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Who The F*** Are Liverpool?
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F
ollowing a slow start to the season the European Champions are now
looking the business as we head into the New Year. With 7 straight
successive League victories propelling them up into 3rd in the table,
clean sheets galore and Peter Crouch now off the mark for the campaign,
Liverpool are on the up and up.
Along with Chelsea they are the form team in the Premiership and after
a transitional year in charge of the Reds, manager Rafa Benitez seems
to be finally getting to grips with the demands of domestic football
now.
While in Europe Liverpool are primed to reach the Quarter-Final stage
once again. However on a wider stage, namely the dubious Club World
Championship, they were recently beaten 1-0 by Brazilian side Sao
Paulo over in Japan of all places.
Back to the bread and butter of the Premiership the Anfield side will
be looking for their 8th straight League win and 8th straight clean
sheet to boot.
Standing in their way will be former Liverpool men Graeme Souness
and Michael Owen who returns to Anfield for the first time as an opposing
player. Newcastle haven't won a League game in the red half of Merseyside
since 1994 and for Souness, he is still to taste victory as an opposing
manager on the pitch he once dominated as a Red.
As always, this one promises to be a cracker.
Here we take a look at Liverpool's manager, their team and key players,
their tactics, strengths, weaknesses, form and stats ahead of the
Boxing Day clash.
| Boss
Man: Rafa Benitez |
Appointed in the Summer of 2004 in place of the sacked Gerrard Houllier,
the amiable Spaniard has been nothing short of a success at Liverpool
- with the crowning glory that night in Istanbul. Yet one suspects
there will be many more glory nights for Liverpool while this studious,
deep thinking, calculated manager remains at the helm.
It's fair to say that Rafa struggled with the Premiership set-up in
his first season in charge, although he still managed to guide his
team to 5th, but this term we are now seeing the real Liverpool under
his management and with the January transfer window soon upon us,
he will be looking to strengthen an already strong side even further.
Record at Liverpool: Played 91; Won 48; Drew 19; Lost 24
| The
Team: |
In defence right-back Steve Finnan, centre-backs Jamie Carragher (pictured)
and Sami Hyypia and left-back John Arne Riise all make up the back-four
that protects new goalkeeper Jose Reina. While local youngster Stephen
Warnock, Gonzalez Josemi and Djimi Traore make up the reserves along
with Jerzy Dudek and Scott Carson the back-up 'keepers.
With the second best defensive record in the League, Liverpool are
very strong in defence and while the back-four lack pace and athleticism,
they are well organised, disciplined, tactically astute, very experienced
and they all know how to defend. They don't take risks, basically.
In goal they now also have a commanding 'keeper who acts as the sweeper,
very much in the same way that Shay Given does for Newcastle. Reina
is central to this well drilled defence, forcing his team-mates up
field whenever they get too deep or launching the full-backs on their
way with sweeping throws to the flanks. Equally he can launch it long
up to the forwards as well.
The Spanish No.2 is proving to be a very astute signing by Benitez,
and unlike a lot of foreign 'keeper's Reina knows how to catch a cross
too. Ask most Liverpool fans and they will point to their Summer signing
as one of the key reasons for all those clean sheets.
And speaking of clean sheets, Liverpool have amassed an incredible
21 of them in 31 games in all competitions. Breaking a longstanding
club record of successive shut-outs in the process. If you go a goal
down to them, it's game over as the stats prove; with 9 wins and 1
draw from the 10 games in which they have taken the lead in.
As a unit Liverpool tend to play a high line now, where as they would
previously sit very deep. Despite a lack of pace at the back, they
are quite comfortable playing this way as the experience at the back
often gives them an advantage when up against less experienced attacks.
Forwards can get trapped like flies in their off-side trap.
However against quicker, more experienced attackers, they can come
unstuck. Hyypia is the weakest link in the back-four. He tends to
stick to his man these days, getting too close and he can get caught
flat-footed as a result.
Carragher on the other hand is the all-action man who covers mishaps
and mistakes and he's very good at this. He can sense danger and bails
his fellow defenders out a lot with last ditch tackling. He's an intelligent
reader of the game, always staying on his feet until the very last
minute.
