5 Reasons Liverpool Remain a Work in Progress After Wolves Win

A well-deserved victory that was not without its heart-stopping moments, Liverpool's hard-earned three points against Wolves at Anfield on Saturday showed plenty of things they should be encouraged about

The sumptuous passing football so evident at Bolton a few weeks ago was on display again. Luis Suarez capped another mesmerizing performance with an exquisite finish. Steven Gerrard made his Anfield and Premier League return after half a year on the sidelines, and injected plenty of pace and attacking urgency in an encouraging cameo.

The post-match interview will no doubt focus on how Liverpool managed to grind out the win, but beneath the three points lies substantial evidence that the Reds remain a work in progress.

Here are five things that Liverpool must improve if they are to build on their Wolves win and get results in their upcoming games against Everton and Manchester United.

5. Uncertain Defensive Positioning

For all of Liverpool's dominance in the first half, where their defence was very rarely troubled, Wolves got back into the game in the second half.

After Martin Skrtel's horror show against Tottenham's Gareth Bale last week, a dangerous Matt Jarvis might have posed further problems, and Martin Kelly's return to the right side of defence re-introduced balance to the backline. Jose Enrique also put in a fine shift at left-back, nullifying Wolves' threat down the right.

However, during the first twenty-or-so minutes in the second half, Liverpool were all over the place in their own half, and this was a worrying defensive performance.

Mick McCarthy's double substitution at halftime turned out to be just the masterstroke that Wolves needed, and their renewed desire after Steven Fletcher's goal meant that they were the first to every loose ball.

They spread their play down the wings, where crosses came in time and again, and Liverpool's lack of defensive positioning sense and urgency meant that Wolves were allowed to build up their attacking momentum and launch the ball towards Pepe Reina's goal.

Jamie Carragher's no-nonsense, clear-first policy came in handy in these circumstances, but Wolves should never have been allowed to have so much space and time on the ball in and around Liverpool's penalty box.

Against stronger, more clinical opposition, the Reds might have paid a more severe price for the defensive laxness.

4. Tendency to Go Missing

Kenny Dalglish criticized his Liverpool team for starting more slowly than usual against Tottenham last week, allowing Spurs to take advantage and quickly get in the lead, both in terms of scoreline and mentality.

While Liverpool got right at Wolves from kickoff, which allowed them to build attacking momentum and confidence, just as against Sunderland on the opening day of the season, the second half performance at times brought an unwelcome sense of deja vu as Wolves took the game to Liverpool.

I've mentioned on a few occasions that Liverpool's current weakest link is their mental strength, and this performance only does more to solidify my belief. 

While Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson have all been made out to be determined runners and hard workers, they have yet to make their presences count in tougher circumstances. Adam increasingly shirked from his defensive responsibilities in the middle of the park, while Henderson continued his unfortunate habit of remaining anonymous throughout the majority of a Liverpool match.

And this at the expense of Dirk Kuyt.

If Liverpool did not possess such a workaholic on the bench, perhaps Kenny Dalglish's persistence with Henderson might make more sense. But Kuyt's introduction for just that man saw him chase and harry Wolves' defenders with more commitment and urgency for 20 minutes than Henderson in his last two games.

For Liverpool to sustain a run of good results, Liverpool's three new signings must start asserting themselves, pronto.

3. Players Still Not on Same Wavelength

Make no mistake—the Wolves win featured fine individual performances from both Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.

With much of the prematch attention on whether Carroll would find himself out of the first team picture following Craig Bellamy's midweek performance against Brighton, Carroll put in his best performance so far this season.

He caused the Wolves defenders trouble with his aerial ability and also showed an eye for a pass when he drifted outfield to set up Enrique and Downing on the left wing, as well as Suarez down the center.

Suarez turned in a now-typical hardworking display with a variety of tricks that unnerved the Wolves defence, and duly capped his sparkling performance with a well-taken goal.

Yet, while the signs are there to show that this might turn out to be a fearsome strike partnership, it's clear that Suarez and Carroll will need much more time to get themselves into each other's subconscious.

Outside of the strikers, while Liverpool's wing play enabled them to stretch the opposition, the final pass was often lacking in quality, and crosses didn't find a finisher in the box.

Liverpool players will argue that they haven't had enough time to gel on and off the pitch, given the huge influx of signings in the summer, but they need to rediscover the telepathy shared by the erstwhile triumvirate of Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to be able to grind out wins against Everton and Manchester United.

2. Ineffective Counter-Attacks

Rather than an observation about the fluidity of Liverpool's counterattacking passing play, this is more a commentary on the effectiveness and outcome of these attacks.

Even during Wolves' bright spell at the start of the second half, Liverpool still found themselves presented with several counterattacking opportunities, and their crisp, bright passing ensured that the ball found its way to the attacking third with a goalscoring chance at the end.

The problem is that, once again, these chances weren't finished off.

Carroll's excellent header against the post aside, the most memorable (if that's the correct word to use) miss was Downing's, when he found himself clean through on goal.

Following Henderson's costly double miss when one-on-one against the Stoke goalkeeper a couple of weeks ago, this was yet another sign that Liverpool's composure is not yet at a level required to finish off chances on the break.

To be fair, the return of Steven Gerrard, who showed plenty of attacking verve after coming on as a substitute, will greatly aid Liverpool's counterattacking effectiveness, and his combinations with Kuyt in his 10-minute cameo boded well.

But the best teams require comfortable goalscorers from all over the pitch, and certainly players who can finish (or combine to finish) one-on-one chances.

1. Sub-Par Finishing

On the topic of finishing, Liverpool's current main issue is their finishing—it's just not clinical enough.

Let's start first with shots from outside the box. With the close-season departure of long-range specialist Raul Meireles, Liverpool's cleanest strikers of the ball from outside the penalty area are currently on the bench: Steven Gerrard is still easing his way back into the starting lineup, and Maxi Rodriguez has been relegated to a bench role.

While we've seen Henderson's curling finish against Bolton and Adam's deflected shot against Wolves, this is not a Liverpool midfield particularly renowned for long-range finishing.

Inside the box, without the experienced Craig Bellamy, Suarez often finds himself labeled as a scorer of spectacular goals as opposed to a spectacular scorer of goals. With the lack of inviting crosses to Carroll's head and his less-than-dominant aerial displays so far, this is a Liverpool attack that requires plenty of chances to be set up before one can be put away.

I won't take anything away from Suarez's excellent strike, which ultimately served as Liverpool's winning goal. But a more composed finishing performance must be required from all of Liverpool's players (not least their strikers) if they are to take their chances.

With Gerrard back on the pitch and Kuyt surely needing to reclaim his place in the starting eleven, Liverpool will find themselves having many more available options and outlets when in need of a goal.