Tompkins [.tv]:
One of his better articles IMO. Much more balanced than usual and aside from a very slight case of overdoing it on Lucas (IMO), he's more or less on the money here. Personally, i think we should be looking to go and win at Man City - for all their money and improvement, they're still the gatecrashers to this top four party, we're the seasoned campaigners and we have the experience. So i'd look at those three upcoming games and unlike Tompkins, i think we should be looking at more than 5 points as a satisfactory return.
Otherwise, one of his best pieces IMO.
And from a poster on a another forum, very good post:
I think he's spot on in more or less everything he says. Aquilani was poor, but his footballing mentality and natural instinct to get into the final third, was a major bonus for us. He got himself into positive positions and made an impact. This isnt a criticism of Lucas, but Aquilani found himself in a position that Lucas would rarely get into, when he nodded that ball back for Kuyt.
And whilst Lucas added some good solidity and steadiness when he came on, in the period that he wasnt on the pitch, we didnt really miss him a great deal IMO.
All of this points to the notion that when we're looking to have a more advanced attacking mentality, Aquilani's the man for the job. He'll naturally look to get into advanced positions up the park where he can affect the game positively and in a more adventurous manner. Lucas wont do this as frequently, nor to the same level of effect. But where we're in a strong position score-wise, Lucas can come into the fold and do a very important job of solidifying everything and just using the ball sensibly.
That's not a criticism of him, as different circumstances require different levels of adventure and attack-mindedness.
It's often been said that it's unfair to expect Lucas to fulfil a role that doesnt fit in with the type of player he is, and i think that's true.
We got the balance right on Saturday and i hope this continues. Many have said it so many times, but for home games against sides like Bolton, playing both Lucas and Mascherano next to each other, really takes away from our levels of attacking threat and weakens us considerably in that department.
Best to utilise them as a pair at the right times in games - and that isnt all the time.
Whisper it quietly, but Liverpool could be six games into a very important run of form.
An eight point deficit to fourth place is now down to one, and it's another week closer to the major attacking threats of Torres, Benayoun and Johnson returning.
With every passing month, another top-four challenger falls away; as happens every year. People worrying about the threat of Birmingham has been made to look premature.
After the draw at Wolves, I had to check if Liverpool had dropped into the relegation zone, such was the overreaction from some quarters.
While it was one of the least enjoyable games I can recall - rubbish pitch, ball in the air (much like at Stoke) - I never, ever see a draw away from home as a disaster. It was a battling performance, and in order to maintain momentum, defeat had to be avoided.
Another clean sheet helped build some confidence ahead of the Bolton game. And it's a truism of the sport that anyone building a team, or rebuilding confidence, starts from the back.
It's a football basic.
Liverpool's problems this season, injuries aside, stemmed from some uncharacteristically lapse defending. The Reds actually started the campaign with the club's highest number of goals in the opening seven games for 114 years. The problem was conceding them. Even in winning, the back-line never looked confident.
Of course, a large reason for that is because defending is based on understanding; and with Benítez forced, due to injuries and suspensions, to use a dozen different defenders by the autumn, including four players making their first starts in the shirt (Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ayala, Kelly) and two others yet to really feature (Degen, Darby), plus another youngster in 20-year-old Insua, it was a horribly disjointed time, not to mention a steep learning curve for many of these individuals.
That set the tone, and once you develop problems, they can, for a time at least, become habits.
And on occasion Liverpool, if anything, were too positive in the first months of the season, leaving central defenders exposed. The main problems were a) marking at set-pieces, which I've always argued is tougher with new faces in the side, and b) getting caught on the counter attack with not enough cover.
Once you start conceding goals you stand a greater chance of losing games; lose games, and you lose confidence, at the back but also at the front. Pressure mounts, and it gets harder to play good football. And start conceding late goals, and it will play on the mind. Only now do Liverpool appear to be breaking this cycle.
The Reds may not be playing their best football of the season, but with five clean sheets in six unbeaten games, four of which were won, form is returning.
