The Soccer Blog: Manchester City 3, Liverpool 0: Not Really Worth Waiting For

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

Manchester City 3, Liverpool 0: Not Really Worth Waiting For

By: Ed | August 23rd, 2010

Oh dear.

And here I thought I’d be able to celebrate the first time I’ve delayed watching an entire match.

It turned out to be extremely disappointing, as Liverpool were overrun and outclassed in nearly every regard. Not going to waste any time here—some recapped thoughts in no certain order.

An Admission of Guilt

Unfortunately I was accurate in my guess at a switch to the 4-4-2 and painfully inaccurate that it could have been effective. Given the personnel available (read: missing Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani), I had thought it would give Liverpool a chance to at least push forward a bit while not completely losing the midfield battle. To be fair to myself, I had predicted Kuyt off Torres and Maxi wide. Not that it turned out to matter.

It was utterly and completely wrong, and it’s foolish to argue otherwise. Nothing went right with the personnel or the tactics—City were dominant with their midfield three, and there was no hope for Lucas or Steven Gerrard to anything that resembled linking play. In an ideal world (which this clearly is not), that formation would have been able to at least force the issue at times.

But they weren’t, Roberto Mancini and his side had it completely right, and Liverpool were embarrassed. The possession battle was comical , there were no chances for the interplay that we had hoped for between any of the forward men, and no real glimpses of hope for Liverpool to claw back into things. I ended up cursing myself for the naïveté of even suggesting this Liverpool side could stay competitive with such a shift.

Width, and a Lack Thereof

There was nothing doing for Dirk Kuyt and Milan Jovanovic, mentioned plenty by those in the matchday thread. It seemed that a good part of it was down to the fact that they were tasked with tracking back and assisting Gerrard and Lucas in the middle rather than staying forward and creating chances. That pretty much took all the life out of Liverpool from the wide areas, neutering any influence they could have had from more advanced roles. Having to subtract a wide player to compensate for being overrun in the middle absolutely killed Liverpool.

I admittedly am not a noted tactical wizard (see above), but it was clear that this was not the way forward. And it seemed to be that way early and often, and nothing was really done to change it. If this is going to be the formation Hodgson uses (which history would indicate), then you’d have to think that more money will be invested in wide players with the pace to compensate. But this is Liverpool, and the promise of transfer funds has likely been greatly exaggerated, and they’re going to have to make due with what they’ve got.

Anonymity in Attack

Briefly, the end product of the above two areas was a paucity of real chances when it mattered. Both Torres and David Ngog were starved of any service worth mentioning, and the only real threat came after Gerrard hit the post and the follow-ups by the two strikers were saved by Joe Hart. It wasn’t just down to a lack of influence from the strike partnership—there was nothing to back them up, nothing to free them, and nothing to be encouraged by.

Trouble at the Back

A weakness largely down to the dreadfully undermanned midfield, but still a less than stellar performance from a normally-reliable defense. Gareth Barry was a lonesome figure waiting to slot home the first, Pepe Reina had a bit of a clanger on the second goal credited to Carlos Tevez, and Skrtel’s tackle that led to the third, while not completely inexcusable, was the most unfortunate of ways to cap things.

But there were noticeable problems outside of the goals—mostly the troubles for Daniel Agger at left back. It’s not entirely down to Agger, as an on-form Adam Johnson can give even the most experienced left back problems. The struggles by the Dane were notable, though, and it cried out again for depth at a position that Liverpool have still not adequately addressed. To say it was an off night for the Liverpool back line takes credit away from City, who were overwhelming at times in attack, but this was not a Liverpool defense we’re used to seeing.

A Day of Disquiet

From the early rumors about Mascherano refusing to play (explained in none too encouraging fashion by Hodgson afterwards) to the laughably premature calls for Hodgson’s job, it’s been another day to forget in a year of forgettable days. As it relates to the club, there’s nothing more divisive than a bad Liverpool performance—supporters at each others throats about who’s to blame, who’s a real fan, who’s right about who’s wrong; the rumors of further unrest from players that desire more; the accustomed schadenfreude from the usual suspects and talk of a once-proud club that’s now past its expiration date of relevance.

And sadly enough there’s grains of truth to most of it. It’s true that much of the early optimism, buouyed by Joe Cole’s arrival and encouraging displays against elementary opposition, is either fading or gone entirely. But even though it’s slightly hollow and naïve to say after such a poor performance, there’s also plenty of football left to be played and plenty of time to Liverpool to right the ship, even if that righting is a painful process.

