Martin Kelly: All The Right Moves In All The Wrong Places

At the heart of every iconic moment in the history of Liverpool Football Club, there are those who stand out.  Fom Billy Liddell to Steven Gerrard and beyond, we exalt their exploits as if they are the stuff of legend.  Despite our support and favouritism, the truly great are very few in number.  We are lucky in that some of the great exponents of this simple game have pressed their studs into the Anfield turf and we watch from the stands in awe.  That still leaves a very large number of people - even those whom we think of fondly - who don't posses those unparalleled talents.

There is a great need in the world of football to label things.  Fast and small? You're the new Theo Walcott.  Any half decent scoring midfielder/striker with a good agent these days has been compared to Messi at least once.  Almost ten years ago, Liverpool had on their books a versatile defender.  He didn't excel at anything in particular but had more than a grasp for the art of defending and gave you everything he had.  The arrival of a new manager with a different philosophy to all those before it spelled a change in Jamie Carragher's career that saw him - briefly - become one of the best defenders in Europe.  Could the same happen again with Brendan Rodgers and Martin Kelly?

If they are to make good on their childhood dreams of being a footballer, there are inevitably roadblocks that must be overcome along the way.  In Martin Kelly's case that obstacle came early on in the form of a serious back injury, which stunted his development by almost two years.  Spotted by the Liverpool scouts at the tender age of seven years old, he was originally a centre midfielder but his height and composure on the ball saw him move back to defence, where - throughout his years at Melwood - he has played every position along the back-line.  After receiving rave reviews as a member of Gary Ablett's title winning reserve team in 2008, Kelly would go that one step further and make his Liverpool bow, coming on in the last few minutes for Jamie Carragher in a Champions League game in Eindhoven.

Having made enough of an impression on Rafa Benitez to include him in a few Champions League squads, the focus now was on whether or not he could push for a place in the regular first eleven.  In an attempt to get some first team football behind him, the last six months of the 2008-09 season saw Kelly loaned out to Huddersfield town, during which he scored his first ever competitive goal.  This continual progress, coupled with the departure of Sami Hyypiä led Benitez to claim that there would be a chance for one of the youth team players to make that step up and he again found himself in the team for a Champions League game, only this time in the starting line up.  Being awarded Man of the Match was a step in the right direction but unfortunately it came at a price.  A groin injury picked up in that game sidelined Kelly for four months.

The summer of 2010 saw major change at Liverpool as Rafa went out and Roy came in.  Kelly's chances were limited to Europa League games although a starting role in a two goal victory over Chelsea at Anfield was quickly followed by a new three year contract shortly after ward.  When Kenny Dalglish came in the following January, things began to pick up quickly for both Martin and the rest of the team. An extended run in the first team made it so that first choice right back Glen Johnson was moved over to the left side of defence, such were his performances.  When it was all going so well, injury struck again.  A hamstring tear against West Ham would be the end of his season.  He had shown the Liverpool faithful what he was capable of, and was also in the process of doing it on an international level.

Ashton Gate versus Uzbekistan.  Hardly the most glamorous of opponents and locations, nevertheless Martin Kelly made his England Under 21 debut and scored in the 2-0 victory in August 2010.  Just over a year later and he netted two goals in as many games to take his tally to three in five.  He underlined his potential for goalscoring by netting the second against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge just a week later.  These performances - coupled with one against Arsenal at the start of the season which drew plaudits from Fabio Capello himself - saw him firmly on the international radar.  He had come back from injury time and again, each time determined to come back stronger.  He had never had a particularly bad game for Liverpool and so, an even bigger challenge was on the horizon.  Despite all of this, nothing could prepare him for the fury that was about to come.

Injuries along the back line had deterred England's preparation for Euro 2012.  Micah Richards had ruled himself out because he didn't want to be on any standby list.  Roy Hodgson turned to Kelly - someone he had worked with before and quite probably the best option of those who were left.  It was as if Hodgdon had picked a short sighted alpaca.  Radio phone ins and internet forums added fuel to the fire, questioning the decision.  It was as if the rest of the country as one stood up and said "I have never seen Martin Kelly play." coupled with the fact that Liverpool had underachieved the season prior - as well as a severe undercurrent of dislike for the club in general - saw Kelly as a scapegoat for a side that hadn't even played a game yet.  Which brings us neatly to what's happening now.

