Well, first of all, I still havent come to terms that THAT Liverpool side could loose to struggling Wigan. Its almost embarassing now.
Hicks & Gillett are to be blamed for our current situation. I support Rafa- but he also deserves blame. But most importantly- the players deserve to be blamed.
H&G may have not given enough funds for players, and probably been the main cause for demoralizing the team on the field because of the situation off the field.
This season Rafa’s tactics havent been up to mark. Instead of attacking teams like we attacked Real, Manu, and Villa in that great week, we are seen playing defensively even at home vs poor opposition. Lets face it- our football is slow paced and boring.
But even still, no matter what tactics we play, or players we have, last nights Liverpool squad should have finished off Wigan. But that wasn’t the case. Our world class players were giving away the ball cheaply, whereas Wigans players predominantly from the Championship showed class. No one in our team could provide a meaning full attack. But Nzogbia was able to take on 3-4 of our players at a time on more then one occasion. Emerson Boyce- their centre back on one occasion (when Torres got a yellow card), got past some 2-3 players from his penalty area, and took it to the Liverpool half! It was rightly said- ‘every single player gave the ball way cheaply in yesterdays game.’
Lets not take anything away from Wigan, they deserved all three points. We got what we deserved. But that game was for us to win. We should have, but with that performance- it wont be fair to the opposition if we got even a point. The players were frustrated. Kuyt shaking his head in dissappointment (for the performance) after he got subsituted summed up everything. On some occasions Kuyt chased down opponents, but when the ball was far from his reach, no one else seem to chase down the opponents.
A few weeks back, when Gerrards performances were below par, people said that he doesn’t have quality players around him other then Torres. But even Gerrard wasn’t great yesterday. He too was frustrated. The time when he couldn’t get the ball into an attacking spot, and just passed it to Lucas and made a sort of gesture to say ‘ you do something, no ones going forward, I cant do anything’ just proved how frustrated he was. Torres falling on the ground after one of his missed chances showed his frustration. Atleast we know that the players are as frustrated as us. But we cant do anything other then cheer louder and louder. The players have to perform on the field. I cant get my head round why they arent. You look at our overall squad- induvidually its actually VERY strong. Why it hasn’t worked out this season beats me.
Anyway, I think I have gone away from the topic I wanted to speak about. I think we should take a long hard look at the table and decide whats going to happen. We can still remain optimistic and say- we will finish in the top 4. Throughout the season I have said it, and have always believed that we will finish in the top 4. But we are reaching the end of the season, we have 9 games left, and I think we are at a point in the season where we should kick-in some realism. Heres how the table will look if Spurs, Mancity, and Villa win their matches in hand:
4. Man City- 55pts
5. Aston Villa- 54pts
6. Tottenham- 52pts
7. Liverpool- 48pts
That will mean we will not only be out of Champions League contention, but also the embarassment of being out of Europa League contention. Mind you, Birmingham can be 2pts behind us if they win their matches in hand. I think we should prepare our self for a worst case scenario. Not being in UCL is bad enough, but out of Europe??
My biggest concern right now is about our star players- im confident they will not leave. But they have to perform NOW for us to avoid embarassment.
I am a Rafa supporter, and always will be, but I think Rafa is more vulnerable to a sacking now then ever before. Im not sure how many fans will support him if we finsih outside the top 6. Wow, I cant believe ive actually had to say ‘finish outside the top 6’ in context with Liverpool. From last season which was suppose to be THE season, to this.
Something has gone horribily wrong, and someone has to fix it. This could be our worst season in ages. The Europa League is our biggest hope right now. We HAVE to win it.
I don’t think I have to say it, I know the fans still have it in them, but:
STILL keep the faith. We can get through this treacherous storm.
YNWA.