The continued absence of Daniel Sturridge has highlighted Liverpool’s lack of fire-power up front.
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Setting up a football team to play without a centre forward is a difficult thing to do. That is one of the main reasons teams tend to contain one, if not two.
At Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers has been attempting to add his own chapter to the coaches’ manual on that one. Here once again last night, the Liverpool manager asked Raheem Sterling to play at the top of his formation.
Sterling scored a superb goal, a quite superb goal, running from deep in the second half to beat Thibaut Courtois and haul Liverpool back into the tie. It was a thrilling piece of football, by far the most outstanding moment of a night that saw Liverpool improve as it went on.
It was not a centre forward’s goal, though. It was one that reminded us of what he did last season, when he was allowed to roam Anfield in search of the possession he needed to hurt the opposition. In many ways, it served to remind us only that Rodgers and Liverpool will be better served when Daniel Sturridge regains fitness and his England team-mate is allowed to return to what he does best.
Rodgers’s hand has been forced a little on this issue, of course. He lost Luis Suarez last summer through no fault of his own and Sturridge — the other half of that terrific pairing from last season — is currently recovering from his third muscle injury of the season. He has compounded matters, however, by buying replacements of questionable quality in Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli and, previously, Fabio Borini.
Borini and Lambert both played — one as a starter and one as a substitute — in the 2-0 win at Aston Villa at the weekend and both scored. Here last night, though, with the stakes higher, Rodgers jettisoned both and asked Sterling to push forward with Steven Gerrard — unwell at the weekend —helping from behind.
That spoke volumes of his lack of faith in the Anfield supporting cast and it really is very odd that a club that this time last year was about to tear through the second half of the Barclays Premier League season with the help of two of the best centre forwards in the land should now find themselves without one considered good enough to even put in the team.
Certainly Sterling can play through the middle. He has the ability to see play developing before defenders do and his use of first-time passes — especially round the corner — can be devastating. Last night his influence grew as the game wore on.
As Liverpool began to dominate possession and flood forward in numbers, he was at the heart of most things. Some of his running terrified Chelsea at times.
It is when Liverpool aren’t in charge of the game, though, that they struggle with this set-up. For just about the whole of the first half last night Sterling was too often marooned amid a sea of blue.
Gerrard did his best to get close to him and create an outlet but on too many occasions Sterling found himself with Gary Cahill and John Terry behind him and the terrific Nemanja Matic in front of him as he received the ball with his back to goal.
Sturridge was here last night, sitting in the stands. His recovery continues apace and we should see him soon. As for Balotelli, who knows? He was supposed to be ill as Liverpool played at Villa on Saturday but was pictured in a restaurant later that night.
Sick footballers are allowed to eat, of course, but when Rodgers was asked about the Italian on the eve of last night’s game he wore a rather ‘past caring’ look.
Chelsea, of course, have no such issues but coach Jose Mourinho certainly does know the value a really top-class centre forward brings to a team. Last season he didn’t really have one and, arguably, it allowed Manchester City to win the Premier League title.
A centre forward brings a team more than goals. He brings a team shape and direction and focus. Diego Costa does all these things and last night he was at the top of a Chelsea formation that simply looked as formidable as it did familiar.
The only variation on Chelsea’s usual theme last night was the introduction of John Mikel Obi for the more offensive Brazilian Oscar. That perhaps pointed to the fact that Mourinho knew that Liverpool, much improved recently, would perhaps enjoy some periods of possession. The Chelsea coach knew he would need some resilience and as the game wore on he certainly did.
Liverpool were great to watch once Sterling had equalised and their confidence grew. Gerrard hit a post and Sterling almost — almost — scored a poacher’s goal from a rebound. A true No 9 might have done better. – Daily Mail
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