

I really don't think it is, in the majority of games, at least.

The clear, obvious lesson of the season so far is that we were completely under-prepared for an injury to a single player, Sturridge. We lack depth upfront to cover for him playing one upfront. So how would we cover for two upfront?

Balotelli I think was a wildcard signing; he might cover for Sturridge occasionally, he might partner him occasionally, he might play from the flank occasionally (which at the moment would seem to suit him a damn sight better). But our 'key' signing of the summer was Lallana. Our initial shape for the season, repeatedly used until the last few games, was a 4231, to get three of our tricky little attacking midfielders onto the pitch.

I think that's how we planned to replace Suarez. We didn't have a plan to cover for Sturridge.

[killer-heels]

The strikers are non- entities at the moment. Lambert has been poor, Balotelli is terrible and Borini doesn't have the quality.

[Fromola]

Rodgers seems to have sacrificed the attack in his quest for clean sheets.

I don't think that's by design. We haven't looked like scoring since Sturridge got injured but still been awful at the back. Newcastle could easily have got a couple more today but we didn't look capable of creating a chance for most of the game. I think we've looked more solid at set pieces the last couple of games (looked like we'd even done some work on it) but teams are still strolling through our midfield and we're giving up a lot of chances.

If we really wanted to sacrifice attack for clean sheets then we'd go back to basics by putting Lucas and Can in front of the back four with Henderson in front and keep the back four in a line. That way we'd be tough to break down at least. We're still playing without a DM and giving up a ton of space and not hard to score against. Our attack is simply toothless playing one up front and we basically waste 60+ minutes of every game doing that.

[SerbianScouser]

How do we play with two upfront when Borini and Lambert are so below the level required? We even tried with Sterling up top to help out Mario and it didn`t work out. You can`t invent a quality striker out of thin air. Why are we in this position is another question but until Daniel gets back it needs to be realized we don`t have a striker good enough for Lfc to partner Mario up top.

[Fromola]

How do we play with two upfront when Borini and Lambert are so below the level required? We even tried with Sterling up top to help out Mario and it didn`t work out. You can`t invent a quality striker out of thin air. Why are we in this position is another question but until Daniel gets back it needs to be realized we don`t have a striker good enough for Lfc to partner Mario up top.

Two options for me at the moment.
1) play 4-2-3-1 with Lucas and Can or Allen screening the back four. That'll tighten things up at the back and release a bit of control but we'll struggle to break teams down with any of our available strikers leading the line on their own. But we can't score in a brothel as it is.
2) Bite the bullet and play Borini and Balotelli up front with Gerrard or Lucas, Henderson, Allen and Sterling or Coutinho in a diamond. Coutinho/Sterling/Gerrard (if not starting) and Lallana impact subs. We'd be more attacking but would be more open at the back.

Given the quality of the next two opponents i'd be looking more at number 1 until Sturridge is back but would play Borini over Balotelli.

At the moment we're still very open in midfield and leaky at the back but toothless in attack so we've got the worst of both worlds. What we're even trying to do at the moment escapes me. The most clueless performance i've seen for a long time.

[SquirrelandGman]

Our attack is in the  medical room and one  is in Barcelona.

Until then.. This thread is redundant cause we're all playing like Hodgson was still here.

[10 years on]

We're missing our two strikers

Main problem is there .

[new-red]

Daniel Sturridge is the fulcrum of this attack. Without him this attack loses all of its potency.

Sturridge is able to drop deep and link up play like an attacking midfielder

Sturridge is able to drift out wide and play like a winger taking on fullbacks and getting to the byline for dangerous cutbacks and crosses OR drift out wide and play like an inside forward who uses the flanks to find space to receive possession and then attack the opposition's back line by running at the fullback with the equally potent dual threat of beating him to the byline with sheer pace or cutting inside at the edge of the box for powerful shot on goal.

Sturridge is able to be the classic number 9 and play off the shoulder of the last defender where his pace and quickness means that the defense has to constantly account for his positioning and movement which creates an overwhelming problem for the backline who now have to perpetually evaluate the level of threat Sturridge poses as he moves in and around the defense.

