Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun….does it?
Any Liverpool fan would be hard pressed to describe the 2011/2012 season as ‘fun’. Even our most successful accomplishment was filled with pain and anguish which came close to eclipsing the glory and the fact we finished proudly victorious. I’ve not felt tension like it at a football match before. Unbearable.
We started as we meant to go on, although I hardly think 6 wins from 19 at home was the Kings plan. You could feel the excitement from that first game at Anfield against Sunderland. New owners, new signings and most exciting? New found ambition and expectation. Carroll, Adam, Downing, Enrique and Henderson been named in the 11 the starter’s gun had fired. It was a game which ended up being the perfect metaphor to describe our season. The Telegraph described the game as, “A swashbuckling, exhilarating start. And the inevitable, inexorable come-down. This was the Kop’s experience of the last 20 years, boiled down into one dispiriting afternoon.” It boiled down to one dispiriting season.
So what happened? Well Luis Suarez missed a penalty, Stewart Downing hit the bar, Suarez was brought down for what was a certain penalty and some great thinking from Luis gave us the lead. The second half was nervy and we conceded while the opposition goalkeeper excelled. Don’t worry I won’t be doing this for every game!
We flourished under pressure and suffered when 3 points seemed routine. Win’s against United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and Newcastle have shown that we’re capable but losses to Wigan, QPR, Swansea and Stoke have been the issues of our frustration. The wins though came with a bitter after taste, ‘You’re just a cup team’, we were told by our rivals, friends, pundits and fact. Our cup form was sparkling, and this made everything so much more confusing. I’m split by the opinion that we’re a cup team, unquestionably this season that’s all we’ve been but is the tag something to be proud of? Like I say, I’m split, I want to win trophies but I want to see us challenging for the top prize and this season we look as if we sacrificed one for the other.
I could quite easily have written about how we’ve under achieved and been so inconsistent, how Kenny has got his tactics wrong on occasion, Jordan Henderson isn’t a right winger, that we handled the Suarez fiasco incorrectly, Lucas Leiva has been a big miss, Steven Gerrards fitness is an issue and that Andy Carroll needs to start scoring goals more regularly. But I won’t, because what’s been said has been said 1000 times this season and I don’t know about you, but the 2011/2012 Premier League season needs to quickly be forgotten and eradicated from our minds.
I think what I’ll do now is try to put a positive light on next season without being ridiculous. We won’t be winning the title nor will the summer bring big name players from around the world. Speaking of nonsense statements actually, I’ve grown a little tired this year of being embarrassed by a certain section of Liverpool fans, you know the ones, they’ve got a great Football Manager CV and a degree in being reactionary, bloody twitter. Can we all try and be a little more objective and self aware, it’s all I ask.
SO BRING ON THE LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB 2012/2013 SEASON
Lets take a look at what we’ve got to look forward to:
Liverpool are back in Europe!
Lucas and Gerrard are likely to be fit for the start of the season!
The players we’ve bought have had a year to gel and are all improving!
We’ve got owners that seem to know what they’re doing, just look at our new kit sponsorship deal!
Players like Raheem Sterling, Jonjo Shelvey and Martin Kelly will get to show that our academy is breeding quality!
Stadium news will be good news one way or another!
Many lessons have been learnt on and off the field that will stand us in good steed.
And if none of that has convinced you that next year will be positive… well it can’t get any worse than this season! Can it?
Enjoy the summer Reds and try not to get to carried away with the possibility of us signing Lionel Messi amongst others.
YNWA
Ben Carr
@DoctorBenjy to follow me on twitter
Well, i’ll be excited if only we’ll have a new manager next week, but please, not a presumed phenomenon like Martinez, Klopp or Klinsmann, go for Benitez or Guardiola, so then great players will come, we’ll return in champions league ecc…sometimes things are so easy but people tend to make them so complicated…i guess i’ll keep fingers crossed in this upcoming days, the manager issue will tell me if next season will be a good or a disappointing one…
I think kenny will stay, the owners just put much higher pressure on kenny to get 4th position next season. Kenny is the one who decide whether he will stay as LFC manager and he knows our concern. and if he think he would failed to reach 4th position, he would resign.
I hope the king stays.. And all the reactionary fans who are calling for his head get tired of supporting Liverpool and leave! That would make the next season a success for me and lay a foundation for success in years to come!
I’m afraid it will be the same with dalglish and co.
We shouldn’t try and forget about this season. It needs to act as an incentive for vast improvement. What has bothered me this last week is Kenny proclaiming that it’s not been a bad season. I’m not calling for people’s heads but I, and thousands of others, are calling for vast improvement , starting with Kenny. Personally, I don’t think Stevie G will get back to his old best but he’s still a great player. I do think we need 1 or 2 players. I didn’t want downing at the start so he’s the stand out one for me. We need better use of our subs and give the kids a bit more if a go. The Swansea game should have been perfect for Sterling.