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Raheem Sterling of Liverpool competes with Jonathan Howson of Norwich City during the Barclays Premier League match between Norwich City and Liverpool at Carrow Road on September 29, 2012 in Norwich, England.
Liverpool managed their first win over Norwich City courtesy of a hat-trick from Luis Suarez. Here’s how they did it.
A Patient Gerrard
Gerrard was playing as the defensive midfielder, playing the ‘Lucas Leiva role’. Furthermore, he showed patience that wasn’t evident in previous games, as the captain was prepared to stick with the philosophy and slowly build-up play unlike previous matches. This meant that Liverpool were truly playing some Tiki-taka football and were able to control the game, controlling the midfield battle.
Gerrard was also useful in getting the ball back and this meant that Norwich had very little of the ball in the midfield, as Gerrard managed to cover a lot of ground in the middle of the ballpark.
Pace
With Suso in place of Borini in the first eleven, Liverpool had one thing that was significantly stronger than Norwich. This is pace. Raheem Sterling, Luis Suarez and Suso all had pace to get behind that Norwich City defence with their running, and this meant they had more clear cut oppourtunities.
The start, in particular, saw Pepe Reina launch some dangerous long balls which found Luis Suarez (who could have gotten a penalty for his chance) and Raheem Sterling, who would have been through onto goal had he not been stopped by Ruddy.
Willing Runners
Liverpool FC showed that they were willing to get into the box with the midfield, with Nuri Sahin in particular, showing yet again that adventure does reap reward if you’re in the right place in the right time.
That’s what we have been lacking – players in the box. Whilst we have the likes of Sterling and Borini out wide, only Suarez has been in the middle, and with 2 defenders covering the central region, we have lacked people to finish off those crosses and through balls. Steven Gerrard reaped the rewards with a goal last week and Sahin does this week.
Liverpool need to have a defined number of people running into the box to get on the end of crosses and neat passing moves, otherwise the passing will never amount to anything.
For example, look at Barcelona. All of them are scorers, not just Messi, and this is because they all make dangerous runs INTO the box when they sense the opportunity. The passing tires teams out and loosens the concentration – the running turns the screw and gets goals.
So, what did you guys think of the game? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
