It suits our current set of players without a doubt and I'd like to move away from the back 5 when Coutinho is fit. If we stick with that formation and drop Hendo for Coutinho we may leave the defenders exposed through the middle, however there are 3 of them so they should be able to cope.
If you were a neutral, that was probably an enjoyable match. Newcastle were twatting us until the sending off. It was a foul and it was a sending off. After that, we should have won. I thought Skrtel was superb.
Three at the back is enough cover but leaves us a bit flat. The CBs and a DM is a better defensive shape IMO
http://basstunedtored.com/2013/10/20/newcastle-united-2-liverpool-2-stats-zone-analysis/ [HR][/HR] Newcastle United 2 Liverpool 2: Stats Zone Analysis Having enjoyed watching Liverpoolâs match at St James Park, I felt afterwards that the Reds had played reasonably well, albeit it was something of a missed opportunity not to win having faced only ten men for half of the game. I was therefore surprised to log on to a Twitter timeline full of very strong criticism for the performance. I know I can be guilty of over-relying on the stats to assess how Liverpool play, but the numbers certainly demonstrate that Brendan Rodgersâ team did quite a bit right. In the first half, the shot tally was pretty equal, with the Geordies shading it nine to seven (excluding Liverpoolâs penalty) What matters most though are shots in the box, and the Reds lead this by six to nil in the first forty-five minutes: please log in to view this image Unfortunately for Liverpool, Cabaye was able to score with a shot that started outside of the above picture, never mind the penalty box! I keep fluctuating between blaming and pitying Mignolet for the goal, but itâs certainly fair to say he probably didnât have the best view of it, and thatâs before it swerved away from him and towards the corner. please log in to view this image Of far greater concern than the goalkeeperâs level of culpability is the way that Cabaye was able to waltz across the pitch before letting fly. please log in to view this image We can see in the image on the left that Cabaye received the ball when only just inside the Liverpool half. Prior to this weekend, just five of the ninety-nine chances that have been created outside of the final third were scored in the Premier League this season, illustrating how rare it is to pick up the ball in an area such as this and be able to score. Yet the formerly want-away Frenchman did exactly that, and left Liverpool to try to get their way back into the match. The Reds were able to do that just before half time, as Steven Gerrard scored his 100th Premier League goal from the penalty spot. The Liverpool skipper now has eight goals against Newcastle, meaning that he is only scored more against Aston Villa. More on him later⦠Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was sent off as a result of giving away the penalty, leaving with the Reds around fifty minutes to break down the Geordies. Itâs something of a cliché, but I think this was a match where facing ten men hindered Liverpool, rather than helped them. Newcastle have been giving away a lot of shots and goals this season, and at home they would normally be expected to open up and attack. But with a point to protect, and then two more once they had taken the lead, the Magpies were happy to defend in numbers to try to see the match out, as this screen shot illustrates well: please log in to view this image Liverpool have the ball about thirty five yards from goal, and eight of Newcastleâs nine out-fielders are behind the ball, including the back four who are very close together in the area in order to deny the Reds any space. Liverpool had more than enough of the ball in the second half (by completing more passes in the opening seven minutes than Newcastle did in the whole of the second period), but were unable to create many goalscoring opportunities in the best areas. Although Liverpool created twelve open play chances in the second half, compared to just four in the opening forty-five minutes, seven of them were outside the penalty area, which demonstrates how well the Geordies were keeping Rodgersâ men at bay. please log in to view this image The Reds attempted a very high twelve through balls during the match but only completed three; they may have had more joy going wide to stretch the defence more. The second equaliser was an example of the benefits of going a little wider, and Cissokho created his first chance of the season from a similar place, only for Suárez to strike the bar. Liverpool had to settle for a point, and whilst they are still two points up on last seasonâs corresponding fixtures overall, this definitely felt like a âwhat might have beenâ match. Newcastle deserve a lot of credit though, as they defended very well once they were reduced to ten men, and so were good value for their point. My Stats Zone Star Man for the Reds this week is Steven Gerrard; for Liverpool the skipper attempted (99) and completed (90) the most passes overall, the most passes in the final third (finding a colleague with 39 out of his total of 45), created the most chances (six) and made the most tackles (4). He also set new records for 2013/14 pass combinations too, so is fully deserving of the accolade this week.
