Rafael Benitez has spent so much time on the defensive lately that perhaps it’s no surprise his team seem intent on following suit.
Those unfortunate enough to be present at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night will no doubt be nodding in agreement after a turgid encounter in which Liverpool’s attacking shortcomings were at their most painfully evident.
While a fourth clean sheet in five Premier League games extended his team’s unbeaten top-flight run, even Benitez was forced to lament the lack of forward threat from his players.
Small wonder. With Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard both struck by ongoing fitness concerns, Liverpool have struggled to find their way to goal since September.
The statistics say it all. Having netted 24 times in the opening nine games of the season, their subsequent 25 fixtures have seen them score just 25 goals.
Liverpool have not scored more than twice since the 6-1 thrashing of Hull City in September, and with Fulham the only team to score more than two times against Benitez’s side since then, the Anfield outfit have not exactly been an attractive prospect this season.
It’s a far cry from their thrilling, goal-laden run-in to last season in which they scored 43 times in their last 14 games.
But Benitez believes a sprinkling confidence and return to form and fitness of a number of players could see Liverpool replicate that expansive form.
“We didn’t change the tactics last season,” says the Spaniard. “It was just that the team was doing well, we had confidence and sometimes you create chances and score.
“I think we can do the same as last season it if we fix two or three things. You talk about Gerrard, but he was 10 days without training. He can available, but he is not ready. After you have to improve your match fitness.
“It is the same situation for Riera and Maxi has just arrived. You can see that he knows what to do with the ball. We are unbeaten for five games in a row and have some clean sheets we are moving in the right direction.”
Of the Wolves game, Benitez adds: “If you analyse the team the other day, we know that we were good in defence but we were not good enough in attack. If you analyse the team you will understand why.
“The players who were playing in attack, some of them were coming back from injury, it was Maxi’s first game and we had some players on the bench and only Ryan Babel could be a different kind of player.
“We needed to do something more in attack but the players we had on the pitch were the right ones for this game. If Gerrard is fitter then I am sure he would play better and this will make a massive difference for us in attack.”
Despite the travails going forward, Liverpool have engendered a stronger team spirit in recent weeks.
Benitez accepts that perhaps the team has raised its game in the absence of Gerrard and Torres, but has urged his players not to lower that work-rate with the skipper back in action.
“There has been a change in atmosphere, the players are sticking together,” he says. “I think that sometimes it is true that when you lose two key players, who can make a difference, players realise that they have to work harder because that is the only way.
“But if you say to me what do I prefer? I say I prefer them working as hard as they can but with the key players on the pitch.”
Those unfortunate enough to be present at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night will no doubt be nodding in agreement after a turgid encounter in which Liverpool’s attacking shortcomings were at their most painfully evident.
While a fourth clean sheet in five Premier League games extended his team’s unbeaten top-flight run, even Benitez was forced to lament the lack of forward threat from his players.
Small wonder. With Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard both struck by ongoing fitness concerns, Liverpool have struggled to find their way to goal since September.
The statistics say it all. Having netted 24 times in the opening nine games of the season, their subsequent 25 fixtures have seen them score just 25 goals.
Liverpool have not scored more than twice since the 6-1 thrashing of Hull City in September, and with Fulham the only team to score more than two times against Benitez’s side since then, the Anfield outfit have not exactly been an attractive prospect this season.
It’s a far cry from their thrilling, goal-laden run-in to last season in which they scored 43 times in their last 14 games.
But Benitez believes a sprinkling confidence and return to form and fitness of a number of players could see Liverpool replicate that expansive form.
“We didn’t change the tactics last season,” says the Spaniard. “It was just that the team was doing well, we had confidence and sometimes you create chances and score.
“I think we can do the same as last season it if we fix two or three things. You talk about Gerrard, but he was 10 days without training. He can available, but he is not ready. After you have to improve your match fitness.
“It is the same situation for Riera and Maxi has just arrived. You can see that he knows what to do with the ball. We are unbeaten for five games in a row and have some clean sheets we are moving in the right direction.”
Of the Wolves game, Benitez adds: “If you analyse the team the other day, we know that we were good in defence but we were not good enough in attack. If you analyse the team you will understand why.
“The players who were playing in attack, some of them were coming back from injury, it was Maxi’s first game and we had some players on the bench and only Ryan Babel could be a different kind of player.
“We needed to do something more in attack but the players we had on the pitch were the right ones for this game. If Gerrard is fitter then I am sure he would play better and this will make a massive difference for us in attack.”
Despite the travails going forward, Liverpool have engendered a stronger team spirit in recent weeks.
Benitez accepts that perhaps the team has raised its game in the absence of Gerrard and Torres, but has urged his players not to lower that work-rate with the skipper back in action.
“There has been a change in atmosphere, the players are sticking together,” he says. “I think that sometimes it is true that when you lose two key players, who can make a difference, players realise that they have to work harder because that is the only way.
“But if you say to me what do I prefer? I say I prefer them working as hard as they can but with the key players on the pitch.”
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