Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet says he is excited about facing his former teammates when the Reds take on Sunderland in the Premier League this Sunday.
Mingolet signed from the Black Cats in the summer for around £9million, replacing Pepe Reina, who went on-loan to Serie A side Napoli.
Both sides have had an interesting week, with Liverpool losing at home to Southampton and away to Manchester United in the League Cup.
But the Reds remain fifth in the Premier League table, and only two points off top spot. It is a much improved start to the season for Brendan Rodgers‘ men, and the bookies think so too as Liverpool are just 14/1 to win the Premier League with Ladbrokes having shown great signs early on.
For Mignolet, Sunday afternoon’s 4pm kick-off at the Stadium of Light is one to look forward to.
“It’s the first time I’ve been back and I’m really looking forward to going back to the stadium,” the Belgian international told the club’s official website.
“There are a lot of people who I still know from my time there so I am looking forward to seeing them again and have a catch-up.
“But the main thing is about getting the result we want and we have to make sure we get the three points.
“I keep in touch with some of the players, but also the staff and the people around there. I was there three years so I know a lot of people and I never like to see them struggling.
“They were unlucky at the start of the season so hopefully they can turn it around – but only after Sunday.”
Sunderland vs Liverpool gets underway at 4pm on Sunday, 29th September 2013 and it’s live on Sky Sports.
Stay tuned to This Is Anfield for more match build-up and previews over the weekend.
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet says he is excited about facing his former teammates when the Reds take on Sunderland in the Premier League this Sunday.
Mingolet signed from the Black Cats in the summer for around £9million, replacing Pepe Reina, who went on-loan to Serie A side Napoli.
Both sides have had an interesting week, with Liverpool losing at home to Southampton and away to Manchester United in the League Cup.
But the Reds remain fifth in the Premier League table, and only two points off top spot. It is a much improved start to the season for Brendan Rodgers‘ men, and the bookies think so too as Liverpool are just 14/1 to win the Premier League with Ladbrokes having shown great signs early on.
For Mignolet, Sunday afternoon’s 4pm kick-off at the Stadium of Light is one to look forward to.
“It’s the first time I’ve been back and I’m really looking forward to going back to the stadium,” the Belgian international told the club’s official website.
“There are a lot of people who I still know from my time there so I am looking forward to seeing them again and have a catch-up.
“But the main thing is about getting the result we want and we have to make sure we get the three points.
“I keep in touch with some of the players, but also the staff and the people around there. I was there three years so I know a lot of people and I never like to see them struggling.
“They were unlucky at the start of the season so hopefully they can turn it around – but only after Sunday.”
Sunderland vs Liverpool gets underway at 4pm on Sunday, 29th September 2013 and it’s live on Sky Sports.
Stay tuned to This Is Anfield for more match build-up and previews over the weekend.
A strange start to the season has seen Brendan Rodgers side look a pale comparison to the free-scoring team of last season.
This week’s 5Times podcast saw former players John Barnes, Mark Wright and Michael Thomas join host Ian St. John to discuss the latest topics and the concerns around Liverpool’s second half performances was a big area for discussion.
Former defender and FA Cup winning captain Wright fears that Liverpool have become too predictable and other teams are becoming able to work out Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Wright, who made over 200 appearances for the Reds in the nineties, said “The thing that’s a little bit worrying this season is that even though they play some good football, in the second half they lose their shape and they don’t have a second game plan.”
“I think it’s ‘play, play, play, play’ and the opposition get used to that and they step on and pen us in. I think we’re too predictable.”
However, Wright had sympathy for Rodgers after the defeat to United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
“We played some great football and deserved to win the game. They [Liverpool] had more chances than Man United and dominated. I feel for Brendan.”
Wright was guest alongside legendary winger John Barnes and former midfielder Michael Thomas. The trio all discussed the concerning second half performances this season – with Liverpool yet to score a second half goal in their opening five Premier League games.
“Since Carra left, I don’t see a lot of people who can push the play, command the play and be strong enough to push Steven [Gerrard] and Lucas away from them [higher up the pitch]” said Wright. “It’s a natural progression, as they drop a bit, Steven comes a little bit deeper to get the ball and all of a sudden they’re penned in.”
“The second half performance for me has been worrying” agreed Barnes. “Not just [against United] but in all the games.”
“We’ve been one-nil up and sat back and allowed teams to come at us and still won 1-0. We can’t continue to do that, we have to get our second half performances much better.”
“I don’t know why, I don’t know if it’s Brendan telling them to come deeper and hit teams on the counter attack, but it’s happening far too often” said Thomas. “There needs to be more emphasis on attacking teams; to go at them, go for the jugular. They’re good enough as a team to go do that. But it doesn’t seem that way, they drop off and it gives the team impetus to come at you.”
