Liverpool registered their second win of the season in as many matches against a spirited Aston Villa side that gave enough troubles to Arsenal and Chelsea the previous gameweek. Although they could score only one goal in the entire match, they certainly had a lot of positives to take home from this match. As for Villa, it was no mean feat to play against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in a span of seven days and push all these teams to the edge. Certain conclusions can be drawn from this match and a trend can be understood.
Rodgers’s philosophies
Liverpool were absolutely astounding in the first forty five minutes of the game, making Villa toil hard even to keep the possession. Their passing game was at its supreme and we got a hint of the death by possession philosophy that Rodgers has insisted. Villa were unable to get hold of the ball and were becoming increasingly frustrated with the state of affairs. The goal ultimately came from wonderful passing play of the team and some individual brilliance of Sturridge. If Liverpool can apply this style against the bigger sides as well, they would be a threat to any team this season.
Determination
Last season Liverpool had taken the lead against many oppositions at the beginning of the match, only to concede later and drop points. This trend looks to have changed now with Liverpool able to hold their slender one goal margin against both Stoke and Villa in consecutive weeks. The determination and the grit displayed by the team, when repeatedly attacked by Villa was something unknown to the Anfield faithful last term. This would certainly help them build on their good start to the season and allow them to gather vital points.
Transfer hits
When Pepe Reina was asked to leave the club on a loan move to Napoli, many an eyebrows were raised. It was never an easy job for Simon Mignolet to step into the shoes of the legend, but after the initial period, credit must be showered upon Rodgers for being such a visionary and also with Aspas who has knocked up a couple of decent performances. Similar examples may be cited for Kolo Toure and Sturridge who were ignored by their respective clubs, only to become the saviour for the Merseyside club. Most of his transfer targets have been hits till now and it is expected that the new look side would give Liverpool the edge over a number of other clubs (a certain Everton maybe?) this season.
Comments are closed.