Five things Liverpool still need to do better despite beating West Brom yesterday.
Liverpool finally got back to winning ways in the Premier League yesterday after a disappointing few weeks for Brendan Rodgers in his side, but a narrow 2-1 victory over a dogged West Bromwich Albion side at Anfield was not the convincing success that fans were hoping for and threw up as many questions as it did answers about Liverpool as we head into the international break.
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Here are five things that we think Brendan Rodgers and his side need to improve on when they return from international duty:
How to play with Rickie Lambert in the side
Having signed Rickie Lambert, Liverpool have got to find an effective way to use their England international striker – but the performance against West Bromwich Albion wasn’t that. Getting the best out of Lambert will necessitate an acceptance of the fact that it will take pace away from them in attack and mean that a more patient build-up is required – with crosses more likely to succeed.
Finding a balance between defensive and attacking full backs
In new Spanish full back duo Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo, Liverpool have made two of their better signings of the summer – but Brendan Rodgers still seems unable to find the right balance between giving his full backs license to bomb forward and reining them in. In recent games both have caused real trouble for opposition defences but have left space to attack, whilst against West Brom they were solid defensive but offered very little in the opposition half.
Rejigging Steven Gerrard’s role
After looking like a player reborn in a deep-lying playmaker role for Liverpool last season, clubs have cottoned on to the influence of Steve Gerrard this time around and are denying the former England international the time and space he needs to control games – Brendan Rodgers needs to alter the Liverpool captain’s role slightly to see if they are able to protect him better.
Getting the best out of Sterling and Coutinho
One of Liverpool’s most impressive players last season, certainly creatively, was Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho – but he has struggled this season, with Brendan Rodgers struggling to work out the system that allows him to play both Coutinho and Raheem Sterling, who has become more and more influential from the centre, in the same team. Doing so is vital, as the two have the potential of linking up to devastating effect.
Finding a centre back pairing that works
Dejan Lovren continued his shaky start to life as a Liverpool player and looks nowhere near a £20m buy, but Rodgers has to decide on either Martin Skrtel or Mamadou Sakho as a partner for him and give them a time to develop a fruitful partnership. Currently, Lovren doesn’t look comfortable for either and that is a huge worry for the Reds given the funds that were invested in the Croatian this summer.