May 2011
1 post
The King takes his Throne. Long live the King.
April 2011
5 posts
3 tags
Liverpool v Birmingham: Player ratings
A fantastic game for the Reds full of pace, movement, and power that was made all the brighter by the play of our two young fullbacks. Of course they weren’t perfect but they more than held their own and did the Academy proud. The fluid passing and distinct lack of long balls force me once again to wonder if the absence of Carroll isn’t a good thing. With Maxi’s fantastic play...
6 tags
Liverpool v Arsenal: Player ratings
As I stated in my prior post, this game was always going to be a challenge. LFC has on the whole a pretty poor record against Arsenal over the last few years and in fact has never won at the Emirates. Things went from bad to worse when Aurelio left on 21 minutes and Liverpool retooled with what may be the youngest, most inexperienced pair of fullbacks in at least the top two tiers of English...
3 tags
They got our number?
Thinking about this upcoming game with Arsenal I was trying to remember how many wins we’ve had against them over the last few years. All I could remember was Crouch’s hat-trick and beating them in the CL tie although we didn’t really win either game. I went back and counted from the 06/07 season and found that we are 2-7-6. That’s just 2 wins out of 15 tries. The gunners...
3 tags
Liverpool v Man City: Player ratings
Well, our topsy turvy season continues. Just when we seem to have lost our momentum, the lads come out and absolutely hammer a top four contender. It was as comprehensive a win as theirs was against us early in the season. Part of the credit has to go to Mancini who really messed this one up tactically for his team as he hoped to rest some starters for their upcoming derby against ManU. Add to...
5 tags
5 thoughts on WBA
I’ve been too busy to put up my score card this week. Suffice it to say that losing to WBA pretty much sunk our European hopes. Here are a few thoughts I had on the game however.
1. Liverpool seems to play the wrong way with Carroll up front - We’ve been hearing time and time again about how Carroll can play with his feet and doesn’t upset the pass-and-move game of Liverpool....
March 2011
6 posts
6 tags
Random thoughts for the week
-While I don’t know if he cares, I can’t help but wonder what Torres thinks as he watches Suarez. I am pretty sure the Spaniard would have had a few more goals to his name by now if he had stayed in the Red shirt with Suarez’s movement, trickery, and ability to set up his team mates. He was exactly what we have been missing and there is a chance their partnership could have been...
3 tags
Liverpool v Sunderland: Player ratings
This was an interesting game in that Sunderland probably shaded the play a bit. Their attacking players are very dynamic and the prettier football was definitely played by the home side. The opening goal was certainly controversial but given some of the poor calls we have suffered, it was probably due karma for us. And again, it is the ability to win the games we should win that tend to make good...
5 tags
That sound just might have been the season going...
I”m trying to get a grip on how I feel about getting dumped out of the Europa League. Getting knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea or losing to West Ham (or being swept by Blackpool or getting outplayed by Stoke or …) was worse. However, it was a chance at silverware and a chance to paint yet another bleak season with a bit of a silver lining. Truthfully, I wasn’t...
disgusted.
Couldn’t score a goal against the 6th placed team in Portugal. Twice.
7 tags
European blues, the Ressies, and the Carroll...
Hmm, what a difference 1000 miles and a few days make for this team. With so many of us on a high after Sunday, the game against Braga felt like a chance to finally get the ball rolling on beating the teams we are supposed to beat. While no one would call Braga a sure win, after watching the game the only thing less impressive than the Portuguese was our own LFC. I’m just not sure how Kenny...
3 tags
Liverpool v Manchester United: Player ratings
It may be King Kenny’s birthday week but it was the fans who got the gift. A fantastic effort from the boys yesterday saw them batter their most bitter rivals. As a fan it was close to heaven with us looking great and the Mancs looking flat, a new hero in Suarez weaving his magic and a first look at our giant new #9. It was easily the best we have played over the last two years with crisp...
February 2011
6 posts
3 tags
Liverpool v West Ham: Player ratings
Its hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong Sunday. Losing Miereles and Kelly didn’t help although Johnson did fine at his usual RB position and Wilson got forward plenty at LB. We seemed to lose the midfield battle once we switched to a 442, however WHU didn’t score until late when we were pushing up so high and Skrtel and Carra got isolated. After reading the press about this game I...
