I've been trying to write something constructive but it's just not happening. I feel sick. Any defeat is bad. A 4-0 defeat is shockingly bad but the scoreline isn’t the thing that has really sickened me.
The reason I feel so sick is that my faith has been shaken. When Kenny took the reins off Hodgson, I saw him as a safer pair of hands who would keep us in the Premiership until the summer when I hoped for the reappointment of Rafa or else the appointment of a world class manager to rival Rafa. With Clarke as his No.2, Kenny did so well I became convinced he was the right man to remain at the helm. It wasn’t just romanticism; what they achieved in a short space of time really made me believe we had a world class managerial team in Kenny and Clarke.
Like most fans, I wanted to see us signing players like Aguerro and Mata during the summer but I was realistic enough to accept in our situation we needed to be targeting the players that can deliver Champions League football next season rather than players that can deliver the title this season. I backed the holy trinity of King Kenny, John Henry and Daniel Comolli in their summer dealings. The Aquilani saga baffled the hell out of me but that aside, I backed all of their purchases and outgoings despite reservations over the qualities of Adam and Henderson. I continued to defend Carroll against critics that I felt needed to give him long enough to prove himself.
I did this because I had faith in King Kenny and Steve Clarke and in the new owners and their vision for our club’s success.
Now I find myself asking: “How did King Kenny and Steve Clarke get things so wrong today?” There was nothing world class about their tactics today and their signings looked far from impressive. Suddenly, I find myself worrying that we’ve wasted a serious amount of money on Carroll and Henderson and that we’ve banished Aquilani in order to accommodate an average Scottish midfielder who stood out in highlights of Blackpool’s games but whose better performances for us will only ever be “hit and miss”.
A knee-jerk reaction? The concerns about Adam, Henderson, Carroll and general tactics have been bubbling under the surface all season.
All I know is 4-0 is our worst result in 8½ years (i.e. before Rafa). We also played better in this fixture last season under Roy fucking Hodgson. That’s how badly today went! Yes there were mitigating circumstances (if two red cards can be described as such) but we were shit with 11 men, slightly better with 10 and then it was game over when we went down to 9.
I’m seriously depressed. I desparately need to see a comfortable win against Brighton followed by a slick and stylish win over Wolves, a Merseyside derby win and then a home win against those bastard Mancs.
Kenny, Clarke, winter signings, summer signings and those of you who survived the summer cull... please restore my faith. Prove that today was nothing more than a day where everything went wrong. Above all else, let me be able to watch you play and enjoy the experience again because today was just horrible.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Monday, 8 August 2011
My hopes, fears and expectations for 2011-2012
On the eve of a new season, what are my hopes, fears and expectations for the 2011-2012 season?
The ultimate hope is obviously that Liverpool win the Premiership. However, that is simply not realistic. Man Utd, Chelsea and Man City will compete for the title. City should be favourites given the squad they have amassed while both Man Utd and Chelsea have been there and done it before. Those three teams will finish in positions 1 to 3. I expect City to blow their title challenge as failure is in their club’s DNA. I wouldn’t rule out a 2nd place finish for them which would mean either United or Chelsea finishing 3rd. Chelsea or Man Utd will be champions. I’d prefer Chelsea of the two but my head says it will be United again.
Then we have a battle for the fourth Champions League spot and I believe this will be a three-way battle between Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs with Spurs finishing sixth. I honestly couldn’t call it between Liverpool and Arsenal. Since 1998, Arsenal have not failed to qualify for the Champions League. However, from the point where Kenny replaced Hodgson last season, we out-performed them in the League. We have strengthened whereas they are desperately trying to retain their best players. Should the likes of Fabregas and Nasri be sold, they will be weaker but if they were kept, would they truly give their all for a cause they wanted to abandon?
With Arsene Wenger under increasing pressure after six trophyless seasons, Arsenal have never been more vulnerable but we will have little room for error if we are to take advantage.
Fourth place is our target and my hope is that we get it – my fear is we don’t. Finishing fourth will mean we can build on our squad from a position of being able to attract some of Europe’s better players who would otherwise be deterred by the lack of Champions League football. Finishing outside of the top four will raise questions about our ability to retain the likes of Suarez and Reina. It is crucial for the development of the club that we achieve this objective.
On the playing front, my ultimate hope is obviously that every player excels. That is unrealistic though. I expect Luis Suarez to shine once more and I believe we have made an excellent signing in Stewart Downing. I do harbour concerns over Andy Carroll though.
Looking at him, I’m far from convinced he has the qualities to be a top, top striker. He looks slow, cumbersome and pretty crude in his playing style – basically the exact opposite of Luis Suarez. While I can see him causing problems to Premiership defenders and being a threat from set pieces, he does not appear conducive to swift, pass-and-move attacking football. Barring the City game, we played far better when he wasn’t in the team last season though, in fairness, the lack of quality on the wings won’t have brought the best out of him.
Ultimately my biggest worry is that having sold Fernando Torres and spent £35m on a replacement, I just don’t see Carroll ever being as good. You could argue that Suarez offsets that to a certain extent but then Suarez was bought to play alongside Torres; not instead. Carroll was the replacement for Torres and I just don’t believe that Carroll and Suarez is better than Torres and Suarez.
I hope Carroll shines this season. I hope he can develop into a player like Didier Drogba at his best. I just worry that if he flops, we have little in the way of contingency. With Ngog clearly not rated by the current regime, it leaves only Kuyt to fill in up top. Personally, I trust Kuyt more than I trust Carroll but, as effective as Kuyt can be when leading the line, there is a glass ceiling to what we can achieve in the League with him leading our attack.
To be fair to Carroll, Fernando Torres raised the bar in terms of what we can expect from strikers. Between Michael Judas Owen and him, the strikers we fielded included Neil Mellor, Milan Baros, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Djibril Cisse, Fernando Morientes, Robbie Fowler II, Peter Crouch, Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt. We also signed Voronin just before Torres. While some of those players did OK, none were of the standard of Torres. In spite of that, in those 3 years between Owen and Torres, we won the Champions League, the FA Cup and reached another Champions League Final. After signing Torres, our best achievement was being runner up in the Premiership in a season where Torres missed half the League games. That proves you don’t need a striker of Torres’ quality to be successful. Carroll can eclipse many of those players to have played up front pre-Torres. Come the end of the season, if Carroll has shown he is good enough to lead the line in a team challenging for the League and Champions League, he will stay; if not we will strengthen.
My other big concern is over Charlie Adam. He strikes me as a decent Premiership player and he shone as a big fish at Blackpool last season. I just don’t see him being one of the League’s top midfielders. He’s another who lacks pace and seems to look for the ball over the top a bit too often for my liking. People rave about his set pieces but on the evidence of preseason, he should be behind Aquilani and Downing in the pecking order.
Ultimately, I’m concerned that Aquilani may be sold and Adam played instead. Aquilani is a quality player. Yes, doubts remain over his suitability for the English League but he deserves a chance to prove himself. If he comes good, he will be twice, maybe three times the player Adam is. Adam is simply not in the same bracket of quality.
We have a lot of central midfielders at the club including Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Adam, Aquilani, Meireles, Shelvey, Spearing and Poulsen. I would question how many of those offer proven high quality. How many would get into the first teams of Chelsea or either of the Manchester clubs? Aquilani is the one player potentially good enough to play for those teams while Henderson has the long-term potential. I'd be very frustrated if Aquilani was sold without being given a chance this season.
There are serious question marks hanging over Gerrard and Carragher this season. Carra will face the same questions every season until he hangs up his boots. Every bad game will lead people to say “his legs have gone”, etc. He’s had it for a couple of seasons now and to his credit, he has generally come good over the course of the season. The concern is that there is no one threatening his place in the team. With Agger’s injury problems and Skrtel’s failure to mature into a top centre-half, Carra remains a first choice centre-half. His place won’t come under threat from Wilson or Kyrgiakos so we have to hope he has a good season.
As an aside, I also fear that Agger and Aurelio will continue to be injury-prone in the coming year. Without [as yet] having signed a left-back, Aurelio is our best player for that position and Agger is our best centre-half. Our prospects will be better with both in the team.
After successive injury-interrupted seasons, can Gerrard play enough this season to really contribute? Assuming he can, can he rediscover the form that once made him our best player after two seasons of piss poor performances? Where will he play? Does he have the defensive discipline to anchor the midfield? Will he be prepared to play on the right of midfield? Will he continue to pull rank over set pieces meaning every corner is wasted? Will he take the penalties given Kuyt’s 100% record? Will he accept being rested for his and the team’s good should the management deem it necessary?
Big questions!
As one of the few truly outstanding players in the team, we have to hope that Gerrard can have a major positive impact in the coming season.
While deadwood remains on the books, there is always the fear that they will be used. Christian Poulsen, Joe Cole and Brad Jones have not been shifted. Brad Jones won’t play and will most likely follow Gulacsi and Hansen out on loan. Poulsen is another matter. Who in their right mind would sign him? Even Hodgson hasn’t tried to bring him to West Brom (hypocrite!). Despite that, I think Kenny is savvy enough to know that the Dane should never again don the red shirt of Liverpool in a competitive match.
Joe Cole is another story. Steve Clarke seems to rate him from their time together at Chelsea. I don’t see him being a regular starter but I could see him featuring from the bench. Is that so bad? I just think he is one of the most brainless footballers I have ever seen and I don’t want him near our first team.
I haven’t even mentioned the likes of Degen and El Zhar. I'm also a bit disappointed to see the Greek [Kyrgiakos] still in the squad. I had hoped we would strengthen in this area.
I also can’t see where Raul Meireles will fit in this season. In many ways, that is a positive as I don’t rate him as anything more than a decent squad player and if he does force his way into the first team, it will mean he is doing very well indeed.
So lots of questions. Lots of unknowns. Bring it on!!!!
The ultimate hope is obviously that Liverpool win the Premiership. However, that is simply not realistic. Man Utd, Chelsea and Man City will compete for the title. City should be favourites given the squad they have amassed while both Man Utd and Chelsea have been there and done it before. Those three teams will finish in positions 1 to 3. I expect City to blow their title challenge as failure is in their club’s DNA. I wouldn’t rule out a 2nd place finish for them which would mean either United or Chelsea finishing 3rd. Chelsea or Man Utd will be champions. I’d prefer Chelsea of the two but my head says it will be United again.
Then we have a battle for the fourth Champions League spot and I believe this will be a three-way battle between Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs with Spurs finishing sixth. I honestly couldn’t call it between Liverpool and Arsenal. Since 1998, Arsenal have not failed to qualify for the Champions League. However, from the point where Kenny replaced Hodgson last season, we out-performed them in the League. We have strengthened whereas they are desperately trying to retain their best players. Should the likes of Fabregas and Nasri be sold, they will be weaker but if they were kept, would they truly give their all for a cause they wanted to abandon?
With Arsene Wenger under increasing pressure after six trophyless seasons, Arsenal have never been more vulnerable but we will have little room for error if we are to take advantage.
Fourth place is our target and my hope is that we get it – my fear is we don’t. Finishing fourth will mean we can build on our squad from a position of being able to attract some of Europe’s better players who would otherwise be deterred by the lack of Champions League football. Finishing outside of the top four will raise questions about our ability to retain the likes of Suarez and Reina. It is crucial for the development of the club that we achieve this objective.
On the playing front, my ultimate hope is obviously that every player excels. That is unrealistic though. I expect Luis Suarez to shine once more and I believe we have made an excellent signing in Stewart Downing. I do harbour concerns over Andy Carroll though.
Looking at him, I’m far from convinced he has the qualities to be a top, top striker. He looks slow, cumbersome and pretty crude in his playing style – basically the exact opposite of Luis Suarez. While I can see him causing problems to Premiership defenders and being a threat from set pieces, he does not appear conducive to swift, pass-and-move attacking football. Barring the City game, we played far better when he wasn’t in the team last season though, in fairness, the lack of quality on the wings won’t have brought the best out of him.
Ultimately my biggest worry is that having sold Fernando Torres and spent £35m on a replacement, I just don’t see Carroll ever being as good. You could argue that Suarez offsets that to a certain extent but then Suarez was bought to play alongside Torres; not instead. Carroll was the replacement for Torres and I just don’t believe that Carroll and Suarez is better than Torres and Suarez.
I hope Carroll shines this season. I hope he can develop into a player like Didier Drogba at his best. I just worry that if he flops, we have little in the way of contingency. With Ngog clearly not rated by the current regime, it leaves only Kuyt to fill in up top. Personally, I trust Kuyt more than I trust Carroll but, as effective as Kuyt can be when leading the line, there is a glass ceiling to what we can achieve in the League with him leading our attack.
To be fair to Carroll, Fernando Torres raised the bar in terms of what we can expect from strikers. Between Michael Judas Owen and him, the strikers we fielded included Neil Mellor, Milan Baros, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Djibril Cisse, Fernando Morientes, Robbie Fowler II, Peter Crouch, Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt. We also signed Voronin just before Torres. While some of those players did OK, none were of the standard of Torres. In spite of that, in those 3 years between Owen and Torres, we won the Champions League, the FA Cup and reached another Champions League Final. After signing Torres, our best achievement was being runner up in the Premiership in a season where Torres missed half the League games. That proves you don’t need a striker of Torres’ quality to be successful. Carroll can eclipse many of those players to have played up front pre-Torres. Come the end of the season, if Carroll has shown he is good enough to lead the line in a team challenging for the League and Champions League, he will stay; if not we will strengthen.
My other big concern is over Charlie Adam. He strikes me as a decent Premiership player and he shone as a big fish at Blackpool last season. I just don’t see him being one of the League’s top midfielders. He’s another who lacks pace and seems to look for the ball over the top a bit too often for my liking. People rave about his set pieces but on the evidence of preseason, he should be behind Aquilani and Downing in the pecking order.
Ultimately, I’m concerned that Aquilani may be sold and Adam played instead. Aquilani is a quality player. Yes, doubts remain over his suitability for the English League but he deserves a chance to prove himself. If he comes good, he will be twice, maybe three times the player Adam is. Adam is simply not in the same bracket of quality.
We have a lot of central midfielders at the club including Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Adam, Aquilani, Meireles, Shelvey, Spearing and Poulsen. I would question how many of those offer proven high quality. How many would get into the first teams of Chelsea or either of the Manchester clubs? Aquilani is the one player potentially good enough to play for those teams while Henderson has the long-term potential. I'd be very frustrated if Aquilani was sold without being given a chance this season.
There are serious question marks hanging over Gerrard and Carragher this season. Carra will face the same questions every season until he hangs up his boots. Every bad game will lead people to say “his legs have gone”, etc. He’s had it for a couple of seasons now and to his credit, he has generally come good over the course of the season. The concern is that there is no one threatening his place in the team. With Agger’s injury problems and Skrtel’s failure to mature into a top centre-half, Carra remains a first choice centre-half. His place won’t come under threat from Wilson or Kyrgiakos so we have to hope he has a good season.
As an aside, I also fear that Agger and Aurelio will continue to be injury-prone in the coming year. Without [as yet] having signed a left-back, Aurelio is our best player for that position and Agger is our best centre-half. Our prospects will be better with both in the team.
After successive injury-interrupted seasons, can Gerrard play enough this season to really contribute? Assuming he can, can he rediscover the form that once made him our best player after two seasons of piss poor performances? Where will he play? Does he have the defensive discipline to anchor the midfield? Will he be prepared to play on the right of midfield? Will he continue to pull rank over set pieces meaning every corner is wasted? Will he take the penalties given Kuyt’s 100% record? Will he accept being rested for his and the team’s good should the management deem it necessary?
Big questions!
As one of the few truly outstanding players in the team, we have to hope that Gerrard can have a major positive impact in the coming season.
While deadwood remains on the books, there is always the fear that they will be used. Christian Poulsen, Joe Cole and Brad Jones have not been shifted. Brad Jones won’t play and will most likely follow Gulacsi and Hansen out on loan. Poulsen is another matter. Who in their right mind would sign him? Even Hodgson hasn’t tried to bring him to West Brom (hypocrite!). Despite that, I think Kenny is savvy enough to know that the Dane should never again don the red shirt of Liverpool in a competitive match.
Joe Cole is another story. Steve Clarke seems to rate him from their time together at Chelsea. I don’t see him being a regular starter but I could see him featuring from the bench. Is that so bad? I just think he is one of the most brainless footballers I have ever seen and I don’t want him near our first team.
I haven’t even mentioned the likes of Degen and El Zhar. I'm also a bit disappointed to see the Greek [Kyrgiakos] still in the squad. I had hoped we would strengthen in this area.
I also can’t see where Raul Meireles will fit in this season. In many ways, that is a positive as I don’t rate him as anything more than a decent squad player and if he does force his way into the first team, it will mean he is doing very well indeed.
So lots of questions. Lots of unknowns. Bring it on!!!!
Three to go down
Once again it is time to pick the three teams I predict will be relegated. Last season I went for Blackpool, Wolves and West Brom scoring just 1 out 3. Hodgson really did fuck up everything last season! Ultimately, West Ham were staggeringly bad while Birmingham's relegation was a huge shock.
For likely strugglers this season, look no further than teams beginning with ‘W’.
I’d love to see Roy Hodgson get the relegation he so richly deserves at West Brom. With signings such as Zoltan Gera (32), Gareth McAuley (31) and Marton Fulop (28), Roy is continuing his policy of signing old, predominantly shit players with no resale value. Typical of the journeyman manager, his signings are intended for short-term impact and show no signs of long term planning – after all, why plan for the long term when you rarely stop at a club for longer than two years?
Roy’s basic football tactics designed to eke out the bare minimum of points required to avoid relegation appear well-suited to West Brom. In another season I’d make them favourites for the drop – especially as they have never survived two successive seasons in the Premiership before – but there are worse-equipped teams in the League this year.
That said, a bad start could leave them fighting an uphill battle and given their first two opponents are Man Utd and Chelsea, their third fixture at home to Stoke will be a “must-win” game. With Norwich (a), Swansea (a), Fulham (h), Sunderland (a) and Wolves (h) next, if West Brom sit in the relegation zone come mid-October, they will be in serious trouble.
Wigan will go down sooner or later. They like to flirt with relegation and will most likely do so again but I’d expect them to stay up this year. They have a bizarre habit of getting hammered by crap teams yet beating or drawing with decent sides. Don’t be surprised if they lose 5-0 to Swansea yet draw with Liverpool.
Wolves are fucking detestable. Epitomised by their shithead manager Mick McCarthy – aka Fergie’s mate – they will mix it up and provide some lousy, ugly, unwatchable football matches in this Premiership season. Sadly, I think their experience of scrapping for survival over the last two seasons gives them an edge over the newly promoted teams.
