Victor Moses - Who is to blame?

Chelsea are reportedly upset with Liverpool for not giving Victor Moses enough game time. They have seemingly leaked to the press this week that they feel their on loan Nigerian winger should be playing more often for the Reds and they are so upset that they are apparently unwilling to do further business with Brendan Rodgers who holds a long standing interest in their full back Ryan Bertrand. Perhaps they have a right to be angry given the way that Moses’ loan moan has panned out, but that anger is somewhat misdirected. They should save their frustration and ire for their player, not the club they sent him off to. He is the main reason he is not progressing at Anfield.

When Liverpool acquired the services of the 23 year old, as a Liverpool supporter I was pretty happy. Moses had had a decent second half of the 2012/13 season under Rafa Benitez at Stamford Bridge. He’d always looked a talented player in his days at Wigan and when he joined Liverpool he certainly seemed a better bet out wide for the Reds than the peripheral Oussama Assaidi (ironically flourishing on loan away at Stoke City right now) and teenager Raheem Sterling who had fallen down the pecking order after a loss of form. Moses had lots of Premier League experience and undoubtedly, a lot of talent as well.

Victor Moses watches Liverpool as he has done for much of this season

His debut for the Reds was encouraging. He scored a goal away at Swansea in his first start and was pretty impressive in that outing in South Wales, full of direct running and menacing pace. Unfortunately, that performance remains his only significant contribution in Liverpool’s season to date. So what went wrong?

It’s safe to say that Moses is not a popular figure on the Kop. His languid, individualistic style is often a source of frustration and his appetite for hard work has been questioned vociferously. Not without reason, either. Some of his recent displays have been reminiscent of a school boy forced to play a football match in P.E when he’d much rather be at chess club or behind the bike sheds with a Marlboro light. It is a far cry from that promising debut at the Liberty Stadium. Perhaps it’s not all his fault though. Circumstances beyond his control have undoubtedly played a part in his declining game time.

Moses came as a winger, probably identified by Brendan Rodgers as an attacking threat to utilise primarily down Liverpool’s left flank. That is where he played away at Swansea to good effect, after all. The first bump in the road came when Luis Suarez returned from his early season suspension. Daniel Sturridge’s form and Suarez’s availability meant that Rodgers had to play both players up front. That strike partnership led Rodgers to switch to a 3-5-2 formation and the removal of the attacking left wing position that Moses seemed set to occupy. Initially, Rodgers kept Moses in the team despite the systemic reshuffle by deploying the Nigerian behind Liverpool’s impressive strike duo. For a few games he did okay in that role. It was clearly not a position that suited him down to the ground but with Philippe Coutinho injured, Moses offered Rodgers a decent option in that attacking midfield berth.

It didn’t last. Even when Liverpool were still persevering with their three at the back system, Rodgers was soon picking Jordan Henderson to fill the role behind the strikers instead of Moses. Liverpool reverted back to a 4-2-3-1 formation a few weeks later with Daniel Sturridge out injured. That meant two wider midfield roles were now available and Moses was given an opportunity to start away to Hull City back on the left flank. Liverpool were terrible, falling to a 3-1 defeat and Moses was woeful. His nonchalance in the defensive third of the pitch contributed to Liverpool conceding the first goal of the game and his all round performance was somewhat of a disaster. His first touch was awful, his effort appeared minimal and his contribution was negligible. He wasn’t alone in having a bad day at the office but in a pile of rubbish served up by Liverpool on Humberside, Moses still managed to stand out - and not in a good way.

Coutinho and Sterling are keeping Moses out of the team at Anfield

Since that awful outing on December 1st, Moses has played just 100 minutes of football and started once for the Reds. In that time Liverpool have played 8 matches over a crowded Christmas period where rotation is a necessity. The fact that Moses has only been asked to start against Oldham in the cup during that gruelling run of games says enough about how much Brendan Rodgers trusts the player. That Moses was taken off at half time in that game merely adds an exclamation mark to Rodgers’ damning assessment.

Moses now finds himself in an extremely difficult position. Philippe Coutinho is occupying the left wing position for the Reds (and lets be honest, Moses has as much chance of displacing the young Brazilian as he did of displacing Oscar at Chelsea) while Raheem Sterling has stepped up a level on the right flank - the only other position that Moses could fill in Liverpool’s current set up. The teenager’s performances have put Moses to shame in recent weeks and Sterling now looks a far more attractive prospect to play on the Reds right hand side in the second half of the season than the Nigerian. When you factor in Daniel Sturridge’s imminent return, it is pretty hard to see Moses getting back into the Liverpool team any time soon.

A combination of systemic shuffling from Rodgers, good form from other Liverpool players and a chronic lack of interest and good performances from Moses have led to this situation. One could ask why Rodgers signed Moses, an out and out wide forward, if he intended on partnering Sturridge and Suarez together centrally in a formation that essentially negates the need for such a wide player, but at the same time, one must also ask why, when Liverpool have quite often had to use wide forwards this season (albeit when Sturridge or Suarez have been unavailable), Moses hasn’t been able to wake himself from his slumber and actually perform as he undoubtedly can.

Judging by the player’s uninspiring performance against Oldham, it now seems the Chelsea man is resigned to his fate and that he knows he will spend the rest of the season on Liverpool’s bench being a bit part player. Such is the risk a player runs when moving from a highly placed Premier League club to a Premier League club fighting for the same thing. Selection isn’t guaranteed in those circumstances and it was never likely to be for Moses. It was up to him to earn his spot and maintain it with high levels of performance. Ultimately, he has failed to do that and no one in their right mind can say he deserves to be starting ahead of Coutinho or Sterling these days. Chelsea should keep that in mind when they are searching for answers for why their player’s value has decreased since he left London.