We Were Liverpool

‘Who am I? Where am I going?’

A dazed and confused Tony Soprano is in shock and about to slip into a coma after being shot in the stomach. In his last moment of consciousness he asks these two questions aloud. Bear with me, this isn’t just an excuse to mention the greatest television show in history, there is a point to this. You see, these days ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where am I going?’ are the two questions that run through my mind whenever I think about Liverpool Football Club.

It shouldn’t be this way. Afterall, just five months ago everyone in the land knew who Liverpool were. We all knew where they were going, too. ‘We are Liverpool Tra La La La’ and ‘We’re going to win the league’ constantly accompanied the team throughout that exhilarating run of matches towards the climax of the 2013/14 season. These days those songs aren’t heard very often. It’s little wonder.

Clarity of purpose has been replaced by utter confusion. Bravado and bullishness have been usurped by anxiety and hesitancy.

Five months ago we knew that Simon Mignolet was an excellent shot stopper who stayed on his line, for better or worse. He knew too. Now he seems to be engaged in a constant battle against that magnet in his goal, trying in vain to push up the field and be something he’s not. It’s costing the team goals.

During the second half of last season we had evidence that Steven Gerrard was capable of sitting deep on his own in midfield and influencing games if legs were provided slightly further forward on either side to assist him. Now he’s playing more often than not with a babysitter stationed directly alongside him.

We also knew that Jordan Henderson’s energy was crucial to how the team played in one of those more advanced midfield roles. He pressed, he pressed again and he pressed once more. Against Basel he was instructed to essentially hold Gerrard’s hand in front of the defence to no great effect.

Last season Brendan Rodgers discovered that Philippe Coutinho could play in central midfield in games against Everton and Arsenal and dominate top level opposition. The Brazilian has played in four different positions by my count already this season and is yet to get going.

Raheem Sterling had developed from a jet heeled wide player into a footballer who could destroy opponents from central areas. Now, like Coutinho, he’s also being shuffled from side to side and even played as a wing back at West Ham.

It seemed obvious to most that Mamadou Sakho had been earmarked as Daniel Agger’s long term replacement on the left of Liverpool’s central defence when the season ended. Last week he was driving back home before a derby match because he’s been replaced himself by an expensive signing who has injected no added stability or additional quality to the back line despite his hefty price tag.

We knew that Liverpool looked a match for everybody when they played with a diamond shape in midfield. Now that Brendan Rodgers has abandoned that system of late, his team rarely look a threat for anybody.

In short, we’ve seemingly done away with a lot of what made Liverpool Liverpool. There is no identity to this team right now. Nothing is certain. There is nothing to hang your hat on. Nothing to believe or invest in.

‘They’re not a pressing team. They’re not a counter attacking team. They’re not a possession team. I don’t know what they are.’’

Those were the words of Gary Neville in the aftermath of the latest defeat in Basel on Wednesday. He was right. Presently Liverpool resemble the England team from this summer’s World Cup. Good players everywhere but no discernible plan. Ponderous and porous at the back. Wasting two key players in Gerrard and Henderson by blunting their weapons of choice. Raheem Sterling stuck out on the flank in the vague hope that he will conjure magic because, well, he’s just that good and why shouldn’t you just expect a kid to deliver week in week out from any position?

Watching Liverpool right now is like looking a thousand piece jigsaw of the Mona Lisa that has been deconstructed and thrown into a jumbled pile. The pieces that once slotted together to create a beautiful image remain, but they are no longer in order. What we are left with is a jumbled mess. To continue with the jigsaw analogy, it should be noted that a few of those pieces have also gone missing.

This brings me to the one comforting thought that I revert back to when seeking some much needed optimism for the season ahead; Things will be different when Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge return. The reintroduction of those two players into this team would allow Rodgers to implement the same system and the same group of footballers that took to the pitch at White Hart Lane and trampled all over Spurs just a few weeks ago. You know the system. It was that diamond thing where Henderson and Allen provided the legs and nous either side of the captain while Sterling, Balotelli and Sturridge moved in and out of spaces all game long and bamboozled defenders with their technique, pace and power.

