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One of the most galling aspects of Liverpool’s latest defeat was that, this time, Crystal Palace didn’t even need to be particularly rampant or raucous. This was no long night of the soul for Brendan Rodgers’s side like that famous 3-3 in May. Instead, it was a rather easy afternoon’s work for Palace. The home team certainly didn’t have to be too inventive.
Liverpool basically look susceptible to pretty much anything right now: direct runs, direct balls, long balls, through balls, one-twos… it all works. It has also led to what is Liverpool’s worst defensive record in decades, and certainly the worst Rodgers has endured in his three and a half years in the Premier League, at 1.5 goals conceded per game.
That softness is all the more striking because their own strike force has suddenly become so drearily meek. They’ve gone from regularly ripping defences apart to being torn asunder themselves, with the latter quite clearly exacerbating the former.
While all of that clearly indicates that there is deep issue with the overall cohesion of the team, it’s hard not to keep wondering about the defence above all. There was always going to be a drop-off and period of adjustment in attack after the sale of Luis Suarez, but that makes it all the more puzzling that Rodgers didn’t at least try to temporarily offer some more security; to rein his team in as they re-connect.
Instead, he spent the early part of the season scotching the idea he needed a defensive coach. Now, it’s possible that the problems have gone beyond that. Jamie Carragher recently bemoaned the lack of leadership in the team, and there certainly seems an absence of fight. The basic stats indicate that.
Liverpool’s under-performing center-backs
Most obviously, they have gone from the team who made the most tackles in the Premier League last season - at 22.3 - to the one who only makes the 12th most, at 19.7. That is way below the mediocre 2012/13 season, too, and Liverpool have also made their fewest interceptions under Rodgers - at 11.8 - and fewest fouls per game, at 10.
Of course, it is usually the core players at centre-half and defensive midfield that set a baseline in this regard, but that has not been the case. Basically, the majority of what has been suspected about Dejan Lovren, Martin Skrtel and Steven Gerrard is true. Those massive mishaps aren’t isolated incidents. They reflect overall play.
For one thing, he’s never had such an imbalanced centre-half pairing in terms of who offers the graft. While the notionally more physical Skrtel has been oddly reticent in his tackling (with just 0.9 per game compared to 1.4 in previous seasons), Lovren has been as ludicrously overzealous as so many mishaps have suggested, with 2.3 per game.
That abrasiveness has not led to extra assurance. It has just meant more erraticism. Lovren has been dribbled past 0.6 times per game, which is more than any other primary centre-half under Rodgers, and offers the fewest blocks of any of them too, at 0.3. Essentially, there is a massively soft centre there, filled by someone suddenly likely to vacate that space too.
The decline of Steven Gerrard
That wouldn’t be so much of a problem - or perhaps the problem wouldn’t even be as bad - if Liverpool had a functioning defensive midfielder to protect the backline, but the decline in Steven Gerrard’s game has been marked. His stats are startling.
The team’s famous leader, the driving force, isn’t setting much of an example. He certainly isn’t doing much of what is supposed to now be his main job - that of a defensive midfielder. Gerrard tackles less this season than last (2.9 to 1.8), he makes fewer interceptions (1.4 to 0.6), he fouls much less (1 to 0.2) - which indicates some fire has gone from his game - and is beaten much more by dribblers (up to 0.9). Quite simply, Gerrard is not looking cut out for that role.
The wonder, however, is why Rodgers is not cutting his cloth to fit. Basically, an inferior squad in Swansea never looked this poor at the back. That was essentially because, for all his vaunted purism at the time, Rodgers was much more prepared to play the ball around his own third more. They enjoyed more possession than all of his Liverpool teams, but also had more of that possession closer to their own goal.
Basically, Rodgers was willing to compromise with lesser players for greater security. It may be something he has to relearn at Liverpool - to go back to basics - because, while they have made things so complicated for themselves, everyone else is enjoying an unusually easy time of it.