Brendan Rodgers' arrival and subsequent change of philosophy, coupled with the performance against West Brom at the weekend has seen Kelly at the heart of another debate.  Those writing off his ability are almost certainly writing premature obituaries, because there is room for him at Liverpool Football Club.  If Martin were playing for a mid table club, someone like Tottenham, Chelsea or Arsenal would have likely snapped him up during this transfer window, so we must be careful in not discarding or tarring him.  Scapegoat tags are very hard to get rid of and after the summer he's just had it would be unfair to add to any of that.  That being said, there is a conversation that needs to be had.  Sooner rather than later, Kelly has to be moved to the centre.

Maybe it's the comparisons with Jamie Carragher that put people off Kelly long term.  Even though these days people only ever talk about him in a negative light, while the comparisons are still valid they don't resonate as much in a Brendan Rodgers side.  The flaws in Kelly's game out wide are arguably as great as those in Carra's game in the middle of this system, but playing Martin in the middle negates both of those aspects.  He's much more comfortable with the ball at his feet however, and carries a far greater aerial threat.  I see no reason why moving him centrally shouldn't at least be attempted, other than the fact that it leaves us very light in the wing back positions - although this could be rectified in the coming week.  If Liverpool insist on leaving him out wide, there's a possibility they may hinder themselves in two positions rather than just the one.

It's unlikely that Martin Kelly will ever score a hat-trick in four minutes or inspire an Istanbul like comeback.  His career at Anfield to date has been largely inconspicuous, but every club needs players like this.  People who will give their all and get on with whatever it is they have to do, without being conscious of the limelight.  Over the course of a season contributions will be made by everyone, some will have to be greater than others because not everybody can be a superstar.  To ignore that input would be foolish because the likes of Gerrard and Suarez wouldn't be able to do what they do were it not for the contribution of a Kelly or Lucas.  Even the smallest star still shines brightly in the sky.

Brendan Rodgers Versus The Culture Of English Football

If it's not about the journey but the destination, then winning is about the method.  Contradict that with the idea that the ends justify the means and what you're left with is the proverbial catch 22. Those two ideals form the basis of all tactical methodology. That it is better to fight with honour, courage and valour or to sacrifice everything in order to gain victory.  Some would see a battlefield with all but a handful of their own soldiers down as worth it so long as the battle was won. They're probably ancestral Stoke fans.

Brazil, Ajax, Sacchi's Milan.  Teams that played football as it should be and won trophies in the process.  When Pep Guardiola and Spain took over the world it wasn't unprecedented that a side could remain pure to the fundamentals of the game and still get the job done, but it wasn't quite on the same scale.  The world became obsessed with trying to replicate the model that was forged inside La Masia and perfected at the Nou Camp and when they couldn't, the goal was to undermine it.  In the Champions League, that Chelsea inexplicably managed to edge past Barca became a stick to beat them with despite the fact that if the same scenario were to be played out a hundred times again it probably wouldn't have worked out that way.  

At the other end of the spectrum, residing in a dark place that skillful players have nightmares about, Roy Hodgson was to find himself in the middle of something that had been brewing in England for some time.  He, along with members of the national press and fans up and down the country, declared war on modern tactics in football.  That steadfast refusal to implement anything other than outdated tactics and ideas, added to the notion that Spain were now somehow boring gave every fan a side to take.  It seems almost bizarre that anyone would fight against the idea of possession football coupled with good movement but there are two problems with it.  

First of all it requires a great deal of patience, something that Sky TV generation of football fan has all but run out.  As a source of entertainment, football - sport in general - fails the majority of the time.  A lot of the drama in football comes from a meeting between two teams with a great history or rivalry, there can be no way of knowing when a story will evolve within the game itself.  There are groups of supporters up and down England, as well as grounds all over the country that have no real grasp of that.  Knocking the ball around at the back, keeping it tidy and away from the opposition to them is cause for howls of discontent.  After a few months of getting used to the Spanish way of life, Javier Mascherano told the press that he would get cheered for booting the ball into the stands in England, whereas he would get ridiculed for it in Spain.  That tells you all you need to know of the different culture and mindset between the two nations.  The other problem with trying to play the "right" way is that requires a lot of courage, the kind that rules out most managers.  

