Of course, a game away at the Premier League’s form team is perhaps not the best case to begin casting judgements and once that first goal goes in, Cisse should find his touch again. Indeed, his goals for Freiburg in Germany indicate he is no one season wonder. However, Alan Pardew would perhaps be wise to keep an eye on his much-heralded forward.
3.) The “Rodgers method” may be admirable, but there is a time and a place
We all admire the type of football Brendan Rodgers is trying to implement at Liverpool. We marvalled at what he did with Swansea and after their bad start at West Brom, the football Liverpool display at time at Anfield against Manchester City was very good indeed. Additionally, in Joe Allen and now Nuri Sahin, Rodgers is cleverly picking up the right sort of personnel to suit his style.
However, for the second game in a row Liverpool’s defenders were at fault as points were thrown away and for the second game in a row, Martin Skrtel was a serial culprit. Having given away a penalty at West Brom last week as he dithered in the penalty area, Skrtel catastrophically handed the ball on a plate to Carlos Tevez to steal in for City’s equaliser on Sunday.
On both occasions, the simple thing to do would have simply been for Skrtel to clear his lines but of course, Rodgers demands his central defenders to play out from the back.
In an ideal world, such football would of course be preferable but when in Martin Skrtel, you have a tough no-nonsense defender who’s distribution is not exactly his strong point, then perhaps it’s more advisable to ask him to play a little simpler than say Daniel Agger for example, a clear ball-playing centre back. This is not to say that Skrtel should just go route one all game, but the reality of it is that it is costing Liverpool valuable points. Rodgers came out afterwards and gamely took the press’ criticism off Skrtel and onto himself for attempting to instill the players with his methods.
But this isn’t Swansea, where a draw home to Manchester City still represents a point gained. This is Liverpool Football Club who could realistically reach the Top Four again this season and so those two points lost against City due to Skrtel’s error could prove crucial. Rodgers may want to play football the right way, but in certain situations, a little pragmatism perhaps would not be the worst thing in the world.
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………and the Toffees got eaten by the Baggies.Don’t count chickens etc.