Rebuilt Reds still figuring out what works (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

Two games into a new season is far too early to be making any snap judgments.

That being said, I'm sure it's not just me who has been a little taken aback by the lack of a cutting edge in Liverpool's play so far. I wasn't naive enough to think it would be "business as usual" following the loss of Luis Suarez, but I did expect them to look sharper than this.

Brendan Rodgers' men had plenty of possession in the 3-1 loss at the Etihad on Monday night, but attack after attack fizzled out as soon as it reached the City penalty area.

Vincent Kompany and his fellow defenders deserve credit for that, but we're simply not accustomed to seeing Liverpool's attack blunted like that. Southampton coped pretty well too until conceding that late goal to Daniel Sturridge, so there is some slight cause for concern despite the season still being in its infancy.

The poor defending and conceding of silly goals from last season is still a staple of Liverpool's play it seems, but the swashbuckling forward play has been conspicuous by its absence so far. If you can't defend then you better be able to attack or you're going to be in trouble. Just ask Louis van Gaal.

Perhaps there's nothing for Liverpool fans to worry about; the Southampton performance can be put down to first-day nerves, while few teams will go to the Etihad and look great going forward. It's too small a sample size to draw any firm conclusions and it's possible (albeit highly unlikely) that the Reds could go to White Hart Lane this weekend and repeat last season's humiliation of Spurs. For that to happen they will need a monumental improvement on what we've seen so far, and perhaps a change of system too.

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