Reality Check

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Right let’s get this out of the way early doors…. we were terrible against Sunderland, we have drawn too many games, Dalglish’s record is worse than that of Hodgson’s during his reign, doom, gloom, it’s just not good enough, blah, blah, blah, whatever!
We really do like to focus on the negatives don’t we? I think people fail to remember that we were close to relegation under Hodgson and we had owners that cared more about lining their pockets than the intentions of the club. Now we have a management team and Owners that really have the club at heart and are giving their all to try to rebuild the team we love back to its former glory. Yes we’ve spent £100 million (£50 million less Torres) and some of the players are yet to “shine” but no one can surely say the football we have being playing recently isn’t a damn site better than what we were turning out with last. A base has been established from which we can build…..

We are leaking few goals and under KD we look truly solid, he has had the ball’s to drop JC and in doing so has let Agger and Skrtel flourish as a centre back pairing, so much so that Skrtel picked up player of the month last month. KD has also got the ball flowing again; for the most part we are starting to see the old “pass and move” style of old. This was seen most recently in the game against Arsenal where a number of slick moves could have seen the Red Men 4 or 5 up by half time. It wasn’t to be and ultimately a lack of quality and good fortune saw us squander 3 valuable points.
It’s true we have been missing that killer edge and too often we have let our performance levels drop dramatically. Although I cannot say I am pleased with our season to date (of course I would like more) I do feel in my heart of hearts that we have made progression. We do have players that can pass the ball well and improve the squad as a whole. I mentioned that we have base in place now and in the summer I think a few quality acquisitions can see us challenge for the coveted top 4 (I expected us to challenge for it this season but never truly believed we would achieve it)
So where to strengthen?

Keeper: Reina has had a less than Stella season but still commands the respect of those in front of him and has the trust required for them to perform without pressure. He is still the right man for the job.
Defence: Right back is well covered with Johnson and Kelly. Centre back positions are occupied by Agger and Skrtel with Carra and Coates as back up. Enrique has been a fine signing and he and Aurelio (who may leave) have us covered there. All in all we can be pleased with our back line and any other side in the Prem would be happy to have what we have there.

Midfield: Lucas (who we have missed massively) will be back to take his (first on the team sheet) position, he allows the rest of the midfield to push on without fear of leaving gaps at the back. Downing has had an indifferent season but still possesses quality and I expect him to kick on. Bellamy has been a breath of fresh air and will continue to play when he can. Hendo, Spearing and Shelvey will all feature; they are young and have a lot to give. Gerrard is Gerrard, he will play (when fit) but I honestly feel he is detrimental to the team (sorry). We rely on him way too much. He gets marked out of the game and that foils any strategy we have. Adam will be gone; he hasn’t cut the mustard and goes missing way too often. Maxi will also leave, I expect Kuyt to stay and play a bit part. 2 players will (should) be acquired here, a creative midfielder who can open up the opposition defence and also a Right Winger (think Johnson, although probably won’t happen). As a footnote I would love to see Suso drafted into the first team, I think he has what it takes to make it at the top and deserves his opportunity.

Forwards: Llorente Llorente Llorente, did I say Llorente. I hate it when dreamers say we should sign player after a player but Llorente would be a fantastic and necessary addition. If not him, then definitely someone in his mould. I don’t believe we will cut our losses on Carroll as we are too stubborn to admit we got it wrong, Carroll has been poor and there are wealth of strikers that can emulate what he does and offer so much more at half of his cost. Suarez is a leg end and will not be allowed to leave no matter what. We could also do with bringing in an “up and coming” youngster to make up a fourth striker to ensure we are adequately covered.

