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.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
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!
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