4) We don’t know our best formation, and our attacking ideas are tired
It became a little stale and predictable at times this season. That wasn’t completely down to Rodgers – it’s hard to be inventive when you don’t have a single striker that you trust to play through the middle. The introduction of the 3-4-3 formation was a positive step forward, and one that really helped us pick up some momentum during the early part of 2015, but ultimately that was also worked out by our opponents. The rotation of Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho in the false nine role wasn’t working and there didn’t seem to be a Plan B. And even after going back to the 4-3-3, or whatever variation of it we chose, it was still stale.
3) The addition of Champions League football really does affect league form
We shouldn’t lose sight of the burden our return to playing Champions League football place on our squad. The addition of another six fixtures (eight if you include the Europa League), pushed a side still lacking in strength in depth to the very limits. In the final weeks of the season, with the games against the likes of Crystal Palace and Stoke City, you could really see the tiredness starting to creep in. The guys already had one eye on their holidays and part of me doesn’t really blame them for that.
