In their last Premier League outing,
Liverpool found themselves two goals down after 36 minutes and
Steven Gerrard was struggling to contain
Aston Villa’s high tempo.
“It didn’t work for myself or the team,” the England captain said of his deep-lying position.
“Villa put a lot of men around me and every time I tried to get the ball under control in the first half they swamped me.
“It wasn’t one of my better 45 minutes.”
Lucas,
not fully fit, was sent on at half-time to provide balance and help
salvage a draw by blunting Villa’s sharp transitions from defence to
attack. The Brazilian was substituted 21 minutes after the restart but
the point was evident.
Gerrard, in a pairing, is not the right man to anchor a
midfield and in Liverpool’s current system with three central players,
his exact purpose is now difficult to establish.
“There is
absolutely no question Steven can play the [deeper] role and I don’t
regard it as a setback, not at all,” Brendan Rodgers insisted after the
2-2 draw at Anfield.
“It is a mark of his identity as a player that he could influence the game in that offensive area.
“It
just shows his importance to the team, with the pass he played to put
Luis [Suarez] in [to win the penalty] and his composure to take the
penalty under pressure. The system is irrelevant.”
But while his
raking pass to Suarez was of the highest order, those moments have not
been regular enough this season, and Gerrard has gone from Liverpool's
dynamic lynchpin to a midfielder whose attacking influence is largely
reliant on dead-ball situations.
Jordan Henderson’s evolution as a
threat in attack has been key to Liverpool’s top-four pursuit. The
23-year-old’s inventive flick to assist Daniel Sturridge in the draw
against Villa is the most recent example of his enhanced link-up play,
which has been on display throughout the campaign.
Over the
course of this season, Henderson’s contribution puts him among the
Premier League’s elite. Only Luis Suarez (44) and Eden Hazard (50) have
created more chances from open play than the Liverpool midfielder (42).
Gerrard, in his reduced role, has created 23 chances from open play.
And
amid his forays forward, Henderson has been able to boast similar
defensive qualities to Gerrard. The amount of interceptions and tackles
won between the duo are almost identical, while both are unsurprisingly
dwarfed by Lucas, whose primary role is to be the shield and link
between midfield and defence.
With the Brazilian now sidelined
for two months with a knee ligament injury, and Joe Allen missing
Liverpool’s FA Cup fourth round win over Bournemouth on Saturday,
Rodgers faces the prospect of playing Gerrard and Henderson in a
midfield two once again.
The combination has returned mixed
results this season. Liverpool coasted to 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at
Anfield in October but struggled in the following game when the pairing
were put up against Newcastle United’s midfield at St James’ Park.
The
lack of Lucas’ presence was highlighted by Yohan Cabaye’s opener as the
France international was allowed to run unchallenged for 20 yards from
the halfway line for the game’s opening goal in the 2-2 draw.
Gerrard
scored the equaliser from the penalty spot and that has been one of the
33-year-old’s major influences in Liverpool’s campaign. Rodgers’ men
lead the way in the Premier League with 14 goals from set-pieces and
Gerrard has provided five of those, as well as scoring all four of
Liverpool’s penalties.
But is the Liverpool captain now too refined during open play to make an impact at either end of the pitch?
|
Minutes played |
Goals (excluding pens) |
Assists from open play |
Chances created from open play |
Passes into attacking third |
Interceptions |
Tackles won |
| Steven Gerrard |
1497 |
1 |
1 |
23 |
202 |
19 |
33 |
| Jordan Henderson |
1959 |
1 |
6 |
42 |
171 |
19 |
39 |
| Yohan Cabaye |
1509 |
7 |
0 |
20 |
194 |
46 |
35 |
| Aaron Ramsey |
1495 |
8 |
6 |
26 |
181 |
19 |
56 |
| Ramires |
1889 |
1 |
2 |
24 |
177 |
22 |
53 |
| James McCarthy |
1475 |
0 |
3 |
27 |
142 |
30 |
41 |
Compared with
Cabaye, undoubtedly Newcastle’s talisman this term, Gerrard has made
less than double the number of interceptions than the Frenchman, while
both share a similar amount of tackles won, as well as chances created
from open play. And excluding penalties, Cabaye has scored seven goals
to Gerrard’s one.
Arsenal’s breakthrough star Aaron Ramsey also
holds better defensive and attacking figures than Gerrard. The
23-year-old has registered the same amount of interceptions (19) as
Gerrard but has won more tackles and has created marginally more
chances. Gerrard loses out again in front of goal, with Ramsey striking
eight times in the league before his injury on Boxing Day.
And
it’s a similar story when compared with Ramires. Chelsea’s Brazilian
box-to-box midfielder has made more interceptions, won more tackles and
has created more chances than Gerrard.
Gerrard will be facing
James McCarthy in Tuesday’s Merseyside derby but the Everton midfielder
heads into the fixture with a more proficient balance in his game.
Though
he’s not scored in the Premier League this season, McCarthy too has
made more interceptions, won more tackles and created more scoring
opportunities for his team-mates than his Liverpool counterpart.
Those
calling for Gerrard to be pushed further forward will likely see a
detriment to Henderson’s influence in attack and given his contribution
this season, Rodgers can be excused for not wanting to disrupt his
side’s balance.
In the four games Gerrard missed in December,
Liverpool hammered Tottenham at White Hart Lane with Henderson
particularly effective when linking up with Suarez.
It was a
similar story in the 3-1 win at home to Cardiff City. Henderson
registered two assists, one of which included a superb chipped ball into
Suarez’s path.
And Liverpool rightly felt aggrieved that they
came away from the Etihad Stadium without a point. Rodgers’ men had a
goal wrongly ruled out for offside, while Suarez had a strong case for a
penalty rejected.
Given his statistics this term, it’s difficult
to argue a case where Gerrard would have made the telling contribution
against City, or in Liverpool’s subsequent loss to Chelsea, from
anything other than from a set-piece.
Gerrard’s number of passes
into the final third this season (202) eclipses that of Cabaye, Ramsey,
Ramires, McCarthy and Henderson but it highlights the Liverpool
captain’s stifled capacity.
As long as Henderson continues to
flourish in Liverpool’s attacking third, Gerrard will be required to
hone his ability to read threatening situations and construct play from
his deeper role.
The Liverpool manager certainly believes it is a project worth pursuing.
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