Like so much of this season so far, there was a lot to encourage. Like so much of this season, we lacked a cutting edge. Playing well away from home is no guarantee and when you're on top of the game like we were, you have to make it count. For as much as I didn't like the second half and how we faded during it, by then we'd already done more than enough to be in front and it's that cohesion that will give me hope for the future. Again it's another one of those situations that illustrate just how close we are to being something really special. Until we either learn how to become clinical or add the pieces that will help us become more ruthless, we won't get to the next level.
The team sheet did bring with it both elements of joy and concern. I was really pleased to see Jordan Henderson get another chance in the middle of the park and in the absence of Andre Wisdom - even in spite of Jose Enrique's recent form - I wondered about the decision to play Stewart Downing at left back. It was nothing if not a bold selection from the manager and suggested of both his confidence and desire to come back to the ground and get a result against this Swansea team with which he had a lot of success. Not only that but Joe Allen would be coming back to the Liberty Stadium with hopes of getting a victory over his old team.
Right from the kick off, there was a lot of energy from the two teams. We got on the ball and began passing it around, quick and sharp while at the same time there was an aggressive closing down on the part of the home team. With all the curiosity given the line up as to how well our left hand side would function it was down that flank that our first attack came, Enrique and Downing linking up but unable to get the ball in. Moments later Downing was called into question, this time on the defensive end and he showed a good burst of pace to clear the ball away before Pablo Hernandez got onto the end of it. The opening exchanges were intriguing in that our obvious aim was to pin Swansea back into their own half without wanting to overcommit and make the same mistakes that led to our league cup exit and Michael Laudrup's men worked incredibly hard to try and press as high up the pitch as possible, leading to a very energetic stalemate in midfield.
Both ends saw defenders called into action, caused by and with varying factors. The movement and vision of Swansea's midfielders forced Martin Skrtel to have to stretch his legs and pull out a sliding challenge before Luis Suarez twisted and turned on the edge of the penalty area only for the subsequent clearance to fall at the feet of Raheem Sterling. His shot was tame however and landed safely in the arms of Tremmel in goal. This frantic pattern of play continued with it going from end to end but now almost exclusively coming down the flanks as no-one ventured into the middle of the park such was the level of intensity. Sterling showed his tenacity and strength in holding off a raiding Ben Davis before we went straight up the other end and a combination of Suarez and Johnson exploited the space that was left to earn a corner. Glen Johnson might even have scored from the set piece having been given a free header but the ball went well over.
Perhaps it's something as simple as playing away from home that unburdens them. Their job of interrupting a midfield simpler than the added responsibility of having to create the attacks also. Maybe the individual motivations of both men were enough to drive them on or even whatever words of encouragement given to them by the manager; both Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson were very aggressive and far more active in the early goings of this game than any of the midfield pairings I've seen for some time. The key to it was that not only were they not static but in turn each one of them seemed to cover for the other quite well, with Gerrard mixing it up in between them. I think once our midfield actually gets used to the way we're trying to play it will be very fluid and even though we have one or two sitting or vice versa depending on the game situation it'll be far more proactive and there was a world of difference in this style of intense pressing of the ball than simply standing in relation to the opposing player.
Despite their good movement and the one save that Reina had been forced into by Routledge early on, we'd done enough of a job to keep Swansea at bay. Our numbers and organisation was better than it had been in recent games, especially against a team who has already cut us to shreds at Anfield once this season and it was evident that when they did try to counter on us that slowing them down and allowing the cover to arrive would be just as important as getting a foot in. Though we were very persistent in trying to win the ball back, on the occasions Swansea did have us somewhat out of position it was good to see not only a fair amount of players making sure to be in the right place to defend but also enough game intelligence - Daniel Agger is particularly good at this - to slow them down without resorting to the foul.
It seems like a detriment to the side in saying that a right back is our second best player. Certainly self evident that we're short on numbers in an attacking sense but at the same time none of that quite speaks to the high level at which Glen Johnson is playing under Brendan Rodgers. He'd become a key part of the team anyway and has picked up exactly where he left off, if not been playing even better. Arguably the best chance of the game that wasn't put away fell to him, all because of his initial movement. Running with the ball past and inside three Swansea defenders, it looked like he was about to score a wonder goal before the shot was eventually blocked. Johnson stayed in the middle and linked up with Suarez and Enrique. When Jose Enrique slid Johnson in down the middle a moment later, it looked like the deadlock would surely be broken but the keeper came out very quickly and made the save.
