Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Liverpool Miss Bellamy’s Class As Old Problems Persist
By Kop-Post blogger dedlfc
We went into this game looking to continue our recent impressive form versus the top teams. Our preparation for the game at 4pm was marred by the tragic news of the death of the Wales manager Gary Speed early this morning. This sad news particularly affected our pacey striker Craig Bellamy who saw Speed as a mentor to his career, in addition to being a close friend - the decision whether to play or not was therefore taken out of his hands by our manager.
With Bellamy out we matched up City's five man midfield by including Henderson and Downing on the left with Kuyt dropping back when required and Adam and Lucas playing in the centre with Suarez working alone tirelessly up front.
With City coming off a demoralising Champions League defeat to Napoli in midweek this was seen as the perfect time to play them but for the first 25 mins they controlled the game by out-numbering us in midfield with only Suarez giving Fortune headaches to encourage us.
The first goal of the game after 31 mins unfortunately went to City from a corner which was caused by Kuyt losing the player he was supposed to be marking Kompany who flicked the ball with his shoulder into the roof of our net. Going a goal down was a major test of character which our team passed with flying colours two minutes later due to a stroke of luck with Kuyt laying the ball on the edge of the City box back to Charlie Adam who drove the ball towards goal this inadvertently hit Lescott and beat a stranded Hart.
The impetus now with us we pushed forward for a second and the excellent Adam nearly placed a fantastic shot which City keeper Hart diverted wide with his feet. Halftime came with us in the ascendancy but still level it was hoped the team talk would inspire the team onto a vital win.
In the second half with us having the majority of the possession and play in midfield due to the tenacity of Lucas- City decided to bring on loose cannon Ballotelli with his new blonde hairstyle he immediately set his stall out by pulling at Glen Johnson's shirt then 10 mins later was sent off for fouling Skrtel- with City down to 10 men with 7 mins left we brought on last season's hero 35m Andy Carroll who nearly won the game late on with a fantastic header which Hart tipped away acrobatically then quickly stood up to push away Suarez's rebound shot- Hart had a couple of minutes earlier pushed away another Suarez shot!
With us not getting the rub of the green again with chances being missed we had to settle for another home draw and see it as another opportunity to make a massive statement lost. On such a sad and sombre day we can again feel hard done by but also be proud of the performance against such a strong side.
KOP Post Man of the Match: Lucas – provided the defensive backbone to the midfield which enabled Charlie Adam to drive the team forward with vigour. The most improved player in the squad is now highly appreciated by the fans and is now one of the first names on the team sheet – Fantastic performance by our Brazilian dynamo.
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I thought we played really well at the weekend. Agree with Dave that Hendo was useless and Lucas was Brilliant, I thought Charlie Adam was fantastic again as well. Skrtl and Agger were solid at the back and hopefully they can continue as an effective partnership. We should have won but can take confidence from a capable display.
ReplyDeleteOur next run of league games looks winnable –
Fulham A
QPR H
Aston Villa A
Wigan A
Blackburn H
Newcastle H
and some of our rivals will come up against each other so there are points to be made and ground to be captured before the New Year.
Confident enough going into tonight’s game. I think Kenny will play a second string but that could include players like Kelly, Carra, Aurellio, Spearing, Maxi, Bellamy, Carroll and Coates so it’ll still be a strong team. I expect to see something like this –
Reina
Kelly Carra Skrtl Aurellio
Maxi Lucas Spearing Bellamy
Kuyt
Carroll
Very sad news about Gary Speed, he was a useful player and seemed like a thoroughly nice and decent bloke.
One of the teams we play at home is gonna get a serious beating because all the visiting goalkeepers are not gonna have a stormer at Anfield this season – I look forward to that day!!!!
ReplyDeleteThere is a 6 or 7 goal hiding to one of our opposition coming soon very soon!!!
Also forgot to add how Charlie Adam has stepped up his game and started to show that he belongs at this level of the game – what I would like to see in the next couple of games is that the other new recruits such as Henderson, Downing and Carroll finally show why we spent all that money to acquire their services.
So out of the new recruits from January 2011 onwards – only 3 Suarez (outstanding success), Enrique (quality consistent player) and Adam (excellent drive but still needs to work on stamina) has been a success.
Carroll has so much potential but needs to show more in games – he needs to work on his movement, laying off the ball and turning and sprinting ( or treading on water as he currently does !!! LOL)
Henderson, tidy player but currently not offering nothing in the attacking half of the field – he may be the long term solution to Gerrard being out as he is only 21 he has a lot of energy and promise to offer but I feel he has so far been over-awed by being a such a massive club with expectations set so high.
