GET BACK! Liverpool's growing resilience

Back in January Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford. The first 45 minutes made for particularly gruesome viewing. That day the gap between the two teams seemed as large as I could remember it being. Liverpool’s performance in the first half was listless. It was men against timid boys and the Reds like looked a soft touch as United walked all over them.

The most glaring problem in that awful performance was the fact that Liverpool we’re dreadful without the ball. Their pressing ranged from inconsistent to none existent. Defensively the side was a complete mess and every time United attacked it felt like a goal was imminent. It was perhaps the worst performance of the season from Liverpool despite an improved second half. 

Even after that game, as the season progressed and results picked up somewhat, the balance of Liverpool’s side still wasn’t quite right. More goals we're being scored thanks to the attacking additions of Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge but the Reds still looked vulnerable to counter attacks and at no stage last season did Liverpool's defence look particularly sturdy. Their midfield was quite easy to play through and there was always an undercurrent of vulnerability to their play. The 3-1 defeat at Southampton is the perfect game to cite as an example. 

8 months on from that freezing day in Salford and defensive progress for Liverpool is evident.  The Reds haven’t sparkled yet this season in regards to their forward play. They’ve missed the guile of Luis Suarez and  have been unable to counter attack as incisively as their fans would like (Victor Moses with his pace and power should help out in that department). What has impressed though, is how Brendan Rodgers is now fielding a side that is far more accomplished when on the back foot and particularly adept at defending a lead.

Jordan Henderson has been key in Liverpool's improvement

Both at Villa Park and against United at home, Liverpool sat back and we’re almost Houllier-esque in their defending at times. They didn’t use the ball nearly well enough in either game but, when not in possession, the players busted a gut to get back into position and make it difficult to play through them. Jordan Henderson is the most obvious example of this. Against United we saw him coming off the line a lot from his initial wide starting point to link up play in the middle of the park but, as soon as the ball was lost, he would shuttle straight back over to the right hand side to get in the face of Patrice Evra. Iago Aspas was the same. He had somewhat of a shocker with the ball at his feet in that particular match but his work rate and defensive play was exceptional. Even Daniel Sturridge was closing down and making a nuisance of himself despite carrying an injury. Liverpool have finally begun to resemble a solid, well drilled outfit when out of possession.

During those two gritty performances at Villa and against United, Liverpool conceded  just two real goal scoring opportunities. Christian Benteke’s late half volley at Villa Park and van Persie’s sliced effort at the Anfield Road end. Neither Villa nor United ever looked particularly threatening despite dominating possession for long spells. Villa resorted to hitting long balls that were mopped up well by Kolo Toure and the midfield shield of Gerrard and Lucas while David Moyes’ tactical game plan seemed to consist of giving the ball to Ashley Young and getting him to attempt cross after cross until he’d pissed off enough away fans with his lack of quality that he needed to be hauled off and replaced by Nani. Basically, Liverpool now appear to be bloody difficult to break down and hard to beat even when nowhere near top form. It’s quite a contrast from last season where they often came away with hard luck stories despite dominating games.

Another key reason for their new found solidity is the new number 1 (or 22 to be accurate), Simon Mignolet. He may have looked more than a little nervous on his debut against Stoke and he’s hardly Franz Beckenbauer when he's on the ball, but he’s already doing something that Pepe Reina hadn’t been able to do for a while: making match winning saves.

Mignolet has already made crucial saves this season for LFC

How many of those frustrating defeats and draws over the past couple of seasons have come when Liverpool's opponents have only managed to create 1 or 2 decent chances? Teams so often seemed required to do next to nothing to score against the Reds. Think Clint Dempsey at Craven Cottage, Ramires at Wembley and Aguero at the Etihad. All those goals cost Liverpool big time and were down to some pretty ordinary goal keeping. It remains to be seen whether Mignolet will prove to be a better all round keeper for Liverpool than Pepe Reina was, but the season is three games old and the Belgian has kept three clean sheets and produced 2 genuinely important moments that have won Liverpool four points. His double stop against Stoke in the last minute was as fantastic as it was crucial and while Benteke’s shot late on at Villa Park was angled towards his near post, it was hit like a rocket and plenty of keepers would have been beaten by it. The old saying that a top keeper wins you 10 points as season springs to mind and Mignolet has already won Liverpool 4.

