Liverpool 0-0 Braga : A severe lack of creativity

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Yet again we have to experience these under par performances, probably quite hopefully i thought that the days of these matches in which we just can’t seem to find the cutting edge were gone with the Roy era. Unfortunately for us the lack of pace and creativity in our side comes back to haunt us for not the first time this season. Too many times there were backwards passes and a lack of desire to take a man on. Of course we did not have our share of luck in this match many soft free kicks for Braga and some strange linesman decisions the height of it, and of course the incredibly unlucky header from Andy Carroll who was denied what looked to be a goal by who of all people, Dirk Kuyt.

The performance itself as uninspiring as it was will give Kenny, Comolli and John Henry alot of food for thought:

1. The already too obvious problem of our poor wing play showed tonight, in order to properly utilise Carroll we need wingers with pace and a good end product. This doesn’t even really need to be said as I am almost certain plans are being put in place for the summer to solve this problem

2. At even this early stage in his Anfield career Luis Suarez already seems to be one of the linchpins of our best eleven. The amazing trickery and creativity which he showed against Man United was missed tonight. Although he was obviously cup tied, I think it tonight showed us how important a player he is

3. Even though there have been some poor performances from our Captain Fantastic this season we still could have used his drive and influence in midfield, which tonight showed a frustratingly large amount of negativity.

4. An obvious lack of motivation in the Europa League has been a problem this season. We seem to be watching two different teams when we watch performances like 3-1 against Man United and tonight’s result.

So where do we go from here? Obviously all glimmer of some silverware has been diminished with tonight’s performance. I have no doubt that we will see a much better performance on Sunday away to Sunderland. Hopefully the disappointment of this season will serve as motivation to add some updated silverware to our illustrious Trophy room next season.

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21 Comments

  1. sorry mate i for one never expected us to win any silverware this season as we dont have the players to lead us through and at the most time we needed our captain fantastic to spur us on he’s crocked and decimated by injuries.where i suggest we go from here is lets go all out in the summer acquire players in their right positions that would comfortably fit in those urgent positions in the team e.g 1.Left back(we need a real left full back with both defensive and attacking abilities)2. An established creative central Midfielder that would unlock stubborn defences and create goals either by long range passing qualities,short range or any kind of creativity. 3. Right winger that would run at defenses and cross quality balls into the box. 4 Left winger that would run at defenses and put across quality balls into the box for strikers to get on end of it. 5 Another supporting striker that would aid our existing strike force in caroll,suarez,kuyt..Ngog cant be relied upon as he is still an apprentice in the trade and hasnt done himself favours at allk by bringing in something special to the team which he lacks.i rest my case

  2. I dont kno what to say ! Ngog did shoot bt didnt later took advantage of header ! Our team is not ready , kuyt showed some work at last moments, we are not attacking n lack of goal attempts on target are also seen ! Maxi got a shot but wasted it , even raul ! We gota keep attacking n not back pass ! We need to keep shooting on target even away from box ! Suarez is required but our midfield looks broken – cole,spearing,lucas were poor ! We need lot lot lot improvements ! We gotta start playing attacking football for survival ! Hope kenny does somethin !

    Can any1 tel me how we can improve our midfield at current state without gerrard ?

  3. We really need strong midfielders …..we gotta change our average midfielder who plays below average – spearing ,cole,lucas ,poulsen ,maxi out to bench ! Hope our summer transfer bring some of linked players like gago,sanchez,honda,slyvain,etc

  4. Brai – ur right but we need a european spot to attract future transfers – we somehow needs to cover our weakness ! Hope we play like against man u to rest of league games n hope top teams above us lose to other teams!

  5. Without wingers and a mobile playmaker like Charlie Adam Liverpool are going nowhere. Carragher and Skrtel just hoof the ball aimlessly upfield.

  6. Disappointing all round except for the graft of Kuyt and Carroll’s aerial ability but again King Kenny cannot do miracles with this squad. We needed a revamp last summer but we couldn’t afford it. Maybe we’ll buy two quality wingers (left and right), a creative midfielder, a left back and a central defender. If not we’ll be struggling. If we do, we won’t have the distraction of the Europa League and we can concentrate on a top four position in the PL. Wishful thinking maybe but it’s really up to John W Henry et al now!

  7. Our whole midfield is the worst part of the team.

    Lucas, Maxi, Cole, Kuyt (as a right winger) etc.. we have a 2nd rate midfield. Alonso and Masch were never replaced in centre midfield with the same quality. We need wingers with skill and pace.

    Skrtel, Lucas, Kuyt, Cole etc.. should all only be substitutes in a top class Liverpool side.

  8. if we want to improve our midfield @ Akshay,we need a holding mildfielder that would sit infron of the back four then we would have other midfielders buzzing around the midfield without much panic and we would make full use of our right and left full backs but we seem to be lacking in the left full back and we need proper wingers not shy to run at defenders and put across balls into the box and fall back to assist the full backs..in my opinion that could be one of the solution as we know the best way to defend is to attack..