 Sturridge is a chameleon in this attack, much in the same way that Suarez was. Sturridge can adapt his playing style seamlessly to respond to the changing dynamic of a match. Also, he appears to have developed a great understanding with the creators in the team, coutinho and sterling, which facilitates far more incisive attacking movements cause attacking runs and penetrative passes are made without hesitation or delay giving the defense far less time to react and counter those attacking moves.

Without Sturridge leading the line, sterling and coutinho don't have that trusted fulcrum in attack to pass and move with real intent and purpose in the final third. It is blatantly, frustratingly, infuriatingly obvious that they don't know what runs or passes to make in the final third because that team chemistry that is required for coutinho and sterling to acheive optimal attacking performance is just so far away at the moment.

Also, Balotelli leading the line is just a fucking disaster. He is been such a self-centered and self-involved player for his entire career that he really doesn't seem to understand how to play in the team framework. He rarely, if ever, is able to anticipate when coutinho will look to play him in. Of course, the result of this fair and simple misunderstanding makes the side look like absolute donkeys as coutinho appears to have just played a ball right to the goalkeeper as no liverpool player has even the faintest clue that the pass was actually intended for any of them.

But honestly, the most important attribute that Sturridge has that stands out among his many great attributes is that his sheer pace demands the utmost respect from any defensive back four.

Sturridge had the ability to STRETCH defenses so that our creative players had acres of space at their mercy in front of the back line allowing them ten or fifteen yards of uncontested space which means that when they do converge upon the 18 yard box they are running full boar at the defense and forcing them to make far quicker, and consequently, far rasher decisions in attempting to extinguish the attack.

Real Madrid were just sitting near the halfway line because they were not even a little scared of Balotelli getting in behind them. That threat of pace is so indispensable and cannot truly be compensatd for.

Sturridge's pace is a real danger to any backline. Sturridge can manipulate their collective movement by simply moving himself. Sturridge can start a run and make it look like eh is trying to find a pass in behind the defense. A lot of defenders will start moving back instinctively because playing a high offside trap is just too risky when Sturridge can give up a 2-3 yards head start and still win possession of the ball.

In this instance, Sturridge can remain moving amongst the back 4 and let his supporting attackers take advantage of the space or he can make an attacking run and then in mid-run he can stop and come back and receive the ball in vacated space and turn and run at the defense or allow his supporting attackers to make runs beyond him to provide an option for another attacking pass.

Sturridge's ability and natural gifts means that he able to play the role of the Complete Forward as seen in the FM game.

It allows our attacking play to fluidly transition from counter-attacking to balanced attacking to all-out attacking play as well as our passing style which can range from the more deliberate, methodical passing to the more direct, aggressive passing.

I guess at the end of this novel, my main point is that I will forestall any call to sound the alarm until I see how our team performs with this man in the side.

I truly believe he is that important and that he has always been that important even if his contribution and significance suffered from a permanent overcast in Suarez's shadow.

So there.

[Chakan]

We're missing our two strikers

Main problem is there .

So we're a 1 man team? And we're not missing our 2 strikers. We're missing 1.

[stockdam]

Attack? What's that? I can remember we had an attack last year.

[slipslidin82]

The denominator between why we had fluency against Swansea and why we didn't today is Balo.

Not his fault - he could be awesome in the right setup and a more direct game plan. In fact, I feel sorry for him. We're damaging his career and making him look s*ite by playing him in a system that's completely alien and unsuited to him.

He's not nearly good enough to build a system around and it's the height of hubris to think you can coach him into a different player. You can't make Duncan Ferguson play like Pipo Inzaghi.

More importantly, Coutinho might as well not be on the pitch if Balo is playing because his key skill is rendered totally null.

As for the diamond... I think Brendan probably woke up in a cold sweat several times over the summer after reliving the Nightmare of Selhurst Park. Much like Ancelotti after he played it in Istanbul.  He seems avowed to never again playing a system that leaves it's defence so open. The irony being that with six defensive players we've managed to look even worse.

[Wesley Pipes]

Same shit, different game.

I love BR and hope he forges a decade plus at the helm but open your eyes lad, he ain't a lone striker and can't be relied on for team balance up top... Use a different tactic ffs

[Redman0151]

The strikers are non- entities at the moment. Lambert has been poor, Balotelli is terrible and Borini doesn't have the quality.