Liverpool’s pressing, defending and shot stopping from their goal keeper have all improved significantly and it is paying off big time right now. Brendan Rodgers has displayed admirable pragmatism since he took charge in L4. He’s switched the formation from his preferred  4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 that suits his squad and while he has made his share of mistakes, he does appear to be learning from them. Chief amongst them is starting the season with the previously under used Henderson over the less mobile Joe Allen who had actually impressed in pre season. Clearly the manager has recognised the need for more athleticism in that particular area of the team and has acted accordingly regardless of whether he signed Allen for big money or not.   

When Rodgers came into Anfield he didn’t start building from the back like many managers do but belatedly it appears that he’s rectifying the problems that were so obvious in that department last season as well. With Kolo Tore, Aly Cissokho, Mamadou Sakho and Thiago Ilori all coming through the Shankly Gates this summer, the defence now looks extremely well stocked and, significantly, there is increased pace and power in that area. Hopefully those added bodies will help to signal the end of performances where the likes of Christian Benteke and Oldham’s Matt Smith bully Liverpool to defeat.

In hindsight, that game at Old Trafford back in January was probably the catalyst for change at Liverpool. As mentioned earlier, Jordan Henderson has been selected with far greater regularity since that day, Rodgers has also brought in three centre halves, a new goal keeper and been able to adapt his side's play sufficiently to the point that they now look commanding when defending a lead. When you think about the attacking players who are yet to appear this season and the fact that Coutinho hasn’t really got going at the time of writing, the scope for improvement at Anfield is promising. 

The Reds don’t look so much of a soft touch any more.  

Sakho Signing Shows Progress

When you’re not in the Champions League, Champions League level players are pretty tough to acquire. Liverpool have learnt that the hard way this summer. Several ambitious targets have slipped through their net during the transfer window but eventually they have landed a prized catch. His signing may have been overshadowed by the deadline day deals involving Gareth Bale and Mesut Ozil, but Mamadou Sakho’s transfer to Liverpool feels pretty significant for a couple of reasons.

First of all, Liverpool have brought in a potentially world class player and that is never to be sniffed at. Sakho has been regarded as one of the most promising centre halves in Europe for years. His early career was extremely impressive and before PSG went out and bought their Brazilian trio of centre backs (Thiago Silva, Alex and Marquinhos), Sakho was undoubtedly their main man. Carlo Ancelotti and now Laurent Blanc may have preferred to marginalise their former captain in favour of those big signings from South America but Sakho remains a quality player with exceptional promise and many PSG fans disagreed with his relegation to the bench, and indeed his sale.

Sakho signs on at Anfield 

He’s young, quick, extremely physical and very experienced at the top level both internationally and in club football. If you’d said to a PSG fan 18 months ago that they would let their home grown captain leave in the near future they’d have thought you were crazy. Sakho was an icon for their club like Steven Gerrard is on Merseyside. Paris’ loss should be Liverpool’s gain. He’s had some difficult times of late at his hometown club but he is moving to Liverpool with the intention of participating in next summer’s World Cup for France. He should be motivated and if he’s on top of his game you’d imagine he establish himself as Liverpool’s first choice centre back pretty soon, such is his quality.

Aside from bringing in a potentially world class defender, the way Liverpool concluded this transfer was a little surprising and rather encouraging also.

The deal was concluded in good time and with little fuss which isn’t what many expected when the initial links to the player were made in the press. Make no mistake, lots of other clubs will have been looking at Sakho (he’s long been linked with AC Milan, for example) and he would have been a good a signing most top clubs. This wasn’t a situation like the transfers of Luis Alberto or Iago Aspas where Liverpool nipped in early in the summer and signed a player who was slightly under the radar with little competition. They went out and got a Champions League quality player in pretty decisive fashion. Given how that mid summer lull of activity at Anfield went, this deal was somewhat of a contrast to what had gone before.

After that initial spurt of four signings early in the summer, Liverpool failed persuade Henrikh Mkhitaryan to join them instead of Borussia Dortmund. That was understandable given Dortmund’s performance in the Champions League last season and their current standing in general. The Reds then failed to prize Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid, another Champions League club. Again, you can’t really blame Costa for sticking with a club in Europe’s elite competition. Finally, Liverpool refused to pay over their valuation for Anzhi Makhachkala's winger Willian and subsequently missed out on Brendan Rodgers’ remaining ‘marquee’ attacking target.

