It was a disappointing day all round for Liverpool, as we were held at West Brom just hours before Manchester City’s late winner against Aston Villa opened up a seven point gap between us and fourth place.
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After winning just one of our last four league games, on top of exiting the FA Cup at the hands of Villa last weekend, serious questions are beginning to be asked, with concerns raised over our prospects next season.
At the risk of getting you further caught up in yesterday’s doom and gloom, here are five things we learned:
5) Players need to know their positions
What formation have we been playing in these last two games? Is it 3-4-3, 3-5-2, 4-3-3, 4-4-2, or even 3-6-1? Fluidity and versatility is all well and good but players need to have an understanding of their position and their role within the team. The likes of Sterling and Can have been moved around so much this season that it must be hard for them to know whether they’re coming or going. We need to be more concise in our thinking.
4) Mario Balotelli not the answer
A lot of Liverpool fans were pleased to see the Italian given a first Premier League start since November. Unfortunately, it’s a lot to ask of someone to come in and produce after that little amount of game-time, especially someone that’s always under such a degree of scrutiny. He didn’t play badly yesterday but his style of play just doesn’t suit the way Rodgers likes to play. Using him as a focal point of the attack makes everything too restricted.
3) Brendan Rodgers needs to be realistic
Rodgers has proved himself a very accomplished manager over the last three years. Regardless of how much of our success last season was down to the Luis Suarez – Daniel Sturridge partnership up front, he still did an excellent job of keeping everyone playing well. However, frustrations are running high this season, so to label us as ‘outstanding’ after a performance as tepid as yesterdays is only enticing abuse. He’s just asking for trouble really!
2) Champions League is gone, focus on next season
We’re not going to make the top four. It would need a minor miracle for us to overtake Man United (seven points clear) or Man City (nine points clear having played a game more). Next season must be the focus and with that in mind Rodgers needs to give more game-time to the young players he hasn’t already been fully utilising. We’ve also been hearing regularly about how good our academy side is, why not give a couple of them a chance as well?
1) Gerrard’s 500th game won’t be remembered
You have to believe that Steven Gerrard still has one big moment left in a Liverpool shirt. If he does, the opportunities are running out. His 500th Premier League appearance all but passed him by yesterday, with one free-kick which sailed over the crossbar the closest he came to making an impact. What was nice to see was the positive reception he got from both sets of supporters yesterday, as another club bid farewell to a legend.
