Did humiliation of Spurs prove Liverpool are better without Steven Gerrard?

Did Sunday show a glimpse into the future? Liverpool took on Tottenham without Steven Gerrard, comfortably winning and showing no signs of missing him. Gerrard, meanwhile, looked on from the Sky Sports studio next to fellow veteran Jamie Carragher. As poor as Tottenham were, Liverpool blew them away with a display of pace and passing. Whilst Luis Suarez got the inevitable headlines, Jordan Henderson put in his best display in a Liverpool shirt to show that there is life after Gerrard. Any fears that Liverpool would miss their talismanic captain were quickly allayed, with the central midfield three of Lucas Leiva, Joe Allen and Henderson dominant.

Brendan Rodgers sprung a tactical tweak by altering the midfield shape that he has deployed in recent weeks. Whereas Gerrard has been playing next to Lucas in a 4-2-3-1 formation, the Reds employed more of a 4-3-3 formation on Sunday. Philippe Coutinho moved from his central role to a left hand side slot, with Raheem Sterlingproviding width on the right, as Henderson and Allen lined up in front of Lucas.

Liverpool Midfield Average Pass Lengths

This midfield was more reminiscent of a Brendan Rodgers side, and was far more patient on the ball than they have been at times this season. Some of this can be attributed to Gerrard’s absence. Whisper it quietly, but the midfield looked more balanced without him. The England captain has always loved the Hollywood ball – evident in the fact that his average pass length is a whole 6 metres longer than Allen’s – and whilst this can provide the occasional chance, it does disrupt any attempts to pass the ball through midfield.

The absence of Gerrard, and his tendency to ping the ball long, in tandem with the replacement of Coutinho’s number ten role with the box-to-box energy of Henderson in central areas led Liverpool to monopolise possession for long periods of the game. Whilst Spurs made 272 passes over the course of the game, Liverpool made 411. This is no mean feat, especially as an away side. Whilst Spurs have struggled to score goals recently, they have not had such problems maintaining possession. Not being dynamic enough to break teams down when they have the ball is a familiar feeling for Spurs this season, but not having the ball is not.

As well as patient possession play, it should be acknowledged that Henderson played out of his skin to fill the void left by Gerrard. Last time Henderson played in a central midfield role – against Hull – he was woeful, but he definitely turned it on on Sunday. His respective Heat Maps from the games at Hull and Tottenham are above and below, and show that while he struggled to impose himself upon the game at Hull, he had no such issues at White Hart Lane. Henderson made more passes than any other player on the pitch, as well as popping up with a well taken goal. The 58 passes that he made was a success rate of 92%, and was almost double the 30 passes that he made against Hull.

Part of this improvement was facilitated by the change in shape and the calming presence of Joe Allen next to Henderson. Whilst Lucas Leiva was his normal tidy self, he had company in the short accurate passing stakes with Allen. The former Swansea man made seven tackles over the course of the afternoon, as Liverpool overawed Spurs in midfield. Six of these tackles were in or close to the Spurs half. Allen was energetic in pressing the Spurs midfield, and this had a knock on effect on Henderson by releasing him to attack more. While Gerrard has an array of talents mobility is not one of them, and when partnered with Gerrard, Henderson often has a lot of extra running to do. This wasn’t the case alongside Allen, who paired up well with Henderson both in possession and when chasing down the Tottenham midfield.

While they won’t be playing teams as accommodating as Tottenham were for the entirety of his spell on the sidelines, Liverpool showed promising signs that they can survive without Gerrard. The absence of their captain led to a slight tweak in both formation and style and, judging by his impressive performance, such alterations could be helping to bring out the best in Gerrard’s fellow midfielders Allen and Henderson.