“It’s just as well that I’ve seen the team give an off-form display in my first match. I’ve learned quite a few things this way.”
Bill Shankly, reflecting on his new club’s 4-0 home defeat to Cardiff City, certainly sounds like a man from a different media age.
Today the headlines, tweets and phone-ins would scream that Shankly welcomed defeat, that Liverpool were giving up, that mediocrity’s embrace was to be welcomed at Anfield.
In reality, it’s clear Shankly’s assessment was as sensible as it was frank. Seeing the club’s failings laid bare rather than papered over was useful to the incoming manager. Conclusions could be drawn.
Following West Brom the same can be said. Not conclusions about the manager or the club’s long-term health. 90 far from ordinary minutes are no guide to that.
But in terms of how this might all work, who fits and who doesn’t, there were some clear pointers to emerge from a match whose initial promise was snuffed out as the side’s performance fell off a cliff.
There are parallels between Cardiff 1959 and West Brom 2012. In both games, Liverpool operated smoothly at times but were undone by a troubling fragility.
At the Hawthorns Liverpool simply had no answer to the setbacks the game threw at them. Phil Dowd may have erred in awarding the penalties but the manner of their concession reflected a general air of panic which spread through the team.
Perhaps only time and confidence can resolve something so ephemeral as a side’s psychological glass jaw. Now revealed, it will take some protecting.
Back in 1959, match reports pointed to the wing-halves as a source of concern. Further back, regular full-back John Molyneux was withdrawn late due to an unpleasant-sounding outbreak of boils on the shin (one of football’s great lost injuries). Molyneux’s replacement was Alan Jones, untested and raw. It didn’t end well.
If there is one lesson to come from West Brom (other than not to give away penalties and red cards) it’s the importance of the full-backs to everything this team is trying to achieve.
The Rodgers system is so reliant on the team attacking as a unit, on cohesion, on, in short, everyone ‘getting it’, that a weak link can be cruelly exposed.
On Saturday Martin Kelly was too often that weak link. It would be presumptuous to say that Kelly can never be a part of this system, but at the moment it seems self-evident that he is ill-suited to the demands it places on him.
The injury to Jose Enrique left the manager with a decision he may not have anticipated. Rodgers took the most obvious and conservative option – switching Glen Johnson to the left to accommodate Kelly, his most experienced backup full-back.
The logic is plain, but ultimately the call may be one Rodgers rues. Johnson was generally effective in his secondary position, although his delivery was hampered by his uncertainty when striking through the ball on his weaker left foot. On the other flank, Kelly looked lost.
His overall performance level was low, but the problem was as much about the type of footballer Kelly is as how he played on the day. It’s extremely hard to see how, without adapting his game hugely, he can ever be a Rodgers right-back.
Stewart Downing has come in for some justified criticism but in the first half his options were so often limited by the absence of Kelly outside him. The opportunity to turn the ball outside to an onrushing full-back needs to be a fundamental part of the wide forwards’ armoury. Without it they, and the team, are more predictable.
Similarly, while Joe Allen introduced himself with an accomplished display of consistent and intelligent passing, the lack of a reliable outlet on the right left Liverpool’s shape lopsided.
This is no time to panic or write players off entirely. Kelly may well have a future at the club (not least as a centre-back), but for the time being we need to see more from a role which is anything but peripheral.
Enrique’s return will offer better balance, and there have been encouraging pre-season signs that the Spaniard is comfortable operating high up the pitch.
The paucity of options should either be missing (and we should accept the likelihood that Johnson at least will be absent at times) is a genuine concern.
Jack Robinson is an exciting prospect at left-back but it would be a huge ask for him to cover for an extended period. Jon Flanagan has faded from the picture and would be unlikely to offer significant attacking contributions. The deployment of either Jordan Henderson or Downing as wide defenders holds an allure for would-be tinkermen but would represent a significant gamble.
