Deconstructing Daniel Sturridge’s Goal v. Liverpool

By: Noel | November 22nd, 2011

Yesterday we broke down Liverpool’s winning goal, and while the focus may have been on Glen Johnson’s run from deep and his fantastic finishing of it, the team effort involved in the buildup was plain to see. It might be fair to say that most goals, if you dig deep enough, are team efforts, though often that effort can either be fairly self-evident or, conversely, hopelessly muddied. And if yesterday’s winning goal leant itself to a bit of deconstruction, after a series of goals conceded in recent weeks that have also appeared to be team efforts—collective failings—it only seems right to provide a companion piece to that deconstruction of Glen Johnson’s goal by examining the collection of individual failures on Liverpool’s part that led to Daniel Sturridge’s earlier equaliser.

Those earlier goals against that seemed, to varying degrees, to be team failings would be the last two goals scored by Liverpool’s opponents before Sunday. First there was Kenwyne Jones, who scored for Stoke in the League Cup when Sebastian Coates let the ball bounce near the touchline, looking to shepherd it out of play but instead having his pocket picked by Jonathan Walters, leading to an immediate goal threat.

Initially there was a great deal of disappointment that Liverpool’s young defender had made such a fundamental, basic error, though as the tendency to react in a knee-jerking fashion cooled—and as Liverpool went on to win the match—talk turned instead to it being a learning experience for a talented youngster starting his first match in a foreign land. And talk also turned to the role of Jamie Carragher in defending the goal, as Liverpool’s veteran defender seemed torn between guarding the central areas and charging out to close down Walters, in the end managing to do neither especially well before diving in completely the wrong direction to allow Jones a free header on goal at a time when Coates had recovered from his earlier mistake and closed down Walters on the wing. The initial—and most glaring—mistake certainly belonged to Coates, but better decision-making from Carragher could have still stopped Stoke from scoring.

The week before had similarly seen a number of Liverpool players conspire to hand Norwich City a goal. This time the most glaring error for many was Pepe Reina’s, as the Liverpool ‘keeper went to intercept Anthony Pilkington’s cross but found only air, leaving Grant Holt to head it home. Of course, Holt was Jamie Carragher’s man, and had he been marked better Reina’s wild flap may not have mattered. Without a man to mark and facing a Norwich on the break, Glen Johnson was also in the area, too, and instead of helping the situation his presence only seemed to contribute to a pileup of players in front of Liverpool’s goal—from which only Norwich’s Holt came out looking good.

Of course, as with the key error in the lead-in to Stoke’s goal being Coates’ initial one, it would be equally valid to point to an initial error by Charlie Adam against Norwich as being at the root of Holt’s goal, with Reina, Carragher, and Johnson’s keystone cops routine confirming the collective failure but not its root cause. Carrying the ball forward from midfield, Adam was indecisive, ignoring the easy pass to nearby teammates and scanning for a killer ball to play through. Instead of picking out that perfect pass, he ended up having his pocket picked, and it gave Norwich forty yards to run free at Liverpool’s defense. Though at that point, that Steven Gerrard had charged out of midfield to join the attack, robbing that day’s midfield duo of any balance, didn’t help the cause either.

And as against those earlier opponents, against Chelsea it wasn’t simply a case of Jose Enrique failing to mark Sturridge at the back post or of Charlie Adam failing to close down a charging Florent Malouda. It was, once again, a true team effort.

One: The stage is set for the goal in part by, as discussed earlier in the week by Zonal Marking, Lucas’ responsibility in the second half being to man-mark Juan Mata (1) after Andre Villas-Boas brought Sturridge on to play the left and moved his creative force into a more central position. This largely prevents the Brazilian from acting as a screen for the defence, with his primary focus now tracking Mata instead of seeking to plug holes as they appear.

Two: As Ashley Cole receives a crossfield ball from David Luiz, centre back John Terry makes an overlapping run (1) that adds to Liverpool’s troubles when the normally reliable Dirk Kuyt soon after fails to track Terry, keeping half an eye on Cole and giving Chelsea a numerical advantage on their left.

Three: Terry plays in Malouda (1) and continues his run, with Kuyt reacting too late. With Martin Skrtel doing his job to perfection and marking Didier Drogba tightly (2) this leaves Glen Johnson (3) a decision with no right answer. He does what he can, attempting to position himself to charge towards Terry should Malouda play it wide while remaining central enough to prevent a clear run at goal.

