Parry Tries To Re-Write History

By KP

I’ve often wondered why Rick Parry hasn’t made more of a concerted effort to admit his part in the traversty that became the Hicks and Gillett Muppett show.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but Hicks came with a lot of baggage and as Moores has since admitted  they failed to do sufficient background checks before taking him on board just on Gilletts’ word.

Parry’s recent comments suggest that he sees the problem as essentially Hicks and Gillett failing to get on, he fails to mention as Moores cited in his letter to TheTimes the lack of due diligence over Hicks. He comments about Liverpool doing well during and up to the time he left the club, but what he fails to say/admit is that being the Liverpool owner means that you are the custodian of its past, as well as the planner of its future.  The fact they failed miserably, caused a dramatic turndown not just on future prospects, but on LFC’s present.  We lost Mascherano and Torres because our performances dipped and they could not see a light at the end of the tunnel and this is pure and simple down to Hicks and Gillett and thus de facto Moores and  Parry.

That’s not to say that we should or can forget the honourable way Moores served our club, how he used his own money for transfer fees and how he ran the club with the pride and dignity which Kenny Dalglish has now brought back to the club.

Parry’s comments show an individual not recognising his failure in a disaster which almost brought the club to its knees and could see us out of Europe for the first time in years.

KP

Suarez and Spearing drive Liverpool past Black Cats

By KP

The atmosphere in the after we took our seats in the North Stand of the Stadium of Light in amongst the Sunderland supporters.  That we welcomed back Suarez was a blessed relief as quality and flair had been the missing ingredients from the home made disaster served up against Braga.   With Agger also back, his assuredness of touch and pure footballing ability would instantaneously change the dynamic of looking for Carroll with Jonny Wilkinson range-finder punts up the pitch.

Liverpool also started with a midfield of Jay Spearing, Lucas Leiva and with Raul Meireles as ever providing support for the first time employed double-act of Suarez and Carroll with Dirk Kuyt on the right of midfield it looked potentially a much more of an attacking formation. Sunderland, grabbed the initiative early and with Gyan prompting and probing, linking up well with Wellbeck they controlled most of the first half without causing any real consternation.  Andy Carroll who looked someway short of match fitness in general play was a handful front set pieces and it was from a Meireles corner that Liverpool almost broke the deadlock, when Carroll headed down to Kuyt who shot was brilliantly saved by Simon Mignolet, debutising for Craig Gordon.

The Sunderland dam was breached on 34 minutes, when the Man of The Match Jay Spearing, who was just about anywhere and everywhere, was alert to Mensah trying to bring the ball under control with a loose piece of chest control ball and nicked in only to be brought down by the Sunderland player on a recovery mission.  Dirk Kuyt, as he has on so many occasions dispatched the penalty, in the absence of the injured Steven Gerrard with clinical precision.

Just before the break Suarez produced a snapshot which was smartly palmed away by Sunderland’s best player on the day Mignolet. The next time he was to see Suarez bearing down him he would be beguiled by the mercurial Uruguayan flashing footwork down the by-line after fastening onto Kuyt’s thrown-in, before flashing a powerful drive up and beyond him and with it went  any chance of a very poor Sunderland coming back into the game.

Sunderland were unlucky in losing two key players in Richardson and Muntari early on, but in truth we were well worth are victory having almost all the clear cut chances in the game.  Luis Suarez gifted feet added gloss on a very disjointed Liverpool performance , but its onward and upwards and with the bit between our teeth Spurs are not yet beyond the horizon.

By KP

No Style, Little Substance

By KP

The seeds of this woeful performance was firmly sown in the first leg as soon as Andy Carroll stepped on to the pitch and provided his team mates with an out ball.  As mentioned in the last blog, we simply overdosed on the long ball, and did not possess  the capacity to create chances without becoming long ball merchants and looking very one dimensional.  King Kenny stated, There wasn’t much between either side.  They were very well organised and we knew the responsibility was on us to break them down and score a goal. If Andy’s header had gone in, in the first-half it could have been different outcome, but we never put anything past that.”

You need to be strong creatively if you are going to break down a very organised side or you need a bit of luck and we certainly have not had much fortune over two legs – but I guess everyone says that they should have more luck than they get.  Like every other in the world we could do with a bit more creativity but we are no different than anyone else.”

Never a truer word said by the maestro, but if you asked most Liverpool supporters who is the nearest player to Suarez in style and skill I think most would say Dani Pacheco.  It was difficult to fathom the thinking yesterday when crying out for that creativity spark we brought on Spearing and Ngog ahead of the enormously talented Spaniard.  One has to wonder whether Pacheco has a future at the club as this is not the first time that cometh of the hour, it seems that his personal clock has stopped at 59 minutes.

Liverpool started well yesterday, with Cole linking up well Carroll early on with Cole fastening on to a Carroll ball to have a crisp left-footed drive parried out with Carroll’s resulting shot blocked for a corner, despite cries for handball. The resultant corner should probably have seen Liverpool take the lead, as Carroll’s clear header from a Meireles corner went wide.  Braga were in  essence, pretty comfortable for the rest of the game having realised that Liverpool’s game plan was based around the long ball to Carroll and as such mopping up second phase ball was their intention.

