Is our playing style changing?

I don't know, at times versus Arsenal, we played a fair amount of Tika-Taka, passing it around with little regard to making progress, unless an option appeared.  That kind of thing zaps opponents energy, especially couples with the score line.

I don't know, at times versus Arsenal, we played a fair amount of Tika-Taka, passing it around with little regard to making progress, unless an option appeared.  That kind of thing zaps opponents energy, especially couples with the score line.

Probably as much to do with our energy being zapped, because the intensity with which we play our best football is unsustainable for 90 minutes. Good while it lasts, though!

Nothing wrong with Tiki Taka, there is many facets to a game and knowing when is the right time to attack, take the pace out of the game, sit deep etc all comes down to game management and this is what separates the average managers from the good ones. I think Brendan wants his team to be able to adapt what ever type of football is needed to beat the opposition. In this respect he is heading to be a great manager in time.

If you read the article that Deb posted in the BR thread you will see that Brendan has basically scraped his thought pattern of "death by football' to being an attacking/counter-attacking squad that can be most dangerous when it does NOT have the ball.

The short answer to the question is yes. That doesn't mean ball retention and dominance of the game is a bad idea, it's simply a case of the manager best utilising the talent which is available to him.

I agree mate, with players like Sturridge and Sterling it would be a waste of their speed and Coutinho's ability to find them with a defense splitting ball if we built slowly from the back all the time. (Suarez is that good he could play any style imo)

With Johnson, Enrique and Agger out I think we would struggle to play "death by football" from the back anyway, "death by lightning strike" works better even if the names not quite as catchy

I agree mate, with players like Sturridge and Sterling it would be a waste of their speed and Coutinho's ability to find them with a defense splitting ball if we built slowly from the back all the time. (Suarez is that good he could play any style imo)

With Johnson, Enrique and Agger out I think we would struggle to play "death by football" from the back anyway, "death by lightning strike" works better even if the names not quite as catchy

  Death by lightning strike, not catchy enough and doesn't happen often enough for my taste mate. It's an interesting one, but I think that in sport if you follow the maxim "do what the opposition would least like you to do" you don't go far wrong. With the pace and power of Sturridge and Sterling in particular, I think if I were playing against them I'd much rather surrender ground and get organised while Liverpool keep possession than I would have to deal with incisive through balls quickly delivered. Equally, if Coutinho plays as a midfielder I'd really like to get tight to him but that's hard, as doing so would either leave a gap between our midfield and forwards if we sit deep to counter their pace, or would lead to us defending too high.

 Then you get to Gerrard (or don't as the case may be). Naturally you want to sit on him to lessen the impact he can have, but given his passing range it's nowhere near so simple as it sounds. Press your midfield higher up to close him off and you open up acres of space in front of your defenders where we can drop it into Suarez so he can turn. Just about the only way you can stop Suarez is if you do a Chelsea style double screen on him and make it impossible for him to get the ball, push that screen up in order to get to Gerrard and Suarez will destroy you. Then of course you can't push the whole team up, because as already stated the ball can be dropped in behind where Sturridge and Sterling will burn you off for pace. 

So it's a tricky one for the opposition the way we are playing right now, and there is enough variety in our attacking play to really ask questions of people. The key isn't that we're dropping deeper as I've read elsewhere, it's that now we also have the weapon of a Gerrard longer pass it's much harder for the opposition to squeeze us up. We'll see a different approach from us on Wednesday, as I fully expect Fulham to let Gerrard have the ball as much as he wants. I'd be surprised if they play anything other than a 4-5-1, and the 5 will barely get over the half way line. It'll ask completely different questions of us and require a lot of patience to break them down, perhaps a bit more "death by football" than we have shown previously.

On a side note, I hope we don't resort to just lumping it into the box in desperation. It was nice to see the much talked about (in these parts) Dan Burn playing so well at centre half against the Mancs. He'll win everything in the air as he's six feet seven, but on the ground we might be able to get somewhere. I was told a couple of years back though that they reckon this lad will be a far better player than Smalling, and it's nice when someone is proven not to be talking total bollocks. Might happen to me one day too . 

Death by lightning strike, not catchy enough and doesn't happen often enough for my taste mate. It's an interesting one, but I think that in sport if you follow the maxim "do what the opposition would least like you to do" you don't go far wrong. With the pace and power of Sturridge and Sterling in particular, I think if I were playing against them I'd much rather surrender ground and get organised while Liverpool keep possession than I would have to deal with incisive through balls quickly delivered. Equally, if Coutinho plays as a midfielder I'd really like to get tight to him but that's hard, as doing so would either leave a gap between our midfield and forwards if we sit deep to counter their pace, or would lead to us defending too high.