While it's too late this season, this (admittedly small) run of games equates to title-winning form; over 38 games it scales up to almost 90 points. But of course it's just a six-game run, and I present it as nothing greater; my aim is not to predict that it will continue, merely to show that the Wolves result was disappointing rather than disastrous.
Add that this run of points has been based mostly on clean sheets, and you can see how confidence breeds from the back forward. After all, United won the league last year based on a record-breaking defence; Liverpool were the Premiership's top scorers.
The past six games have not pitted the Reds against the very best sides, but Villa away and Spurs at home were big games. And anyone who thinks going to Stoke is a doddle is seriously deluded. It's like trench warfare.
If anything, the most pleasing facet of the recent defending has been the opposition faced. Stoke, Wolves and Bolton may be capable of some good football on the ground, but each encounter centred around big battles and an aerial bombardment. And lest we forget about how tall forwards like Carew and Crouch are.
These were not Benítez's supposed stock-in-trade 'European' style matches against teams that let you play, but about as British as football gets: in your face, and for much of the time, over your head.
Much of the success has to go down to the inspired form of Kyrgiakos; a low-key signing, but an absolute rock when called upon.
The highest compliment I can pay him is that he's looked like Sami Hyypia at his very best. Of course, Sami is a legend because of ten years of brilliance, not four or five games - but my point is that you could not have asked for any more from the giant Greek, now that he has settled in.
A Word of Praise
Statistics are a strange thing. I never use them to provide the be-all-and-end-all to an argument, but I do like to use them as one part of my evaluation methods. Providing they are not abused, they present handy evidence.
As someone said to me this week, "Digging for facts is a better mental exercise than jumping to conclusions".
Take these figures. Based on the latest available data (up to 25th January), Lucas Leiva has made the most successful passes in the entire Premiership: 1,200. This is achieved at an 85% success rate (higher than anyone else in the top five). He has also made the 3rd-highest number of successful tackles.
So, he's in the top three in both categories.
Now, this doesn't mean that they were all extravagant or incisive passes; however, a quick look at The Guardian's 'Chalkboards', which illustrate the direction and distance of his passes, will show that there is a huge variety to how he plays the ball. And as we've seen in recent weeks, he's less the "defensive" player as which he's portrayed, and is clearly becoming ever more box-to-box (even if his finishing is yet to match his bright ideas).
Lucas isn't one for frequent killer passes, although the ball to Benayoun in extra-time against Reading was one of the best of the season; the sort he supposedly can't play.
Indeed, even Xabi Alonso rarely had direct assists from open play; my analysis of last season showed that he was involved in a lot of goals, but much earlier in moves, often with simple passes. Lucas' goal 'involvement' figures have increased this season, and unlike Alonso, he's also been frequently getting into the opposition box.
However, he's a very different player to Alonso, and it's a shame that anything good he does is obscured by the fact that he's not Alonso.
Now, I'm not using these figures to say that Lucas is therefore the best central midfielder around, and that the sublime Cesc Fabregas, for example, is a lesser player. Lucas has played a lot of minutes this season, and that will help boost his figures.
But as some deluded soul told me earlier in the season, 'Lucas can't even play a simple five-yard pass, and doesn't even win 50% of his 50-50s'. Now, those statistics suggest otherwise. He's made 1,200 successful passes and won seven out of every ten tackles.
Indeed, in this context, they are facts, not statistics. They prove otherwise.
Javier Mascherano is also in the top five for both successful passes and tackles won.
This backs up my assertion earlier in the season that the problems with the team mostly lay elsewhere. If you have two overlapping full-backs, and an adventurous centre-back (Agger) you need a solid centre to the side.
After months out with injury, Alberto Aquilani has come in and done well, although the Bolton game seemed to pass him by at times; which, of course, is to be thoroughly expected. Arsene Wenger often states that any import should be allowed a season of adjustment.
Unfortunately for Aquilani, there was a ludicrous amount of pressure and expectation surrounding him, at a time when he had to find fitness in the first team spotlight, when that team was struggling.
