The Soccer Blog: Liverpool 3, Aston Villa 0: Taking Advantage

Monday, 6 December 2010

Liverpool 3, Aston Villa 0: Taking Advantage

By: Ed | December 6th, 2010
Britain Soccer Premier League

Liverpool take it to Villa and run away with a 3-0 victory.

As with the victory over West Ham a few weeks back, I think this has to start with an acknowledgment of the dismal form of the opposition, at least for the first 45 and the latter part of the second half. Villa looked listless and uncertain, rarely threatened goal, and seemed content to merely survive large portions of the match without putting up much of a fight.

That doesn’t take anything away from Liverpool’s performance, although I think it informs it well enough. But let’s not completely rain on the parade.

For the opening twenty minutes or so, Liverpool took advantage and more or less did what they wanted—they got forward, pressed relentlessly, and got two well-taken goals as a reward. Raul Meireles was superb in his delivery from set pieces, Ryan Babel and David Ngog were an encouraging partnership in attack, and Lucas continued his fine form in the central part of midfield.

The opener came from one of the aforementioned Meireles deliveries, and after a firm header back towards the goal by Martin Skrtel, Ngog flashed through and headed past a helpless Brad Friedel. An early goal was certainly a welcomed sight, but the concern with Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool is that there’s little sustained pressure after taking the lead—get a goal, sink back, hold on. Today we saw something different, though, and within five minutes Liverpool were able to add another within two minutes, this time from Ngog’s strike partner, who was the beneficiary of a sublime chipped through-ball from Lucas. Probably a shout for offside, but the delivery and the finish were plenty impressive.

From there things spiralled a bit—not to the extent of Wigan, but there was a noticeable let-down as the half wore on, and had Villa shown any sort of intent, it’d have been more worrying. Liverpool were sloppier and more willing to concede possession, and thankfully Villa had nothing to do with it. Up 2-0 took away the sting of it, but the “no goals against us” shout from Hodgson was a little too familiar.

It was clear that a similar message was delivered during the break, because Villa came out on the front foot to start the second half and were unfortunate not to peg one back. The best chance came from Gaby Agbonlahor after Stewart Downing played him in, but Pepe Reina did well to save from close range, and Paul Konchesky’s clearance ended the threat.

The capper would come only minutes later, with Maxi Rodriguez starting and finishing a swift counter attack. The Argentine was released by a fantastic Pepe Reina delivery, and after playing Ngog down the left, he finished with a coolly slotted effort into the far corner. You felt like Villa were only moments from getting their first, which made Maxi’s goal all the more important.

From there things went about as planned—some ebb and flow from both sides, a couple spells of pressure from Villa, a little bit of flare from Liverpool, and all-in-all a welcomed way to see out the match. A little late from Hodgson on the substitutions considering the way the match was finishing, but thankfully an uneventful finish on the whole.

This makes three matches on the trot that Lucas and Raul Meireles have absolutely dominated in central midfield, and it’s not small wonder that Liverpool have looked progressively better overall. The two have developed an excellent chemistry both moving forward and tracking back, and all that’s left now is for Meireles to capitalize on a twenty-five yarder. Lucas, more and more confident in all facets of the game, now has to be seen as one of the more influential players in the side.

The partnership of Ngog and Babel will get attention because of the goals, and rightly so, but it was the rest of the work they did today that made their performances noteworthy. Over the last two matches Babel has been consistently forward-thinking, and at times he’s almost too much so in comparison with the rest of the squad. Not a knock against him; rather, at least for me, a good indicator that he’s got plenty to contribute. The vision and stand-up play of Ngog is similarly encouraging, and positionally you have to say that he’s made tremendous strides.

There’s little that needs mentioning in defense—outside of a somewhat frantic ten minutes to open the second half, they were sturdy and did what they needed. Better from Konchesky, but I still don’t think he’s deserving of a spot in front of a fully-fit Fabio Aurelio. Good displays on the whole from Skrtel (who made his 100th appearance) and Kyrgiakos as well, even if the latter wasted a couple of chances on goal, and a solid match from Glen Johnson as well.