With the first goal, I was screaming at the ****ing telly for them to close the **** down. What the **** has happened to all the supposed 'pressing high up the pitch'?
Moses, Henderson and Gerrard didn't do their job. In such a system, if one person fails to close down, then it collapses. Moses is not known for his defensive abilities, and once he's beaten, it means the opposition can double on our midfield. Almost like the 'domino' effect.
pressing is gone with 3 at the back.. or should i say 5.... the middle is complete shot in our team and newcastle owned us for 40mins... Moses is awful in this system btw.. useless. once they had a guy sent off rodgers should have hauled off a CB at half time, you should always go for width when confronted with 10 men defending like that.
Not that I think BR's doing a bad job, but he screwed up against Newcastle. Moses should never play at number 10, he took far too long to change things up with subs and 3 CBs still on the pitch for 30 minutes after the sending off was criminal. High field pressing has been absent for some time now, to be honest. Gerrard can't do it and Moses isn't a middle of the park player. Lucas and Hendo can't do it alone because otherwise they leave huge gaps which aren't filled. Since we've changed formation, we look more of a counter attacking side rather than the slow build up team we used to be. We look dangerous on the break, but don't control the midfield or the game as well.
I can't believe in the second half we came out still with a 5-3-2 formation against 10 ****ing men. ludicrous. Only when we hauled off a defender and got some width did we start looking dangerous. Rogers makes some seriously bizarre decisions sometimes
I thought that rodgers was waiting for 60mins or something..... i think maybe he thought he''d got it won at 10men and not to tinker? I didn't get it but moses was so bad and he refused point blank 5 times to use the overlap with cissohko and just turned insde and passed back too. I seriously wanted a change. I would have let newkie come out and set up and then make a sub on 50mins maybe ok i could get that but we f'd it up IMO.
may i ask one question... why was Krul not booked in that game for time wasting. one one occasion it took 2 mins to take a goal kick. he basically walked out to get a ball, walked back to the opposite side of the goal and set it all up. he continued to go this while the 4th official laughed with pardew right up to the 94th minute. He should have been booked MUCH earlier
Third time in last couple of years he's done that against us too. In one of the games, he was time wasting at 0-0 in the sixth minute
We could argue that Gerard should have seen red. Granted his first one was definitely not a booking but second half we were countering and he made a tactical, professional foul to prevent our breakaway. Referee bottled it as he knew he got the first decision wrong, doesn't mean he shouldn't have produced the second yellow though as two wrongs don't make a right. Good game though and thought a draw was fair
On Krul though, his distribution is just very poor in general so he tends to take his time. Not saying that he wasn't time wasting and shouldn't have been booked but at 2-1 and at 2-2 with only 10 men I think every keeper in the league would do the same.
Out of the loop, but what's happened to Lucas? Injured on international duty? Didn't see the game, but from reading the comments so far, we played **** but still grabbed a point.. I'll take that!
I agree every keeper would. however it is the referee's job to see it as it was so very clear and deal with it. if you can say oh gerrard ought to be sent off for frankly a marginal foul that was indeed deliberate i am perfectly in my rights to point out the ref utterly bottled dealing with obvious time wasting. not only that he waved at least two yellows that were just nowhere near a cardable offense and all because he'd given a pen... which the newcastle fans were not even that on his case about. it was IMO as bad a day at the office as the ref who made a mistake for the Chelsea game. just different reasons. finally i hink i am on record above stating cealr lfc mucked this up totally and frankly didn't even deserve a draw.