Aston Villa threatened to relegate themselves under Gerard Houllier last year but Randy Lerner has bizarrely replaced the Frenchman with Alex McLeish – the man who relegated rivals Birmingham against all odds last season. Quite why, nobody knows but with a manager who has been there and done it before and with their new policy of selling their best players, you can’t rule out relegation for Aston Villa. It would, however, be a major shock and I would expect Villa to remain one of the 7 ever-present teams in the Premiership’s history.
Blackburn are in total chaos. Bought by Indian chicken farmers who bizarrely sacked Sam Allardyce only to promote his number two Steve Kean beyond his level of competence, their transfer business so far has only weakened them. I would be stunned if Kean lasted the season in charge. I’d tip them as the established Premiership team most likely to break into the bottom three.
I expect Stoke to be safe this year. Ditto Sunderland and Fulham.
So my three to go down?
Norwich, Swansea and QPR.
I can’t see any of the teams coming up having the quality to stay up. I will also predict that Neil Warnock will be sacked by QPR before the season’s end.
For likely strugglers this season, look no further than teams beginning with ‘W’.
I’d love to see Roy Hodgson get the relegation he so richly deserves at West Brom. With signings such as Zoltan Gera (32), Gareth McAuley (31) and Marton Fulop (28), Roy is continuing his policy of signing old, predominantly shit players with no resale value. Typical of the journeyman manager, his signings are intended for short-term impact and show no signs of long term planning – after all, why plan for the long term when you rarely stop at a club for longer than two years?
Roy’s basic football tactics designed to eke out the bare minimum of points required to avoid relegation appear well-suited to West Brom. In another season I’d make them favourites for the drop – especially as they have never survived two successive seasons in the Premiership before – but there are worse-equipped teams in the League this year.
That said, a bad start could leave them fighting an uphill battle and given their first two opponents are Man Utd and Chelsea, their third fixture at home to Stoke will be a “must-win” game. With Norwich (a), Swansea (a), Fulham (h), Sunderland (a) and Wolves (h) next, if West Brom sit in the relegation zone come mid-October, they will be in serious trouble.
Wigan will go down sooner or later. They like to flirt with relegation and will most likely do so again but I’d expect them to stay up this year. They have a bizarre habit of getting hammered by crap teams yet beating or drawing with decent sides. Don’t be surprised if they lose 5-0 to Swansea yet draw with Liverpool.
Wolves are fucking detestable. Epitomised by their shithead manager Mick McCarthy – aka Fergie’s mate – they will mix it up and provide some lousy, ugly, unwatchable football matches in this Premiership season. Sadly, I think their experience of scrapping for survival over the last two seasons gives them an edge over the newly promoted teams.
Aston Villa threatened to relegate themselves under Gerard Houllier last year but Randy Lerner has bizarrely replaced the Frenchman with Alex McLeish – the man who relegated rivals Birmingham against all odds last season. Quite why, nobody knows but with a manager who has been there and done it before and with their new policy of selling their best players, you can’t rule out relegation for Aston Villa. It would, however, be a major shock and I would expect Villa to remain one of the 7 ever-present teams in the Premiership’s history.
Blackburn are in total chaos. Bought by Indian chicken farmers who bizarrely sacked Sam Allardyce only to promote his number two Steve Kean beyond his level of competence, their transfer business so far has only weakened them. I would be stunned if Kean lasted the season in charge. I’d tip them as the established Premiership team most likely to break into the bottom three.
I expect Stoke to be safe this year. Ditto Sunderland and Fulham.
So my three to go down?
Norwich, Swansea and QPR.
I can’t see any of the teams coming up having the quality to stay up. I will also predict that Neil Warnock will be sacked by QPR before the season’s end.
Friday, 29 July 2011
Galatasaray 3 Liverpool 0
What the fuck was that all about?
Seriously.
I’m not arsed about the result. I’m not worried that we have lost two consecutive preseason games 3-0 and conceded 3 in each of the four games played so far.
What arses me is that when the players and management should be preparing for the new season, they were pissing about in Turkey wasting everyone’s time by playing a match that they quite clearly didn’t want and weren’t prepared to take seriously.
Doni in goal; a back four of Flanagan, Kelly, Kyrgiakos and Insua; fucking Poulsen in midfield with Shelvey; Jack Robinson on one wing and fucking Degen on the other; fucking Joke Cole in the hole, and Andy Carroll inexplicably picked to play with the dross.
What the fuck?
Right now, Andy Carroll needs to build his confidence up. The supporters need to build a bit of confidence in Andy Carroll. We need some reassurance that Kenny, Comolli and co didn’t blow £35m on a player not worth £5m. How is that supposed to be achieved when he has shit players around him who can’t string 3 passes together let alone supply anything resembling goal-scoring chances?
Why has fucking Poulsen featured in every preseason game so far? He is shit. What does he need games for? Surely Kenny and co aren’t thinking of using him in a competitive match(?) so why is he out on the pitch clocking up minutes that could be helping another player to gain fitness and sharpness ahead of the new season? I’ve heard the claims that Kenny is putting him in the shop window but it doesn’t wash. No prospective buyer is going to watch him gifting Milan Baros a goal and think “I must sign him”. If anything, giving him game time is going to make him harder to offload. He is an embarrassment to the club and must not be allowed to pull on a Liverpool shirt again.
The same sentiments apply to Philipp fucking Degen. Why the fuck was he playing?
And what about Kyrgiakos? Don’t get me wrong, I like the Greek but he is too error prone and too susceptible to pace to play for a club with the lofty ambitions that we hopefully have. We need better quality. Seeing him playing in every preseason game and captaining the side last night, it didn’t appear as though he was a player earmarked for the exit.
Meanwhile, one of the few players to do himself justice, Alberto Aquilani (who came on at half time), continues to be linked with moves away. Aquilani is the one player who has consistently impressed in preseason. He looks a quality footballer who belongs in a top team. I dearly hope the press speculation is nonsense as I cannot comprehend why we would consider parting with this player without giving him a proper chance to show us what he can do in our first team.
I can understand that with a game in Norway in just a few days and with all the travel this schedule involves, Kenny might not have wanted this fixture. I can understand that despite the wishes of the manager and his staff, the money men might insist on an inconvenient fixture being played in order to tap into the Turkish market. However, with a squad the size of ours, I cannot understand why we needed to field a team that weak. The first and second half teams used in the Far East were all stronger than the XI that started yesterday.
It was embarrassing to see that team and hear it called Liverpool FC.
Seriously.
I’m not arsed about the result. I’m not worried that we have lost two consecutive preseason games 3-0 and conceded 3 in each of the four games played so far.
What arses me is that when the players and management should be preparing for the new season, they were pissing about in Turkey wasting everyone’s time by playing a match that they quite clearly didn’t want and weren’t prepared to take seriously.
Doni in goal; a back four of Flanagan, Kelly, Kyrgiakos and Insua; fucking Poulsen in midfield with Shelvey; Jack Robinson on one wing and fucking Degen on the other; fucking Joke Cole in the hole, and Andy Carroll inexplicably picked to play with the dross.
What the fuck?
Right now, Andy Carroll needs to build his confidence up. The supporters need to build a bit of confidence in Andy Carroll. We need some reassurance that Kenny, Comolli and co didn’t blow £35m on a player not worth £5m. How is that supposed to be achieved when he has shit players around him who can’t string 3 passes together let alone supply anything resembling goal-scoring chances?
Why has fucking Poulsen featured in every preseason game so far? He is shit. What does he need games for? Surely Kenny and co aren’t thinking of using him in a competitive match(?) so why is he out on the pitch clocking up minutes that could be helping another player to gain fitness and sharpness ahead of the new season? I’ve heard the claims that Kenny is putting him in the shop window but it doesn’t wash. No prospective buyer is going to watch him gifting Milan Baros a goal and think “I must sign him”. If anything, giving him game time is going to make him harder to offload. He is an embarrassment to the club and must not be allowed to pull on a Liverpool shirt again.
The same sentiments apply to Philipp fucking Degen. Why the fuck was he playing?
And what about Kyrgiakos? Don’t get me wrong, I like the Greek but he is too error prone and too susceptible to pace to play for a club with the lofty ambitions that we hopefully have. We need better quality. Seeing him playing in every preseason game and captaining the side last night, it didn’t appear as though he was a player earmarked for the exit.
Meanwhile, one of the few players to do himself justice, Alberto Aquilani (who came on at half time), continues to be linked with moves away. Aquilani is the one player who has consistently impressed in preseason. He looks a quality footballer who belongs in a top team. I dearly hope the press speculation is nonsense as I cannot comprehend why we would consider parting with this player without giving him a proper chance to show us what he can do in our first team.
I can understand that with a game in Norway in just a few days and with all the travel this schedule involves, Kenny might not have wanted this fixture. I can understand that despite the wishes of the manager and his staff, the money men might insist on an inconvenient fixture being played in order to tap into the Turkish market. However, with a squad the size of ours, I cannot understand why we needed to field a team that weak. The first and second half teams used in the Far East were all stronger than the XI that started yesterday.
It was embarrassing to see that team and hear it called Liverpool FC.
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Hull City 3 Liverpool 0
Oh dear. We score 10 goals in 2 games but then get beat 3-0 at Hull. It was a funny game in many respects. Liverpool dominated possession but carried little goal threat – particularly in the first half – while Hull scored from two long-range efforts in the first half and then bundled in a third in the second half after poor Liverpool defending. We wore our horrible third strip and got the sort of result you would expect from a team in blue and white.
Positives could be found in some of the build-up play – especially after half-time – but generally it felt a bit flat and things aren’t quite clicking yet.
As for the previous games, we played different XIs in the first and second halves and, as before, I will choose my best XI...
Doni v Jones
Neither made a save of note. Doni was powerless to stop two long-range strikes in the first half. Jones would have done well to save Hull’s third. Purely on the basis that Doni was beaten twice and Jones just the once, I’ll give it to Jones.
Kelly v Flanagan
Kelly didn’t have the best of games but Flanagan offered no challenge here. Once again, Flanagan was rash in the challenge conceding a number of unnecessary free-kicks and could have been shown a straight red for a reckless lunge early in the second half. It’s looking increasingly baffling that Flanagan was able to do so well for the team in the back end of last season. I’m going for Kelly.
Carragher v Kyrgiakos
Neither excelled but neither were particularly bad. As one would expect, Kyrgiakos offered more in an attacking sense while Carra resorted to a few long punts up the pitch instead of attempting actual football. Kyrgiakos was my pick.
Ayala v Wilson
Ayala didn’t stand out. Wilson actually had a few decent moments. Wilson definitely looks a better prospect at centre-half than at full-back. I’m choosing Wilson.
Robinson v Insua
Robinson looked decent. He made a number of good tackles/blocks, got forward well and I really like the way he seems to glide around the pitch. Insua was at fault for the third goal playing the scorer onside. That aside, he acquitted himself well enough without being spectacular. Robinson was my pick.
Poulsen v Spearing
Poulsen was anonymous allowing Hull’s players time and space on the ball in the central areas. Spearing was his usual terrier-like self but in truth only had to turn up to be better than Poulsen. Spearing easily.
Aquilani v Henderson
This is a really tough one. I liked the look of Henderson. He was energetic and got around the pitch well plus he played a number of decent and intelligent passes. Aquilani looked calm and composed in possession, rarely wasting a pass and demonstrating that rare commodity of finding time and space in congested areas. Aquilani was let down by a lack of intelligent movement from his teammates whereas the second half team that Henderson played in was much better as a team. I’m going to go for Aquilani but that is no slight on Henderson.
Coady v Adam
Coady looked lost out there. He was at fault for Hull’s first goal and was never able to impose himself on the game. Adam looked decent. His passing is starting to match his vision and his set pieces were much more effective. Adam at a stroll.
Cole v Kuyt
Cole was back to his frustrating worst here. No end product; failure to make a positive impact; wayward passing; bad decision-making, and a comically bad finish after Gulacsi spilled Ngog’s shot into his path in front of goal. Kuyt was involved in some good team moves and generally offered more. Kuyt – no contest.
Maxi v Downing
Maxi buzzed about but I can’t remember too much of what he did. Downing was constantly involved; whipped in a number of crosses; had a well-struck shot saved, and worked well with his new teammates. Downing is my pick.
Ngog v Carroll
Ngog was chronically dire. His first touch repeatedly let him down and, other than a shot from the edge of the area after Aquilani had cleverly slipped him in, he offered no goal threat at all. Carroll was much more of a handful for Hull’s defenders to deal with. He linked well with Downing and won a series of knock-downs that needed teammates to better anticipate. Carroll is my pick.
So far we’ve seen 29 players in action and they have not included the likes of Suarez, Gerrard, Lucas, Johnson, Skrtel, Aurelio and Reina. At this point, I would like to see more time given to the players who are actually going to feature for us next season. I cannot believe they will include Cole, Poulsen, Coady, Flanagan or Jones. In Coady’s case, it is simply too soon and barring an unprecedented injury crisis, there are too many players with greater experience ahead of him in the pecking order.
Cole, Poulsen and Jones are surplus to requirements and will surely be sent packing if takers can be found. Flanagan is a player that I am beginning to harbour doubts over. As well as he did last season, you can see a clear gap in quality comparing him with Kelly and with Glen Johnson a cut above Kelly, Flanno’s prospects aren’t great.
As much as I think we need to sign a left-back, I have high hopes that Robinson is going to develop into an excellent player in the next few seasons and I’m wary of signing someone who will block the youngster’s path into the first team. Perhaps with Aurelio and Insua already at the club and Johnson capable of playing on the left also, it might be better to stick with what we have and ease Robinson in.
I also think we need another striker. I don’t see Ngog as being good enough to lead the line in the absence of Carroll or even to compete with Carroll for a first team place. We could always go another way with Kuyt replacing Carroll and take a more fluid approach to the game but I would prefer to tailor our tactics based on the opposition rather than our own personnel.
I am encouraged by the performances of Aquilani, Adam, Henderson and Downing. I would like to see more chances created for Carroll rather than balls he can only be expected to knock-down or flick on for others. Overall, I remain positive and look forward to the start of the season.
Positives could be found in some of the build-up play – especially after half-time – but generally it felt a bit flat and things aren’t quite clicking yet.
As for the previous games, we played different XIs in the first and second halves and, as before, I will choose my best XI...
Doni v Jones
Neither made a save of note. Doni was powerless to stop two long-range strikes in the first half. Jones would have done well to save Hull’s third. Purely on the basis that Doni was beaten twice and Jones just the once, I’ll give it to Jones.
Kelly v Flanagan
Kelly didn’t have the best of games but Flanagan offered no challenge here. Once again, Flanagan was rash in the challenge conceding a number of unnecessary free-kicks and could have been shown a straight red for a reckless lunge early in the second half. It’s looking increasingly baffling that Flanagan was able to do so well for the team in the back end of last season. I’m going for Kelly.
Carragher v Kyrgiakos
Neither excelled but neither were particularly bad. As one would expect, Kyrgiakos offered more in an attacking sense while Carra resorted to a few long punts up the pitch instead of attempting actual football. Kyrgiakos was my pick.
Ayala v Wilson
Ayala didn’t stand out. Wilson actually had a few decent moments. Wilson definitely looks a better prospect at centre-half than at full-back. I’m choosing Wilson.
Robinson v Insua
Robinson looked decent. He made a number of good tackles/blocks, got forward well and I really like the way he seems to glide around the pitch. Insua was at fault for the third goal playing the scorer onside. That aside, he acquitted himself well enough without being spectacular. Robinson was my pick.
Poulsen v Spearing
Poulsen was anonymous allowing Hull’s players time and space on the ball in the central areas. Spearing was his usual terrier-like self but in truth only had to turn up to be better than Poulsen. Spearing easily.
Aquilani v Henderson
This is a really tough one. I liked the look of Henderson. He was energetic and got around the pitch well plus he played a number of decent and intelligent passes. Aquilani looked calm and composed in possession, rarely wasting a pass and demonstrating that rare commodity of finding time and space in congested areas. Aquilani was let down by a lack of intelligent movement from his teammates whereas the second half team that Henderson played in was much better as a team. I’m going to go for Aquilani but that is no slight on Henderson.
Coady v Adam
Coady looked lost out there. He was at fault for Hull’s first goal and was never able to impose himself on the game. Adam looked decent. His passing is starting to match his vision and his set pieces were much more effective. Adam at a stroll.
Cole v Kuyt
Cole was back to his frustrating worst here. No end product; failure to make a positive impact; wayward passing; bad decision-making, and a comically bad finish after Gulacsi spilled Ngog’s shot into his path in front of goal. Kuyt was involved in some good team moves and generally offered more. Kuyt – no contest.
Maxi v Downing
Maxi buzzed about but I can’t remember too much of what he did. Downing was constantly involved; whipped in a number of crosses; had a well-struck shot saved, and worked well with his new teammates. Downing is my pick.
Ngog v Carroll
Ngog was chronically dire. His first touch repeatedly let him down and, other than a shot from the edge of the area after Aquilani had cleverly slipped him in, he offered no goal threat at all. Carroll was much more of a handful for Hull’s defenders to deal with. He linked well with Downing and won a series of knock-downs that needed teammates to better anticipate. Carroll is my pick.
So far we’ve seen 29 players in action and they have not included the likes of Suarez, Gerrard, Lucas, Johnson, Skrtel, Aurelio and Reina. At this point, I would like to see more time given to the players who are actually going to feature for us next season. I cannot believe they will include Cole, Poulsen, Coady, Flanagan or Jones. In Coady’s case, it is simply too soon and barring an unprecedented injury crisis, there are too many players with greater experience ahead of him in the pecking order.
Cole, Poulsen and Jones are surplus to requirements and will surely be sent packing if takers can be found. Flanagan is a player that I am beginning to harbour doubts over. As well as he did last season, you can see a clear gap in quality comparing him with Kelly and with Glen Johnson a cut above Kelly, Flanno’s prospects aren’t great.
As much as I think we need to sign a left-back, I have high hopes that Robinson is going to develop into an excellent player in the next few seasons and I’m wary of signing someone who will block the youngster’s path into the first team. Perhaps with Aurelio and Insua already at the club and Johnson capable of playing on the left also, it might be better to stick with what we have and ease Robinson in.
I also think we need another striker. I don’t see Ngog as being good enough to lead the line in the absence of Carroll or even to compete with Carroll for a first team place. We could always go another way with Kuyt replacing Carroll and take a more fluid approach to the game but I would prefer to tailor our tactics based on the opposition rather than our own personnel.