And even though he had little to do today outside of the save on Agbonlahor, this one ends with a nod to Pepe Reina, who marked the day with his 100th clean sheet in a Liverpool shirt. Supporters of other clubs might not share the opinion, but he’s one of my favorites, and there’s few players more deserving of such an honor. Well done, and here’s hoping for many more.

Overall, a good way to start the week, and the casual finish bodes well for a short week of rest. There was little about this match that felt intense, so hopefully everyone’s rested and raring to go come Saturday at St. James’.

And hopefully that Torres kid turned out alright.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Match Preview: Liverpool v. Aston Villa, 12.06.10Matchday: Liverpool v. Aston VillaMatch Preview: Liverpool v. Bolton, 10.31.10Matchday: Liverpool v. Manchester United**UPDATED** Liverpool 1, Arsenal 1: So, So Close

Category: Match Recaps, Miscellaneous, Premier League, Team News

Tags: David Ngog, Match Recaps, Miscellaneous, Paul Konchesky, Pepe Reina, Premier League, Raúl Meireles, Team News
« Matchday: Liverpool v. Aston Villa | Home | MartinLooking at your next 4 league fixtures -- Newcastle (a), Fulham (h), Blackpool (a), Wolves (h) -- I think there are a lot of points that are there for the taking for you guys, and I would not be surprised at all if you guys built on this performance and were knocking on the top 4's doorstep come New Year's.EdYou're always so positive, it's almost seductive. Always well appreciated, of course.

Just tell me it'll be okay, Martin.NoelIt all depends on what Hodgson does to the midfield when Gerrard comes back against Newcastle. Get through that test with the right answer and there might be some reason for a bit of short-term positivity, but I'm dubious and going to remain skeptical until a fully fit Gerrard comes back and doesn't play in the center of the park.

So, if Martin is to be soothsayer, I'd rather head that Steven will be lining up at SS or RAM.JoelReally hope that Gerrard is at RAM- Kuyt needs a break and Gerrard would bring Kuyt's work rate along with the quick passing of Maxi to the right flank.RedLiverBirdFCI only saw the goal highlights and those were quite close to being magical. Lucas has really come of age by the looks of it.redtrev73Delightful 3 points, it must be said. Felt a bit sorry for Ged tonight...the poor old chap looked even more forlorn and in need of a nice mug of cocoa than woy. Raul and lucas were impressive again, especially the brazilian, who is developing the happy knack of vital hamann-esque foot-ins at key moments. Hats off to the two lads up top who both worked hard and showed real quality. If it was always thus our striker crisis would be far less pronounced. Dirky was quiet again by his own industrious standards but maxi showed quite a few glimpses of class on the opposite flank. Jonno was solid and looked his usual threatening self in the oppo's half whilst soto and skrtel dominated easily and konchesky had his best game in red. Overall then a good night's work marred only by a vomit-inducing MNF analysis and interview with woy...tell me i wasn't the only one who found the fawning attitude of old hairy hands and tek-a-boo-son impossible to take. The elevation of the hodge was hard enough to stomach but the hatchet-job on rafa was buttock-clenchingly embarrassing...what a pair of gimps.
Anyway, nice work redmen and congrats to nando and his missus on the new arrivalNoelHappy for the three, but another match that doesn't actually tell us all that much. Still would be nice to see Liverpool impose themselves for more of the match in a situation like that. Seeing as it was decidedly a narrow affair again, and with how well Meireles and Lucas paired, I suspect just about everybody's on the same page with wanting to see them stick together in midfield with Gerrard in one of the more attacking midfield slots when he does return--either that or just give him a free striker role. Whether Martin Tyler's Monkey will allow Hodgson to use him like that or demand he replace one of Lucas or Meireles is another matter entirely.

And who exactly Martin Tyler's Monkey is in this scenario is actually rather uncertain, now that I look at it.Red2death3-0. As far as papering over the cracks is concerned, this was a good piece of papering.

