It strikes me that Liverpool’s players are suffering from a dearth of imagination. Whilst it’s true that Liverpool’s forwards have missed a fair number of opportunities this season, it’s equally true that the Red’s creative outputs have struggled to provide ample or adequate ammunition for their attackers. It’s frustrating to see aimless crosses fired into the penalty with the hope that their £35m target-man will provide the right bit of movement or ingenuity.
Another 2pts dropped against Aston Villa (who themselves don’t seem interested in showing any endeavour) tells you that things really aren’t coming together for the Reds.
Liverpool fans have leaned on the fact that they managed to sell Fernando Torres to Chelsea for an exorbitant £50m, but those same fans will be a little worried by the fact that in the last 15 games Torres has more assists than the entire Liverpool side.
What I mean by a lack of imagination is this: players are content to attempt impossible ‘Hollywood’ passes, rather than show some real forethought and try to beat their man, drive play forward or provide some real incision. Liverpool’s passing game at the moment is slow and predictable and as a result they’ve struggled to really get going. What happened to the quick, slick and crisp passing of the past? The kind of passing that could tear teams apart.
The game plan is clearly to get the ball wide and then attempt to fire in a cross, but in situations where this obviously isn’t working (i.e. the entirety of this season) the Red’s need to have a back-up plan. Roy Hogdson and Kenny Dalglish changed what was a fluid, mobile attacking approach game into a stilted ‘hit the ball into the box and hope’ approach.
Not only are Liverpool not getting the results they need, they’re not delivering the kind of performances fans want to see either. Disappointingly Dalglish seems content to only pay lip-service to the idea of a ‘wee’ philosophy change and is all too happy to blame ‘bad luck’ for Liverpool’s folly.
So has Kenny and by extension Liverpool run out of ideas? What’s needed to get this great club fired up again? A new philosophy? A new manager? A bucket-load of signings? At the moment it’s unclear.
My opinion is that when Lucas and Daniel Agger return from injury and a couple of sensible signings are made, Liverpool can find their feet again – but only if this ‘boot-it-into-the-box’ mantra is abolished. There are players within this squad who can really play football – it’s time to let them do exactly that.
Follow @ThePerfectPass on Twitter for details on all the latest updates and various football-related musings.
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
I agree totally with this article as it has been my mantra the whole season!