On the positive side, Liverpool can control the ball pretty well. But other than that, it was a pretty poor performance from the home side. In a drab 0-0 draw with Stoke, the Reds dominated possession, but failed to create enough chances.
Liverpool came out in a 5-4-1 formation with Sebastian Coates, Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel anchoring the back line and Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique providing the width up and down the field. Dirk Kuyt was the lone forward. I don’t really understand the reasoning coming out in such a defensive formation, especially against a team like Stoke. This is a game Liverpool could have and should have won, but the players seemed slightly off-put and confused by the formation change.
The Reds were able to dominate midfield play and kept Stoke from getting much of anything going offensively. However, there was a severe lack of connection between the midfield and Kuyt and more often than not, there was no one in box to receive a dangerous cross. Kuyt pulled back to chase the ball and as a result, there was basically no one playing up top, which would be fine if the object of the game was to not score goals.
Liverpool introduced Andy Carroll early in the second half, but like many of his appearances as of late, he had little influence on the proceedings. Craig Bellamy came on shortly afterwards and was unable to provide much of anything as his corners and crosses constantly found the head of a Stoke player.
Liverpool looked much like they did in the loss to Manchester City, although thankfully, Stoke doesn’t have the same kind of offensive threats. The inability to create any good chances today stems partially from the fact that there simply weren’t ever enough people getting forward. Once LFC got to the edge of the box, it was all lateral movement and no one looked to make cuts through the box to create space.
It’s odd how Liverpool went from creating a ton of chances and simply not being able to finish to a complete dearth of decent looks recently. The absence of creative force Luis Suarez obviously hurts, but the rest of the squad has to figure out a way to get good chances without him (at least for four more matches). However, even with Suarez in the lineup, Liverpool has struggled to find the back of the net consistently.
Can you imagine if Liverpool had won even half of the games they’ve drawn? They would be sitting pretty in the top four, that’s for sure. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch them struggle so mightily in front of the net (or the final third in general) when they are playing well defensively and through the midfield. There are still a couple weeks left in the transfer window and I think that buying a proven striker would be a good call at this point. Carroll is still young and inconsistent and Suarez is obviously suspended and can be flaky in his own way in front of goal.
Tags: Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy, Glen Johnson, Jamie Carragher, Jose Enrique, Liverpool, Luis Suarez, Martin Skrtel, Premier League, Sebastian Coates, Stoke City
