Whilst most expected a tough away game with few chances and much physicality, there was a sense that we could finally get some consistency going and follow up last weekend’s solid 4-0 win against Fulham at Anfield.
The match itself was quite gruelling, where old problems persisted. Once again we had a poor final ball and finish, there weren’t as many bodies in the box as needed, and the passing and probing was incoherent.
We got it wrong with the starting XI. It was incredibly naïve from Rodgers to name an unchanged team from the Fulham win to play Stoke in their backyard. Stoke have a totally different style and play wholly to their physical style. A back four of Johnson, Agger, Skrtel and Enrique left us with only one player with aerial capabilities in Martin Skrtel. Due to Stoke’s high pressure and deep-defensive line, the chances for overlapping is minimal and Stoke are a side contented to allow the opposition the ball in wide areas due to their aerial dominance and ability in defending crosses.
A midfield trio of Lucas, Gerrard and Shelvey was quite foolish; they tend to be quite static in movement and are therefore easy to telegraph for Stoke. Allen, Suso (who started out wide), and Henderson are all mobile players who are agile enough to turn, as well as harry, Stoke’s lumbering midfielders.
Furthermore, Shelvey had a particularly calamitous match, and has seemingly hit the low point of his recent slump. He was not particularly at the races in any part of his game. Shelvey, in the number 10 role, did not carve chances for our forwards, link play effectively, or get himself into good positions. Whilst it may be unfair to compare him to the League’s best number 10’s (Cazorla, Mata etc), but if he does aspire to be just that, he definitely showed very little sign.
With our backs to the wall, when Stoke went from 1-0 down to 2-1 up with only 12 minutes of the game played, Stewart Downing was mostly anonymous, and was a far cry from his display against Fulham last week. Suso was fantastic; he is too slow off the mark to be a winger, and does not really have the eye for goal as a wide forward needs, but his weighting of, and eye for, a pass is incredible.
With Suso off at half-time, no-one looked capable of threading a pass through to Suarez, who really looked on his own.
After the restart, Liverpool did not seem to change their set up or plan. Once again, attention is brought to Rodgers, and his ability to adapt and make effective changes.
As for match preparation, we clearly did not seem to put in the hours to counteract Stoke’s obvious strengths – set pieces.
After such a loss, where one could argue it did not have to be that way, we need to question Rodgers’ ability to be pragmatic, and assess his constant willingness to be dogmatic. I do not question that Rodgers is the right man for a dynasty and that he has a plan which he believes in and is educated on, but his in-game, contextual management must be inspected.
We very much played into Stoke’s hand. We ignored putting our best XI for that particular game – where was Coates, our tallest centre-half?
For the first time this season, we have made amateurish errors. We did not do much to counteract Stoke, and decisions were dubious.
With January just days away, Liverpool have to really sit and look at their policies and realize that, in order to fit Rodgers’ system, we need to have certain kinds of players. That number 10 role has to be fixed, and we have to build on our attacking reinforcements with more than Daniel Sturridge.
Don’t get me wrong, I have not lost faith in Rodgers. But for the first time I truly believe he got it wrong. We have to pick ourselves up now, and truly push on. No-one said this would take a few months to click, sure, but Rodgers’ inexperience is showing.
With the way results have gone lately, it is difficult to predict the next few games. Changes are needed in both personnel and tactics, and Rodgers needs to realize that, whilst players remain far from ideal, we have to make do and look to adapt.
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