EPL Clubs 2013-14 Season Tactical Review : An array of styles in midfield

2. Liverpool

Transfers

In: Kolo Toure, Luis Alberto, Iago Aspas, Simon Mignolet, Sakho, Tiago Llori, Aly Cissoko[L], Victor Moses[L]

Out: Andy Carroll, Downing, Shelvey, Carragher

Player of the Season: Luis Suarez

Liverpool’s slipup in the title race has not only cost them their first ever Premier League trophy, but also the simplest chance to win silverware in the hectic Champions League schedule that begins from now. While individual errors in defence and midfield might have cost Liverpool the title, Brendan Rodgers tactical maneuvers have often been met with bright results.

Rodgers’ trials with a 3 man defence: The arrival of 2 extra CBs Toure and Sakho in the summer could not have led one to imply that Liverpool would shift to a back 3 formation. Rodgers shifted to a 3-4-1-2 after the first month in the League, but significantly so it coincided with the return of Luiz Suarez to action.

This turned out to be an attacking move by the manager, but just as the story of this season goes for the Reds, it turned out to expose Liverpool’s defencive fragilities, especially in the Left back zone. This zone was well exploited by Arsenal during the 2-0 defeat at the Emirates as Bacary Sagna and Rosicky repeatedly overloaded Aly Cissokho at LWB, and this forced Rodgers to shift to a 4 man defence from then on.

A perfect 4-3-3 in Gerrard’s absence: Rodgers has never had coinciding injuries this season, as either one of Gerrard or Lucas has always been present in the evidently light midfield zone. In the time in and around Christmas, Rodgers was forced to shift to a 4-3-3 mainly due to Steven Gerrard’s injury, and the risks of playing Allen and Lucas in the double pivot. So Rodgers combined Lucas as the lone holder, with the box-to-box playing Henderson and distributor Joe Allen. On paper this became the perfect midfield combination, and the fluidity that this brought to Liverpool’s midfield was evident especially in the Manchester City game in December.

Midfield diamond and Sterling’s varying roles: Rodgers’ initial shift into the midfield diamond was not only to accommodate his 2 strikers along with Steven Gerrard, but was also to not get outnumbered against an opposition playing with cut-in wingers on the flanks. This was seen in the Manchester United game where Allen was played on a narrow Left position to mark Mata and Henderson on a narrow Right role to cover Janujaz. This system also provided Liverpool 2 extra options in midfield, especially considering that Gerrard’s deep position almost made him a 3rd Center Back.

The position at the tip of the diamond kept varying, as Rodgers had the option of Coutinho and Sterling in that role. Sterling was used in this position majorly to provide a direct threat at goal once Suarez dropped off to collect the ball in deep zones. This overlapping runs by the youngster proved crucial against teams playing without a holder, like Manchester United and City.

Coutinho on the other hand developed a much deeper role in midfield, and allowed the likes of Henderson to bomb forward from a wider position. Coutinho was mostly played in the No.10 role against high-line defences, against whom the likes of Sturridge could use his burst of pace to get to the end of passes in-behind the defence, ala the Arsenal game at Anfield.

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1. Manchester City

Transfers

In: Fernandinho, Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic, Martin Demichelis

Out: Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz, Wayne Bridge, Kolo Toure, Maicon, Abdul Razak

Player of the Season: Yaya Toure

Winning the League after leading the race only for 15 days is indeed a rare achievement for a team, and considering that it was Manuel Pellegrini’s first campaign in England makes it even more special. Pellegrini kept it quite simple from a tactical point of view, and City’s monetary power was quite visible when they readily had the exact personnel required for either of the 2 majorly used tactical systems.

The two striker system: Pellegrini has been seen preferring a 2 striker system previously at Villareal, Malaga and Real Madrid, and with the options available in this department at Manchester City, the call didn’t seem too difficult. In this respect, City’s summer transfers too were quite precise.

Rather than going for the household big names, City went for specialists like Navas, Negredo and Fernandinho. The results were almost instantaneous as the combination of Navas and Zabaleta on the Right wing turned out deadly, finally accumulating 13 assists between them from the flanks. Alvaro Negredo, nick-name “Beast” played a particularly important role in the partnership upfront.

Negredo was the one holding up play near the hallway line, with Aguero running off him. Aguero can be a particularly difficult striker to play alongside, due to his direct and less selfless approach; but the combination play between Aguero and Negredo in the first half of the season seemed quite effortless.

Silva takes up the hole: The main reason for Pellegrini to shift away from the 4-4-1-1 was the injuries to Negredo and Aguero around the Barcelona game. This forced Pellegrini to play a midfield trio with David Silva shifting to a No.10 role. Though the Spaniard often occupies this position even while playing as the winger on paper, now Silva not only had much more service at his feet but was also able to occupy the pockets of space left on either of the flanks. The game against Liverpool where he continually disrupted Gerrard’s positioning by popping up on the inside-right channel was particularly reminiscent on this style.

Fernandinho still can’t fill the Holding midfield role: Though City bulked up their midfield options with the transfer of Fernandinho, the Brazilian was effectively pushed back into a defencive role rather than played in his natural role. Toure himself not being an orthodox holding midfielder was not playing next to another floater in midfield. This lack of a holding player was quite evident in certain games, as Liverpool in particular were able to attack this via the directness of Sterling through the centre.

Javi Garcia indeed was an option Pellegrini had as a holding midfielder, but this did not become a permanent solution at any point as Garcia lacked quite a lot in pace and passing when compared to Fernandinho. So a proper holding midfielder still remains on City’s shopping list this summer.