Four reasons behind Liverpool's fall from grace (part-2)

In part 1, we discussed about how bad transfer policies and woeful finishing in the final third have impacted Liverpool‘s season negatively, and how can it be remedied.

Here are some more causes to The Reds’ steady decline over the past few years.

3) TACTICS

Where art thou?

Ever since the tactically-versatile Rafa Benitez left the club, the techincal aspect of the play seems to have detoriated sharply. Roy Hodgson had tried (unsuccessfully) to implement the tactics that had worked so beautifully for Fulham, into Liverpool. Sadly, the tactics never worked at Anfield. They became vulnerable to even teams placed below them in the table, as the various loopholes in the tactics were clearly exposed. The likes of Gerrard, Lucas and Torres suffered.

Then came along King Kenny. He had a stellar first six months of his second foray into management, where he propelled them to the top half of the table. And coupled with the signings of Suarez and Carroll, ah! Life was perfect, or so it seemed. But the chinks in the armour were being exposed far too often. Some of them seemed baffling, such as playing Henderson on the right wing, where he is obviously not comfortable. He is a central player, who likes to exploit the gaps in the defence and move the ball about.

And when Andy Carroll was bought for the princely sum of 35 million, great things were expected of the Suarez-Carroll combo. One would be dribbling the ball about and laying it to the other, who would finish it with aplomb. Instead what we see is Suarez just running about the field with no support and direction, and oh! diving around too. Carroll has been as mobile as the Rock of Gibraltar, and is equally ineffective. Actually Stewart Downing was bought to feed him with high balls into the box, but has disappointingly failed. So what we see is a hapless forward line, lacking real intent and objective.

Suarez has become a revelation ever since he joined Liverpool. But one thing that is obvious is that he not a natural forward. He has modified his playing style from that at Ajax. He likes to run rings around the defence and create goals. Hence, he has found goals hard to come by this season. And Carroll’s ineffectiveness does not help either. Thus, Liverpool are left with no goalscoring options.

And why have Maxi Rodriguez and Craig Bellamy been banished to the fringes of the squad? Bellamy has been brought on as a substitute in most of the matches, where he has performed well. But a starting role would do Liverpool a world of good, who will get motivation if they make a bright start, instead of leaving it till the end. And Maxi has (or rather had) been an important player for Liverpool, his tireless displays and timely goals helping them attain valuable wins. But he has been reduced to a bit-part player under Dalglish, which may prove to be a detrimental factor in the matches to come.

SOLUTION: Dalglish should consider squad rotation. Maxi and Bellamy should get more playing time. The likes of Henderson and Kelly should not be played in every match, but should be given time to recuperate, because they are still in their formative years. And Liverpool would not want to risk their health after what happened with Wilshere at Arsenal. Maxi and Bellamy are equally capable of influencing the match. And although it is mentioned in the previous article, I would like to emphasize on the point that Kenny needs to buy a centre-forward like Cavani, Giroud etc to support Suarez.

4) THE ABSENCE OF CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

Liverpool needs Gerrard, back in the thick of things

Liverpool’s very own son, the magnificent Steven Gerrard has been absent through many games because of injury problems. Clearly his age is beginning to catch up with his body. But when he plays, he is as brilliant as he was when in peak form. His incisive passing, awesome long passes, pinpoint crosses and thunderbolt strikes have time and time again rescued Liverpool from the brink of defeat. He is invaluable to the team, and his absence is sorely felt among the Anfield faithful, especially this season where creativity is at an all-time low. Gerrard is irreplaceable in the line-up. Charlie Adam may have tried his best to plug the massive gap, but at the most can succeed in only spraying long crosses up the pitch.

SOLUTION: Nothing much. Just wait till he returns to full fitness, and watch him recreate his magic on the pitch. Meanwhile, Liverpool should try to find a worthy successor. Jay Spearing has shown signs of becoming the next Anfield hero, but the time is still too far away till he can be spoken in the same breath as Gerrard.

You might also like

Four reasons behind Liverpool’s fall from grace (part-1) https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/07/four-reasons-behind-liverpools-fall-from-grace-part-1/

Suarez is Anfield’s false hero https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/02/14/suarez-is-anfields-false-hero/