4 tags
Newcastle - the new Liverpool Reserves?
I laughed a little when I heard LFC was scouting out Newcastle’s Enrique. When did Newcastle suddenly have such a great team that we wanted to buy all their players? I was seriously curious and watched the Newcastle-Bolton game yesterday solely to scout Enrique (and to maybe spy on Stu Holden a little - go USA!). I remember when he came to Newcastle and was pretty hyped up, but totally...
6 tags
Day of reckoning
I’ll talk more about today’s disappointment after I get a chance to watch it in full but this loss and the two tedious and uninspiring eastern Europ(ean) League games against Prague have finally put this season into perspective for me. The bottom line is this squad just isn’t good enough. The relative ease with which we moved up to a sight of the Champions League places belied...
4 tags
Liverpool vs Wigan: Player ratings
This draw against Wigan has to go down as a disappointment, despite some really good play from Liverpool. The front four of the visitors (Moses, Rodallega, NZogbia, and Daime) are a skilled lot and were impressive, particularly in the first half, and probably should have troubled us more. As it was, our final ball really lacked a cutting edge and its becoming more and more clear who the dead-wood...
4 tags
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Player ratings
While not an instant classic by any means, our win over Chelsea was a tactical master-piece. It also boosted us within striking distance of the European places and provides us with further momentum forward. Liverpool are now the hottest team in the EPL and no one is going to want to play us in this mood. All of this is even before adding our 57 million pound strike force to the regular line-up. On...
10 tags
Notes on the last week
Sorry to any of you looking for my regular updates. Recovery from the plague + business at work = little blog time. So I’m going to skip the Stoke player ratings this week and will have Chelsea ratings out soon. With so much going on right now I have to share a few of my most recent LFC thoughts though:
-The Carroll Gamble - I, along with a lot of other football heads, thought 35m was a...
January 2011
17 posts
3 tags
Liverpool vs Fulham: Player ratings
While this seems pretty meaningless now in light of all the transfer drama, I did want to keep the ball rolling on my player ratings. LFC were fortunate to come away with a win in this one as Fulham really played the better football. Some good goal keeping and a comical own goal really sums up the game. The stats say we out-possessed them but it sure didn’t seem like it. If it wasn’t...
5 tags
Where do we go from here?
While nothing is set in stone, it looks in all liklihood that Fernando Torres is now leaving for Chelsea. While transfers happen all the time, the way this one came about is just about sickening. With so little time left for any other deals there is no way LFC could find a suitable replacement. Add to it that he would be going to a major EPL rival. FSG did the right thing and rejected his initial...
4 tags
Deafening silence
Sorry there hasn’t been much posted lately. I’ve been in bed sick for the last 3 days. Sadly at least 50% of my illness is now attributable to the clear fact that Fernando Torres is in all likelihood going to be wearing Chelsea blue next week. It seemed like I had mere minutes to enjoy our first major transfer in years before our last major transfer completely stabbed the legions of...
3 tags
Liverpool v Wolves player ratings: The return of...
While I don’t want to diminish the joy of our win on Saturday, I cannot help but be sobered by the fact that this was a win against a bottom 3 team with one of the worst defensive records in the league. If it wasn’t for some laughably poor attempts at an offside trap, this game would have been much closer than it was. Our defense also did not impress (although with little thanks to...
8 tags
Transfer doings and the Youth Movement
There is lots of talk about LFC transfers and here is my take on some of the more realistic ones:
-Luis Suarez - This is probably the biggest deal of them all. Theoretically I like this one a lot. He is a goal scorer who has regularly played wide or in the middle (two areas we are weak in) and could end up being a real attacking asset. He is comfortable being physical with defenders, is tricky...
4 tags
Liverpool v Everton: Player ratings
While the results are not coming, the play certainly has improved. No one seems to have benefited from this more than Torres who looked his usual dangerous self again. A slaloming run that left 3 players in his wake and ended with a curler cannoning off the upright was the first signs of the Torres of old we have seen all season. The supporting striker position remains a question with Miereles...
4 tags
The Away Blues Continue: Liverpool v Blackpool...
I don’t think anyone thought turning this ship around would be easy, even for King Kenny, but watching Liverpool fall apart and be convincingly beaten by Blackpool for the second time this season shows just how much work there is to be done. The start couldn’t have been better with an open game and several chances from the off. Torres showed what he could do when given the right...
