Pass and move it’s the Liverpool groove…. well it seems to be on its way back and Rodgers is instilling a sense of free flowing football that the modern fan loves to see. In a short space of time the dynamic of the team appears to have progressed quite dramatically. Liverpool are now playing football with a sense of urgency and a Barcelona esque style of play appears to be evolving. As an ardent Liverpool fan (in Yorkshire) I find it difficult talking football to my work colleagues, friends and family alike. I have seen Liverpool dominate games only to become unstuck by a player error, a controversial refereeing decision/decisions or a moment of brilliance (take a bow Rafael ) they say it’s just same old Liverpool they are poor and they won’t have any impact on the league.
And so the debate begins, I believe I make conscious statements about the way the team has played and hold my hands up if we have been poor. I face the mediocre fan and they have to have their say (based on an evening’s entertainment of MOTD) Liverpool are S**t, Borini is W**k , Suarez…… well let’s not go there (they aren’t too keen on him). The thing is I dedicate a lot of my time to following my club and make sure I follow the progress of the Reserves and the Under’s as well as the first team (I have been raging about Suso and Sterling for the last 2 years, Amoo should be next!!) The average Joe feels they are qualified to judge on ten minutes of highlights. So you’re gathering this grates on me yeah.
So let me tell it how I see it for the people/fans that give a damn. I have been extremely impressed with the way we have set about business this season the boys (quite literally) have been outstanding in possession and going forwards but the frailties in defending and concentration at the back have massively hampered what could have been an excellent start to the season. Discounting the West Brom game I feel we have been the better side by a fair distance in all games to date. Yes I include the Arsenal game in this in which some pundits say we were outplayed….. We certainly were not but got beat by some excellent counter play by the gunners and we were incredibly naive at the back.
Over the next few weeks I feel we will gather momentum and start picking up points, I feel we have an excellent chance of regaining Champions league football (my friend laugh at this notion). We have got 3 major games out of the way and we have an excellent string of games to finish the season with barely playing any top teams (away from home at least) We also have a fairly lenient Christmas period in terms of opposition. I will put my neck on the line now and say that we will finish 5th as a bare minimum.
As a quick foot note to this random piece (I had to get a few things off my chest and out there) I want to say how incredibly impressed I have been with Jonjo Shelvey. @Kev_Shim a fellow supporter I follow via the medium of twitter has been calling for him to play first team football for quite some time and I have been inclined to agree on all occasions. The kid has all the attributes of an all round footballer. He is strong, has a good touch, an eye for goal and more importantly is always looking to get the ball moving in the right direction (unlike the crab like Hendo who plays sideways all the time) Shelvey is capable of injecting that urgency into the game. He sets the tempo and says this is how we are going to play. He penetrates and looks to get at goal as often as possible. I love his rawness!!!
Anyway lets have a quick prediction of how things will pan out over the next 5 league games:
Stoke (H) Win (2 goal margin)
Reading (H) Win (2 goal margin)
Everton (A) Score Draw
Newcastle (H) Win (1 goal margin)
Chelsea (A) Loss (1 goal margin)
So there it is…. 10 points out of the next 15. I’d be happy with that, would you?
Thanks for reading, I am presently listening to Muse’s 2nd Law album which is highly recommended and I am still trying to come to terms with how we lost tonight. I have had a few Artois’s and it is my birthday tomorrow (well actually today seen as it is the early hours of the morning) Presents and comments welcome.
Your Doncaster Red Man,
@Lfcmonkey