If Chelsea and City werent that worried about Liverpool before, they certainly should be now as the Reds are the form horse in this race, having now taken 35 points from a possible 39 since a controversial defeat at Stamford Bridge in the final league game of 2013. Rodgers has brought many things to Liverpool in the relatively short time hes been at the helm, but perhaps the biggest thing is the confidence hes instilled in his players, and in turn the belief that has given the fans. Man for man Liverpools players may not be the most expensively assembled or talented group in the country, but try telling them that! They may not shout it from the rooftops as its not the Liverpool Way, but this team believes they are the best and its showing now every time they step onto the field, regardless of the calibre of opponent. Liverpool are unquestionably playing the best football in the land right now and have been since the turn of the year. The players are oozing confidence and you only have to look at the performances of the younger lads in the side, such as Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Jon Flanagan to see the Rodgers effect. All three of those lads have had question marks against them until fairly recently, but the self-belief and ability that they are showing now is testament to the way Rodgers is bringing the best out of his players. Sterling was phenomenal against Tottenham; in fact he was probably the best player on the entire field. He was a constant menace to Spurs right from the opening whistle, but just as impressive was his work rate and defensive awareness. One incident late in the game typified the teenagers work, as he showed incredible strength and balance to hold off Moussa Dembele by his own goal-line before clearing the ball. Rodgers says that pound for pound Sterling is the strongest player he’s ever worked with and that hes made of solid steel. Rodgers is prone to a bit of hyperbole at times, but that tussle with the physically imposing Dembele justified his claims and then some. Henderson, too, produced another superb display in the middle of the park. He missed a glorious chance in front of the Kop in the second half and it was understandably greeted by a huge groan from the crowd. His head briefly went down, and had this been a year ago it would probably have never come back up. Certainly in his first season at the club a miss like that would have seen him go into his shell for the rest of the game, but there was never any danger of that happening this time as Hendo’ is unrecognisable from the nervous, shy lad who arrived from Sunderland with a big price tag around his neck in 2011. That big price tag now looks like an absolute bargain, such has been his improvement under Rodgers. When he blasted that chance high over the bar and into the Kop, Luis Suarez was over to him very quickly to give him an encouraging word or two and the crowd immediately belted out his name in support. Both were nice touches, but neither were necessary as Henderson is made of much sterner stuff these days and he was always going to shrug it off and just play his own game. He was duly rewarded with the fourth goal. And then theres Flanagan. No fuss, no frills, he just does what hes supposed to do and he does it well and with incredible confidence for a player so inexperienced at this level. Hes switched back over to the left flank in recent weeks which impacts somewhat on what he can do going forward, but with Glen Johnson making a welcome return to form on the right flank Flanno doesnt need to be constantly charging forward on the overlap, his job is to just defend well, offer an outlet and keep possession, and he’s doing a fine job of that. In the much-maligned Being: Liverpool documentary, Rodgers infamously took the young full back to one side and told him Stay behind the ball. Youre not the one bombing on for fun, like Cafu. Its ironic then that the great Brazilian himself tweeted during the Reds dismantling of Spurs: Good to see the RedCafu is playing well! Liverpool amazing to watch! — Cafu. (@officialcafu) March 30, 2014 Cafu has been bombarded of late by messages from Reds on Twitter telling him about the Scouse Cafu who is making waves in Liverpools first team and he commented recently that hed have to watch some LFC see games to see Flanagan in action. The comparison is obviously tongue in cheek; it’s an affectionate nickname for a youngster who is much more Gary Neville than he is Cafu (and I mean that in the nicest possible way -- Neville may not be popular on the Kop but he was a fine fullback and had a great career), but it must be a real buzz for Flanagan to receive recognition from one of the greatest fullbacks to have ever laced up a pair of boots. Hes known for his tough tackling and whole-hearted approach, and that was in evidence when he stopped Roberto Soldado in his tracks with a thunderous challenge as the Spurs frontman broke into the penalty area. There were shades of Jamie Carragher about that one. What Flanagan perhaps isnt given enough credit for, however, is his footballing ability and composure under pressure. His first touch is outstanding and his passing is extremely under-rated. His involvement in Liverpools third goal was one of the highlights of the match. Spurs thought they had the Reds just where they wanted them as they pressed the ball and forced Liverpool to go back to goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. As the Tottenham players moved forward to pressure the ball, Flanagan received possession, feigned to pass the ball inside before turning back up the left touchline leaving the Spurs player trailing in his wake. Seconds later Philippe Coutinho was rifling in a low shot and just like that, Spurs were 3-0 down. If ever a goal summed up how Rodgers wants his team to play, it was that one. Tottenhams Jan Vertonghen claimed last week that the only difference between Liverpool and Spurs is Suarez. Sunderland boss Gus Poyet made a similar remark prior to Sunderlands visit to Anfield in midweek, and while its true that Suarez is arguably the best player in the world on current form, there is far more to Liverpool than just their talismanic Uruguayan. Lets not forget that Suarez was there when Liverpool finished eighth and then seventh in successive seasons. He was incredible last season but Liverpool still couldnt even make the top six, so to put this seasons transformation simply down to Suarez is doing the rest of the side -- not to mention the manager -- a great dis-service. This is a proper team, theyre supremely coached and they have everyone functioning to a high level and -- crucially -- playing for each other. Theres a togetherness and team spirit at Liverpool that simply isnt there with their rivals, it looks like theyre having fun every time they step onto the field. Almost as much fun as the fans are having watching them in fact. Just six more wins please, lads.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 06:40:09 +0000
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