Gerrard, Sakho, Cou and Henderson...Questions and Answers

Liverpool's 5-0 demolition job at White Hart Lane provided Liverpool fans with much to savour and a few things to ponder. Below I take a look at what Sunday's match proved and what lies around the corner for Liverpool.

Liverpool can cope without Gerrard against top sides

Joe Allen, Lucas Leiva and Jordan Henderson don’t have the same quality as Steven Gerrard. Nor do they posses the same levels of experience. Individually none are likely to achieve close to what the Liverpool skipper has in his career. That said, the midfield trio showed that took to the field against Spurs showed that what they do posses as a group is the one thing that Gerrard lacks these days: Dynamism.

Against better sides this season, Gerrard has copped some criticism. He’s looked immobile and unable to press effectively against teams looking to get on the front foot against the Reds. It’s a fair assessment that he’s struggled when placed in central midfield against the likes of Arsenal, Everton and Southampton. Those three sides in particular, got the best of Gerrard and his impact from open play on those matches was minimal. Brendan Rodgers’ preferred central midfield partnership of Lucas and his captain simply hasn’t have the physical qualities to cope in games against Champions League chasing rivals.

Against Spurs, Allen, Lucas and Henderson’s ability to hound Paulinho, Dembele and Sandro (And Holtby when the Brazilian went off injured) was perhaps the most impressive aspect of Liverpool’s play. The pressure exerted by those midfield players allowed the Reds to get in Spurs’ face and press the home side back. They forced errors right from the start of the game when Henderson and Allen pressured Sandro into a mistake in just the second minute. That relentless pressure never dwindled and Spurs couldn’t cope with the perpetual movement and ball winning ability of the Liverpool trio. Undoubtedly, there was a dynamism against Spurs that was missing against the likes of Arsenal and co earlier in the season.

Gerrard is out for over a month

But can they cope without their skipper against the lesser sides?

Gerrard’s absence may well be more pronounced against Cardiff this weekend than it was against tougher opposition on Sunday. That may sound counter intuitive given Spurs’ obvious superiority when compared with the Welsh side, but when Liverpool are having large amounts of possession against teams intent on defending deep, Gerrard comes to the fore. His quality from open play and his delivery from set pieces gives Liverpool another attacking dimension against the lesser lights of the Premier League. His phenomenal technical ability is still evident when he is allowed time on the ball and has fewer defensive responsibility. Gerrard has unlocked plenty of stubborn defences this season already for Liverpool, contributing 6 assists. His passing is more penetrating than Allen, Lucas and Henderson’s and Liverpool will miss those qualities when they are playing against a less adventurous side than Spurs.

Liverpool dealt well with the absence of their captain against a Champions League rival on Sunday. Can they replace him effectively when they are faced with a smaller club who will likely come to Anfield and defend for their lives? We’ll soon find out.

Sakho should be first choice

Mamadou Sakho had a few iffy moments against Spurs. He gave one of the dodgiest back passes of the season to Simon Mignolet which almost cost Liverpool a goal and he also lost the ball a couple of times when attempting unnecessary dribbles. That said, his physical presence and utter dominance of the aerial ball demand that he be in the Liverpool starting eleven these days.

Sakho is called a beast by his team mates and you can see why. He’s a monster in the air. He rarely loses a header and he adds a much needed combative streak to Liverpool’s central defence. He clearly relishes a scrap. On the ball he is generally very good also, at least when he’s not trying to go on a mazy down field. His passing is accurate, crisp and decisive and he seems at ease when in possession. One back heel in his own area at the weekend showed in no uncertain terms  that he doesn’t lack for confidence with the ball at his feet.

Sakho seems to be Liverpool best centre back right now

Given the type of player Sakho appears to be though, mistakes will undoubtedly occur. He’s a proactive defender rather than reactive. To draw an analogy from Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher’s excellent debate on the art of defending, Sakho is more of a David Luiz than a John Terry. He constantly looks to nip in in front of a striker to win the ball and will back himself in a one on one battle every time. Where other defenders would retreat, he will attack. When that goes wrong it will look bad, but the fact is that Sakho dominates most of his opponents and is giving Liverpool’s back line some much needed steel that should remain.

Coutinho: Understated but vital

Philippe Coutinho hasn’t quite shone as brightly yet this season as he did last term. There just haven’t been as many of those jaw dropping individual performances from him so far. Against Spurs, players like Jordan Henderson, Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling clearly outshone him in terms of individual brilliance. That said, Coutinho remains a fulcrum of Rodgers’ side. Rightly so. His ball retention when up against Kyle Walker, a tough opponent, was exceptional on Sunday. Time and again he ran with the ball and despite a lack of eye catching contributions, he was still fundamental to Liverpool’s victory. His persistent movement infield and in wider areas tormented Spurs and created vast amounts of space for Suarez and Henderson in particular to exploit.

He is obviously a key player for opposing sides to focus on this season and he’s getting less time and space to weave his magic, but his touch for Jordan Henderson’s goal showed that his quality endures. It was an exquisite lay off that went largely unnoticed, probably because such brilliance is now expected of the Brazilian. He’s not quite firing on all cylinders yet but, despite a hard time with niggling injuries and more attention from opponents, he is still contributing effectively to the side. Now that he’s over his injury and playing more regularly, it is surely only a matter of time before he truly ignites once more.

Henderson’s coming out party

On Sunday the rest of the country finally seemed to come to the same realisation that has been dawning on Liverpool fans for the past 12 months: Jordan Henderson isn't an £18m flop, he’s actually a very impressive footballer. His performance in north London was undoubtedly Henderson’s most effective and eye catching display in a red shirt. He was a force of nature that overwhelmed Spurs with his lung bursting bursts forward, his accurate passing and his persistent pressing.

Henderson is playing well but is there more to come?

In truth, he’s displayed all of those talents many times for Liverpool already, but he’s never married them all together as splendidly as he did on Sunday. When Luis Suarez bags two goals and three assists and still loses out on the man of the match award to you, you know you’ve delivered big time. The challenge now for Henderson, who has started every league game for the Reds this season, is to maintain this level. He’s been good for Liverpool for a year or so now and his place in the side is no longer in question. His improvement to this point has been marked and it must continue. He can add more goals to his game. His passing can become consistently more incisive and perceptive, as demonstrated on Sunday when he was spraying 40 yard passes to Philippe Coutinho without even looking. Henderson has transformed himself into a very good player, he can go even further and, given his desire and commitment, who would back him not to?