Liverpool face Chelsea today in a game that will go a long way to deciding the Reds' Premier League destiny, and ahead of the match, Anfield legend Jan Molby has admitted that he's worried that one particular 'weakness' could derail LFC's chances.
Jose Mourinho's mind games have been in full-swing this week, and although Reds boss Brendan Rodgers insists that the Portuguese's comment's don't bother him 'one iota', Molby is worried that 'keeping Liverpool in the dark' could have an adverse effect. He told Yahoo Sport:
"Brendan Rodgers’ side are in form, but if we had to pinpoint one key weakness in a lot of their performances, it would probably be complacency.
"They have struggled to see out comfortable leads after bossing games early on, which is something that usually stems from being uncomfortable or uncertain in their approach.
"They go into each home game tremendously prepared, which combats the threat of complacency on the pitch, but what if Mourinho really can throw Rodgers off the pre-match scent with his talk of chopping and changing?"
Are Liverpool really at risk from complacency? The last two games seem to suggest that this is indeed a 'weakness'. Against both Man City and Norwich, the Reds struggled to maintain two-goal leads, and lost control of both games pretty quickly after racing into the lead. Luckily, Liverpool held on for victories in both games, but at some point, LFC's luck will run out.
As for being 'uncomfortable or uncertain' in the approach to games; LFC's 'shock and awe' tactics are well established, and it's clear that Rodgers sends the team out to smash the opposition as quickly as possible.
What is the game-plan, however, when the Reds take an early lead? This is the part that's unclear, and the players appear to 'uncertain' about how to manage games from this position. Do they continue to go for the throat? Ease off, and defend the lead? Sit back a little more and play on the counter-attack?
Whatever the plan, it's not working at the moment, and the last two games are evidence of this. The approach needs to be spot-on today, though, as if any team is going to exploit uncertainty, it's Chelsea, and you can be sure that Mourinho will have a very specific tactical plan for the game, just like he did against Man City at the Etihad earlier this season.
Author: Jaimie K
Jose Mourinho's mind games have been in full-swing this week, and although Reds boss Brendan Rodgers insists that the Portuguese's comment's don't bother him 'one iota', Molby is worried that 'keeping Liverpool in the dark' could have an adverse effect. He told Yahoo Sport:
"Brendan Rodgers’ side are in form, but if we had to pinpoint one key weakness in a lot of their performances, it would probably be complacency.
"They have struggled to see out comfortable leads after bossing games early on, which is something that usually stems from being uncomfortable or uncertain in their approach.
"They go into each home game tremendously prepared, which combats the threat of complacency on the pitch, but what if Mourinho really can throw Rodgers off the pre-match scent with his talk of chopping and changing?"
Are Liverpool really at risk from complacency? The last two games seem to suggest that this is indeed a 'weakness'. Against both Man City and Norwich, the Reds struggled to maintain two-goal leads, and lost control of both games pretty quickly after racing into the lead. Luckily, Liverpool held on for victories in both games, but at some point, LFC's luck will run out.
As for being 'uncomfortable or uncertain' in the approach to games; LFC's 'shock and awe' tactics are well established, and it's clear that Rodgers sends the team out to smash the opposition as quickly as possible.
What is the game-plan, however, when the Reds take an early lead? This is the part that's unclear, and the players appear to 'uncertain' about how to manage games from this position. Do they continue to go for the throat? Ease off, and defend the lead? Sit back a little more and play on the counter-attack?
Whatever the plan, it's not working at the moment, and the last two games are evidence of this. The approach needs to be spot-on today, though, as if any team is going to exploit uncertainty, it's Chelsea, and you can be sure that Mourinho will have a very specific tactical plan for the game, just like he did against Man City at the Etihad earlier this season.
Author: Jaimie K
Jaimie, why do you always make us nervous by talking about a Liverpool weakness that could be exploited just before a match. Our nerve levels are already in overdrive :(
ReplyDeleteOh $hit i'm sweating already m8
ReplyDeleteI think Liverpool will have to defend very tight and aggressive today. I think Mourinho prepared the press for a possible defeat by the 'mind playing weakened team' approach.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that any team he puts out will be able to challenge. Expect Chelski to target Suarez and surround the referee as soon as Suarez touches the ball. Suarez will have to be on his best behaviour due to his past antics and not allow the situation to provoke him. He's been on the edge at times in the recent big games but I think it's due to his intensity rather than reverting back to the Suarez of last season. All being said I expect the win. Come on Reds!
We get hammered in the last 20 mins as there is no game plan it seems.
ReplyDeleteThe players are knackered and start making mistakes. It is imperative Rodgers has a game plan.
We have to face the actual situation. thats the truth. It is a problem that we have been dodging with luck
ReplyDeleteWith nerves taken a hold of me I'd rather bury my head in the sand and hope for the best...
