Liverpool Move Into The Realms of Mediocrity

Another home match and yet another pathetically inept display.   Disjointed from start to finish, apart from patches when we manged to raise our heads above the parapet, we were patently not at the races and are beginning to look as though we may well be swallowed up by the chasing pack having lost impetus before the turn of the New Year.  The same signature tune for each match is becoming wearing.  It begins with slow build-up, a lack of width,  an over reliance on Suarez and the only speed that you get to see all day is that of the Virgin train coming up from London.

Suarez and Skrtel stand lone from a critical eye as the positives factors at either end of the pitch.  Against Wigan, the manager dropped into the precipice of indetermination  as  he appeared  in a quandary in determining how to change the match, being disappointingly undecisive by the end.  Two-one down and needing  a whiff of inspiration and dynamism, he plumps for Shelvey with the pace and directness of Sterling and Nathan Eccleston champing at the bit on the side lines.
 

One couldn’t help wondering whether at this juncture Dalglish like so many manager’s before him  has seen  his decision making powers pushed off kilter by the expectations levels of a great club.  Looking across to see him sitting on the advertising hoardings rather than standing in his usual position besides the pitch one  hoped the pressure  wasn’t  getting too much.  By the time Sterling entered the fray, greeted by fans rising out of their seats in expectation, the horse had already bolted and glimpses of his electric pace only added to the thinking of what might have been.

Dalglish feeling the heat? (Image: Telegraph)

Another season will drift by with a string of unacceptable performances littered  over its length.  The opportunity to close the gap to Arsenal and Chelsea was there for all to see and it may well be that instead of us its Newcastle who takes up the mantle in the coming season with a place among the top five or six in the offing and Liverpool in a state of flux.

Kop-post Man of the Match: Luis Suarez: The loan wolf amongst a flock of sheep.

Liverpool 2 Stoke City 1

Like all football fan’s I was totally stunned by Fabrice Muamba’s tragic collapse in the FA Cup tie at Spurs last night. Managing Director Ian Ayre’s statement on behalf of Liverpool Football Club struck the right chord, "The thoughts of everyone at this football club are with Fabrice, his family, friends and teammates. Everyone who was watching the game was shocked and upset by the scenes on the pitch and we all hope he can pull through this terrible ordeal.

"We're all praying for him tonight." We all concur with his statement and are praying for Fabrice Muamba’s recovery.

Liverpool Football Club joined in as other arena’s with a round of applause following an announcement, in support of the young Bolton midfielder courageous fight for life before the FA Cup tie against Stoke City.

The game itself marked a returned to the starting line-up for Maxi in for Jordan Henderson and Spearing after receiving good reviews in dispatches from his captain keeping out Charlie Adam following Tuesday’s Merseyside Derby. Liverpool managed an early chance, with Gerrard swinging over an inviting cross from a free-kick which Maxi’s back header diverted by the far-post. Albeit, that early chance, it was Stoke that settle and looked decidedly more comfortable in possession in the first twenty minutes.

The dead-lock was broken by the mercurial Suarez after picking up the ball 15 yards into the Stoke half from Gerrard, he played a one-two with Maxi before side-footed the ball deliciously into the corner from 20 yards past the despairing dive of Sorenson. The lead lasted barely four minutes. Stoke’s equaliser when it came was fortunate with the referee (Kevin Friend) giving a corner when the ball patently came off Shawcross. The goal from the resultant corner was disappointing with Carroll standing by while Crouch ran past to head past Reina claiming he was impeded by Shotton.

  Downing celebrates put Liverpool ahead

It may have been fortunate, but Stoke’s refusal to sit back and let Liverpool play firmly kept Liverpool midfield shackled, thus the team relied on Suarez individual brilliance and with Downing a major disappointment and Maxi both failing to provide the expected supply-lines and drifting far to much off the touch line the lack of width enabled to stifle Liverpool's attacks  Stoke had a further chance with a break-up field on a counter-attack, Whitehead played a sumptuous ball inside Spearing tracking back to cover Enrique, only for Walters to screw his shot past the near post.