Even if Messi was up top today I don't think we'd have scored, we didn't come close to creating any chances for our forwards

[Gnurglan]

We're having problems everywhere now. Attack used to be an area we were strong in. If everything else failed, we could always rely on our attack. Now we don't even have an attack worth the name. Coutinho and Sterling can bring some life to it, but that's about it. Gerrard with a few throughballs or crosses. Perhaps Lallana now and then. But the magic, the system is gone.

[Gerrard#1]

I don't understand the people here saying Sturridge won't make a massive difference last year our attack started just as poorly but Sturridge scored a goal in his first four games and gave us 10 points almost single handedly. He is on Aguero and Costa's level he is a difference maker look at Chelsea without Costa, they were scoring goals for fun but without him struggled to score against United a team who let in 5 against Leicester. We would be top four with him in the team currently. He is our X factor.

[Gnurglan]

I don't understand the people here saying Sturridge won't make a massive difference last year our attack started just as poorly but Sturridge scored a goal in his first four games and gave us 10 points almost single handedly. He is on Aguero and Costa's level he is a difference maker look at Chelsea without Costa, they were scoring goals for fun but without him struggled to score against United a team who let in 5 against Leicester. We would be top four with him in the team currently. He is our X factor.

The other players we have need to stop being bit part players while we wait for Sturridge. Last season, when Suarez was out, others performed. We need that kind of reaction. We can't just throw game after game away.

[KirkVanHouten]

I don't understand the people here saying Sturridge won't make a massive difference last year our attack started just as poorly but Sturridge scored a goal in his first four games and gave us 10 points almost single handedly. He is on Aguero and Costa's level he is a difference maker look at Chelsea without Costa, they were scoring goals for fun but without him struggled to score against United a team who let in 5 against Leicester. We would be top four with him in the team currently. He is our X factor.

Sturridge is our best player by a mile. The problem is that he is injury prone so when he comes back he will make a difference but it remains to be seen how long he will play for before he's injured again.

[Darth Red]

Sturridge alone is a million times better than Balotelli, Borini and Lambert combined. That's pretty damning of the manager and his team to have left us in a dire situation like that after the brilliant attack of last season.

[KirkVanHouten]

Says a lot when our leading goalscorer is a tie between 19 year old winger and our 34 year old penalty taker.

[GregCharrua]

Even if Messi was up top today I don't think we'd have scored, we didn't come close to creating any chances for our forwards

We can't get the ball off Skrtel/Lovren/Johnson how that's the fault of Mario or our strikers I'll never understand. The team is playing poorly, and these aren't the sort of strikers who cut something out of nothing - like Suarez. That is to say, they are mere mortal men.

[Franck Le Poof]

The strikers are non- entities at the moment. Lambert has been poor, Balotelli is terrible and Borini doesn't have the quality.

Ridiculously simplistic.

Having an effective attack is the job of the entire team. We've had worse strikers than Balotelli up front in our day but have scored at a higher rate than we are currently because the team, as a whole, was playing better than we have been as of late. Last year we transitioned from back-to-front at a lightening pace. We caught teams off-guard, we pressured them, we didn't give them time to settle or find their position. In fact the only time we were laboured in possession and allowed the team to situate itself in defence was against Chelsea at Anfield, and we all know how that went.

Newcastle today defended deep. They didn't pressure our back-line like teams used to when Rodgers first started here. Pardew and his men were perfectly content to let us knock it about in our own half because they knew we lacked the technique, ability, and pace to create anything meaningful. Lovren had 121 touches of the ball today. Skrtel had 109. Johnson had 85. Those are the three highest numbers in the side today by far. That is a lot of the ball. At the opposite end of the spectrum the two players with the least touches on the pitch from our starting XI were Balotelli, Sterling, and Coutinho. In a game where we keep 60+ percent possession and those three are hardly getting a touch of the ball you know nothing is going to be happening for us in the goalscoring department.

To lay the blame solely on the strikers is simplistic and unfair. The team as a whole is suffering and they're just getting the result of that. They're not as clinical as Sturridge nor can they create something out of nothing like Suarez could. We already knew that. But the idea is that we need to get the best out of what we have, we need to give them the tools and the chances to be at their best. We've done nothing of the sort. We didn't create, we didn't keep the ball in the final third. There's not much they could have done. Balotelli wasn't helped being played as the lone striker when it's been evidenced (on an admittedly small sample size) that he is more effective with a partner. Lofting long balls out wide to Sterling clearly don't do him any favours either. Henderson being in a restricted role as he was for England over the summer rather than as our high-energy runner from deep doesn't get the best out of him.

