Loading ...Sep 01 2008
Strategic Follies Lead to Scorless Draw Between Liverpool, Villa
Aston Villa’s Martin O’Neill is one of the most respected managers in the Premiership, and though his Sunday counterpart is highly scrutinized, Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez is also very highly regarded. But after Sunday’s match at Villa Park, you would not have been able to convince anybody new to the Premiership that either manager deserved their reputations. Each had his team play negative football, with the inevitable 0-0 outcome predictable from the match’s opening moments.
Liverpool had come into the match with a perfect record through two games, but without captain Steven Gerrard, they would have been happy getting one point from their visit at a dangerous Villa club. When the Reds also lost Fernando Torres, who had to leave the match with a foot injury after twenty minutes, the visitors had lost their only significant scoring threats. Without Gerrard and Torres, it was understandable that Benitez would not want to open up the game, but even while Torres was available, Benitez’s tactics were frustrating.
With the return of Javier Mascherano and Lucas from Olympic duty, Benitez had to choose from three available central midfielders, once you consider Xabi Alonso. Benitez quite imaginatively chose all three, putting them all in the middle, with Lucas playing slightly in front of Mascherano and Alonso. This essentially gave Liverpool a deep-sitting midfielder in front of two holding midfielders, with those two were in front of a four man back that plays more traditional fullbacks (instead of wing backs). With Dirk Kuyt on the right, Benitez had nominal striker Robbie Keane drop into a left midfielder’s role, playing Torres alone on top of a five man midfield.
Liverpool spent the entire first half with ten men behind the ball and no significant chances on goal. When Torres left and Liverpool was without a striker (as David Ngog waited to be called on), Liverpool played three or four minutes with no striker, keeping Keane on the left. Even after Ngog came on, Benitez would proceed with his cautious strategy until halftime, when he finally moved Keane into his preferred striking position, shifting the team’s formation to a 4-4-2.
Aston Villa, normally an aggressive side which tries to use the speed of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young to play a more open style, had also shifted their strategy. They continued to try and play the ball up the left, where Young could challenge right back Alvaro Arbeloa, but when that did not yield early results, Villa was content to meticulous kick the ball around the pitch and wait for Liverpool to provide an opportunity. But with Benitez playing ten men behind the ball and Javier Mascherano in vintage, bulldog form, there was nothing to be had.
It was a tedious half of football, but you could not turn away. The football was so remarkably unimaginative that you could not believe what you were seeing. These two clubs may be amongst the top twenty in Europe, yet they were providing a match that not even the most ardent football fan would defend with a straight face.
When Liverpool shifted formation to start the second, the match opened up, if only slighty. The Reds were able to create their first threats shortly after the whistle, and Robbie Keane, though he never got the ball on goal, finally showed some value in a Liverpool kit. Within ten minutes, the second half had seen more ambition, more scoring chances than the entirety of the first.
Aston Villa soon adjusted. They started targetting John Carew and running off the aerial balls he would win. He and Young started drawing fouls deep in Liverpool’s end, from which Young provided a couple of balls that could have been converted. The game’s best chance saw Curtis Davies beat Dirk Kuyt to the back post on a perfect Young piece only to have the resourceful Dutchman move his body into Davies’ as the defender went airborne. The nudge put Davies slighty in front of the ball. A header that should have gone into an open goal went well high as Kuyt, with arms outstretched in innocence, played the angel.
As would be expected in a 0-0 draw, the only performances which distinguished themselves were defensive ones. Javier Mascherano showed why he will continue to be in the discussion with the best holding midfielders in the world. Alvaro Arbeloa was vigorously attacked by Ashley Young and held. Gareth Barry’s effort in his own end stimied multiple Liverpool efforts. All three played very good games.
Unfortunately for the fans, the two managers’ tactics set this match up so we would only see great defensive performances. Martin O’Neill adjusted by match’s end, making substitutes so that he had only two trained backliners on the pitch by full time. But the VIlla boss was far too respectful of a wounded Liverpool team. Instead of trying to use Carew’s height advantage and Young and Agbonlahor’s speed to attack Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel in the Liverpool middle, O’Neill advised a tactic that had Villa stringing together twelve, fifteen touches around a bunkered in Liverpool defense. And Premiership fans wonder why nobody can break the top four?
For Rafa Benitez, his tactics are those of a scared man. I am not talking about a mortal fear or (as some would suggest) a fear for his job. This is somebody who is scared to take a chance on the pitch. It’s a fear that leads him to play without wings at the back while the others in the top four play with at least one. It’s a fear that benched Peter Crouch last year. It’s a fear that had him start three deep midfielders. It’s a fear that turned Robbie Keane into a left midfielder for the day. It is a fear that is unjustifiable given the talent Liverpool has and is capable of getting. You do not play cautious when you have the better players.
Ultimately, Benitez had the last laugh on Sunday. Before the match, Liverpool would have been happy with a draw. They got it. And also to Benitez’s credit, this was the rare match where the fans truly had something they could share with the players. Whether they be on the pitch, in the stands, or at home watching the match, nobody won on Sunday. The only silver lining is that these two teams did not have to play extra time.
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