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Webster
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Oct 2 2014, 07:32 PM
Post #1
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Bleacher Report: Liverpool Must Return To Basics Of Passing, Pressing To Emerge From Slump
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Liverpool's drop in form at the start of the current season shows no signs of abating after a 1-0 defeat in the Champions League at Basel on Wednesday night.
The Reds have struggled to reproduce anything close to the attacking, swashbuckling mentality of last season and are in danger of losing serious ground on the top four if they do not pick up positive results quickly, starting with the West Bromwich Albion game at the weekend in the Premier League.
With misfiring forwards, a lack of dominant midfielders and a desperately poor defence at the moment, there are issues to sort right throughout the team—and the only way for Brendan Rodgers and his crew to emerge from this rut is to almost rewind the clock two years.
Hard Work, not Hiding When Rodgers arrived at Liverpool, results were not immediately impressive. Indeed, this weekend's opponents, West Brom, were the first Premier League opposition for Rodgers in the dugout—and Liverpool lost 3-0. Fans knew at the time it would be a long and difficult road to get to where the manager wanted, but last season proved that the current crop were capable of great things.
In 2012, results weren't great—but the ideals were there. Fans could see the intentions. Pressing went on, was successful, faded away again. Keeping the ball, not being afraid of having possession, was clearly visible—even when the team lacked the penetration to make the most of it.
Right now, Liverpool have to get back to that state of mind of carrying out the team ethos and ideas, even while it is not particularly going to plan, that they had two years back: pass the ball, press the opposition.
They are two basic tenets of the game which the Reds adhere to and which gave so much success last season, but they have both been in scant evidence of late. Instead of possession and probing with the ball, Liverpool have ceded territory and the ball itself in the past couple of games. Instead of pressing as a group, hounding the opposition into mistakes, the team is split into a front two or three who press individually, and a midfield which drops off far too deep to try and protect the defence because the side as a whole has been unable to keep opponents at bay of late.
Defend from the Front Passing, and passing well, comes with confidence and sharpness. Right now Liverpool as a team don't have the former, and too many of the key final-third players lack the latter.
For Liverpool's particular style and requirements, it all comes back to the pressing off the ball. When they do that from the front, and the rest of the team follow suit to squeeze play further up the pitch, Liverpool are a fearsome prospect. Teams naturally then sit off themselves because the Reds have players who can hurt them in transitions.
While they can't defend well enough with the actual defence, Liverpool have to keep the ball in the opposition's half, whether by retention and recycling the ball themselves or, when out of possession, by pushing the opposition back at every turn.
With pegging back rivals comes more time and space on the ball for the midfielders. Press, and pass. And improve.
Midfield Keys Shape, and personnel. That's what Liverpool—or any team—need to sort in the centre of the park, but Brendan Rodgers' problem right now is that he doesn't have too many options available to change things around.
Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson have been in a double pivot of late, but only Lucas Leiva is available to come into that area of the pitch—slower and less agile than both, perhaps at times giving more defensive cover but certainly not contributing more in transition phases with quick or accurate passing.
Joe Allen is, right at this moment, a huge miss for Liverpool.
His pressing and the intensity to his game would be an ideal solution to the lax, lethargic and uninspired fare on show of late, with his short and sharp passing also missing in action. Rodgers has alluded to the fact that Allen has been missed, per LiverpoolFC.com. --[Joe Allen is] a player that never gets mentioned, or very rarely. He's a player that very rarely turns over the ball, he always loves the football and he gets other people playing. The key feature for Joe on top of that is his intensity and pressure - he presses the game really well. He is a very intelligent footballer; tactically, he's outstanding in the game. And we've really missed his energy and quality since he's been out injured.
The Reds' midfield alignment is almost immaterial at this moment though; with underperforming individuals throughout, getting the entire team further up the pitch for longer spells is the only way to eventually find the fluidity and aggression in the attacking play once again.
More numbers in the middle (and thus final) third will give a greater commitment to pressing. Winning the ball back quicker will aid confidence in ball usage. And when that comes, so too will the end product.
It's simple, probably tiresome stuff for the Liverpool players to think of, but right now it's exactly what they need in order to get back to winning ways on a regular basis.
Thoughts?
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