Milner and Sterling offer differing options as centre-forwards DECEMBER 23, 2014 6:31:06 AM PST By Michael Cox On one hand, last weekend was a good one for Premier Leagues traditional number nines. Simple, old-fashioned penalty box players such as Andy Carroll scored for West Ham, while Olivier Giroud thumped in Arsenals second at Liverpool and QPRs Charlie Austin bagged a hat trick. Elsewhere, something interesting was happening. Two major sides -- Manchester City and Liverpool -- started a wide midfielder upfront. City manager Manuel Pellegrini was without any of his three established forwards, so was forced to play James Milner as a striker, while Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers continued with Raheem Sterling in that role for tactical reasons. Both performed well, albeit in different ways. Milner is a hard-working player who combines well with other attacking midfielders, particularly David Silva, who played just behind as a No. 10. Milner was effectively a player who concentrated on making space for others with his clever runs and link play, and it was notable how Silva got himself into the box more determinedly than usual, presumably under instructions from Pellegrini. He scored twice and had two other efforts from dangerous positions too. Milner gave a very good performance, said Pellegrini. He is a player that works very hard and creates a lot of movement and space for the rest of his teammates. We have been preparing for this match all week and we planned all this movement and all the freedom for Milner to create the space for other teammates. Sterlings role was different. He had played that position against Manchester United the previous weekend, and while his finishing was disappointing -- David De Gea continually thwarted him -- his movement was excellent. He pulled off into the channels and provided an outlet for through balls, particularly from Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho, two players who have looked much brighter when servicing Sterling, rather than Mario Balotelli or Rickie Lambert. Sterling enjoyed less success against Arsenal, partly because Liverpool actually dominated possession too much. He became more dangerous when Arsenal grew into the game and pushed up the pitch; hes perfect for a counter-attacking side but is hardly a master poacher against a deep defence. I played him as a striker, but you get different types of striker, Rodgers said of Sterling after he scored twice vs. Bournemouth last week. Hes more of an Alexis Sanchez when he plays as a striker -- hes not going to pin the defender. He plays in the spaces and hes got the speed to get in behind. Its important to emphasise, however, that neither Milner nor Sterling was actually playing as a false nine, as has been suggested. A false nine is traditionally considered a non-striker playing as a teams centre-forward, but its more about the positioning, rather than the identity of the player. The likes of Francesco Totti and Lionel Messi werent out-and-out strikers but helped to popularise the false nine role precisely because they didnt start playing like out-and-out strikers. They remained in a No. 10 role but simply happened to be the highest player up the pitch. For example, if you were watching Sterling for the first time, you wouldnt think he was anything other than a typically quick, hard-working centre-forward. He was working the channels and making runs in behind, in a similar manner to the likes of previous Liverpool strikers like Michael Owen, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez. There were extremely few examples of Sterling coming deep and linking play; that wasnt his job and there was no reason to drop into a zone where Coutinho and Lallana were dominating anyway. Milner played much the same role, and while he was more involved in passing moves than Sterling, it was nothing unexpected for a centre-forward in a Pellegrini side. Even Edin Dzeko constantly comes short to link play, but no one would consider him anything different from a standard centre-forward. Neither Milner nor Sterling were false nines; they were just midfielders playing in unfamiliar centre-forward roles. The distinction might sound pedantic, but in a tactical sense, its an important difference. Sometimes, the same player can be either a proper No. 9 or a false nine, depending upon the tactical instructions of the manager. For example, Cesc Fabregas has sometimes been deployed in a false nine role for Spain and Barcelona, but on other occasions hes simply been a striker. Euro 2012 was a good example. Spain had started the tournament with a false nine, then changed approach to play with a proper striker midway through the tournament, before reverting to the system with Fabregas in the side. But Fabregas role in the final against Italy was different from in the opening game, also against the Azzurri. He didnt come short and link play but made runs in behind and worked the channels. Perhaps it was a compromise, between the false nine approach and the out-and-out striker approach: a midfielder playing as a striker. Either way, Fabregas positioning had changed dramatically. Chelsea have used non-traditional strikers in the recent past, too. For example, Roberto Di Matteo deployed Eden Hazard vs. Juventus in November 2012, while Jose Mourinho did something similar with Andre Schurrle at Manchester United in August 2013. Quick, pacey wingers are increasingly expected to contribute goals from wide positions, and therefore the switch to a centre-forward position is less of a problem in the modern age. Milners deployment up front seems only a temporary measure and for a versatile, hard-working player who has now been deployed in every role apart from centre-back, it wasnt a particular surprise to see him adapt so easily. For Sterling, however, its not impossible that hell become an outright centre-forward. His finishing unquestionably needs work but thats often something that comes at a later stage in a players career and is something that will improve with experience, once Sterling has consistently found himself in goalscoring positions at crucial moments of big games. With Balotelli misfiring and Daniel Sturridge still out injured, a sudden improvement in Sterlings scoring ability could rescue Liverpools season. If so, it will become even more apparent that while Sterling isnt traditionally a forward, hes anything but a false nine.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 20:02:06 +0000
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