Drag him into wide positions though and Hyypia is lost without his
partner. The key is to isolate Hyypia, to separate him and Carragher.
Together they are arguably one of the best central defensive partnership's
in the Premiership and will mop up like a sponge all day long if everything
is played in front of them.
In midfield Liverpool usually line up with either one of Luis Garcia
or Harry Kewell on the left, Steven Gerrard (pictured) on the right
(or centre) and ex-Magpie Dietmar Hamann and Xabi Alonso in central
midfield. In reserve they have a number of options in new signing
Mohamed Sissoko, Florent Sinama Pongolle and Boudewijn Zenden (out
for the rest of the season). Alternatively the trio of Riise, Carragher
and Finnan can all move into midfield roles.
This is without a doubt Liverpool's strongest area of the pitch and
is quite a fluid area of the field for them, despite a lack of natural
balance and pace. Being technically gifted, the first-choice quartet
can all play "out of position" or in withdrawn/restricted
roles, giving the Reds lots of variation in their play from the middle
of the park.
Hamann is the anchorman in the centre like Scott Parker is for Newcastle
with Alonso the playmaker, while Gerrard is effectively the link between
midfield and attack. On the flanks Garcia or Kewell provide the width
and balance.
This is a defensively powerful, interchangeable midfield that looks
to dominate, dictate the tempo and to keep possession. Alonso can
double up as a defensive midfielder when Liverpool are not in possession
while Gerrard can do both that and the attacking role quite capably.
Garcia tends to drift in field a lot to allow his full-back to overlap
and to draw markers out of position while Kewell is more of a flank
hugging traditional winger who likes to make darting diagonal runs
around the back to get on the end of sweeping cross-field balls or
to get into heading positions inside the box (the Aussie is very good
in the air). As touched on, very interchangeable.
However without any real pace and natural width the midfield can get
sucked into condensed areas of the field and can struggle to break
down a tight opposition defence due to the lack of genuine box-to-box
runners from midfield. This can see Liverpool playing "nothing
football", lots of possession but not really heading anywhere
and often this will result in long-balls towards the front men, borne
out of frustration or pressure from the stands to "get forward".
One gets the impression that Rafa is quite happy to kill the game
for spells, to wear out the opposition and on the continent this "nothing
football" has served them well. In the Premiership however, it's
a dangerous game to play. One loose square ball or back-pass...
Fortunately for Liverpool, as the team gels more and learns each other's
position they don't get caught out very much and in Peter Crouch,
they have a tangible target up front to hit. Which is why Rafa signed
him. He's an outlet for the "nothing football" spells which
Liverpool have a lot of these days.
In attack Rafa likes to rotate his strikers but of late Peter Crouch
(pictured) and Fernando Morientes have featured a lot with Djibril
Cisse left on the bench. Other options can see both Kewell and Garcia
play just off the forward and of course, Liverpool can always drop
to just the one up front, a system that served them so well in the
Champions League last season.
Crouch, Cisse and Morientes have all struggled for Premiership goals
this season, sharing 7 between them - the number of strikes Michael
Owen has to his name. This has put extra pressure on the midfield
to weigh in with a few of their own and to be fair to Gerard and Co.
they have done just that. Scoring 12 from that area of the pitch.
And that's just how Rafa likes it. While at Valencia, not many of
his strikers reached double figures and the Primera Liga outfit never
did top any goalscoring charts. And neither will Liverpool.
Goals scored may win games, but midfield is the winning area of the
pitch and the emphasis at Liverpool is to get the midfield as involved
as possible in both halfs, defensively and attacking wise. Crouch
and Morientes in particular have the attributes for this way of playing.
An out and out striker like Cisse for example (or Owen), requires
a more direct way of playing where game plan's have to be tailored
to the "main man".
| Tactics: |
In his first full season in charge Rafa preferred to use a 4-5-1 system,
which is what Liverpool used at the start of the season. That was
then however, today they play a more traditional 4-4-2 system which
can alternate between 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 depending on game play.
