ALEX PATTERSON
September has been far from a great month so far for Brendan Rodgers and co. with Liverpool languishing mid-table five games into the season.
The reds have only picked up six points from a possible 15 to start the season and the club's two wins have been far from impressive.
An opening day 1-0 victory over Stoke came courtesy of bit of Philippe Coutinho magic in what was otherwise a dull affair. The Reds were very fortunate a week later against newcomers Bournemouth, with Christian Benteke getting off the mark with a goal which should have been ruled offside.
Both wins weren't overly convincing, but Liverpool managed to keep back-to-back clean sheets, something that has been difficult to achieve of late.
This was followed up by an impressive defensive performance against Arsenal as the reds walked away from the Emirates with a point, in a 0-0 draw.
However, it all came crashing down in the following fixture, with a disastrous 3-0 loss to West Ham at home, in which the back four were completely at sea. Whether that was down to the absence of skipper Jordan Henderson will become clearer when he returns from a heel injury.
This is not the way Reds' fans envisaged their side entering the first international break and with a huge clash with Manchester United waiting for them on the other side, they needed to improve quickly.
It didn't eventuate, as they were beaten 3-1 by their arch rivals in a performance I can only describe as embarrassing to watch as a Liverpool supporter.
Six goals conceded in just two games means usually you can blame both the players and coach. But in this instance, it's down to Brendan Rodgers, who has employed shocking tactics and questionable team selections so far this season.
Gone are the days where Liverpool scored a century of goals two seasons ago in what was a memorable and heartbreaking season for the Reds, falling agonisingly short of a first premier league title in 24 years.
Yes it was led by the brilliance of Luis Suarez and a fit Daniel Sturridge, but much of Liverpool's success that season was down to the tactics Rodgers employed.
Front-foot football in what can only be described as English football's own version of Barcelona. Big wins over rival clubs stunned the nation as Liverpool was becoming a neutral fan favourite to win the league based on the brand of football that was being played.
That's suddenly gone straight out the window now that Suarez, Sterling and Gerrard have moved on from the club.
However, with the rise of Coutinho, the purchase of both Benteke and Roberto Firmino, the acquisition of Nathaniel Clyne, who is the right back Liverpool have been searching for all this time, there is still a lot of talent within the squad that can continue to play an attacking brand of football.
But Brendan Rodgers refuses to budge, playing negative formations and playing players out of position, which is not transitioning into goals, which then places pressure on the back four, hence the amount of goals conceded in the last two games.
Rodgers needs to return to his attacking ways which got him the move from Swansea to this famous club, or face being sacked by the end of Christmas, with former Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp the fan favourite to replace him.
Starting with the visit of Norwich City on Monday morning, both Sakho and Moreno need to return to the back four, replacing the young Joe Gomez who has impressed so far this season, but is getting over-oared playing at a big club at such a young age.
Skrtel or Lovren need to be replaced as the communication issues are becoming a massive problem for a leaky defence that is lacking leadership. A midfield four of Can, Milner, Coutinho and Firmino will have to do until Henderson returns and Danny Ings needs to partner Benteke up front in a 4-4-2 diamond formation.
Come Monday morning (1am AEST), Liverpool should in my opinion, look like this:
Liverpool's immediate challenge is a Europa League trip to Bordeaux on Matchday One of their group starting tomorrow, which will see a host of first-team players rested.
This is a chance for Rodgers to experiment with his team, with Sakho, Origi, Rossiter, Ibe and Toure getting their opportunity to impress the manager ahead of a must-win match against Norwich on the weekend.