Apologies if I have gone off on one a bit but I feel that many of our supporters expect too much too fast. Take a look at City and what they have achieved since their injection of wealth. Shiekh Mansour took over in September 2008 and to my knowledge all they have won to date is the FA cup in 2011. Yes that’s 3 years after signing the likes of Robinho and Tevez before they won anything. We have the Carling (Mickey Mouse) Cup already and we are well placed in our FA cup run. Look at City now, they are a totally different proposition and are well placed to compete for England’s Premier prize (although they dropped a massive bollock today). If we are in a similar position over the next few years then I will be more than pleased.
Keep the faith kopites, it will come but it will take time, let’s not become Plastics like the Stamford bridge boys

YNWA

    20 Comments

    1. I think you’re dreaming personally. We raise our game against the top teams but then can’t create clear cut chances against lower teams. It’s been that way for a while now and signings haven’t corrected that. That is the biggest failing. Sure it’s easy to say we just go a buy some talent in the summer, but what big name will join a non champs league team? It makes it harder to find talent which we seem to have trouble with already. Further, what funds are we going to have? We need to sell, but who’s going to fork out for underperforming players with overpaid wages?

      The performances speak for themselves, we can’t score and draw far too many. This is 27 games into the season and that makes very worrying reading. There’s a number of teams 3 points behind us, the last being Stoke in 13th. Should we lose/draw our next 2 or 3 games, we could seriously be in the bottom half of the table.

    2. i have been having these negative vibes in my mind after the sunderland game a bit too much.but thanx to u that it’s pretty much reduced n i am all positive 1ce again .cheers mate.

      1. It’s not fickle or impatient to be waiting for the league title for the best part of 20 years. The team has needed width and pace for years, yet noone has done anything about this and this year we bought more centre mid players. Apart from 2 shots against Arsenal I can’t remember Reina making much of a contribution all season. Personally I think he is the most over rated keeper in the PL at the moment I think it’s the players in front of him that makes him so good, he never instills confidence when crosses come into the box and I would say off the cuff half of the teams in the PL have a better 1st choice keeper. It seems the coaching staff needs over hauling….why aren’t they scoring? The ball isn’t moving into the opposition half fast enough, too many side ways passing n too many opposition players are in position before the cross or shot goes in, set pieces are a laugh, how many times this season have we failed to get the ball past the wall or the first guy on the post? Everyone to a man can see Johnson would be more beneficial playing right mid as he’s not great at defending…why not sure up the right side of the pitch having a young right FB with Johnson who is reasonably good at defending in front of him? While I agree with the general opinion that Enrique has been a good signing he isn’t great, I have noticed a lot of goals we have conceeded this year have come as a result of him being out of position…am I the only one noticing this? Why can Andy Carroll score for Newcastle but not for us? It’s got to come down to coaching surely (and some extent scouting)? We should also be giving youngsters more opportunity, in my opinion, it could save us a lot of money in the long term. It’s a shame we aren’t more competitive in the league this year, we didn’t have mid week euro distractions so I’m disappointed we haven’t really given it a go. With regards to transfers, I don’t know why we go for players who want to join teams already playing in the Champions League, shouldn’t they be motivated to get the teams they play for into the CL? Wouldn’t they be better type players to sign?

    3. I agree with almost everything you’ve said here, mate!

      Fickle, impatient and short sighted Liverpool fans are really getting on my nerves at the moment. Some are even questioning Kenny’s position at the club – which, at this stage, is truly ridiculous! Why do these fans want us to be like Chelsea?

      I really agree about us badly missing Lucas this season. This has probably been our biggest problem. As a result, Gerrard & Adam etc simply can’t push forward confidently to provide the vital attacking support that we’ve been lacking.

      Adam needs to improve, but I feel he definitely still deserves a place in the side beyond this season! He is having too many bad games at the moment, but he has also shown signs of brilliance at times, and his stats are actually quite good.

      If Gerrard can stay fit, I think he can continue to be in charge of our midfield for this season and next season. Thereafter, I think we should use him as an impact sub for as long as he wants to carry on playing for. He has already been very effective in this role a few times this season.

      I totally agree that we have progressed overall, and I think that we should now focus on winning the FA Cup! We should obviously also try and finish as high as possible in the league but we should be more experimental and try to gain some new options for next season. I’d love to see Suso and Sterling get a run in the first team, as I think they’ll do well and could be a real breath of fresh air.

      The only additions we really need to make in the summer are top quality right winger and a poacher. A promising young striker and some better cover for Enrique at left back (if Aurelio goes) would also be good.