Playing Meireles deeper to accommodate a basically ineffectual Joe Cole cost Liverpool in terms of losing his potency in bursting in the penalty late and with Lucas was again not having the game intelligence to make driving runs when in possession the ball was moved to slowly through the midfield area. Added to that, the lack of a cutting edge on the flanks with Kuyt and Maxi not having the speed to get behind and Wilson and especially Glen Johnson failing to offer an real support going forward, crosses from last third of the pitch were barely negligible and again as has been noted before on this blog, Martin Kelly’s influence has been sorely missed, let alone that of the quality talents of Gerrard and Suarez.

In saying that, Liverpool had two clear cuts opportunities to get back on an even keel when the ball fell to Skrtel, who didn’t possess the striker’s instinct and technique of Daniel Agger to manufacture a finish past the on-rushing goalkeeper and in the dying moments from a beautifully floated Meireles free-kick Ngog fluffed his lines when it seemed easier to head the ball goalwards, he failed to connect and with him almost certainly went the Last Chance Saloon of European football. 

The sadness with this lost to a very average Braga side, is that considering the sides left in the competition this was very winnerable competition, but then without our first choice eleven which is basically the team which played against Man United we don’t have the depth of quality and it shows that players like Ngog, Maxi and arguably even Johnson who is no longer the best right-back at the club, might be plying their trade elsewhere in the coming season.

By KP

A Week In The Life of LFC

By KP

12 March 2011

Last week’s results saw for the club losing the first leg against Braga and being knocked out of the FA Youth Cup by the arch enemy Man United.  Loses which on the face of it were unexpected with Liverpool being expected to get out of Portugal with at least a draw and with the very considerable hype surrounding Cody, Sterling and co being knocked out was certainly a shock.

In adversity we can certainly look to the future and yes any team will miss the influence and passion of Steven Gerrard, the staccato like performance of the first half certainly showed why Kenny Dalglish has had to drag the club up by its bootlaces in recent weeks and months.  Without his considered first choice eleven Liverpool lack dynamism, creativity and flair, and even against a Braga side who have a strong record at home, beating Arsenal at home in the Champions League earlier in the season, Liverpool with more positive intent could have held them comfortably and it was to the chagrin of the travelling support when Kyrgiakos lunged in with the Braga forward running away from goal given away a penalty which was dispatched with a aplomb.  As a season pro his decision to tackle at that juncture was disappointing, but points once again to his and the lack of pace in the Liverpool back-line as a whole.

That Liverpool went on to lose by that penalty goal was in the end more than we could have hoped for, but Andy Carroll’s performance showed that with his power, aerial threat and ability to hold the ball up Liverpool have a player with Luis Suarez in tandem and the purchase of creative wide players, midfielders and quicker defenders, will allow us in the future to develop a multi-faceted game.   The lack of creativity from front to back was certainly apparent in the second-half with Andy Carroll causing panic stations in the Braga defence with his aerial threat Liverpool proceeded to hit a string of long balls up to the striker – failing time and time again to get down the flanks to deliver balls for Carroll to run on too.  How Martin Kelly was sorely missed or the promotion of a youngster such as David Amoo or even Raheim Stirling would have provided options of the bench.

Stirling and his youth team colleagues lost out to Man United in the quarter finals of the FA Youth Cup, showing enough in defeat for those watching to see that Liverpool have a plethora of young players who could, with luck, be on the cusp of helping to move the club into a golden era.  That they lost the game was down to a loss of discipline and concentration after Liverpool’s second goal, more than anything Man Utd produced, but it will and should be a lesson well learned.  Sterling with all the hype surrounding will learn in time that even with all his talent he must work in tandem with his full-back Smith defensively.  Time and time again the left-back was left unprotected and at the mercy of Lauren Cole.  But, to be overly critical would be being harsh as the Youth Team and the Reserves have produced so many moments of brilliance this season that to choose one would be impossible.

Liverpool meet Braga in the 2^nd leg knowing that a loss may well resign them to a season without European football.  Would that be a catastrophe?   The club would definitely have to focus on returning to the top four by the close of next season, because the impact will be drastic in terms of its strategy in the transfer market with top players naturally wanting to play in the Champions League.  It may warrant a move for top English players and young up and coming European players, the strategy of which Comolli already has in place. 

Damien Comolli - Liverpool's Director of football (Image: The Guardian)

In fact, if there is no reason why a Liverpool team with the impetus of new top class imcumbents cannot challenge for the Premiership title with no European distraction leaving King Kenny to play his strongest team in the League.

By KP

EL PISTOLERO AND KUYT GIVE DALGLISH THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Written by KP

Liverpool produced  their best all round performance of the season with enough flare and potency to end up more than deserved winners with Luis Suarez turning in a performance that had fans purring after his genius made a stunning first goal for Dirk Kuyt.  Suarez showed a surety of touch and an ability to hold the ball up, which gave the Liverpool midfielder’s time to provide both he and Durk Kuyt support.