5 tags
New life- A few thoughts on the Man U FA Cup tie
-The thing that stood out to me most was how much better the team movement was. The passing was generally crisp (especially when we had 11) and the team moved forward and defended as a unit. This was noticeably absent from our last two league losses when players were all over the map position wise. You could almost feel the team say ‘Ahhh’ as they were finally allowed to play the kind...
4 tags
Double standards
Theo Walcott publicly admitted to cheating the game by diving in his FA Cup game last weekend and has been charged by the FA…oh, wait….no he wasn’t. It was Ryan Babel who tweeted a photo-shopped pic of Howard Webb in a Man U jersey that was really bringing dishonor to the game. Apparently expressing your opinion about a terrible performance by a referee is way more damaging to...
6 tags
An encouraging beginning
I know looks can be deceiving but after seeing the pics of KD stalking the grounds at Melwood during practice today I felt he just looked like he belonged there. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t help but feel it was right. More right then Roy ever did. I still have my doubts about his appointment but I have watched and listened to several of his interviews so far and every one of them...
4 tags
A new begining
The inevitable has happened and Roy Hodgson by ‘mutual consent’ (Although I highly doubt that Roy was very consenting) has left the club with Kenny Dalglish installed as an interim manager. I have my doubts about that appointment and you can read my blog for more details about that, however I cannot but hope this means Liverpool will get back to playing the football they are known for...
5 tags
Liverpool vs Blackburn: Player ratings
The ratings say it all. Feel free to make up your own interpretation of the negative scores.
Key:
1 - Waste of space. We would have done better with 10 men than have him on the pitch.
2 - Not his best night. Maybe didn’t ruin the game for us but certainly didn’t help.
3 - Average. Neither was bad nor great or do anything of note.
4 - Played a key part in the game - added punch, pace,...
SOMETHING. MUST. CHANGE.
3 tags
Is King Kenny the answer?
I want to preface this post by saying I haven’t ever watched a Liverpool game coached by or with Kenny Dalglish in the lineup, so my understanding of what he is to Liverpool is by context only. What I can tell is that he was foundational in nurturing the Liverpool Way of playing the beautiful game and brought the team tremendous success while doing it. And for that I have boundless respect...
4 tags
Who is next?
With Hodgson almost certainly gone at some point this season I was going to write a piece on who could replace him. However, Jonathan Wilson did it for me and it is very informative. I especially agree on his take on King Kenny being installed.
Read it here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jonathan_wilson/01/04/prospective.liverpoolcoaches/index.html
3 tags
Liverpool vs Bolton: Player Ratings
A welcome win, but as Paul Tomkins pointed out: 3 points from Wolves, Newcastle and Bolton is atrocious.
So with that being said, the player ratings. Here is the key first:
1 - Waste of space. We would have done better with 10 men than have him on the pitch.
2 - Not his best night. Maybe didn’t ruin the game for us but certainly didn’t help.
3 - Average. Neither was bad nor great or do...
7 tags
Insanity - doing the same thing but expecting...
A couple of thoughts after our last gasp, save-Roy’s-job job against Bolton.
- ‘Insanity’ - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results (Einstein). ‘A good coach’ - someone who can get the best out of their team to achieve the best results (me). Which sounds more like Roy? I can’t but get the sense the he has no idea what he is doing....
3 tags
LFC vs Wolves: Player Ratings
I would like to give them all a 0 after that dismal performance but I just can’t help but think a lot of the problem is tactical rather than based on personal performance. This was one of the hardest games I have ever watched - totally devoid of pace, fluidity, and in LFC’s case - passing. Because of that, I am not going to dwell on this one much. Here is the ratings key for a...
December 2010
18 posts
6 tags
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of 2010: The Ugly
The Ugly
Well, there is something about playing the Wolves that in my opinion is the death knell for recent LFC managers. The game last night could have made its own number on this list, however I will just add it to the other Wolves game that was the beginning of the end for Rafa. As I stew in my depression here are my top 5 ‘Uglies’ of 2010:
5. Rafa’s demise - It was clear...
Lunacy
Just saw the lineup for today’s game at Wolverhampton. Roy has gone and done it by putting Miereles on the wing and Gerrard holding instead of supporting Torres. Total lunacy. I hope he proves me wrong but man I hate the way this guy manages this team.