      I think next season’s squad should look like this:

      Reina/Doni

      Johnson/Kelly – Agger/Carra – Skrtel/Coates – Enrique/NEW LB

      NEW RMF/Kuyt – Gerrard/Hendo – Lucas/Adam/Spearing – Downing/Bellamy/Maxi

      Carroll/NEW POACHER – Suarez/NEW YOUNG CF

      That’s a very strong squad and isn’t really much different from this season. Combine that with a bit of luck – as opposed to the most unlucky season I’ve ever seen – and we will easily finish in the top four!

    4. I appreciate you saying slow down and normally I would say exactly the same but I do worry about others gaining and surpassing us while we wait for our prospects to hopefully come good. This is happening now.

      I am worried that Kenny won’t get the players he needs to do the job as Damien Comolli is buying the players. I feel some of his purchases are not up to the standard necessary to challenge for the title and never will be. You can forgive him Andy Carroll as Torres left us with hours to replace him but others have been off the mark in my opinion.

      Realistically, we are a long way off challenging for the title and, I think, we really have to splash some cash or we will be lucky if we can attract third rate players with only Europa league to offer them and a mentality that seems to be seasons now with our players looking at trying to make the top four instead of winning the prem. Let’s face it LFC will not attract the best players on history alone and our several of players aren’t getting younger.

      We have a fine history but we have to look forward and look around at the competition as they will not wait for us to claw ourselves back to the top were we belong. YNWA

    5. I don’t really understand this post. You feel there’s progress made just because there’s new owners and they’ve made investments? And that we just need to buy our way out of trouble?

      We had a terrific last spring after which we lost only one real first team player: Meireles. We scored a lot and were 3rd best in that period. Then came summer and we “strenghened” by tens of millions, yet it’s never really taken off. You can only say for so long that they need time to gel, before you need to admit that the problem might lie somewhere else.

      Clarke has done excellent job on the defence and benching Carra, but it’s up to Kenny to make it work at the other end too. We played great football last spring, but I’ve rarely seen it since. Kenny still has most of the players from last season’s good run and could use them if his new signings aren’t working, but for some reason he’s not. He’s had three (3) transfer windows to find a replacement/backup for Lucas, but he didn’t get anyone. Points per game this season with Lucas: 1.77, without Lucas: 1.14. With the former rate we’d be within 2 points of top-4 now and really fighting for the UCL spot. Ultimately it is up to the manager who he puts on the field, let alone the tactics he wants played out, of which many (including me) haven’t understood what they are or if there really are any.

      Even though we have what seems to be great owners now, I don’t know how much more are they willing to invest and how long they are willing to wait for any real (not including Carling Cup) progress. Currently, we’re not progressing in the league. More like regressing: 5 points from last 8 matches and the worst run of defeats in a decade! If you compare to Man City, you should realize that they made progress the whole time they were building with megabucks. I’d have no problem if it seemed we were going forward, but I’m afraid we’re not.

      I know it’s not easy for Kenny, but the reality is that it all boils down to the manager when things aren’t working out. Actually I’d like to see Comolli sacked before Kenny and have the next manager (or Kenny) sign those players they see fit, without any comollis hassling in the background.

      We’re desperately missing Lucas so we would need someone who’d be able to play his spot and/or with him (e.g. Javi Martinez?) and preferrably some creative talent on the wing/front, but we saw last year that we have good talent in this team if it’s just utilized correctly. Also Carroll has shown he can score in PL, but he’s been used so differently than in Newcastle that he’s wasted. We should try to work from his strenghts, because selling him would be a very costly mistake. He’s got potential for greatness, but he can also be very good already now, if utilized properly. We don’t need or shouldn’t need heavy investments, but we need someone to make the most of what we have.

      It’s been frustrating in many games not to see Kenny using substitutions until very late in the game and giving too many chances with Downing, Adam and Henderson when they aren’t doing their best. I’m afraid it’s this stubborness that might be in the way of introducing some youngsters like Suso or Sterling into the squad in the rest of the matches. I’d really like to seem them given a tryout in the first team since they’ve been putting in some good performances in reserves. Hopefully they’ll get their chances! What else can we do but hope..?

    6. I believe KK needs another trip to Wembley to keep FSG happy, we don’t seemed bothered about the league at all. Why were we so lethargic???, no drive at all.

