Liverpool owners must have congratulated themselves on picking
Rodgers over Martinez to lead the revolution at Anfield. A year ago Liverpool's
search to find a new manager took them to Martinez; Henry and Martinez held
talks in sunny Miami before the job was finally offered to Rodgers - "The
First Choice".
The night opened with the excellent Countinho setting up Downing
for a header from close range which he gladly converted. Liverpool quickly
picked up where they left off when they met Swansea a few weeks ago; short passing,
slick movement and excellent finishing. However, the victory spoke volumes
about Wigan's defensive problems than it did about Liverpool's passing
abilities. Wigan's back four looked like a championship team with
no coordination between the center backs, squabbles and lack of
communication. Something which was exemplified when Suarez picked up a pass
from Johnson by running between the Center backs. Basics like communication
between the defense and keeper, allowing high balls to bounce and marking were
lost. Up the field Kone gave a torrid time to the old warhorse
Carragher, clearly faster than the defender - the forward made
a nuisance of himself whenever he went up against
Carragher. Inspite of Liverpool and Suarez's absolute domination of possession,
Wigan managed to bring out three excellent saves from Reina who had an
excellent night.
The sequence of Liverpool's last six victories is 4-0, 3-0, 3-0,
5-0, 5-0 and 4-0; a strong indication that Liverpool has moved away from the
stalemate draws from the reigns of Rafa, Hodgson and Daglish. They have now
become a free scoring team not afraid to take on lower opposition. However,
Liverpool has NOT won any games
against the top 6. They have drawn against the Machester Clubs and Arsenal but
failed at White hart lane and Emirates. This just shows that against a
good opposition there will not be slack defending or the opportunity
for Reina to make as many saves. Against the good teams; Liverpool has been
guilty of dominating possession while having lapses in concentration. Something
that can be fixed with a few defensive signings in the summer - " Men at
the back" - Are you watching closely Mr. Rodgers?
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