ReplyDeleteIf there was no game plan then we would not be sitting at the top of the league.
ReplyDeleteA fantastic example of no game plan is Arsenal.
ReplyDeleteOur centre-backs need to be aggressive in holding the line and pushing the line forward! We can't afford to drop deeper after going 2-up.
ReplyDeleteThey looked more worried than complacent in both matches. It's really tight in the EPL and if you go goals up the other team has little to lose and if they come at you nerves can takeover. I really doubt anyone is complacent. but it's proving difficult to control games having seemingly had them won early on.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Mourinho got lucky that the City attack had an off day with the boot in front of goal.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, the complacency is definitely evident. I was cursing it after Norwich drew back to 3-2. After we scored the second...we didn't seem to have any specific aim out there! It was pass sideways, backwards, across the box....and then what? Norwich did not have to do anything to get back into that game. It all came down to us.
A certain Mr Neville did an analysis of this and came to the conclusion that we do not push up enough from the back. I don't knowwhether that istheplan or nerves overriding tactics
ReplyDeleteI think it's definitely nerves. Would they have done the same thing in the middle of the season? Definitely not, there was no comparable pressure on them at all. I know exactly how they were feeling. They were desperate not to concede a goal, and they were convinced to just play ultra defensive.
ReplyDeleteThey kind of went into flight mode when they faced fight or flight.
Definitely true. It's like their feet were just cemented into the ground around that 18 yard box. Offered so much space for the undeserving Norwich attack to just press forward. Against a better team, it could have been 2-2 at half time, and yet, pundits were saying 'and Liverpool are very comfortably up 2-0 at half time'..comfortable!?
ReplyDeleteI think the fact they refused to keep pressing forward after the second goal indicates that even themselves don't trust their defence enough, just in case (in their minds) they got hit on the counter while continuing to go forward. If you're confident in your defence, you'd be pressing forward and forward and forward in such an important match.
ReplyDeleteWhen you're 2-0 up against a relegation battler, the best form of defence is attack.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue....
ReplyDeleteI think its a combination of nerves and a maybe a lack of stamina. When the front slows down its pressing and harassing, we get into real trouble. Our defence as a result drops. We missed Hendo against Norwich, that guy runs on duracell.
ReplyDeleteTeams that play a high defensive line: Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton. Teams that defend deep: Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteDeep defense has more success in the Prem at the moment. We don't have either the pace in our back four or the reliability in possession in our outfield generally required to defend a high line. I'm happy to see a back line featuring players like Flanagan and Skrtel drop deep; these are players who've got nothing once they've been turned.
Key for us is the elimination of individual errors. That's been the source of most of our goals conceded this season: from Kolo's senior moments to lapses of concentration by Johnson or Skrtel, poor judgements from Flanagan or Agger, or Mignolet's sometimes unreliable handling. We need stability and maturity at the back to address this, but we'll have to be patient, because the underlying problems have been building up for a long time at Liverpool and will take a long time to resolve.
The important things is that we won. Going back many many years games like the one vs Norwich would have either been lost or drawn.
ReplyDeleteWhat Rodgers has done is instilled a winning mentality which was never there before he arrived.
Yeah, we're looking more and more like the league winning united teams. That 3rd goal was Sterling was just a typical clutch play in a winning team.
ReplyDeleteit's absolute nonsense to suggest that LFC's winning mentality didn't exist before Rodgers arrived, and you disrespect decades of LFC managers and players with that remark. Just goes to show your pigheaded blind faith and allegiance to Rodgers.
ReplyDeleteThe winning mentality was there in 2008-9; when LFC won the CL and FA Cup under Benitez; the treble under Houllier; finishing 2nd in 2002 etc. Perhaps you should step back from your Rodgers love-in and realise that LFC existed before he arrived.
The problem is that they don't hold the line and leave too much space between themselves and Gerrard. You can see Gerrard closing this space down by dropping deep himself when he really should be the person closing down an attacker who's cutting in from the wings.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me, when last did we win the league?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem for me is Suarez constantly losing the ball. He is brilliant, but he is frustrating. In the first half when it's all out attack it doesn't worry me, but when we fail to control the game in the second half and he just gives it away time and time again, I would honestly sub him off :)
ReplyDeleteEven with Allen, Lucas and Gerrard on the pitch we couldn't control the game against Norwich. It was largely due to our annoying midfield diamond, but that tells us that we aren't much of a controlling team and IMO playing out from the back creates this illusion that we dominate in terms of control when it never really happens. This isn't the team Rodgers promised us. We sacrifice a bit of discipline for the pace, power, and brilliance of SASAS and that's why Suarez has freedom, he can lose the ball and do whatever he wants and there may as well be no midfield. You can play whatever type of defensive line you like but if your striker doesn't hold the ball when your under the pump and your three midfield maestros aren't doing much, why pinpoint the defence?