    7. 1) Enough of the Charlie Adam hating, yes he gives away needless fouls etc but when the goals start to flow, this is an ideal player to have as he slows the opposition down. Plus 11 assists I believe this season, more than that of Gareth Bale? Ask yourself, where would be be without those 11 goals(assists). 2) Give Andy Carroll a break. I will back Kenny all day long but quite clearly he has made bad decisions regarding Carroll. If I am correct, it seems to be each time he scores he does not feature again following this? Off the top of my head- West Brom, Everton and most noteably hr had MOM performance vs Man U the the cup, scored vs Wolves, then was dropped for the Final! Plus Arsenal and Sunderland. It should be a “if you score u keep your place in the team scenario”, what happened to the the old cliche of play well or score and keep your place in the team? 3)I urge Liverpool fans to keep the faith and support hard until the season close. The fans can push us onwards. YNWA

    8. Lots of us and that includes u as well mate leave in the past. All the big clubs have legends but they don’t appoint them as mngrs and b happy if they finish 7th or 8th. So why r we happy to have a legend as a mngr and exept this season as being good. I would like to know where is that progression that you c. Buying average players like Caroll, Adam , Henderson is all KK fault and why he decided to go for average British players only he knows. Waiting for them to become good it’s not GOOD at allmate cos they won’t b. average players will never become good.

    9. Why do we go to watch football – to see goals and be entertained – so what is the lesson here – go to Swansea and appoint RTodgers – Kenny can go upstairs

    10. Let me first say i really appreciate your twitter posts and the forum/blog activity, very inciteful and passionate.

      I feel that we are way off where we need to be. I do understand that impatience and negativity are difficult emotions to comprehend if you are 100% behind the current set up. I agree with JK(above) about the Comolli factor. Maybe Kenny didnt make these signings, it is however irrelevant, these guys were signed and given the honour of wearing the liverbird on their chest and some of them are simply not up to it. I think Hendo and Carroll have a role to play in the club, two young guys with time on their side. Downing, not good enough. We bought Downing and didnt really pursue Ox Chamberlain, looking at it now, who would any LFC fan rather. I think the reality is Suarez may go he has had a difficult time in England and looks like a character who is impulsive enough to leave. The club will sell him if the money is right.

      A lot of blame does fall at Kenny’s feet over bad performances and some of it is justified. Take for example the game lat weekend against the mackims, playing 2 holding midfielders with Suarez effectively playing up on his own. We needed to win that game to saty some way in touch with those above us and we blew it. we never got going.

      Anyway, we need to take a step back and look at things purely from a football point of view, hodgsons head was called for a lot earlier than this last season and he spent nothing (well had nothing too spend). Im not saying Kenny should be sacked but we do need to look at “real progress”.

    11. If we cannot reach 4th spot, then forget the signing of big players. Seeing MU now is chasing Eden Hazard, we can forget he will come to our beloved club, sad though >..<

      =============== Reina ================
      Kelly == Skrtel == Coates/Agger == Robinson/flaganan
      =====================================================
      Glen == Henderson = Gerrard/Spearing = Sterling/Downing
      ======================================================
      ============== Suso/Suarez = Carroll/Bellamy ==========

      If we don't have money to sign big player (and since no one will come to non CL club otherwise we can offer them big pay check) lets raid the players from a team like Swansea. We won't lose much if we don't pay much for their signing price.

      Reina's performance is also poor this season, he should have saved van Persie 2nd goal, shooting to his close post and he did nothing, his reaction is slow, compare to De Gea, I reckon he will lose his spot in Spain team (as 2nd choice keeper) to De Gea, if he keep performing this poor.