We're not making the best of what's available to us. That's a far bigger problem than just condemning individual players.

[theMilkman]

Ridiculously simplistic.

Having an effective attack is the job of the entire team. We've had worse strikers than Balotelli up front in our day but have scored at a higher rate than we are currently because the team, as a whole, was playing better than we have been as of late. Last year we transitioned from back-to-front at a lightening pace. We caught teams off-guard, we pressured them, we didn't give them time to settle or find their position. In fact the only time we were laboured in possession and allowed the team to situate itself in defence was against Chelsea at Anfield, and we all know how that went.

Newcastle today defended deep. They didn't pressure our back-line like teams used to when Rodgers first started here. Pardew and his men were perfectly content to let us knock it about in our own half because they knew we lacked the technique, ability, and pace to create anything meaningful. Lovren had 121 touches of the ball today. Skrtel had 109. Johnson had 85. Those are the three highest numbers in the side today by far. That is a lot of the ball. At the opposite end of the spectrum the two players with the least touches on the pitch from our starting XI were Balotelli, Sterling, and Coutinho. In a game where we keep 60+ percent possession and those three are hardly getting a touch of the ball you know nothing is going to be happening for us in the goalscoring department.

To lay the blame solely on the strikers is simplistic and unfair. The team as a whole is suffering and they're just getting the result of that. They're not as clinical as Sturridge nor can they create something out of nothing like Suarez could. We already knew that. But the idea is that we need to get the best out of what we have, we need to give them the tools and the chances to be at their best. We've done nothing of the sort. We didn't create, we didn't keep the ball in the final third. There's not much they could have done. Balotelli wasn't helped being played as the lone striker when it's been evidenced (on an admittedly small sample size) that he is more effective with a partner. Lofting long balls out wide to Sterling clearly don't do him any favours either. Henderson being in a restricted role as he was for England over the summer rather than as our high-energy runner from deep doesn't get the best out of him.

We're not making the best of what's available to us. That's a far bigger problem than just condemning individual players.

Good post. I think as much as a problem as the lack of movement up front is, so is the lack of creativity from midfield.  And against a team that defends that deep you generally expect your fullbacks to offer width as well, which they weren't. At the moment we're passing the ball around in circles without anyone really trying to do anything with it. No quick one twos to beat markers, no passing triangles. The solution when in trouble for all our midfielders, Allen especially, seems to be to pass it back to the defence. Skrtel/lovren/johnson then put three passes together then it's back in the midfield. Rinse and repeat. That is not the fault of the strikers. Also brendan needs to look at the way he selects his teams. We were less free scoring last season whenever we had Allen, Gerrard and Henderson playing together, and that was with Suarez and Sturridge up front.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Well said. Many are still hung up on a 2 striker formation, last season's setup but most of the top teams play with one striker (and often that term's nominal, he has plenty of freedom to move). They score lots of goals, get results. If last season's way of playing cannot be replicated or by Rodgers's judgement isn't worth trying to replicate with the players now, then another method has to be found to provide penetration. He was clear that he's not going to use a player like Andy Carroll and subscribe to an aerial game, thereby limiting his options to penetration mainly through possession football - fair enough, that's a staple of the top teams, now a setup has to be found with what we have. That's what is costing us, the failure to do it as a team, from manager downwards, rather than any one individual failing.

Lofted passes to an isolated Sterling 40 yards from goal or giving it to Balotelli wide, deep and outside the box hoping he can turn and beat 2 players to make something happen isn't reflective of the incisive movement and good passing decisions Rodgers had the team showing last season.

[LiverpoolKopKings]

It's not all doom and gloom in our attack but .....

Our very own Daniel Sturridge has been named for the British Fashion Award.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/liverpool-fcs-daniel-sturridge-up-8029063

Will probably break 2 legs going up for the price and be ruled out until the England first qualifying game for the 2022 world cup.

[killer-heels]

Ridiculously simplistic.