St. John, questioned the midfield duo of Lucas and Steven Gerrard who aren’t providing anything going forward. “They’ve got to influence the game a bit more. We’ve got to be getting something from them.”
You can listen to the full show below.
Previous podcasts:
Episode 1: Guests – Fowler and Molby
Episode 2: Guests – Roy Evans and Ronnie Whelan
Episode 3: John Aldridge and David Fairclough
Episode 4: Alan Kennedy, Phil Neal and Ian Callaghan
Episode 5: Guests – John Barnes and Neil Mellor
Episode 6: Guests – Robbie Fowler, Jan Molby and Mark Wright
Episode 7: Guests – Roy Evans, Phil Thompson and David Fairclough
Episode 8: Guests – Alan Kennedy, Ian Callaghan, John Aldridge
Episode 9: Guests – Phil Neal, Jan Molby, Jim Beglin
Episode 10: Guests – David Fairclough, Roy Evans
Find out more about 5times at www.5times.co
A strange start to the season has seen Brendan Rodgers side look a pale comparison to the free-scoring team of last season.
This week’s 5Times podcast saw former players John Barnes, Mark Wright and Michael Thomas join host Ian St. John to discuss the latest topics and the concerns around Liverpool’s second half performances was a big area for discussion.
Former defender and FA Cup winning captain Wright fears that Liverpool have become too predictable and other teams are becoming able to work out Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Wright, who made over 200 appearances for the Reds in the nineties, said “The thing that’s a little bit worrying this season is that even though they play some good football, in the second half they lose their shape and they don’t have a second game plan.”
“I think it’s ‘play, play, play, play’ and the opposition get used to that and they step on and pen us in. I think we’re too predictable.”
However, Wright had sympathy for Rodgers after the defeat to United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
“We played some great football and deserved to win the game. They [Liverpool] had more chances than Man United and dominated. I feel for Brendan.”
Wright was guest alongside legendary winger John Barnes and former midfielder Michael Thomas. The trio all discussed the concerning second half performances this season – with Liverpool yet to score a second half goal in their opening five Premier League games.
“Since Carra left, I don’t see a lot of people who can push the play, command the play and be strong enough to push Steven [Gerrard] and Lucas away from them [higher up the pitch]” said Wright. “It’s a natural progression, as they drop a bit, Steven comes a little bit deeper to get the ball and all of a sudden they’re penned in.”
“The second half performance for me has been worrying” agreed Barnes. “Not just [against United] but in all the games.”
“We’ve been one-nil up and sat back and allowed teams to come at us and still won 1-0. We can’t continue to do that, we have to get our second half performances much better.”
“I don’t know why, I don’t know if it’s Brendan telling them to come deeper and hit teams on the counter attack, but it’s happening far too often” said Thomas. “There needs to be more emphasis on attacking teams; to go at them, go for the jugular. They’re good enough as a team to go do that. But it doesn’t seem that way, they drop off and it gives the team impetus to come at you.”
St. John, questioned the midfield duo of Lucas and Steven Gerrard who aren’t providing anything going forward. “They’ve got to influence the game a bit more. We’ve got to be getting something from them.”
You can listen to the full show below.
Previous podcasts:
Episode 1: Guests – Fowler and Molby
Episode 2: Guests – Roy Evans and Ronnie Whelan
Episode 3: John Aldridge and David Fairclough
Episode 4: Alan Kennedy, Phil Neal and Ian Callaghan
Episode 5: Guests – John Barnes and Neil Mellor
Episode 6: Guests – Robbie Fowler, Jan Molby and Mark Wright
Episode 7: Guests – Roy Evans, Phil Thompson and David Fairclough
Episode 8: Guests – Alan Kennedy, Ian Callaghan, John Aldridge
Episode 9: Guests – Phil Neal, Jan Molby, Jim Beglin
Episode 10: Guests – David Fairclough, Roy Evans
Find out more about 5times at www.5times.co
Rory Fitzgerald provides another in-depth analysis of what Liverpool may face from the opposition on Sunday.
Sunderland vs Liverpool
Premier League – Sunday 29th September 2013; 4pm Kick Off
Caveat: Given the exit of Paolo Di Canio, the Sunderland team, set up and style of play could be radically different than what has gone before. However, below is a look at what Sunderland looked like under Di Canio and what we may see if there are not wholesale changes.
