Reds still not living up to expectation

Liverpool hasn’t had the start to the season they would have hoped for. Suffering a 3-0 defeat to West Bromich Albion, a 2-2 draw with champions Machester City and a 2-0 loss to Arsenal last week. With only a single point from the last 3 games it doesn’t look good for new coach Brendan Rogers. A lot was expected from him as he did an outstanding job with Swansea last season. It is still early days and he has said many times that it will take time to get Liverpool back to their best. This is understandable but for most fans, they have been without a major trophy since 2005. A lot has been promised over the last few years and nobody has produced the goods so fans could be excused for being upset with the last 3 results not going their way. Brendan Rogers has a good plan in place, which is evident by the style they are playing. In all honesty I haven’t seen Liverpool play so well in a long time which bodes well for the future. You would however notice by watching them play that some of the players are still not up to speed with this new style of play. This could be due to the fact that Rogers is not using his players to the best of their ability.

It was a rather quiet transfer window for Rogers only being able to lure 3 players to the first team as well as 2 younger players for the future. The main players Rogers has brought in are Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Nuri Sahin. Good buys seeing as though they were not able to offer European football. The way they set up in the midfield is Steven Gerrard, Nuri Sahin and Joe Allen, Sahin and Gerrard being the more attacking players with Allen sitting in front of the centre backs and controlling play. It is apparent that Gerrard is not up to the standard we have expected of him throughout his career, could it be time for him to reinvent himself under Rogers? When Fernando Torres and Gerrard played so successfully together it was because their style suited so well, Torres wanted the ball played in front of him so he could run onto it and Gerrard’s passing would suit that. Now with Luis Suarez who likes the ball played early so he can run with it coupled with the Rogers style of play it seems that Gerrard is lost. There is however a solution for this problem, Joe Allen who has been dubbed the king of the short pass whose style resembles that of a Spanish player and who naturally plays the early ball could possibly be a perfect partner for Suarez. By no means am I saying its time for Gerrard to pack it in but merely to become that holding player who controls the midfield like Xabi Alonso used to do when him and Gerrard played together. This would leave Sahin and Allen to be the more attacking players and with quick ball to the forwards with like likes of Sterling with his speed and Suarez with his skill, it could lead to a lot more goals.

The right hand side of the pitch has been of slight concern as Borini has not impressed thus far and neither has Downing. Borini could be used as a player to cut in field and drag defenders which will allow Johnson to overlap and provide better ball from the wing. With Borini cutting in it will provide more options in the box for the cross. I think the results will come, jut need to have patience while Rogers sorts out the fine details

picture from www.supersport.com