It may be an overly simplistic theory to suggest that merely replicating those tactics with those same players will solve the team’s problems, I grant you, but the one time the reds have genuinely looked like Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool this season was by doing just that in North London. The problem is that Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge pick up knocks regularly and we have precious little in the way of like for like replacements given Rodgers’ new found aversion to having Coutinho play Allen’s role and Emre Can’s injury problems. Further forward Fabio Borini is a capable and willing lad but he isn’t Daniel Sturridge and Rodgers has already seemingly made his mind up on the Italian. The decision seems to have been taken that if Sturridge isn’t fit then the team will play with one up front. I’m sure there are valid reasons for that beyond my comprehension but whatever those reasons are, it clearly isn’t working out on the field.

Then we come to Adam Lallana. The piece that stumps me every time I try to mentally put that displaced jigsaw back together again.

Rodgers paid £25m for the former Southampton man. Lallana was his self confessed number one transfer target. The manager is going to want to play him. Lallana is unquestionably a good footballer who works best in advanced central areas just like a certain Raheem Sterling. He can also play wide, but if Rodgers does eventually go back to the diamond (as I’m obviously hoping he will), then the width will be provided almost exclusively by the full backs or strikers moving into those areas in that system. There simply are no wide midfield starting spots in the formation that seemingly compliments this team the most. For me, that means that in a diamond set up Lallana either plays at ten or he doesn’t play at all. The player himself has looked neat and tidy (whether neat and tidy is good enough is for you to decide) recently and hasn’t done too much wrong but, given the choice, I’d assume that most fans would have Sterling in that number ten role over Lallana seven days a week. He offers more pace, more penetration and more goals too going off what we’ve witnessed so far this season. This Lallana quandary leaves a nagging doubt in my mind.

When the latest monotonous international break has thankfully passed and Allen and Sturridge are hopefully available again, will Rodgers seek to find a spot for his most expensive signing to date or will he accept that he possibly overpaid for Lallana who - at a club that has Raheem Sterling on it’s books - should be a squad player able to deputise for the nineteen year old jewel in Liverpool’s crown?

Again, I admit all of this diamond talk looks oh so simple on paper. In reality it never is. But, to my eyes at least, Liverpool’s players are largely suited to that formation as I've argued before on this site. We know it works. Moreno can maraud forward and offer genuine width. Henderson and Allen can press in advanced areas and offer legs to support their ageing captain. Sterling can be involved as often as he should be rather than loitering on the fringes out wide. Balotelli will finally have someone to take defenders away from him and actually feed off his intelligent hold up play. Liverpool can play like the Liverpool we all fell in love with again.

Sure, they won’t be water tight at the back but if you are winning the ball high up the pitch and attacking teams with the quality that the trio of Sterling, Balotelli and Sturridge showcased at Spurs that becomes less of an issue. As it is, despite playing with two ‘defensive’ midfielders in a 4231 system, this team are no tighter at the back but are unquestionably far less threatening going forward as they’re playing with a single striker who has precious little support or service. The midfield offers hardly any protection or penetration when it is short of Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson is reduced to picking the ball up alongside his centre halves and exchanging five yard passes with Gerrard, Lovren and Skrtel. I’m struggling to see a reason for persisting with this set up when Sturridge returns. I hope Rodgers is too.

Whether the manager will choose to revert back to what has worked so well in the past seems up for debate to me, largely because of the implications it would have on his record signing. I sincerely hope he does revert though. If he doesn't then those two questions that I’ve been repeatedly asking myself over the last few weeks seem well set to be running around my mind in circles for a long while yet as Liverpool try and figure out exactly who they are these days and where they want to go.

O Captain! Roy’s Captain! - What happened to Wayne?

28 years old. Captain of both his country and one of the biggest football clubs on the planet. £300,000 a week wages. Commercial deals coming out of his ears. The prospect of becoming both England and Manchester United’s all time record goal scorer looms ever closer on the horizon.

‘So, where did it all go wrong, Wayne?’

If, like me, you grew up in the north west of England and took an interest in football then the chances are that you had heard of Wayne Rooney before he made his explosive Premier League entrance with that goal against Arsenal. Murmurs about a special talent dwelling in Everton’s youth teams were around long before David Seamen was left helplessly clutching thin air in front of a jubilant Goodison Park in 2002. Back then it was easy for a sceptical non Evertonian like myself to scoff at the notion that the Blues had some secret weapon ready to unleash upon the Premier League. I’d heard it all before and the reality never stacked up to the stories: Michael Branch, Franny Jeffers, Danny Cadamarteri, need I go on? Well, in this case, yes actually, I must. Because Wayne Rooney was no myth.