The back-four is a flat one, with two full-backs either side of the
central pairing in a pretty vertical line, while in midfield Hamann
sits and Garcia/Kewell, Alonso and Gerrard operate in front of the
German, often very narrow at times so that the full-back's can push
forward.
Up front they play with two forwards, at some distance between one
another. Crouch is the central figure with Morientes the floater,
the player who doesn't operate in a strict area of the pitch like
Crouch does.
Crouch's area is the central line from midfield to the opposition
box with Morientes the spider, linking up with Garcia or Kewell and
Gerrard to weave a pattern of play.
This system is designed to give Liverpool flexibility so they can
adapt to individual game settings and it's a fairly simple system,
although the roles of each player isn't so straight forward which
is why Liverpool struggled earlier on in the campaign in certain areas
of the pitch.
For example Gerrard operates on the right, yet his role is to come
in from the right further up the field to support Crouch, to nit the
midfield and attack together, to get into the opposition box himself
for strikes on goal. Another role of his is to supply width down that
flank.
This is the perfect role for the England man and one Sven-Goran Eriksson
should look at as this role allows him to expend all that energy of
his, to make full use of that drive and to keep him involved at all
times. If he isn't defending, he's attacking. He basically has carte
blanche down that right flank because in Hamann and Alonso the right-back
has all the protection he needs and enough solidity in central areas.
Many will look quizzically at Gerrard on the right, but they needn't.
Gerrard doesn't play as right winger, or a third central midfielder
per se. If one looks at his attributes and weaknesses, this role is
perfect for him. If Gerrard isn't involved in the game he becomes
a passenger and that is a waste of an exceptional athlete. In this
role at least, he is always involved, either defending or attacking
or linking up with his team-mates during passages of play.
Stuck in the centre you have to be more disciplined, you can't just
bomb forward even when your team are on the ball, you have to hold
a position whether attacking or defensively and that's like putting
the breaks on a player like Gerrard.
This system is also designed to protect that goal of theirs, with
each player falling in line behind the ball when on the back-foot,
even the strikers. As a result Liverpool play a high line, kind of
with half a foot in defence and half a foot in attack so they are
never caught on the hop at either end, that's the game plan anyway...
| Strengths
& Weaknesses: |
Liverpool's obvious strengths are of a defensive nature, 12 clean
sheets in the Premiership (7 in a row to date) and no defeats from
a winning position makes them very strong in that area. Despite the
lack of goals from their strikers, at the other end they have only
failed to score in 4 games so they do carry a goal threat and put
plenty of balls into the box, both high and low.
They are also very organised, disciplined, have tremendous fitness
levels and ability to recover ground despite a lack of pace throughout
the team and they are tactically tuned in. They can adapt to different
types of games, like a Chameleon they just blend right in and mould
themselves to the environment.
They can soak up pressure, play on the counter, hit it long, keep
possession or attack in numbers. And while man for man they are not
the greatest of sides, they are a very very good team all over the
park and mask their deficiencies as if they don't exist at times.
However their biggest strength is the man in the dugout, Benitez's
ability to spot things, change them and instruct his players from
the touchline has seen Liverpool pick up 7 wins from second-half performances
alone.
Liverpool's weaknesses are pretty obvious to the eye, their main flaws
that is. They lack pace, natural width and a degree of balance. They
also lack punch up front but these weaknesses very rarely get exposed
which is the sign of a very good team and I emphasize the use of the
word team here.
With Liverpool, it's not so much what they will do, can't do or won't
do, they won't change their own game plan because it works, no, it's
all about the opposition and what they do, can't do, or won't do that
is the key to exposing Liverpool's weaknesses.
For example, Newcastle don't need the opposition to expose our own
weaknesses, we do that ourselves. Liverpool do not so it is literally
up to the opposition to figure out a way how to first combat them
and then defeat them.
They won't shoot themselves in the foot and their lack of pace at
the back and lack of punch up front won't hinder them, or stop them
from winning either. 7 League wins in succession prove this.
