A lot has been made this week of Man City’s equalising goal against Liverpool last Sunday, or, more specifically, Pepe Reina’s error of judgement that presented Sergio Aguero with the chance to make it 2-2. Experienced journalists have been saying that Liverpool need to sign a new ‘keeper, but I don’t particularly agree with that, what we need is a centre back with plenty of pace.
Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique have both been extremely effective for us this season in the final third of the pitch, getting into good positions wide of the opposition penalty area and creating chances for themselves and for our strikers. Their attacking intent has become a feature of our style of play and it makes us more dangerous going forward, something we needed to improve on and we have done.
More often than not we control possession in the middle of the pitch, allowing us to start attacks and wear our opponents down as they chase the ball. To do this we play with three central midfield players working effectively together, moving for each other and allowing the team to make simple but progressive passes. This contributes hugely to our impressive possession statistics and has been a major factor in freeing Steven Gerrard to become one of the top assist makers in the league this season.
For the majority of this season we’ve played with one main striker and two support strikers. In order to effectively assist our main forward the two support attackers have to come infield regularly to occupy defenders and be available for passes. This can leave us lacking a little width in the final third.
This is where the full backs come in. The only players in the side detailed to play purely close to the touchlines are required to fully support the attack at every possible opportunity. And for this reason a long ball over our defence towards the corner flag can quite easily land in space, meaning Pepe has to come running out for it. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred he gets there and you don’t even notice there was any danger of us conceding because he clears the ball so calmly and comfortably. On this one occasion he didn’t, Aguero is quick, got there first and produced a stunning finish.
Our two centre backs are the only players free of attacking responsibility and as such are required to be able to cover swift counter attacks and long balls over the top, whether they be central or wide. I’d almost say in this formation that having a fast centre back is as important as having a good one. Strikers by their nature are fast players and if we’re going to leave large areas of space for them to run into we need to be able to catch them or Reina will find himself in the same situation again.
reina didn't cover his near post, thats is duty to start with, skertl ushered him out wide, leaving him with minimal options
ReplyDeleteTrue, but a faster centre back than Skrtel would have more chance of dealing with Aguero leaving Reina less exposed, meaning he can stay closer to his goal.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good watching us commit men forward and it's the right way to improve the team's fortunes but successful attacking sides always have quick centre backs, especially if they've got very atack minded full backs.
Well that goal of Aguero's was Reina's fault, Skrtel would have gone on to clear or tackle as he was closer to the ball than Aguero, but look at the replay as he glances up and backs off because Reina made the call to leave. But misjudged it. Yes, maybe a faster defender needed, but hey, Hyypia was awesome without pace...debatable.
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