Willian got away from Liverpool this summer

That Willian deal nearly broke Twitter. Plenty of people were questioning why Liverpool hadn’t gone the extra mile to ensure that they obtained the Brazilian. Willian’s addition would have been exciting and he’d have potentially rounded off a mouth watering attacking quartet alongside Coutinho, Suarez and Sturridge. Ultimately though, the transfer committee at Anfield decided against paying over the odds for Willian and Liverpool fans understandably weren’t too happy about it. Many thought that it showed a lack of ambition not to pay top dollar for a top target and frustration was everywhere as Liverpool missed out again.

When you consider all that went on with that Willian deal and the stance that the club ultimately stuck by, it highlights just how differently Liverpool have acted in signing Sakho. They have brought in a very good player but you could easily make the argument that they have overpaid on Sakho’s market value to secure his signature. The circumstances that Sakho was in at PSG certainly suggest that.

First of all, he only had a year left on his deal at PSG, thus obviously decreasing his value significantly. Secondly, he was desperate to leave the French capital to regain his place in his national side. Thirdly, PSG already had three players in his position that they rate higher. Basically, all the cards seemed to be in Liverpool’s hands when it came to negotiating a deal and yet they still paid a pretty large fee of £15m for the player.

This may sound like I’m criticising Liverpool’s approach to the deal but it is quite the opposite. It was refreshing to see Liverpool identify an ambitious target, pay what was needed and get the deal done before we entered Jim White territory.

Too often Liverpool have dithered in the transfer market and it has cost them. We’ve seen it this summer too, much to everyone’s chagrin. Perhaps the club have finally realised that sometimes you have to pay a little extra to acquire your top targets and ensure that no other clubs can hijack a deal as negotiations drag on. It is to be hoped that Sakho’s arrival is evidence of Liverpool learning some lessons and revising their strategy slightly. It’s a shame that this didn’t happen with attacking targets like Willian but at least the club finally got the experienced centre back that Brendan Rodgers’ has craved all summer long.

£15m for Mamadou Sakho looks like a lot of money, but it could prove to be a steal. Hopefully he succeeds and proves to Liverpool’s transfer committee that sometimes in football, you simply get what you pay for.

Spurs show Reds the way forward

'The more things change, the more they stay the same'. A famous saying but one that does not apply to Liverpool Football Club these days. In fact, turning the phrase on it's head offers more accuracy. At Anfield, the more things stay the same, the more they appear to change.

On the face of it, little at Liverpool has changed since their encouraging opening day win against Stoke but the early sense of euphoria garnered from their deserved victory last weekend has already worn off. Focus has quickly shifted from the positives of that first opening day win since 2008 to the negatives of their transfer dealings this summer.

Willian, their main target for the past couple of weeks, has joined rivals Spurs. The Brazilian becomes the third big name player to reject Liverpool’s overtures this summer, following in the footsteps of his former team mate Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his countryman Diego Costa. Make no mistake; Willian’s deferral to Spurs is a huge concern for Liverpool.

The London club, who missed out on Champions League football by a solitary point last term, have added Etienne Capoue (£9.7m), Paulinho (£17m), Nacer Chadli (£7m), Willian (£30m) and Roberto Soldado (£26m) to a squad that finished 11 points ahead of Liverpool. They are also in the running to add the fantastically talented Erik Lamela to their squad. On paper at least, they appear to be leaving Liverpool behind.

Willian has disappointed Liverpool by moving to Spurs

A top four finish is Liverpool’s target this season and realistically, they are not going to catch Manchester United, Manchester City or Chelsea. That leaves Spurs, Arsenal and Everton for Liverpool to overcome in their desperate race to get into the Champions League places. Arsenal are currently in disarray and Liverpool will fancy their chances of overtaking their neighbours but Spurs could now be over the hill and far away. They are amassing a squad capable of challenging for the title off the back of Gareth Bale’s imminent world record transfer to Real Madrid.

Of course, football is never won solely by who has the deepest or strongest squad on paper, but the quality added at White Hart Lane this summer is disconcerting for Liverpool supporters. So too are the conflicting reports on the failings of the club’s business this summer. The Liverpool Echo would have it’s readers believe that Willian had simply chosen Spurs over Liverpool due to his preference for living in the nation's capital after both clubs had made offers for the player. Conversely, Tony Barrett of the Times and various other journalists have suggested that Liverpool refused to match Spurs’ offer of around £30m for the Brazil international. If that scenario is true (and many believe it is) then Liverpool and owners FSG have some answers to give.