 Then you get to Gerrard (or don't as the case may be). Naturally you want to sit on him to lessen the impact he can have, but given his passing range it's nowhere near so simple as it sounds. Press your midfield higher up to close him off and you open up acres of space in front of your defenders where we can drop it into Suarez so he can turn. Just about the only way you can stop Suarez is if you do a Chelsea style double screen on him and make it impossible for him to get the ball, push that screen up in order to get to Gerrard and Suarez will destroy you. Then of course you can't push the whole team up, because as already stated the ball can be dropped in behind where Sturridge and Sterling will burn you off for pace. 

So it's a tricky one for the opposition the way we are playing right now, and there is enough variety in our attacking play to really ask questions of people. The key isn't that we're dropping deeper as I've read elsewhere, it's that now we also have the weapon of a Gerrard longer pass it's much harder for the opposition to squeeze us up. We'll see a different approach from us on Wednesday, as I fully expect Fulham to let Gerrard have the ball as much as he wants. I'd be surprised if they play anything other than a 4-5-1, and the 5 will barely get over the half way line. It'll ask completely different questions of us and require a lot of patience to break them down, perhaps a bit more "death by football" than we have shown previously.

On a side note, I hope we don't resort to just lumping it into the box in desperation. It was nice to see the much talked about (in these parts) Dan Burn playing so well at centre half against the Mancs. He'll win everything in the air as he's six feet seven, but on the ground we might be able to get somewhere. I was told a couple of years back though that they reckon this lad will be a far better player than Smalling, and it's nice when someone is proven not to be talking total bollocks. Might happen to me one day too .

Lots of that makes good sense bigmick, and it suggests that if we get our game plan right, the opposition will need to sit back, load up their midfield, and try to catch us on the break with longer balls over the top.
I was only saying to a mate today, I think the chavs game will be our hardest, as i expect maureen to try just that. He will acclaim himself a master tactician if he succeeds, yet when west ham done that against the chavs, he said they played 18th century football or something like that. Total w**ker, and I trust Louis, Studge and Stirling to rip him and his plastic tw*ts a new one.
As for our change in play. Brendans just got us playing to our strengths. I would imagine if we had more skill full defenders, and less pace up front, we would be going more for the tika taka style. Common sense really.

And in any case, he probably saw them get crushed 9-0 by Bayern Munich, in a marvellous display of explosive, direct football.

Which very much seems to be the approach we're taking with regards to playing-style recently.

And I much, much prefer that over tiki-taka.

We've moved on from Rodgers's once-favoured tika-taka "death by football" bollocks, and Thank God.

I'm sure that circumstance has probably gone some way towards dictating this change, in that he recognises that players like Sterling, Henderson, Sturridge and co are better suited to a more explosive, counter-attacking style of play, but hopefully he also realises that Barca's "tika-taka" style is all when and good. As long as you're Barcelona. With the largest wage bill in world football and years of academy-trained players. And in any case, he probably saw them get crushed 9-0 by Bayern Munich, in a marvellous display of explosive, direct football.

Your an amazing fella with great thought provoking insights that you come up with, or maybe you should just quote Tony Barrett instead of just copying what you read in the paper.



How Brendan Rodgers has turned Liverpool’s league fortunes around by Tony Barrett

Depending on your point of view, Liverpool may or may not be title contenders. What isn’t in doubt though is that they are one of the Barclays Premier League’s most improved teams as evidenced by them being 14 points better off this season than they were at the same stage of the previous one. Another eye-catching statistic is that they have scored more goals at this stage of the season than they have in any other in their illustrious history.

Here, Tony Barrett examines the methods that have allowed Brendan Rodgers to turn Liverpool into a team that could yet challenge for the Barclays Premier League title even if the manager himself continues to play down their chances.

Relaxing his commitment to ‘death by football’

That may seem strange after Liverpool’s recent demolition jobs on Arsenal and Everton, but when Rodgers talked of inflicting “death by football” his vision was for it to be caused by “relentless possession.” Everton and Arsenal were both on the receiving end of heavy defeats but they also had more of the ball. They were not passed into submission, they were brutally ripped apart by counter attacking football built on the pace, movement and ruthlessness of Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge, an attacking trident that Rodgers believes is at least the equal of any other in the Premier League.

