Anfield Assessment: Early Days

I have a special relationship with Liverpool, one that has ebbed and flowed throughout the various stages of my life. My father, many of my best friends, my close colleagues at work all look to Anfield are all ardent Liverpool fans, and being a Man Utd supporter myself, I will admit to having enjoyed more than my fair share of jibes at their recent performances.

The second coming of King Kenny was widely heralded and applauded when the appointment was made, and even after losing his first game back (against Man Utd) optimism was high, especially after he had replaced the much-derided, face-rubbing, owl-like Roy Hodgson (who is now the England manager...). In hindsight, he enjoyed a poorer record than the much-maligned Andre Villas-Boas, and was belatedly ushered out the door.

And Brendan Rodgers was welcomed into the hallowed halls of the Merseyside club after successfully introducing his Swansalona side to the Barclays Premier League, and the world. Much has been made of his footballing philosophy and all he has achieved at the Liberty Stadium (I wrote about it as well) with it being labelled everything from magnificent to mundane.

Rodgers' appointment was immediately met with speculation that he'd weed out those who didn't fit "his style" of play, with most understanding that it was a polite way to say Liverpool now had another excuse to offload Andy Carroll. Former club Newcastle came calling, and there was a laughable rumor that AC Milan were in for him, but he eventually ended up at West Ham, reunited with Kevin Nolan. Standing ovation on his debut for the Hammers, in case you didn't hear.

And that highlights several problems with Liverpool.

Having allowed Craig Bellamy, Maxi Rodiguez, and Dirk Kuyt to leave and loaned out Andy Carroll, Rodgers now only has Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini as recognized strikers - and at this time neither are really strikers per se. A great Tweet from Aayush Sharma on ESSAFC summed it up perfectly, that Luis Suarez is a forward and not a striker.

But is he?

Prior to the World Cup in South Africa, he enjoyed an amazing run of goalscoring with Ajax and Uruguay, a record which cannot be put down to the perceived lack of quality in the Eredivisie when you take a look at the kind of goals he used to score. Now, he has among the worst conversion chances in the whole of the Premier League. Fabio Borini, once of Chelsea, was part of Italy's European Championship squad, but then Giuseppe Rossi was injured, and the preferred partnership was the volatile Mario Balotelli and a man only just recovered from a stroke, Antonio Cassano. That sums it up, really.

So was Borini's recruitment simply a matter of Rodgers looking for familiarity? He also signed Joe Allen, someone essential to Swansea's success last season. Allen already has something like an above 90% pass completion so far for Liverpool, and so he does seem to fit the system Rodgers wants to impose, though that is to be expected. Rodgers himself made no secret of wanting to bring his own style to Liverpool, and here we are at the point from before.

Is Liverpool's current run (their worst start in 50 years?) and barren run of goalscoring down to just the wrong style implemented by the manager?

Carroll never enjoyed the kind of service at Anfield that he was provided at St James' Park, where his height and aerial ability was used to great effect. Stewart Downing, bought with the Moneyball philosophy of chance creation, was deployed on the right as an inverted winger and hardly managed a decent cross to Carroll the entire season. One afternoon at Upton Park reminded everyone just how useful a player he is, though some are still adamant that Rodgers doesn't need him, and didn't need the energetic Bellamy, industrious Kuyt, or the inconsistent Maxi.

But he does need Joe Allen and Nuri Sahin, by his own admission.

In theory, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it seems a perfect fit - the former Bundesliga Player of the Year, the young midfielder that created more chances than anyone (104) in 2010-11 where his side stormed to a league title.

Except what happens to Steven Gerrard?

Allen, Sahin and Gerrard started for Liverpool in a three-man midfield against Arsenal, who themselves had Diaby, Arteta and Carzola, all decent ball-players in their own right. The problem with Liverpool today is an extension of what has been plaguing them for years now, though; To implement Rodgers' interpretation of Tiki-Taka, you need a side of good passers with incredible tactical discipline. The issue here, is that the Kop legend Stevie G has neither.

The Steven Gerrard we see today is not the one that dragged his side to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage from the brink of elimination. He is not the one who dovetailed so magnificently with Fernando Torres to wreak havoc on anyone and everyone. He is not the man who single-handedly won the FA Cup in 2006. He is not anymore the player who inspired a side to come back from three goals down against an AC Milan side that lined up with Maldini, Cafu, Stam, Nesta, Gattuso, Seedorf, Pirlo, Kaka and Shevchenko.

Under Rafa Benitez, Liverpool and Steven Gerrard genuinely looked world-class, but a large part of that success was down to the subtle presence and often-overlooked contribution of Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso. Lacking that anchorman and the deep-lying plamaker second only to Andrea Pirlo (no coincidence that they now play for Barca and Real?), Stevie G looked without direction, ironic that many now observe he runs everywhere and does little else.

To reinterate, Steven Gerrard does not fit into the current Liverpool side, and is a detriment to Brendan Rodgers' plans in bringing them forward.

To be fair, this isn't even a thought I've come up with alone and originally. A former colleague of mine, born and bred in Liverpool said two years ago that to have Liverpool succeed, Gerrard needs to be dropped. But it would never happen. Controversial? Sure. But perhaps true. Look at Liverpool's performances this season. Admittedly, it's early days yet, but Gerrard's tendency to go for the "Hollywood Pass" breaks up the tempo of his own side. And that's the reason Charlie Adam was allowed to go to Stoke.

It will be interesting to see how Liverpool will line up when Lucas is fit again, to provide a screen in front of the back four and allowing Allen and Sahin to dictate the play. One has to believe that both of them will play, and that Gerrard will not be deployed as a winger - those berths will be given to the excellent Sterling and one of Borini (oh no), Downing (oh no) or Joe Cole.

Dropping the living legend that is Steven Gerrard is, in my opinion, the way to go for Liverpool, for Brendan Rodgers to have his side play his brand of football in his vision. But it is also worth noting that even before he was at Swansea, the side were already playing good football, an ideal brought to them by someone else who might deserve more than what he is getting at Wigan.