Change of tack from Liverpool and Stoke leads to disjointed stalemate
Stoke City present a unique challenge within the Premier League. They have the lowest average possession, attempt the fewest shots per game and have scored the fewest goals in open play, but win more aerial duels than any other side. Even if you have not seen them play, you would be able to deduce their style merely from assessing the numbers.
Since Tony Pulis's side were promoted in 2008, Liverpool have struggled against them, winning just two of the eight league matches between the sides. In 2008-09 under Rafael Benítez, for example, Liverpool recorded two 0-0 draws. Arsenal were the only other side in the league not to be defeated by Benítez's side that season – and, although it is a simplistic point, had Liverpool won those two games against Stoke 1-0 rather than drawn 0-0, they would have won the league on goal difference from Manchester United.
Shortly after taking over a year ago, Kenny Dalglish decided to play a 3-4-2-1 at home against Stoke. The main reason was to get more height in the side – it worked well, as Liverpool won the majority of aerial battles, 57%. They also managed to dominate possession to such an extent that Stoke did not force a single corner, and with Rory Delap on the bench they had less threat from throw-ins too. Stoke offered little in open play, and Liverpool won 2-0.
Inspired by that victory, Dalglish did the same at the weekend. Although in his post-match interview he said the shape was partly due to the personnel available, it was clearly an attempt to replicate the success of last year – it is the first time this season Liverpool have played a back three, and they did have the options to go 4-3-3 or 4-4-2, the two regular systems.
On seeing Liverpool's team sheet, Pulis changed his own formation. "When we got the Liverpool team, it seemed as though they were going to play with three centre-halves and push the wing-backs on," he said. "So we made a couple of adjustments to what we wanted to do.
"We had thought they would play either 4-3-3 or 4-4-2, so when they came with three centre-halves, it was important that we changed it. We had certain areas of the pitch we wanted to make sure we were strong in." Liverpool had adapted to Stoke by changing their shape, then Stoke had counter-adapted. The result was that neither side were playing their first-choice system, and both looked disjointed throughout the match.
With their 3-4-2-1, Liverpool again dominated possession, and restricted Stoke to one corner. Again, Delap was on the bench, so throw-ins were not a problem until his late substitute appearance, and height in defensive situations was not a huge issue. Unlike last year, though, Liverpool did not dominate in the air – they won only 36% of aerial challenges.
Dalglish clearly did not want to play into Stoke's hands by playing Andy Carroll, a centre-forward dependent on his aerial threat. Carroll has not started home or away in the league against Stoke this season (although he did start in the Carling Cup) and Dirk Kuyt was instead chosen as the lone forward, as in the 2-0 win a year ago.
Kuyt has rarely been prolific in a Liverpool shirt, but his current goalscoring form is particularly bad – he has not scored all season, a fact that seems to have slipped under the radar because of the focus on Carroll. Regardless, Kuyt is capable of doing a good job upfront by holding the ball up, dropping deep and moving to the flanks, but he needs midfield runners to make this a worthwhile approach. Last year he had Steven Gerrard and Raul Meireles behind him in the 3-4-2-1 formation – the latter opened the scoring with a rebound from the former's shot. Both were powerful, energetic figures who enjoyed playing in the centre of the pitch and driving at the opposition defence.
With Meireles no longer at the club and Gerrard playing deeper, Liverpool had Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson behind Kuyt on Saturday. They offered little support, with a situation after 11 minutes summing up their plight – Kuyt found himself on the ball near the byline, twice looked up for assistance, only to find that there was no one else inside the box.
Downing and Henderson moved wider and played sideways balls rather than trying the killer pass themselves. Stoke defended very narrow, and Liverpool were too keen to take the invitation to cross. They attempted 42 crosses, a staggering number, but only five found a team-mate in the box. Stoke, of course, were more than happy for Liverpool to attempt balls from the flanks, and Liverpool putting such effort into this form of attack rather negated the point of leaving out Carroll.
Despite 69% possession, 205 passes in the attacking third, 42 crosses and 15 attempts, Liverpool had only one shot on target, the fewest they have managed since Benítez's final home game in charge of Liverpool, a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in May 2010. Liverpool had plenty of set pieces, but the deliveries were poor – and besides, Stoke would have been delighted with the game becoming a succession of dead-ball situations.
Dalglish's "trick" of a back three only worked once, and Pulis was wise to the situation this time around. The main effect of the tactical switch was that Liverpool simply fielded one fewer attacking player than usual, which did not prove helpful considering their struggle for goals this season.