Kaustav Bose
Liverpool Fc Fading ..”Top Four” Class..No More..??
Wigan 1 Liverpool 0, “Benitez: We Deserved to Lose” ..One result, One
honest confession..both extremely dissappointing..yet undeniable
facts..Just after the Man City match..Liverpool legends like Rush and
Collymore put forth their notion that Liverpool had the easiest
run-in..and that could take them to top four..Given the club Liverpool
fc are such comments were very comforting for the fans..however in all
probability, after this match the Top four spot spot looks far from
reality for the REDS..
Sometimes it really is baffling to understand why or how a team that
showed such top form only last season can go through such a rough
patch…What could have gone wrong? The players are mostly the
same..The coach is the same..Yes, the investment of other teams have
increased, true..but still such a deplorable plight still remains a
mystery…
I say this simply because when you see the players on the pitch now
and every attribute of their play..you have to feel how could they
have ever played the way they played last season..They just don’t look
hungry enough..but Why ?
Some may agree that we needed Alonso and we miss him…that would be
the silliest answers to this gaping problem..Manchester United sold
out Ronaldo..and still they manage to fight for the top honors..Thats
what makes a great club..how hated a rival they may be, those are the
things that makes fans proud of their team..Sorry, the Reds haven’t
quite shown that mettle..
Rafa’s tactics too have been very debateable and very defensive,
however that did work for the first two months this year (or for the
most of it)..at least..
There has been injuries to players, bad luck and a host of other
factors..but if that meant Liverpool loses to the likes of Wigan or
Portsmouth(the way they have played this season..)..something is
wrong..terribly wrong..
Its time that the Reds fans start fearing a lot of things. With the
Top four spot now realistically out of their own reach and down to the
rest of the teams in the league to do them favors and too often..the
chances of CL play almost looks over..(some fans may think Why at all
did Rafa refute the play-offs..a top seven was a manageable option at
least)..
Some fans may also belive that our key players may well be sold
of..Well, I hope that don’t occur..but anyways the world is not bereft
of footballing talents anyway..
However, not getting into that..one thing is pretty sure that,
Liverpool fc really have deserved this state of affairs, going by the
poorest of poor performances..and yes, the team doesn’t that cannot
handle relegation contenders can never be expected to ward off CL
rival teams..and after this Wigan performance even the Lille match
would seem very very tough..At least Lille has more stars..
The pro-Rafa supporters are losing out on steam and that is
expected..The only way to respond to critics would be by giving out of
the skin performances and that has been thoroughly missing..Whether
the players are already thinking of the World Cup or whatever..the
club is performing as a team deserving a mid-table standing..and thats
how it stands now..
May be Winning all the matches now on ..could secure some respite from
crtitics..but even such a feat (which is quite unimaginable at least
the way they are playing now and moreover with Chelsea and Manchester
united games left..) will not power them to a top four unless the the
other contenders for the spot show that they are way ahead in throwing
away matches..
Its really a tough time, and frankly waiting for 14 months at least
for a champions league berth is highly likely..and within that period
a lot has to change at Liverpool fc and for the good..even if it means
revamping a major part of the outfit..
Some of them look sadly past their prime..and even though once great
servants to the club, LFC should be able to find better talents
replacing them..It’ll be tough..but the Reds need it..along with
investors to come to their aid..however performances like these could
affect that too in some ways..
The once “mighty” REDs are really fading away and even if top four
spot is not won at the end of the season as is seemingly
likely..Liverpool fc could still win some hearts by their displays in
the matches to come.. Reds fans like us deserve to see more efforts
put in by the players and even after such a disgraceful
performances..the only bright thing left for fans is that.. The coming
performances could and should only be better or else very few if
forced out of the club (and that includes Rafa too) will be missed..
For some reason, i KNEW we would lose last night. You could tell after about the 30minute mark that we’d never looked like scoring.
Of course, injuries have played a part in our season, however, when Gerrard AND Torres were out injured (supposidly our two main players) and we played Aquilani in midfield with Benni and Kuyt upfront, did we win those matches? Yes.