Four: With Adam closing down Malouda (1), Johnson turns more of his attention to the wider Terry. Meanwhile, Lucas (2) arrives late to the area because of his man-marking duties, leaving him in no position to effect the immediate play.

Five: Adam, however, pulls out of the challenge (1), which for a player not known for his tackling ability is an understandable and perhaps even defensible decision given the chance of giving away a penalty should he get it wrong. Given the angle, Malouda scoring still dosn’t seem the most likely result, but a scuffed shot falls to Sturridge at the back post with Jose Enrique caught unaware.

So what went wrong? In the end, just about everything. Enrique didn’t expect the unintentional low cross that came in and so allowed Sturridge to get past him. Charlie Adam’s propensity for poor tackles led to him pulling out when Malouda got the the edge of the area. Johnson would likely have been better served shifting his attention to Malouda once the Chelsea player neared the edge of the area and John Terry was no longer in a position where he would be an immediate threat should he receive the ball. And meanwhile, Dirk Kuyt should have done a better job tracking Terry so that Johnson wasn’t left with that split-second decision.

About the only player directly involved in the defensive effort who comes out of things looking good is Martin Skrtel, while Lucas and Daniel Agger where in more central positions bypassed in the initial buildup and eventual goal. In any case an impressive team effort, one in which if any of Adam, Johnson, Enrique, or Kuyt had made a better decision there would have likely been no Chelsea goal in the end. Though of course, later in the second half Kuyt, Adam, and Johnson would all go on to redeem themselves by playing hugely important roles in Liverpool’s winning goal.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Deconstructing Glen Johnson’s Goal v. Chelsea

Category: Match Recaps, Premier League

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Moevawda

enrique to blame but he's been so brilliant so far and we won the game anyway so we can move on
Latortillablanca

i take exception with any suggestions that Scottish Ronaldinho could've done better - clearly kenny dalglish has miscast The Gaps as our deep-lying playmaker when his obvious physical attributes and skill set are much more suited to the destroyer role. shame on the king fo saddling 26 with all this 'creating offense' responsibilities and detracting from his Fowler given defensive nous. had he not had to play so much offense, i think its clear he would've been able to subtlely clatter into cashley at the beginning of this play, and bought time for a teammate to run onto the loose ball with his patented 'whoops-i'm-a-fat-kid-and-accidentally-tripped-all-over-your-ass' move.

Charlie Adam is the greatest defensive juggernaut since the inception of either defenses or juggernauts. Fact.
GerrardsBoxingCoach

I'd like to weigh in on the discussion, but I'm not sure you all could keep up with my tactical nous. Consider the depth of my analysis as I watched the play unfold: "Close him down! Close him down! Someone close him down! F***! CLOSE HIM DOWN!... S***." Although I appreciate what you're doing here by trying to encourage detailed, specific discussion rooted in a bunch of high-falutin' pictures, "statistics," and not entirely-knee-jerk-reactions, I think everyone here and everywhere else is talking tactics because they're simply scared to ask the serious questions: If Agger didn't jack Torres in the face again, does that mean he's out in January? Where does Luis Suarez store his white sheets when he helps Glen Johnson celebrate a goal? Where does AVB get his suits? If Steven Gerrard's Groin appeared on Dancing with the Stars, could it survive the tango? Don't let a focus on what happens on the field get in the way of what really matters.
Purify_the_body

"Close him down! Close him down! Someone close him down! F***! CLOSE HIM DOWN!... S***."
Exactly.
Suarez from the car park...

you'll put Ed and Noel out of a job.
jpr

AVB----->Ashley Cole. Unemployment aint so bad with $14 mil.
Noel

AVB was wearing a pretty sweet trench coat on the weekend.
Latortillablanca

what is with the portuguese - first the lisbon academy coach with the hollywood coif and tan elbow pads, now avb, and who can forget mourinho especially after pickin up a few tricks from the milan fashionistas...
KC

You can analyse this goal but this is so in hindsight that its hard to say what might have happened otherwise. Who knows what would have happened if Malouda got closed down by Johnson? Maybe Malouda would have passed it Terry who would whip a cross in and then what? Maybe Charlie Adam decided to make that tackle on Malouda from behind and gets called for a penalty. And then we'd be kinda screwed. Or if Lucas decided to ditch Mata and plug holes, maybe Mata would have made this killer pass to Sturridge and he scores and does his stupid dance. To me this goal is one of those things where you can't blame a player for making the decision that they did because when you go through all the other scenarios the other decisions might be shit as well. The only person I think that really made a mistake was the Enrique who should have been more alert but I guess he didn't expect it to be coming in which is not really a good enough answer but things like that happen.

