French centre-back made long-awaited return from injury versus the Gunners…
We picked up a point against Arsenal on Sunday, thanks to Martin Skrtel’s injury time header which earned a 2-2 draw, having dominated the match.
Coutinho can thrive in this formation…
For us, the Brazilian was the best player on the park during Sunday’s draw. If he was more consistent in front of goal, we’d be looking at one of the best playmakers in the business. The 3-4-3 enables Coutinho a freer, more central role in the side, and it suits him perfectly. In the 4-3-3, he often has to play wide, which minimises his effectiveness, but because of the overlapping wing-backs (Jordan Henderson and Lazar Markovic on Sunday), Coutinho can collect the ball closer to goal. He bagged one, and having been similarly impressive against Bournemouth midweek, he should be one of the first names on the team-sheet while we’re using this formation.
We need to be entirely more clinical when dominating matches…
Liverpool had 64% of the ball against Arsenal, and had 27 attempts on goal, which is almost a shot every three minutes. Yet, we only managed to nick a draw with a last minute header from Martin Skrtel… Even against Manchester United last weekend, we could have got something out of the game had we taken one of our early chances. The quality of our performance was decent, but it’s almost irrelevant if we combine defensive mistakes with a lack of quality in front of goal. Daniel Sturridge’s return will help, but the likes of Raheem Sterling, Coutinho and Adam Lallana need to consistently pitch in with goals until and when he’s back.
Mamadou Sakho deserves to start ahead of Dejan Lovren…
Sakho made his first Premier League start since September, and provided steel and bite to the three-man defence. The Frenchman is very left-footed, but this means he slots into the left central defender role – in the 3-4-3 formation – perfectly. With Dejan Lovren injured and badly out form, the 24-year-old deserves a run of games in the first-team.
We desperately, desperately need a new goalkeeper…
Brad Jones has faced ten shots on target since he was brought into the side three matches ago. He’s conceded five goals… We don’t like criticising Liverpool players unnecessarily, but finding a top notch goalkeeper replacement in January is a complete priority – arguably even more so than a striker. Simon Mignolet ‘s form earned him a dropping, but Jones is a total liability, unfortunately.
The 3-4-3 is the right formation, for now…
Brendan Rodgers is using an innovative 3-4-3 formation now, which maximises width and gets as many of our creative midfielders on the pitch as possible. The way we completely dominated the ball, while creating chances too, shows that until Sturridge’s return, it’s the right way to go. When we used Rickie Lambert or Mario Balotelli up top on their own, we lacked mobility and movement in the final third, but now Raheem Sterling is being used as a false 9 – with Coutinho and Adam Lallana supporting him – our attack has been revitalised. Sturridge and Balotelli could eventually be used in a tandem with a midfield diamond, but until then, we can win matches with the 3-4-3.
Read a more in depth analysis of Liverpool’s 3-4-3, here…
