Originally Posted by TK421
I disagree with this, I think the football we play now is light years ahead of the simpistic, one dimensial counter-attacking tripe Houllier was serving up in his last two years. We basically had one attacking option which was to play it forward quickly to Owen, or we could rely on Gerrard to come up with something special. Lots of the goals were shots from distance, I remember a time when we hadn't scored a goal in open play from inside the penalty area for several months.
Contrast that to what we have now and putting it simply I think we play miles better football. The interplay between Gerrard, Torres and Kuyt has seen us produce some good passing football, and Babel has provided a good outlet even if his use of the ball sometimes leaves a bit to be desired. Our fullbacks get forward more to support the attack and inventive players like Garcia and Benayoun would probably never have got a look in under Houllier.
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Far too often though we still give the ball away cheaply, make the wrong choice of pass and lack good passing options for the man on the ball.
I'd say reliance on the ball over the top to Owen was primarily a combination of tactics (or lack of) and not having enough quality elsewhere in the side. I don't dispute that we've improved greatly in both those areas under Rafa, but at the same time I don't think that moving on from that reliance is proof that our overall passing has improved particularly.