Downing, massive disappointment for me after a promising start, he has not delivered the expected crosses for Carroll to get on the end of. He has not provided the required assists and goals from such a high profile signing. He is currently suffering from a lack of confidence but we now need him to work harder at his game and get back to the impressive form he showed at Villa last season.
dedlfc
I have come to expect high level performances from certain players, but for me, Agger, Johnson, Adam and Enrique have all been outstanding in the last few weeks. Apparently, Charlie Adam has commented that contrary to popular belief, according to the medical staff he is the 1st or 2nd fittest player at the club. I can certainly say that he has put a couple of hard tackles in and his fitness level has certainly demonstrably improved. However, I’d prefer to wait for the evidence! He has also been more involved in controlling the tempo of the game, the little one/twos as well as the longer passes. He is more frequently getting on the end of things too, bit more drive.
ReplyDeleteI think Dalglish has also had some good games. He has showed courage not to bring Carra back, but also to drop or rest players when they don’t deliver.
Downing has been disappointing so far, following a promising start, but hopefully he will deliver as he has the technical ability. The problem is that when Enrique is going forward at the moment, he looks more like the winger than Downing.
Baz – I agree with the team you set out but I just hope there’s enough ammunition from the flanks. I would probably drop Kuyt unless he plays on the wing – it would be a very slow immobile front line otherwise.
Thought it was a great performance against one of the best teams the premier league has seen in a good few seasons. They have really quality all over the pitch and they started really confidently it would of been easy to submit but thought from moment we fortuitously equalised we bossed with adam and lucas dictating things in the middle, abley assisted in my opinion by the running capacity of henderson, who whilst at times lacking composure in advance positions contributed a lot to a great team performance in my opinion....
ReplyDeleteAlso, thought after a really poor first half where he constantly took the easy option that downing did pretty well in second half, with richards backing off him every time he got the ball but agree that he needs something to break for him and a goal would do hime the world of good. I'd also like to see him given a game on the right as that was where most of his best performances playing for villa game from....
Agger and skrtel were awesome at the back, enrique was again absolutely flawless (seriously don't think there's a better left back in the prem at the minute) and johnson had a solid game. Such a pity that agger is so injury prone as think he's up there with best in league on his day and as long as he's stay fit it is hard to see carra getting his place back....
I'd say barry's team won't be far off the side that plays tonight, though reckon coates might get a start and depending on fitness think lucas or suarez might start as think he'll want to play as strong a team as is possible, especially with almost a week to the fulham game....
luke
I agree with you Luke that Jose Enrique is a class act but he’s not flawless because that weak back pass to Reina that had Pepe racing out of the 18 yrd box to clear almost gave me a heart attack. I too thought that Downing had a decent game. Have to respectfully disagree about Henderson though, I couldn’t see any meaningful contribution, running around a lot doesn’t cut the mustard at that level. He’s a young lad though and hopefully he will develop over the next couple of seasons.
ReplyDeleteAh fair point, I thought that was downing and I too almost had a heart attack! As i did when reina went chasing somebody else in the second half before slide tackling them, when he went chasing silva right at the death and also at some point in second half when agger took coolness on the ball to dangerous levels and played a cushioned pass across six yard box to reina!
ReplyDeleteOn henderson I can see why he frustrates as he often takes easy option and currently seems to get a nose-bleed in final third but think it's easy to underestimate running ability - speed and strength are rightly recognised as attributes that can go towards making a top class football and the sheer endurance and ability to run all day that lucas, kuyt and I think henderson possess are equally valuable assets. For example maxi looks a much better player and obviously poses much greater attacking threat but I really don't think we would have won the midfield battle as we did had he started instead of henderson. It's inevitable that he is going to be a little inconsistent at his age and after a move to such a big club but I think with a bit of patience he's going to develop into a consistent and reliable player in the james milner mode.
Luke
It was certainly a strategic move to play Henderson – he ran around like a chicken (with head) which I think helped Charlie to play a bit and express himself a bit further up the pitch. He ran around continuously in pursuit of the ball but also not allowing their midfielders to play. I think Maxi could have done a similar job. I hope Henderson will prove himself in due course, certainly seems to have the right attitude.
ReplyDeleteIt was a strong performance from us against the best team in the Premiership at the moment. Key performers all over the pitch and the way we competed after Man City initial burst and equalised almost immediately, even if it was slightly fortuitous, we were in attacking mode and as I said in the previous blog we could quite easily have gone in ahead. I agree with Livi's assessment of Agger, it nice to have him, back fingers crossed, injury free because he helps to build up attacks from the back and gets us away from these long punts up field which have prone to do over the last few seasons. What also helps is to that three of the four defenders are confortable on the ball.
ReplyDeleteAdam is now showing just what he is capable because the midfield is built to allow him a more expansive role, knowing that he has cover should he move further up field and whether it is Bellamy, Maxi or Kuyt they provide support to Suarez as well as defensive help to lucas and Adam and the full-backs.