Within a few months of that famous goal against the then reigning champions, Rooney was lighting up English football on a weekly basis. Terrorizing defenders with a mixture of rare natural ability and breathtaking power, he blazed a trail through the Premier League and was, soon enough, making Euro 2004 his own personal coming out party before injury struck.

A £30m move to Manchester United quickly came along and with it a Champions League debut hat trick that confirmed what we already knew: Rooney was more than ready for the big time. During his first two seasons at Old Trafford he was undoubtedly United’s star turn. A period of transition was taking place at the club and the young Scouser was set to be the man who would lead United into a new era of success.

That success duly arrived in the form of multiple league titles and three European Cup finals. But this is where things become complicated in the Wayne Rooney story.

By 2007, Rooney’s downward trajectory was already in motion even if the public couldn't yet see it. Despite being England’s main man by this time, he had already become a supporting act at club level. He remained an audaciously gifted player capable of the extraordinary, but a supporting act none the less. It was Cristiano Ronaldo who had took on the mantle of becoming United’s next talisman. The Portuguese, who Rooney was often compared favourably to during their early days together in Manchester, had moved onto a new level and England’s latest great hope was now required to do a lot of the leg work while Ronaldo took centre stage.

People complained at the time - and indeed since - that Alex’s Ferguson’s decision to often use Rooney out wide and make the most of his work rate to free Ronaldo was what stunted the progress of England’s most talented footballer in a generation. They may be right. But so was Ferguson to do what he did. Vindication of his decision to ‘sacrifice’ Rooney in order to get the best out of Ronaldo was immediately apparent and hasn't diminished with the passing of time. Seven years on, it now seems almost unfathomable to think that debates ever existed about which player was more gifted or who United should have built around. In 2014, Wayne Rooney remains a very good Premier League footballer. Cristiano Ronaldo now belongs to a different stratosphere altogether and has done for years. The gap between the two continues to accelerate at a high speed.

Following Ronaldo’s protracted defection to Madrid during the summer of 2009, a new incarnation of Rooney emerged and flourished. He took his place as the spearhead of United’s attack and scored 26 league goals playing as a striker in just 32 appearances. One must acknowledge that his numbers have always been impressive. Goals and assists have never been in short supply during his career but, as early as that successful 2009/10 season, it was apparent that the Rooney we were witnessing was a different beast to the teenager who had defenders in a perpetual state of panic. Statistics were, and remain, enduring evidence of his undoubted quality, but the fantasy footballer who got people off their seats and had England fans dreaming of a bright future was no more. At this point he was ‘just’ an excellent striker, not the ‘White Pele’ United fans expectantly sang about upon his arrival.

There are many theories as to why this came to pass. A lack of professionalism off the pitch has regularly been cited. Rooney’s fluctuating weight, for example, has often been a source of ridicule for his detractors and frustration for his supporters. Injuries have been quite a regular occurrence also, and there is little doubt that they have taken a toll on a player has never resembled the finely tuned athlete he probably should have been. Whatever it was along the way that took the spark from Rooney’s game, it left him devoid of the one thing that made him truly special. The ability to beat a man with raw power or pace has been absent for a long time now. If you can’t beat players the chances are you won’t be perceived as an elite forward in modern day football. People gawp at the likes of Messi, Ibrahimovic, Suarez and Ronaldo because they effortlessly leave defenders trailing either by way of excessive skill, pace or power. Their status isn't what it is because they simply put up decent numbers. Like the defenders they torment every week, those elite players have left Rooney in their rear view mirrors.

So what of the present and the future? Wayne Rooney currently captains Manchester United yet there are plenty of Mancunian supporters who don’t even want him starting for their team. Robin van Persie usurped him, like Ronaldo, as United’s main attacking threat when he at the club arrived two seasons ago.

The Rooney of today works best as an out and out striker and, with the recent acquisition of Radamel Falcao, he’s probably the third best man in the United squad equipped to fill such a role. This puts Louis van Gaal in a tough position. The Dutch manager has made Rooney his captain. The idea of being able to sell the Scouse forward should he have a change of heart and prefer to marginalise his skipper and instead partner Van Persie and Falcao doesn’t appear to be realistic. No top club in the world is likely to come calling for Wayne these days. Certainly not when you add those £300,000 wage slips into the equation. He simply isn't worth it anymore.