For me this goal was not one of the ones in the past where you're like, WHY DID YOU PLAY LIKE THAT??? WHY THAT MISTAKE??? But more, damn the stars aligned for the opposite team.
Ed

Haha, John Terry whipping in a cross. That's good.

But yeah, I get your point. Just not about Terry providing anything positive.
Suarez from the car park...

I think what was far more concerning was the free kick that lead to Reina's amazing save. We were nowhere near the ball in that move.
NotTooXabi

It was...

Colonel Mustard. In the Study. With a Flux Capacitor.

(And I'd rather be castrated with a silly straw than give John Terry credit, but his run - not met by Dirk, who I assume was getting a firmware update from SkyNet - opened the entire play up. If he wasn't the John Kreese of World Football, Terry's run would make a great example of "creating space" to show the kiddies. And Andy Carroll.)
Geoff Twentyman

Incredible really, but that's football and you have to understand that with all the planning in the world, all the minute detail, these things can happen.

Kuyt tracks Terry = Johnson can close Malouda down early meaning he may not have got himself into a shooting position.

Kuyt doesn't track Terry, Johnson decides that as the creative attacking player, he should close Malouda down meaning he may not have got himself into a shooting position.

Kuyt doesn't track Terry, Johnson decides incorrectly to close down Terry; or to "split" them, but Adam comes steaming in with a tackle that nulifies the threat.

Kuyt doesn't track Terry, Johnson decides incorrectly to close down Terry; or to "split" them, but Adam comes steaming in with a tackle that is considered a foul and Chelsea score from the resultng free kick.

Kuyt doesn't track Terry, Johnson decides incorrectly to close down Terry; or to "split" them, and Adam doesn't make the tackle, but doesn't stop hustling Malouda causes Malouda to pull his shot into the crowd.

Kuyt doesn't track Terry, Johnson decides incorrectly to close down Terry; or to "split" them, and Adam doesn't make the tackle, but doesn't stop hustling Malouda inadvertantly means Malouda smashes his shot into the top corner.

Enrique marks Sturridge and the mis hit shot is cleared.

There's no doubt that a lot of of individual errors/miscalculations & gambles asisted this goal and they were very lucky to score from it when you consider all the factors.
Pero

all of that is true, nevertheless everything originates from Kuyt not tracking but jogging :(
Latortillablanca

considering all the rest of the defensive plays kuy has made in a red shirt, im willing to let this one slide re kuyt...
Suarez from the car park...

bishop to knight 4. Arm the bazooka...
Pero

The fault for this goal clearly goes to Kuyt.
The guy watches Terry and Malouda as they bypass him and watches the whole event as a tourist.
Everything else derives from his lack of commitment. He really looked old and/or tired at that moment.
Suarez from the car park...

Also, Adam did try to make up the distance but he has a habit of running directly up behind the player so he can't then tackle them without hacking them down.

Should have run to the side, but I reckon he's too slow and Malouda had out run his anticipated interception.
jpr

There were so many mistakes made on that goal.

1) Kuyt mot tracking Terry's run.

2) Charlie hesitated for a second or two when the ball was first played to Malouda from Terry. Then when he decided to make a challenge, he took the wrong angle to close off Malouda's route to goal. He ended up making a weak challenge from behind. If he would have moved to Malouda earlier or taken a better angle he would have gotten in front of him.

3) Glen moved away from Malouda to be able to close Terry if the ball went to him. He saw Charlie closing the space and expected he would get in front of him. Started to move to Terry and it was too late to recover when he saw Charlie tackle from behind & miss. On hindsight, he should not have moved towards Terry until he was certain that Charlie was going to get in front of Malouda.

4) Enrique letting Sturridge run past him and not tracking him to goal.

And with all of these mistakes they still do not score if Malouda does not scuff his shot. Pepe would have likely saved a shot from that angle.