An early shot from Gerrard in the second-half was comfortably saved,  but at least showed Liverpool’s intention to match Stoke’s intensity and inject some fluency into their play. Suarez came close to regaining his team the lead when his glanced header from Downing’s free-kick flashed past the post. Drifting off his line has been a major problem for Liverpool , but for once in allowed Downing to collect the ball in the inside-right position where he ghosted by the first defender, before playing the ball into Gerrard driving into the area, and for once he miscontrolled, which inadvertently fell into the path of Downing who scythed past two more defenders before lashing the ball home and releasing the frustration of almost an entire season.

Liverpool’s began to eek out more chances and Suarez flushed with his first half strike, latching on to Gerrard’s pass and with a swerving drive which Sorenson hung onto. The control which Liverpool’s increased work rate brought to bare could be judged by the fact that Reina was barely worked in the second-half and even a late flurry by Stoke failed to give Liverpool any undue problems with Gerrard moving out to right-back to finish the game as cover for the injured Martin Kelly.

So back at Wembley for the second time this season to play Sunderland or be apart of another Merseyside Derby at Anfield South. The signs are positive, but the aim must be to keep the the run going with victory over QPR. There is still a lot to work on, the service into the front men, specifically Carroll, was deplorable and despite his goal Downing ‘s end product from open play was as poor as it has been for most of the season and Maxi, apart from his interchange with Suarez for the opening goal, was for all intents and purposes a spectator.

Looking ahead these are things which Dalglish and his team can look to work on with Downing and with new incumbents either homegrown or from outside. The positive aspects at this precise moment is recognising that devoid of creative wide-men, cover in the striking areas and a lack of top quality midfielders we are the 2012 Carling Cup Winners and are within a hair’s breath of another cup final. Who said the season has been a complete failure...?

Kop-Post Man of The Match: Martin Skrtel: A man mountain of a performance from Liverpool's player of the season.  Takes charge and snuffs out impended danger.

Steven Gerrard’s Bestrides The Mersey Derby Like A Colossus

The difference between Liverpool tonight as opposed to so many other times this season is we had a cutting edge and that cutting edge was as it has been through out the last decade was Steven Gerrard.  He was head and shoulders above anything else on the pitch, as good as any defender, the best midfielder and his potency as an attacker was there for all to see.  What was great to see was his drive from midfield and he appeared reenergised following his recent injury problems.

Returning with Gerrard to the starting line-up was Carroll and that statement of intent was shown in how quickly Liverpool hit their straps, with Gerrard at the forefront of everything in the first few minutes, almost fashioning a chance out for himself when inter-linking superbly with Suarez and then curling a shot which Tim Howard managed to scramble away and Jordan Henderson’s shot was blocked as he second Premiership seemed on the tip of his boot. Everton led by example by the impressive Baines began to get more into the game as he created a shot which Piennar blazed over.  Suarez sniped in and around the area, in the space left by the ever increasing physicality of Suarez and was unlucky to see a shot well saved with Howard reacting quickly to block his shot.

As Everton began to get more of a foot hole in the game, Liverpool struck.  The irrepressible Howard saved from Kelly, having a sparkling game filling in for the injured Glen Johnson, Gerrard showed awareness and clarity of mind in picking up the ball, to deftly guide the ball in over the head of Howard  to put Liverpool ahead, a lead they held comfortably until half-time.

The match was over as a contest little after half-time, where Suarez again auditioning for the Uruguay winter Olympic team, slalomed his way into the area, but instead of shooting, teed up an invitation for Gerrard to an unleash an explosive shot on the run, reminiscent of his first goal in the 2006 FA Cup Final against West Ham.  The stadium almost took off with Captain Fantastic at the controls of the Good Ship Liverpool, ably assisted , by Lieutenant Suarez and Sergeant Major Spearing, terrier like in the midfield.  One sensed the Everton crowd in the Anfield Road End, even as much as they kept up the support in their team, sense the game was up, especially with the formidable Skrtel and Carragher sweeping up any loose remnants.

Steven Gerrard celebrates the 2nd or his 3rd (Image: Daily Mail)

Apart from a few alarms Liverpool, Liverpool had enough chances particularly from Kelly and Carroll to have extinguished any flicker of ambition from Everton before Gerrard brought down the final curtain. With Everton going forward a final move broke down at the feet of the Liverpool captain who powered forward to the edge of the Everton area where he passed to Suarez, who in turn provided Gerrard with a simple tap in.

