The evolution of Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool were simply stunning in their victory over Arsenal. The game was virtually wrapped up inside first 20 minutes. The performance was so good that the scoreline appeared to be very kind to Arsenal. Compared to Rodgers’ first game in the league ,as manager of Liverpool, it was quite a different performance.

2012-2013 season

Rodgers, after being appointed as manager in the summer of 2012, spoke a lot about the importance of possession and his willingness to play attacking football. There was a lot of talk of tiki-taka and the playing style based on Barcelona’s style. Rodgers spoke about the seven zones on the football field. The team played a lot of passing football at the start of Rodgers’ tenure. However, the initial results indicated the style of football was quite attractive, but lacked penetration.

The results were not very pleasing, but the football was good to watch. It was more of a 4-3-3 formation which was used with Luis Suarez played up front. We saw the likes of Raheem Sterling and Suso bursting on to the scene supporting Suarez. Plan A was always in place, but there seemed to be no plan B. Once Liverpool were trailing by a goal, there just seemed to be no back up plan. Tactically, teams like West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Southampton outclassed Liverpool quite easily.

After the January transfer window of 2013, the team shifted to being more of a counter attacking team, especially when playing away from home with the formation shifted to more of a 4-2-3-1. Suarez and Daniel Sturridge played together in just a few games, so there was no talk of a partnership then. The vision of Coutinho and the finishing of Sturridge was lethal towards the end of the season. But there were several shortcomings, that needed to be fixed.

Mentally the team looked fragile at times, unable to make comebacks and conceding goals after leading far too easily. In terms of set pieces, there were question marks about the defence. Despite bossing possession, Liverpool could not penetrate through defences on several occasions. There were flashes of brilliance, but not enough to suggest that Liverpool were genuine Champions League contenders.

2013-2014 season

At the beginning of this season, Liverpool played a 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard and Lucas at the heart of the midfield. Once Suarez came back, the formation was shifted to 3-5-2 and its variants. Since then we have seen the team playing a 4-2-4 with Sterling and Coutinho on the wings and SAS on top. Recently the team has shifted to more of a 4-3-3 with Gerrard as the deepest of the midfielders with Sterling, Suarez and Sturridge playing as the front three.

The biggest change this season has been the flexibility shown by the team not just in terms of the formation but also the attacking patterns. Counter attacking football has been one of Liverpool’s biggest strengths. The recent games against Everton and Arsenal are evidence of how Liverpool can rip apart defences when they are in full flow. Goals from set-pieces have been the real surprise this season. Liverpool have the most number of goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season. Gerrard has been a key contributor to those goals, especially with lethal deliveries from free kicks at times. We have seen Liverpool mixing it up quite well, using long balls, quick incisive passing at times and moments of individual brilliance leading to goals.

The pressing game has been brilliant, especially in the games against Tottenham and Arsenal. On paper, Liverpool’s midfield seemed weaker in both the games but on both the occasions, the energy shown by the likes of Henderson and Allen against Spurs, and Henderson and Coutinho against Arsenal was incredible.

During the course of the Rodgers’ tenure, there were many players whose Liverpool careers seemed to have been finished. But the likes of Henderson, Skrtel and Enrique have shown enough grit to make a comeback and stamp their place in the squad. Youngsters like Sterling and Flannagan have played a crucial part so far this season. Also with young players in the squad like Allen, Henderson, Coutinho, Alberto, Sakho and Sturridge, there is still scope for improvement.

We could also see the likes of Suso, Borini and Wisdom being added to this squad after returning from loan at the end of the season. The team has evolved a lot from the start of last season. Rodgers has shown his coaching skills to get the best out of players like Suarez, Sturridge, Henderson, Sterling and Coutinho.

But the lack of squad depth, inability to grind out results, stronger midfield and defending set pieces are some of the things the team needs to improve upon. Nevertheless, the future seems bright for Liverpool football club.