I am encouraged by the performances of Aquilani, Adam, Henderson and Downing. I would like to see more chances created for Carroll rather than balls he can only be expected to knock-down or flick on for others. Overall, I remain positive and look forward to the start of the season.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Malaysia XI 3 Liverpool 6
This time last year we were in a malaise. Now we’re in Malaysia (sorry – terrible pun!) having played two pre-season games and achieved 2 wins; 10 goals for; 6 goals against. Two of those stats are good and were achieved without Reina, Skrtel, Johnson, Gerrard, Lucas, Suarez and new signings Henderson and Downing.
Pre-season is a time for optimism and so far our games have only fuelled that feeling. Once again we fielded two different XIs versus Malaysia. Just as I did for the Guangdong game, I’m going to compare the players from each half and pick the best player for each position.
1st Half........2nd Half
Jones...........Gulacsi / Hansen
Flanagan......Kelly
Carragher.....Kyrgiakos
Agger...........Wilson
Robinson......Insua
Spearing.......Shelvey
Coady...........Poulsen
Adam............Aquilani
Cole..............Kuyt
Meireles........Maxi
Carroll..........Ngog
Jones v Gulacsi / Hansen
Jones had little to do and was beaten by a stunning free kick. Gulacsi had nothing to do. Jones had plenty to do and dropped a clanger to gift Malaysia their second goal of the game. Jones was the pick of the bunch.
Flanagan v Kelly
Flanagan had a rotten game. He struggled with the Malaysian’s pace, conceded a number of free kicks due to poor challenges and was ineffective on the ball. By comparison, Kelly was strong and assured. Kelly wins at a canter.
Carragher v Kyrgiakos
Carragher was faultless throughout the first half. Kyrgiakos was faultless for much of the second half but, along with his teammates, looked lost as the defence collapsed late in the game. Carragher wins.
Agger v Wilson
Agger was a bit hit and miss. Towards the end of the first half, some of his passes were going astray or dangerously close to opponents. That said, he was at least trying to play football from the back. Wilson, like Kyrgiakos, was faultless up until the collective collapse when Malaysia looked as though they could score at will. He was the closest man to Malaysia’s goal scorer for their third goal although it seemed the attacker was offside. Agger just shades it.
Robinson v Insua
Robinson had another decent game but Insua was excellent. Insua racked up a couple of assists and could have had more but for others’ finishing. On this showing, Insua should be Liverpool’s first choice left-back in the coming season. Insua wins.
Spearing v Shelvey
Spearing had a decent game, moving the ball around well and covering a lot of ground. Shelvey was even better though, looking like a real player. Shelvey wins.
Coady v Poulsen
Both players seemed to let the game pass them by making it very hard to choose between them. Being totally honest, I’d pick Poulsen ahead of Coady on this showing.
Adam v Aquilani
Adam was again hit and miss. He played some excellent passes from deep and had improved mobility since the last game. He also got on the score sheet after having to take then retake a penalty, scoring on both occasions. On the downside, he conceded a needless free-kick from which Malaysia equalised. Aquilani was simply fantastic. The build up for the fourth goal was pass and move football at its best and illustrated the folly of loaning out the Italian and Insua last season. Adam was good but Aquilani wins.
Meireles v Kuyt
Meireles had a stinker here. He struggled to control the ball, looked off the pace and delivered nothing. Kuyt was much-improved on his showing versus Guangdong and slammed in the sixth goal after a great build up involving Aquilani. Kuyt wins.
Cole v Maxi
Cole looked OK again but ultimately delivered no end product. Maxi started badly but improved and scored twice. Maxi wins.
Carroll v Ngog
Carroll looked isolated and had to feed off scraps. By contrast, Ngog enjoyed excellent service from teammates enabling him to score twice. Carroll also won the first half penalty with a dive. Ngog wins.
So after two games, who has impressed. To me, the star of pre-season so far has been Alberto Aquilani. I’ve also been impressed with Insua and Kelly. Looking at David Ngog, I can’t help but feel he is worth keeping for this season. You would expect him to be behind Carroll in the pecking order and, based on last season, you would think King Kenny will play Kuyt up front before Ngog. However, unless we are going to sign another striker, Ngog would be a decent third or fourth choice striker. When his confidence is intact, he’s a good player.
Poulsen is surely not part of the plans for the coming season and it is probably too soon to expect Coady to make the breakthrough. Both will find competition for a midfield berth intense with Lucas, Adam, Aquilani, Meireles, Henderson, Spearing and Shelvey all currently in contention.
Based on how we have lined up so far, Cole and Meireles have been used as the wide players in a 4-2-3-1 formation. If Meireles is to stay at the club, this position makes sense for him from the perspective that it neutralises his defensive deficiencies in central midfield. However, with Downing, Adam, Maxi, Gerrard and Kuyt all in contention for those same positions, it could be difficult for either Cole or Raul to hold down a place in the first XI.
The fact that Maxi has just been handed the No. 11 squad number, suggests he is part of Kenny’s plans for this season. Why change the squad number if the player is likely to depart?
What is really encouraging is the number of decent players in contention for positions all around the pitch. I still have concerns that none of the midfield options are of such quality that the top teams around Europe would be queuing up to sign them.
I also still harbour doubts over Andy Carroll but I’m willing to give him time. So far in pre-season, there has been little to choose from between him and David Ngog. Given that Carroll cost £35m and Ngog cost £1.5m, you would expect a gulf in ability but that has yet to materialise. Hopefully, with the likes of Downing, Adam and Gerrard supplying quality service, we will see Carroll develop into another Didier Drogba (but without the diving and petulance). We will see.
Right now I’m feeling good and that’s no bad thing with a new season fast approaching.
Pre-season is a time for optimism and so far our games have only fuelled that feeling. Once again we fielded two different XIs versus Malaysia. Just as I did for the Guangdong game, I’m going to compare the players from each half and pick the best player for each position.
1st Half........2nd Half
Jones...........Gulacsi / Hansen
Flanagan......Kelly
Carragher.....Kyrgiakos
Agger...........Wilson
Robinson......Insua
Spearing.......Shelvey
Coady...........Poulsen
Adam............Aquilani
Cole..............Kuyt
Meireles........Maxi
Carroll..........Ngog
Jones v Gulacsi / Hansen
Jones had little to do and was beaten by a stunning free kick. Gulacsi had nothing to do. Jones had plenty to do and dropped a clanger to gift Malaysia their second goal of the game. Jones was the pick of the bunch.
Flanagan v Kelly
Flanagan had a rotten game. He struggled with the Malaysian’s pace, conceded a number of free kicks due to poor challenges and was ineffective on the ball. By comparison, Kelly was strong and assured. Kelly wins at a canter.
Carragher v Kyrgiakos
Carragher was faultless throughout the first half. Kyrgiakos was faultless for much of the second half but, along with his teammates, looked lost as the defence collapsed late in the game. Carragher wins.
Agger v Wilson
Agger was a bit hit and miss. Towards the end of the first half, some of his passes were going astray or dangerously close to opponents. That said, he was at least trying to play football from the back. Wilson, like Kyrgiakos, was faultless up until the collective collapse when Malaysia looked as though they could score at will. He was the closest man to Malaysia’s goal scorer for their third goal although it seemed the attacker was offside. Agger just shades it.
Robinson v Insua
Robinson had another decent game but Insua was excellent. Insua racked up a couple of assists and could have had more but for others’ finishing. On this showing, Insua should be Liverpool’s first choice left-back in the coming season. Insua wins.
Spearing v Shelvey
Spearing had a decent game, moving the ball around well and covering a lot of ground. Shelvey was even better though, looking like a real player. Shelvey wins.
Coady v Poulsen
Both players seemed to let the game pass them by making it very hard to choose between them. Being totally honest, I’d pick Poulsen ahead of Coady on this showing.
Adam v Aquilani
Adam was again hit and miss. He played some excellent passes from deep and had improved mobility since the last game. He also got on the score sheet after having to take then retake a penalty, scoring on both occasions. On the downside, he conceded a needless free-kick from which Malaysia equalised. Aquilani was simply fantastic. The build up for the fourth goal was pass and move football at its best and illustrated the folly of loaning out the Italian and Insua last season. Adam was good but Aquilani wins.
Meireles v Kuyt
Meireles had a stinker here. He struggled to control the ball, looked off the pace and delivered nothing. Kuyt was much-improved on his showing versus Guangdong and slammed in the sixth goal after a great build up involving Aquilani. Kuyt wins.
Cole v Maxi
Cole looked OK again but ultimately delivered no end product. Maxi started badly but improved and scored twice. Maxi wins.
Carroll v Ngog
Carroll looked isolated and had to feed off scraps. By contrast, Ngog enjoyed excellent service from teammates enabling him to score twice. Carroll also won the first half penalty with a dive. Ngog wins.
So after two games, who has impressed. To me, the star of pre-season so far has been Alberto Aquilani. I’ve also been impressed with Insua and Kelly. Looking at David Ngog, I can’t help but feel he is worth keeping for this season. You would expect him to be behind Carroll in the pecking order and, based on last season, you would think King Kenny will play Kuyt up front before Ngog. However, unless we are going to sign another striker, Ngog would be a decent third or fourth choice striker. When his confidence is intact, he’s a good player.
Poulsen is surely not part of the plans for the coming season and it is probably too soon to expect Coady to make the breakthrough. Both will find competition for a midfield berth intense with Lucas, Adam, Aquilani, Meireles, Henderson, Spearing and Shelvey all currently in contention.
Based on how we have lined up so far, Cole and Meireles have been used as the wide players in a 4-2-3-1 formation. If Meireles is to stay at the club, this position makes sense for him from the perspective that it neutralises his defensive deficiencies in central midfield. However, with Downing, Adam, Maxi, Gerrard and Kuyt all in contention for those same positions, it could be difficult for either Cole or Raul to hold down a place in the first XI.
The fact that Maxi has just been handed the No. 11 squad number, suggests he is part of Kenny’s plans for this season. Why change the squad number if the player is likely to depart?
What is really encouraging is the number of decent players in contention for positions all around the pitch. I still have concerns that none of the midfield options are of such quality that the top teams around Europe would be queuing up to sign them.
I also still harbour doubts over Andy Carroll but I’m willing to give him time. So far in pre-season, there has been little to choose from between him and David Ngog. Given that Carroll cost £35m and Ngog cost £1.5m, you would expect a gulf in ability but that has yet to materialise. Hopefully, with the likes of Downing, Adam and Gerrard supplying quality service, we will see Carroll develop into another Didier Drogba (but without the diving and petulance). We will see.
Right now I’m feeling good and that’s no bad thing with a new season fast approaching.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Thoughts on Guangdong 3 Liverpool 4
It is often said that pre-season is all about attaining fitness and preparing for the season ahead and therefore results don't matter. Could it be argued that in the context of preparation for the season, results do matter? After all, losing heavily in every game is hardly the ideal preparation for the season's opening games. On the other hand, a pre-season that yields wins and goals galore is likely to send players into their opening fixtures full of confidence. It's true that the result is not the be-all and end-all but winning football matches is no bad habit to get into.
Recent evidence suggests there is a link between pre-season form and early League results.
* In 2006-07, pre-season ended with consecutive defeats against Kaiserslautern (2-3), Grasshoppers Zunich (0-2) and Mainz 05 (0-5). We started the League season with a draw, a win and 2 defeats. We also failed to win an away game until early December by which time we were long since out of contention for the title.
* In 2007-08 we were unbeaten in pre-season winning 6 out of 8. We began the League season with 3 wins and a draw to top the Premiership table after four games.
* In 2008-09 we won our last 3 games against Rangers (4-0), Valerenga (4-1) and Lazio (1-0). We won 3 of our first 4 games and drew the other and went on to have our best League campaign since the Premiership era began.
* In 2009-10, we lost 2 of our last 3 games versus Espanyol (0-3), Lyn Oslo (2-0) and Atletico Madrid (1-2). We began the season with 2 defeats in 3 games, had a 'mare of a season and Rafa got sacked.
* Last season we failed to score in pre-season losing our last 2 games to Kaiserslautern (0-1) and Moenchengladbach (0-1) before embarking on the disaster that was Roy Hodgson's reign.
So basically, a poor pre-season can be linked to a poor start to the League campaign while a decent pre-season is more likely to lead to a decent start in the League. Looking at the rollickings dished out by Jamie Carragher throughout the first half or Charlie Adam's reaction to Guang Dong's third goal last night, it's clear that these players think the result matters.
That said, it is clear that the two different XIs that lined up for the first and second half last night contained a mixture of players who will be in contention for first team places in the coming season; players who will be hoping to break into the first team, and players who will be playing elsewhere when the season starts. In that respect, what does it matter if Christian Poulsen played well given we wouldn't want him anywhere near our match day squad come August 13th?
So can we learn anything from yesterday's game? There is an obvious risk of reading too much into things but it appeared to me that with entirely different personnel, the team lined up with the same formation for both halves. I claim to be no expert in team tactics and formations but I would describe that formation as a 4-2-3-1. Could this be indicative of the formation we can expect next season - particularly bearing in mind how easily it lends itself to becoming 4-3-3 when on the attack?
I was also intrigued by the use of Flanagan at left-back. Perhaps with Johnson and Kelly ahead of him in the pecking order for right-back, we may see the youngster on the left more often than the right next season. On the other hand we might still sign a left-back and not see Flanno at all outside the Carling Cup.
I thought it particularly poignant that Agger wore the captain's armband for the second half given the lack of trust shown in him by Hodgson last year. Kenny clearly rates him and is perhaps looking for more leadership from him.
I would also suggest that Gulacsi getting 45 mins in goal while Jones got 25 and Hansen 20 confirms what is commonly understood to be the goal-keeping pecking order. All three will be behind Reina and Doni too if he signs. Jones is strongly linked with a permanent transfer out of the club while Gulacsi is expected to go out on loan.
Due to the lack of fitness and the inevitable rustiness of players, it would be unreasonable to criticise players who underperform at this stage. However, I think is fair to credit those who impress given that they have time to improve further and are also giving themselves a chance of impressing the manager and coaches. So who did impress? I thought for fun I would compare like for like the players who lined up in each half and pick my XI from the 23.
Gulacsi versus Jones/Hansen
Gulacsi had more to do than Jones and Hansen (barring stoppage time). Gulacsi made one decent save and that gives him the edge.
Kelly versus Wisdom
Wisdom looked decent enough but Kelly is truly exciting when he bombs forward down the right wing - which he did a lot. Kelly was my pick.
Carragher versus Kyrgiakos
Carra made a number of well-timed tackles and general played well. Kyrgiakos was at fault for Guangdong's second goal. Carra wins.
Wilson versus Agger
Wilson was OK. Barring stoppage time, Agger looked good. Agger wins.
Flanagan versus Robinson
Tough to choose between these. Flanagan had more to do defensively but both were effective. As a left-footer, Robinson was slightly more effective in the attacking third whereas Flanagan kept having to check inside to use his right foot. In terms of style, Flanagan appears to have a more rugged approach whereas Robinson looks more elegant. If I was forced to choose I'd go for Robinson but it is really marginal.
Poulsen versus Coady
Without being spectacular Poulsen was actually OK and even scored the opening goal. Coady was a bundle of energy and scored a cracker. Coady wins.
Spearing versus Adam
Spearing was everything we have come to expect him to be but in addition played some incisive passes that opened up the opposition. Adam demonstrated an excellent eye for a pass but his technique was rusty with most being overhit. Adam's set pieces were all disappointing. Spearing just shades it.
Shelvey versus Aquilani
Shelvey showed a mixture of glimpses of quality and sloppy passing. His head dropped after numerous rollickings from Carragher. By contrast Aquilani was energetic, constantly getting involved and gave a master class of passing. Aquilani wins by a country mile and, after seeing him here, I hope to be seeing more of him in a Liverpool shirt.
Cole versus Kuyt
Cole looked OK. He did his usual 360O turn on the ball for no obvious reason and the crowd loved it. He also set up the opener for Poulsen and delivered some decent corners. Kuyt was not good. His touch was generally poor and bar an excellent chance he created for Maxi, he did little to impress on the ball. That said, as you would expect, he ran a lot. Strictly on this showing, Cole was my pick.
Pacheco versus Maxi
Pacheco started well then disappeared. Maxi started badly looking very rusty but was involved a lot and set up Carroll's goal. Neither impressed but Maxi was my pick.
Ngog versus Carroll
Both scored though neither took their goals particularly cleanly. Ngog actually might have had another one or two but for some dodgy off-side decisions. Carroll also assisted Coady for his goal and surprised me with the amount of running he did so I'd go for Carroll.
And who didn't we see? Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Ayala, Aurelio, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Meireles, Downing and Suarez - an entire XI of which all bar Ayala would be expected to feature regularly in the first team. So in spite of performances here in China, I'd still only expect 5 at most of my picks to be first team regulars next season and possibly 2 or 3 of the non-picks to do so too (certainly Kuyt and Adam).
So what have we learned? We can field 3 pretty strong XIs but the only one I would want to see (as an XI) in the Premiership is the one that didn't play last night. Overall we've got the makings of a good team with some decent squad back up and some promising young players coming through. We also have some deadwood but then we knew all that already.
So in conclusion, maybe this piece was a complete waste of time but, hey, it's only pre-season!
Recent evidence suggests there is a link between pre-season form and early League results.
* In 2006-07, pre-season ended with consecutive defeats against Kaiserslautern (2-3), Grasshoppers Zunich (0-2) and Mainz 05 (0-5). We started the League season with a draw, a win and 2 defeats. We also failed to win an away game until early December by which time we were long since out of contention for the title.
* In 2007-08 we were unbeaten in pre-season winning 6 out of 8. We began the League season with 3 wins and a draw to top the Premiership table after four games.
* In 2008-09 we won our last 3 games against Rangers (4-0), Valerenga (4-1) and Lazio (1-0). We won 3 of our first 4 games and drew the other and went on to have our best League campaign since the Premiership era began.
* In 2009-10, we lost 2 of our last 3 games versus Espanyol (0-3), Lyn Oslo (2-0) and Atletico Madrid (1-2). We began the season with 2 defeats in 3 games, had a 'mare of a season and Rafa got sacked.
* Last season we failed to score in pre-season losing our last 2 games to Kaiserslautern (0-1) and Moenchengladbach (0-1) before embarking on the disaster that was Roy Hodgson's reign.
So basically, a poor pre-season can be linked to a poor start to the League campaign while a decent pre-season is more likely to lead to a decent start in the League. Looking at the rollickings dished out by Jamie Carragher throughout the first half or Charlie Adam's reaction to Guang Dong's third goal last night, it's clear that these players think the result matters.