So it's down to Newcastle United to expose their weaknesses for them
and to then capitalise. It's all about how we play on the day, how
certain individuals deal with the way Liverpool themselves play.
To expose Liverpool's weaknesses we first have to look at their strengths
which is organisation and discipline first and foremost. The only
way to unsettle an organised and disciplined team is to press them
hard and quick, to force them back and on top of themselves. Fortunately
we have pace in abundance at the back while they lack it up top so
we can play a high line ourselves. This is imperative.
In midfield we have to force Gerrard inside which will cause a chink
in their chain. By forcing Gerrard infield there will be congestion
in the centre but that's the plan. This will suffocate Liverpool's
engine room which is their strongest area of the pitch and up there
with the best in Europe.
By forcing Gerrard infield from his right-flank position you expose
Liverpool's full-back and you cut off the link-up further up the field
that Gerrard is meant to be knitting, meaning we will have a spare
man in defence giving our own right-back and right-winger licence
to get forward.
And this is how you get at their defence. With an overload on the
right, one of Hyypia or Carragher will be drawn out from their central
line to help our their fellow team-mate (the full-back).
Leaving space in that central pocket for either Alan Shearer or Owen
to exploit or one of our own midfield runners. In football, the central
defensive pairing of any team mustn't be broken up, separated from
the joint if you like, this is what we have to do to Liverpool all
over the park. To break down that organisation and discipline.
This is how you attack them and defend against them. By forcing Gerrard
infield you cut off the right-sided width which will mean a lack of
crosses to deal with from that side and you're also forcing Liverpool
to play to their weaknesses.
Up front they lack pace so that congested midfield will need precision
timing from their forwards if they are to play balls over the top
or through the middle. With a high back-line however, even if one
of the front two do escape the clutches of United's back-four, it's
still a long way to goal and Shay Given is an expert at sweeping up
and reading the danger quickly.
You have to force them narrow, isolate their central defensive pairing
and squeeze their attackers into condensed areas of the pitch.
By forcing them deep into their own half from front to back you give
the back-four a lack of options to play the ball to in midfield who
will be congested, which in turn will pressure Hyypia and Co. into
looking long just to get rid of the ball. Despite Crouch's height
he is no Shearer in the air.
This is how Chelsea dealt with them, in the end beating them quite
comfortably 4-1. In the first-half at Anfield the score was 1-1 and
Gerrard was causing havoc down that right flank, but after the break
Chelsea pushed him infield, exposed Liverpool's right-flank and smashed
that central defence by putting Didier Drogba on Hyypia.
This is the only way to beat them. You can't play through them because
of Hamann and Alonso. You can't rough them up like we did with Arsenal
either because they are very physical themselves. You have to attack
their white cells, to chip away at their immune system. You attack
their strengths not their weaknesses.
Of course, it's easy to sit here and write all this. Doing it is another
matter altogether...
| Form
& Stats: |
After a slow start, Liverpool have picked up 31 points from 15 games
and have 3 matches in hand. Of their 8 home games to date, they have
won 6, drew one and lost the other. Only Chelsea have managed to find
the net against them at Anfield giving the Reds the 3rd best home
record in the League.
In front of goal at home they have scored 13 goals so they are almost
guaranteed to score, not even Chelsea could keep them out. Indeed,
only one team has shut them out.
In total they have kept 12 League clean sheets this season, scored
20 goals and only conceded 8. They haven't lost a single game in which
they have took the lead in either so they are a formidably efficient
side.
Newcastle on the other hand haven't lost a game on the road from which
we have taken the lead in but we haven't picked up a single point
after going behind in a match.
Their record against the bottom half of the table is equally impressive,
losing just the once in the 9 games they have played, winning 6 of
them and drawing the other 2 which ranks them 4th in the League.
They have conceded 2 goals in the first 45 minutes of a match and
6 in the second 45. At the other end they they have a pretty even
scoring record, 9 in the first 45, 11 in the second 45.
They score most of their goals between the 75th and 90th minute while
they concede most between the 25 and 45 minute mark.
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