Benitez gets the tactics all wrong

Sheffield United 1 - 1 Liverpool

The Blades coped well with their first Premiership game, holding the lofty Liverpool to a 1-1 draw. Sheffield manager Neil Warnock started with just one of his new signings, Hulse, and relied upon his old guard to garner his side’s first points of the Premiership campaign. It was new boy Hulse that broke the dead lock, capitalising on slack Liverpool defending to head in a set-piece cross from Unsworth. Liverpool had to rely upon a penalty to draw back level, with Gerrard going down after a Jagielka lunge and Fowler slotting away to save Benitez’s blushes.

The Liverpool manager sent out an unorthodox team withdrawing Alonso and Finnan from the squad and leaving England hero Crouch on the bench. With most of his team involved in internationals during the week, having the early Saturday morning kick-off and facing a second-leg European game on Tuesday, the Spaniard must have felt that he tactically could leave out the likes of Alonso and Crouch to give them extra time to rest – wrong. The Liverpool boss has shown, yet again, that he has tactically underestimated the resolve of lower teams – something that Mourinho never does. Benitez’s team struggled for fluidity on Saturday and looked a pale imitation of the side that beat Chelsea in the Community shield.

Liverpool not only dropped two points in the opening game but also picked up key injuries to Riise and Carragher. Riise had to be stretchered off after just 25 minutes and Carragher hobbled off after 34 minutes. It seems that Carragher could be out for a week and his Norwegian counterpart could be out for even longer.

Sheffield United also suffered an injury to Leigh Bromby, who was subsequently replaced by Mikele Leigertwood.

Fantasy Insiders View: Statistically, Liverpool’s Aurelio was a live wire making seven tackles and managed one shot on target. With Riise out the Brazilian is the best candidate to start in the left-back spot. Daniel Agger, who replaced Carragher, should also now start the Champions League qualifier on Tuesday.

From a tactical point of view, Liverpool were definitely lacking the presence of Crouch today. The Red’s had nearly 60% of the possession but failed to capitalise, with Fowler guilty of fluffing up clear chances. Throughout the game Liverpool were awarded 12 corners and little came from these set-pieces, why? Simple, Crouch was missing. The England striker is almost impossible to defend during set-pieces and normally causes havoc in the penalty area. Liverpool lacked that today and it showed.

This was a smash and grab affair from Sheffield and Warnock, who’s team showed they can be difficult to breakdown if put to the test at home. Danny Webber was lively throughout the match but with one shot on target and 40% possession they will certainly need to improve rather than relying on the downfalls of their opposition.