    12. If we cannot reach 4th spot, then forget the signing of big players. Seeing MU now is chasing Eden Hazard, we can forget he will come to our beloved club, sad though…

      If we cannot reach top 4 anymore, I would like Kenny to play more of our youngsters, such as kelly, flaganan, Robinson. We can push Glen up to RM and play Kelly behind him, instead of playing Henderson in the RM (playing players out of position as Rafa syndrome, again?). Lets play henderson in his natural position, and see what this youngster can do to assess them what they can do for next season, if they cannot cut this, then lets move on to signing new players in the summer window. This will also give a challange to those first team squad player, lets give the hungrier youngsters their chances instead to be let down by those senior players

      =============== Reina ================
      Kelly == Skrtel == Coates/Agger == Robinson/flaganan
      =====================================================
      Glen == Henderson = Gerrard/Spearing = Sterling/Downing
      ======================================================
      ============== Suso/Suarez = Carroll/Bellamy ==========

      If we don’t have money to sign big player (and since no one will come to non CL club otherwise we can offer them big pay check) lets raid the players from a team like Swansea. We won’t lose much if we don’t pay much for their signing price.

      Reina’s performance is also poor this season, he should have saved van Persie 2nd goal, shooting to his close post and he did nothing, his reaction is slow, compare to De Gea, I reckon he will lose his spot in Spain team (as 2nd choice keeper) to De Gea, if he keep performing this poor.

    13. To cut everytin short Liverpool(the team) are SHIT! My man u chelsea and arsenal mates say dat to me deep inside I agree but I don’t admit it!
      Liverpool is jst that club dt had da chance to sign van der vaart or sneijder and we ended up with Lucas(whome was shit at da startt), we cud av had sneider+cash for alonso, we cud av had yaya toure fr Mascherano, llorente, falcao, diego were possibilities, even Quaresma and Simao(long ago) were players we cud av had but da fact that we are POOR in da transfer window has messed us up….everyone Hypes about dirk Kuyt..I say we shud av sold him wen inter were linked..buying Henderson was appaling to me the first time I found out I was stunned keep a close eye on hendo next time wen its a 50-50 he doesn’t go for it he rarely tackles he is not ambitious at all, he never shoots what sort of midfielder doesn’t shoot or attempts killer passes or goes for 50-50s with tha hendo money we cud av brought Ben Arfa or Afellay or a diego, eryday I have players in my head that we cud buy without even being in da champions league….at present liverpool are capable of luring strikers like Huntelaar or Falcao even Pavlyuchenko is not bad! But insted we wud

    14. Well there’s lots of doom and gloom amongst the replies here. I think a lot of you fail to understand how far from grace we have actually fallen. Many good players have been allowed to leave without being replaced and prior to signing the likes of Hendo, Carroll, Suarez, Adam, Downing etc our squad was extremely depleted. The poor signings that Hodgson made left us in this position and also some of his poor decisions (Aquilani on loan). From the position we were in we couldn’t just go out and buy 2-3 superstars as we didn’t have the foundations in place to place them into the team. For the first time in a long time I have seen Liverpool playing a good passing game, we have created a multitude of chances (how many times have we hit the woodwork) and have been in with a chance of winning most of our games. The Stoke game at home and the Sunderland game away are the only two games I would say we have been truly terrible, but even in those two games we limited the opposition to only a few attempts. The flow of goals at the wrong end has been stemmed whereas last season teams were scoring at will. The balance isn’t quite right yet and we definitely need some creativity and flair to open up opposition defences. This alongside someone like Llorente or Cavani up with Suarez would be ideal. Can anyone honestly say that if we were to go on and win the FA cup alongside the already acquired Carling Cup and finish in the top 6 that we have had a below standard season that is “not good enough” then quite frankly you are barking mad. What right do we have this season to break into the top 4 when teams like Spurs, City, United, Arsenal and Chelsea had more settled teams prior to the start of the season. Of course I expected us to challenge and of course I would like us to be playing better football but these things take time. If we are in the same position this time next year then feel free to come back to me and I will hold my hands up but until we have let the path run its course I think we all need to be more patient and reserve judgement.

      Anyway everyone enjoy the game tomorrow and lets hope we have something positive to talk about :)

    15. What you said was very reasonable. However, what about this? what if you added a little information? I am not suggesting your content is not good, however what if you added a post title that makes people want more? I mean Reality Check : Liverpool F.C. The Empire of The Kop is kinda plain. You ought to glance at Yahoo’s front page and watch how they create news titles to get viewers to click. You might try adding a video or a related picture or two to get readers excited about what you’ve got to say. In my opinion, it might bring your posts a little bit more interesting.

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