Brendan Rodgers required a change of fortunes and this was so different it was almost revolutionary.
Apart from a penalty shootout against League Two opposition, Liverpool had not tasted victory since the middle of August, but they won. They had not struck twice in a game since Steven Gerrard last found the net at Anfield, but they scored three times. The injury-prone Daniel Sturridge’s personal wait dated back to March, but he recorded a double. The sole constant was the unconvincing defending that permitted Aston Villa to score twice.
The excitement at Anfield was a consequence of excellence and errors alike. Liverpool’s frailties meant Rodgers’s touchline vigil was a fraught affair, but ultimately he was afforded a little respite and relief.
A natural optimist like the Northern Irishman may deem it the start of a revival. Stiffer tests await. By the end of October, Liverpool will have faced Everton, Tottenham, Southampton and Chelsea. So the victory on Saturday might represent only a stay of execution. But he is unlikely to be dismissed this week.
Whatever the long-term prognosis for Rodgers, it was an undisputed triumph for one Liverpool leader: James Milner. Deputising for the injured Jordan Henderson as captain, Milner scored the opening goal and made the second for Sturridge.
Liverpool’s captain’s armband can be a galvanising force; or perhaps it just appeared that way when Gerrard was at his peak. The diligent Milner had offered more perspiration than inspiration in his Anfield career until Philippe Coutinho teed him up on the edge of the Villa box to score his first goal for his new club, and against former employers. Liverpool, who scored only once from 47 attempts against Carlisle on Wednesday, equalled that tally with their first shot and after one minute.
Should Rodgers go, then Liverpool’s wretched recruitment will be a prime reason. While more than £300 million (Dh1.67 billion) has been spent on players in his reign, Milner was a free transfer. And while many an addition was prompted by the infamous transfer committee, the midfielder is one the manager wanted. Sturridge’s arrival, in contrast, was prompted by the club but, after Coutinho, he ranks as the best buy of Rodgers’s reign.
His position might not be imperilled but for Sturridge’s injuries. On the second game of his comeback, the England international seemed utterly out of sorts until he conjured a wonderful volley when Milner chipped a pass into his path. His second, following a slick one-two with Coutinho, was further evidence of his potency. He was inches from a hat-trick, denied only by a diving Brad Guzan after a delectable flick by Danny Ings.
At times, Liverpool offered glimpses of the best attacking football they have played under Rodgers. Milner was influential, Coutinho creative, Ings an enthusiastic runner and Alberto Moreno a dynamic wing-back.
They have scored too few goals this season but, including Coutinho’s stunner at Stoke and Christian Benteke’s overhead kick against Manchester United, have at least compiled a collection of classy goals.
Yet they also showed a capacity to concede possession needlessly and goals in eminently avoidable fashion.
A recurring theme has been their inability to nullify tall strikers. They ignored the warning signs twice in the first half, when Rudy Gestede headed past the post and shot wide, and saw the summer signing double his Villa tally after the break. Both goals came from full-backs’ crosses, with Gestede capitalising on Alan Hutton’s low delivery from the right and Jordan Amavi’s inviting ball from the left.
His goals were in vain, however, and Villa’s past six games have yielded a solitary point. It is their worst start to a season since 1986/87, when they were relegated. These are troubled times not only for Rodgers.
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