Blood Red: James Pearce on why Liverpool FC have endured a stuttering start to the season The ECHOs Reds reporter says Liverpools new signings will need time to settle. Its no mystery why Liverpool FC have endured such a challenging week. The defeat to Aston Villa and the unconvincing victory over Ludogorets merely illustrated the problems Brendan Rodgers is wrestling with in the early stages of the new campaign. The Reds have won three of their opening five matches in all competitions but in only one game have they come close to producing the kind of fluency which Kopites became accustomed to last term. You don’t need to be in possession of a UEFA A Licence to work out why. When Liverpool routed Tottenham 3-0 at White Hart Lane they got off to the perfect start courtesy of Raheem Sterling’s early goal. Chasing the game, Spurs had to take risks and the Reds, inspired by the brilliance of Sterling, picked them off. Daniel Sturridge led the line with distinction in the capital, while Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson ran themselves into the ground in Rodgers’ midfield diamond, operating either side of Steven Gerrard. Fast forward a fortnight and Liverpool were unrecognisable against Villa. It was a disjointed display lacking in both tempo and intensity. When you’re trying to integrate so many new players, those well versed in the manager’s methods become even more important but injuries denied Rodgers the services of Sturridge and Allen, and forced him into a change of formation. The decision to rest Sterling backfired for the simple reason that neither Lazar Markovic nor Adam Lallana proved able to fill that creative void. That’s not a criticism of the new boys. Both showed flashes of their undoubted ability, but unsurprisingly look short of match sharpness having had their pre-season preparations wrecked by injuries. With Mario Balotelli also still getting up to speed and Philippe Coutinho’s Midas touch having gone AWOL, breaking down teams set up to simply frustrate has been a problem. The return of Sterling for Markovic helped improve matters for Tuesday’s Champions League opener against Ludogorets but they toiled until Balotelli stepped up and repaid a chunk of that £16million fee. With goals hard to come by, Liverpool’s defensive frailties have been magnified. Problems with communication and organisation aren’t surprising given that three of the back four are new to the club and the two Spanish full-backs don’t speak English. Again, Rodgers’ hand has been forced in terms of selection with Martin Skrtel, Glen Johnson and Jon Flanagan on the treatment table and Jose Enrique still building up his fitness after long-term injury. Behind the new-look defence, there is a keeper trying to get to grips with the demand to impose himself more and command his box better. Simon Mignolet was left exposed by his centre-backs, but by rushing out like he did against Ludogorets, he turned a decent chance into a sitter. That kind of error fuels uncertainty. Liverpool will raise the bar over the coming weeks. That is guaranteed as injuries clear up and new faces settle but in the mean time they may need to dig deep and settle for winning ugly. echo/pearce (written before todays game).
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 20:30:01 +0000
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