That said, it is clear that the two different XIs that lined up for the first and second half last night contained a mixture of players who will be in contention for first team places in the coming season; players who will be hoping to break into the first team, and players who will be playing elsewhere when the season starts. In that respect, what does it matter if Christian Poulsen played well given we wouldn't want him anywhere near our match day squad come August 13th?
So can we learn anything from yesterday's game? There is an obvious risk of reading too much into things but it appeared to me that with entirely different personnel, the team lined up with the same formation for both halves. I claim to be no expert in team tactics and formations but I would describe that formation as a 4-2-3-1. Could this be indicative of the formation we can expect next season - particularly bearing in mind how easily it lends itself to becoming 4-3-3 when on the attack?
I was also intrigued by the use of Flanagan at left-back. Perhaps with Johnson and Kelly ahead of him in the pecking order for right-back, we may see the youngster on the left more often than the right next season. On the other hand we might still sign a left-back and not see Flanno at all outside the Carling Cup.
I thought it particularly poignant that Agger wore the captain's armband for the second half given the lack of trust shown in him by Hodgson last year. Kenny clearly rates him and is perhaps looking for more leadership from him.
I would also suggest that Gulacsi getting 45 mins in goal while Jones got 25 and Hansen 20 confirms what is commonly understood to be the goal-keeping pecking order. All three will be behind Reina and Doni too if he signs. Jones is strongly linked with a permanent transfer out of the club while Gulacsi is expected to go out on loan.
Due to the lack of fitness and the inevitable rustiness of players, it would be unreasonable to criticise players who underperform at this stage. However, I think is fair to credit those who impress given that they have time to improve further and are also giving themselves a chance of impressing the manager and coaches. So who did impress? I thought for fun I would compare like for like the players who lined up in each half and pick my XI from the 23.
Gulacsi versus Jones/Hansen
Gulacsi had more to do than Jones and Hansen (barring stoppage time). Gulacsi made one decent save and that gives him the edge.
Kelly versus Wisdom
Wisdom looked decent enough but Kelly is truly exciting when he bombs forward down the right wing - which he did a lot. Kelly was my pick.
Carragher versus Kyrgiakos
Carra made a number of well-timed tackles and general played well. Kyrgiakos was at fault for Guangdong's second goal. Carra wins.
Wilson versus Agger
Wilson was OK. Barring stoppage time, Agger looked good. Agger wins.
Flanagan versus Robinson
Tough to choose between these. Flanagan had more to do defensively but both were effective. As a left-footer, Robinson was slightly more effective in the attacking third whereas Flanagan kept having to check inside to use his right foot. In terms of style, Flanagan appears to have a more rugged approach whereas Robinson looks more elegant. If I was forced to choose I'd go for Robinson but it is really marginal.
Poulsen versus Coady
Without being spectacular Poulsen was actually OK and even scored the opening goal. Coady was a bundle of energy and scored a cracker. Coady wins.
Spearing versus Adam
Spearing was everything we have come to expect him to be but in addition played some incisive passes that opened up the opposition. Adam demonstrated an excellent eye for a pass but his technique was rusty with most being overhit. Adam's set pieces were all disappointing. Spearing just shades it.
Shelvey versus Aquilani
Shelvey showed a mixture of glimpses of quality and sloppy passing. His head dropped after numerous rollickings from Carragher. By contrast Aquilani was energetic, constantly getting involved and gave a master class of passing. Aquilani wins by a country mile and, after seeing him here, I hope to be seeing more of him in a Liverpool shirt.
Cole versus Kuyt
Cole looked OK. He did his usual 360O turn on the ball for no obvious reason and the crowd loved it. He also set up the opener for Poulsen and delivered some decent corners. Kuyt was not good. His touch was generally poor and bar an excellent chance he created for Maxi, he did little to impress on the ball. That said, as you would expect, he ran a lot. Strictly on this showing, Cole was my pick.
Pacheco versus Maxi
Pacheco started well then disappeared. Maxi started badly looking very rusty but was involved a lot and set up Carroll's goal. Neither impressed but Maxi was my pick.
Ngog versus Carroll
Both scored though neither took their goals particularly cleanly. Ngog actually might have had another one or two but for some dodgy off-side decisions. Carroll also assisted Coady for his goal and surprised me with the amount of running he did so I'd go for Carroll.
And who didn't we see? Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Ayala, Aurelio, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Meireles, Downing and Suarez - an entire XI of which all bar Ayala would be expected to feature regularly in the first team. So in spite of performances here in China, I'd still only expect 5 at most of my picks to be first team regulars next season and possibly 2 or 3 of the non-picks to do so too (certainly Kuyt and Adam).
So what have we learned? We can field 3 pretty strong XIs but the only one I would want to see (as an XI) in the Premiership is the one that didn't play last night. Overall we've got the makings of a good team with some decent squad back up and some promising young players coming through. We also have some deadwood but then we knew all that already.
So in conclusion, maybe this piece was a complete waste of time but, hey, it's only pre-season!
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Michael Owen: Premiership Winner
With the Mancs’ victory over Chelsea, I suppose congratulations are in order for Michael Owen. He richly deserves a Premiership winners’ medal having started a whole 1 Premiership match for the Mancs (in which he was subbed at half time) and made a further 9 appearances as substitute enabling him to tot up a massive 201 minutes of first team football excluding stoppage time (which for United is quite a bit).
I should imagine that as an ambitious teenager breaking into the Liverpool first team, he expected to win the League at some point in his career but probably envisaged himself contributing more than a solitary goal towards the achievement.
Of course, this isn’t Owen’s achievement at all. Man United would have won the League whether he was on their books or not.
He’ll take his medal though and, based on the tripe in his autobiography, he’ll probably try to justify it by saying he deserved at least one over his career. That’s the nature of the man who left Liverpool at the start of a season they would end as European Champions because he thought they couldn’t match his ambition, and who abdicated himself of responsibility whilst jumping ship after captaining Newcastle to relegation giving a minimal return for the club record £16m they paid to take him off the Real Madrid subs bench.
The hero of St Etienne (for England fans at least) was once viewed as so much whiter than white that he was paid to star in Persil adverts. How ironic that the supporters of the club he represented back then would come to view him as so dirty and sullied.
Having once been hailed as a role model for kids, what message can young fans take as they watch Owen parade the Premiership trophy in a week or so? Something along the lines of: If you want to win the top prizes, all you have to do is urinate on the thousands of supporters that loyally backed you for seven years as you went from youth trainee to international superstar; give them big ‘V’s as you join their most detested rivals talking about the respect and admiration you have for their gob-shite of a manager; spend a couple of years not playing football; rack up the all important 10 appearances, ideally without ever playing longer than 45 minutes, to ensure you can win a medal via a technicality and hope your teammates can do the business.
In Owen’s career he represented Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle and the Scum. The supporters of Liverpool and Newcastle generally despise him. Real fans and United fans will barely remember him.
He could and should have been a Liverpool legend but instead he will be remembered for being on the books of the Man United team that overtook our record of 18 League titles and willed them to do it for his own personal gain.
Enjoy your winners’ medal, Michael. I hope it was worth it.
I should imagine that as an ambitious teenager breaking into the Liverpool first team, he expected to win the League at some point in his career but probably envisaged himself contributing more than a solitary goal towards the achievement.
Of course, this isn’t Owen’s achievement at all. Man United would have won the League whether he was on their books or not.
He’ll take his medal though and, based on the tripe in his autobiography, he’ll probably try to justify it by saying he deserved at least one over his career. That’s the nature of the man who left Liverpool at the start of a season they would end as European Champions because he thought they couldn’t match his ambition, and who abdicated himself of responsibility whilst jumping ship after captaining Newcastle to relegation giving a minimal return for the club record £16m they paid to take him off the Real Madrid subs bench.
The hero of St Etienne (for England fans at least) was once viewed as so much whiter than white that he was paid to star in Persil adverts. How ironic that the supporters of the club he represented back then would come to view him as so dirty and sullied.
Having once been hailed as a role model for kids, what message can young fans take as they watch Owen parade the Premiership trophy in a week or so? Something along the lines of: If you want to win the top prizes, all you have to do is urinate on the thousands of supporters that loyally backed you for seven years as you went from youth trainee to international superstar; give them big ‘V’s as you join their most detested rivals talking about the respect and admiration you have for their gob-shite of a manager; spend a couple of years not playing football; rack up the all important 10 appearances, ideally without ever playing longer than 45 minutes, to ensure you can win a medal via a technicality and hope your teammates can do the business.
In Owen’s career he represented Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle and the Scum. The supporters of Liverpool and Newcastle generally despise him. Real fans and United fans will barely remember him.
He could and should have been a Liverpool legend but instead he will be remembered for being on the books of the Man United team that overtook our record of 18 League titles and willed them to do it for his own personal gain.
Enjoy your winners’ medal, Michael. I hope it was worth it.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Dalglish: Manager of the Year
Roy Hodgson's last game as Liverpool FC's manager was the defeat at Blackburn on 05.01.2011. That left Liverpool in 12th - a lofty position given the positions occupied for most of Roy's ill-fated reign - with a goal difference of -3.
Today's League table shows Liverpool in 6th place, 1 point below Spurs who have yet to visit Anfield. Barring a total collapse by Man City and a flawless run-in for Liverpool, the Champions League places appear to be out of reach but being best of the rest is a strong possibility. This is amazing given that for long spells before Christmas relegation was a scarily real possibility.
This is the League table excluding all results prior to 06.01.2011.
Since Kenny Dalglish was appointed caretaker manager, only Carlo Ancelotti has managed to win more Premiership points. Dalglish has picked up more points than Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Roberto Mancini and [cough!] Harry Redknapp. No team has scored more goals than Liverpool in this period. Only Chelsea have conceded fewer. Given the relative strengths of Liverpool's and Chelsea's squads, it is to be expected that Chelsea should reap more points than us but the same is true of Man Utd, Man City and Spurs.
None of those teams have been as hard hit by injuries as Liverpool with Gerrard barely playing under Kenny and injuries to the likes of Carragher, Aurelio, Kelly, Aurelio, Agger, Aurelio, Johnson, Aurelio and Carroll, not to mention squad players like Ngog, Shelvey, Cole and Aurelio. None of those teams had to sell their star striker on the last day of the transfer window.
And on the 5th January when Hodgson led Liverpool to a 9th League defeat of the season, the top 5 in the League were Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea so none of these managers had to pick up a team so lacking in form and confidence at the same time as Kenny.
What Kenny has done is quite simply alchemy. He has turned lead into gold. He has somehow managed to get his under-strength and unbalanced team to outperform far more expensively assembled outfits.
Let's be clear, we are talking about the Manager of Year. Of course the LMA will vote for someone with Ferguson's jizz round his mouth instead but after the experience of having last year's LMA Manager of the Year in charge at Anfield, I won't complain if we don't begin next season with the LMA prize winner at the helm.
Kenny Dalglish IS the Manager of the Year and more importantly, is the right man to lead Liverpool into a new era. King Kenny, I salute you.
Today's League table shows Liverpool in 6th place, 1 point below Spurs who have yet to visit Anfield. Barring a total collapse by Man City and a flawless run-in for Liverpool, the Champions League places appear to be out of reach but being best of the rest is a strong possibility. This is amazing given that for long spells before Christmas relegation was a scarily real possibility.
This is the League table excluding all results prior to 06.01.2011.
Since Kenny Dalglish was appointed caretaker manager, only Carlo Ancelotti has managed to win more Premiership points. Dalglish has picked up more points than Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Roberto Mancini and [cough!] Harry Redknapp. No team has scored more goals than Liverpool in this period. Only Chelsea have conceded fewer. Given the relative strengths of Liverpool's and Chelsea's squads, it is to be expected that Chelsea should reap more points than us but the same is true of Man Utd, Man City and Spurs.
None of those teams have been as hard hit by injuries as Liverpool with Gerrard barely playing under Kenny and injuries to the likes of Carragher, Aurelio, Kelly, Aurelio, Agger, Aurelio, Johnson, Aurelio and Carroll, not to mention squad players like Ngog, Shelvey, Cole and Aurelio. None of those teams had to sell their star striker on the last day of the transfer window.
And on the 5th January when Hodgson led Liverpool to a 9th League defeat of the season, the top 5 in the League were Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea so none of these managers had to pick up a team so lacking in form and confidence at the same time as Kenny.
What Kenny has done is quite simply alchemy. He has turned lead into gold. He has somehow managed to get his under-strength and unbalanced team to outperform far more expensively assembled outfits.
Let's be clear, we are talking about the Manager of Year. Of course the LMA will vote for someone with Ferguson's jizz round his mouth instead but after the experience of having last year's LMA Manager of the Year in charge at Anfield, I won't complain if we don't begin next season with the LMA prize winner at the helm.
Kenny Dalglish IS the Manager of the Year and more importantly, is the right man to lead Liverpool into a new era. King Kenny, I salute you.
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Thoughts on Carra and Kenny
As someone who was firmly in the ‘faze Carra out’ camp for much of the season, I have to say my opinion has changed based on what I have seen recently.
While never questioning his defensive qualities, a lot of my frustrations with him (leaving ‘political’ issues aside) stemmed from his negative and often ineffective style of play when on the ball. As a footballer, he essentially has 3 ‘skills’ in his regular armoury: back pass to Reina, sideways pass (usually to Skrtel or full-back) and long pass (usually to opposition). [I emphasise the word ‘regular’ as I know it is a simplistic view.] At one point during the West Brom game, I actually howled in frustration when, as I knew he would, around the half-way line under very little pressure he put his foot on the ball, turned and played a long pass back to Reina.
That game was a perfect example of everything that frustrates me about Carra but it has to be acknowledged he was playing at right-back in a back four comprised (after the injuries to Johnson and Agger) of four centre-halves all of whom could be best described as ‘stoppers’ as opposed to being ‘ball-playing’ centre-halves (e.g. Agger).
Since that game, Kenny has deployed genuine full-backs on both sides of the pitch and moved Carra back into the centre. This has reduced the team’s dependency on Carra to play progressive football as there are others around him who can bring the ball forward and support the attack. Meanwhile, Carra has been allowed to focus on what he is good (if not better than good) at: defending and organising the defence.
The way he has helped the likes of Flanagan through games has been absolutely superb and he himself has not put a foot wrong. Even Skrtel has looked a million miles better alongside him.
In conclusion, I think that Carra is NOT a full-back and needs to be played in the centre of a back four with genuine full-backs either side of him. If we do that, we will get the best out of him and others.
Going off on a tangent, I believe that WBA game was a watershed moment for Kenny (and Steve Clarke). Having lost Kelly and with Aurelio already injured, the ‘obvious’ solution was to play a centre-half [Carra] out of position at full-back. When Johnson then pulled up lame, the ‘obvious’ solution was to switch Agger (who has played left-back previously under both Rafa and Roy) to full-back and bring on an established and experienced first team player in Kyrgiakos. When Agger went off injured, the ‘obvious’ solution was to bring on Wilson at left-back given his first team experience at Rangers and also his recent experience of playing on the left for Liverpool this season. These moves were so obvious Roy Hodgson would have made them.
I am certain that the footballing limitations of that back four contributed to the dreadful performance and result at the Hawthorns while Kyrgiakos was directly at fault for both Baggies’ goals. With Man City coming to Anfield followed by a trip to the Emirates in the next two fixtures, the ‘obvious’ solution would have been to stick with experienced first team players.
What Kenny and Steve did was bring in Flanagan. Better to play an inexperienced full-back at full-back than try to slot a square peg in a round hole. When Aurelio broke down at the Emirates, the management team had the choice of bringing on a third centre-half and playing one of them out of position or bringing on a 17-year old full-back. They chose to slot a round peg in the round hole and it worked.
It is clear that they saw what went wrong at the Hawthorns and learned from it. Their response was to make brave decisions in-keeping with their footballing principles which have really paid off.
We’ve had to listen to idiots like Jamie Redknapp trivialising Kenny’s role in orchestrating our mid-season revival putting it down to players ‘smiling more’ and ‘having belief’ as though Kenny’s sole contribution has been to charm and motivate. The longer he has been in post, the more I have seen that his success has been down to using the right players in the right positions and getting them to play the right way.
Everything else about Kenny is the perfect fit for the role of Liverpool manager but I had nagging doubts about his tactical knowledge and ability. In that respect he has removed any doubts. That is why I believe that Kenny should be appointed permanent manager.
While never questioning his defensive qualities, a lot of my frustrations with him (leaving ‘political’ issues aside) stemmed from his negative and often ineffective style of play when on the ball. As a footballer, he essentially has 3 ‘skills’ in his regular armoury: back pass to Reina, sideways pass (usually to Skrtel or full-back) and long pass (usually to opposition). [I emphasise the word ‘regular’ as I know it is a simplistic view.] At one point during the West Brom game, I actually howled in frustration when, as I knew he would, around the half-way line under very little pressure he put his foot on the ball, turned and played a long pass back to Reina.
That game was a perfect example of everything that frustrates me about Carra but it has to be acknowledged he was playing at right-back in a back four comprised (after the injuries to Johnson and Agger) of four centre-halves all of whom could be best described as ‘stoppers’ as opposed to being ‘ball-playing’ centre-halves (e.g. Agger).
Since that game, Kenny has deployed genuine full-backs on both sides of the pitch and moved Carra back into the centre. This has reduced the team’s dependency on Carra to play progressive football as there are others around him who can bring the ball forward and support the attack. Meanwhile, Carra has been allowed to focus on what he is good (if not better than good) at: defending and organising the defence.
The way he has helped the likes of Flanagan through games has been absolutely superb and he himself has not put a foot wrong. Even Skrtel has looked a million miles better alongside him.
In conclusion, I think that Carra is NOT a full-back and needs to be played in the centre of a back four with genuine full-backs either side of him. If we do that, we will get the best out of him and others.
Going off on a tangent, I believe that WBA game was a watershed moment for Kenny (and Steve Clarke). Having lost Kelly and with Aurelio already injured, the ‘obvious’ solution was to play a centre-half [Carra] out of position at full-back. When Johnson then pulled up lame, the ‘obvious’ solution was to switch Agger (who has played left-back previously under both Rafa and Roy) to full-back and bring on an established and experienced first team player in Kyrgiakos. When Agger went off injured, the ‘obvious’ solution was to bring on Wilson at left-back given his first team experience at Rangers and also his recent experience of playing on the left for Liverpool this season. These moves were so obvious Roy Hodgson would have made them.
I am certain that the footballing limitations of that back four contributed to the dreadful performance and result at the Hawthorns while Kyrgiakos was directly at fault for both Baggies’ goals. With Man City coming to Anfield followed by a trip to the Emirates in the next two fixtures, the ‘obvious’ solution would have been to stick with experienced first team players.