.

In was nothing less than Liverpool deserved, led by Gerrard giving his wards a lesson in finishing of the highest order.  The 2012 Steven Gerrard may differ from the 2006 version, but one will thing will always stay the same, he is pure and simple a world class footballer.

Kop-Post Man of the Match: Steven Gerrard – Form is temporary, class is permanent.

Sunderland 1 Liverpool 0

Talking to a fellow supporter as the first-half progressed or should I say regressed, about why Liverpool continue to flatter to deceive he reasoned “Einstein said, doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is the first sign of insanity.”  It about sums up our current plight, no ingenuity, no dynamism and no cutting edge.  The first time we’ve lost three Premiership games in a row since 2003 and with WBA and Everton breathing down our necks, Liverpool have now won only 10 Premiership games from 27, where as Roy Hodgson was sacked for winning 10 from 20.

The game as a whole was nondescript and that Sunderland won wasn’t to say that they were overwhelmingly the better team, but they took the opportunity when it arose and we could not create or fashion a chance of any description.

In the build-up to the game, during the week, there were statements a plenty from Liverpool players stoking the fires of suggestion that we were still capable of hunting down Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs.  What I saw today was painful.  Sunderland were shown of their two most influential players in Cattermole and Sessegnon, serving suspensions respectively and it appeared for all the world that Liverpool’s job would be made easier, but how wrong can you be?  The performance was woeful. We looked disjointed and lacked ideas, inept wouldn’t be strong enough to describe how impotent we looked in midfield and in attack.  We needed Pele with his Viagra kit to provide a half time pep-talk.

If there was a game designated for Charlie Adam to dominate this was it.  I’ve stated time an again on here that I don’t believe that he is seen at his best in the middle as he needs a team built around him that sets him three of defencive responsibilities.  In saying that with no Cattermole and as hard as the Sunderland midfield worked, there was plenty of space for him to operate in, but he just could not dictate the tempo of the game, get his trade mark passing game going or get up the field to support the attack.  It might be the game that sees him revert to a role coming on the bench.

The enigma that is Jordan Henderson was again picked ahead of colleagues with a louder claim for start.  He doesn’t possess the pace to burst past defenders from wide positions and when he drifts inside behind the frontman, he doesn’t have the subtlety of touch to prize open defences or score (ala Meireles) and it is grossly unfair to put the player under that kind of pressure when he seems more suited to being a box to box midfielder.  The positions he tends to find himself  in gives the side a disjointed look and whether he is good enough to be a regular starter is another argument/question all together.  In the time Gerrard was on he gave Liverpool that missing brightness, but the game by then was entrenched in a mire of unattractiveness and a lack of quality from which there was no return.

The attack failed to fire for the umpteenth time this season and brings into question just what is the expectation of Andy Carroll.  How many times is the most expensive British striker in history going to come on with minutes remaining and not receive one decent cross or pass of any note and look as if penalty box is strange piece of territory?  We failed to trouble the Sunderland goal with a strike of any note for 94 minutes in what in my opinion is the worst performance of the season.

Three days from the Everton game and should we loose some pretty solid questions need to be asked.  They key ones are obviously about the transfers Dalglish has brought in.  Suarez, although, not producing the goal tally has in all other respects, apart from the obvious,  been a qualified success with Enrique alongside.  But, with an outlay of £80 million for Carroll, Adam, Henderson and Downing quartet, who are obviously key components of the squad the manager is now in a quandary.  Does he persist with the said players who are plainly not firing with the possibility of dropping out of the top seven now a distinct possibility with J W Henry having stated at the beginning the season that Champions League qualification was a priority, especially after the financially outlay.  He said post season,

'Our main goal is to qualify for the Champions League. If we don’t it would be a major disappointment,' said Henry.  'It’s too early for us to start talking about winning the league,' said Henry. 'In my opinion Manchester United are the ones to beat. They have a good squad, and look really good.

'Our main goal is to qualify for the Champions League. If we don’t it would be a major disappointment.'
 
