To Shoot or Not to Shoot: That Was the Question vs Everton

Can the Reds’ Attacking Decisions Improve?

It was arguably the inspiration that triggered a title-winning season, one that would ultimately end in heartbreak though. And no, this is not This Red Clairvoyant seeing into the future after the victory over Everton at the weekend. Of course the game is question was a thumping 5-0 victory over Swansea at Anfield, under Brendan Rodgers, when - after a five game winless run - it felt like Gerrard, Coutinho, Suarez, and Sturridge had finally started to gel. It was in the spring of 2013, before the infamous but incredibly enjoyable 2013/14 campaign.

That’s not main focus though, that would ridiculous, but it is the inspiration for this analysis because - and remember this was well before expected goals (xG) came to prominence - our recent attacking performance over our Merseyside rivals reminded me of it.

“Stop shooting from there…” was my repeated, frustrated, exclamation before Salah converted to penalty. Or “Just make the pass” which is slight deviation from the original Swansea article back in 2013, which you can read here, and included images like this one below:

In the above game, Liverpool attempted 35 shots but and it was a Tomkins Times meet up as me, Paul and Chris met up to watch the match in The Kop - before the first goal went in it was a frustrating affair. We attempted 13 shots outside the box in the first half alone, and had it not been for a Gerrard penalty (can you see the similarities yet) we would have gone in scoreless at the break. The upcoming analysis has a slight tweak, in that it combines shooting from distance with poor decisions on the break.

“Please Pass”, Overloads and Over-Optimistic

In the early stages of the first half, Liverpool attacked straight from a corner and look at this perfect position to score on the counterattack. Gravenberch’s first time left-footed pass set up Szoboszlai, his driving pace and dribbling ability got away from the Everton players scrambling back and at one point we had a four versus two. It’s difficult to criticise his choice. At the moment of the pass, it looks like Jota is blocking the obvious pass to Salah who is in the best position to shoot and the most space. The pass he does make picks out Diaz, who tries to go on the outside but has his shot blocked. It is our best chance of the first half at 0.13 xG (or a 13% of being scored) which seems on the low side to me looking at the image below.

The rest of this article is for subscribers only and includes a look at each of the different situations where the Reds could have made better decisions in attack.