What Kenny and Steve did was bring in Flanagan. Better to play an inexperienced full-back at full-back than try to slot a square peg in a round hole. When Aurelio broke down at the Emirates, the management team had the choice of bringing on a third centre-half and playing one of them out of position or bringing on a 17-year old full-back. They chose to slot a round peg in the round hole and it worked.
It is clear that they saw what went wrong at the Hawthorns and learned from it. Their response was to make brave decisions in-keeping with their footballing principles which have really paid off.
We’ve had to listen to idiots like Jamie Redknapp trivialising Kenny’s role in orchestrating our mid-season revival putting it down to players ‘smiling more’ and ‘having belief’ as though Kenny’s sole contribution has been to charm and motivate. The longer he has been in post, the more I have seen that his success has been down to using the right players in the right positions and getting them to play the right way.
Everything else about Kenny is the perfect fit for the role of Liverpool manager but I had nagging doubts about his tactical knowledge and ability. In that respect he has removed any doubts. That is why I believe that Kenny should be appointed permanent manager.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Raul Meireles - PFA Fans' Player of the Year
Liverpool FC's Raul Meireles scoops PFA Fans' Player of the Year award
Read More http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2011/04/21/liverpool-fc-s-raul-meireles-scoops-pfa-fans-player-of-the-year-award-100252-28562856/#ixzz1KEaLl6tV
My initial reaction was “Isn’t it a bit late for April fools?” but apparently this is genuine.
So what the hell is the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year award anyway? Apparently it is voted for by fans from a shortlist nominated by the PFA. I’m a fan and I wasn’t balloted. Who are the fans that voted? Has anyone seen one?
The award started in 2001 and past winners include Gerrard (x2), van Nistelrooy, Henry (x2), Lampard, Rooney (x2) and Ronaldo (x2). I’ve nothing against our Raul but who are the fans that think he belongs in this company after that season?
“The Portugal international has enjoyed an impressive first season in England after making a £11.5million switch from Porto.”
Has he? Granted his goal return was impressive between mid-January and mid-February but that golden period aside, has he really been “impressive”?
At times this season I’ve wondered if he is the next Bruno Cheyrou. Harsh? Remember in 2004 Bruno also had an uncharacteristic goal-scoring streak just after New Year including a goal at Wolves and a winner at Chelsea before reverting to his role as a passenger, usually on the left side of midfield. I think Raul is a better player than Bruno but I’m far from convinced he should be anything more than a squad player next season (assuming we strengthen the midfield).
I’d call it a decent first season for him in a pretty rank season from the team’s perspective. I’m not wishing to have a go at Raul but I think it’s ridiculous that he has even been nominated, let alone won this award. I wouldn’t list him in my top 3 Liverpool players of the season.
Read More http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2011/04/21/liverpool-fc-s-raul-meireles-scoops-pfa-fans-player-of-the-year-award-100252-28562856/#ixzz1KEaLl6tV
My initial reaction was “Isn’t it a bit late for April fools?” but apparently this is genuine.
So what the hell is the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year award anyway? Apparently it is voted for by fans from a shortlist nominated by the PFA. I’m a fan and I wasn’t balloted. Who are the fans that voted? Has anyone seen one?
The award started in 2001 and past winners include Gerrard (x2), van Nistelrooy, Henry (x2), Lampard, Rooney (x2) and Ronaldo (x2). I’ve nothing against our Raul but who are the fans that think he belongs in this company after that season?
“The Portugal international has enjoyed an impressive first season in England after making a £11.5million switch from Porto.”
Has he? Granted his goal return was impressive between mid-January and mid-February but that golden period aside, has he really been “impressive”?
At times this season I’ve wondered if he is the next Bruno Cheyrou. Harsh? Remember in 2004 Bruno also had an uncharacteristic goal-scoring streak just after New Year including a goal at Wolves and a winner at Chelsea before reverting to his role as a passenger, usually on the left side of midfield. I think Raul is a better player than Bruno but I’m far from convinced he should be anything more than a squad player next season (assuming we strengthen the midfield).
I’d call it a decent first season for him in a pretty rank season from the team’s perspective. I’m not wishing to have a go at Raul but I think it’s ridiculous that he has even been nominated, let alone won this award. I wouldn’t list him in my top 3 Liverpool players of the season.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
West Brom 2 Liverpool 1: Reflections
Having praised Jay Spearing for his performance at Sunderland, it’s only fair to point out he was completely ineffective at the Hawthorns.
Meireles was equally ineffective and in his case this is becoming the norm. I’m becoming increasingly concerned that he is Bruno Cheyrou Mk II. Barring a hot streak in which he scored the winner in a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, Raul has been pretty anonymous and at times downright useless this season. Perhaps he’s being played out of position but in that case I would ask what is his position? With Gerrard now out for longer, Meireles has to start in central midfield alongside Lucas from now on. If he can’t deliver the goods, serious questions have to be asked over his future in the summer.
I thought Skrtel was our best defender but perhaps I won’t celebrate next time he scores considering we never win and always concede 2 when he does. It’s hard to know if Kenny could have done more to secure a decent result from this game.
Losing Johnson then Agger so early in the game severely restricted his ability to influence matters in terms of changing personnel. Meanwhile, with so many square pegs in round holes on the pitch, I’m not sure what more anyone could have done to get them to play better than they did. With hindsight, the key decision that I think Kenny got wrong was replacing the injured Johnson with Kyrgiakos and switching Agger to left-back. Had that change not been made, through cause and effect, Agger would not have got injured (at least not in the same way) and Kyrgiakos wouldn’t have conceded the first penalty and been culpable in the second.
Of course, we’ll never know what would have happened but to me, the key reason I think this was a wrong decision was that it removed our only central defender capable of playing football from central defence and left two stoppers alongside a third stopper at right-back. Once Agger got injured, we then had four stoppers across the back four and the chances of them influencing matters at the other end of the pitch from open play were miniscule. With hindsight, I think he should have left Agger in the middle and brought on Wilson. It’s easy to say that with hindsight though.
I’m sure that Kenny will be appointed permanent manager of Liverpool FC in the summer and there are many reasons why that would be a positive move. However, I still have some nagging doubts over his tactical capability. As a motivator, he is second to none and he has certainly inspired some great results and an unbelievable turnaround in our season. I’m still looking for some evidence that he can make an important tactical switch to affect a game in our favour when we need it. That was something Rafa did time and time again – especially in Europe – but so far under Kenny, matches have either gone our way or they haven’t. His substitutions have been mostly inconsequential in terms of affecting a game’s outcome and barring the unobvious selection of Jay Spearing in the derby and at Sunderland, there has been nothing unexpected about his team selections since he first deployed Johnson at left back to accommodate Kelly in only his second game in charge.
I’m honestly not sure how fair it is to criticise Kenny for any of that given that he inherited a threadbare squad lacking quality outside of the first XI that has since suffered multiple injuries to key personnel. I just question if, like in the Braga game, despite the limitations of the players available, Kenny could have done something different tactically to avoid a defeat. I think the only fair way to assess Kenny will be next season when hopefully he will have been able to recruit some, if not all, of the personnel we desperately require.
When he has options to choose from, only then can we judge him on what he does with those options. One thing is certain, with Johnson now likely to be out for a while with his hamstring injury and with Kelly looking unlikely to play again this season, we’re going to have to come up with a tactic that doesn’t involve overlapping full-backs.
Meireles was equally ineffective and in his case this is becoming the norm. I’m becoming increasingly concerned that he is Bruno Cheyrou Mk II. Barring a hot streak in which he scored the winner in a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, Raul has been pretty anonymous and at times downright useless this season. Perhaps he’s being played out of position but in that case I would ask what is his position? With Gerrard now out for longer, Meireles has to start in central midfield alongside Lucas from now on. If he can’t deliver the goods, serious questions have to be asked over his future in the summer.
I thought Skrtel was our best defender but perhaps I won’t celebrate next time he scores considering we never win and always concede 2 when he does. It’s hard to know if Kenny could have done more to secure a decent result from this game.
Losing Johnson then Agger so early in the game severely restricted his ability to influence matters in terms of changing personnel. Meanwhile, with so many square pegs in round holes on the pitch, I’m not sure what more anyone could have done to get them to play better than they did. With hindsight, the key decision that I think Kenny got wrong was replacing the injured Johnson with Kyrgiakos and switching Agger to left-back. Had that change not been made, through cause and effect, Agger would not have got injured (at least not in the same way) and Kyrgiakos wouldn’t have conceded the first penalty and been culpable in the second.
Of course, we’ll never know what would have happened but to me, the key reason I think this was a wrong decision was that it removed our only central defender capable of playing football from central defence and left two stoppers alongside a third stopper at right-back. Once Agger got injured, we then had four stoppers across the back four and the chances of them influencing matters at the other end of the pitch from open play were miniscule. With hindsight, I think he should have left Agger in the middle and brought on Wilson. It’s easy to say that with hindsight though.
I’m sure that Kenny will be appointed permanent manager of Liverpool FC in the summer and there are many reasons why that would be a positive move. However, I still have some nagging doubts over his tactical capability. As a motivator, he is second to none and he has certainly inspired some great results and an unbelievable turnaround in our season. I’m still looking for some evidence that he can make an important tactical switch to affect a game in our favour when we need it. That was something Rafa did time and time again – especially in Europe – but so far under Kenny, matches have either gone our way or they haven’t. His substitutions have been mostly inconsequential in terms of affecting a game’s outcome and barring the unobvious selection of Jay Spearing in the derby and at Sunderland, there has been nothing unexpected about his team selections since he first deployed Johnson at left back to accommodate Kelly in only his second game in charge.
I’m honestly not sure how fair it is to criticise Kenny for any of that given that he inherited a threadbare squad lacking quality outside of the first XI that has since suffered multiple injuries to key personnel. I just question if, like in the Braga game, despite the limitations of the players available, Kenny could have done something different tactically to avoid a defeat. I think the only fair way to assess Kenny will be next season when hopefully he will have been able to recruit some, if not all, of the personnel we desperately require.
When he has options to choose from, only then can we judge him on what he does with those options. One thing is certain, with Johnson now likely to be out for a while with his hamstring injury and with Kelly looking unlikely to play again this season, we’re going to have to come up with a tactic that doesn’t involve overlapping full-backs.
Friday, 1 April 2011
West Brom v Liverpool: Hodgson v Dalglish
“Roy hasn't got anything to prove to anybody. If you say he has extra motivation then you are doubting the man's integrity and implying he never had enough motivation before.” – Dalglish
Despite Kenny's admirable diplomacy, let’s be clear: Hodgson has no integrity. He is a pathetic, small-minded, excuse-making, mind-bogglingly arrogant, conceited and pretentious prat. I fully expect him to treat this game like a Cup Final. After all, if he can motivate this West Brom side to beat his former employer, his chums in the media will triumphantly declare we were wrong to dismiss him as if it somehow vindicated the rotten job he did in 6-months at Anfield.
"Do I still feel I've got something to prove? No, I think my 36 years, for those who care to study it, speaks for itself.” – Hodgson
This statement says everything you need to know about Hodgson. He arrived at Anfield believing he had nothing to prove. Rather than see managing Liverpool FC as the pinnacle of an unremarkable career in management, Hodgson saw it as just another job.
“In 35 years how many clubs have I had?” said Hodgson back in October. “What do you mean do my methods translate? They have translated from Halmsteds to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team. So I find the question insulting. To suggest that, because I have moved from one club to another, that the methods which have stood me in good stead for 35 years and made me one of the most respected coaches in Europe don’t suddenly work, is very hard to believe."
How stupid must you be to believe you can simply import methods that achieved success with limited clubs in limited leagues to a club like Liverpool FC? How ignorant must you be to describe the transition from Fulham to Liverpool as moving “from one club to another”? As for his now 36-year record in management, for those who do care to study it, it is a tale of moderate success with Mickey-Mouse teams in Scandinavian leagues, disaster at any big club that has taken him on and relative success with Fulham. It is most definitely not a CV to crow about.
I am so sick of this man. He never should have been at Anfield in the first place and seeing him and his methods up front exposed the lie that he is some sort of gentleman within the game. He wasn’t man enough to admit his own failings in the Liverpool job and still isn’t. The very fact he thinks ‘success’ at West Brom would somehow restore his reputation after his shocking turn at Liverpool shows how utterly clueless the man is. One win in four might be seen as good form at the Hawthorns but at Anfield, it way below acceptable standards.
Make no mistake, he will want to win this one tomorrow and Kenny needs to get our team fired up for a battle. Our Premiership record versus West Brom reads: Pld 9, W 9, D 0, L 0, GF 25, GA 0.
That’s right, our worst result against them is a 1-0 win and they haven’t scored a goal against us in the Premiership. Let’s make sure that record is intact after tomorrow. Let’s make sure Hodgson gets the relegation he set out to achieve at the start of this season. Let’s make sure Sunday’s papers aren’t full of shite about how mistreated Hodgson was at Anfield.
Let’s inflict misery on the man as payback for all the misery he inflicted on us. Let’s kick their bloody arses!
Despite Kenny's admirable diplomacy, let’s be clear: Hodgson has no integrity. He is a pathetic, small-minded, excuse-making, mind-bogglingly arrogant, conceited and pretentious prat. I fully expect him to treat this game like a Cup Final. After all, if he can motivate this West Brom side to beat his former employer, his chums in the media will triumphantly declare we were wrong to dismiss him as if it somehow vindicated the rotten job he did in 6-months at Anfield.
"Do I still feel I've got something to prove? No, I think my 36 years, for those who care to study it, speaks for itself.” – Hodgson
This statement says everything you need to know about Hodgson. He arrived at Anfield believing he had nothing to prove. Rather than see managing Liverpool FC as the pinnacle of an unremarkable career in management, Hodgson saw it as just another job.
“In 35 years how many clubs have I had?” said Hodgson back in October. “What do you mean do my methods translate? They have translated from Halmsteds to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team. So I find the question insulting. To suggest that, because I have moved from one club to another, that the methods which have stood me in good stead for 35 years and made me one of the most respected coaches in Europe don’t suddenly work, is very hard to believe."
How stupid must you be to believe you can simply import methods that achieved success with limited clubs in limited leagues to a club like Liverpool FC? How ignorant must you be to describe the transition from Fulham to Liverpool as moving “from one club to another”? As for his now 36-year record in management, for those who do care to study it, it is a tale of moderate success with Mickey-Mouse teams in Scandinavian leagues, disaster at any big club that has taken him on and relative success with Fulham. It is most definitely not a CV to crow about.
I am so sick of this man. He never should have been at Anfield in the first place and seeing him and his methods up front exposed the lie that he is some sort of gentleman within the game. He wasn’t man enough to admit his own failings in the Liverpool job and still isn’t. The very fact he thinks ‘success’ at West Brom would somehow restore his reputation after his shocking turn at Liverpool shows how utterly clueless the man is. One win in four might be seen as good form at the Hawthorns but at Anfield, it way below acceptable standards.
Make no mistake, he will want to win this one tomorrow and Kenny needs to get our team fired up for a battle. Our Premiership record versus West Brom reads: Pld 9, W 9, D 0, L 0, GF 25, GA 0.
That’s right, our worst result against them is a 1-0 win and they haven’t scored a goal against us in the Premiership. Let’s make sure that record is intact after tomorrow. Let’s make sure Hodgson gets the relegation he set out to achieve at the start of this season. Let’s make sure Sunday’s papers aren’t full of shite about how mistreated Hodgson was at Anfield.
Let’s inflict misery on the man as payback for all the misery he inflicted on us. Let’s kick their bloody arses!
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Are they good enough?
There’s an intriguing series of articles currently being posted on Tomkins Times entitled ‘Should They Stay or Should They Go?’ The aim is to prompt discussion as to which of the current crop of players should be kept and which should be shown the door come the summer.
The problem is, most of these decisions can’t be taken in isolation. For example, it would be easy to say “Sell Skrtel” but what if we don’t sign any other defenders this summer? With Agger’s injury problems and Carra getting closer and closer to retirement, do we trust Kelly, Wilson or Ayala to come in and be as good as or better than the Slovakian?
That being the case, I think the more pertinent question is ‘Are They Good Enough?’ (admittedly it’s not as snappy a title).
Of course, “not good enough” is something we hear all the time and it doesn’t actually mean an awful lot so I’ll quantify. We want Liverpool to be the top team in England and in Europe and for that to happen, they need players who are at least good enough to hold down a place in some or all of the first teams of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea or even Man City. So if the players are good enough for those teams, they’re not good enough for us.
So here we go... Are They Good Enough?
Pepe Reina
Yes, absolutely. He is the best keeper in the Premiership and would easily displace the current keepers at any of those clubs. We need to keep him but the question is will he be prepared to stay at Anfield after two lousy seasons, five trophyless campaigns and with no European football in any competition looking likely next season?
Brad Jones
Certainly not good enough to be the first team keeper at any of the top clubs but the quality of reserve keepers is generally iffy so it’s not a given that they wouldn’t have him as a squad back up. I never understood why we bought him in the first place. It seemed like a complete waste of £3m and it seems he has now slipped behind Gulacsi as Reina’s understudy. To be honest, I couldn’t give a shit whether he stays or goes but I certainly don’t want to see him in our first team.
Glen Johnson
Yes. Whatever doubts some people have over his defensive reliability, he is after all England’s right back and was coveted by Chelsea when we signed him. I would imagine any of the top teams would be in for him if he was for sale. One to keep.
Martin Kelly
Yes. As good as any of the defenders Man Utd’s youth team has produced in recent years, Kelly looks destined for a career as a top player for club and country.
Jamie Carragher
Hmmm! Tough one. With his age, his lack of pace and his footballing limitations Carra would struggle to hold down a first team place at any of the top clubs. His career is clearly on the wind-down and personally I could quite happily live with never seeing another Carragher back-pass or hoof for as long as I live. He is a Liverpool legend though his reputation has been somewhat marred over the last year or so due to his meddling in club politics. I think he should stay on (if he can keep his beak out of club politics) but for as long as he is an automatic first team selection, our first team will not be strong enough.
Martin Skrtel
On his form since his recovery from the injury sustained at Man City in 2008, he would not get in to any of the top teams. The frustrating thing with Skrtel is that when we signed him, he looked like the next Vidic. At 26, he could still improve but I think the best he’ll ever be is an effective foil for a more cultured partner (the Henchoz to a Hyypia). I guess if there’s doubt then there is no doubt. He’s not good enough.
Daniel Agger
Yes he is good enough for any of the top teams. However, his injury record remains a major cause for concern. We need more defenders of his quality – ideally one or two that can stay fit as well.