While these words may have have calmed somewhat following the Carling Cup triumph, these are owners who understand what the holy grail of the Premiership and Champions League mean in the annals of Liverpool Football Club’s history, and his last quote after the Carling Cup win denotes that he will by no means accept mediocrity in the Premiership, he stated "We've always said that the most important thing is that we keep progressing and in the last couple of months we've seemed to progress. To progress from this? Winning other trophies is what that means, I guess.

"We're guaranteed a place in Europe now, which is where we belong, and we can now try to push on in the FA Cup and try to get into the Champions League. As long as we keep progressing.

Has Carling Cup victory given Dalglish breathing space?

Carragher consigned to the bench after his mauling by Robin Van Persie.  Despite what seemed almost a last desperate roar in the week preceding the game in where Carra stated his intention to be part of a Liverpool team in the next few seasons winning trophies, it was almost the last throes of one of Liverpool’s Lions of Istanbul.  As emotional as it is to see an old soldier leaving the starting ranks, one knows that an officer cadet is always is line as a replacement and Coates did so today.  Unfortunately, the game so lacked quality that it would be unfair to give an overall assessment on him, hence to say that he looked capable in the air.

Man of the Match: Luis Suarez – In a match lacking in any real star quality, the very little talent which shone belonged to him.

STACEY NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT AS SHE ATTEMPTS TOUGH MUDDER 2012

Dear all,

I have had such a fantastic response to ‘my blog’, which is still strange because I few weeks ago I didn’t even know what a Blog was!
 
Your responses and kind offers of help have really pushed me into continuing to raise money for Tourettes Action. I have signed up to do the Tough Mudder event in Cheshire in early November this year. It is a long way off but I think every minute is needed to prepare me for this challenge. I will be doing other challenges during the year to help me prepare for this including Hell Runner, The Warrior Dash and any other 5 or 10K run in the area. I have managed to rope in six others up to now to do this challenge with me and we have called ourselves the ‘Toughest Tic’ers.’

Your support would help Tourettes Action continue its great work and as in our situation fill the void where the NHS failed... Great Ormond Street Hospital being the exception of course.  Tourettes Action made the suggestion of going away when my daughter Charlie was first diagmosed, which has been invaluable because we live, sleep and breath Tourettes.  It is exhausting and sometimes I feel like a PA to my daughter and her condition.  Getting away helped our family relationships, by allowing us to forget every day life for a while and build Charlie's confidence and self-esteem.  Tourettes Action also paid for this as they offer grants up to £500 for every Tourettes sufferer.  The money has to be used to enhance their lives and it certainly did that.  We are now regular visitors to Centre Parcs thanks to the genorosity shown by Tourettes Action. 

Another amazing thing the Charity does is to be the middle ground  between Tourettes sufferers and researchers.  The Tourettes Action website shows visitors all the research that is going on and individuals can take part if they so please.  To be honest the list is endless and they deserve all the funding and the support they can get.

This event isn’t only to raise money, but to increase awareness and I would really love for you to pass this on to whom ever you feel can help. I am looking forward to the year ahead for the challenges it brings and I am really excited if you could all join me on helping Tourettes become more of a recognised condition with a lot more understanding.

Please take a look at my page www.justgiving.com/Stacey-Rudd1 and if you can please help me raise some money for this wonderful charity.

If you want to know just want it takes to be a Tough Mudder, see below.

Stacey Rudd will attempt the 2012 Tough Mudder

We would love you to come on board!

Stacey Rudd

Stacey is now in full training ahead of November’s Tough Mudder and her other events.  She will be writing regular updates as she gets closer to competing.

Stacey In Training Mode VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Liverpool’s Champions League Quest Derailed By Arsenal’s Smash and Grab Raid

I could accentuate the positives in a game where we dominated to such an extent that Arsenal an attacking team by their very nature didn’t have one  corner in the whole game and scored with basically two real clear chances which fell to their master marksman.  Liverpool were excellent, but the difference, pure and simple was the irrepressible Dutchman, taking his record this season to an astounding 25 goals in his last 25 Premier League games.

