A Close Look At Some Of Liverpool's Recent Formations And Why We Chose Them

 Brendan was scathing in his criticism for the younger players following the Oldham debacle – and it’s refreshing to see a manager stand up and be counted on this front.  His message is clear – improve or leave, particularly in relation to work rate.  His pressing game won’t work without total commitment throughout the game.  Rest only in possession is his mantra, and even then he expects each players to be making himself available for the pass.

 Many in the press, though, turned the tables and were scathing of Rodgers himself.  Like Rafa before him, some accused him of treating the cup with disrespect or the lower league team with disrespect.  Others said that his team selection left the Reds “criminally exposed” and one article I read even compared Brendan to a kid at Christmas trying to play with all his new toys at once.  I want to address this issue by looking at the team setup in the first half of the season compared to the setup at Oldham.

 Here’s the formation he’s played for the majority of the season, notionally a 4-3-3 but when you look at it on paper arguably more a 2-1-2-2-2-1 (doesn’t trip off the tongue so easily does it!)

 The personnel has changed, and people will have their own views on the best players for each position, but that’s not the point I want to focus on here. Let’s look at the sections one by one and see if we can find the weak link.  

 Firstly in goal.  The red line forwards denotes the fact that Rodgers’ system requires a keeper comfortable with the ball at his feet.  This is a concept that Benitez introduced, although for a different reason.  Before Benitez, I don’t think that any LFC manager looked far beyond shot stopping and command of the penalty area when selecting a goalie.  Benitez needed a “sweeper- keeper” so that he could play with a high defensive line, and although he wasn’t a long-ball merchant he needed a keeper who could make the most of runs from pacey forwards with direct passes where necessary, most notably to for Torres to run on to.  In Brendan’s case, he needs a keeper who is is good with his feet because when the ball is in open play the keeper is expected to act as an additional outfield player, always providing an outlet for his centre backs and defensive midfielder.  Short passing at the back is encouraged, especially in the corners of the defensive zone.  Why?  For one, it allows our players to “rest with the ball” if we are being given the run around, or on the other hand, if we’re in a comfortable position, and probably ahead, the opposition have to waste energy trying to prize the ball away from us in an area of the field where it should be, in theory, easy for good ball players to keep posession of the ball.  But this approach also needs the keeper to be confident in long passing.  The more we play the ball around in the left defensive area, for example, the more opposition players are going to be attracted to the zone.  In the example above, this would involve Agger, Allen and Reina passing in triangles with Enrique available as an outlet.  The top teams in particular will be told to pressurise us high up the pitch to encourage mistakes, they will commit men forward like a swarm of wasps to try to regain possession. (This is how Fergie combated Swansea in their second meeting last season, for example, and also how Benitez had us setting up against Barcelona and Inter).  That’s where the keeper’s longer range passing comes in, because once the opposition have committed so many players to closing down in that corner of the pitch, the keeper needs to be able to look up and suddenly switch the play – either out to the opposite flank or by chipping the ball to midfield players who are now in more space because their opponents have been sucked into one corner of the pitch.  For me, Reina was made for this role. 

 Centre back:  they peel off wide when the keeper has possession  - this gives the opposing attackers, if they are interested in pressing the ball an immediate problem – which side is the ball going and where should they press.  Of course, the centre backs need to be confident on the ball as well, which is why losing Agger to Man City would have been a disaster, and why Martin Skrtel was shown up so badly in the first few games of the season (his confidence on the ball seems to have improved recently, even if it doesn’t come naturally – a sign that the tactical work on the training pitch is paying off?).  I probably still wouldn’t change Skrtel for any other centre back in the league who would be a realistic target.

 Full backs:   they behave more like the wing-backs we saw under Roy Evans.  They push  into midfield at the first given opportunity, immediately pushing opposition midfielders back with them.  They are essential to the attacking plan because higher up the pitch the winger play more like inside forwards, and generally cut inside rather than hugging the touchline.  Johnson is made for this role, and it suits Enrique’s attributes too.

 The wingers: as I said are more like inside forwards, which is why Rodgers is happy to play the hitherto ineffective Borini in the role.  These individuals are essential to the success of the team, and it’s no surprise that Rodgers has looked to bolster his options here by bringing in Coutinho.  Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling are also exciting options in this role – expect to see Suarez pick up these wider positions in games against tougher opponents.  We’re starting to show some strength in these positions, although I’d still sell Downing if we had a half-decent offer, if only because he irritates me every time he lets the ball trickle out for a throw instead of stopping it, turning, and attacking (he’s a painting by numbers footballer – plays to a set formula that’s been drilled into him, you know what he’s going to do from your seat in the stand before he’s done it, and that’s not good enough to open up the top teams).

 The crucial part of the team, though is the midfield triangle, and this is where we’ve failed to click this season.  It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the most difficult part of the system to master would have to be the very centre and it’s proving the case.  Not so much because of the individuals in there, it’s just that they’re not clicking into the right positions enough of the time at present.  All the other players have a bearing, something to help them with regards to positional sense within the Rodgers system – the full backs hugging the touchline, the centre backs peeling off wide – but for the central three it’s less defined.  Although he wasn’t bought as a defensive midfielder, it’s no coincidence that Allen’s performances dropped off after Lucas became fit again.  In fact, not one player has shone in our “attacking midfield” role this season.  Even Gerrard’s best performances have come when played deeper.   

 Although his formation is fluid, it is also rigid in the sense that Rodgers doesn’t invoke a plan B.  However, the midfield triangle is the one thing he’s admitted to changing this season regarding the formation.  He’s talked about “flipping the triangle”, alternating between one holding midfielder and two attacking in the triangle to try to find the right match, and it there have been some nice results recently such as Norwich and QPR.  We’re starting to learn against the lesser teams who are more “open”, why try to play.

 Our major problem since the days of Souness has been beating lesser opposition why try to shut up shop, especially at home.  On Sunday, I think we saw Rodgers’ plan to combat this.  For me, he wasn’t being “like a kid on Christmas morning” playing such an attacking team against Oldham.  Yes, he underestimated their appetite for a fight, and the experiment backfired on this occasion, but I think he was testing out his masterplan to prize open ultra-defensive teams at Anfield.

 Here, the triangle in midfield is flipped, with Suarez at the attacking point.  This is the formation (if not exact personnel) which led to some suggesting it was a 4-2-4 against Oldham which left us ‘criminally exposed’.  I can’t argue that it didn’t backfire, but I do think that this is the formation that we can expect so see a lot at Anfield, when we’re playing at home against those teams who are there to frustrate us.  

 No other LFC manager in recent years has had a coherent plan to open up these teams.  Every one of them from Souness through to Dalglish MkII has eventually lost his job due to inability to beat lesser teams at home.  For me, dropping Suarez deeper and playing another three out and out attackers is a bold move, which I will welcome seeing at Anfield.  In hindsight a cold and wet afternoon in Oldham might not have been the place to try it out, but I can see the system creating havoc for opposition defenders for the rest of the season.

Written by 3s