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
No. I like the Greek. I really do. I like the fact he’s not very good yet makes himself surprising effective. I like the fact he is an attacking threat from set pieces and very handy against the Stokes and the Blackburns of the Premiership. However, witness the clumbsy penalty he conceded in Braga which ultimately knocked us out of Europe this season. We need a player who can bring all of Kyrgiakos’ good qualities and none of his many bad ones. That said, he remains a great bargain-basement signing by Rafa and will always be assured of a positive reception at Anfield.
Danny Wilson
It’s far too soon to make a judgement. So far, I’ve been very unimpressed but in fairness, he has predominantly been played out of position and in a struggling side as well.
Fabio Aurelio
No. Regardless of his ability, no club with any sense would give him a contract given his injury record. As for his ability, he’s useful but a squad player at best. Rafa was content to release him in the summer only for Roy Fucking Hodgson to resign him on a two-year contract. Says it all really. Prick.
Paul Fucking Konchesky
No! No! NO!!!! Never in a million years. PFK is shit and should NEVER have been signed by Liverpool Football Club. Hodgson is a twat.
Lucas Leiva
I reckon Lucas would feature regularly at some of the top clubs. He’s as good as the likes of Anderson at Man Utd or Mikel at Chelsea and has recently excelled in wins over both teams. As much as I like him as a player, I still would prefer to have him on the bench behind players of the quality of Alonso and Mascherano. When we have that, then we can challenge for top honours again.
Raul Meireles
Tough one. I think Raul would get into the squads of the top teams. After all, Chelsea recently signed Steven Pienaar and Raul is definitely better. I don’t think he is good enough to nail down an automatic first team place at any of the top teams but he’s a useful player for our squad so I’d keep him at Anfield.
Christian Poulsen
[Laughs out loud]
Jay Spearing
Sorry but no. Not good enough and never going to be. It’s always harder to jettison a player produced by our Academy but that isn’t an excuse for keeping one and even using one who will do well to make it as a Premiership player.
Jonjo Shelvey
Don’t know. It was clear that Kenny rated him before his injury and we know that Rafa lined up the signing even if Hodgson was Jonjo’s first LFC manager. I haven’t seen anything to suggest that he is the next Steven Gerrard but if he could be the next Darren Fletcher, he could certainly justify a place in our squad for the next few years.
Maxi Rodriguez
No. It’s clear there is some quality there and the player obviously has pedigree but we just haven’t seen enough from him in a year and a half at Anfield to justify a longer stay. He certainly wouldn’t attract any interest from the top English clubs.
Joe Cole
It’s understood that Chelsea wanted to keep him but weren’t prepared to meet his wage demands. I wish they had. Man Ure weren’t interested but Arsenal, City and Spurs were all linked. I suspect that if we were to make him available, none of those clubs would be interested after his season at Liverpool. I appreciate he tries hard but he is brainless as a footballer and I personally hope never to see him in a Liverpool shirt again.
Alberto Aquilani
Yes. Aquilani is a class player as he has shown in his year on loan at Juventus. With the Old Lady skint, it looks like Juve won’t be able to make his move permanent even for the ludicrously low fee Christian [Penis] Purslow offered them which gives us the option of recalling him or selling him for his true market value. Personally, I expect he will insist on a move rather than returning to Liverpool but given the choice, I’d like to see him playing for us.
Dani Pacheco
How can we know? His reputation is stellar but we’ve never seen him given a chance. People will argue that the lack of time given to him by three consecutive managers is evidence that he isn’t good enough and certainly in his few appearances this year he was unimpressive. However, I would just like to see what he can do with my own eyes before I make a judgement.
Nathan Eccleston
No. Sorry. Forget any idealistic scenarios where an Academy graduate comes good as a squad player. Eccleston is simply not of the required quality.
Milan Jovanovic
No. I can’t see him holding down a place at any Premiership team.
Dirk Kuyt
Yes. At his age, it’s questionable whether any of the top teams would come in for him although I suspect they’d be happy to have him in their squads. Kuyt has been a great servant to Liverpool Football Club and is as strong a contender for our Player of the Season as anyone else. He’s never been what people would call ‘World Class’ and yet has been a regular for Holland’s national team. I would like to think he’ll at least have competition for his place next season but for our sakes I hope that is at Liverpool FC.
David Ngog
Tricky. Is he any worse than Kalou, Bendtner, Owen or Jo? He’s been more or less frozen out since Kenny took charge which suggests the King doesn’t rate him. Certainly he is not good enough to hold down a place in any of the top teams but neither are the four squad players mentioned who are all at those teams. With age on his side, he may yet develop into a decent striker to have in reserve. I’d like us to keep him for at least another year but ideally I’d want us to sign another striker as well. If Ngog is good enough to force his way past Carroll and another striker, good for him and us.
Luiz Suarez
Yes. Already looks a star in the making.
Andy Carroll
Yes. It’s debatable whether he is ready to hold down a place in any of the top teams and certainly unlikely that any would have paid £35m for him, but I’m sure they’d all love to have him as an up and coming player. If he develops as is hoped, he could be one of the Premiership’s star strikers for years to come.
So to summarise, the players I think are good enough to play for the top clubs in England and whom we should definitely keep beyond the summer are: Reina, Johnson, Kelly, Agger, Lucas, Aquilani, Kuyt, Suarez and Carroll. Other players I think we should keep are Carragher, Shelvey,Pacheco, Meireles and Ngog. That suggests out of 12 out of 26 players need to be replaced. Clearly that is a tall order for one summer so the certainty is that some of those 12 will have to be retained and our transition from our current malaise to a team with sufficient quality to challenge for top honours will be gradual.
Personally, if no one I’ve said should be retained leaves, I would prioritise the following in order: 1 winger with pace (ideally for the left flank and Ashley Young would do nicely), 1 left-back to be first choice in the position, 1 central defender (Sami Hyypia Mk II), 1 other winger with pace (to play on the opposite flank), 1 central midfielder (may not be required if Aquilani returns), 1 striker, 1 back up left back (wouldn’t be required if we could get Insua to return although that is highly unlikely). After that, it would be a case of replacing the weaker members of the team in whatever order they can be replaced.
Of course, if someone like Reina or Johnson goes, replacing them becomes the first priority. Who’d be a manager!
The problem is, most of these decisions can’t be taken in isolation. For example, it would be easy to say “Sell Skrtel” but what if we don’t sign any other defenders this summer? With Agger’s injury problems and Carra getting closer and closer to retirement, do we trust Kelly, Wilson or Ayala to come in and be as good as or better than the Slovakian?
That being the case, I think the more pertinent question is ‘Are They Good Enough?’ (admittedly it’s not as snappy a title).
Of course, “not good enough” is something we hear all the time and it doesn’t actually mean an awful lot so I’ll quantify. We want Liverpool to be the top team in England and in Europe and for that to happen, they need players who are at least good enough to hold down a place in some or all of the first teams of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea or even Man City. So if the players are good enough for those teams, they’re not good enough for us.
So here we go... Are They Good Enough?
Pepe Reina
Yes, absolutely. He is the best keeper in the Premiership and would easily displace the current keepers at any of those clubs. We need to keep him but the question is will he be prepared to stay at Anfield after two lousy seasons, five trophyless campaigns and with no European football in any competition looking likely next season?
Brad Jones
Certainly not good enough to be the first team keeper at any of the top clubs but the quality of reserve keepers is generally iffy so it’s not a given that they wouldn’t have him as a squad back up. I never understood why we bought him in the first place. It seemed like a complete waste of £3m and it seems he has now slipped behind Gulacsi as Reina’s understudy. To be honest, I couldn’t give a shit whether he stays or goes but I certainly don’t want to see him in our first team.
Glen Johnson
Yes. Whatever doubts some people have over his defensive reliability, he is after all England’s right back and was coveted by Chelsea when we signed him. I would imagine any of the top teams would be in for him if he was for sale. One to keep.
Martin Kelly
Yes. As good as any of the defenders Man Utd’s youth team has produced in recent years, Kelly looks destined for a career as a top player for club and country.
Jamie Carragher
Hmmm! Tough one. With his age, his lack of pace and his footballing limitations Carra would struggle to hold down a first team place at any of the top clubs. His career is clearly on the wind-down and personally I could quite happily live with never seeing another Carragher back-pass or hoof for as long as I live. He is a Liverpool legend though his reputation has been somewhat marred over the last year or so due to his meddling in club politics. I think he should stay on (if he can keep his beak out of club politics) but for as long as he is an automatic first team selection, our first team will not be strong enough.
Martin Skrtel
On his form since his recovery from the injury sustained at Man City in 2008, he would not get in to any of the top teams. The frustrating thing with Skrtel is that when we signed him, he looked like the next Vidic. At 26, he could still improve but I think the best he’ll ever be is an effective foil for a more cultured partner (the Henchoz to a Hyypia). I guess if there’s doubt then there is no doubt. He’s not good enough.
Daniel Agger
Yes he is good enough for any of the top teams. However, his injury record remains a major cause for concern. We need more defenders of his quality – ideally one or two that can stay fit as well.
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
No. I like the Greek. I really do. I like the fact he’s not very good yet makes himself surprising effective. I like the fact he is an attacking threat from set pieces and very handy against the Stokes and the Blackburns of the Premiership. However, witness the clumbsy penalty he conceded in Braga which ultimately knocked us out of Europe this season. We need a player who can bring all of Kyrgiakos’ good qualities and none of his many bad ones. That said, he remains a great bargain-basement signing by Rafa and will always be assured of a positive reception at Anfield.
Danny Wilson
It’s far too soon to make a judgement. So far, I’ve been very unimpressed but in fairness, he has predominantly been played out of position and in a struggling side as well.
Fabio Aurelio
No. Regardless of his ability, no club with any sense would give him a contract given his injury record. As for his ability, he’s useful but a squad player at best. Rafa was content to release him in the summer only for Roy Fucking Hodgson to resign him on a two-year contract. Says it all really. Prick.
Paul Fucking Konchesky
No! No! NO!!!! Never in a million years. PFK is shit and should NEVER have been signed by Liverpool Football Club. Hodgson is a twat.
Lucas Leiva
I reckon Lucas would feature regularly at some of the top clubs. He’s as good as the likes of Anderson at Man Utd or Mikel at Chelsea and has recently excelled in wins over both teams. As much as I like him as a player, I still would prefer to have him on the bench behind players of the quality of Alonso and Mascherano. When we have that, then we can challenge for top honours again.
Raul Meireles
Tough one. I think Raul would get into the squads of the top teams. After all, Chelsea recently signed Steven Pienaar and Raul is definitely better. I don’t think he is good enough to nail down an automatic first team place at any of the top teams but he’s a useful player for our squad so I’d keep him at Anfield.
Christian Poulsen
[Laughs out loud]
Jay Spearing
Sorry but no. Not good enough and never going to be. It’s always harder to jettison a player produced by our Academy but that isn’t an excuse for keeping one and even using one who will do well to make it as a Premiership player.
Jonjo Shelvey
Don’t know. It was clear that Kenny rated him before his injury and we know that Rafa lined up the signing even if Hodgson was Jonjo’s first LFC manager. I haven’t seen anything to suggest that he is the next Steven Gerrard but if he could be the next Darren Fletcher, he could certainly justify a place in our squad for the next few years.
Maxi Rodriguez
No. It’s clear there is some quality there and the player obviously has pedigree but we just haven’t seen enough from him in a year and a half at Anfield to justify a longer stay. He certainly wouldn’t attract any interest from the top English clubs.
Joe Cole
It’s understood that Chelsea wanted to keep him but weren’t prepared to meet his wage demands. I wish they had. Man Ure weren’t interested but Arsenal, City and Spurs were all linked. I suspect that if we were to make him available, none of those clubs would be interested after his season at Liverpool. I appreciate he tries hard but he is brainless as a footballer and I personally hope never to see him in a Liverpool shirt again.
Alberto Aquilani
Yes. Aquilani is a class player as he has shown in his year on loan at Juventus. With the Old Lady skint, it looks like Juve won’t be able to make his move permanent even for the ludicrously low fee Christian [Penis] Purslow offered them which gives us the option of recalling him or selling him for his true market value. Personally, I expect he will insist on a move rather than returning to Liverpool but given the choice, I’d like to see him playing for us.
Dani Pacheco
How can we know? His reputation is stellar but we’ve never seen him given a chance. People will argue that the lack of time given to him by three consecutive managers is evidence that he isn’t good enough and certainly in his few appearances this year he was unimpressive. However, I would just like to see what he can do with my own eyes before I make a judgement.
Nathan Eccleston
No. Sorry. Forget any idealistic scenarios where an Academy graduate comes good as a squad player. Eccleston is simply not of the required quality.
Milan Jovanovic
No. I can’t see him holding down a place at any Premiership team.
Dirk Kuyt
Yes. At his age, it’s questionable whether any of the top teams would come in for him although I suspect they’d be happy to have him in their squads. Kuyt has been a great servant to Liverpool Football Club and is as strong a contender for our Player of the Season as anyone else. He’s never been what people would call ‘World Class’ and yet has been a regular for Holland’s national team. I would like to think he’ll at least have competition for his place next season but for our sakes I hope that is at Liverpool FC.
David Ngog
Tricky. Is he any worse than Kalou, Bendtner, Owen or Jo? He’s been more or less frozen out since Kenny took charge which suggests the King doesn’t rate him. Certainly he is not good enough to hold down a place in any of the top teams but neither are the four squad players mentioned who are all at those teams. With age on his side, he may yet develop into a decent striker to have in reserve. I’d like us to keep him for at least another year but ideally I’d want us to sign another striker as well. If Ngog is good enough to force his way past Carroll and another striker, good for him and us.
Luiz Suarez
Yes. Already looks a star in the making.
Andy Carroll
Yes. It’s debatable whether he is ready to hold down a place in any of the top teams and certainly unlikely that any would have paid £35m for him, but I’m sure they’d all love to have him as an up and coming player. If he develops as is hoped, he could be one of the Premiership’s star strikers for years to come.
So to summarise, the players I think are good enough to play for the top clubs in England and whom we should definitely keep beyond the summer are: Reina, Johnson, Kelly, Agger, Lucas, Aquilani, Kuyt, Suarez and Carroll. Other players I think we should keep are Carragher, Shelvey,Pacheco, Meireles and Ngog. That suggests out of 12 out of 26 players need to be replaced. Clearly that is a tall order for one summer so the certainty is that some of those 12 will have to be retained and our transition from our current malaise to a team with sufficient quality to challenge for top honours will be gradual.
Personally, if no one I’ve said should be retained leaves, I would prioritise the following in order: 1 winger with pace (ideally for the left flank and Ashley Young would do nicely), 1 left-back to be first choice in the position, 1 central defender (Sami Hyypia Mk II), 1 other winger with pace (to play on the opposite flank), 1 central midfielder (may not be required if Aquilani returns), 1 striker, 1 back up left back (wouldn’t be required if we could get Insua to return although that is highly unlikely). After that, it would be a case of replacing the weaker members of the team in whatever order they can be replaced.
Of course, if someone like Reina or Johnson goes, replacing them becomes the first priority. Who’d be a manager!
Friday, 18 March 2011
Liverpool 0 Braga 0 Agg L 0-1: Reaction
So we’re out of the Europa Cup and looking highly unlikely to re-qualify next season. Reaction? I’m disappointed but also slightly relieved.
The Europa League has not been a fun competition to participate in. It’s always been a case of just getting through the group stages and knock out ties against teams best described as dross, in the hope that we would experience some ties of the calibre we were used to from our years in the Champions League (e.g. Benfica and Atletico last season). At that stage, we could have experienced a bit of excitement about a European Cup tie and also expected to see our strongest teams take to the pitch in both legs.
As it is, we’ve played no teams of note and our fringe players have been used throughout the competition. There has been few goals and little excitement. In that respect, it’s probably for the best that we are out and won’t be back in the competition next season.
On the negative side, it’s embarrassing to go out at home to a team like Braga, our co-efficient rating will be impacted by our failure to qualify for European competition and our season has been confirmed as trophyless as early as mid-March for the first time since Houllier was in charge.
Realistically, 6th place is the best we can hope for in the League and that is where we currently sit so we now face two months of just trying to maintain a pretty mediocre League position. It’s sad.
On the plus side, Luis Suarez is eligible to play in all of our remaining fixtures and with fewer fixtures remaining, we don’t need to chop and change the team too much.
The Europa League has not been a fun competition to participate in. It’s always been a case of just getting through the group stages and knock out ties against teams best described as dross, in the hope that we would experience some ties of the calibre we were used to from our years in the Champions League (e.g. Benfica and Atletico last season). At that stage, we could have experienced a bit of excitement about a European Cup tie and also expected to see our strongest teams take to the pitch in both legs.
As it is, we’ve played no teams of note and our fringe players have been used throughout the competition. There has been few goals and little excitement. In that respect, it’s probably for the best that we are out and won’t be back in the competition next season.
On the negative side, it’s embarrassing to go out at home to a team like Braga, our co-efficient rating will be impacted by our failure to qualify for European competition and our season has been confirmed as trophyless as early as mid-March for the first time since Houllier was in charge.
Realistically, 6th place is the best we can hope for in the League and that is where we currently sit so we now face two months of just trying to maintain a pretty mediocre League position. It’s sad.
On the plus side, Luis Suarez is eligible to play in all of our remaining fixtures and with fewer fixtures remaining, we don’t need to chop and change the team too much.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Braga 1 "Liverpool" 0
As much as I stand by my assertion that winning the Europa League should be Liverpool FC’s number one priority for the remainder of this season, King Kenny’s team selection for our away tie at Braga suggested that the club is prioritising the League and using UEFA’s second tier competition as an opportunity to field fringe players.
Given our shocking record in Portugal, I had hoped to see a stronger XI than one featuring Joke Cole, Christian Poulsen and Jay Spearing.
Had we been playing Barcelona in the Champions League, I have no doubt that Steven Gerrard would have played – irrespective of concerns about his groin. However, away to Braga, I can understand the logic behind resting him if there were legitimate concerns over his fitness.
With Agger and Kelly also out injured – not to mention the pathetically fragile Fabio Aurelio – and with Carroll being eased back from injury and Suarez cup-tied, this was never going to be close to our strongest XI. With Jonjo Shelvey – whom Kenny’s early team selections suggested he rated above many other squad players - also injured, perhaps there was little alternative but to include some of the dregs in the squad.
I’ve nothing against Jay Spearing. He is an honest player who certainly gives his all whenever he plays in the first team. I just think that the Premiership standards are a tier above his level of capability.
