Why Liverpool’s Midfield Trio could be key

*This was wrote before the Stoke game, but I was unable to post it as I was hit by a virus. Don't want to turn this in to a 'Henderson is not worth £20m' thread, I'm just optimistically assessing the qualities that I believe the trio bring to the field, cheers. Don't like to 'blatantly advertise' too much so I thought I'd post up the article in full but if you could visit my site it would be appreciated - http://bloglfc.co.uk/ *

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Liverpool’s summer signings of Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson mean that they’re certainly not short of options in the centre of midfield.

Steven Gerrard remains a key player for the Reds where as another central player Lucas was awarded Liverpool’s player of the season for some great performances last season.

So the main question will be how will all these players play? And I think a midfield trio looks to be the answer with the Reds already deploying this system early on in the season.

With each player possessing contrasting styles of player to each other I believe that they could complement each other perfectly to create a midfield trio that has become increasingly popular in the world of football with the most famous example of the system being used at Barcelona with Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

Lucas looks set to continue doing what he does best and will sit the deepest of the midfield trio in a defensive role where he can break up opposition play whilst Charlie Adam will take up the ‘Xabi Alonso’ role as a deep lying playmaker, sitting back for the majority of the game but being able to dictate the game with his range of passing. Henderson/Gerrard will have a more advanced role going forward with the other two sitting deeper and will have more freedom in attack, often venturing forward.

Lucas

Lucas is a player that was often criticised for his early performances as a Liverpool player but over recent years you can see he has blossomed as a player and just why he was awarded the club’s Player of the Season award as well as being a Brazilian international.

Like I have already said, Lucas’ role will work in conjunction with the deep lying style of Charlie Adam and should Henderson attack the system could easily adapt in to that similar to the Rafa Benitez’ 4-2-3-1 tactic with Lucas playing the Mascherano role and Adam playing that the Alonso role.

Lucas is not just a tough-tackling, hard working defensive minded player however and is a very neat passer of the ball, one aspect of his game which has improved. A ‘side-ways’ passer he may be and we should not expect anything spectacular from Lucas going forward but his neat and tidy play will allow Charlie Adam the opportunity to pick up the ball deep and start Liverpool’s attack.

Here is a look at the stats for the Brazilian in the recent games against Arsenal and Bolton:

v Arsenal – 79 Touches, 87% Pass Accuracy, 8 tackles won

Not only did he manage almost double the amount of tackles won than any other Liverpool player but he also proved that he can be a neat player and passer of the ball with a fantastic 79 touches and 87% pass completition (only Henderson had greater) and I expect to see similar statistics for the midfield in the future

v Bolton – 86 Touches, 81% Pass Accuracy, 4 tackles won

Another great performance by the player who was my Man of the Match for the game. Despite not producing fireworks as we expected, this performance summed up the midfielder for me. Although Bolton were largely quiet in attack I think Lucas’ hard work should not go un-noticed as he was there on almost every occasion to break up any potential attack attacking almost as a ‘sweeper’ for Liverpool.

Charlie Adam

Upon the arrival of the midfielder many questions were raised whether he would be able to replicate his impressive form at Blackpool whilst playing for a larger club and I think it’s fair to say that if his early performances are anything to go by then Adam will provide to be a bargain for Liverpool.

Playing as a deep lying playmaker in midfield you can already see just why he has been hailed as Liverpool’s new Xabi Alonso with the midfielder dictating play in all three matches so far showing an impressive array of passing that Liverpool’s forwards will thrive on this season. Again, we’ll take a look at the Scotsman’s statistics in the past two games for the Reds.

v Arsenal - 98 Touches, 81% Pass Accuracy, 5 (100%) Tackles won, 100% Aerial Duels won

Going back to the original point of whether he could perform at a bigger club, the Sky Sports pundit made a very interesting point prior to the Arsenal game questioning whether the Premier League’s bigger teams such as Arsenal would allow Charlie Adam the freedom and space required to dictate the game like he did last year and whether they would set up to counter the threat of Adam. The argument was soon put to bed with Adam putting in a match-winning performance against Arsenal, dominating the midfield and looking an exciting player in attack. What impressed me most however was the improvement in his defensive play winning 100% aerial duels and tackles as last year he was one of the players who had committed the most fouls in the Premier League.

v Bolton – 58 Touches, 81% Pass Accuracy, 100% Aerial Duels won

Once again another fantastic performance where Adam controlled the game from midfield once again. One of the main talents we could see from this game was his fantastic vision for a pass and capability of producing a fantastic long ball with fantastic passes to Luis Suarez who was unable to control the ball and Stewart Downing who earned a dangerous free kick being two passes of note. Once again Adam put in a very strong defensive performance winning all his Aerial duels once again.