  9. what i learned from tonight’s game is that Meireles is bad as a center midfielder..he’s better behind the striker.also maxi is average(AT BEST),J.Cole is a Chelsea reject nowhere near Liverpool quality,Kuyt looks average at times too,Lucas’s performance bad today,Johnson also bad..i can say that the only good players in the pitch were Reina,Carragher,Skrtel and Carroll..for me the best was Carroll fighting for the ball even though he didnt have any support at all..and Liverpool’s subs”Spearing and Ngog”…come on that aint the Liverpool of old..Spearing and Ngog will never be players to lift a team like Liverpool..i am very optimistic about the summer and since we’re out of the europa league i dont care at all..what i care is the rebuilding to start come summer..to get the best out of Carroll you need crosses,width and wingers with pace..
    Reina
    Johnson Carragher Agger Taiwo
    Young Gerrard Adam Dzsudzsak
    Suarez Carroll
    Bench:Gulacsi,Skrtel,Cahill,Kelly,Izaquirre,Lucas,Meireles,Elia,Marveaux,Kuyt,Bojan..YNWA..that’s a Liverpool squad to dream of..

  10. We’ve played like this for nearly two years now it’s easy to blame Roy or even rafa but the players must step up to the plate I don’t think we need a mass clear a few should go but we need width and pace and not realie on
    a select few YNWA

  11. We were poor, they pressed us in their half, we coughed up possession to easy. Plus point andy was great but needed more support! Onwards and upwards.LFC

  12. @glen : Yea ngog played n did okay except misin tat header but he shot one !! Adam looks interestd in spurs since they can make it to europe , we need perotta,gago,sanchez,dzsudzsek etc ! A transfer budget above 50 milion required

  13. completely disappointing. if we’re just going to hoof the ball upfield why even play a midfield? we should have played 4 defenders and 6 forwards.

  14. Leave this match ! Lets wait for sunday match where our 57 m strike force wil be unleashed – suarez n carroll wil shake the nets ! Suarez(cannibal of ajax) rocks
    YNWA

  15. Kenny – you absolutely right, you do not see ANY players at Barcelona hoof the ball upfield hoping for the best.

    We need players with skills that unlock defences like Bragas, Stokes, Wolves of this world. That is why we do much better against quality teams.

    Lets get Charlie Adam & Sanchez before MANURE get them, otherwise will be facing them as well! Lets get Mat Jarvis from Wolves for the LW ( if nothing else a relatively cheap but very decent squad player.
    Lucas is too slow himself, slows the moves, give far too many free kicks in very dangerous areas and our WHOLE MOVEMENT breaks down through him.Maxi’s has been a passenger which we could do without.
    We should be able to raise substantial funds by selling a lot of the existing players as mentioned by others. The monies raised together with hopefully £50mil+ from the new owners would mean that we can bring 5-6 top class young stars.

    At the end of the storm, there is a golden sky
    Walk on through the wind
    Walk on through the rain
    With your hopes in your heart
    Walk on—–Walk on
    You’ll NEVER WALK ALONE

  16. liverpool players are too reserved and don dare to play upfront. only few players has the drive which is gerrard, agger, kelly, johnson, suarez. they are the driver of the team. kuyt too has drive but always ended his drive with a poor control. lucas is merely an average player but he play consistently he makes opponent midfielder difficult and makes interception when rquired. meireles is not creative but he actually have really good positioning like maxi but certainly better finishing that maxi. carroll as a target man will need a speedy striker and kuyt don fits that bill, suarez do. spearing looks not physically strong enough to play at central midfield. it would be better if he is a winger with speedy legs.

  17. What I seriously did not expect was the total lack of urgency to remedy the situation by coming out of the blocks like a bat out of hell. Pining them back and doing everything creative or not to first put us back in terms and then tearing them apart. Teams with less creativity have shown that wanting to win is good enough to pave the way to success. It was european night. It was Anfield. We know what to expect from the team but sadly they thought they could do it at a stroll. I don’t want to go and state about the quality that the players on show had and will leave it to Kenny to decide who deserves to stay and go. But what a difference Suarez would have made. He is seriously the one player in the team now who can change a game and pull the rest up to his demanding need to win. I think we should have played the 3 men defence and set johnson and whoever free to stomp down the flanks. That somehow allows the team to be exciting. And now with such a target man as Carroll, it will all come to nought if we can’t get quality crosses in. Hopefully this happens with Sylvian or Young coming in. Now we really need to get 4th as even 5th might not be good enough. Remember lads. Every game a cup final. Subs in the 74th minute can change things much and please give Pacheco a go. We might not need to buy if we already have. YNWA.

  18. A) I guess Johnson was instructed to play the “holding right back/wing”. What is the point of playing wide if Carra has more “crosses” than you do?

    B) Maxi would be a star if he played for our local team. 50 minute games, indoor, canvas shoes, pot/beer break at halftime. Anyone know his phone number?

    C) I have a website for Ngog – Monster.com. Anyone have his email address?

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