Christian Poulsen and Joke Cole are two players I have quite a bit against. Poulsen is crap. I admit that he will forever be emblematic in my mind of the disastrous Hodgson reign. However, my issues with him are not political. Meireles was also signed by Hodgson and I like him because he is a decent player. Had Poulsen provided a single moment in a Liverpool shirt to justify a scouting report that didn’t read “DO NOT SIGN THIS PLAYER”, perhaps I would be more patient with him but his failure to even resemble a professional footballer during his time at LFC has led me to the point where I don’t ever want to see him in our team again.
As for Joke Cole, to me he is tainted by association to Christian Purslow - the man who got rid of Rafa; replaced him with Hodgson; approved a ridiculous deal to loan Alberto Aquilani to Juventus giving the Italian club the right to buy at a fraction of the fee we paid which looks well below his current market value, and declined to sign Marouane Chamakh for nothing in order to pursue the marquee signing of Cole.
Despite this, my issues with him are not political. My real frustration with Cole is that I celebrated his signing. I genuinely believed his signing was a coup for our club. Watching him ping the ball around in our season’s curtain raiser versus RK Rabotnicki, I thought we now had three star players: Torres, Gerrard and Cole. Just like Torres and Gerrard, Cole has been a massive let down.
It’s not that he has been a bad player. He just hasn’t done anything positive. Even his best contribution – the wrongly allowed last minute offside winner against Bolton – probably kept Hodgson in a job for another week. His first minute goal against Steaua Bucharest was of little relevance as we ran out 4-1 winners whereas his sending off against Arsenal and his missed penalty against Trabzonspor were far more costly. Those incidents aside, there are literally no other incidents of note in his Liverpool career. He is a nothing. A non-entity. But a non-entity who collects more than £90K per week.
At this point, there is realistically nothing he can do between now and the end of the season to convince me he should still be a Liverpool player next season. If anything, the problem might be finding a club who will take him off our hands given the lack of quality he has shown.
To me, he is a lost cause and I would rather see a promising youngster like Dani Pacheco given the chance to sink or swim than see the Joke continue to flounder.
Given the limitations already placed on the squad, I feel Kenny could still have fielded a decent XI in (4-2-3-1) Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Johnson, Lucas, Meireles, Kuyt, Rodriguez, Pacheco, Ngog. It wouldn’t have stopped Kyrgiakos conceding the penalty from which Braga scored but it might have given us a better chance of grabbing an away goal or two.
As it is, we will now need our strongest possible XI for the home leg. I believe we will have enough quality to overturn our 1-0 deficit but if we are to advance in this competition, Poulsen must not start another game and we can’t gamble on fielding such weak XIs again.
My concern is that perhaps Kenny views a Europa League exit as acceptable collateral damage - in which case Poulsen and co will continue leading us to our inevitable elimination. Don't do it, Kenny! Give us a silver lining to this most transitional of seasons.
Given our shocking record in Portugal, I had hoped to see a stronger XI than one featuring Joke Cole, Christian Poulsen and Jay Spearing.
Had we been playing Barcelona in the Champions League, I have no doubt that Steven Gerrard would have played – irrespective of concerns about his groin. However, away to Braga, I can understand the logic behind resting him if there were legitimate concerns over his fitness.
With Agger and Kelly also out injured – not to mention the pathetically fragile Fabio Aurelio – and with Carroll being eased back from injury and Suarez cup-tied, this was never going to be close to our strongest XI. With Jonjo Shelvey – whom Kenny’s early team selections suggested he rated above many other squad players - also injured, perhaps there was little alternative but to include some of the dregs in the squad.
I’ve nothing against Jay Spearing. He is an honest player who certainly gives his all whenever he plays in the first team. I just think that the Premiership standards are a tier above his level of capability.
Christian Poulsen and Joke Cole are two players I have quite a bit against. Poulsen is crap. I admit that he will forever be emblematic in my mind of the disastrous Hodgson reign. However, my issues with him are not political. Meireles was also signed by Hodgson and I like him because he is a decent player. Had Poulsen provided a single moment in a Liverpool shirt to justify a scouting report that didn’t read “DO NOT SIGN THIS PLAYER”, perhaps I would be more patient with him but his failure to even resemble a professional footballer during his time at LFC has led me to the point where I don’t ever want to see him in our team again.
As for Joke Cole, to me he is tainted by association to Christian Purslow - the man who got rid of Rafa; replaced him with Hodgson; approved a ridiculous deal to loan Alberto Aquilani to Juventus giving the Italian club the right to buy at a fraction of the fee we paid which looks well below his current market value, and declined to sign Marouane Chamakh for nothing in order to pursue the marquee signing of Cole.
Despite this, my issues with him are not political. My real frustration with Cole is that I celebrated his signing. I genuinely believed his signing was a coup for our club. Watching him ping the ball around in our season’s curtain raiser versus RK Rabotnicki, I thought we now had three star players: Torres, Gerrard and Cole. Just like Torres and Gerrard, Cole has been a massive let down.
It’s not that he has been a bad player. He just hasn’t done anything positive. Even his best contribution – the wrongly allowed last minute offside winner against Bolton – probably kept Hodgson in a job for another week. His first minute goal against Steaua Bucharest was of little relevance as we ran out 4-1 winners whereas his sending off against Arsenal and his missed penalty against Trabzonspor were far more costly. Those incidents aside, there are literally no other incidents of note in his Liverpool career. He is a nothing. A non-entity. But a non-entity who collects more than £90K per week.
At this point, there is realistically nothing he can do between now and the end of the season to convince me he should still be a Liverpool player next season. If anything, the problem might be finding a club who will take him off our hands given the lack of quality he has shown.
To me, he is a lost cause and I would rather see a promising youngster like Dani Pacheco given the chance to sink or swim than see the Joke continue to flounder.
Given the limitations already placed on the squad, I feel Kenny could still have fielded a decent XI in (4-2-3-1) Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Johnson, Lucas, Meireles, Kuyt, Rodriguez, Pacheco, Ngog. It wouldn’t have stopped Kyrgiakos conceding the penalty from which Braga scored but it might have given us a better chance of grabbing an away goal or two.
As it is, we will now need our strongest possible XI for the home leg. I believe we will have enough quality to overturn our 1-0 deficit but if we are to advance in this competition, Poulsen must not start another game and we can’t gamble on fielding such weak XIs again.
My concern is that perhaps Kenny views a Europa League exit as acceptable collateral damage - in which case Poulsen and co will continue leading us to our inevitable elimination. Don't do it, Kenny! Give us a silver lining to this most transitional of seasons.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
An overdue tribute to Dirk Kuyt
Following his hat-trick against Man Utd, I feel it is time for an overdue tribute to Dirk Kuyt.
Kuyt gets a fair bit of stick for his woeful first touch, general lack of pace and obvious limitations as an attacking player. While he is also praised for his work rate and super human stamina, such praise is tinged with the regret that he failed to become the 20+ goals-a-season striker we signed him to be.
Had Albert Riera or Jermaine Pennant matched Kuyt’s goal-return from wide positions and offered the versatility of playing up front when required they would have been lauded. However, those players were both signed as wingers whereas Kuyt was signed as a striker so, rather unfairly, different expectations are applied.
In the past I’ve compared him to Man Utd’s Park Ji-Sung. Park strikes me as a player who lacks the skill and poise of say Cristiano Ronaldo or Nani and who lacks the ‘star quality’ of Wayne Rooney and Dmitar Berbatov and yet his more agricultural approach frequently proves effective in some of the biggest fixtures such as games against Arsenal and Barcelona in their Champions League semi-final. Sometimes, having a player with an outstanding work rate and an uncanny knack of finding the net in the biggest games is a greater asset than having a ‘star’ player.
This is both a complimentary view and a slightly critical view. On the one hand, in making this comparison, I am acknowledging Kuyt’s value to the team and suggesting that even if we’d had a stronger squad over the last few years, he would still have had a valuable role to play. On the other hand, it infers that, given that stronger squad, perhaps Kuyt should have been used in certain games but should not necessarily have been a fixture in the first team.
Had we possessed Man United’s strength in depth over the last few years – or even two quality wide players – perhaps it would be correct to question Kuyt’s status as an automatic selection. However, we had the squads we had and there can be no doubting that since his conversion to the right wing in 2007-08, Kuyt has been the best man for that role at our club. Any frustrations over his limitations in that role should be aimed at the men who undermined our club by failing to invest adequately in the squad.
But of course, this is a tribute so focus on his limitations are inappropriate. Instead, let me list some of the reasons why Kuyt has been a fantastic servant to Liverpool Football Club.
> He has scored for us in a European Cup Final.
> Only Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Ian Rush and Roger Hunt have scored more European goals than him.
> Only Steven Gerrard has scored more Champions League goals than him.
> Of the current Liverpool squad, only Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Pepe Reina have made more appearances than him.
> Only Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres have scored more Premiership goals for Liverpool than him.
> Only 12 players who debuted in the last 20 years have played more Liverpool games than his current total of 230: Rob Jones (243), Jamie Redknapp (308), David James (277), Robbie Fowler (369), Jamie Carragher (630), Michael Owen (297), Danny Murphy (249), Steven Gerrard (532), Dietmar Hamann (283), Sami Hyypia (464), John Arne Riise (348) and Pepe Reina (299). In that time 159 players have appeared for the club.
> He has scored career goals against Everton (x5), Arsenal (x3), Chelsea (x3) and now Man United (x3).
> He has also scored Champions League goals against Inter Milan, AC Milan, Marseille and Porto.
> He has scored crucial (late) goals in European knock-out ties against the likes of Standard Liege, Trabzonspor and Sparta Prague.
> In the last 5 seasons, only Reina (246) and Carragher (241) have played more games than him.
> He never gives less than his best and works tirelessly for the team whenever selected.
The song goes “We all dream of a team of Carraghers”. It is clearly meant that we wish every member of the team had Carragher’s commitment and not his skill set. For the same reason, it could also be sung that “We all dream of a team of Dirk Kuyts”. And for the record, if a team of Dirk Kuyts played a team of Carraghers, the Kuyts would win by a cricket score!
Kuyt gets a fair bit of stick for his woeful first touch, general lack of pace and obvious limitations as an attacking player. While he is also praised for his work rate and super human stamina, such praise is tinged with the regret that he failed to become the 20+ goals-a-season striker we signed him to be.
Had Albert Riera or Jermaine Pennant matched Kuyt’s goal-return from wide positions and offered the versatility of playing up front when required they would have been lauded. However, those players were both signed as wingers whereas Kuyt was signed as a striker so, rather unfairly, different expectations are applied.
In the past I’ve compared him to Man Utd’s Park Ji-Sung. Park strikes me as a player who lacks the skill and poise of say Cristiano Ronaldo or Nani and who lacks the ‘star quality’ of Wayne Rooney and Dmitar Berbatov and yet his more agricultural approach frequently proves effective in some of the biggest fixtures such as games against Arsenal and Barcelona in their Champions League semi-final. Sometimes, having a player with an outstanding work rate and an uncanny knack of finding the net in the biggest games is a greater asset than having a ‘star’ player.
This is both a complimentary view and a slightly critical view. On the one hand, in making this comparison, I am acknowledging Kuyt’s value to the team and suggesting that even if we’d had a stronger squad over the last few years, he would still have had a valuable role to play. On the other hand, it infers that, given that stronger squad, perhaps Kuyt should have been used in certain games but should not necessarily have been a fixture in the first team.
Had we possessed Man United’s strength in depth over the last few years – or even two quality wide players – perhaps it would be correct to question Kuyt’s status as an automatic selection. However, we had the squads we had and there can be no doubting that since his conversion to the right wing in 2007-08, Kuyt has been the best man for that role at our club. Any frustrations over his limitations in that role should be aimed at the men who undermined our club by failing to invest adequately in the squad.
But of course, this is a tribute so focus on his limitations are inappropriate. Instead, let me list some of the reasons why Kuyt has been a fantastic servant to Liverpool Football Club.
> He has scored for us in a European Cup Final.
> Only Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Ian Rush and Roger Hunt have scored more European goals than him.
> Only Steven Gerrard has scored more Champions League goals than him.
> Of the current Liverpool squad, only Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Pepe Reina have made more appearances than him.
> Only Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres have scored more Premiership goals for Liverpool than him.
> Only 12 players who debuted in the last 20 years have played more Liverpool games than his current total of 230: Rob Jones (243), Jamie Redknapp (308), David James (277), Robbie Fowler (369), Jamie Carragher (630), Michael Owen (297), Danny Murphy (249), Steven Gerrard (532), Dietmar Hamann (283), Sami Hyypia (464), John Arne Riise (348) and Pepe Reina (299). In that time 159 players have appeared for the club.
> He has scored career goals against Everton (x5), Arsenal (x3), Chelsea (x3) and now Man United (x3).
> He has also scored Champions League goals against Inter Milan, AC Milan, Marseille and Porto.
> He has scored crucial (late) goals in European knock-out ties against the likes of Standard Liege, Trabzonspor and Sparta Prague.
> In the last 5 seasons, only Reina (246) and Carragher (241) have played more games than him.
> He never gives less than his best and works tirelessly for the team whenever selected.
The song goes “We all dream of a team of Carraghers”. It is clearly meant that we wish every member of the team had Carragher’s commitment and not his skill set. For the same reason, it could also be sung that “We all dream of a team of Dirk Kuyts”. And for the record, if a team of Dirk Kuyts played a team of Carraghers, the Kuyts would win by a cricket score!
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
What is important this season?
The reactions of football fans intrigue me. Liverpool lost to West Ham on Sunday with a pretty disjointed and disappointing performance but to hear some people, you would think it was the end of the world.
In reality, it was probably the end of our very slim hopes of nicking a Champions League place – if it wasn’t, Chelsea’s win over Man Utd last night surely was – but the odds of us achieving that were so slim that I thought it would take a miracle to happen. Clearly some people got so carried away with our recent good form that they had begun to think of Champions League qualification as ours to throw away. Nonsense.
When you have unrealistic expectations, you are going to be disappointed more often than not. I’ve seen that a lot in recent seasons. When Rafa led us to within a smidgen of winning the title in 2009 only to be robbed by bent officialdom at Old Trafford, people claimed we threw away the title. That season we achieved our record number of points in the Premiership; we achieved the highest total by any runner up in Premiership history; we finished above both Arsenal and Chelsea who had finished 25 and 37 points respectively above us in Rafa’s first season at Anfield just 5 seasons earlier; we scored the most goals and had the best goal difference in the League; we lost the fewest games – fewer than any team that had failed to win the League in Premiership history; we beat Chelsea and Man Utd home and away and absolutely tonked Man Utd at Old Trafford, and we still reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League having battered Real Madrid in the previous round. To some people that wasn’t good enough. To those people this was evidence of negligence and incompetence by our manager.
Those same people deserved what they got when Rafa was sacked and Roy Hodgson was appointed instead. They called Rafa an idiot but were then faced with the shocking reality of a real idiot being in charge at Anfield. Had FSG not sacked Hodgson, I’m convinced he would have relegated us. Thankfully, we got rid before it was too late. It still should have happened sooner in my opinion (to be honest, he never should have been appointed at all) but at least it happened soon enough to give us a fighting chance of finishing comfortably in mid-table.
For King Kenny to then come in and lead us seemingly effortlessly up the table to within striking distance of the top four was way beyond my expectations. When you consider he has done this while having to sell Fernando Torres to Chelsea and hasn’t yet had the benefit of fielding the player signed to replace him, it is even more incredible. He arrested our decline, improved the quality of football on display, reversed our negative goal difference and generally restored the joys and pleasures of supporting Liverpool FC.
After our win against Chelsea, I did dare to dream of us usurping them and stealing the fourth Champions League spot but I knew it was extremely unlikely and that it would have required title-winning form between now and May to accomplish. Realistically, that was never going to happen and it’s clear looking back that what Kenny did was get us winning the sort of games we should be winning – something Hodgson was never able to do. From that winning run in what was essentially a kind set of fixtures - Wolves (a), Fulham (h), Stoke (h) – the team acquired the form and confidence to go and win at Chelsea. However, since then we have returned to the sort of patchy form I expected when Kenny took the job. We were robbed blind against Wigan (h) but deserved what we got at West Ham.
With some tough fixtures remaining, I expect the remainder of the season to be an even mixture of wins, draws and defeats and I expect we will finish around where we are in the table now – 6th or 7th. That remains an impressive achievement given the relegation battle Hodgson left us facing.
The icing on the cake would be a Europa League win. At least that’s how I see it but some fans disagree. There seems to be a large number of Liverpool supporters who think we should focus on the League and field reserve teams in Europe’s secondary competition. I just don’t understand their logic.
What can we achieve domestically this season? The best realistic outcome is that we secure 5th place and seal Europa League qualification for next year – but what is the point if we don’t value the competition when we’re actually in it?
The likelihood is that our best route to qualify for a European competition next season is to win the one we are currently playing in.
However, next season is for next season. We still have a chance of winning a trophy this season. Whether you rate the Europa League or not, it is the only competition we can win this season and as such, I consider it to be our number one priority.
Winning trophies is what Liverpool Football Club is all about. In fact, I would go so far as to say winning trophies is what football is all about. Why enter competitions unless you want to win them? Why support the team season after season if you don’t care whether they actually win anything?
Of course I want Liverpool to be challenging for and winning the Premiership and the Champions League but those objectives were beyond us before the first ball was kicked this season. After that, the next priority had to be the FA Cup. Thanks to a twat of a third round draw and a bent performance by Manchester United’s Howard Webb, that was beyond us after just one game. Next priority? For me, the Europa League still has more prestige than the League Cup. In any case, thanks to Hodgson and his master class in motivating “B-team” players, that was also beyond us after just one game.
We can still lift silverware in Dublin in May. The Europa League Final might not have the pizzazz of the European Cup Final but we are currently light-years away from even having a chance of playing in that one. While we rattle around amongst the also-rans waiting for our time to come again, wouldn’t it be better if we could pick up the odd trophy along the way?
Let me put it another way, what do the following players have in common: Arbeloa, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Benayoun, Kuyt, Rodriguez, Riera, Babel, Keane and Torres? Answer: All of them won or have won nothing with Liverpool FC (excluding the Community Shield in Agger’s case). Kuyt and Aurelio have been with us for five seasons. Mascherano and Arbeloa joined the same year. Torres, Babel, Benayoun, Lucas and Skrtel all joined the following season. Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Rodriguez, Riera and Keane joined after. After our Champions League Final defeat in Athens, we’ve come close to reaching another Champions League Final, a Europa League Final and just missed out on a League title but we’ve failed to add to our collection of silverware.