Jordan Henderson

A lot of people have been criticising the young English man who carries a reportedly large transfer fee although I feel some fans have been harsh and are not taking in to account his style of play. Henderson certainly isn’t no Steven Gerrard, you won’t be seeing 30 yard thunderbolts and 60 yard passes although I feel what he does bring helps the team a lot with balance in midfield.

Henderson is a tidy player who likes to play neat short passes and his movement is also impressive in his movement in midfield, finding space and holes in the centre and right of the midfield. Henderson has already shown a number of qualities aside from his passing with him scoring a technically great goal against Bolton and showing he can provide a good cross from out wide, almost setting up Kuyt in the same game. Once again we’ll look at his statistics.

v Arsenal – 90% Pass Accuracy, 77 Touches

In this particular match Henderson was relatively quiet although to many his performance wouldn’t have gone un-noticed, whilst Lucas broke up opposition attacks and Adam created our own, Henderson was the player that tidily linked all the play together, with a number of neat one-twos and some impressive distributions to the midfielders.

v Bolton – 71% Pass Accuracy, 61 Touches, 2 Tackles won

In this match Henderson saw much less of the ball than against Arsenal with most of Liverpool’s play coming down the left flank with some impressive performances from Enrique, Adam and Downing. Henderson however showed his qualities as I mentioned before with some impressive movement and an impressive goal, he also showed that he can play as a right midfielder because of his delivery, providing a swerving ball that was inches away from being converted in to a goal from Dirk Kuyt.

As a Trio

v Arsenal – 254 Touches (Average 85), 86% Average Pass Accuracy, 13 tackles won

v Bolton – 205 Touches (Average 68), 78% Pass Accuracy, 6 tackles won

As a trio I believe that they will only improve and becoming a key part of Liverpool’s team. With a great mixture of balance which is aided by Charlie Adam’s left foot I feel that this could be a combination that could result in success for the Reds this season

 

A good read and some good points...

Always been a Lucas fan, even from the start. Adams is a bit slow in his movement but this is off set with his ability to spot a pass and deliver it. Henderson will only get better and with time. He just looks hurried at times, but that will come with playing more.

We look a better side for them in it, so it can only be a good sign...

 

I would concentrate on Adam and Henderson moreso than Lucas. I'll tell you why. Lucas has played 4 out of the five games we've played this season and has played at the same standard in all four of them. Have Adam and Henderson? No they haven't.
The key to our wins this season, has been the performances of Adam and Henderson. When both play well for 90 minutes, we won, when both don't perform for 90 minutes or at all e.g. last saturday at Stoke, as both were dreadful, we don't.
Even against Exeter, the midfield trio was Adam, Henderson and Jay Spearing deputising for Lucas. Both Adam and Henderson played well. I reckon that if both Henderson and Adam play well, Liverpool will play well. That midfield can be altered with Gerrard playing in front of Adam and Lucas, or Shelvey whom I'm convinced is Raul Mereiles replacement playing in front of Lucas and Gerrard.
So if Adam and Henderson play for 90 minutes tomorrow like they did against Arsenal, then we'll win.

 

Elp - Do you think the Spurs will play a pressing game or play an open game...??? If they press us back then i can see Adam having a big say in it. He will be able to hit the balls over the top, or down the channels to hit the front men...

If we know Harry then he will play 2 wide men and the two in midfield wih Adebayor up front with Defo/vdv alongside... It may well give us the space to exploit there back four... Its going to be a big test for us tom, but one im looking froward to...

 

Got to be honest, in Lucas' first two seasons I didn't rate him. Ever since him and Masch overran Manure I've thought differently. He will always get at least 7 out of 10. Adam and Henderson are both finding their feet, but at least they ARE finding their feet not like Joe Cole or countless others who came with pedigree and you could see from very early on they were doomed. Eg Keane, Kewell, Diouf etc.

The OP highlights how important the midfield 3 will be but maybe it should be the attacking five because that will be where we win or lose games. The interchanging between the two attacking midfielders, wingers, man-in-the-hole and striker will determine how successful we will be this season. For too many seasons we have lacked creativity and when was the last time we came back from a goal down? Spurs, on paper, should be a tough but winnable game.

 

Spurs no longer have the players or the players available to play a pressing game, they've sold Palacios and Sandro is out injured. I reckon we should press them as we've had success at WHL when we've dominated the middle of the park.
Every time they've beaten us at WHL since 2008-2009, they've dominated the central midfield. Our central midfield in my opinion is second to Man Citys. I reckon if both Adam and Henderson can possibly put in a performance similar to the one they put in against Bolton, then we'll have far too much for Spurs.