Having an effective attack is the job of the entire team. We've had worse strikers than Balotelli up front in our day but have scored at a higher rate than we are currently because the team, as a whole, was playing better than we have been as of late. Last year we transitioned from back-to-front at a lightening pace. We caught teams off-guard, we pressured them, we didn't give them time to settle or find their position. In fact the only time we were laboured in possession and allowed the team to situate itself in defence was against Chelsea at Anfield, and we all know how that went.

Newcastle today defended deep. They didn't pressure our back-line like teams used to when Rodgers first started here. Pardew and his men were perfectly content to let us knock it about in our own half because they knew we lacked the technique, ability, and pace to create anything meaningful. Lovren had 121 touches of the ball today. Skrtel had 109. Johnson had 85. Those are the three highest numbers in the side today by far. That is a lot of the ball. At the opposite end of the spectrum the two players with the least touches on the pitch from our starting XI were Balotelli, Sterling, and Coutinho. In a game where we keep 60+ percent possession and those three are hardly getting a touch of the ball you know nothing is going to be happening for us in the goalscoring department.

To lay the blame solely on the strikers is simplistic and unfair. The team as a whole is suffering and they're just getting the result of that. They're not as clinical as Sturridge nor can they create something out of nothing like Suarez could. We already knew that. But the idea is that we need to get the best out of what we have, we need to give them the tools and the chances to be at their best. We've done nothing of the sort. We didn't create, we didn't keep the ball in the final third. There's not much they could have done. Balotelli wasn't helped being played as the lone striker when it's been evidenced (on an admittedly small sample size) that he is more effective with a partner. Lofting long balls out wide to Sterling clearly don't do him any favours either. Henderson being in a restricted role as he was for England over the summer rather than as our high-energy runner from deep doesn't get the best out of him.

We're not making the best of what's available to us. That's a far bigger problem than just condemning individual players.

The problem has been though when chances have been created they haven't been clinical and their all round game have been poor. Balotelli has had lots of opportunities and not finished them. The more he misses, the more the collective heads drop. Even when we do try to play the way we did with runners beyond the front man, balotelli for example against QPR, didn't find them or wasted the opportunity to play others in.

The quality of Suarez and Sturridge means players are played in and most of the chances are buried and thus the confidence increases.

[Je99ers]

The attack doesn't exist for Liverpool any more.

[Yozza1]

Our counter attacking threat is non existent this year considering how good we were last season at it with loads of runners. Now its all too static, we are going back to playing like we did the 1st season under Rodgers.

[Brentieke]

Staggering stat: We failed to score in just 3 of our 43 games last season.

We've now failed to score in 3 of our last 4 games and 5 in total so far.

[penga]

The league finds you out quickly.

[lucas65]

Unfortunately a lot of teams have chose the Chelsea tactics from last year.

Park the bus and attack on the break and bombard us with set pieces, and it's effective against us.

Last year our early goals meant that teams had to open up and we exploited it but now we aren't gaining the early advantage.

Instead of bulk buying in the summer, we should have been looking for that tricky nutmegging dribbly type player that can make a difference in tight situations.

[lfcmaster]

we need to buy lots of strikers in January or the summer

[The 5th Benitle]

we should have been looking for that tricky nutmegging dribbly type player that can make a difference in tight situations.

Well that's Lallana.

[Reeves]

Our top scorer this season is own goals. Shocking. I'm not sure I ever want to see Balo play for us again. He is atrocious. I'd play Borini over him ever day because at least he works hard and moves. We MUST sell balo and buy a striker with movement and pace in January 

[L7S]

Unlike Suarez, Balotelli is too static, making marking easy for the opponent and they can focus on our other players more. By just man marking Gerrard, we have no distribution from the back and Lovren and Skrtel ends up doing fruitless lobs every time. Our attack is also not helped when our other midfielder like Henderson and Allen pose very little threat and can be ignored in a sense. We are certainly missing goal scoring midfielders ala by recent examples Luis Garcia, Kuyt and Benayoun.

I also do not get the criticism that Gerrard gets as he is the one that looks like making something happen despite all the Hollywood balls, his crosses has been very dangerous but we lack the hunger to get to the end of it by both the strikers and the rest of the midfield.

That being said, I think we should improve significantly when Sturridge returns but hopefully we do not trail too far behind by then.

[Reeves]

Balo getting slated on sunday supplement. Journos saying theyre confident Gerrard doesn't rate Balo at all and is frustrated with him.