Wasn't a coincidence that we looked better playing on the transition, which was one of the main reasons the second half was so much better. Sterling, Coutinho, Henderson - all, for different reasons, suit attacking into space instead of having to break down a low block.
We generally dealt well defensively in that we didn't allow them to build pressure - Allen and Lucas won a good amount of the second balls, stayed close to the back line and gave us more and more opportunities to play on the transition in the second half. Walters didn't get into the game and had a particularly abysmal first half - very few touches, 11 losses of possession. Stoke didn't build pressure for any length of time until the end when we switched to 5-4-1 and effectively allowed them to push us back (which was an understandable though misguided idea, in my opinion).
In terms of attack, we were very sloppy in the first half. Kept losing the ball when we were counterattacking, kept getting frustrated, under-hitting passes, not being intelligent in possession. This Stoke side have weaknesses and we should have exploited them better in the first half. Counterattack was sloppy as I've said, wasted a number of good situations that could have resulted in a good chance being created.
We did have a nice shape in midfield, effectively playing a diamond in possession - Lucas at the base, Allen moving wider to the left and slightly ahead, Henderson dropping in as a third midfielder to the right, Coutinho between the lines. Then obviously Sterling on the left, who we constantly tried to find to get him 1v1 with Cameron, and Lambert up front. The problem was that we weren't efficient enough. Lucas and Allen should've been making more runs behind Diouf and Bojan so as to get numerical superiority against their CMs and allow Coutinho to stay higher up (the Henderson chance early on in the second half came from Lucas making a very intelligent run behind Bojan and forcing Adam to come out, which opened up space for the pass between the lines). We shouldn't have been quite so intent on finding Sterling either; Enrique's long balls down the line, for example, very rarely work and though it was the right idea, it's not wise if you keep giving away possession. And if we were going to look wide (which was the right idea considering Stoke's physical strength - you need to stretch the play) we needed to constantly get to the byline and either cut it back (Stoke have a tendency to drop deep and not cover the space in front of the backline when the ball goes wide, just like most English teams) or cross it in and look to create a chance with the rebounds and second balls.
I've got to say that a Coutinho/Lambert partnership just doesn't work in my opinion; when you consider most good partnerships in attack, they always complement each other in some way. That's not to say they have to be the same but just that they click in terms of style and skill-set. Gerrard and Torres worked because Torres would run behind and Gerrard could play the first time pass immediately or would have space for a shot. They were on the same wavelength. Messi's scored a bundle of goals in his last few games, not least because in Suarez he has a mobile number nine ahead of him who can make runs and create space for him.
Coutinho needs a mobile player in front of him who will make runs and either create space so that he can dribble with the ball or be in a position where he can find him with a penetrating pass. Lambert's movement is clever but his runs are not quick enough or even the right type of runs that get the best out of Coutinho. Coutinho's pass success rate in the first half was 57%. That isn't good enough when he's playing as the number ten, the player who's connecting much of the play in the final third. It worked better in the second half because space opened up - we pressed higher when we lost the ball, Stoke weren't as compact as they were in the first half and we were largely controlling the second ball which gave us more opportunities to counter. But even then, it wasn't really down to any partnership between Lambert and Coutinho; the former was still slowing down attacks at times. Why Lallana isn't being used more I don't know but if Lambert is going to be our main striker till Sturridge comes back then Lallana is going to need to start more.
The chances we gave away are still a little disturbing. You don't have to have watched Diouf a lot to know that he's very quick and Mignolet should have been a lot more alert off his line (which we all know is a problem) and even before then, we should have been closing down Bojan - he's their one player with a genuine attacking quality on the ball and we shouldn't have allowed him space to play that pass behind in the first place.
Nor should he have got the freedom he got when he hit the post. If you watch when we lose the ball initially, one pass takes four players out of the game and Arnautovic hasn't even got pressure on the ball when he receives it in midfield. It moves further on, Johnson doesn't get tight enough to him, Lucas doesn't stay with Bojan in the RB spot and gets beaten very easily and then Skrtel backs off and pretty much moves out of the way of the shot. Too many errors and too much space. It's far, far too easy to counterattack us at times.
I hope this win gives us a bit of confidence for this busy next few weeks. The players were clearly very frustrated in the first half and the last thing we need right now is to be low on confidence, low on performance levels AND letting frustration affect play even more. The second half was much better in attack - there were a couple of beautiful bits of play reminiscent of last season. Hopefully we can build from that.