Rooney remains a world class player only in the minds of marketers who know that, despite the progressive dwindling of his star, his name still resonates around the world. Van Gaal will have to find a solution to the Rooney problem and quickly or a storm could well be brewing in the Manchester skies before long.

On the international stage, a similar conundrum exists. Daniel Sturridge is undoubtedly the best out and out striker the country can field these days and has taken the number 9 shirt as his own. Rooney was deployed out wide in the first game of the World Cup against Italy and, despite an assist (he always has put up the numbers, remember) he looked poor and came in for criticism. Fortunately, with a press clamouring for the national side to still be built around him and a manager more than willing to oblige, Rooney was moved back in field for England’s crucial game against Uruguay. The man that switched roles with him was Raheem Sterling who was England’s best player in that opening match. Predictably, despite being indulged and allowed to play where he feels most comfortable at the expense of others, Rooney failed to galvanise his team and England were defeated by Uruguay.

Today, in the immediate aftermath of a drab 1-0 friendly win over Norway in Rooney’s first official match as his country’s new captain, even the English press appear to be waking up to the fact that their golden boy isn’t what he once was. There is a clamour for Sterling - as irony would have it, a teenage prodigy playing on Merseyside - to finally take Rooney’s central role behind Sturridge.

Wayne Rooney was a once in a generation talent. My personal prediction ten years ago was that he would either become one of the greatest players of his time or at least burn out in a blaze of glory a la George Best, giving us a handful of wonderful years before something went wrong and curtailed his progress. Neither really happened.

What came to pass was far less romantic than either scenario. Rooney never did conquer the footballing world, nor did he hit previously unscaled heights before prematurely self destructing like a shooting star. Instead, he just became a very good footballer who had peaked by his early twenties and has been slowly, gradually, fading in front of our eyes ever since.

Enough about Balo, Brendan

Brendan Rodgers likes to talk.

He loves reciting a story with a happy ending, especially if he stars in it.

It’s safe to say that right now the Liverpool manager has built up plenty of goodwill within the club’s fanbase and the media at large. He deserves it, too. He’s done a cracking job with this football club and has obviously improved certain individual players within the squad significantly. If he wishes to chat away to journalists about how he helped Daniel Sturridge finally realise his previously untapped potential or bang on about how he reinstilled confidence into Jordan Henderson’s game then I have no problem with that. Some may see it as self indulgent and categorise such musings as shameless self promotion or David Brent style riffing but, frankly, he’s earned the right to some self congratulation from time to time. He has an ego, like all of us, and if he wants it stroked for some of his achievements then that’s fine by me.

One thing has concerned me lately though when it comes to the topic of Rodgers’ rhetoric. It’s nothing too serious (yet), but the way he has been talking about Mario Balotelli has grated on me. I’ve tried to ignore it and most of the time it’s admittedly been fairly harmless stuff, but after Liverpool’s victory at Spurs it became downright patronising in my eyes.

Saying that Balotelli’s time at Liverpool could be his ‘last chance at a big club’ was justified. He made the same type of public assertion when Daniel Sturridge came to Anfield and frankly, it was fair assessment in both instances. His joke that Balotelli would add ‘Trouble’ to the squad when he was asked about his new signing on live television may have been slightly misguided but it was obviously just a rib. An off the cuff joke not to be taken seriously. Still nothing to see here.

Then came the post-match press conference at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

‘For the first time in his life he marked at a corner. Serious. International player, won three titles in Italy, cups, Champions League. And we were doing corners and he went ‘I don’t mark at corners’. Well you do now...’

Sorry. What?

First of all, the notion that Balotelli has never picked a man up at a corner before is just a complete fabrication. You don’t even need to go and re watch old games from the Italian’s career to know that it’s pure fantasy. The idea of a big centre forward never having been directed to defend a corner under the tutelage of the likes of Jose Mourinho, Roberto Mancini or Cesare Prandelli is, for want of a better phrase, complete bollocks. Even if Balotelli did say that in training (and if he did I’d assume he was kidding) why bring it up in front of the press? What purpose did it serve?

