How did Liverpool line up under King Kenny?
How did Liverpool line up under King Kenny?
Michael Cox from tactical blog Zonal Marking says Liverpool fans can draw positives from Kenny Dalglish's first match back in charge, despite a 1-0 defeat at Man Utd
Given just 24 hours in charge of the club, it was difficult to expect too much from Kenny Dalglish here. This was a game where he had nothing to lose – he wouldn’t have been blamed even if Liverpool had been on the end of a thrashing.
This was about making a statement –it was effectively the support of Liverpool fans that got him the job, so this was an opportunity to show them that he’ll play the football they want to see.
The only goal of the game came before we could ascertain Dalglish’s strategy or tactics, but after Ryan Giggs had given United the lead from the penalty spot, Liverpool were the better side when both sides had eleven men.
Encouragingly, they pressed higher up the pitch, pressuring Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher, not letting them turn or play forward passes. There was a general strategy to close down across their own half of the pitch, whereas under Roy Hodgson, pressure was only applied when the opposition reached the final third.
The formation looked most like a 4-1-4-1. Steven Gerrard played slightly ahead of Raul Meireles, but both had the freedom to get forward and support Fernando Torres, who played upfront alone.
That’s been the Spaniard’s preferred role throughout his career – he was at his best in Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1 with support from Gerrard, and seems happier when he’s assisted by onrushing midfielders than when paired with another central striker.
It was a scrappy game, and the main battle was occurring in the centre of midfield. Liverpool were dominating because they had the extra man in that zone – Gerrard and Meireles shut down United’s central midfielders, with Lucas sweeping up behind. In addition, Liverpool’s wide men played reasonably narrow, but also covered the full-backs well, especially on the left where Nani was denied space to work in.
Unfortunately, Gerrard’s dismissal put Liverpool on the back foot. It was a poor, unnecessary tackle from the Liverpool skipper, and even those who will argue that it did not deserve a red card must admit that Gerrard should not have given the referee the option.
Some poor tackles – those that are late or those that are high – can be put down to a genuine mistake, a case of mistiming. When a player goes in with two feet, however, there is no excuse.
Gerrard let his side down badly. Liverpool’s performance as a whole was committed and professional, but they were forced to do without their most important player for the majority of the game because of a simple lack of discipline.
Gerrard will now miss three games (that’s one-sixth of the rest of Liverpool’s Premier League campaign) including next weekend’s Merseyside derby, which is Kenny Dalglish’s first match at Anfield since his appointment, a huge occasion for the club and supporters.
Gerrard is not naturally a captain – he’s not a loudmouth like teammate Jamie Carragher, or other notable captains in recent years, like John Terry or Tony Adams. His role as skipper has been drive his side forward in moments of apparent despair.
He did this most famously in the European Cup final of 2005 and the FA Cup final of 2006, but has continued to do so this season – note the 3-1 Europa League win over Napoli, when he came off the bench with Liverpool 1-0 down at half-time, and scored a hat-trick to turn the game.
It is the nature of his captaincy – to lead by example – that makes an incident like this so inexcusable.
Still, the rest of the side battled well for the rest of the game. They defended as a unit far better than in the midweek display against Blackburn Rovers, with young right-back Martin Kelly probably the star man.
Going forward, there was little invention or creativity, but there was less of the submissive attitude that Liverpool fans so detested under Hodgson. Because of that, and despite the defeat, it was a good first outing for Dalglish.
http://www.itv.com/sport/football/facup/news/tactical-view-of-liverpool-under-dalglish/