At the start of the season, Di Canio laid out his philosophy;
“We want to attack, we want to entertain and we want to score goals and the players we have brought in will make us much more able to do that. When we have the ball, I want us to be 4-2-4 with the wingers, pushing forward to join the attack and the full-backs moving up. For me, the wingers are crucial. I came here to play attacking football. I told them before the start of the season if we play well and deliver a clear identity on the field I prefer to lose and play well rather than win and play very bad”.
Di Canio settled on a defensive partnership of Diakite and O’Shea. One of the main facets of the team was also settled on, the partnership between full back and winger. Jack Colback and Giaccherini were deployed on the left whilst Celustka backed up Adam Johnson on the right. After that, there have been no settled partnerships in midfield nor upfront. Sunderland only managed to dominate possession in 2 games – at home to Fulham (lost 1-0) and away to Crystal Palace (lost 3-1). Given that they dominated possession, the average pitch position from these games give an idea of what Di Canio was trying to achieve. In both games, Johnson and Giaccherini play high up the pitch.
The role of the wingers was more focused on influencing play and getting on the ball in oppositions half and, ideally, in the final third rather than getting involved in deeper areas in the build up as this was left to the full backs to provide options on the flanks for the midfielders. Below is an example of where Johnson & Giaccherini got involved in the build up play away at Palace. They largely received the ball in the oppositions half and look to create opportunities from high up the pitch.
Part of implementing such system was to encourage the players to play more football rather than playing a longer game that they had been under Martin O’Neill. Overall, they have attempted the sixth fewest long balls and in home games alone (sample size of only 2 though!) that figure drops with only Arsenal playing fewer long balls when at home. The graphic below shows the attempted long balls against Arsenal (which is very low), though this is part because Arsenal dominated possession. Removing the kicks from Westwood, there were very few attempted long passes from deep areas. What is perhaps noticeable is the direction of alot of the passes, towards the left of the pitch.
Note that in the 2nd graphic, this is little changed from last season i.e. they were a team that looked to create from the flanks and not the central areas.
Without the ball, the 2 widemen are expected to fall back into line with the midfield and make 2 banks of 4 which are compact. However, when possession is turned over, Sunderland invariably have an issue with the position of the wingers leaving them light in midfield which was acknowledged by Di Canio. In the 5 league games this season, not once did the same midfield duo start.
“The problem comes when we lose the ball in the middle and we are empty in the middle, there is a big space. We will change a bit now. That’s because I want to give them more confidence, because in this moment the two in the middle are not confident to play together and so we change continuously.”
– Di Canio recognises problems before the WBA game but still starts Ki in a midfield 2 with 2 wingers and 2 strikers.
The turbulence in midfield was recently highlighted when Di Canio attempted to make peace with his former captain, Lee Cattermole, who is returning after a long injury. He has publicly admitted that Cattermole was not in his plans and was stripped of the captaincy and the No.6 shirt and given No. 33. Even when the olive branch was offered, it contained some thorns.
“In the last training session I see he can pass the ball. I have a long way to work but I recognise the makings of a good footballer”.
Had he found a settled partnership in midfield, it is doubtful that Cattermole would ever have received a reprieve.
Below is a look at the kind of goals that Sunderland conceded against Arsenal. However, there were 2 other times when Walcott got down the left side of Sunderland’s defence between Colback and Roberge – both of which occured when Arsenal won back possession and moved quickly before Sunderland could pull men back behind the ball. However, even as shown with the 3rd, even with men behind the ball there is the possibility of individual errors to exploit.
With all that said, Diakite hit the cross bar in the first half from a corner kick whilst in the 2nd half, they won a penalty, hit the post, had an offside goal ruled out and then the controversial incident between Sagna & Altidore on the edge of the box.
What would transition look like for Sunderland
Di Canio attempted to implement a boldly adventurous brand of football which aimed at creating a stylish 4-2-4 system by bringing about more neat passing out from the back and less of the longer/direct route of football previously played. This was (perhaps naively) done with players in situ not used to this game combined with attempts to integrate 14 new players brought into the squad by the new director of football, Roberto De Fanti.
With Di Canio now gone and considering;
Then it is possible that Kevin Ball may look to deploy a system closer to 4-5-1 by bringing in an extra midfielder to tighten up the center of the pitch. He may also look to reduce the attacking tendencies of the wide players, full-backs & wingers alike, as the full backs were given the mandate of pushing up to allow the wide players make their impact further forward.
References: Arsenal.com, whoscored.com, squawka.com
Rory Fitzgerald provides another in-depth analysis of what Liverpool may face from the opposition on Sunday.
Sunderland vs Liverpool
Premier League – Sunday 29th September 2013; 4pm Kick Off
Caveat: Given the exit of Paolo Di Canio, the Sunderland team, set up and style of play could be radically different than what has gone before. However, below is a look at what Sunderland looked like under Di Canio and what we may see if there are not wholesale changes.