That is not the only example of a 'winning mentality'. Seriously, your Rodgers blind faith is out of control. It takes a winning mentality to win any trophy, and a team can have such a mentality without winning trophies. LFC did not start with Rodgers, and the league is not the only achievement that proves a winning mentality. It's massively disrespectful to suggest that Gerrard, Hyypia, Carra, Hamann, Fowler, (and the countless other players over the last 30 years) didn't have a winning mentality because they didn't win the league.
ReplyDeleteWoah woah woah calm down Jaimie!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the club certainly does have a winning culture, but that's different to the certain players in the team who were mostly not around during those days. Those players in a sense need to buy into that culture, but it's harder to buy into when you haven't won the league for 24 years. I think that Logan is talking about a winning mentality on the championship-winning level. Did we have that before Rodgers? I don't think so...
I never said LFC started with Rodgers. When Rodgers took over where were we league wise? Did the team have a winning mentality when Rodgers came to the club?
ReplyDeleteWe didn't, but saying that it was 'never there' was a poor choice of words ;)
ReplyDeleteYes, the club did have the mentality before Rodgers arrived, and the league campaigns of 2001-2 and 2008-9 prove that. LFC lost the league by 4 points in 2009; that does not mean the team didn't have the requisite winning mentality.
ReplyDeleteWinning the CL requires the same mentality, or are you happy to devalue that achievement just like Logan?
Try debating for once without asking redundant, stupid questions. You said LFC 'never' had a winning mentality pr-Rodgers, which is blatantly false. The team had a winning mentality before Rodgers arrived, yes, and that is obvious.
ReplyDeleteMy concern is the midfield, lucas and allen together are a mess, and strurridge miss will be huge, I dont think he will make it, what a injury prone he is. Whatever team chelsea puts out, play like norwich and this gonna be a long noon. Oh and johnson, that guy really past it, loses almost every ball, can give a goal away any time, agger should be back as well. Really important changes for BR. Hope he makes them.
ReplyDeleteFor christ's sake, my edited comment didn't go through. I forgot to mention in that original post that it was silly for Logan to say that it was 'never there'. Of course it was there, those achievements you listed prove that.
ReplyDeleteI only agree with him in the sense that this particular team of individuals, apart from Gerrard and Suarez, didn't really have that mentality before Rodgers arrived. We were losing the types of games that we have won quite a number of times this season.
Ok, lets do it this way. the TEAM that Rodgers took over, how many of those players had won a trophy?
ReplyDeleteLosing games doesn't mean the winning mentality isn't there. Suarez and Gerrard have exactly the same will to win as they did two years ago; the difference is the quality of the players in the team, and the quality of the manager. Now, there are more players with the quality needed to match the winning mentality.
ReplyDeleteWinning mentality is the wrong term. The correct term IMO would be confidence. Every Liverpool team in my life time have had a winning mentality. It's not Liverpool to settle for second best.
ReplyDeleteRodgers has instilled an abundance of confidence in all our players to perform. This is clear. Compare Hendo under Dalglish v Rodgers, and look at the celebration and public admiration for Rodgers from Sterling, Coutinho, et al.
Confidence is the word. Winning mentality has always been with us, but I'd have to get my hands on some video archives to see a Liverpool team with equal to or greater confidence than this present one.
That is spot on!!!!
ReplyDeleteI view it kind of differently. I don't strictly view it as more will to win, I view it as a confidence issue. All the players really want to win, but teams with a winning culture have the confidence.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm just weird in the way that I view winning menality and confidence as one and the same. I JUST clarified that down below if you scroll down ;)
ReplyDeleteAll the confidence in the world cannot overcome limited players like Andy Carroll, Downing, Coates, Adam, and the whole host of other substandard buys over the last 30 years.
ReplyDeleteThat just points to a superb transfer policy of Rodgers to weed out players that don't suit his methods!
ReplyDeleteWell it depends. On paper, Utd should have been nowhere near that title last year. But Fergie's genius gave them the confidence. It's no wonder why they've fallen so far. You have a point though.
ReplyDeleteNot same. Different. :)
ReplyDeleteLook, I've had a pretty messy argument. I lose. I had 3 hours sleep today though...
ReplyDeleteAnd then he starts falling over. That's when you know he's absolutely frustrated.
ReplyDeleteOr when Sakho falls over his own two feet, you know you should just kick it long.
ReplyDeleteJaimie, just ignore me. I don't even know what the hell I'm saying. I need to go to sleep, my mind is exhausted from today!
ReplyDeleteCorrect, however, confidence in players with far more talent and potential just unlocks more quality.
ReplyDeleteImagine Coutinho with no confidence. Compare Henderson a few seasons ago to now.
A winning mentality at Liverpool has forever been present, but this sort of confidence we see every week has been slowly building, to a phenomenal level.