Man United surprisingly started with both Berbatov and Rooney up top, rather than Fergusson’s usual preference of Rooney on his own with a five man midfield in behind providing support. With Scholes and Carrick in the middle it was a less than formidable pairing up against Gerrard, Lucas and Meireles who had the responsibility to break from midfield to support the attack.

Liverpool started the game pressing high up the pitch and it was this pressure along with beautiful interchange passing that provided early opportunities for Suarez arriving on the end of a Meireles cross and a long range Lucas volley.  But for all Liverpool’s early possession it  was Man United who came closest to taking the lead with Berbatov unleashing a spectacular outside of the boot volley from a Rooney knock down which swerved in late to hit the outside of the post.  Not to be disheartened, Liverpool kept pressing forward and were finally rewarded on 34 minutes.

Suarez, with what has already become his trademark, turned sharply in the area and proceeded to slalom past three defenders before poking the ball towards goal where Kuyt finished the job.  Five minutes after a Luis Suarez cross, Nani’s defensive header arrowed back towards his goal where the lurking Kuyt grabbed his and Liverpool’s second. Two flash points before end of the half could easily have seen both Carragher and United’s Rafael da Silva for reckless tackles.

Liverpool’s third came after a period of United pressure where Meireles, not for the first time saved an effort of the line.   From a Suarez free-kick, the ever alert Kuyt showed his predatory instinct was still intact to fasten on to the rebound from Edwin van der Sar and virtually extinguish any hopes United still harbored. The disappointment of Hernandez scoring towards the end of the game could not take away the fact that the victory was earned not just through intensity, but having a more incisive cutting edge in attack which was probably down to Suarez and the support he received from excellent Kuyt and Meireles.  Gerrard played within himself, in a more withdrawn role, although that didn’t stop him coming close with two superb drives at the Kop End. The defensive unit with Maxi and Lucas in tandem, worked well to subdue United’s attacking threat.

With the future in mind, what is noticeable is the depth on the Liverpool bench.  Suddenly, Meireles leaves the paddock and is replaced by Andy Carroll and Suarez is replaced by Joe Cole.  And we still have Ngog, Spearing and Poulson as unused subsitutes.  Two-nil down and bringing on Andy Carroll to tower over the Man United defence to win his first header cannot help but demoralise the opposition.  Good teams have quality benches and Dalglish is slowly re-building a squad capable of challenging the top five. 

King Kenny received a resounded verse of happy birthday wishes from the Liverpool crowd which he signaled acknowledgement.  Happy Birthday to a great player, a great manager, but more importantly a great man.

Life is full of ifs

By KP

Life is full of ifs. If Liverpool had beaten Wigan and if we had beaten West Ham we would now be gunning for Chelsea, Spurs and Man City for the fourth Champions League place.  But, anyone watching Liverpool play Fulham and Wigan shouldn’t be surprised by the West Ham result.  We have been riding on the back of the King Kenny wave and came up against a force of nature proportions in the guise of West Ham’s all-pervading Scott Parker.

There is no point being overly critical that our unbeaten run under King Kenny was brought to an abrupt end, because the formation used by Dalglish was one which has served us well. We were overrun in midfield and maybe we could have matched up earlier, but the lack of creativity was eventually going to catch up with us and with Gerrard returning after injury and obviously not a hundred per cent fit, in addition to the loss of Aurelio and the recently very impressive Agger the detrimental effect on the Liverpool squad was a reduction in available quality and with Pacheco continually overlooked, the fall-back option is Ngog who although ever-willing, looks not short of top quality.

The quality that Luis Suarez showed in flashes lends one to believe that alongside a fully fit Andy Carroll and with Gerrard and Meireles in behind and with quality wide-men in toe a resurgent Liverpool is not far away. The turn with which he left the stunning Scott Parker for dead was that which very few could of carried off and then having the awareness to play a killer ball across the box for Glen Johnson to knock in caused us to dream of getting the match back top all square, but it was not to be.

The consternation felt by all Liverpool fans when Kelly went down clutching his hamstring late in the first-half, cannot be imagined, as he has been an illuminating presence in the revival under King Kenny and his absence was certainly felt in the second half when our failure to get behind the full-backs was disappointing.  A part from Suarez, the positives were that Stevie Gerrard finished the game strongly and Glen Johnson goal ought to intensify his attacking instincts, which have been less potent on the left hand side and will obviously come more to fore in his more natural position in the absence of Kelly.

The key is to get back to producing quality performances and that starts on Sunday against Man United by raising our intensity levels.  Being in Europe, gives us two extra games in March, which could’ve been a lean month with only Man United and Sunderland to play in the league, but now we have a chance to play a role in the destiny of the league and also propel ourselves forward into the Quarter Finals a competition which in previous years under different reincarnations we’ve had history in.  So roll on March.