It's rare I would criticise Rodgers tactically, but today I really think he fucked it big time with his subs. At a time when we were comfortable in the game, Lucas got injured and we had to make a sub. The right choice for me would of been to drop Gerrard into that position, bring on Markovic and put him as wing back, and move Jordan Ibe into the front 3 where he belongs. Instead he brought on Joe Allen, which was a really negative move. Especially considering how gash Allen was at Bolton in mid-week. The game was there for us to take, but Rodgers made a cautious sub and it cost us the win I feel. We were controlling the game at that time, and just needed more in attack, but he made a very negative move which cost us 2 points.
Later in the game he left Gerrard on for nothing other than sentimental value. Stevie is my idol, but the legs have gone, and our attack was crying out for more pace in the latter stages of the game.
Coutinho behing subbed was something I understood, because Phil has played a football recently and you see he was tired today. Sterling got a week off in Jamaice but Phil never had a break. He has been playing a silly amount if you look at the stats. And he took that heavy tackle too.
Sterling is still very raw as a footballer, and needs a lot of coaching to improve to become a world class player. His finishing and decision making at times are just awful. Just like the game at Chelsea in the CC, his final decision making is just terrible. Making the wrong passes, shooting at the wrong times, etc. He needs to improve a lot.
Jordan Ibe was excellent, especially due to the fact he had to play wing-back all game. What I like about Ibe is that he has strength on the ball, something Sterling lacks. He seems to be a more intelligent player with the ball too. He's a great prospect.
We were the better team, just like we were in the Anfield game, but were again too poor in the final third of the pitch. We need to beat Spurs on Wednesday now. Our season is not over yet, but failing to beat Spurs is going to make it very difficult to make the top 4.