It’s a fairly inconsequential quote on the face of it and, coming off the back of an outstanding 3-0 win, it was unlikely to be scrutinised too much, but that doesn’t make it okay. It was completely patronising and disrespectful towards the player and his former coaches. Worse, it also feeds into the notion that Mario Balotelli is some kind of lazy primadona aimlessly floating along in need of Brendan Rodgers to bring him back down to earth.

Predictably, some people lapped it up. ‘Look at what Brendan said. Mario never even used to bother marking players he was that much of a lad! Brendan will sort him out though. Won’t get away with that here.’ That sort of stuff. It was a line that made people chuckle, no doubt. But it was completely unnecessary of the manager to make that conversation public.

Put yourself in the striker’s shoes for a minute. You’ve just helped your team to a 3-0 victory on your debut. You’ve played pretty damn well given the circumstances and gone off to a standing ovation from the away fans. Then you hear your manager talking about you as if you are some spoilt ten year old who has belatedly found a proper role model who will finally insist that you eat your greens whether you want to or not. If I were Mario and I read those quotes I’d feel like a bit of an idiot.

Balotelli famously dislikes the rumours, half truths and apocryphal tales that surround him. He’s not too fond of the media and their desire to paint him as some immature, detached nincompoop. No wonder. He’s a complicated young man with a few mistakes in his past but he isn’t merely the bumbling comedy act that many would have you believe. Those quotes from Rodgers were worthless. They only served to underline this perception of Mario the class clown who desperately requires a guiding hand from his new headmaster.

I’m sure there was no malice intended from Rodgers and his mouth just got a little carried away in the aftermath of an impressive day’s work, but he needs to rein it in. He’s been quoted as saying Liverpool aren’t going to become ‘The Mario Balotelli Show’, so maybe it would be better if he didn’t add fuel to those particular flames with silly quotes that immediately write headlines for opportunistic journalists out to promote the myth of ‘Mario the Maverick’.

The amount of surprise on show in the aftermath of Balotelli’s debut illustrated just how difficult a task it will be for the player to alter the general perception of him. People we’re apparently amazed that he’d actually worked hard for Liverpool against Spurs! Some have even dared to use it as proof that Rodgers can ‘turn the player around’. It was as if Balotelli was a changed man in their eyes. He’d apparently gone from a lazy git into a workaholic after six days on Merseyside.

Again, this is just pure fiction.

A work shy player unwilling or unable to contribute defensively to his team simply doesn’t play in a Jose Mourinho side no matter how talented he may be (ask Juan Mata). A complete lay about doesn’t lead the line for Italy and destroy one of the best centre halves in world football during a Euro 2012 semi final the way Mario did to Mats Hummels. Preening, uncommitted individuals aren’t usually popular with their peers at any football club for long and yet one need only look to the reaction of Man City’s players to Balotelli’s presence at the Eithad last Monday for confirmation that he was a well liked figure there.

There is no doubt that, when his head drops, Balotelli can lose motivation. While other players will run around more when they’re frustrated, he can sulk and withdraw from a game if things aren’t going his way. Liverpool and Rodgers will no doubt have to cross that bridge when they come to it sooner or later. But this idea that Mario Balotelli is just some rebel without a cause who simply does whatever the hell he feels like every time he steps onto a football pitch is completely unfounded. It needs to be knocked on the head, not propagated further by irresponsible quotes from the player’s new manager.

If Mario Balotelli does succeed and improve at Liverpool Football Club then I will quite happily listen for hours on end to Brendan Rodgers reminiscing and eulogising about the work that went into making that happen. Until then though, I’d rather he keep schtum and let Mario’s football do the talking for him. After all, as Brendan said himself, Liverpool don’t need to become ‘The Mario Balotelli Show’.

Balotelli & Sturridge: Return of the diamond?

I presumed that we’d seen the last of it. When Luis Suarez departed for pastures new, the chances of Liverpool regularly starting matches with two strikers simultaneously appeared remote. They looked remoter still when you factored in the the £20m acquisition of Lazar Markovic who has often played as a winger. Now though, it looks a decent bet that Brendan Rodgers will soon be reverting to the formation that was seemingly devised solely for the purpose of getting Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez on the pitch together. That system could, and for my money should, be making a comeback at White Hart Lane this weekend.

