This analysis fair, Reds?
We downed top-four rivals Tottenham last night in a wonderful Anfield fixture, with Mario Balotelli coming off the bench and notching a late winner to seal the points.
However, unlike the mass media, we’ve ignored the Italian’s involvement here, and instead analysed six other aspects Brendan Rodgers may be mulling over this Wednesday morning.
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Steven Gerrard’s pace over the first five-yards is a worry in the midfield two, especially in a frenetic match…
Gerrard was substituted at 68 minutes, and there was a notable difference in our midfield dynamism when Emre Can moved further forward… In the first-half, Gerrard’s inability to track Tottenham’s rapid midfield runners caused us problems, and neither he nor Gerrard looked totally comfortable in the disciplined anchorman role. On the ball, our skipper is still extraordinary, and he bagged his penalty with renowned composure – but his role from now until the end of the season may be as part of the front-three, rather than the central midfield two, even without Lucas available…
Daniel Sturridge will be lethal when he hones his finishing…
His movement, his pace and running with the ball noticeably boosted our attack, and on two occasions, Sturridge beat Spurs’ offside trap, leaving Eric Dier in his wake. Uncharacteristically though, he finished pretty tamely on both – and hit the post from close-range with a back-heel, too. On historical evidence, an in-form Sturridge would hope to score at least one of these chances, and when he gets up to speed, with the likes of Coutinho, Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling feeding him from deep – he’ll notch goals aplenty.
Dejan Lovren could be worked back into the side…
The substitution at 68 minutes was perhaps telling. Instead of replacing Gerrard with Joe Allen, Rodgers brought much criticised Dejan Lovren on, with Emre Can moving into midfield… Could this be telling going forward, in Lucas’s absence through injury? The £20m Croat has barely played in recent weeks due to his miserable first half of the season, but with a hectic run of games on the horizon, we’ll need to rotate our squad. It could be time for his reintroduction…
We can still create chances without Raheem Sterling, and an off-colour Coutinho…
This season, Raheem Sterling and Coutinho have been easily our most effective creative players – but last night, the former was unavailable injured, and the Brazilian playmaker was very quiet… However, we still managed to score three times, and cut open one of the better sides in the Premier League on a number of occasions. Promising. Very promising.
The arrival of Jordon Ibe feels like a top notch January signing…
We didn’t do any business over the winter, but the recalling of Ibe from his loan spell at Derby seems like a Brendan Rodgers masterstroke. For the second time in four days, the teenager was one of the very best players on the pitch, and his ability to play at either wing-back or in attacking midfield is going to massively boost us until the summer. He’s looking like a real prodigy, and if Ibe carries on progressing at this rate – we can’t see a ceiling for his talent.
We’re going to miss Lucas, and a central midfielder is arguably our priority in the summer…
If we lacked anything last night, it was a natural holding midfielder. Lucas is out for a month, and we’re going to really feel his absence, especially if we stick with two in central midfield. With Gerrard leaving in the summer – our need for a top, top central midfielder is even greater. Emre Can could progress into the role, but another player of genuine top pedigree is a serious necessity ahead of 2015/16.
