{"id":355,"date":"2016-01-06T19:56:34","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T19:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=355"},"modified":"2016-07-13T11:18:57","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T11:18:57","slug":"stoke-city-0-liverpool-1-an-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/stoke-city-0-liverpool-1-an-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Stoke City 0 &#8211; Liverpool 1: An Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Like being mates with Jekyll and Hyde, it\u2019s tricky to know which Liverpool you\u2019re going to meet when you go the match nowadays. Will it be the breath-taking, all-singing, all-goal scoring team we saw against Manchester City and Southampton? Or will it be the team that surrendered so meekly to Newcastle, Watford and West Ham?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_276\" style=\"width: 543px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-276\" class=\"size-large wp-image-276\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Liverpools-Players-In-A-Pre-Match-Huddle-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"Togetherness\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Liverpools-Players-In-A-Pre-Match-Huddle-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Liverpools-Players-In-A-Pre-Match-Huddle-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Liverpools-Players-In-A-Pre-Match-Huddle-65x50.jpg 65w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-276\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Togetherness<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Last night felt a little bit like a cross between the two. The Reds never looked like banging a mass of goals past Stoke, but they also didn\u2019t appear to be as defensively vulnerable as they have in the past. Reports suggesting that Jurgen Klopp had some stern words to say to his players after the loss to the Hammers certainly have some truth to them if the response from the players here was anything to go by.<\/p>\n<p>But what of the match itself? What titbits can we take from a game that contained one goal, three hamstrings and a whole lot of fight? With Exeter on the horizon will the manager finally consider wholesale rotation, or will he think that it\u2019s more important to keep the spine of the side intact?<\/p>\n<h2>Hamstrung<\/h2>\n<p>Liverpool started the match with a fair degree of fight, taking the game straight to Stoke and putting them under pressure immediately. It was the sort of thing we\u2019ve been wanting to see in most recent games but have instead witnessed a damp squib of an opening, often resulting in us conceding a goal.<\/p>\n<p>Then Philippe Coutinho\u2019s hamstring went.<\/p>\n<p>Then Dejan Lovren\u2019s hamstring went.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m fairly certain I felt my hamstring tweak midway through the half-time break when I went to take the dog for a walk. With Origi, Sturridge and Rossiter also out with the same injury it\u2019s fair to say that Liverpool have been hamstrung by hamstring injuries.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Can&#8217;t wait for the Man United game when our team will be Mignolet, Mighty Red, Jimmy Case and a picture of Suarez glued to a broom.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Neil Mundy (@nmundy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nmundy\/status\/684480610325389312\">January 5, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"\u201cutf-8&quot;\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The reality is that a new manager coming in and asking the players to change their routine was always likely to endure some injury issues. Added to that the fact that Klopp felt the Liverpool players were unfit and needed to work harder and injuries were inevitable. On top of that there\u2019s also the idea that the German wants his players playing \u2018full throttle\u2019 football\u2019, running more than the other teams and putting their bodies through hell.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the mere arrival of the former Borussia Dortmund manager was going to put a strain on Liverpool\u2019s players and likely invite injuries. So to combine that with the hectic festive schedule, in which 3 days rest rather than 2 has seemed like dreamland, and Liverpool were always going to find themselves in trouble on the injury front.<\/p>\n<p>The question is, could things have been done differently? Joseph Pepper on Twitter is a firm advocate of the idea that Liverpool should, essentially, \u2018throw\u2019 the cup matches we\u2019re involved in in order to concentrate on the league. Maybe that\u2019s exactly what, logically, we should be doing. I certainly want the league title above all else and this year of all years it has felt like it\u2019s there for the taking.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not difficult to imagine that the very notion of playing a weaker team in the cup competitions goes against Klopp\u2019s every instinct. He\u2019s a winner and he wants to be competitive in every match we play in. It\u2019s totally fair to suggest that winning the League Cup, should we do it, won\u2019t help us do anything in the future in the same way it didn\u2019t exactly project other teams that won it onto greater heights.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\"><p>\nBeen 4 long years since we tasted the sweet success of winning this trophy against Cardiff or someone. You know, the year Kenny got sacked.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 42% (@JosephPepper) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JosephPepper\/status\/684400309976739841\">January 5, 2016<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Yet Klopp will surely want to see his team lift the League Cup trophy in February and it will doubtless help him to relax into his job knowing that he\u2019s won some silverware at the first time of asking. How much easier is it to ask players to buy into your ideas if you\u2019ve already won a trophy? Wouldn\u2019t Rodgers have been given a touch more slack if he\u2019d picked up the League Cup in season 1?<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the injuries are something of a blessing in disguise for those that want to follow Mr. Pepper\u2019s route towards a concentration on the league. Even if Klopp had hoped to play a reasonably strong team against Exeter on Friday night he pretty much can\u2019t now. Maybe Kolo Toure\u2019s injury was cramp rather than a hamstring injury as the manager suggested. But that still leaves us with just one fit centre back.<\/p>\n<p>Cups aren\u2019t as important as the league to Liverpool and at some point one of the powers that be needs to let Klopp know that that\u2019s his priority. Until that happens we\u2019re likely to suffer from never ending injury crises that, even if they don\u2019t effect the match they happen in, could completely de-rail our season.<\/p>\n<h2>Emre Can, Allen Key<\/h2>\n<p>Some time ago I wrote a piece with pretty much that exactly headline in it, except for the fact that it said \u2018Emre Can\u2019t\u2019. I\u2019m repeating it here for two reasons, not least of which is that I love the pun. Not only that, but it\u2019s also worth noting that both players were exceptional for the Reds yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>Emre Can is not yet a world class midfielder. He\u2019s not even a consistent midfielder for Liverpool within the same game, let alone from week to week. What he does have, though, is bags of potential. He could, under the leadership of a manager like Klopp, develop into a truly top drawer midfield player. He has bags of potential that will almost certainly be fulfilled as long as he keeps going on the same trajectory as he\u2019s currently managing.