I think it’s safe to say that Mario Balotelli didn't come to Anfield to play as a wide forward. We know that Daniel Sturridge isn't particularly enamoured with the prospect of filling that role either. Raheem Sterling, lazily labelled as just another quick English winger in the past, has undoubtedly produced his best work in a red shirt from central areas. Philippe Coutinho looks half the player we all know he can be when he’s asked to play down the flanks. Adam Lallana can do a job on the left or the right but, as is the case with Coutinho, he lacks an electric burst of pace and would appear to be more suited to a role in the middle of the park. The point I’m driving at here is that all of Liverpool’s attacking talent (with the possible exception of Markovic) look to be players who would be best utilised from positions in the centre of the pitch.

Brendan Rodgers has so far opted to line his team up in a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3 formation in the reds’ two league games to date. Liverpool haven’t impressed. Sure, there were periods against both Southampton and Manchester City where they looked pretty comfortable, but something was obviously missing. There was a lack of cutting edge in attack. There was an absence of the relentless pressure that has become synonymous with Liverpool again. There was little of the unbridled, spontaneous chaos that took these lads to the brink of the Premier League title a few short months ago. Counter attacks and build up play in the opening games have looked laboured. Pretty, controlled, methodical, nice, undoubtedly. But laboured nonetheless. You could easily chalk that up to the absence of a certain buck toothed wrecking ball and be done with this whole argument, but the current absence of the attacking verve that Liverpool exhibited last term appears to be largely systemic in nature.

Take the aforementioned Sterling as an example. He was bright early on against Man City playing from the right hand side but, after an impressive first twenty minutes, he didn't receive enough of the ball and gradually faded from view. Paradoxically, his best two moments of the game came when he had vacated his starting post on the right hand side. He fed exquisitely weighted through balls into goal scoring positions for Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge when he was in central areas, not while he was stuck out on the right wing.

Meanwhile, on the opposite flank, Philippe Coutinho was having a shocker. His lack of defensive astuteness repeatedly left debutant Alberto Moreno exposed at full back and the Brazilian never looked comfortable playing from the left. Coutinho’s most outstanding performances under Rodgers have been from a deeper midfield position, not the wing or even the number 10 slot that he was initially expected to occupy when he arrived at the club. Indeed, when he reprised that advanced play-maker role against Southampton on the opening day, he was just as ineffective and isolated as he was at the Etihad. Using Louis van Gaal’s terminology for a moment, Coutinho appears to work best as an 8, not a 10 and certainly not as a winger.

I've focussed primarily on Coutinho and Sterling because they were shining lights in pre-season and two of the players that supporters were looking at to fill the Suarez shaped hole that has been left in this squad. Growing amounts of evidence suggests that if they are to kick on again from their impressive individual campaigns in 2013/14 that progress will be more likely to materialise if they are playing in the positions that they both excelled in during last season.

Which brings us to back to Balotelli, whose arrival conveniently offers Rodgers the option of reverting back to the system that got the best out of our two outstanding young talents - and the team as a whole - by allowing the manager to deploy two strikers regularly.

It’s very possible that Balotelli and Sturridge might not hit it off as a conventional strike partnership. But they might not have to. The prolific Sturridge/Suarez axis was comprised essentially of two individuals doing their own thing. Yes, they combined well at times, but they didn't play in tandem like a Dalglish and Rush or even a Fowler and Collymore. Two mavericks whose first thoughts were ‘how can I score from here?’ found a way to coexist and thrive on the apparent professional rivalry that existed between them to be the ‘main man’ at Anfield. As a result, Liverpool benefited from this by acquiring the most lethal ‘partnership’ in English football while other individuals in the team also benefited hugely.

This begs the question: Why can’t the same happen with Balotelli and Sturridge? Yes, we've all heard how Sturridge longs to be the star man and the focal point of this side, but if he succeeded playing alongside Suarez, why can’t he do the same with Mario in tow? For the sake of the balance of this Liverpool team right now, he may have to.

Sturridge is no doubt a mighty fine forward when he’s playing up front on his own. The way he bamboozled Vincent Kompany and got himself into several promising positions against City illustrated that fact. However, it was nearly game for Sturridge in Manchester on Monday. He’d produce great work only for a last ditch outstretched limb from Kompany, Joe Hart or Pablo Zabaleta to foil him at the crucial moment. City hunted Sturridge in packs and, by hook or by crook, they managed to suppress his threat and keep him and Liverpool off the score-sheet during the time he was alone up front.

