It's been the story of yet another season. Just when we seem to be on the verge of making progress, following a string of decent results it looks like we are descending into a downward spiral.
The general hope among fans seemed raised after our victories over the past three games. The Tottenham game in particular, seemed to raise hopes and aspirations when we saw ourselves come back from a goal deficit to win 3-2 when it was seemingly impossible. We were harshly dragged down to Earth when we were outclassed and outperformed by a Southampton team that has been under performing this season.
Having said that, this was probably one of our worst performances of the season if not the worst. And we haven't performed this badly on too many occasions. The last time I remember our play being this bad was probably against Arsenal at the start of the season. There was bound to be a blip in performance somewhere along the line and here it is. The question that remains is how are we going to bounce back from it?
Reds fans across the world are in eager anticipation to see how we finish the season. With the arrival of Coutinho and Sturridge in the winter transfer window, things were looking bright. We had an attack consisting of a world class striker in Suarez, an in form striker in Daniel Sturridge, and a magical Brazilian in Philippe Coutinho who started of brilliantly. And lets not forget Stewart Downing, who seems to have thrived on the criticism meted out to him by Rodgers at the start of the season. Why is it that when we finally had the team that the majority of the Reds fans wanted to see, we lost?
Here's the answer;
1)This was our formation:
The general hope among fans seemed raised after our victories over the past three games. The Tottenham game in particular, seemed to raise hopes and aspirations when we saw ourselves come back from a goal deficit to win 3-2 when it was seemingly impossible. We were harshly dragged down to Earth when we were outclassed and outperformed by a Southampton team that has been under performing this season.
Having said that, this was probably one of our worst performances of the season if not the worst. And we haven't performed this badly on too many occasions. The last time I remember our play being this bad was probably against Arsenal at the start of the season. There was bound to be a blip in performance somewhere along the line and here it is. The question that remains is how are we going to bounce back from it?
Reds fans across the world are in eager anticipation to see how we finish the season. With the arrival of Coutinho and Sturridge in the winter transfer window, things were looking bright. We had an attack consisting of a world class striker in Suarez, an in form striker in Daniel Sturridge, and a magical Brazilian in Philippe Coutinho who started of brilliantly. And lets not forget Stewart Downing, who seems to have thrived on the criticism meted out to him by Rodgers at the start of the season. Why is it that when we finally had the team that the majority of the Reds fans wanted to see, we lost?
Here's the answer;
1)This was our formation:
2)This is our current formation:
In the first formation (1), we cannot maximize Suarez' potential and threat. Where as in the second one (2) we can. Because he is best at picking up loose balls and anticipating second balls. By doing so, he is immediately able to look forward to his strike buddy and send him through. With the pace of Sturridge and the world class set of skills that Luis Suarez possesses this seems far more dangerous. But, this leaves a two man midfield consisting of Lucas and Gerrard. We all know that Gerrard loves to surge forward. This leaves Lucas struggling to get a foothold in midfield. While we are playing well and dominating possession this shouldn't be an issue. However, if we do not have possession as was the case with Southampton, we may be in for a tough day on the field.
So, in my opinion our best solution would be to drop Downing or play the attacking quadrant in a rotation policy and play an extra midfielder instead. Rumours of a Xabi return are rife. His return could possibly be the missing key to our team's success.
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