Liverpool 0-1 Aston Villa – From the match
The atmosphere around the ground was absolutely buzzing. The fan park was jam packed 3 hours before kick off. Everyone participating in activities and having a good time. After speaking to a number of fans the general belief was that we should get the 3 points over Villa.
It seemed that everyone’s opinion was based on the last performance v Spurs away. This game versus Villa was at home but after the international break. The same break that caused us to lose Sturridge due to Hodgson and England ignoring the training regime we had Sturridge on. No one seemed concerned with the injury. Clearly still excited at Balotelli joining and the emergence of Sterling as a top talent the loss of Sturridge was not seen as a major problem for today.
Once in Anfield the crowd was much louder than it had been versus Southampton on the opening game. The size of the cheers and people clapping the team as they came out to warm up was unbelievable. Even as the team was being announced prior to kick off the cheers were loud. You’ll Never Walk Alone was belted out by over 45,000 Liverpool fans. One thing that was not envisaged. No one in the ground had taken a moment to think that Lambert could set his team out to imitate the Chelsea side of last season.
Eleven men behind the ball nearly all of the time causing a problem for Liverpool’s creative and flair players to do anything of importance. No space was available and Liverpool’s passing seemed slow and predictable. Sideways from a right back across the 2 centre backs to the left back and vice versa. Occasionally Gerrard or Henderson would drop deep to receive the ball from Sakho or Lovren to play another short ball to the other centre back. Villa players were not stretched, it was clear that the majority of the game Villa players were jogging to close down Liverpool players. No urgency, very lacklustre. It was so reminiscent of the Chelsea match and the fans could be seen to be getting frustrated.
While Rodgers changed the personnel his tactics in general remained the same. This is the time where we will see if Rodgers is as tactically astute as many think he is. We need a plan B when we come up against these teams. In Plan B must be a change of formation. We cannot put our hopes on the shoulders of Raheem Sterling. He’s still only 19 plus we have a plethora of attacking choices to rotate for games we shouldn’t have to rely on an individual, especially one so young.
Villa simply parked the bus and never moved it from the bus stop. They didn’t need to. They came with a plan and executed it to perfection. After getting 2nd last season watching us put on a performance so abject of any urgency, any desire, any real commitment to attempt to grab a point at home was so disappointing.
There were positives though. Our defence of Manquillo, Sakho, Lovren and Moreno looked absolutely solid as a rock. There were few chances for Villa and the back four were not exploited. The Villa goal came through a slice of luck to win a corner and with the ball landing to a Villa player after the initial corner was contested between the villa attack and Liverpool defence.
Lallana got his first run out for Liverpool in the Premier League. He looked very short of match fitness and probably should not have started but it’s pleasing to see he is coming back to fitness.
Once Sterling entered the game he was a menace for the opposition and would seem to be our man of the match. I’ve never seen someone get a man of the match for only being on the pitch for 30 minutes but if it’s possible it should be him. With Sterling on the pitch he linked up well with Lambert and Coutinho. The closest Liverpool came to getting anything was when they hit the post late in the game after a shot was struck from 25 yards by Coutinho.
Villa stood firm and walked away with the 3 points but the question is did we play too many new signings at the same time instead of waiting for an easier game, possibly Ludogerets, was it the international break that caused us a disadvantage by losing our form on the back of the Spurs win or does Rodgers need to think of a way and fast to break teams that play like this down? It could be a combination of all 3. It could just be the unfortunate possibility that everything happened today or that a lot of the players just did not perform as they should have.
The only certainty that I came away with was that Gerrard should no longer be considered first choice. Too often Manquillo or Moreno were wide and free and instead of pinging it to them he often just passed to Sakho or Lovren, a 10 yard pass anyone could do. Could it be about time we start thinking of the future and Emre Can will be featuring more frequently once fit?
Follow Ashley on Twitter: @A_Will83
Photo: Getty
