Gerrard on shaky ground in the middle
The difference is that they scored twice. Last season they failed to score more than once in 14 out of 19 home matches in the league, and drew six at home 1-1. 2-2 is probably some kind of improvement.
Rodgers made the right choice in selecting Raheem Sterling over Stewart Downing, and Joe Allen is plainly an improvement on Charlie Adam or Jay Spearing. Fabio Borini is thus far not much more effective than Andy Carroll but lacks Carroll’s tragic air of haplessness and is overall a less demoralising presence.
So far the decisions for Rodgers have all been easy, but the arrival of Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid makes things a little more complicated. On the form he showed for Dortmund in their 2010 Bundesliga-winning campaign, Sahin will walk in to Liverpool’s three-man midfield. Once Lucas Leiva returns from the injury that forced him off against City, Rodgers will be faced with a selection dilemma.
In Sahin, Allen, Lucas and Steven Gerrard he will have four midfielders who expect to be first choice and only three places for them. That’s before you consider the claims of those who don’t expect to be first-choice, like Shelvey, Spearing and Henderson.
The player who is least suited to the style of football Rodgers is trying to implement is Steven Gerrard. The reasons why could be seen in the lead-up to Manchester City’s first equaliser. Liverpool won the ball back and attacked from their own half, with Gerrard trying to initiate a move with a quick pass into space ahead of a team-mate breaking on the left.
But Gerrard was slightly off-balance as he hit this too-ambitious pass, City intercepted and attacked, and seconds later, as Liverpool’s wrong-footed defence was forced into a series of errors, they had the ball in the net. A safe ball to feet would have seen Liverpool moving forward more slowly, keeping the ball.
It was a moment that summed up what is good and bad about Gerrard as a player. He sees opportunities on the pitch and he’s always brave enough to try to make it happen, which is why his highlights reel is full of first-time through-balls on the gallop and shots smashed in from unlikely positions. But he lacks an understanding of when he should go for it and when he should play it safe. As long as Gerrard is in the midfield three, Rodgers’ team will never keep possession as reliably as he’d like.
The solution is to play Gerrard on the right, where his ability to score goals and deliver dangerous passes will be emphasised over his dubious decision-making. Gerrard won the PFA Player of the Year award playing in a similar position in 2006, but has never seemed happy to play out there. The problem is that he seems to see being asked to play wide as a bitter insult rather than the most intelligent way to maximise his strengths and minimise his weaknesses. Maybe the smooth-talking Rodgers will have more luck than previous managers in helping his captain to see the light.
