Liverpool’s resounding win against Norwich City last weekend was supposed to be a catalyst for change, the fixture that ended a terribly unlucky start to the season and start to the Brendan Rodgers project at Anfield. The word project perfectly fitting because of the long term nature of the task that faces him. In his first few months in charge, noticeable changes have taken place. Rodgers wants to implement a style of play which proved so effective at Swansea, but to achieve this, a revamp is a must. Out with the old and in with the new has been the running theme over the summer in Merseyside.
Long road ahead: Rodgers at the start of his journey at Liverpool
Players like Andy Caroll and Charlie Adam, who were brought in during Kenny Dalglish’s period in charge, have been axed as the new manager seeks to bring in the right footballers for what he is trying to achieve. Changes to any team will always mean a time of transition, it will inevitably mean an unsettled time as new players adjust to their new environment. Having said this, no one would have predicted such an unsettled start to Liverpool’s campaign. Before the weekend just gone, they had played five Premier League games, losing three and without recording a win. Performances have not been bad, but luck has been far from them, as Rodgers continues to reiterate.
A 5-2 win at Carrow Road on Saturday changed that and finally gave Liverpool the domestic win they deserved, after harsh results against ManCity, Arsenal and Man United. It seemed their luck had changed and their season had re-started. Udinese did not read the script though, ahead of their Europa League fixture with the Reds on Thursday. In particular, their striker Di Natalie who’s class and experience lent a hard lesson to an experimental Liverpool team. Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard took their places on the bench before the game – a decision by the manager that will no doubt be argued by many – nevertheless it was a Liverpool team which included quality and more significantly a team of players keen to impress. The first half saw Liverpool boss Udinese in front of an ignited Kop crowd. A 23rd minute goal for Jonjo Shelvey was the first of what could and maybe should have been a few first half goals for Liverpool, who failed to capitalise on their neat play. Their luck worsened within a minute after the break when the timeless classic that is Di Natalie stepped up to equalise for the visitors. Further pressure and unconvincing defending led to a second for Udinese via the headed own goal of Sebastien Coates on the 70th minute mark, and a third two minutes later from Giovanni Pasquale.
Period of transition: Rodgers has had to deal with the problems left by the Dalglish campaign before initiating his own plan
The result proved the hangover from Dalglish’s time in charge remains. The fact is it may not be a physical problem anymore than it is a psychological issue that Liverpool are not winning games that they should. They have often been without luck already this season but that will not hold up for very long with the Merseyside faithful. The issue may be a lacking winning mentality that has been left to linger like a bad smell over Anfield, a problem that Rodgers will need time to fix.
The question is, how long will he have before criticism is directed at him and the lack of luck excuse is no longer in place? Sitting 14th in the league as they go into the third month of the season, Rodgers will know results must pick up soon.
Written by Alfie Long. See more of his work at: pitchsidetalk.wordpress.com or follow him on twitter @pitchsidetalk Edited by Charlie Cook @charlie_cook09 Thoughts and comments welcome, all support appreciated!
In an era when having two managers in a single season is normal, it is remarkable that David Moyes has manged to spend 10 years at Everton. The chairman, Bill Kenwright’s faith in Moyes, and his undoubted ability are the key to Everton’s success so far this season and in the past decade. Moyes has never had much money to spend, in fact he has only had a net spend of £14 million pounds while at Everton. Despite that, he has transformed them from a team battling relegation to one currently sitting in 3rd place in the Premier League.
Liverpool’s bad luck continued on the weekend. Like the Arsenal and Manchester City games previously, they were the better side for much of the game, but on this occasion their inability to score goals was not the sole reason for their downfall. The key decisions of the game went against them. The referee Mark Halsey, in my opinion was very poor. There were two key decisions that changed the game. The first was the red card for Jonjo Shelvey. It is clear from the photo (above) that if Shelvey deserved a red card then Johnny Evans did too. If anything, Evans’ challenge looks worse, it could easily have gone the other way with Man Utd being reduced to 10 men had Shelvey been the one lying on the floor after the challenge. Even after Shelvey’s dismissal Liverpool looked dangerous, but Mark Halsey came to United’s rescue again awarding a very debatable penalty. Glen Johnson was stupid to put his arm across Valencia’s back, but the contact was minimal and not enough to warrant a penalty.
It seems that Arsenal have solved all the problems from last season. They looked shaky at the back, they lacked structure in the midfield and they were almost devoid of creativity. These are all overstatements that were toggled by the media and fans throughout the season. The one thing that everyone agreed on though, was that Arsenal had the best striker in the league.