Though the play was compact down the centre, that didn't stop either side from feeling confident enough and trying to find gaps in between. Pablo Hernandez found room in front of the back four and tried to bend one around Martin Skrtel into the bottom corner which had Reina scrambling moments after Suarez had been blocked from a similar distance. We swarmed them high up the pitch, to a degree I haven't seen much of this season and it gave them space to exploit as both teams stretched the play very far. Stewart Downing was caught trying to win the ball in the middle of the park when they set Hernandez away down the right hand side before Enrique came back to cover. If that was a fault on the part of someone trying to be too eager, moments later we were guilty of being too slow. Gerrard tried a sloppy back heel when practically anything else would have been better but fortunately De Guzman chose not to play in any of his numerous colleagues and blazed well over.
What followed up until the half time break was the spell which probably should have won the game. It began with a half chance for Luis Suarez. Raheem Sterling was slid in by Glen Johnson and his ball across was attacked by Jose Enrique, which in turn made the goalkeeper stay on his line. Reacting late, he then palmed the ball back to Suarez, whose subsequent shot was blocked. If that was a decent hit, Sterling's next effort was even better. If anything it was too good. From the resulting corner the ball sat up nicely and he hit it as near to perfection as possible, watching it fly through the air and then thunder against the crossbar. The next real chance actually saw the ball into the back of the net. Glen Johnson again cut inside and caused problems for their defence. He passed it across goal to Suarez who had the vision to see Enrique cutting behind the defender and he played a looping ball over the top. Jose finished off the move by putting it into the net and then reacted furiously as the assistants flag was raised for offside. Enrique was probably just onside but it was one of those tight calls. The ones you never see go in our favour.
After having been given a let off, Swansea came back at us. Whereas Shechter and Michu were only ever on the periphery of the play, Herndandez was at the centre of most everything they did. After surviving a tackle by Glen Johnson and firing just over, Pepe Reina was screaming for someone to get close. At this point we were playing a very high line and at times as the first half came to an end only had one or two players inside our own half. Both Downing and Johnson were coming inside at times and whether it's because Johnson and Sterling are such natural wide players or the fact that Downing is very predictable and Enrique is anything but; it all seemed a lot more fluid when we attacked down the right hand side. Glen Johnson had the last good chance of the half as he headed over from another corner but despite having had a lot of the ball in attacking areas - mostly Suarez making a nuisance of himself - Swansea always had the players back to defend well and deal with it. The half ended with a Sunday league style scramble right outside their penalty area with a handful of either team really unable to get a hold of it. Goalless at the break then but very lively.
As the two teams came out for the second half, Swansea did so with a new face among them. Having had very little joy in an attacking sense in the first half, Ki Sung-Yeung came on to replace Itay Shechter and in turn this involved Michu going into a more central role. It took a while for the half to settle down into any real style or pattern with both teams eager to put their own stamp on it and as such the ball ended up bobbling about in between tackles. Raheem Sterling it was who first really got a hold of it, combining with a couple of players in the midfield as he ran through the centre of the pitch before laying it off to Jose Enrique only for the subsequent deep cross be well over Suarez's head. There appeared to be the space for our wide players to come inside as Glen Johnson went on a marauding run some moments later only to have the ball taken from him. The good thing from here was that there was a real reluctance on our part to give them as much space in the middle whenever they'd win it back.
Though Swansea were the team who settled quicker, we pressed them well and worked whoever was on the ball well enough. Some of their passes in the final third were forced and easily gobbled up by our defence but being so concerned with the pace that they possessed, the whole team was about ten yards behind where they were in the first half. Once we'd actually gotten onto the ball, the team stepped up and we looked to push them back, without ever really being able to get in behind them. Gerrard tried to link with Suarez on the edge of the box before the ball came back to him and the shot that followed was comfortably into the arms of Tremmel. Glen Johnson and Raheem Sterling then did manage find a way inside - down the right hand side of the penalty area - but having done so well to get into position the final ball wasn't enough to create a clear cut opportunity. Suarez meanwhile was his usual energetic self, managing to very nearly beat Tremmel with a stinging shot that took a slight deflection off Ashley Williams before putting the Swansea goalkeeper under some real pressure and nearly making them pay by pouncing on an under hit back pass.