Hitting the post twice, a missed penalty and a miss-kick four yards out with nothing but grass between the player and the net says it all. Hitting the wood work twenty-one times this season and six missed penalties suggest this is proof positive there is a lack of cutting edge in front of goal.  We’ll take a more considered look behind our inability in front of the ‘onion bag’ later.

Liverpool were out of the traps like the proverbial greyhound with two corners in the opening minutes with  Suarez and Kuyt and the midfield pressing high up the pitch. Even so, Arsenal showed just how dangerous they could be on the break when Walcott’s snap volley from a sharp angle had Reina pulling off a brilliant right handed diving save.  Two moves within minutes highlighted Liverpool’s problems this season, first Henderson in a great position from a Suarez pass, admittedly not a great one, failed to to show the composure to either make space for himself for a shot or play in a colleague in a better position.  Second, after being put through by Kuyt, Downing failed to show the aggression to ward off Sagna’s last ditch tackle.

By now we were overwhelmingly the dominant force with Suarez looking back to his best and his understanding with Kuyt posing a threat to Arsenal at every turn.  Spearing holding the midfield in a studious fashion allowing Adam to be a threat further up the pitch.  The indomitable duo of Suarez and Kuyt linked in the area with one-two which put the Uruguyan through to turn Koscielny to be brought down by Szczesny.  Kuyt, having pulled rank over Adam, had his penalty saved and the resultant rebound which was again brilliantly saved by the Arsenal keeper.

Five minutes was all it took for Liverpool to finally to take the lead with Spearing delivering an inch perfect pass to Kuyt in the inside channel who in turn played the ball out to Henderson free-wheeling down the right, the ex-Mackem knocked in unremarkable ball into the area which Koscielny inexplicably sliced into his own goal, but it was no more than the exerted pressure deserved.  The pressure continued with Liverpool on ocassions tearing Arsenal apart.  Adam marauding up field (yes, I said Adam), before finding Kuyt who in turn found Henderson.  The Liverpool midfielder went for precision rather than power allowing Szczesny to push away the shot, leaving Suarez to slam the rebound against the post from an acute angle.

Koscielny's own goal put's Liverpool on front

Arsenal were soon level with Robin van Persie heading home from a glorious cross from Sagna.  He left the Liverpool vice-captain trailing in his wake and not even able to get in a challenge and Carragher’s demeanour suggested  he knew he was at fault, but he is too great a defender for the club to denigrate, if only to say that we have Coates with younger legs and of international experience ready to fill the breach in Daniel Agger’s enforced absence.

Suarez  produced a piece of world class dribbling when slaloming through, as if he coming down the piste at Lillehammer, passing four Arsenal defenders before squeezing off an early shot which was well saved. Charlie Adam then found himself out on the left and produced the type of clipped cross which we want to see consistently from Downing - Kuyt, intelligently ran across from the right to expertly nick the ball with the outside of his boot against the post, the 21st we’ve struck the woodwork time this season, the one table Liverpool club are running away with this season.

The game’s flow changed irrevocably minutes after interval after Arteta’s unfortunate injury.  The play seemed to flat-line with only a few skirmishes until Adam produced a stunning reverse ball finding Kuyt in acres of space, who played a sumptuous cross which Kelly inexplicably missed with the net beckoning from 4 yards.  Liverpool’s dominance was almost total, so much so that it was hard to recognise that Benayoun had actually been a part of this match following his substitution.  Downing after been played through on the left by Enrique reached the by-line only to play the cross into the waiting arms of the Arsenal keeper with Suarez rushing into an almost certain tap in had it been a cut back a few a yards further.  Charlie Adam’s not for the first time this season with Kuyt to the left and Henderson clean through on the right chose to ignore his better position colleagues, thus throwing away a great chance.

Dalglish seemed caught in a quandary in failing to recognise the obvious problem of his side’s inability to take chances and the need to win the match.  Bellamy as has been proven this season is the club’s best finisher and as such to be brought on at such a late stage was neglectful and wasteful.  Robin van Persie went on to win the game with a last ditch side-footed shows the difference a top-class finisher will have and is something which may cost us dear in the pursuit of a Champions League Place.