At the start of the season, Di Canio laid out his philosophy;
“We want to attack, we want to entertain and we want to score goals and the players we have brought in will make us much more able to do that. When we have the ball, I want us to be 4-2-4 with the wingers, pushing forward to join the attack and the full-backs moving up. For me, the wingers are crucial. I came here to play attacking football. I told them before the start of the season if we play well and deliver a clear identity on the field I prefer to lose and play well rather than win and play very bad”.
Di Canio settled on a defensive partnership of Diakite and O’Shea. One of the main facets of the team was also settled on, the partnership between full back and winger. Jack Colback and Giaccherini were deployed on the left whilst Celustka backed up Adam Johnson on the right. After that, there have been no settled partnerships in midfield nor upfront. Sunderland only managed to dominate possession in 2 games – at home to Fulham (lost 1-0) and away to Crystal Palace (lost 3-1). Given that they dominated possession, the average pitch position from these games give an idea of what Di Canio was trying to achieve. In both games, Johnson and Giaccherini play high up the pitch.
The role of the wingers was more focused on influencing play and getting on the ball in oppositions half and, ideally, in the final third rather than getting involved in deeper areas in the build up as this was left to the full backs to provide options on the flanks for the midfielders. Below is an example of where Johnson & Giaccherini got involved in the build up play away at Palace. They largely received the ball in the oppositions half and look to create opportunities from high up the pitch.
Part of implementing such system was to encourage the players to play more football rather than playing a longer game that they had been under Martin O’Neill. Overall, they have attempted the sixth fewest long balls and in home games alone (sample size of only 2 though!) that figure drops with only Arsenal playing fewer long balls when at home. The graphic below shows the attempted long balls against Arsenal (which is very low), though this is part because Arsenal dominated possession. Removing the kicks from Westwood, there were very few attempted long passes from deep areas. What is perhaps noticeable is the direction of alot of the passes, towards the left of the pitch.
Note that in the 2nd graphic, this is little changed from last season i.e. they were a team that looked to create from the flanks and not the central areas.
Without the ball, the 2 widemen are expected to fall back into line with the midfield and make 2 banks of 4 which are compact. However, when possession is turned over, Sunderland invariably have an issue with the position of the wingers leaving them light in midfield which was acknowledged by Di Canio. In the 5 league games this season, not once did the same midfield duo start.
“The problem comes when we lose the ball in the middle and we are empty in the middle, there is a big space. We will change a bit now. That’s because I want to give them more confidence, because in this moment the two in the middle are not confident to play together and so we change continuously.”
– Di Canio recognises problems before the WBA game but still starts Ki in a midfield 2 with 2 wingers and 2 strikers.
The turbulence in midfield was recently highlighted when Di Canio attempted to make peace with his former captain, Lee Cattermole, who is returning after a long injury. He has publicly admitted that Cattermole was not in his plans and was stripped of the captaincy and the No.6 shirt and given No. 33. Even when the olive branch was offered, it contained some thorns.
“In the last training session I see he can pass the ball. I have a long way to work but I recognise the makings of a good footballer”.
Had he found a settled partnership in midfield, it is doubtful that Cattermole would ever have received a reprieve.
Below is a look at the kind of goals that Sunderland conceded against Arsenal. However, there were 2 other times when Walcott got down the left side of Sunderland’s defence between Colback and Roberge – both of which occured when Arsenal won back possession and moved quickly before Sunderland could pull men back behind the ball. However, even as shown with the 3rd, even with men behind the ball there is the possibility of individual errors to exploit.
With all that said, Diakite hit the cross bar in the first half from a corner kick whilst in the 2nd half, they won a penalty, hit the post, had an offside goal ruled out and then the controversial incident between Sagna & Altidore on the edge of the box.
What would transition look like for Sunderland
Di Canio attempted to implement a boldly adventurous brand of football which aimed at creating a stylish 4-2-4 system by bringing about more neat passing out from the back and less of the longer/direct route of football previously played. This was (perhaps naively) done with players in situ not used to this game combined with attempts to integrate 14 new players brought into the squad by the new director of football, Roberto De Fanti.
With Di Canio now gone and considering;
Then it is possible that Kevin Ball may look to deploy a system closer to 4-5-1 by bringing in an extra midfielder to tighten up the center of the pitch. He may also look to reduce the attacking tendencies of the wide players, full-backs & wingers alike, as the full backs were given the mandate of pushing up to allow the wide players make their impact further forward.
References: Arsenal.com, whoscored.com, squawka.com
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