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Neville credits Rodgers for setting up Liverpool squad to dominate Arsenal's midfield

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ANI London

Former Manchester United midfielder Phil Neville has credited Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers for the way he set his side up in order to dominate the midfield during their 2-2 draw against Arsenal on Sunday.

Neville claimed that Arsenal's midfield had been overrun at times in the draw with Liverpool but added that one cannot blame any of the Arsene Wenger's men for that, stating that credit has to go to Rodgers for the way he set it up.

In his column for the BBC, Neville further said that Rodgers acted cleverly because he knew Arsenal like to play with just one holding midfielder, and in this case it was Mathieu Flamini.

 

The former Everton midfielder stated that Liverpool capitalised by having Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho come in from wide and sit either side of Flamini, so Flamini did not know who to pick up.

Neville stated that one can control games by outnumbering the opposition in midfield like that, and added that it was exactly what led to Liverpool's dominance before the break.

He stated that Liverpool could have had the game won by half time and added that if Rodgers' side were in the ruthless form they showed last season, he feels sure they would have done so.

But, Neville claimed that Liverpool did not really make the most of the positions they got into and did not punish Arsenal with their final ball. He added that there is no way Liverpool should have lost, but added that they needed Martin Skrtel's 97th-minute header to ensure they picked up a point.

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First Published: Dec 22 2014 | 1:51 PM IST

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