Liverpool vs Wigan | 17th November | 1500 GMT | Premier League |

I’m sure it’s been mentioned, but I’d like to belatedly point out a few surprising aspects of the Wigan match.

1.)Henderson – Where has this player been all season? This Jordan Henderson looked ready to stake his claim for the third midfield spot. He and Gerrard formed a magnificent midfield pairing in front of Allen. The understanding between him and Gerrard regarding when to make the run and when to hang back to cover was noticeable from the moment he stepped on the pitch. To be honest, the two in front of a single anchor point was what I expected to see more of this season. I’ve not necessarily been Hendo’s biggest fan since his move to LFC, but he looked like the B2B midfielder that we’ve been missing at times this season. His energy and positional discipline made the early change effective. It’s performances like this one that make you think a future midfield of Allen-Lucas-Hendo could be a very effective.

2.) Enrique – He’s come a long way from people questioning his place in the team and even wondering if he would be at the club after January. I never would have expected to see him in a midfield role, much less the advanced, attacking role he occupied against WIgan. I’ve been impressed to no end with his recent performances in his newfound attacking role. I would love to see more of a goal threat from that position, but Enrique has truly surprised me with his ability and attacking play.

3.) Nuri Sahin – I know what you’re thinking, “But, he didn’t even play…” Well, that’s precisely my point. He didn’t play against Wigan, and he hasn’t really been a pivotal player so far in the season. Allen and Sterling have arguably been more impressive (and certainly more often utilized), and it could be argued that Suso, Shelvey and Wisdom have featured more prominently in Rodgers’s plans. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to bash Sahin. I’m merely pointing out the interesting observation that a player who was so coveted over the summer has yet to really stamp his mark on the Liverpool starting 11. I do think he will contribute this season, and may yet prove to be crucial. However, ask yourself. If you had to make a decision today, would you buy Sahin for ~£12.5-15 million over investing in other areas?... I’m not sure the answer is that clear-cut at this particular moment.

(P.S. I would venture a guess that Sahin was rested with one eye on Thursday’s Europa League match. However, the observation was more intended as a general comment on his contribution so far.)

donttreadonred wrote:
2.) Enrique – He’s come a long way from people questioning his place in the team and even wondering if he would be at the club after January. I never would have expected to see him in a midfield role, much less the advanced, attacking role he occupied against WIgan. I’ve been impressed to no end with his recent performances in his newfound attacking role. I would love to see more of a goal threat from that position, but Enrique has truly surprised me with his ability and attacking play.

I think it's become clear that the injury he had was seriously hampering his play at the beginning of the season. We ran him into the ground last year and his form fell off as a result, then he tried to play through a knock at the start of this season, and it continued to flag. Couldn't be happier to see him back up to the level of the great performances we saw when we first signed him, as I'd rather see any player succeed rather than fail; furthermore, it wipes one position off our "need to reinforce" list for January and this summer. Hope he keeps it up.

By the way, which formation did you lot saw us playing in this game?
On paper I was thinking "it's 5-x-x" with Johnson and Enrique as wing-backs, but wasn't it 4-x-x after all with Johnson as LB and Enrique as LM? I remember seeing them two on the same wing at times and thinking "hey, what's going on here?"

Personally I'd give Johnson the same role on the right, play 3-5-2. But I don't quite remember was Johnson on the right flank or not at times in this game, hence why I'm asking the question.

Nah the formation was this at beginning of the game


Then after BR took off Suso he inverted the center triangle

It was a 4-3-3 with Johnson and Enrique interchanging.

ynwa wrote:It was a 4-3-3 with Johnson and Enrique interchanging.

They really weren't interchanging like you make it sound. Johnson was the LB and Enrique the LW. But there were a few occasions where Johnson went up and Enrique had to track back and cover for him (just doing what the wingers should do when their fullback goes up). I wouldn't call that interchanging.

@donttreadonred:

I feel you're being very harsh on Sahin.

It's almost indefinite that he's going to start against Young Boys and he is playing out of position under Rodgers.

He needs to play more deeper than he has been here [he's not an attacking midfielder] and he's still trying to get over the injury that kept him out for the majority of last season. He's also done quite well with working with Suarez. They're both on the same wavelength. I do feel you're looking far too much into it.

In response to should we sign him at the end of the season, it really does depend on who we sign in January. We will have funds in the summer also, with Carragher's (and Doni's) large contract coming to an end, Downing and Cole both being forced out and the new warrior deal giving us 20m+ pounds an annum, I'm certain we'll have around 30m to spend next summer also.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:

ynwa wrote:It was a 4-3-3 with Johnson and Enrique interchanging.

They really weren't interchanging like you make it sound. Johnson was the LB and Enrique the LW. But there were a few occasions where Johnson went up and Enrique had to track back and cover for him (just doing what the wingers should do when their fullback goes up). I wouldn't call that interchanging.

They were interchanging imo.

Enrique did stay back at times with Johnson going forward and vice versa. I guess you could just say he was covering him, though.

Well you can't call Rafael and Valencia interchanging RB's for United just because when Rafael goes up to attack and Valencia covers for him. It's just wingers duty to track back for their fullback. That was basically what was happening with Glen and Jose.

Glen is an attacking fullback, even at the beginning of the season when Borini was fit and playing on the left, he had to cover at times for Johnson when he made those runs forward. We couldn't say Borini and Johnson were interchanging LBs because of that.

@YNWA
I really wasn't trying to be harsh on Sahin. I simply find it somewhat interesting that someone who supporters of many clubs, and this forum in particular, have rated so highly has yet to really stamp his mark on our season. It feels like he's been a somewhat peripheral player for much of our season, and I just felt like posing the question. Based purely on recent performances, it would be a little difficult to justify the price tag Mou will inevitably demand. I do hope he turns it around. I'm merely commenting on the product so far.

As for Enrique and Johnson, it wasn't that they were interchanging so much as overlapping. Enrique was certainly the LW and Johnson the LB. To my surprise and his credit, Enrique held his position well, and did not revert to a deeper position. The benefit that Enrique and Johnson playing on the same side lends is that they can overlap and not give up anything on either end. of the pitch. Johnson is an equally good attacker (thought dominant on the opposite foot), while Enrique is as solid in defense. This overlapping caused Wigan (a team playing with really only a single wide player on each side) absolute nightmares. As soon as Johnson overlapped, one of the 3 CB had to displace himself to challenge the ball. As soon as that happened, space opened up in the middle... See the benefit? Absolute genius, if you ask me.

He's still settling in though, mate. And he's playing out of position. His performances will get better when he plays deeper or in a midfield trio of he, Allen/Gerrard and Lucas.