Thanks to all who shared their thoughts in the matchday post—more to come tomorrow and leading up to the difficult trip to the Black Sea on Thursday.

Category: Match Recaps, Premier League, Team News

Tags: Daniel Agger, David Ngog, Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres, Glen Johnson, Jamie Carragher, Lucas, Martin Škrtel, Match Recaps, Milan Jovanovic, Pepe Reina, Premier League, Steven Gerrard, Team News
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Anglepeter1Sorry better link..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov8FeODxyXUPeterangle1We will improve..we have to!

Nice footy song..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov8FeODxyXUEdIs this some sort of metaphor about being in the trenches during a tough spell or just, you know, spam?

Either way, I'm hooked, and how could you not be: "I wish that I had wings and could fly right out of here." Brilliantgooneroidpepe reina lets in another soft goal through his legs, i am pleased. maybe the only way to lift the jinx will be to have himself filmed forcing a barca shirt onto mascherano? no wait a minute, mascherano probably already got one on....EdThis is profound stuff. Please, do share more.soccergirlYes I agree that Liverpool were totally dominated in the midfield, they were without Mascherona. It does not help teams when the transfer market deadline date is disrupting the new season.simonGreat blog. And that was a very good article. But, man, a sad one too.

I don't know how the commentary feeds work (who gets which voices, etc), but the English guys we had for the broadcast in South Africa could not get over their hangups on Torres. Granted, he may not have won the game single-handedly as he sometimes can, but the continuous negative press he received was outrageous!adamI don't think there is any doubt that we're going to start seeing people question Roy's tactical skills, both in the media and on the internet message boards. What frustrating is that so many are willing to just jump on the first bandwagon they find. Rafa was tactically brilliant but stubborn so people said Liverpool need a "motivator", whatever the hell that means. Now we have someone with a personality that most pundits can at least being to relate to but it seems we'll crucify the man for not having the tactical skills of the manager we so happily disposed of. People just seem to want someone to blame, something to complain about and it drives me up to wall.
Do I have a point? I'm not sure. There is no point speculating that this kind of result would not have happened if Benitez was still around, we're stuck with this manager and this squad. There is also little point crucifying Roy for his formation/tactical shortcomings, his strengths are in other areas and no manager will ever be perfect. All we can do is wait to see how the team reacts and ideally hold off on serious judgement of the club until the Christmas period. It would be unfair and really quite premature to do otherwise.steven.changing a formation is one of the hardest things to do to a group of players that are used to playing one rigid system .. Benitez was an obvious 4-5-1 manager and stuck to that and drilled it into the players ..

if Roy is going to employ a 4-4-2, which despite it's detractors can be a solid formation if deployed correctly, it's going to take some fine tuning .. my only fear, and sorry if this keeps any of you up at night, is that we don't have the players to do it effectively ..HuilikkongThe fact of losing the game. For me, not because Liverpool lacking of money to buy player. Even they got enough money to buy still they lose this game. Why, firstly Liverpool's tactic & strategic really looks...'suck' (sorry to say the word). Second, get rid of the player which couldn't perform (too many rubbish's player). Thirdly, I never expect Liverpool will win this match & not even a draw. I just hope, it is time to let the young players to shine for Liverpool. It is transition time for Liverpool FC & also critical time for the club to those whosover wanted to take over Liverpool. In the other word, the Club itself is in LIMBO....brentonwaltersTotal tactical failure by Hodgson, and nothing in the second half to show that he learned from the first half.

Do all English announcers have hard-ons for Gerrard? And do they all lack a basic tactical understanding of the game? I don't think many Liverpool players had bad games, they just weren't able to overcome a tactical deficit.

And both Barry and Milner had good games; that's gotta hurt for Villa fans.EdFrom my perspective, 1) yes and 2) a good amount do.

At times it's absolutely gross to hear announcers defend SG when he's throwing himself to the ground and furrowing his small forehead at the referee. I love the guy, but he gets away with murder (and apparently assault, too. Pow!).