You make good points on this issue. Your point about confidence makes a lot of sense, and I'm sure many agree with you.
ReplyDeleteYou need to watch the match first :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, but I kind of mis-read logan's initial reply to my header comment for this whole debate, and it's just snowballed from there. I otherwise would have made a lot more good points
ReplyDeleteNo no no, If I decide to sleep I'll wake up in time.
ReplyDeleteLike Kramer and his mental alarm clock. That's pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteYou'd miss my explosive, emotional, live match profanity commentary that I'll soon become infamous for on here.
ReplyDeleteHey those things work you know!
ReplyDeleteYeah, he wasn't helped by Flanno's pass though. He needed to either boot it down the line, or get it absolutely spot on to Sakho. It went toward Sakho's right hand size a little bit, and it allowed more time for the defenders to just close in on him and trap him.
ReplyDeleteI love how Jaimie and Logan disagree on every single bloody thing :')
ReplyDeleteIt would be a boring world if we all agreed on everything :-)
ReplyDeleteMy ears were ringing the last time...
ReplyDeleteMy whole house told me to STFU.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we can make judgments of the team based on the last few games. We closed off games against Spurs (both times), Arsenal (home) and Everton (home), Man U (away) to name a few high-profile matches. The nerves are playing on our lads in this last sprint to the line, and that's completely understandable. I've been around long enough to remember the same nervy last 15 minutes during our league titles in the 1980s, too. Even the great Barnes, Beardo, Aldo team that 'walked' the league had their moments. Some of the edgy performances in the last title win are particularly still fresh in my mind. That we're finding away to win at the moment has been so impressive to me.
ReplyDeleteI just have a feeling we're going to see a Suarez master-class today (with all the talk being on Studge (injury) and Sterling (form)).
Here's to Mourihno's mind-games flummoxing his own team!!!
All of those games weren't during this squeaky bum time though, apart from maybe Spurs...but Spurs are shocking!!!!
ReplyDeleteMourinho has become his own worst enemy. His team listened to him when he ruled them out of winning the League back in March.
ReplyDeleteHa ha
ReplyDeleteYou've made my point. The pressure is immense, and weight of expectation massive. Plans go out the window and players play on emotion alone. Only plan available in these moments is: find a way.
ReplyDeleteThis article captures it perfectly, and explains how even the great AC Milan side choked on that wonderful night in Istanbul:
http://tomkinstimes.com/2014/04/liverpool-stole-my-bowel-control/
Agreed. I'll have another helping today, thank you.
ReplyDeleteNot with the team Rodgers took over which is what I should have added in my original comment.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteThe power of suggestion. His strikers all now believe they are useless in front of goal.
ReplyDeleteFoot in mouth.
ReplyDeleteBeware the Mourinho mind games, they've been going on for weeks! Everything is mind games!
ReplyDeleteLosing to Palace - mindgame!
Barely beating a 10 man swansea - mind game!
Losing to Sunderland - Mindgame!
Barely grinding out a draw away to Atletico - Mind game!
He's got us right where he wants - he looks weak, his team is weak.
It's all a mind game, he will now perform his greatest trick - he will disappear.
I fully expect him to show up in black, with bandanas, piercings and long hair - Jose "Mindfreak" Mourinho.
Not travelling in the team bus- Mindgame!
ReplyDeleteAh you see - he IS the bus!
ReplyDeleteIt's all part of the plan!
ReplyDeleteI dont think losing to anyone is a mind game, that would be too stupid, but I also expect him to surprise some today!
ReplyDeleteBorini pen cld have saved Sunderland again ........ Can I change my note ?
ReplyDeleteVOTE !
ReplyDeleteInteresting call by Dowd - Striker stayed on his feet, had a chance or 2, then he called the pen and gave the red.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he'll field 2 keepers, He'll probably park the bus and try to counter, if we get an early goal, expect it to open the flood gates - no matter what team he fields, the chemistry and confidence won't be there to properly organize an attack or defense.
ReplyDeleteMignolet, Johnson, Flanagan, Skrtel, Sakho, Gerrard, Allen, Lucas, Coutinho, Sterling, Suarez
ReplyDeleteSubs: Jones, Toure, Agger, Cissokho, Alberto, Aspas, Sturridge
How do you call this one Jaimie ? As I recall you got it right last time !
ReplyDeleteDon't like Lucas and Allen together but Sturridge a good impact sub . Don't give the ball away and more confidence from Migno and I can see Josie throwing her toys out of her pram again ....
ReplyDeleteChelsea: Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Kalas, Ivanovic, Cole, Matic, Mikel, Salah, Lampard, Schurrle, Ba.
ReplyDeleteSubs: Hilario, Ake, Cahill, Van Ginkel, Baker, Willian, Torres.
Luis to nobble Schwarz for remaining matches ;-)
ReplyDelete