Liverpool FC made their name in the 2013/14 season by playing an exciting brand of attacking football but is it sustainable?
Brendan Rodgers wants his team 'to play in the opposition half' & this caviler approach is unlikely to change but it's come at some cost. LFC scored a record breaking 101 league goals last term, reaping the rewards of an attack first approach, however, conceding 50 goals & only keeping 10 clean sheets all season ultimately cost the Reds that elusive 19th league title. Footballing blitzkriegs are fun and have seen some of the biggest results in Liverpool history come this season but are we losing balance?
Well, looking at those numbers the answer seems to be yes but where has this come from? There are of course the individual errors, Martin Skrtel looked like a walking own goal at times and we never really had a back 4 who's chemistry 'clicked', however it has to be asked what's causing these errors. Our centre backs often looked as if they were 'playing naked' last season due to lack of full back and possibly midfield protection. Simon Mignolet faced 158 shots last season, Pepe Reina 142 the year before - bombardment.
It would, however, be naive to think that the brand of football LFC play will change drastically & after a record breaking season in which we were closer to the league title than we have been in recent history - it would be foolish to say otherwise. The transfer targets we seem to be chasing (Lallana, Lambert, Markovic) are all very exciting and are certainly representative of Brendan Rodgers' attacking ideology. Squad depth in all positions was a worry last season; with our starting attacking quartet carrying nearly all the goal burden & that certainly looks to be addressed this summer.
Defence, however, does not look to be totally ignored should you believe the media's reported LFC targets. It is clear that Rodgers is keen on a new left-back; with Alberto Moreno heavily linked. New full-backs could completely change our stability as well as our attacking output. Perhaps the utilisation of Andre Wisdom or Jon Flannagan on the right with a new, dynamic left back will provide protection for the centre backs that they did not have last season.
Centre backs themselves have been an issue, little chemistry between Sakho & Skrtel caused organisational issues at the back. Agger & Skrtel function well but physical strikers cause a serious problem - case in point, Bony at Anfield. Early reports suggested that Cardiff centre-back, Steven Caulker, was high on Rodgers wish list but more recent links seem to indicate that Dejan Lovren is the man for us.
This link perhaps raises more questions than it answers. Lovren is right footed but primarily plays on the left; the role that new boy Sakho looks set to make his own for many years to come. Maybe Rodgers feels that he can coach Lovren into a right-sided player, maybe he doesn't rate Sakho as highly as others - who knows, it's certainly an interesting development to come. One quality that Lovren would be sure to bring is a voice that organises the back-four, something that we very much miss.
Midfield has been an issue but we seem to have found more balance than ever there. Gerrard's transition to the regista role wasn't smooth but from December onwards he really made that role his own. 4-3-3 or a diamond was used and we began to win midfield battles again - I don't think anyone can forget Coutinho's domination of Yaya Toure at Anfield until he limped off. Henderson was superb and we seriously missed him during his suspension but there's perhaps a fundamental issue in inviting pressure through allowing shots; City conceded an average of 9 shots per game, Liverpool conceded 13. Pressure leads to mistakes and mistakes lead to goals - the source of this issue is debatable, poor centre back positioning, lack of a defensive midfielder cover etc etc. It is however clear that this is a concern.
Balance is something Rodgers has publicly strived for and will be key to success next season in both England and Europe (in Europe... So exciting!). It seems that the defensive frailties come both from personnel and approach - the manager himself recently said to LFC that he was working on some changes that will bring defensively solidity. This
means that the most interesting preseason in recent years awaits us, perhaps at 3-5-2 variant is waiting or maybe a one striker system is on the horizon - we'll find out soon enough.
Ironically, a balance of balance and blitzkrieg looks to be the way forward for Liverpool Football club.