I like how the players are coming together. Squad is strong. For all the doom and gloom surrounding LFC, our problems are really only one-man deep.EDDIEAnother great home performance!. i'd love babel to start more often. He definatly should start against newcastle, due from his last two performances. He deserves to play upfront alongside torres, as that could be potentially devastating to defences!

ideally i'd love to play the barca formation of 4-3-3 to accomodate the recent good performances of lucas/meireles/babel. I just hope we see this formation at some point:
--------------Reina---------------
Johnson----Carra--agger-----koncheskey

--------------Lucas--------------
-------Gerrard------Meireles-------

Cole------------------------Babel---
--------------Torres------------------

as much as many have criticised woy hodgson, including myself, i do believe that we are seeing some rewards, from his management.
ok, our away form is still bad, he has made dodgy transfers, daft comments etc

However i can also see some huge positives:
-i think he has realised long ball fulham rubbish doesnt work at all, and has started playing passing attractive football. which we havnt seen since that season we almost won the prem, and beat real madrid 5-0
- He has totally transformed the levels of performances of mediocre players under rafa.. Maxi, Kyrgiakos, Lucas, Ngog, Babel. now all look like they could become v.important players for us.
- He has given youth a chance this season, (something which we havnt seen in over 10 years) Shelvey, Kelly, wilson, ecclestone, pacheco(half chance!), spearing. I'd also like to point out that senior players like meireles is now looking a class act.

We're sitting in 8th, doesnt make good reading, HOWEVER. only 10 points of top of the league (hopeful), and 7 points behind 4th spot. With some new transfers in jan, hopefully we can really start kicking on, in addition to our improved players, and lets hope we continue to play this attractive football, in away games aswell as home games.

last but not least, is xabi alonso getting home sick? SIGN HIM UP!

JoelI don't really think Roy has the tactical nous to make any significant departures from a 442, so I think we're going to be limited to 442, 4222, or 4411/4231.

For our personnel, our best formation right now is 4222. Lucas-Raul should be our set CM partnership as they are absolutely bang on form right now and both speak the same pass and move language. They are nearly telepathic in covering for each other and being available for short interplay to move the ball quickly through midfield. The attacking two are where we can vary the lineup quite a bit. In my view, Gerrard should be deployed at RAM in this formation- we tend to play down the right so he would be on the ball very frequently, and he would also be able to drift a bit more infield on the attack, as we have Johnson providing the width down the right. At the LAM spot, its a tough call between Babel and Maxi on current form. Maxi has been great around the box and linking up, but Babel brings more natural width and pace to the team, and is also able to link up just as well as Maxi. Ngog-Torres would be most effective up top, but Babel can play there as well.

We can do the same in a 4231, with Gerrard centrally, and Babel/Maxi (preferably) on the wings. However, the problem here is that with how Roy wants to play, Ngog or Babel are more effective as a second striker because of their back to goal play- which isn't Gerrard's strong point. I just don't have confidence in Roy getting the best out of our players with this formation currently.

For me, all signs point to 4222 with our current team/manager, the only question is whether he has the balls to put Gerrard on the right and limit Cole to sub appearances until he gels with the rest of the team.Jay WrightMy plaudits are mainly for the first half where we battered Villa before withdrawing by another 15-20 yards and just conceding possession to Villa, with Hodgson content with the result.

Meireles and Lucas have easily been the best partnership in the centre of the park for us, and if we're not going to finally switch to a 433 formation, then it would be unfair to have Gerrard just slot back into the middle at the expense of one of them. Today was their best performance and they totally dominated the game for the first 45 minutes.

It was nice to see Babel finally given a start with the first team and he didn't show any drop off from Torres' performances this season. Ngog also put himself about to good effect, while Maxi had a good goal during a pretty anonymous performance.

Funnily enough, Johnson showed more attacking intent when we sat back in the 2nd half than when we were dominating the first half, but Kuyt was extremely disappointing throughout againEdGood note about Kuyt (and in general)--in my rush to get this up before I left work, completely forgot about him. Hopefully just working back to fitness.blog comments powered by Disqus