But even though Bolton wasn't one of his better games, he did brilliantly to set up Dirk Kuyt, and got another 65 minutes under his belt. The Reds have won all four league games that he's started, and that bodes well; but at times, such as against Spurs, he's been deployed ahead of the midfield, and, of course, better defending as a whole has given the team the platform to go on and win these matches.
The next three games, two of which are away, are all big encounters against in-form sides. After their own injury-ravaged start to the season, which saw them languishing near the bottom of the table, Everton have hit their stride.
If Liverpool can remain undefeated and gain five points, that would satisfy me; any less could leave a gap, and any more would be a wonderful bonus, particularly as one game is the Mersey derby, and the other two are trips to Arsenal and Man City.
But in many ways these games could be what the Reds need; there's less overpowering expectation to win, and 'big game' atmospheres - which help all players - will be guaranteed.
An eight point deficit to fourth place is now down to one, and it's another week closer to the major attacking threats of Torres, Benayoun and Johnson returning.
With every passing month, another top-four challenger falls away; as happens every year. People worrying about the threat of Birmingham has been made to look premature.
After the draw at Wolves, I had to check if Liverpool had dropped into the relegation zone, such was the overreaction from some quarters.
While it was one of the least enjoyable games I can recall - rubbish pitch, ball in the air (much like at Stoke) - I never, ever see a draw away from home as a disaster. It was a battling performance, and in order to maintain momentum, defeat had to be avoided.
Another clean sheet helped build some confidence ahead of the Bolton game. And it's a truism of the sport that anyone building a team, or rebuilding confidence, starts from the back.
It's a football basic.
Liverpool's problems this season, injuries aside, stemmed from some uncharacteristically lapse defending. The Reds actually started the campaign with the club's highest number of goals in the opening seven games for 114 years. The problem was conceding them. Even in winning, the back-line never looked confident.
Of course, a large reason for that is because defending is based on understanding; and with Benítez forced, due to injuries and suspensions, to use a dozen different defenders by the autumn, including four players making their first starts in the shirt (Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ayala, Kelly) and two others yet to really feature (Degen, Darby), plus another youngster in 20-year-old Insua, it was a horribly disjointed time, not to mention a steep learning curve for many of these individuals.
That set the tone, and once you develop problems, they can, for a time at least, become habits.
And on occasion Liverpool, if anything, were too positive in the first months of the season, leaving central defenders exposed. The main problems were a) marking at set-pieces, which I've always argued is tougher with new faces in the side, and b) getting caught on the counter attack with not enough cover.
Once you start conceding goals you stand a greater chance of losing games; lose games, and you lose confidence, at the back but also at the front. Pressure mounts, and it gets harder to play good football. And start conceding late goals, and it will play on the mind. Only now do Liverpool appear to be breaking this cycle.
The Reds may not be playing their best football of the season, but with five clean sheets in six unbeaten games, four of which were won, form is returning.
While it's too late this season, this (admittedly small) run of games equates to title-winning form; over 38 games it scales up to almost 90 points. But of course it's just a six-game run, and I present it as nothing greater; my aim is not to predict that it will continue, merely to show that the Wolves result was disappointing rather than disastrous.
Add that this run of points has been based mostly on clean sheets, and you can see how confidence breeds from the back forward. After all, United won the league last year based on a record-breaking defence; Liverpool were the Premiership's top scorers.
The past six games have not pitted the Reds against the very best sides, but Villa away and Spurs at home were big games. And anyone who thinks going to Stoke is a doddle is seriously deluded. It's like trench warfare.
If anything, the most pleasing facet of the recent defending has been the opposition faced. Stoke, Wolves and Bolton may be capable of some good football on the ground, but each encounter centred around big battles and an aerial bombardment. And lest we forget about how tall forwards like Carew and Crouch are.
These were not Benítez's supposed stock-in-trade 'European' style matches against teams that let you play, but about as British as football gets: in your face, and for much of the time, over your head.
Much of the success has to go down to the inspired form of Kyrgiakos; a low-key signing, but an absolute rock when called upon.