The picture that had begun to emerge of the second half was that of two teams trying to impose the exact same will on their opponents. As a result, a period of Liverpool possession would be followed by Swansea getting some of their own with both teams getting numbers back when necessary. Of the two however, it was the home side who began upping the tempo of their play. Gerrard and Henderson were being bypassed in the middle of the park as Swansea were a little more direct and as a result began to create some chances. Ashley Williams had a decent chance from a header which - even though it was going wide - Joe Allen was there to clear on the line. We looked like a side that didn't really know what to do at that stage in the game. In the first half we went after them and tried to attack whenever possible. Being aware of Swansea's abilities on the break and not wanting to be caught going too gung ho, we held back just a little. Trying to take the sting out of the game, only there wasn't much of one and all we were doing was allowing them a platform from which to build.
One thing that was encouraging was how hard we worked to disrupt them and subsequently how easy it was to force Swansea into a few mistakes. We pressed as a unit and made them turn it over in the middle of the park far more successfully than we'd been able to at Anfield and what this allowed was for someone like Suarez to pick up any scraps and take the attention away from our defence. When he's on the ball not only is something more likely to happen in an attacking sense but he has the ability to hold it up and bring other people into play. It was a shame then that Glen Johnson couldn't quite find him after the whole team had played some really good neat football and held onto it for a while before Stevie slid in Johnson down the inside of his full back. Suarez did manage to rescue it but his shot flashed across goal and went wide.
The game then came to a halt for a few minutes as Stewart Downing felt that Pepe Reina's face was a little too handsome. His attempted clearance went to Nathan Dyer and with the ball bobbling between goalkeeper and forward, Dyer's boot connected with Reina's face. Pepe was fortunate to be able to continue with minimal treatment but the swelling on his face did come up almost instantly. That unfortunate act would turn out to be Downing's last of the game as both he and Jordan Henderson were subbed for Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Cole. It wasn't the most awe inspiring of changes but they did both score in midweek and if they could repeat the feat here it might have just secured a much valuable three points here.It was strange to see players all over the park looking for passes when there was space to be found almost everywhere but Swansea worked so hard in trying to close the men down that any kind of forward pass has the potential to be intercepted. Our ability to patiently played the ball around was starting to wear a little thin as was the home sides and we both became a little sloppy with our passing. Swansea very nearly made us pay for this as a break with Johnson out of position looked to see them through down the right hand side but Jonjo slowed them up by filling in and Enrique then blocked Michu's attempt before Glen Johnson eventually got back to head wide for a corner. Another break from the corner, seemingly more decisive could have easily given us the lead. Reina's punch looped over the head of Chico Flores and to the feet of Luis Suarez. With Sterling in support they were two on one and could have punished the Swans but Sterling's return ball to Luis was well over hit and forced him wide. The best chance of the half if not the game and we'd spurned it.
After the debacle that was the last few minutes of the Young Boys game on Thursday, I was really hoping we'd address the idea of allowing players so much space in front of the back four. Here we fought hard to close that space off and for the most part had enough back to deal with it and even when Ki Sung-Yueng did manage to get the ball in that area of the park Joe Allen was dogged in his attempts to block the shot, so much so that he gave away a free kick which Pepe Reina saved smartly to his left hand side. Our midfield play still looked a little off, especially in keeping the ball and so it kept coming back to us with Swansea getting increasingly desperate to try and make something happen. Michu's back flick of the ball to no-one in particular highlighted just how organised and tight we'd been at the back.
Eventually we began to negate our own midfield completely and let Suarez hold the ball up. He encouraged Sterling to help him out and subsequently dragged the whole team forward about ten yards. For the few minutes that remained we had a lot of the ball out on the right hand side and on the edge of their penalty area but were unable to find a way inside. Gerrard had a weak effort that went wide and then Shelvey hit a far more powerful shot but it was straight at the goalkeeper. He was able to recover it and cross for Daniel Agger but his header was under pressure and with Ben Davis down needing treatment that virtually signalled the end of the game as neither side could mount anything in the one minute of remaining stoppage time.
After the result at Anfield in the league cup, there was potential here for both revenge and also a similar scoreline - especially given our failings against Young Boys and how well Swansea would have exploited that. In the end a point is a hard fought and a good one, certainly nothing to complain about but I can't help but feel that we needed to get something more. Being undefeated in eight is something to be proud of but now it's really going to be put to the test. With another, even more difficult game to come in midweek against Spurs we're really up against it if the wins don't start coming soon. Right now this looks like a decent point and could in time look an even better result, but it does feel as if come the end of the season this could have been an opportunity missed.
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