There was a sequence a little later in the game where Malouda was in on goal to the left of goal and had an easy 5 yard touch pass to 2 open men 5 yards in front of goal. He scuffed that pass/shot too and it ended up wide and out of play. It looked like a certain goal. So, you win some and you lose some.
Red2death

As of the last picture, Agger and Enrique are still in prime position to cut out any cross from Malouda, intentional or otherwise. I think there's one final frame about a second later that tells a story - Agger ball-watching as the cross goes across his body, and Enrique simply unaware of Sturridge's position and movement.

That's not to say it couldn't have been prevented a lot earlier by Kuyt tracking back faster or with a slightly better gamble from Johnson. But even after allowing Malouda a free run into the box, we still had our bases covered and were tactically okay. We had Chelsea under control.

But I guess while a good tactical system can make provision for one or two individual errors and still hold up, four is a bit much to ask. And with Agger and Enrique both turning off for a while, that finally did us in.
Noel

I considered going further, but when it came to Agger, the ball was in front of him but it really wasn't that close—it would have taken a diving full stretch to reach it. Which, given where he was, you'd really prefer he doesn't try. Or at least I would. At that point, Lucas had handed Mata off to Agger and was covering the pullback, and even after watching it a few more times the overhead angle in particular only convinces me that Agger trusting Enrique to cover any back post runs was the right choice.
Red2death

Good points. I'd fault Enrique more than Agger too, since watching over Sturridge was really his one and only responsibility in the entire play, and he didn't do it. But of course players are allowed to have occasional lapses and this one happened to be costly.

Looking at frame grabs does make you question why, in the time between picture five and the one you posted below, have the Chelsea players covered about triple the ground that Agger and Enrique have in trying to get to the ball? Momentum accounts for some of it, but there are questions to be raised.

Anyway, I'm happy having them in the team nonetheless. Both are class players.
Noel

Certainly, though, Enrique had fully switched off and could likely be dubbed the primary culprit. Skrtel, too, is playing Sturridge onside, though given the actual buildup I can't fault where he is at the moment the ball's played in:

http://liverpool.theoffside.co...
Luis Suarez dentist

I'm going to be in the minority and blame Johnson for the goal. Why he was covering Terry when Malouda was the immediate threat is beyond me!
Noel

And for me, that's a perfect example of a pre-existing narrative informing how people see events. Enrique is awesome, therefore him falling asleep is forgivable. Johnson on the other hand was faced with a choice that had no good answer—just a variety of bad ones—and that he shaded slightly, by inches, to the wrong player after two other errors put him in that shit position and before Enrique completely ignored Sturridge's run somehow leaves him the main culprit for many and will be trotted out the next time the "Johnson can't defend" discussion comes around.

Could he have done more? Sure. A foot to his left mid-way through the run and Malouda probably doesn't get a shot off. Still strikes me as almost inconceivable that he could be seen as anything but the least culpable of those culpable. Which doesn't mean he did the right thing, just that his mistake was the most minor one in the buildup.
jpr

Johnson was tracking Malouda as the entire play was developing. He simultaneously was trying to mark Terry in case the ball was played to him. He only shaded slightly too much to Terry when it looked like it was almost a certainty that Charlie was going to get in front of Malouda and put a challenge in from the front. Charlie was closing fast. When Glen saw Charlie run into Maloudas back and drop off, he again moved to challenge Malouda but was SLIGHTLY out of position. There was no correct decision for Glen. Charlie should have been able to get in front of Malouda and it looked like he would as the play was developing. Charlie should have made more of an effort to JUST get in front of Malouda. Forget trying to win the ball. Just close down the path to goal.

Glen wasn't "covering" Terry. He was trying to maintain a position to challenge both Malouda and Terry. Charlie looking like he would get in front of Malouda and/or stop his run put Jonno slightly out of position. If that exact same situation happened 10 more times, Charlie WOULD get in front of the attacker and/or stop that run all 10 times.
Geoff Twentyman

I think his fault is his decision making; as he should have decided that as the creative attacking player, Malouda should be the one he closes down. I'd let a centre back have the ball on the left wing 99/100
Luis Suarez dentist

I see where you are coming from but I could turn that around and say that your comment is a perfect example of the whole 'your great' or 'your shit' based on your last game (or even last contribution in a game) thinking of so many fans nowadays.

See how easy it is to do that?

Here is the way that I see it.