When Rickie Lambert entered the fray however, Sturridge appeared visibly liberated. He produced a goal from nothing after excellent work in the right channel and a cross of breathtaking technique for his strike partner. His goal against Southampton curiously also came when Lambert was on the pitch and involved several times in the build up to that match winning strike. For all the talk of him stepping up and becoming the unchallenged focal point of this attack in Suarez’s absence, Sturridge looks as if he will benefit more from having a foil alongside him.

If nothing else, Balotelli’s impending presence in a red shirt should decrease the attention opposing defenders are paying to Sturridge and allow him to play his more natural game of dropping deep, drifting wide and getting involved in the play as and when he sees fit. The pressure of being the only out and out striker who has to hold the ball up and be in central areas regularly should be lifted from his shoulders when the Italian joins him up front. Assuming that Rodgers will use the two strikers at the same time, it seems likely that the diamond will be his preferred method of achieving this.

That would hypothetically leave us with a Liverpool team set up in a system with Coutinho and Henderson behind Sterling in midfield and Balotelli and Sturridge leading the line which looks, on paper at least, a hell of a lot more threatening than anything we've seen against Southampton and City. In a wider context it provides plenty of options and opportunities, too. Joe Allen could play in Coutinho’s position when needed, for instance. Lallana could compete for that same starting berth as well as the number 10 role. Emre Can appears capable of playing at the base of a diamond or even slightly further forward in Henderson’s absence. Even Markovic is capable of playing centrally and adding drive and pace. The diamond looks, to my eyes at least, to offer the best balance for this team right now and would provide every midfielder in the squad with at least one position to compete for in the starting eleven.

Naturally, this is not to say the diamond formation is perfect. Nothing is in football, save for Andrea Pirlo’s facial hair. We know from first hand experience that this particular system certainly isn't flawless.

The most glaring reservation that surrounds the implementation of this system is the captain’s role within it. After all, Steven Gerrard isn't a defensive midfielder. He’s not particularly adept at picking up stealthy players like David Silva when they sneak into his area of the pitch. He doesn't have the legs to track runners as effectively as he once did. He still has the innate instincts of an attacking player. Yet these same problems existed last season when Gerrard initially adopted his deeper position in front of the back four and the team flourished, did they not? They won time and time again despite not having a traditional defensively minded midfield enforcer in the side because the quality of the attacking play they conjured was so high.

So why can’t that be the case again? If the alternative is to keep Gerrard in the same withdrawn position anyway (as it has been in both games this season when different formations have been utilised) while simultaneously blunting our own effectiveness going forward, then it seems to be a no brainer to me. We may as well play an attacking brand of football and die on our swords rather than try to be something we’re not and reduce our chances of success in the attacking third. If Gerrard and Balotelli are to be regulars in this team (and there is no evidence to suggest they won’t be) then it seems logical that the diamond should return.

I thought we’d seen the last of Brendan Rodgers playing with two strikers. I believed that the formation Liverpool used in the latter half of last season was a stopgap and would be discarded this summer. I was wrong. It appears that diamonds might just be forever after all.

Is Super Mario the right man for LFC?

You should know that what you’re about to read isn't going to unbiased.

I love Mario Balotelli. Have done for years. He was born in Palermo where a large chunk of my family still reside. He played for Internazionale and A.C. Milan, the two teams that most of my relatives over there support. I’m a fan of the Azzurri when it comes to the international game and I’m  also partial to an enigmatic, skilful player. Basically, Balotelli ticks all my boxes. But let’s be honest, I’m not alone here am I? Most football fans around the world seem to have a soft spot for Mario Balotelli.

The apocryphal tales of his cash handouts to the needy. Admitting to Noel Gallagher on camera that he returned home with a quad bike when his Mum sent him to John Lewis to purchase an ironing board. The fireworks in the bathroom. That t-shirt at Old Trafford. Everyone loves a bit of Mario.

That being said, ‘risk’ is a word that is going to be used a lot when people are discussing this proposed move to Liverpool. It’s fair to say that Balotelli carriers with him somewhat of a reputation, especially among the English press. His attitude on the pitch can admittedly descend into comical levels of indifference and even laziness when he’s not got his head straight and he’s not afraid of a bust up with a manager or three.