And I hope that above I relayed exactly what you said: "I don't think many Liverpool players had bad games, they just weren't able to overcome a tactical deficit." Just overmatched in that regard--against a side like City that's going to be punished more often than not, and as Martin noted below (or above), it's very often at the Eastlands.brentonwaltersYah, it was just what the announcers would go on about, the lack of effort/skill/good game on the part of the players. Any poor passing or running was really down to where the players were and where the space was.DougA real half-hearted effort from the Red today. However, I must say they were quite unlucky to bang in a goal but for Hart's efforts. I think the game would most definitely have swung our way in terms of positive play and effort if we could have knocked that goal in. After that it just seemed like the players felt that was their only chance to get in it...Arsenal OffsideI feel like what Liverpool was really lacking today was an anorexic Willem Defoe look-alike who can dribble around for 10 seconds then give the ball away. If only such a player were on his way...

In all seriousness, that was a tough loss. But I think all the hysteria is a bit overblown. Arsenal is a tough side, and to hold out for a point there with 10 men for more than half the game isn't too bad. And Manchester City is just brutally tough at home -- they have absolutely taken Arsenal behind the woodshed every time we've been up to Eastlands the past few years, and on their day, they can beat anyone up there. The schedulemakers didn't do you guys any favor with these first 2 games, but hopefully now the team can settle in and take care of business against some less demanding foes.Justin BLooking back at my excitement to have both N'gog and Torres on the pitch at the same time it was completely mitigated once I saw what was happening in the midfield for the entire game. My biggest disappointment was the lack of adjustments made by Woy. We were getting absolutely destroyed with their 3v2 (essentially a 4v2 once Tevez dropped back to pick up the ball). I'm gutted. I'm having nightmares of last season all over again. FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, SOMEONE PLEASE BUY LIVERPOOL!!!JohnWell, if RB had still been here, this result would probably have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Hodgson is a decent man, but in the end he's just not good enough for Liverpool--nor is he a product of the boot room or "the Liverpool way" (so there isn't any "natural" empathy there). The decision to let Aquilani go (one of the potentially best players) was quite bewildering.

Why oh why didn't they accept Dalglish's offer? He would have the whole team snarling with a siege mentality by now. Even if Kenny had lost to City 3-0 I would still have felt there was hope for the future: that he still had magic to work. About RH I feel nothing.steven.the 'Liverpool Way' can be a steep learning curve .. both Rafa and Houllier had to take the test on more than one occasion and eventually they both passed .. Roy might need to peek off a paper or two but i'm stil hopeful he'll come good ..RedandDreadWell articlulated-I have not seen Liverpool dominated through possession like this for a long time. I would say one thing though that apart from a brief riposte at going 2 nil down there was little that was energetic about this Liverpool performance-that was disappointing.NoelSince I think I've already said all I can stomach on the subject for the time being (aside from perhaps clarifying that as frustrating as today was, it should go without saying that it's too soon to start screaming to get rid of Roy even if negatives such as today's tactical choices are turning out to be frustratingly difficult for me to seperate from the giant steaming pile that is everything else), I'll go all tangental and speculate that Fabio Capello would rather like a do-over right about now.EdTaking that one step further, I can't fathom what Bob Bradley was doing starting Ricardo Clark against Ghana. Shocking.

Took some time reading through your posts in the earlier thread--as with many of the folks that have started to hang around semi-regularly, insightful stuff.

Understood that it's not worth the time to completely rehash here, but for those just checking this post, visit the matchday thread for some really solid user-driven discussion.

Well done, peoples.NoelHeh, perhaps I should have been clearer that it was still a tangent intended to be related to the match at issue. Which is to say I was really commenting on Joe Hart's apparent competence. Sort of.EdWell then that's not tangential at all, that's just circumstantial, and I've been duped.Mister OnionsI was VERY surprised Roy suddenly decided to go 4-4-2. It could have worked with Maxi in for Ngog. Either Kuyt or Maxi would have been better helping out the midfield. I hope Roy has learned from this, 4-4-2 away from home is not a good idea.

For me, 4-2-3-1 works, or with a slight adjustment, 4-1-4-1. I don't see many top teams using 4-4-2 and winning things.

The other thing I find slightly puzzling is that Aquilani has been loaned out and we are now short in midfield if Masha goes. Plus it takes us so long to do anything in the transfer market we probably won't sign anyone else until January.LadyArseMidtable at best!C1TY SL1CKERBest article on the match I've seen.

Gerrard impressed me and Torres showed obvious signs of class.

Fortunately for us, it just seemed a bad day at the office for Liverpool.

Cheers for the article,

C1TY SL1CKERblog comments powered by Disqus