1. Malouda was Johnson's man. Why was Johnson worried about Terry on the left when Malouda was bursting towards goal? Basic defending rule number 1 is deal with biggest danger first.

2. Did Enrique switch off? Yes of course he did, and as for Kuyt tracking back, I think we should let him get away with this one. The poor bloke needs a rest as he spent most the half trying to cover Johnson!

The problem is that because of a fantastic goal people forget that Johnson is a defender who can't defend! It's the same thing that people are failing to see now with Micah Richards at City.

Johnson does offer a threat going forward but his defensive deficencies mean that it's Kelly every day of the week for me.
Purify_the_body

I agree with you about Johnson on this one play -- of course he is the most to blame. He refused to follow his man, gave him a free turn, then followed that with not challenging him and allowing him a free run into our penalty box. wtf!

However, I don't think that means Kelly every time. Johnson is a risk but he is worth it at times because of his incredible pace, athleticism, and danger going forward.
jpr

Glenn challenging Malouda on Terry's entry pass would have put Terry down the channel by himself. Malouda certainly would have found him. Johnson saw Kuyt not tracking Terry. Adam should have easily been able to shut down Malouda. Enrique lost Sturridge.
Waiting for Sterling

I agree with the fact about the rule of defending, but you can't just let Kuyt off the hook. Regardless if it was Gerrard, Carra or anyone else, a fault is a fault. Should Johnson have closed Malouda down sooner? Given the circumstances yes. But had Kuyt tracked back and Adam stepped in better on Flourenty, then it would have been exactly what Johnson was supposed to do. If the squad involved in the breakdown actually had done their jobs, which I think Noel mentions about had one of the faults not have been made, then we probably would have barely even discussed this play if any at all. The bottom line is you can't call Johnson out for something that was a collective fault of the team's. Maybe if Mata wasn't man marked by lucas Adam would have shifted faster. Maybe if Suarez decided to go on one of his defensive rampages old JT wouldn't have been stupid enough to make a run and not fear a counter attack. Maybe if we had Maka-friggin-lele this never would have happened; but we don't. And the end result assures me enough that Johnson is one hell of a RB for my standards. He might not be Dani Alves, but if he was he would be the best in the world.
Luis Suarez dentist

The reason I called Johnson out is that he is a defender. Neither Kuyt or Adam are, so there lack of awareness defensively is easier to stomach.
PDubz18

Johnson was forced into the decision because of Kuyt's failure to track back. You can throw around the blame all day; but Kuyt and Enrique made two fundamental errors due to checking out of the game.
jpr

Terry plays the ball to Malouda. 2 full seconds elapsed between Terry first playing the ball and Malouda receiving the ball, turning and running towards goal. Only after these 2 full seconds does Charlie make a decision to try to challenge Malouda. Charlie chases Malouda at 3/4 speed for another two seconds before getting in gear at full speed to catch him. In one more second Charlie makes up the 5 yards and reaches Malouda at his shoulder to put in a challenge. They are 25 yards from goal. It looks certain that Charlie is now in position to make an effective challenge. Only now does Jonno start shading Terry. For about another second Charlie is alongside Malouda and looks like he will stop him. Only when Malouda gets about the 15 yards out does Charlie drop off. Glen spots this and is still just about in position to make an effective challenge on Malouda. He moves to Malouda and arrives instantaneously late. Jonno played this entire situation just about as perfectly as is humanly possible.

If Charlie decides to Challenge Malouda in that first 2 seconds and does it at full speed, that play never even starts. If, when Charlie decides at 2 seconds to try to challenge Malouda, he does it at full speed, like he means it, that play never develops. If Charlie takes a better angle to close down Malouda, that play never develops. For 5 seconds it looked like Charlie was favored to make that challenge. Between second number 5 and 6, Charlie was in contact with Malouda and looked CERTAIN to make that challenge.
jpr

Sorry PDubz. I meant to agree with you. Fundamentally at error were Kuyt and Enrique. Charlie was somewhat at fault for slow decision making and lousy tackling. Glenn Johnson gave a masters class on how a defender should play that sequence of events. All of his decisions were the correct ones. He made an infinitesimally small error of about 1/100 of a second in being slightly out of position on the final challenge. But that was totally caused by Charlie running next to Enrique for a full second and not getting an effective challenge in.
jpr

Meant Malouda of course, not Enrique.