Mascherano was employed at RB. Ok. Good for him to step in and a great job he did, BUT again, WHY when we have fit, capable RBs in Kelly or Darby do we not bring them in for a game or two so players arent out of position?! Gerrard too far back, defensive Midfielder, looking like he couldnt be arsed to be there and i noticed, his passing in relation to Lucas, it’s like he doesnt trust him with the ball.
Lucas and Masch make some important tackles in midfield…they’re important to the team. But do we need both?! LAST season, when we had Alonso, i’d remember, we’d play Masch with Alonso, play very attacking until we’d got a grasp or a hold of a game and usually we’d sub Alonso for Lucas to hold the midfield for the last 15/20mins of games. Our defensive minded tactics dont work mostly….because there are TOO many square passes going on in Midfield…NO FORWARD THINKING.
Which is WHY we need to play Aqui alongside Masch or Lucas. I’d prefer Masch. I like Lucas – i’m no hater like a lot of fans out there. Why would you pay £20mil to keep him on the bench now. When Aquilani came on last night, he DID NOT give the ball away once. He allowed fluidity and intelligence through the midfield and we pushed up the pitch more. Of course, he only played for 30mins or so, but he is now FIT and it makes me QUESTION WHY Rafa feels the need to babysit him? He is NOT injured and against a team like Wigan where we needed creativity to mix it up and calm the game down… he was warming his seat on the bench.
Kuyt, has been off and on this season and unfortunately, that is twice, i think if my memory serves me right, he gave away a similar ball against Fulham which led to a goal. One bad mistake, but in general a bad night for him and he should have been subbed at half time for Babel.
Maybe too many players are thinking about the World Cup….but yes i agree that some of our players are past their best and i will probably be shot for saying this, but my problems stem from Gerrard. Im not going all out to say it’s his fault….
However his attitude this season has been questionable.
Of course he is an important player for us, but mostly.. we look to him to find something from a game – inspiration and sometimes he has non. We look for him to find a killer a pass and sometimes it breaks up play. Ive been watching this for a fair while now and it’s stuttering passes, hesitant play, sloppy play which costs us games.
Lastly…it’s out of hands now, 4th place. Like the C-League, we relied on other teams losing, which they of course didnt. We need other teams to drop points and we need to keep winning to even get a sniff of 4th place. I think it’s a real mixture of things which has caused our drop in form this season…too many to argue.
But for me?! Come summer….it wouldnt surprise me if we see a complete overhaul of our team…maybe even the manager.
overhaul it must be if we don’t win at least 6 of the remaining games..I have supported RAFA all the time..but he is making Liverpool fc now like an Italian club..defence defence ..and more defence..for a team like liverpool whose main weapon was attack and scoring goals..are now just defending..with defensive midfielders all around, and Gerrard also slipping low..
I think you can see in Gerrard he has some of the belief in the team this season. He has carried this team for the last few season’s while Rafa makes short-term, badly judged buys and eventually he was going to burn out and nobody else is there to step up.
I agree with you Allie, the two holding players in midfield, when it’s a MUST win game and you loosing. I am sick of safety first football. The football under this manager has gone from being steady to dull. The lack of creativity in this team actually makes me feel quite depressed.
I say a change in the manager and coaching staff this summer. Someone who knows what it means to play for this club and the supporters.
AND sorry for the spelling in my post, I was typing when I should really be working!
Again your all attacking Rafa for his decisions? Did we not have attacking players playing yesterday or something or did I watch a completly different game. It’s the players fault for how we played last night, even if we’d played 4 up front, we still would have been missing passes, ball watching, and generally not going anywhere with the ball. Half the time we are relying on everton style long balls for some reason.
I remember the days of free flowing, attacking football with decent wingers and 2 strikers. We are set up to play defensively. I think Rafa has become that scared to lose he is setting us up too defensive-minded. I’ve had enough now, irrespective of the yank owners I want Rafa to go- he is taking us backwards- I dont think even the mose dedicated Rafa fan (are you listening mr Tompkinson?) can argue any more. We’ve all walked through several storms this season but it’s turned into a tsunami for me.
Same team practically minus Arbeloa and Alonso. I’m beginning to think Alonso was a MUCH bigger blow than anticipated. I think I’ve been in denial…