Henry and Werner have questions to answer

If FSG decided that Willian wasn’t worth the money required to prize him from Russia then who advised them on this? Why bother to publicly pursue a player of that profile in the first place when other top European clubs with financial clout were certain to be in the running as well? Why, with Liverpool’s net spend this summer in the minus column, could the club not dare to pay slightly above their valuation for a player who could potentially transform their already impressive attack into a top class outfit? Questions, questions, questions.

What we do know is that Liverpool have failed again to complete a significant piece of business and in doing so, they have allowed a rival to strengthen and further increase a gap between the clubs that was already going to be difficult to bridge. Liverpool have conducted some decent business themselves this summer (not least keeping hold of Luis Suarez) but there has been no real statement of intent to suggest that the Anfield outfit believe they can blast their way back into the Champions League this season. They haven’t captured a signing to excite their fans and demonstrate true ambition. They will claim that they have tried, but have they tried hard enough?

Two weeks remain in the transfer window and the Reds are yet to purchase a player for over £10m. Considering how desperate Brendan Rodgers has been to add a top class centre half and another match winner at the top of the field that just isn’t good enough. The Reds are an exciting side with bags of potential but to seriously mount an assault on Spurs and the rest of the sides above them in the pecking order this season, a statement is required. At least one top quality player is still required to take them on to the next level.

The way the summer has gone so far that player seems unlikely to arrive. 

LFC adding steel to their style

Too often last season Liverpool were somewhat of a soft touch. Looking bad it’s hardly surprising. For the first half of the season the club had to play a lot of young players far more often than they would have liked and there was a shortage of experience. When the going got tough, Liverpool often seemed to wilt a little mentally.

Brendan Rodgers acknowledged as much and was quoted as saying he needed to add more ‘men’ to the squad. In a recent interview he also said 'last season we played with style but not enough steel' You could interpret that as Liverpool needing more experience (no doubting that they did require that) but you can just as easily make the case that the manager wanted more players who would stand up and be counted. Aside for Gerrard, Suarez, Carragher and Reina, Liverpool were a little thin on the ground when it came to leaders last term. As two of those players have now left the club it is little wonder that Rodgers has fixed his eye on players with a certain type of mentality this summer.

Suso and Sterling: Plenty of talent, little in the way of experiemce

Kolo Toure has come on and as well as his vast knowledge of the Premier League, he adds vocal presence to a defence that often seemed mute last season. He is undoubtedly a leader of men and his transfer makes a lot of sense.

Iago Aspas has drawn many comparisons with Luis Suarez already and not just for his busy style of play. By all accounts he was a little pest in Spain. He has a little bit of swagger and a temper too. That sort of thing can occasionally be a team’s downfall (his red card for head butting an opponent last season didn’t go down well at Celta Vigo as his suspension nearly facilitated their relegation) but it again shows that, like Suarez, he is a player who won’t shy away from a tough situation. In short, he’s a narky little fighter.

Kyriakos Papadopoulos has been a target all summer long for the Reds and it only takes ten seconds of YouTube viewing to see that he is no shrinking violet either. Personally I haven’t seen enough of the player to say whether he would be a good signing or not but you can see that his character appeals to Rodgers. He seems loud, in your face and aggressive. He doesn’t seem like the kind of lad who would accept being bullied by Christian Benteke and Kenwyne Jones in the way that Martin Skrtel did last term.

You wouldn't mess, would you?

Diego Costa is the latest player heavily linked to Liverpool and he could be on Merseyside pretty soon if reports are to be believed. Anyone who knows about Costa seems to jump to his temperament when describing him rather than talking about his actual ability. That’s because he’s, how shall I phrase this, a little controversial.              

You kind find footage of some very unsavoury things when you Google the Brazilian’s name and it is to be hoped that he can curb the wilder side of his character if he makes his way through the Shankly gates. Seek out opinions from people who have watched him regularly though and again it becomes clear that his mental toughness would appeal to Rodgers.

He’s a loud mouth, more than a little dirty, he works himself into the ground and he won’t back away from anyone. Go and look at his run-ins with Pepe and Ramos in the Madrid derby of last season and you will see some startling images. He has quality, naturally, but I would bet that his attitude impressed Liverpool’s scouts as much as his ability. 

'The most hated man in La Liga'

Described as ‘The most hated man in La Liga’ you can bet that Costa’s arrival would see Luis Suarez with a real rival for his current status as public enemy number one in this country. Some may feel that Liverpool could do without more bad publicity but there can be little doubt that Liverpool lack steel at the moment and it is encouraging that their scouting department have set about rectifying that.

And who wants a team full of angels anyway? As the saying goes: Nice guys finish last.