Liverpool’s were fairly tepid in the first-half with Swansea as they had done at Anfield handed out a lesson in ball retention with Shelvey and Henderson chasing shadows. The cause wasn’t helped by squandering what little possession they had with careless passes. Liverpool’s lack of possession had the added impact of starving Suarez and Carroll of any quality assists with Downing once again missing in action.
The lack of quality possession reduced Liverpool to shots from outside the area from Maxi and Carroll , while Doni got down well to save a Sigurdsson drive from a free-kick and Downing blocking from the same playing from short corner.
Liverpool working harder and pressing a little further up the pitch managed to disrupt Swansea’s passing game and began to instil some pressure in the midfield areas. Henderson managed to squeeze off a shot which Vorm saved, but it showed an intention to go forward. Vorm pulled off another save soon after from Carroll’s stunning overhead kick. Downing’s was mercifully put out of his misery on the hour, being replaced by Bellamy, in a season when he has failed to deliver one assist in the 2011/12 season. Hopefully next season will see him back to his very capable best.
The failure to dispatch teams when on top as we were in the second-half here came back to haunt us with Graham sneaking to win the game for the home side. It was a disappointing end to a disappointing league season and leaves Kenny Dalglish and FSG with a lot of soul searching to do in the close season.
Kop-Post Man of the Match: Andy Carroll – never stopped running or showing for the ball.
In reality due to the fact we had nothing to play for was not surprised at all with the result. Some major decisions will have to be made in the coming weeks as finishing 8th place is extremely disappointing and has to be improved on next season no matter who the manager is.
ReplyDeleteTo sum up our current situation you need to add up the last three seasons to find when Man Utd lost 14 league games which for me again is unacceptable as a top level team.
For Dalglish to continue as manager he will know he has to hit the ground running next season or he may not even make Xmas!
Very poor league campaign by Liverpool all-round!
I also need to add that finishing 17 pts off the top four is not good enough let alone finishing below our cash strapped neighbours Everton!
ReplyDeleteWhat FSG will want to know from Dalglish is how a team such as Everton with no money to spend can end up above us for only the second time in 25 seasons!
You do not get a trophy for finishing 7th or 8th so ambitions need to be aimed higher.
As Dalglish loved to state from day one that you add up the points and see where we end up in a league season -now he will be finally judged on the position we ended up.
I was just having a gander at the final PL table this morning and thought it was worth pointing out the following –
ReplyDeleteWe finished –
37 points behind first place
17 points beind fourth place
16 points ahead of the last relegation spot
22 points ahead of last place
So in points terms we’re closer to being relegated than we were to hitting our target of a top four finish and we much much closer to Wolves than we are to the Scum or Man City. Now if I was John Henry and Tom Werner I would look at that and think that something went drastically wrong this season. I honestly can’t see these guys taking a punt on giving Kenny another year given the vast improvement is required, Kenny has had 16 months and £100 million and apart from a Carling Cup which we nearly lost to Cardiff there has been minimal progress if any.
That says it all, closer to relegation than progression.
DeleteIn fact, our stated aim at the start of the season was to win the Premiership, I distinctively remember Kenny saying that. To finish 37 points off can only be regarded as a significant failure.
I agree with your argument it is a significant failure.
DeleteBut what I will say in response to all that is if we continue to judge our managers on just one full season we are no better than Chelski – what happens if our potential new manager ends up 10th next season but 36 points behind 1st place do we continue with him because he is 1 point closer or get another manager in?
We need to either back our manager to improve next season or bring in a new manager and back him for 2-3 years not just a season.
It just shows that Didi Hamann is correct in his statement that we are potentially 5-10 years away from Champions League football if we get this decision wrong.
The flip side of that argument is that if we stick with a manager who has delivered has delivered 8th place we could continue to stagnate for another year. If Kenny has another ‘unlucky year’ and finishes 8th or 9th next year then we have just been wasting time when decisive action was needed.
DeleteThe difference between us and the Chavs is that they fire managers for coming 2nd, 3rd or 4th, You can be damned sure that if the likes of Arsenal or Spurs had manager that delivered 8th place and one of the worst home records and points tally in living memory after 16 months in charge they would be taking a long hard look at firing his a$$.