Keane, Arbeloa, Benayoun, Riera, Mascherano, Babel and Torres have all been and gone leaving us with no memories of them parading trophies.
Champions League football is important to keep existing players happy and attract new ones but that alone is not enough. Above all else, players want to win medals. They want to be raising trophies as ticker tape rains down around them and supporters laud them as heroes.
Yes, the Europa League is a second-rate competition. Yes, it is less prestigious than the UEFA Cup was when we last won it in 2001. Yes, it was not our first priority at the start of this season and won’t be at the start of next season (assuming we qualify). But it is the only chance we have of celebrating with our team on the last day of our season.
For the departed players it is too late to win a trophy but for the likes of Carroll, Meireles and Kelly, what a way to start!
In reality, it was probably the end of our very slim hopes of nicking a Champions League place – if it wasn’t, Chelsea’s win over Man Utd last night surely was – but the odds of us achieving that were so slim that I thought it would take a miracle to happen. Clearly some people got so carried away with our recent good form that they had begun to think of Champions League qualification as ours to throw away. Nonsense.
When you have unrealistic expectations, you are going to be disappointed more often than not. I’ve seen that a lot in recent seasons. When Rafa led us to within a smidgen of winning the title in 2009 only to be robbed by bent officialdom at Old Trafford, people claimed we threw away the title. That season we achieved our record number of points in the Premiership; we achieved the highest total by any runner up in Premiership history; we finished above both Arsenal and Chelsea who had finished 25 and 37 points respectively above us in Rafa’s first season at Anfield just 5 seasons earlier; we scored the most goals and had the best goal difference in the League; we lost the fewest games – fewer than any team that had failed to win the League in Premiership history; we beat Chelsea and Man Utd home and away and absolutely tonked Man Utd at Old Trafford, and we still reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League having battered Real Madrid in the previous round. To some people that wasn’t good enough. To those people this was evidence of negligence and incompetence by our manager.
Those same people deserved what they got when Rafa was sacked and Roy Hodgson was appointed instead. They called Rafa an idiot but were then faced with the shocking reality of a real idiot being in charge at Anfield. Had FSG not sacked Hodgson, I’m convinced he would have relegated us. Thankfully, we got rid before it was too late. It still should have happened sooner in my opinion (to be honest, he never should have been appointed at all) but at least it happened soon enough to give us a fighting chance of finishing comfortably in mid-table.
For King Kenny to then come in and lead us seemingly effortlessly up the table to within striking distance of the top four was way beyond my expectations. When you consider he has done this while having to sell Fernando Torres to Chelsea and hasn’t yet had the benefit of fielding the player signed to replace him, it is even more incredible. He arrested our decline, improved the quality of football on display, reversed our negative goal difference and generally restored the joys and pleasures of supporting Liverpool FC.
After our win against Chelsea, I did dare to dream of us usurping them and stealing the fourth Champions League spot but I knew it was extremely unlikely and that it would have required title-winning form between now and May to accomplish. Realistically, that was never going to happen and it’s clear looking back that what Kenny did was get us winning the sort of games we should be winning – something Hodgson was never able to do. From that winning run in what was essentially a kind set of fixtures - Wolves (a), Fulham (h), Stoke (h) – the team acquired the form and confidence to go and win at Chelsea. However, since then we have returned to the sort of patchy form I expected when Kenny took the job. We were robbed blind against Wigan (h) but deserved what we got at West Ham.
With some tough fixtures remaining, I expect the remainder of the season to be an even mixture of wins, draws and defeats and I expect we will finish around where we are in the table now – 6th or 7th. That remains an impressive achievement given the relegation battle Hodgson left us facing.
The icing on the cake would be a Europa League win. At least that’s how I see it but some fans disagree. There seems to be a large number of Liverpool supporters who think we should focus on the League and field reserve teams in Europe’s secondary competition. I just don’t understand their logic.
What can we achieve domestically this season? The best realistic outcome is that we secure 5th place and seal Europa League qualification for next year – but what is the point if we don’t value the competition when we’re actually in it?
The likelihood is that our best route to qualify for a European competition next season is to win the one we are currently playing in.
However, next season is for next season. We still have a chance of winning a trophy this season. Whether you rate the Europa League or not, it is the only competition we can win this season and as such, I consider it to be our number one priority.
Winning trophies is what Liverpool Football Club is all about. In fact, I would go so far as to say winning trophies is what football is all about. Why enter competitions unless you want to win them? Why support the team season after season if you don’t care whether they actually win anything?
Of course I want Liverpool to be challenging for and winning the Premiership and the Champions League but those objectives were beyond us before the first ball was kicked this season. After that, the next priority had to be the FA Cup. Thanks to a twat of a third round draw and a bent performance by Manchester United’s Howard Webb, that was beyond us after just one game. Next priority? For me, the Europa League still has more prestige than the League Cup. In any case, thanks to Hodgson and his master class in motivating “B-team” players, that was also beyond us after just one game.
We can still lift silverware in Dublin in May. The Europa League Final might not have the pizzazz of the European Cup Final but we are currently light-years away from even having a chance of playing in that one. While we rattle around amongst the also-rans waiting for our time to come again, wouldn’t it be better if we could pick up the odd trophy along the way?
Let me put it another way, what do the following players have in common: Arbeloa, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Benayoun, Kuyt, Rodriguez, Riera, Babel, Keane and Torres? Answer: All of them won or have won nothing with Liverpool FC (excluding the Community Shield in Agger’s case). Kuyt and Aurelio have been with us for five seasons. Mascherano and Arbeloa joined the same year. Torres, Babel, Benayoun, Lucas and Skrtel all joined the following season. Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Rodriguez, Riera and Keane joined after. After our Champions League Final defeat in Athens, we’ve come close to reaching another Champions League Final, a Europa League Final and just missed out on a League title but we’ve failed to add to our collection of silverware.
Keane, Arbeloa, Benayoun, Riera, Mascherano, Babel and Torres have all been and gone leaving us with no memories of them parading trophies.
Champions League football is important to keep existing players happy and attract new ones but that alone is not enough. Above all else, players want to win medals. They want to be raising trophies as ticker tape rains down around them and supporters laud them as heroes.
Yes, the Europa League is a second-rate competition. Yes, it is less prestigious than the UEFA Cup was when we last won it in 2001. Yes, it was not our first priority at the start of this season and won’t be at the start of next season (assuming we qualify). But it is the only chance we have of celebrating with our team on the last day of our season.
For the departed players it is too late to win a trophy but for the likes of Carroll, Meireles and Kelly, what a way to start!
Saturday, 19 February 2011
A bit of an aimless rant about the FA Cup
With us having no game this weekend, I’ve had nothing obvious to write about.
I could write about the cretins, Hicks and Gillett who have been back in the headlines this week due to their ongoing attempts to salvage some cash from the train wreck that was their ‘custodianship’ of Liverpool FC. I could but I won’t because I’m sick to death of the pair of them. They are no longer relevant to Liverpool Football Club. They came; they caused an awful lot of damage; they were booted out and now finally the club is heading forwards again - albeit from a very low starting position. So screw Hicks and Gillett. They are pathetic individuals bereft of class, honour and moral fibre but they are no longer relevant to Liverpool Football Club and are therefore no longer relevant to me.
In the end, I decided the only thing worth writing about is the reason why we have no game this weekend... The FA Cup. The Cup we were eliminated from after a single match.
Let me tell you this: I fucking hate the FA Cup. Why? Because it fucking hates me.
My first memory as a Liverpool supporter was the 1986 FA Cup Final when we beat Everton 3-1 thanks to Rushie’s brace. We went on to win the Cup twice more in the next 6 seasons. Up to that point, I had no issues with the competition but then in 1996 I experienced what remains my most painful memory as a supporter. Beige Armani suits, Spice Boys, a dull-as-ditchwater final and Eric bloody Cantona with a late winner for the Scum. Fergie’s beaming grin. Fowler in tears. The horror. The horror.
What was so painful about that ’96 final was that it undermined everything I believed about Liverpool FC and football in general. You see, having previously been at most a passive fan, by the 1995-96 season I was seriously hooked. I had started listening to the live games on the radio and watching the few games televised on terrestrial TV and I now knew most of the players. I idolised Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman and would get really excited about our games.
I knew that Liverpool was the best team in the world. I knew that we’d had a bad few years because Graeme Souness was a rubbish manager and I knew his removal was all it would take to put us back on top. I knew that Man United were jammy and cheated and didn’t deserve a single one of the trophies they’d taken while Souness had us in the doldrums. I knew that we were better than them – a point proven by our 2-0 win over them at Anfield while I also knew they’d only managed a 2-2 draw against us at Old Trafford because they’d conned the ref into giving them a dodgy penalty. I knew that the only reason we hadn’t won the League in 1996 was because of a nightmare month of November when we were quite clearly jinxed. I knew that in the previous two years when my family had moved house (1989 and 1992), Liverpool had won the Cup and we’d moved again in 1996 so it was fated that we would win it.
I sat down to watch that match with my Dad with absolutely 100% certainty that we were going to be lifting the trophy after full time. That full-time whistle was like a dagger through the heart.
The season after, I had to work during our FA Cup fourth round tie at Chelsea. As I scrubbed dishes in the kitchen of the Bay Horse, one of the waitresses stuck her head through the door to say “1-0. Fowler”. She later returned with the message “2-0. Collymore”. I finished my shift and walked home knowing my Dad had recorded the match for me. I couldn’t wait to watch it. As I walked into my house, the match had just finished and I accidentally saw the scoreline 4-2 flashed on the telly. I thought “Wow, we scored 4! I wonder who got the other 2?”. I took the tape upstairs to my room and sat down to watch it. Sure enough, we went 1-0 up (Fowler), then 2-0 (Collymore). Then Chelsea pulled one back. Then another. Then another... I waited for Chelsea’s third to be disallowed but the celebrations of the home team continued. “Hang on!” I thought. It suddenly dawned on me that perhaps Chelsea had won 4-2; not Liverpool. I fast-forwarded through the rest of the game and found it to be true. We were out in round 4. Gutted! How could this happen? Chelsea were shit. Liverpool were the best.
A year later as we went out of the Cup in the 3rd Round at home to Coventry City, I now knew that Liverpool were not the best. Not by a long way. You see, Roy Evans was the problem. Like Souness before him, he was holding us back from reclaiming our rightful status of World’s Best Club. He had to go.
In came Gerard Houllier. In 1998-99, a hard-earned win at Port Vale set us up for the “tie of the round” against Man Ure at Old Trafford. Shorn of Evans, we were about to show Man Ure that we were back. We went 1-0 up after just 3 minutes and held that lead until we were within touching distance of full-time. Then Nicky Butt tripped over the ball in the vicinity of Jamie Redknapp and Graham Poll awarded a farcical free-kick from which United scored an 88th minute equaliser. Bastards. “Still, at least we’ll do them in the replay at Anfield,” I thought but then in stoppage time Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stole a stomach-churning winner and our season was over in January.
The next season we went out in the fourth round at home to Blackburn – who were then in the division below the Premiership – but in 2000-01 we finally got beyond round 4 and went on to win the bastard!!!!
2001-02 saw us dumped out at Highbury in the fourth round after Carragher was sent off for returning a coin to an Arsenal supporter who had lobbed it at him. 2002-03 saw us dumped out in round 4 again and once again it was at home to opponents from a lower division – this time Crystal Palace. In 2003-04 we finally got beyond round 4 but no further after we failed to beat Portsmouth at home and lost the replay. In 2004-05 we went out in round 3 at Burnley thanks to THAT Djimi Traore own goal. Then in 2005-06 we won it again! Hallelujah!!! By now, Rafa had us back amongst the big boys so surely we could expect to see more regular cup runs? Er... No.
In 2006-07 we went out in round 3 at home to Arsenal (on my fucking birthday). In 2007-08 we went out in round 5 at home to Barnsley(!!!). In 2008-09 we went out in round 4 to Everton. In 2009-10 we went out in the 3rd round to Reading(!!!). Finally, this season we went out in round 3 to Man Ure.
In summary, in the last five years we have played just eight FA Cup ties and lost five of them. Those we won were against the mighty Luton Town, Havant & Waterlooville and Preston North End. It is basically a competition that heaps misery on us and brings very little joy most years.
In some ways I should feel grateful that we’ve reached 3 Finals and won 2 during the period that I could label myself a true Liverpool fanatic. Only the dirty Mancs, Arsenal and Chelsea can boast better records. My issue is that in those years when we haven’t won it, we’ve usually gone out in round 4 with the occasional appearance in round 5 offset by a number of falls at the first hurdle. Yes, we occasionally win it, but overall, we are rubbish in the FA Cup and that is why I hate it.
I could write about the cretins, Hicks and Gillett who have been back in the headlines this week due to their ongoing attempts to salvage some cash from the train wreck that was their ‘custodianship’ of Liverpool FC. I could but I won’t because I’m sick to death of the pair of them. They are no longer relevant to Liverpool Football Club. They came; they caused an awful lot of damage; they were booted out and now finally the club is heading forwards again - albeit from a very low starting position. So screw Hicks and Gillett. They are pathetic individuals bereft of class, honour and moral fibre but they are no longer relevant to Liverpool Football Club and are therefore no longer relevant to me.
In the end, I decided the only thing worth writing about is the reason why we have no game this weekend... The FA Cup. The Cup we were eliminated from after a single match.
Let me tell you this: I fucking hate the FA Cup. Why? Because it fucking hates me.
My first memory as a Liverpool supporter was the 1986 FA Cup Final when we beat Everton 3-1 thanks to Rushie’s brace. We went on to win the Cup twice more in the next 6 seasons. Up to that point, I had no issues with the competition but then in 1996 I experienced what remains my most painful memory as a supporter. Beige Armani suits, Spice Boys, a dull-as-ditchwater final and Eric bloody Cantona with a late winner for the Scum. Fergie’s beaming grin. Fowler in tears. The horror. The horror.
What was so painful about that ’96 final was that it undermined everything I believed about Liverpool FC and football in general. You see, having previously been at most a passive fan, by the 1995-96 season I was seriously hooked. I had started listening to the live games on the radio and watching the few games televised on terrestrial TV and I now knew most of the players. I idolised Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman and would get really excited about our games.
I knew that Liverpool was the best team in the world. I knew that we’d had a bad few years because Graeme Souness was a rubbish manager and I knew his removal was all it would take to put us back on top. I knew that Man United were jammy and cheated and didn’t deserve a single one of the trophies they’d taken while Souness had us in the doldrums. I knew that we were better than them – a point proven by our 2-0 win over them at Anfield while I also knew they’d only managed a 2-2 draw against us at Old Trafford because they’d conned the ref into giving them a dodgy penalty. I knew that the only reason we hadn’t won the League in 1996 was because of a nightmare month of November when we were quite clearly jinxed. I knew that in the previous two years when my family had moved house (1989 and 1992), Liverpool had won the Cup and we’d moved again in 1996 so it was fated that we would win it.
I sat down to watch that match with my Dad with absolutely 100% certainty that we were going to be lifting the trophy after full time. That full-time whistle was like a dagger through the heart.
The season after, I had to work during our FA Cup fourth round tie at Chelsea. As I scrubbed dishes in the kitchen of the Bay Horse, one of the waitresses stuck her head through the door to say “1-0. Fowler”. She later returned with the message “2-0. Collymore”. I finished my shift and walked home knowing my Dad had recorded the match for me. I couldn’t wait to watch it. As I walked into my house, the match had just finished and I accidentally saw the scoreline 4-2 flashed on the telly. I thought “Wow, we scored 4! I wonder who got the other 2?”. I took the tape upstairs to my room and sat down to watch it. Sure enough, we went 1-0 up (Fowler), then 2-0 (Collymore). Then Chelsea pulled one back. Then another. Then another... I waited for Chelsea’s third to be disallowed but the celebrations of the home team continued. “Hang on!” I thought. It suddenly dawned on me that perhaps Chelsea had won 4-2; not Liverpool. I fast-forwarded through the rest of the game and found it to be true. We were out in round 4. Gutted! How could this happen? Chelsea were shit. Liverpool were the best.
A year later as we went out of the Cup in the 3rd Round at home to Coventry City, I now knew that Liverpool were not the best. Not by a long way. You see, Roy Evans was the problem. Like Souness before him, he was holding us back from reclaiming our rightful status of World’s Best Club. He had to go.
In came Gerard Houllier. In 1998-99, a hard-earned win at Port Vale set us up for the “tie of the round” against Man Ure at Old Trafford. Shorn of Evans, we were about to show Man Ure that we were back. We went 1-0 up after just 3 minutes and held that lead until we were within touching distance of full-time. Then Nicky Butt tripped over the ball in the vicinity of Jamie Redknapp and Graham Poll awarded a farcical free-kick from which United scored an 88th minute equaliser. Bastards. “Still, at least we’ll do them in the replay at Anfield,” I thought but then in stoppage time Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stole a stomach-churning winner and our season was over in January.
The next season we went out in the fourth round at home to Blackburn – who were then in the division below the Premiership – but in 2000-01 we finally got beyond round 4 and went on to win the bastard!!!!
2001-02 saw us dumped out at Highbury in the fourth round after Carragher was sent off for returning a coin to an Arsenal supporter who had lobbed it at him. 2002-03 saw us dumped out in round 4 again and once again it was at home to opponents from a lower division – this time Crystal Palace. In 2003-04 we finally got beyond round 4 but no further after we failed to beat Portsmouth at home and lost the replay. In 2004-05 we went out in round 3 at Burnley thanks to THAT Djimi Traore own goal. Then in 2005-06 we won it again! Hallelujah!!! By now, Rafa had us back amongst the big boys so surely we could expect to see more regular cup runs? Er... No.
In 2006-07 we went out in round 3 at home to Arsenal (on my fucking birthday). In 2007-08 we went out in round 5 at home to Barnsley(!!!). In 2008-09 we went out in round 4 to Everton. In 2009-10 we went out in the 3rd round to Reading(!!!). Finally, this season we went out in round 3 to Man Ure.
In summary, in the last five years we have played just eight FA Cup ties and lost five of them. Those we won were against the mighty Luton Town, Havant & Waterlooville and Preston North End. It is basically a competition that heaps misery on us and brings very little joy most years.
In some ways I should feel grateful that we’ve reached 3 Finals and won 2 during the period that I could label myself a true Liverpool fanatic. Only the dirty Mancs, Arsenal and Chelsea can boast better records. My issue is that in those years when we haven’t won it, we’ve usually gone out in round 4 with the occasional appearance in round 5 offset by a number of falls at the first hurdle. Yes, we occasionally win it, but overall, we are rubbish in the FA Cup and that is why I hate it.
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