The highest compliment I can pay him is that he's looked like Sami Hyypia at his very best. Of course, Sami is a legend because of ten years of brilliance, not four or five games - but my point is that you could not have asked for any more from the giant Greek, now that he has settled in.
A Word of Praise
Statistics are a strange thing. I never use them to provide the be-all-and-end-all to an argument, but I do like to use them as one part of my evaluation methods. Providing they are not abused, they present handy evidence.
As someone said to me this week, "Digging for facts is a better mental exercise than jumping to conclusions".
Take these figures. Based on the latest available data (up to 25th January), Lucas Leiva has made the most successful passes in the entire Premiership: 1,200. This is achieved at an 85% success rate (higher than anyone else in the top five). He has also made the 3rd-highest number of successful tackles.
So, he's in the top three in both categories.
Now, this doesn't mean that they were all extravagant or incisive passes; however, a quick look at The Guardian's 'Chalkboards', which illustrate the direction and distance of his passes, will show that there is a huge variety to how he plays the ball. And as we've seen in recent weeks, he's less the "defensive" player as which he's portrayed, and is clearly becoming ever more box-to-box (even if his finishing is yet to match his bright ideas).
Lucas isn't one for frequent killer passes, although the ball to Benayoun in extra-time against Reading was one of the best of the season; the sort he supposedly can't play.
Indeed, even Xabi Alonso rarely had direct assists from open play; my analysis of last season showed that he was involved in a lot of goals, but much earlier in moves, often with simple passes. Lucas' goal 'involvement' figures have increased this season, and unlike Alonso, he's also been frequently getting into the opposition box.
However, he's a very different player to Alonso, and it's a shame that anything good he does is obscured by the fact that he's not Alonso.
Now, I'm not using these figures to say that Lucas is therefore the best central midfielder around, and that the sublime Cesc Fabregas, for example, is a lesser player. Lucas has played a lot of minutes this season, and that will help boost his figures.
But as some deluded soul told me earlier in the season, 'Lucas can't even play a simple five-yard pass, and doesn't even win 50% of his 50-50s'. Now, those statistics suggest otherwise. He's made 1,200 successful passes and won seven out of every ten tackles.
Indeed, in this context, they are facts, not statistics. They prove otherwise.
Javier Mascherano is also in the top five for both successful passes and tackles won.
This backs up my assertion earlier in the season that the problems with the team mostly lay elsewhere. If you have two overlapping full-backs, and an adventurous centre-back (Agger) you need a solid centre to the side.
After months out with injury, Alberto Aquilani has come in and done well, although the Bolton game seemed to pass him by at times; which, of course, is to be thoroughly expected. Arsene Wenger often states that any import should be allowed a season of adjustment.
Unfortunately for Aquilani, there was a ludicrous amount of pressure and expectation surrounding him, at a time when he had to find fitness in the first team spotlight, when that team was struggling.
But even though Bolton wasn't one of his better games, he did brilliantly to set up Dirk Kuyt, and got another 65 minutes under his belt. The Reds have won all four league games that he's started, and that bodes well; but at times, such as against Spurs, he's been deployed ahead of the midfield, and, of course, better defending as a whole has given the team the platform to go on and win these matches.
The next three games, two of which are away, are all big encounters against in-form sides. After their own injury-ravaged start to the season, which saw them languishing near the bottom of the table, Everton have hit their stride.
If Liverpool can remain undefeated and gain five points, that would satisfy me; any less could leave a gap, and any more would be a wonderful bonus, particularly as one game is the Mersey derby, and the other two are trips to Arsenal and Man City.
But in many ways these games could be what the Reds need; there's less overpowering expectation to win, and 'big game' atmospheres - which help all players - will be guaranteed.
Otherwise, one of his best pieces IMO.
And from a poster on a another forum, very good post:
Although we weren't brilliant in the first half yesterday, I was extremely happy with the second half and we seemed to find some fluidity that has been missing for some time. I was happy with the team Rafa picked to start the game for the first time in ages, and I think there were plenty of positives to take from the game.
