BR has simply used the players in the right position this time, Lallana and Cou rampaging through the middle, near to the goal and not far away from it, we always knew he can do that very well when he was with Southampton that's where he is most effective, Sterling playing very near to the box (that's where he's most effective), Lucas very few side and back passes and fast to release the ball forward (that's what we need if we want Cou, Sterling and Lallana to be effective), Hendo playing in the middle and some nice forward passes, both he and Lucas close down the spaces well. Moreno and Manquillo bombing forward on both wings and defended well. So the winning formula for BR is he has simply played the players in the right position this time, no dilly dallying, everyone up the tempo of the game, close down the space well and some hard tackling, we defended as a team and attacked as a team.
Players find it difficult to play against us as our attack is unpredictable as last season, it could come from Lallana, Sterling, Cou, Hendo, Morkovic, Moreno or even Manquillo. No disrespect to Stevie, without Stevie's presence I felt the young lads have more courage and confidence to show what they can do on the pitch and to express their talent freely without the legend overbearing on them.
As what I have kept harping on BR, he has got a very young and talented side that he can work on many attacking options. The more attacking variations BR has, the more opposition teams will find it difficult to cope with us. Hope he continue to work on that.
The happiest thing for me is goals are coming from elsewhere in the abscense of Sturridge.
I hope BR will not revert to the old style of play and start the 2nd half of the season with his new found attacking tactics.
The only downside is Balo even how hard he tried, he has yet to score regularly, and the signs are there that BR are bringing him much nearer to the box to be effective, as what he has shown when he was with city. With better understanding with Lallana, Cou, Sterling and the rest I;m sure he'll improve. But I hope he doesn't spend more time on the computer games than the training pitch as evident that he was talking to a Swansea player after the game about a game controller, spend more time on the pitch with some serious shooting practice that'll do.
Well done BR.
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