Five Talking Points: Liverpool vs. Southampton

The Reds defeated Southampton 1-0 in a Premier League fixture at Anfield yesterday. It was the first time that Liverpool recorded back to back wins at home in the last 15 months. Three points against a promoted side is not really much of an achievement but it is a much needed fillip to the Reds who find themselves still stuck in the bottom half of the table. We bring to you the five talking points of the match.

Lucas Leiva, on his return to first team action, shows exactly what Liverpool was missing in their engine room. The holding midfielder played the best part of 90 minutes on the field and showcased his value to the Liverpool faithful. It was the Brazilian’s first appearance after 26^th August when he limped off the field with a thigh injury against Manchester City. Even after the sizeable layoff from competitive football, he made 8 crunching tackles in the match – the most by any player in the Premier League yesterday – thereby showing his heart and commitment to the cause. His presence enabled Liverpool to play higher up the pitch. His fitness should no longer be a worry due to the fact the Rodgers chose to substitute Allen first despite the fact that it was Lucas’s first PL game after effectively a year.

Brendan Rodgers was effusive in his praise of the player

“Lucas was terrific. You can see the difference he makes and it was only in the last 10 minutes that he tired.”

Not only did Lucas shine in the match himself, he made sure that his teammates also upped their game in the process. One of the main beneficiaries of Lucas’s return was undoubtedly Joe Allen. Relieved of his defensive responsibilities, the diminutive Welshman showed everyone how capable he was in an attacking role as well. He combined well with Shelvey and Gerrard and played some good penetrative forward passes. Understandably, his pass completion percentage was lower than what used to be earlier in a defensive role. But he underlined the fact that it was about time people stop lambasting him as ‘Mr. Sideways’ or ‘Mr. Backwards’.

Skrtel and Agger are Liverpool’s first choice centre-back pairing since the last couple of years. They do start the bulk of the matches unless they happen to be injured or there is a problem with suspensions. However, it is the full backs that have been a bit of a worry for Liverpool. Enrique started the last season brilliantly but his performance nosedived towards the fag end of the season. Frequent loss of concentration and failure to track back to his defensive responsibilities resulted in a slew of crosses for the opposition coming from his side of the pitch. In his recent outings, Jose Enrique has undergone a bit of a metamorphosis. He has cut down on those daft mistakes by some margin, and getting into superb positions. His diagonal balls have created a number of chances for Suarez. On the other flank, Johnson has been linking up superbly with Sterling and should start all matches ahead of Wisdom if he is fit. A stable back four is a prerequisite for any successful side and Liverpool seems to have got theirs after having experimented with Wisdom, Downing, Flanagan and Robinson in the full-back positions.

Though it is certainly too early to be discussing who the relegation contenders for this season are, the Saints are increasingly looking like one. It was a combination of the woodwork and Paulo Gazzaniga good work between the sticks that Southampton managed to come away from Anfield with just a solitary goal against their name. The Saints put in a somewhat better performance in the second half but the problem was their midfield disappeared from action for long swathes of the match. Lambert was cut off in attack with Gaston Ramirez having a particularly poor game. The young left back Shaw looked clueless at times with Yoshida also not up to the mark. The need of the hour, however, is for a tough combative player in the middle of the park – who would not steer clear of tough challenges and break up the attacks of the opposition.

In what was certainly one of the talking points of the match – with ten minutes to go on the clock, Luis Suarez stuck his left hand out at a Steven Gerrard cross in the Saints six-yard box. Thus he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and will therefore miss the trip to West Ham in the upcoming gameweek. While it difficult to say what it really was – an instinctive reaction or a deliberate attempt to deflect the ball in the back of the net reminiscent of Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ – the yellow card was certainly deserved. For the man whose deliberate handball on the goal-line in the 2010 World Cup denied Ghana their place in the semi finals – the critics will be crying foul for sure. It will be a much needed break for the Uruguayan who has spearheading the Liverpool frontline in all PL games and participating in World Cup qualifiers for his country. Brendan Rodgers has been insistent on the fact that there is more to Liverpool that Luis Suarez. Now is the time to prove his words.