Three of the nine goals Liverpool have scored in their last two home fixtures have come from the ball being won and released early. Defence is being turned into attack in the blink of an eye; there is no passing for the sake of it. Rodgers has recognised the strengths of the players and has developed a strategy to make them as effective as they possibly can be. His development as a manager is mirrored by the progress that has been made by his team. Liverpool can play possession football but they are better suited to allowing opponents to have the ball, pressing them remorselessly and then blitzing them.

The change in emphasis from “death by football” to conquest by counter was reflected in the aftermath of the Merseyside derby when Rodgers evoked memories of a vintage piece of John Motson commentary about Liverpool being “at their most dangerous when they don’t have the ball.”

Rodgers said: “I remember watching Bayern Munich against Barcelona last year and it was 9-0 on aggregate over the two legs. Barcelona dominated possession as you’d expect but everyone could see over the course of the two games the team with the most dangerous possession was Bayern.

“When you look at the stats of the modern game I’m big on controlling domination of the ball, but against Everton we were able to dominate without the ball. Tactically, where we are compared to when I arrived 18months ago, it is very, very pleasing.”

Acknowledging and learning from his own mistakes

Increasingly, one of Rodgers’ greatest strengths is the ability to hold his hands up and admit that he has got it wrong. “I was too aggressive in my tactics,” he admitted after an over-ambitious approach against Aston Villa led to one of Liverpool’s poorest performances of the season and a home draw that cost them two points. Taking responsibility has improved his already solid standing within the dressing room with Liverpool’s players appreciative of their managers’ willingness to take the pressure off them and his refusal to try and shift the blame.

It isn’t just about dressing room mechanics, though. Even more significant is Rodgers’ growing knack of finding solutions to problems he has caused. The formation that let him down against Villa allowed Liverpool to be over-run in midfield with Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson out-numbered and out-manoeuvred. There were no shortage of critics who warned that their partnership would not work, that there was no balance or blend and that there was too much emphasis on attack and not enough on defence.

So what did Rodgers do? He added another attacker to the mix in the form of Philippe Coutinho. It was defiant and it was also a risk. Had the lightweight Brazilian got lost in the midfield maelstrom, as many had expected, and the team’s form suffered as a result the Liverpool manager would have been lambasted. The opposite has happened, though, with Coutinho’s transformation from brilliant but inconsistent wide attacker to becoming the creative heartbeat of Liverpool’s midfield is one of the great tactical innovations of this season.

The wondrous through balls that created goals for Sturridge against Arsenal and Everton have been the most eye-catching evidence of Coutinho’s metamorphosis but equally crucial to the way Rodgers sets his team up has been the 21-year-old’s ceaseless pressing of opponents. The ball player is now also a ball winner, often high up the pitch, and that alone has allowed Rodgers to restore equilibrium to his midfield but it wouldn’t have been possible without his own willingness to admit mistakes and determination to correct them.

Turning into Tony Pulis

This is in no way a criticism. It is anything but. For decades, Liverpool have ranged from being at worst useless and at best functional when it comes to making the most of set pieces. In their 1980s heyday they made so little use of them that it became a standing joke that even led to a fanzine being named Another Wasted Corner. Under Rodgers, those days have become a thing of the past and Liverpool are now the most ruthless set piece team in the Premier League.

So far this season, they have scored 23 goals from corners and free kicks (although it should be stressed that Luis Suarez’s shooting ability from dead ball situations has contributed to this remarkable figure). Prior to the Merseyside derby, Roberto Martinez had warned his players that there is no better team in the country at taking advantage of set pieces but to be forewarned was not to be forearmed in this case as Liverpool’s opening goal came when Gerrard headed home Suarez’s near post corner.

Similar happened at the weekend when Arsenal were twice struck by the same lightning bolt in the opening eight minutes of the game with Martin Skrtel taking maximum advantage of Gerrard’s expert set-piece delivery. Liverpool’s opponents are becoming increasingly aware that if they don’t beat them on the ground, they could very well beat them in the air. It’s a volatile mix and one that has given Liverpool an added attacking dimension. It isn’t rocket science either; it just comes down to work on the training ground and an increased urgency to attack the ball.

Helping Sterling reach his peak

On December 2, Raheem Sterling made his second league start of the season – it could not have gone much worse. Bereft of confidence, lacking in match practice and burdened by expectation, the then 18-year-old was hauled off after 66 minutes following a listless display as Liverpool slumped to a 4-1 defeat away to Hull City. Sterling’s performance prompted his career to be prematurely and unfairly written off in some quarters and there was even a suggestion (albeit a wholly inaccurate one) that the winger would be sent out on loan because Rodgers believed he was not ready to make a positive impact on his team.