Baz
I see with have four players in the Euros with Henderson on standby!
ReplyDeleteEngland squad for Euro 2012:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Man City), Rob Green (West Ham), John Ruddy (Norwich)
Defenders: Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Man United), John Terry (Chelsea), Joleon Lescott (Man City), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Leighton Baines (Everton)
Midfielders: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Man City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Man United), James Milner (Man City)
Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Man United), Danny Welbeck (Man United), Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)
Standby players: Jack Butland (Birmingham City), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea).
Tell me that's yet another wind up.... DOWNING??????
ReplyDeleteAt least Stevie G is captain! :)
DeleteGet in!! Now I care about England again......if that racist yob was named captain I would've boycotted the whole tournament (even though he should not be in the squad full stop!)
DeleteDowning being in the squad to me is a farce and Terry being picked is a disgrace and Rio being omitted for “footballing reasons!” is ridiculous !!!
DeleteHenderson on standby for his poor season just sums up this squad !!!
When I saw breaking news, I hurried up to see whether it has to do with the King leaving the Club.
DeleteHodgson on Gerrard
Delete"I know him of course, as a player, I know him as a person," added Hodgson about Gerrard on Wednesday.
"I know how committed he is to the England cause and he was delighted last night when I told him of my decision.
"I shall be counting on him, of course, to help me as much as he possibly can to build the type of team unity and the type of environment that I think's going to be very necessary for us to thrive in an important tournament."
SKY SOURCES SAY KENNY HAS LEFT THE POST (SACKED!)
DeleteSorry, but that’s the right decision!!
Deletebit early to say that Livi - lets see who they get in before we all start celebrating...
DeleteBBC sport are saying Martinez has been approached.
DeleteHope not!
DeleteInteresting Karl.... why not mate???
DeleteI think its too early in his career? His teams play good football but I think it might be a tad too early. He doesn’t really have much domestic or European cup experience and only managed to keep Wigan up by the skin of his teeth, even though his team did fantastically well in the last eight games.
Deletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/17/liverpool-pep-guardiola-roberto-martinez
ReplyDeleteFunny about the reference to David Dein.
DeleteI was standing waiting outside the FA Cup Final for Livi and Gerard Houllier arrived with David Dein. Dein was there a good few minutes signing autographs for Liverpool supporters with Houllier.
Wouldn't surprise me if Kenny came back in some fashion later on. Heard yesterday he told the owners to use his compensation to buy players.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/18/swansea-city-brendan-rodgers-liverpool-interview?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Ffootball%2Frss+%28Football%29
Brendan Rogers has knocked back our approach
I think allot of factors led up to this with business and football both mixed in to make that vital decision.
ReplyDeleteWe won five of our 18 home games in the Premier League this season, the fewest wins in more than 50 years at Anfield and for a club that prides it on winning that was never going to be good enough for our owners.
Dalglish's handling of the Luis Suarez incident led to widespread criticism of him. After a number of incidents in with Suarez found guilty of racially abusing Man United star Patrice Evra, and wore a t-shirt in support of the Uruguayan striker before one game, also refused to criticize him for not shaking Evra's hand before a game at Old Trafford, he was more drifting away from the owners, behind the doors.
Was this the beginning of the end of the relationship?
Dalglish spent £35 million on Andy Carroll, £20 million on Jordan Henderson and £8 million on Charlie Adam, none of whom really performed in the Premier League
Forty points behind bitter rivals Manchester United in the league. But things were made even worse when we ended up finishing below local rivals Everton for the first time in seven years. The Reds league form was so poor they actually finished level on points with Fulham in 8th.
Plans and projects change and its all part of change management and our owners see this as a business change. Dalglish did so well in his six months in charge that the owners decided to keep him on for another year.
But changes happen and we all want results and with results going against KD the owners quickly started to think change of manager,
With all due Respect for me it’s the right decision, we need to move forward fast, and not keep looking back at history Glory and the Kenny days, modern and today’s football. YNWA