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_279\" style=\"width: 543px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-279\" class=\"size-large wp-image-279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Emre-Can-In-The-Centre-Circle-v-Rubin-Kazan-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"Emre Can In The Centre Circle v Rubin Kazan\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Emre-Can-In-The-Centre-Circle-v-Rubin-Kazan-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Emre-Can-In-The-Centre-Circle-v-Rubin-Kazan-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Emre-Can-In-The-Centre-Circle-v-Rubin-Kazan-65x50.jpg 65w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-279\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emre Can In The Centre Circle v Rubin Kazan<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As for Joe Allen, I\u2019d like to briefly ask you to travel back to the days of Rafa Benitez\u2019s management of Liverpool. Despite the revisionism that has taken place since the Spaniard\u2019s departure and the subsequent travails that the club has been through, Rafa was taking enormous criticism from our own fans even when we were top of the league in 2008-2009.<\/p>\n<p>Some fans, though, felt that they couldn\u2019t overtly attack Benitez so instead they harangued a player that they felt personified Benitez\u2019s perceived conservatism on the pitch, one Lucas Leiva. He was the \u2018only Brazilian who can\u2019t score goals\u2019, often getting pelted with abuse from the stands when things didn\u2019t work perfectly for the Reds.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward to the days when Brendan Rodgers sat in the Liverpool dugout and the same sort of vitriol often poured down from the stands towards the Northern Irishman as Rafa had had to put up with. With the Spaniard gone, though, and Lucas having become one of those players that we didn\u2019t realise how much we needed until we lost him to injury, there\u2019s another fall guy on the pitch.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_241\" style=\"width: 372px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-241\" class=\"size-large wp-image-241\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Manager-Brendan-Rodgers-of-Liverpool-FC_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-362x400.jpg\" alt=\"almonfoto \/ shutterstock.com\" width=\"362\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Manager-Brendan-Rodgers-of-Liverpool-FC_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-362x400.jpg 362w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Manager-Brendan-Rodgers-of-Liverpool-FC_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-181x200.jpg 181w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Manager-Brendan-Rodgers-of-Liverpool-FC_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock.jpg 905w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 362px) 100vw, 362px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-241\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">almonfoto \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Joe Allen has rarely performed anything less than perfectly solidly when he\u2019s played for Liverpool. There can be little question that the man that brought him in from Swansea chopped his legs off with the sections of the Anfield crowd who felt that Rodgers was too much like David Brent when he called the diminutive midfielder \u201cthe Welsh Xavi\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>There is little doubt in my mind, however, that Allen would receive a lot more respect and praise for the performances he\u2019s given in a Red shirt if he was Spanish and had been bought by a different manager. His association with Rodgers, combined with the fact that he was the Ulsterman\u2019s representative on the pitch, means that some people will never view his performances with anything other than contempt.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\"><p>Joe Allen got four assists for Swansea in one season in the PL. Got his 4th assist for Liverpool tonight, in appearance 109.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BassTunedToRed\/status\/684490319505846272\">January 5, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>The problem for Allen is that he is never anything other than perfectly solid. He doesn\u2019t set the world alight, creating countless opportunities or scoring a myriad of goals. He acts as the team\u2019s metronome, keeping things ticking over and helping to find space and allow room for others. Such a player will never get you on the edge of your set, though, will never engage you to the point where you think he deserves the Man Of The Match award.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_188\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-188\" class=\"size-large wp-image-188\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Lucas-Leiva-no.21-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Lucas-Leiva-no.21-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Lucas-Leiva-no.21-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Lucas-Leiva-no.21-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-188\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Many Liverpool fans would have happily seen the back of Lucas if given the chance during Rafa\u2019s reign, yet for a time he was arguably the best defensive midfielder in the world on form and proved himself to be almost irreplaceable. Even now he is prone to a dodgy moment or two but is unquestionably a good squad player to have around. The comparisons between Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen are there for all who might want to see them. The problem is that too many people can\u2019t view Allen\u2019s performances without the attached baggage of their own issues with Brendan Rodgers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\"><p>\nHad a good game yes. Brilliant? Far from it. Average at best &amp; not good enough for us to be a starter. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bka6Dp9gzj\">https:\/\/t.co\/bka6Dp9gzj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fahad.A (@LFC4LIFE_786) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LFC4LIFE_786\/status\/684512034826878976\">January 5, 2016<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Although Emre Can was signed during Rodgers\u2019 era his Germanic origins combined with his youth mean that he will be given plenty of time by the Anfield faithful. He will never be bracketed and criticised in the same way that Allen is because of his association with any given manager.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s most interesting about Liverpool\u2019s match against Stoke was that the midfield worked as an excellent unit, with Lucas, Allen and Can complimenting each other in an interesting way. Allen in particular was genuinely fantastic, controlling the match and running the game for the Reds. If Liverpool\u2019s fans can get past the link between him and our now departed manager he could yet prove to be one of Jurgen Klopp\u2019s key characters in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like being mates with Jekyll and Hyde, it\u2019s tricky to know which Liverpool you\u2019re going to meet when you go the match nowadays. Will it be the breath-taking, all-singing, all-goal scoring team we saw against Manchester City and Southampton? Or will it be the team that surrendered so meekly to Newcastle, Watford and West Ham? Last night felt a little bit like a cross between the two. The Reds never looked like banging a mass of goals past Stoke, but they also didn\u2019t appear to be as defensively vulnerable as they have in the past. Reports suggesting that Jurgen Klopp [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}