Only two months on from that chastening experience at the KC Stadium, Sterling’s form is such that public opinion has now swung in favour of the teenager being included in England’s World Cup squad. The potential that always existed – which was recognised initially by Rafael Benitez and then developed by Kenny Dalglish – is now being unlocked by Rodgers and Sterling is suddenly seen as an indispensible part of Liverpool’s attack. Tactically flexible, surprisingly strong, direct, skilful and always willing, the Jamaican-born teenager is terrorising opposition defences on an increasingly regular basis as Arsenal discovered to their cost on Saturday.

The talent was always there. Sterling was and is a special player, one who is capable of becoming a genuine star for club and country, but there was a spell when he appeared to be losing his way. Fault for that lay at his own feet but also at his clubs’. Sterling was responsible for his own loss of focus but working under four managers at Liverpool in only three years was hardly conducive to the development of a precociously talented young player who needed direction and consistent coaching. Rodgers has given Sterling the stability that he needed and he also given him the tough love that could be the making of him.

“We are very focused on nurturing the young player,” Rodgers said in November. “Someone like Raheem had a great first six months, a mixed six months after that, which was natural, and now is coming back to showing a level. It was going to be very difficult to maintain the level that he set himself. For him now, football has to be very much at the forefront of his mind and if it is he is a talent. He showed over the first six months of last season that he has a future in the Premier League and at Liverpool.

“I always say to players and in particular to young players that at Liverpool we work on what we call the ‘core’. We get the ‘commitment’. Once we have do that we will ‘organise’ a plan for them to get into the first team. When that happens it is their ‘responsibility’ and hopefully after that we can deliver ‘excellence’ in their performance level that keeps them there. If they don’t they will fall by the wayside.”

Having been on the receiving end of that warning, Sterling has responded to it to such an extent that on Saturday Rodgers described him as “the best English winger in the league.” On current form, such praise is not misplaced.

An absence of stubbornness

Liverpool’s starting line-up against Arsenal was part accident, part design. There were players that Rodgers wants, ones that he could have done without and others that he had almost written off previously. At an earlier stage in his tenure, the Liverpool manager would have not have been averse to allowing Jordan Henderson, Martin Skrtel and Jonathan Flanagan to move on. When the idea of signing Daniel Sturridge was first raised he was unconvinced. Guilherme Siqueira of Granada was Rodgers’ favoured left back option when Liverpool signed Aly Cissokho on loan from Valencia last summer.

In the case of each individual, though, Rodgers has been prepared to back down in the face of either their own form, the advice of others at the club or just his own instinct. The effect has been the creation of a meritocracy in which players at Liverpool know that if they train and play well the chances are that they will be in the side. The manager has demonstrated that he will not cut off his nose to spite his face and also that he is willing to change his mind.

The recent emergence of Flanagan is the most obvious example with the full back now holding down a regular starting place having previously been deemed surplus to requirements earlier in the season. At that stage, Rodgers had been ready to allow Flanagan to go out on loan but a move failed to materialise. The Academy graduate buckled down in training, to such an extent that before the Goodison derby he stopped a session and told his players to give Flanagan an ovation, and he is now seen as one of the major success stories of Liverpool’s season. Credit for that goes to the player himself but it must also be shared with his manager who has created an environment in which improvement is possible as a result of his own lack of stubbornness.



Credit to Debs and Rawk for this article

Yep, we definitely have, and for the better IMO. As highlighted above, the way Bayern just tore Barca a new a**hole last season was a spotlight that shown how the best teams are going to win. The possession game can still, and is very much used, mainly when having a 3 goal or more lead, just to take the zap out of any attack from the opposition, also against the weaker teams at home perhaps.

But the explosive counter-attacking football just seems to do wonders for us against the better teams, look at our goals against Everton and Arsenal, pretty much all came from mistakes from the opposition, although that may sound a little harsh on us, our high intensity pressing game has caused them to make mistakes, and credit to B-Rod and the players for seeing this and executing it perfectly.

Obviously there will be games where we struggle to make the opposition make mistakes (think City away) but the good thing about Rodgers that I find is that when he gets it wrong tactically, you know he will definitely get it right next time, Arsenal a perfect example, we were absolutely battered by their midfield dominance in the away game earlier this season, but obviously the staff do a lot of tactical studying and just try an get their messages across to the players, its great I think.

Your an amazing fella with great thought provoking insights that you come up with, or maybe you should just quote Tony Barrett instead of just copying what you read in the paper.

I've referenced that Bayern - Barca game several times on this website - Rodgers watching it was hardly unlikely, and Tony mentioning it in an article is coincidence.