Ok so it seems we are going for 3 CBs 2 wing backs, 2 central and 3 up front like so:
-----------------------GK
----------------CB----CB----CB
WB------------------------------------WB
----------------CM---------CM
------------FWD----------------FWD
----------------------FWD
Now this puts a lot of pressure on the centre midfielders to press the play in the middle if we are giving our front 3 a license to attack and want our wing backs bombing forward and stretching the pitch. We're also playing our centre backs deeper with this formation from what I can see this does leave us less exposed however it also means there is more space to be covered in the centre compared to last year as can be seen below:
2013/14: CBs push a little higher and Gerrard played deeper, often dropping back into a back 3 so there is room to pass. Without the ball, Henderson and Allen would act as a screen across midfield before the back 3 of Gerrard, Skrtel and Agger. Any balls in behind could be mopped up by the pace of Flano or Johnson. The high line allowed us to squeeze the midfield and press high up the pitch meaning at any one time we could have 6 players inside the middle third of the park defending, with only 2 (and GK) covering the final third. This made us leak goals but also meant that team would be forced to flood the midfield in order to compensate for 6 redmen dominating the middle of the park everytime they tried to attack. Once the ball was won back, it could be given to Gerrard and he'd have time and space because there was no way anyone could be near him unless they were coming from an offside position. This also meant that because teams flooded the midfield, there was more space up front for Suarez and Sturridge, part of the reason why Sturridge was so effective was that Suarez was often double marked meaning that teams had 6 men covering the centre, 2 men on Suarez, 1 in goals and that leaves 3 more. If they had 2 up front that meant Sturridge only had to lose one man, easy work for a player of his standard. Often that one man could be forced to come and help out the middle third if Sterling or Henderson were blitzing in behind from midfield and the opposition couldn't keep up, leaving Sturridge in what seemed to be acres of space time and time again last year.
LB------------CB--------CB----------RB
^
Gerrard
Henderson Allen
Sterling
Flash forward to this year.... Without Suarez in the team, the opposition have used that man that would have been on Suarez and are pinning them on Gerrard, meaning that there is much less space for him to play in. Rogers has adjusted, and rightly so, however that has left a puzzling question of what to do with Gerrard if we cannot use him in his best position. The way we currently play is a deeper back 3 with two wing backs bombing forward (the opposite of last year almost where we had a high back 2 and wing backs sweeping behind). This means the gap between the midfield and the defenders is much greater and we can see clearly the line between final third and the middle third of the pitch:
----------CB-----CB--------CB
WB-----------------------------WB
-----------CM-------CM
Now on paper the wing backs cover that gap but in reality they are very rarely there, and it still leaves a space in the centre. This means that our centre midfield players are expected to press the middle of the field on their own. Where we once had 6 men, we now have 2. We need to be aggressive, switch to a flat back 5 like so
RB-----Can-----CB-----CB------LB
------------------ Gerrard
------Henderson----
---------------------------Coutinho
--Lallana
-------------Sterling
Three key men to highlight here are Gerrard, Henderson and Can.
1. Gerrard: Playing closer to the centre backs leaves him with less work defensively to do in midfield. Once again we can see that along with Henderson and the 3 CBs we now have 5 in the middle third with more defensive minded wing backs with pace to sweep in behind and watch the defensive third of the pitch. Gerrard himself won't be able to do a lot of pressing in the middle of the park, neither will the centre backs, they are there mainly to squeeze the centre and eliminate space, the pressing is where this man comes in:
2. Henderson: It is VITAL that he plays in the centre. He is the linchpin between attack and defence. Pressing and closing down can be launched quickly into forward runs cutting through the middle third of the pitch and launching into the final third giving our forwards more space and more options to use. He can be trusted to get forward but more importantly he can be trusted to bust a gut to get back and help the team, something Gerrard cannot do anymore and he was really found out against Leicester when he didn't have Henderson to cover for him and instead the tired legs of Lucas.
3. Can: Arguably the most important of all here is Can. If we drop Gerrard deeper again, chances are he'll be man marked once again. Can is a great option to use as a playmaker if Gerrard is not available. With someone man marking Gerrard, this leaves more space for Can and also, more space for the targets he's looking for. Gerrard can happily drop into the left hand side CB position, bringing his man with him, allowing the right side CB Can lots of time and space to use his impressive array of passes.
I'd really like to see us pressing higher up the field again, using Stevie deeper because he's useless anywhere else it really has to be said (even though I hate saying it). Can and Henderson are key in helping out Gerrard here, we've got one of the best passers in world football in Gerrard here, and we cannot get him on the ball. We're also asking him to do the impossible task of covering the middle third of the pitch with help from only one other compared to the 5 others he had last season.
I really hope this is the last time we see Gerrard and Lucas in the centre together, it's an unfair task to ask of them, they need help and support and I believe this is how they'll get it.
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