4 tags
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of 2010: The Bad
Part II of the Good, Bad, and Ugly of LFC 2010:
The Bad
5. Finishing 7th in 2010 - Just so disappointing. Rafa was clearly playing to not lose versus playing to win by the end of the year. Add to that extended injuries to Torres and Stevie and you have a recipe for disaster. Barely making Europa league places in a year we were trumped to fight for the title was crushing.
4. Loaning out...
6 tags
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of 2010
I”m actually not the biggest fan of the end-of-the-year wrap-ups, but I’m also never shy about sharing my opinion. Apparently my opinion won as I have put together my top 5 Good, Bad and Ugly of LFC 2010. Feel free to comment if you agree or don’t with my lists.
The Good
Truthfully I really have struggled to find much of a silver lining. Most of the encouragement has come from...
6 tags
Some random thoughts for Tuesday and the missing...
Things that made me go hmm over the last couple days:
-I’ve heard a lot of banter about Owen Coyle as a possible replacement for Roy but after watching the Sunderland-Bolton match this weekend I”m not sure that would be an improvement. There is no doubt that Coyle has established more fluidity to Bolton’s game and managed to get the best out of the mercurial Elmander, however...
6 tags
The perfect storm and Rafa's back?
Well, the snow in England has wrecked havoc on the schedule which I can’t help but feel is a bad thing for the Reds. We could really do with a run of good form right now and with rumblings that the unheated turf at Blackpool could be unplayable, we may miss out on two winnable fixtures. Of course, with this model of Liverpool FC there is no longer any such thing as a gimme, and we may have...
5 tags
Looking ahead at Fulham
Of course the press will be all over this match as it is Hodgson’s glorious return to the club that earned him his current job. Sadly, with both coaches afraid to lose it could possibly be one of the most dour games of the year. As I await Roy’s now customary pre-match capitulation, here are my thoughts on this game:
-Will Stevie play? I hope so. He seems to be the only player on the...
4 tags
Back to the future?
Well, Roy followed up a tremendously disappointing loss at Newcastle with a mind-numbing, sleep-aid of a game against Utrecht. I was so sure that he had finally figured things out with some modestly more high-pressure tactics against Aston Villa, Tottenham, and West Ham. And while they didn’t win them all, they looked much better and much more able to challenge for a top four place. But in...
6 tags
The Great Leaders do a call in
If any of you 6 precious people who actually read this blog haven’t already, be sure to watch the free videos of the call in show that Tom Werner and John Henry did on LFC TV (you can watch them on liverpoolfc.tv). Of course the Great Leaders didn’t really say anything earth shattering, however there were some things I thought were pretty notable:
-It was hilarious how many people...
3 tags
Liverpool vs Newcastle player ratings
There was so much wrong with this game its hard to even know what to say about it. You sure would have been hard pressed to tell which set of centerbacks were the back-ups and which set the usual starters, with Carroll making Skrtel and Kyrgiakos look like U-15s. Its hard to criticize a player with the talent of Torres but he was just awful and actually made Babel look good. The heart just never...
4 tags
An Ode to Disappointment
Liverpool beat Newcastle United 3-0 today. Sadly it was only on my Playstation and even more sadly it was the best football I had watched all day. Just when I was starting to believe in this team, just when I was starting to dream that we could maybe salvage this season, just when we could least afford to stumble - we conjured up the ghost of the teams who showed up for Stoke, Everton, and...
Aaaarrggghhhh
4 tags
Newcastle prematch thoughts
The Reds take on a chaotic Newcastle tomorrow at St. James Park. Its been a crazy week for the Magpies with their popular manager Chris Hughton fired this week after what by all accounts seemed a successful and productive tenure. So will the reported discontent from the players undo them or will the usual lift of a new manager make them a dangerous team this weekend? My guess is the former but...
13 tags
My LFC Christmas wish list
With Christmas here and the January transfer period rapidly approaching I thought I would post my Christmas wish list - both realistic and not. A month ago I would have told you that a rangy, defensively solid midfielder would have been a priority, however with Lucas finally starting to mature into his potential and Miereles playing like we hoped he would, this doesn’t seem like the most...