At the time of writing it appears Liverpool have missed out on the capture of Nuri Sahin. While his range of passing and continental pedigree would have been very welcome at Anfield, a central midfielder should now be less of a priority than quality competition and cover for both full-back slots.
Follow Steve on Twitter @steve_graves
You move agger to left back, leave glen on the right and bring in coates into cb position. wing backs have to have the ability to attack, even if it leaves you weaker in the centre #hindsight
Excellent piece. We need 2 fullbacks really. Left back
And right back. Some people will say we have Robinson but if the manager doesn’t trust him to deputise for Enrique then we need someone who can. Rather than taking Johnson out of his best position. Speaking of Johnson, he’s injury prone. So it’s likely we’ll see Kelly, Flanagan, Skrtle or Carra deputising at right back.
When are the gaping holes in our squad going to be addressed? We’ve no wide forwards, no regular goal scorer and we’re short at fullback.
The last area we need to reinforce is fullback. Robinson will do well when called upon at left back, and Flanagan has shown he is capable of covering either flank. Sure, Kelly had an off day yesterday but behind him we also have McLaughlin who looks a talent and Wisdom also put in a good performance there in pre-season. And yes, Henderson or Downing are options if you want someone pushed well up.
Until Rodgers is given a much larger budget, or Johnson falls down a mineshaft, our funds would be better spent elsewhere.
Great analysis. Kelly will be a decent future CB but he simply is not a Rodgers-style fullback, as yesterday’s poor outing made plain. And I’m not so sure about Flanagan’s long-term prospects at LFC. It will be interesting to see if/how the club addresses the fullback depth issue before the window shuts.
Small quibble — I don’t know if Hendo at RB in this system is a ‘significant’ gamble — a gamble, yes, but a move that can probably work better than Kelly.
The Bill Shankly comparison is irrelevant.He hadnt just inherited a side
that the previous broken all transfer records competing in the top flight.Also
expectations were at atotally different level.
It may be that we need new additions in the full back positions,but you would think the coach would be aware of this and making moves in the transfer market.
Its only one game but we know that every LFC fan will be watching every game closely for signs that we are on an upward curve.
All the soundbytes will not make a difference the evidence will be on the pitch.
NB. first sentence should read previous season.
Great article. I agree with everything you’ve stated Steve.
I think that it’s definitely a time for patience from all LFC supporters and must resist the temptation to panic after only one game.
Having said that, it is worrisome when you contemplate the the size of the task Rodgers has on his hands: getting us to compete for fourth position with arguably our weakest squad for some time, especially when it looks like teams around us have strengthened somewhat.
I think we as fans should get behind the club, the manager and the players, and try not to over-react. Let’s have faith in the Rodgers system and not become a Chelski with a new manager every five minutes because of the want of instant success.
Keep up the good work fellas, great website and podcasts,
Phil.
the problem for me is the same as last season. we dont score enough. the defensive problems we created for ourselves on saturday came about because we went behind to a wonder strike. yes some of it can be put down to players still adapting to what rodgers wants us to do when we are in possession in and around our own penalty area but a lot that pressure would have been alleviated if we could have taken some of the very good chances we created. rodgers doesnt want our defenders looking for a long out ball when under pressure, so we are just going to get used to it.
if rodgers doesn’t see carroll as his centre forward then he needs to ship him out somehow and get someone in who he does see in that role.
suarez is not a number 9 and is not a clinical finisher, certainly not in this team. too big a percentage of chances he gets are created by his own bit of brilliance rather than a through ball froma teamate, this sometimes means he is off balance when he is shooting. he is a creator rather than finisher, we need to find a finisher before this season takes a similar path to last.
cole adam and carroll seem surplus to requirement and what ever we get for them should provide funds for a striker.
llorente from bilboa is looking for a move.
pete
We shouldn’t have let Aurelio(sp?) go. I don’t see how playing Downing at left back would be considered a risk, either. The amount of defensive work he put in last season to cover for Enrique when he went missing seems to be completely underappreciated by everyone. I think he’d make an excellent left back in rodgers style of play.