I think crucially the balance of the side was much better and we were less rigid in the final third. I noticed Gerrard, Aquilani and Kuyt in particular swapping positions on a regular basis making them more difficult to pick up and I think Stevie benefitted from the freedom the most turning in his best performance for some time.
If you look at ths team he picked to start we had 5 attack minded players in the side in Aquilani, Gerrard, Riera, Kuyt and N'Gog. That gave us a much better balance, as did having Riera on the left and one of Kuyt and at times Gerrard on the right providing width and not allowing Bolton to bottle us up down the middle. We had a lot of joy in wide areas for once.
At times this season we've fielded as few as one or two attacking players, this was much better and several key players benefitted individually.
I think Mascherano benefitted from not having Lucas sitting on top of him, he was absolutely superb both defensively and with his passing and driving forward. Also I think if you look at the first goal Rafa's reward for picking a more attacking midfield without Lucas was Aquilani being in an attacking position to head back for Kuyt to score the first goal.
Aquilani didn't actually play very well at all, but I still think it was right to pick him and shows that particularly against teams like Bolton we need to put out an attacking lineup even if we leave a few gaps as we did when they got forward on the break a few times, and our greater quality should tell over the course of the 90 minutes. I think the first half was more down to lack of confidence.
Lucas did quite well when he came on. but generally we didn't miss him sitting alongside Mascherano at all and his non selection was hopefully proven to be a good idea for home games. I hope Rafa takes from this game that positive team selection at Anfield is an absolute must, because when the confidence came later in the game we were really good.
I think crucially the balance of the side was much better and we were less rigid in the final third. I noticed Gerrard, Aquilani and Kuyt in particular swapping positions on a regular basis making them more difficult to pick up and I think Stevie benefitted from the freedom the most turning in his best performance for some time.
If you look at ths team he picked to start we had 5 attack minded players in the side in Aquilani, Gerrard, Riera, Kuyt and N'Gog. That gave us a much better balance, as did having Riera on the left and one of Kuyt and at times Gerrard on the right providing width and not allowing Bolton to bottle us up down the middle. We had a lot of joy in wide areas for once.
At times this season we've fielded as few as one or two attacking players, this was much better and several key players benefitted individually.
I think Mascherano benefitted from not having Lucas sitting on top of him, he was absolutely superb both defensively and with his passing and driving forward. Also I think if you look at the first goal Rafa's reward for picking a more attacking midfield without Lucas was Aquilani being in an attacking position to head back for Kuyt to score the first goal.
Aquilani didn't actually play very well at all, but I still think it was right to pick him and shows that particularly against teams like Bolton we need to put out an attacking lineup even if we leave a few gaps as we did when they got forward on the break a few times, and our greater quality should tell over the course of the 90 minutes. I think the first half was more down to lack of confidence.
Lucas did quite well when he came on. but generally we didn't miss him sitting alongside Mascherano at all and his non selection was hopefully proven to be a good idea for home games. I hope Rafa takes from this game that positive team selection at Anfield is an absolute must, because when the confidence came later in the game we were really good.
And whilst Lucas added some good solidity and steadiness when he came on, in the period that he wasnt on the pitch, we didnt really miss him a great deal IMO.
All of this points to the notion that when we're looking to have a more advanced attacking mentality, Aquilani's the man for the job. He'll naturally look to get into advanced positions up the park where he can affect the game positively and in a more adventurous manner. Lucas wont do this as frequently, nor to the same level of effect. But where we're in a strong position score-wise, Lucas can come into the fold and do a very important job of solidifying everything and just using the ball sensibly.
That's not a criticism of him, as different circumstances require different levels of adventure and attack-mindedness.
It's often been said that it's unfair to expect Lucas to fulfil a role that doesnt fit in with the type of player he is, and i think that's true.
We got the balance right on Saturday and i hope this continues. Many have said it so many times, but for home games against sides like Bolton, playing both Lucas and Mascherano next to each other, really takes away from our levels of attacking threat and weakens us considerably in that department.
Best to utilise them as a pair at the right times in games - and that isnt all the time.
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