On a night when a 3-1 victory over a strong Zenit side, dropped down from the Champions League group stage, wasn't enough to qualify for the next round of the Europa League due to our own errors across the two games (and I'm not going to blame Carragher in his last European game for us; the man has been immense, one mistake is nothing in the big picture) what do we view as necessary in order to take the next step up?
There's one obvious answer; we lack a depth of real quality on the bench.
For me, the game plan tonight was perfect; a 4-5-1 when without the ball, 3-4-3 with it, players rotating to support Suarez, constant movement and flexibility throughout the team, Lucas utterly magnificent in midfield. Our first choice 11 tonight was impeccable (again, I'll ignore Jamie's horror moment); Allen showed his early season form again, Enrique and Johnson controlled the flanks, Henderson was industry personified once more, Downing continued to display the form we bought him for, adding balance to the team. Agger was imperious, Steven and Luis were,well, Steven and Luis.
Our issue came at the hour mark when the double substitution hit; suddenly our dominance was no longer at the level that it had been. Fresh legs had been provided but the quality was not what was needed.
Either of the two cup tied players, Sturridge or Coutinho, would have posed new questions for the Zenit defence, an alternative approach; Assaidi and Shelvey were simply less impressive versions of the players that they had replaced.
Assaidi, in fairness, added pace and trickery. He always appears on the edge of making something happen but there is rarely an end result; he is a squad player, no more in all honesty.
Jonjo Shelvey is another matter altogether; when he first appeared I felt, as many seemed to, that he was a natural long term successor to Gerrard. The more I see of him, the less I believe this. He's a maverick, he wants to make things happen but (for me at least) he's too much of a loose cannon; as much as he's willing and able to burst into the box and at least be in the position to threaten, although last night only hit the side netting, he's equally likely to give away ridiculous fouls in dangerous areas, inviting needless bookings. He is too full of potential for disaster and when he has a bad game (and he has had too many of them of late, he has a really bad game. For me, Shelvey isn't good enough and never will be.
So what do we need?
I'm very much in agreement with Robert Ursell's article on this. We need at least one central defender; a young Jamie Carra would be a good find - are there any out there? Wisdom and Kelly may be able to fill a hole in this, their natural position. A left back to challenge Enrique; he had a good night but can still dwell too long on the ball and we have a definite tendency to be penned into the left corner of the pitch as Enrique, Agger and Reina play keep ball. Somebody to add a bit of bite to the midfield in a Mascherano-esque role, to give us the muscle we are missing at the moment
And a striker. Somebody to back up Sturridge. Borini has shown little so far, we need another forward who knows where the net is.
We're not that far away from where we want to be, from where I'm beginning to believe that Brendan Rodgers wants to take us. Last night's game plan indicates to me that Brendan knows what he wants. Having Sturridge and Coutinho available would have given us more quality in reserve than we had tonight; would have given us more starting options. The fact that I'm talking about these players in these terms already suggests that these may be the type of signings that will make a difference. The fact that we signed them in the last month is purely evidence of the fact that we are in a transitional period and, after an initial period of assessment, our manager now understand the calibre of player that he needs to take the club forward.
We didn't lose last night. We may have been knocked out of the competition but the night itself was utterly glorious; a classic Anfield European night, passion, pride, endeavour, grit, the crowd as the 12th man of legend. All that was missing was the success. We build toward it.
This is a start.
Check out Ian's blog Mumbling Into The Void and follow his mumblings on Twitter here.
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