Jose Enrique has been excellent for Liverpool football club since arriving from Newcastle United, and he has (arguably) proven to the most consistent of all Kenny Dalglish's summer signings. John Aldridge is a big fan of the player, but he believes the Spaniard's form has tailed off a little over the last few weeks.
Analysing the Man United game in his column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldo observed:
"The players looked a bit scared to go in on each other and the perfect example of that was United’s equaliser.
"Jose Enrique had a great opportunity to take the ball and the man and really get the crowd going, but he went in half-heartedly, failed to get the ball and United punished him".
Enrique often attempts to play his way out of trouble instead of just whacking the ball to safety, and that can sometimes cause problems, but as he explained in an interview with LFC Magazine recently, hoofing the ball is just not his style:
"I prefer to pass to feet; I always try to keep it, and I've always been like this. I may not be successful all the time, but I try. You need to kep the ball, and it's how I want to see football played"
An admirable philosophy, and one that I completely agree with. Enrique might make the odd mistake every now again when attempting to play football the right way, but I doubt many of his mistakes will be fatal.
Aldo added:
"I don’t know what’s wrong with Enrique but his form has dipped in the last few games. But he’s been great for most of this season and hopefully it’s just a blip".
Has Enrique's form dipped? I think it has slightly, and it's coincided with Liverpool's poor run of form in the league (one win in six games prior to the Wolves victory).
I don't think it's anything to worry about though; most players experience that at some point during the season. Enrique's impact in the final third of the field is the real issue. Let's look at the facts:
* 74 crosses in the league this season, and only 25% of them have actually found another Liverpool player.
* 77% passing accuracy, which is one of the lowest in the squad.
As we've seen, these things come into play in the final third of the field, and against Wolves last night, Enrique's crossing was, once again, not up to scratch. He had a good game overall though, and if Enrique can improve in this area in the second half of the season, he could ultimately turn out to be the best buy of the summer.
Jaimie Kanwar
Analysing the Man United game in his column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldo observed:
"The players looked a bit scared to go in on each other and the perfect example of that was United’s equaliser.
"Jose Enrique had a great opportunity to take the ball and the man and really get the crowd going, but he went in half-heartedly, failed to get the ball and United punished him".
Enrique often attempts to play his way out of trouble instead of just whacking the ball to safety, and that can sometimes cause problems, but as he explained in an interview with LFC Magazine recently, hoofing the ball is just not his style:
"I prefer to pass to feet; I always try to keep it, and I've always been like this. I may not be successful all the time, but I try. You need to kep the ball, and it's how I want to see football played"
An admirable philosophy, and one that I completely agree with. Enrique might make the odd mistake every now again when attempting to play football the right way, but I doubt many of his mistakes will be fatal.
Aldo added:
"I don’t know what’s wrong with Enrique but his form has dipped in the last few games. But he’s been great for most of this season and hopefully it’s just a blip".
Has Enrique's form dipped? I think it has slightly, and it's coincided with Liverpool's poor run of form in the league (one win in six games prior to the Wolves victory).
I don't think it's anything to worry about though; most players experience that at some point during the season. Enrique's impact in the final third of the field is the real issue. Let's look at the facts:
* 74 crosses in the league this season, and only 25% of them have actually found another Liverpool player.
* 77% passing accuracy, which is one of the lowest in the squad.
As we've seen, these things come into play in the final third of the field, and against Wolves last night, Enrique's crossing was, once again, not up to scratch. He had a good game overall though, and if Enrique can improve in this area in the second half of the season, he could ultimately turn out to be the best buy of the summer.
Jaimie Kanwar
