I think he was actually really close to getting it to work today. If Simons had not seen early red I think we would have gone on to win it.
Playing Bergvall and Gray around a base CDM of Benta or Palh is definitely the way going forward, especially without proper LW/CAM depth.
Our LW was a mess of course, but Liverpool themselves are not a balanced side right now. We seemed to have the initiative and more dangerous chances.
Overall I blame Simons and especially the poor refereeing for the loss today. Frank I thought got the tactics more right than usual, almost optimal in fact, and so gets a pass from me today. The only choice I think he could have made better was to start Odobert or Richy at LW instead of Xavi.