For anybody that wants to watch it again, here are the extended highlights:
http://www.tsmplug.com/football/liverpool-2-2-aston-villa-2014-highlights-videos/Gerrard gave a very frank and honest self-assessment when asked about the new role in the post-match interview. I think his words were along the line of - "If BR looks at the first half again, he might not play him in the sweeper position or might even bench him. You have to admire the honesty and his own admission that the performance wasn't good enough. The deeper role is not going to work. This whole thing reminds me of when Houllier was trying to turn Biscan into a defender. It just didn't play to his strengths.
But where does that leave us? Well, despite his being limited in the role he normally plays, Gerrard still has the ability to unlock a defense. He has a great delivery for set-pieces. The question is - do we need that at the expense of playing another more energetic midfielder like Allen who would contribute more to covering the defense? I guess it depends upon who we are playing and the discussion is probably mute as BR probably won't even consider leaving him out but maybe, he should do.
So onto what went wrong. Firstly, it could have been 4 or 5 in the first half. Just before the goal, both Johnson and Toure (I'm not sure which one it was - I think it was Johnson) gives his man a free header from a corner that hits the post. From a bloody corner.
For the goal, I said previously that Cissokho was not at fault for the goal. Just take a look at his position in the box. Is he trying to pick up the runner and stop the danger. Of course he isn't - he's ball watching just like Gerrard as he meanders into the box. Gerrard lets the runner get in front of him and it's 1-0. I can't remember who said this but it was a good description of the mentality of a good defender - a good defender is always thinking about the worst case scenario and trying to protect the team from it. None of our current crop fit that description except for maybe Skrtel.
For the second goal, I think it's unfair to blame Johnson although a better defender would have been stronger on the header. Mignolet has to take a lot of the blame as he comes for it and misses it. What preceded that though was Cissokho being drawn to the ball way up the pitch which allows them to attack down the right. I don't know if Cissokho fell down but I didn't see him anywhere in the picture when the goal was scored. Was he busting a gut to get back? Anyway, not much you can say about it other than it was a poor individual error from Mignolet.
So what went wrong with the defense. I actually don't know if it is the system we played. I think it is just a personnel issue. Our defenders (except for Skrtel) are at best average (and that is being kind). We are missing our first choice LB, our first choice CBs and our replacements are not good enough to cover for them. IMHO, our first choice RB is not good enough either but we could get away with some defensive fraility if there was only one vulnerability. But there are multiple ways that Villa were able to attack us. Mostly, the attacks came down the flanks but they were also able to get at us through the center, partially due to errors by Gerrard that gave the ball away in defensive positions, partially due to Toure being weak in the air at times.
Anyway, that's the negative. On the positive side, very clinical finish by Sturridge, Henderson and Sterling played well. Skrtel did okay. 2-2 at home against Villa is not good enough but once we get everyone back, I honestly think our squad is better than Spurs so I am still not going to panic. We've squandered our cushion though and it will be quite a crushing blow if we fail to get 4th this season. The head to head games against Everton, Spurs and United are going to be huge now. I just hope that we put in a better performance against the bitters Tuesday week from now.