It is now two defeats in a row for Liverpool, but certainly too early to panic! The defeat to Manchester United in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night is a bitter pill to swallow as it is never easy going down to the arch rival. Following the match, some Liverpool fans have echoed that the performance against United was much better than that against Southampton at the weekend and we were just very unlucky to go down on Wednesday night.
In my opinion, I feel there are a few cracks starting to show in the Liverpool side and they need to be addressed sooner rather than later.
Against Manchester United, the first thing that seemed to go wrong was our shape at the back. Rodgers has been rotating our back three / four / five around and it is not helping. Yes we have injuries to contend with and if Glen Johnson were fit and playing, I doubt we would have many problems at the back as we would be sticking to four at the back. But against United, Rodgers opted to go with three centre backs in Toure, Sakho and Skrtel. It is not the first time he has opted with three at the back but it does not always pay off. We really need to stick to playing with playing four at the back and for Rodgers to firmly decide who his best two central defenders are.
Secondly, the link up between our midfield and front men was not existent against United. We really are missing Coutinho as he provides that link. Victor Moses cam in to try do that job but he failed. It is clear that Moses is more suited to playing out wide as that is where he performs best. In the absence of Coutinho, maybe is it best for Rodgers to push Gerrard forward and provide the link to the front men.
Daniel Sturridge is looking tired or is simply carrying an knock and playing to his full potential. The Sturridge we have seen in the last two games is not the same striker that was firing in goals at the start of the season. He missed games for England due to injury so maybe he is still carrying that injury and playing through the pain barrier. With Suarez now back, maybe Sturridge should be given a break and time to get back to 100% fitness if he is not there. If he is 100% fit then I am worried because he is not looking himself.
We were very unlucky to concede the goal against United as Enrique went to sleep for a few seconds and we got punished at the corner. We really need to start defending corners better as we looking vulnerable in that area. Our attacking corners are also not looking that great too! We posing no threat at all when we delivering corners even though we will have Sakho, Skrtel and Toure all in the box attacking them.
The good thing is that it is still early in the season and we have time to get things right. Starting with our game on Sunday against Sunderland. It will not be an easy one but it is one we must get three points from if we are to challenge for the top four this season.