The arguement against having principles is that eventually there will come a time when you have to discard them.  Style comes with a risk and on that basis alone, some won't even bother with trying it.  When the risk is losing the money that comes with staying in the top flight, it's all the more impressive that Rodgers remained true to his philosophy at Swansea.  Pragmatically football does cater to those that favour winning at all costs, provided you don't have the means.  A team will have no problems in putting everyone behind the ball and trying to spoil the game - nor should they receive no undue criticism - so long as they don't have the required talent needed to actually play.  At the very top, with the embarrassment of riches that a team vying for trophies should have, then the very least that should be aimed for is an attempt to play football rather than simply stopping others from doing so.  Even the most well meaning of managers will forgo a passing game if it it met with an improvement in results.  Right to the end Pep Guardiola flouted that and won everything there was to win along the way.  

Numbers mean different things to different people.  Whether or not you read a lot into them the game is full of stats, percentages and anything else someone might use to try and gain an advantage over their opponent.  The most common and basic use of these numbers is in regard to formation, the starting point from which both players and fans have an idea as to how things are organised initially.  These days however, they are no more than a reference point beyond that.  For years now teams have employed a modified formation depending on whether or not they are in possession of the ball.  Barcelona's theoretical "team of midfielders" has moved that on to the Nth degree, in that no one player has a single defined role and that the shackles are well and truly off.

In Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool have got themselves a manager at the heart of all this.  Because of what he has experienced and who he is as both coach and manager, Rodgers strives to be at the forefront in regard to tactics and applied the Spanish model to great success at Swansea.  The challenges that he will now face are far greater but the thought process will remain the same.  He has spoken at great length about resting on the ball and the concensus appears to be that Liverpool will have the lion's share of possession in a large majority of games next year.  There will come a time - presumably away from home against the better sides - in which Rodgers' men will have to hold off, even if it is for brief periods during a game.  For a manager and a team that wants to play football, what then?

"If you give a bad player time, he can play. If you give a good player time, he can kill you." - Brendan Rodgers

Not that there was ever much doubt, Liverpool will be playing a pressing game next year.  Not only will defenders be harassed and forced into mistakes but right the way up the pitch that will intensify.  Getting back the ball in an opponents half exposes them to being overloaded, but the opposite scenario has the same outcome.  The counter attack may be seen as a tool of the limited but all top teams have the ability to turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye.  Though it helps to have players of great speed - something that Liverpool do not possess as great deal on the whole - what's more important is speed of thought and vision, something the team has an abundance of.  While the counter may be a valid method of punishing mistakes, that doesn't mean it will not fit in with the rest of Rodgers' philosophy.  Don't expect the ball to be played up the park aimlessly, under any circumstances.

To be presented with the chance to break is not directly the same as being in on goal.  Last year Swansea only managed four shots directly after forcing turnovers from the opposition but would almost certainly have made use of that possession in other ways.  One thing that all football managers have in common is that they have to believe in the way they operate and that's certainly true of Brendan Rodgers.  He is far removed from the atypical English style manager (think Sam Allardyce) that clog up the game, deluding themselves and others into thinking that the game hasn't moved on in the last twenty years.  The ideas and style he will bring to Anfield will not simply be a traced over copy of the Barcelona manual but his own take on the same principles that helped them become arguably the best club side this world has ever seen. 

If it works, the tide in England may finally turn against the old school way of thinking.  Should Rodgers fail, then he will be held up as an example of why teams should keep it simple. No system is perfect, no set of players infallible.  Though the mistakes and inevitability of sport may catch up to Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, at least he is determined to go about it in the right way.  To chance fate by having his footballing ethics intact.  A life without risk isn't living at all, football without taking a chance is a game ruled of the likes of Alex McLeish, Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce.  Nobody wants to live in that world.