I was really disappointed by Liverpool’s performance in the FA Cup semi-final.
I think Liverpool were overrun in midfield for large parts of the game even before they went in front through Philippe Coutinho’s goal which was lucky in all honesty. It looked like the shot was going well wide but the big deflection took it in.
After the goal, Brendan Rodgers made a tactical change and that really upset the balance of the team.
Villa only grew in confidence after they equalised and I think their midfielders had an outstanding afternoon. Delph and Cleverley played really well and Grealish was a handful all game.
Obviously Benteke played his part and after his goal, you could see the body language of the Villa players improve and they went about Liverpool.
And when Delph got the winner I really couldn’t see Liverpool getting back into it.
Rodgers has got to take a little bit of responsibility for the result.
I don’t know why he decided to change the formation after Coutinho’s goal but Brendan has tinkered a bit over the last three or four games.
He tried a false number nine last week against Newcastle with Coutinho and played four at the back in the game before that.
It seems like Brendan is looking for something else, an alternative to the 3-4-3 that has brought him such success last year and I’m just left wondering why he’s changing things.
You could see that there was no fluidity about the way that Liverpool played today.
The last ten minutes of the game went as you’d expect with Villa dropping deep to protect their lead and Liverpool decided to go route one with the long ball and it produced a few opportunities, albeit half-chances.
That was the only time when you thought that maybe they could get back into the tie but for a large chunk in the middle of the game, Liverpool didn’t really create and it almost looked like some of the players didn’t fully know Rodgers’ system.
Steven Gerrard dropped back to a holding midfield position and nearly found himself between his centre-halves at stages.
Balotelli came on and was his usual self. If he had a goal ratio similar to his offside ratio, I swear he’d be unplayable.
To be fair, I don’t think that Rodgers will come under too much pressure despite what some people say.
Realistically, he’s gotten knocked out of a cup semi-final because Aston Villa played really well. Managers can’t come under pressure after just one bad result. The pressure comes after a series of defeats or poor performances so I reckon Rodgers is safe enough.
In terms of looking forward, Brendan might have a bit of a clear-out to do in the summer.
The key areas for me are at centre-forward and central midfield – Rodgers needs one of each and they need to be experienced.
You’ve seen how much Liverpool have struggled to get goals since Luis Suarez left and Daniel Sturridge can’t seem to find any luck with his fitness. It seems like just when Daniel does get fit, he gets another injury set-back so I feel for him.
Liverpool can’t have another season where they’re dependent on the likes of Balotelli or Lambert to come up with the goals. Nor can they rely on Philippe Coutinho to switch positions and play as a false number 9 to get on the scoresheet.
Rodgers needs a striker who’s going to be reliable and contribute 20-25 goals a season.
And obviously they will need to bring in a central midfielder with plenty of experience to attempt to fill the gap left by Steven Gerrard when he leaves in the summer.
