Small Steps, Short Passes

 In the 93^rd minute of our away game at Hearts in the Europa League last night Pepe Reina kicked the ball down the pitch from a goal kick. For the 93 minutes before that he had been passing the ball short to our defenders, who in turn attempted to pass the ball short to our midfielders. We certainly didn’t dominate the match and there were probably as many chances against us as there were for us, and in this respect the game mirrored the majority of our cup games against lesser sides for the last decade. But on this occasion it was clear we were trying something new.

 The style of play may be in it’s infancy and at the moment it’s probably easier to find fault with than to see the positives, but there is a revolution happening at Liverpool Football Club, the seeds have been planted and hopefully over the season it will grow and turn into something special.

 Firstly the faults, as I just said, it’s quite easy to pick them. In order to keep possession you need team mates around the man with the ball, so if the centre back receives the ball 20 yards from his own goal and the midfield drop back to give him a simple pass you end up with too many players deep inside their own half leaving the forwards very isolated. This was pretty clear last night and without Raheem Sterling’s individual play we would have struggled to make any impression in the final third. And if you don’t do that then you don’t score goals which are quite important when it comes to winning matches. Another issue is that playing this way can magnify the significance of any individual errors. Martin Skrtel was caught in possession looking for a pass on Saturday and seconds later the game was beyond our reach. Playing exclusively short passes from the back can be very pretty but without a bit of variety in the play it can become predictable and easy to play against. Teams can commit men forward to put pressure on our defenders as they move the ball from side to side if they are not worried the ball will be played over the top leaving their defence exposed. The key to any style of play is variety and the short, simple passes that keep possession are all well and good, but they cannot be the sole way of playing.

 Now on to the positives. Keeping hold of the ball means the opposition have to chase you, and that is far more tiring than when you are dictating the game. A tiring opponent is always easier to beat than a fresh energetic side and I can see Liverpool developing a habit of winning games fairly late on once the other side begin to grow weary. Playing possession football also encourages our players to think quickly whilst at the same time developing a calmness on the ball, two key aspects that all successful sides must have. If we can continue making progress in our evolution and begin to play the same kind of football further up the pitch the rewards could be there for us.

 The next few fixtures, Man City and Arsenal at home, Sunderland away and Man Utd at home are not ideal for experimenting and there is a good argument to be made for using tactics the players are more familiar with for the next month or so. Playing aggressive, attractive attacking football is something Liverpool should be doing, but we shouldn’t forget the need to win games along the way. Losing 3-0 at West Brom was unexpected and if we don’t get things right there is the potential for not winning at all in our first five league games, which would put extreme pressure on the team and the management. The long term goal of playing how Liverpool should is worth a few defeats and struggles along the way but how many is something we need to be very careful of.

 Thankfully for Brendan Rodgers he is at Liverpool. The supporters (some radio phone in regulars excluded) know their football and if the signs are there that we are on the right path they will be noticed. Liverpool is one of the few clubs where results are not everything, enthusiasm, ability and passion count for almost as much as winning and fans will be patient as long as they see positive signs. But these signs eventually have to turn into a finished product. Like I said, the seeds have been planted, let’s all hope they grow quickly.