But in truth, there is little risk for Liverpool in this seemingly imminent transfer.

In the current market £16m (the fee that is widely reported to have been agreed between Milan and Liverpool) for a striker is next to nothing. Shane Long has just signed on at Southampton for £12m. If he gets 10 league goals during this campaign he’ll have excelled himself. Championship club Fulham have recently paid Leeds United a similar fee for footballing luminary Ross McCormack. Sunderland bid £14m for Fabio Borini this summer. Signing Italy’s best striker, for a few million quid more than any of those aforementioned players, is practically stealing.

Even if Balotelli flops spectacularly at Anfield and leaves next summer the reds are guaranteed to get their money back and, despite his reputation as a troublemaker, Balotelli’s previous travails have mostly impacted himself rather than any of his team mates. The commonly held notion of him being a bad egg who can disrupt an entire club simply by being is massively overplayed.

His current employers Milan are sadly a club in financial turmoil and without Champions League football these days. Last season was horrific for them as they limped to 8th place in the table. Balotelli was their one shining light during that disastrous campaign. Indeed, he’s been a shining light for them from the moment he arrived back on his home shores - no player has scored more goals in Serie A since he moved back to Italy from Manchester. The forward has netted 26 times in 43 league games for what is now a mid table club. That’s an impressive ratio for any striker, let alone one who has been tasked with saving the team he supported as a kid pretty much single handedly.

Balotelli isn’t the sulking teenager he was at Inter anymore where he fell out with Jose Mourinho (what’s not to like there?) or even the eccentric, moody young man whose relationship with Roberto Mancini crumbled in his last half season at City. He still has his off days and when he’s bad, boy is he bad, but he’s kept his nose clean since returning to Italy and he’s carried Milan’s attacking threat on his shoulders for the past year while their only other top level forward, Stephan El Shaaraway, was absent with a long term injury. He’s scored at a higher rate than he did in his younger days and also helped send England home from Brazil with the winning goal in a World Cup group match this summer (more brownie points from me). Talent wise, in this market, Mario Balotelli is a £40m striker. Minimum.

Links between the player and Liverpool have been there for most of the summer but I’d never seriously considered them to have any foundation. The main reason for my scepticism was centred around the fact that I couldn't really see how Balotelli fitted into a Brendan Rodgers team while Daniel Sturridge was still around. To be honest, current giddy excitement put to one side for a moment, I’m still finding it hard to see exactly how Balotelli is going to play regularly in this Liverpool team. That’s not to say he won’t or shouldn't, his talent almost dictates that he will, but I’m not certain of how this is going to achieved just yet.

He has played out wide in the past for Inter Milan but, at 24 years old, it’s unlikely Balotelli will be signing up to come and play on the wing much. If that is the case then it leaves Brendan Rodgers with a few things to ponder. Does he let Balotelli and Sturridge fight it out for the number nine role in a 4-3-3 formation or does he try and come up with a system that allows his side to play with two top strikers simultaneously as he did last season? Maybe Sturridge will be asked to move wide in games when Balotelli starts centrally as he did at times when he partnered Luis Suarez. Can Rodgers realistically get both of these forwards on the pitch at the same time without unbalancing the rest of the team? Will they even gel together as a partnership if they’re given the chance?

There are many question marks that this Balotelli deal presents. But every one of those question marks can also be viewed as an additional option for Brendan Rodgers. A squad with Balotelli joining Sturridge in it is better than a squad without the Italian forward. Yes, Rodgers will have a real balancing act on his hands and it will be a job and a half for him to keep the plethora of attacking players at his disposal happy and motivated but, compared to the alternative of having only Daniel Sturridge and Rickie Lambert as senior strikers this term, that doesn't seem so bad, does it?

If this transfer deal is concluded - as now seems likely - then the bottom line is that Liverpool will have added significant quality to their squad. They will have an equally talented alternative (or partner) to Daniel Sturridge in their ranks. Forget the headlines and the hyperbole that will inevitably go into overdrive if and when Mario and Brendan pose for pictures with a red scarf, what matters most is what happens on the field and Liverpool are apparently on the brink of bringing one of Europe’s very best strikers to the club.

For £4m more than Shane Long.