An in depth look at the table of top Premier League scorers tells a sorry tale or woe with Craig Bellamy and Luis Suarez languishing joint 29th with 6 goals respectively:

Premier League 2011-2012 - Top Scorers

Position	Player	Goals	Team
1	Robin van Persia	25	Arsenal
2	Wayne Rooney	17	Man UT
3	Sergio Auger	16	Man City
3	Djembe Ba	16	Newcastle United
5	Edin Dzeko	13	Man City
5	Yakubu Aiyegbeni	13	Blackburn
7	Emmanuel Adebayor	11	Tottenham Hotspurs
7	Mario Balotelli	11	Man City
9	Frank Lampard	10	Chelsea
9	Danny Graham	10	Swansea
9	Grant Holt	10	Norwich City
9	Clint Dempsey	10	Fulham
9	Steven Fletcher	10	Wolverhampton Wanderers
14	Daniel Sturridge	10	Chelsea
14	Gareth Bale	9	Tottenham Hotspurs
14	Darren Bent	9	Aston Villa
14	Peter Odemwingie	9	West Bromwich Albion
18	Jermain Defoe	8	Tottenham Hotspurs
18	Heidar Helguson	8	Queen Park Rangers
18	Steve Morison	8	Norwich City
18	Javier Hernandez	8	Manchester United
22	Anthony Pilkington	7	Norwich City
22	Peter Crouch	7	Stoke City
22	Ivan Klasnic	7	Bolton Wanderers
22	Bobby Zamora	7	Queens Park Rangers
22	Dimitar Berbatov	7	Manchester United
22	Rafael van der Vaart	7	Tottenham Hotspurs
22	Scott Sinclair	7	Swansea City
29	Shane Long	6	West Bomwich
29	Craig Bellamy	6	Liverpool
29	Danny Welbeck	6	Manchester United
29	Nani	6	Manchester United
29	Luis Suarez	6	Liverpool

Norwich and West Bromwich Albion are now just four points behind us in 9th and 10th places respectively - Norwich have three players Holt (10 goals), Steve Morison (8) and Andy Pilkington (7) - West Bromwich Albion have Peter Odemwingie (9) and Shane Long (6) above Bellamy and Suarez which adds empirical data to the factual positions of why these teams are only four points behind Liverpool and why we are lagging behind the top six teams.  The obvious thought is that Liverpool owe the very fact of even being in with a shout of fighting for a Champions League place to the solidity of our defence.

Man City and United have multiple scorers in the top forty of Premiership goal scorers and it keeps them ahead even when  their defences are not on top.  Yesterday, we dominated a top four side, but our defence was unable to get us out of jail this time. As magnificent as Luis Suarez is, he failed to score once again and as creative and immense as Liverpool were, in front of goal we fell short not for the first time this season and it is the missing ingredient in terms of being the enabler to make the transition into a top four position.

One hopes that Damian Comolli’s recent statement’s is not taken too literally, he said
''It is early days. We will probably make some adjustments in the summer but nothing that we've done before,''
 
''We signed nine players since Kenny came back so there will be a few adjustments but nothing massive.

''We have done the hard work and now it is a question of making some adjustments in certain positions.

''Kenny has said it several times that we have a very competitive squad and all positions are covered by two or three players, quality players, and we have a lot of young players coming through as well.''

Let’s hope the  adjustments Comolli mentions are quality additions able to help the club step up to another level or else another false dawn could be on the horizon.

Where the League is concerned, being 10 points behind Arsenal one hopes that Dalglish will blood some of the club’s much vaunted youngsters over the remainder of the season and with that in mind it was interesting and pleasing to see Raheem Sterling involved in the pre-match warm-up.

Raheem Sterling involved pre-match (Daily Mail)

 
Kop-Post Man of the Match: Luis Suarez – back to his stunning best leaving defenders trailing in his wake, but unfortunately on the loosing side with his and the team’s failure to capitalise in great positions

A DAY OUT AT WEMBLEY IN SOUND AND PICTURES, SUNDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2012

Reds Marching On Wembley Way

Carling Cup 2012 Pre-Match warm up

Carling Cup post match celebrations

LFC Supporters say how much it means to win the Carling Cup

		Carling Cup 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL