Persistence, Tweaks pay off as Rodgers' Reds close out 2014 in Style by Joel Tracy

As Liverpool approached the end of a 2014 filled with magnificent highs and devastating lows, Reds supporters took a furtive glance back at our side's recent performances and results with a cautious optimism that bore the scars of last season's Crystal Palace gut punch, Daniel Sturridge's injury-riddled past four months and just about anything Messrs. Mignolet, Lovren and Balotelli have been involved in during this campaign.

With one defeat in their past five matches, the side had looked moderately more secure and more threatening in a reshuffled 3-4-2-1 formation. Shortly after complaining that he'd have gotten more plaudits for the tactical shift if he wasn't British, manager Brendan Rodgers had the opportunity to test his new alignment against the visiting Swansea City, the club with which he burnished his reputation as a proponent of 4-3-3 "Death by Football" before signing on with John W. Henry's Liverpool for the promise of a giant portrait of his likeness, a state-of-the-art teeth cleaning and a lifetime's supply of Dunkin' Donuts. While the din of knives being sharpened amongst the "Rodgers Out" quarters had subsided a bit, Liverpool supporters anxiously awaited kickoff to see if their Reds could build off the momentum of the past two weeks to mount a second half challenge for the Top Four.

Amidst the flurry of festive period matches, Rodgers elected to shuffle his deck, albeit in the same formation. The imposing Emre Can kept his place from the second half of the Burnley match on the right side of the back three. Makeshift wingbacks Jordan Henderson and Lazar Markovic gave way to the more conventional pairing of Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno, with the pacey Serbian returning to a substitute's role, while Henderson was restored to a more comfortable berth in the centre of midfield.

The decision to rest Steven Gerrard offered the industrious vice captain a rare opportunity to wear the armband and while the media pundits trumpeted Liverpool's failure to score a Premier League goal this season with their legendary skipper off the pitch, this scrawler must not have been alone in looking forward to seeing the side operate with a more energetic midfield pairing than the static Gerrard/Lucas axis.

Each of Rodgers' changes paid dividends, beginning with Can, who stood tall in defense and brought an assured presence to the side's buildup play. The midfielder-by-trade slotted in comfortably alongside Skrtel, who completed all but a single pass and Sakho, whose audacious (and risky) string of backheels from deep positions seemed a defiant reply to the army of mouth breathers who persist in ignoring his obvious quality because "he looks clumsy on the ball."

Manquillo was typically workmanlike on the right wing, allowing Henderson to push forward from the right side of the midfield two. With the more stationary Lucas offering cover, Moreno bombed forward down the left flank, supplying early opportunities for Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling, the latter shooting straight at a well-positioned

Lukasz Fabianski. Adam Lallana blasted over from close range off he rebound, continuing a trend of misfires in what has been an otherwise impressive season, despite being deployed on the fringes of the Liverpool attack-or worse, on the bench.

Around the half hour mark Swansea threatened the home side's defense with a slick counterattacking move that ended with a back post header from Nathan Dyer, comfortably saved by Simon restored-by-default Mignolet, whose touches, mercifully, were mainly limited to those of the gloved variety. Despite ceding the majority of possession, however, the Reds manufactured the half's best chances, led by Lallana and the majestic Coutinho, deployed in twin positions behind stand-in frontman Raheem Sterling.

Despite seeing about as much rest as a toddler whose negligent caretaker allowed him to get deep into the Christmas sweets, the youngster led the line with an energetic performance, leading a suffocating Liverpool press while opening up space for the attacking pair behind him with a series of clever runs. Lallana and Coutinho made the most of that space, the Brazillian particularly beguiling in probing the visitors' defense.

Shortly following Dyer's headed effort, Liverpool registered an opener from a fluid attacking move. Sakho aimed a pinpoint pass out of the back to Moreno, who surged into midfield from his wingback position, laying the ball off to Lallana before continuing on to the back post. Lallana put through Henderson, making a run of his own towards the endline. As Sterling occupied both centre backs with a clever feinting run, the stand-in skipper beautifully picked out the onrushing Moreno who fired a shot off the well-placed Fabianski, sending a ripple through the storied red netting.

While Lucas was typically stout in a holding midfield role, Henderson's energetic display in a return to the centre of midfield helped bring out the best of the attacking three. The tireless Englishman's mobility helped support the attackers and wingbacks in a return to the pressing game that had been scarcely glimpsed since last season, while his runs from deep provided an added dimension to the creativity of those ahead of him. Shining brightest among the three forward players, Coutinho nearly doubled the Reds' lead minutes after the opener, turning a hapless defender inside out on the endline, keeping the ball in play with a deft touch before smacking a brazen attempt off the near post.

After being called out in midweek by manager Gary Monk for a habit of "lazy" play that led to unnecessary bookings, former player Jonjo Shelvey-never one to let a match against his old club pass without incident-replied to a strong, well-executed challenge from Can with a defiant display of Jonjotude, a vicious forearm to the immaculately bearded face of Can. One struggles to recall the hulking Turkish-born German hitting the canvas thus far in his Liverpool career, but so he did, his furious visage a portent of seemingly imminent doom for a certain phallus-headed midfielder.

The second half began with yet another contentious coming together, as Skrtel raced out of his central defensive position to haul down Wayne Routledge on Swansea's right wing. Never one to turn down an inviting handful of cloth, the Slovakian's custom tailoring reduced the winger's shorts to a tattered garment that would make even a member of Gerard Butler's 300 blush. After a kit change that prompted a chuckle from Monk in the visitors' dugout, Fabianski, who'd previously done well with a few solid stops in the first half paid tribute to his counterpart Mignolet with a costly display of buffoonery seemingly right out of the Belgian's personal playbook. After waiting too long to clear a pass from the edge of his area the Polish stopper booted the ball off of the onrushing Lallana, who was rewarded for his industrious pressing with a fortunate bounce that looped over the keeper and into the net.

As Liverpool supporters have come to expect, their side dutifully conceded a reply, beginning with a rare errant touch from Henderson in midfield. Can misjudging a ball over the top, his failed clearance falling to Routledge on the left. Having been restored to more appropriate garb by the Swansea training staff, the Englishman aimed a dangerous cross towards Wilfried Bony at the far post. Sakho did well to beat the Ivorian to the ball, but he could only head his intended clearance across the face of goal, where Gylfi Siggurdson was waiting to poke home past the side he'd previously spurned in favor of a more lucrative wage package at White Hart Lane.

The visitors threatened to even the score as Bony forced Mignolet into a fine save, turning away a driven effort for a Swansea corner. The Reds swiftly turned defense into attack, Coutinho springing Moreno forward on the break. The Spaniard rushed into space in midfield before finding Henderson driving forward in support on the right. The neatly-coiffed midfielder aimed an inch-perfect cross to his compatriot Sterling on the left, continuing a trend of the two England internationals finding one another in dangerous positions this campaign. The speedy attacker sliced his left-footed effort of Fabianski's left post, an unfortunate end to perhaps the home side's brightest attacking move.

Liverpool continued to create dangerous chances and around the hour mark Skrtel found Lallana open in midfield. The midfielder, who had stung the palms of Fabianski with a driven effort minutes earlier latched onto a precise backheel from Coutinho, who for the second match in a row set up a crucial goal with an audacious bit of skill. Lallana's patient, jinking run culminated in a cool left-footed finish, doubling his side's lead and marking his first ever league double.

Not content to allow the match to pass him by without further incident, Shelvey capped a nightmare evening by rising to aimlessly meet a corner whipped in threateningly by Henderson. The ball squirted off Shelvey's bald noggin and into the net as Henderson and his mates celebrated their most comfortable scoreline in months. Liverpool closed out the match comfortably, with Markovic being introduced into a more natural attacking position in relief of the excellent Lallana and Mario Balotelli looking sluggish in providing Sterling with a brief respite up front. Fabio Borini was given a brief cameo appearance, if only to allow the superb Coutinho the ovation he so richly deserved.

It was a performance that recalled highlights from a thrilling year on Merseyside, with a swarming, merciless pressing game complementing a sharp and fluid attack. The front three of Coutinho, Lallana and Sterling appear to be finding a rhythm after their first sustained run in the team together, and the introduction of Manquillo and Moreno on the wings will provide Rodgers with a useful alternative to Markovic and Henderson in the wingback roles. The latter's reintroduction into midfield may provide as many questions as it does answers.

It's no coincidence that Liverpool's most suffocating pressing and its most fluid attacking play manifest themselves with the skipper out of the side. At his current workrate, he's simply incapable of the movement required by either and he's struggled to protect the backline when deployed in a more static holding role. The impressive Can may well be reintroduced into the midfield himself, but in the meantime he offers an intriguing option, combining with Sakho to bookend the much-maligned Skrtel with a pair of imposing, ball-playing centre backs, with the added bonus of the tactical flexibility offered by Can's ability to shift into the centre of the park.

As the Reds approach the New Year, a point at which, as the manager has correctly noted, his Liverpool sides have tended to gather steam, Rodgers deserves credit for a tactical shift that got off to a bumpy start in the 3-0 defeat at Old Tratford. The Northern Irishman stuck to his guns, and as a result his side enter 2015 on a fine run of form. An uphill climb to the Champions League places awaits, but on the strength of this performance, and with the hopeful return to fitness of Daniel Sturridge, it'd be foolish to doubt these Reds' chances.

Joel Tracy

@Jtras2