Liverpool FC Official statement on Suarez's ban

All Liverpool fans will be shocked and saddened to hear that the FA have found Luis Suarez guilty of the charges put against him. As of now he has been given an 8 game ban and a £40,000 fine. Liverpool will appeal the decision and I can say with some certainty that we have not heard the last of this story. I am not going to make much comment on this, judging by the comments i've read on Facebok and Twitter I would only be wasting my time as its at time like this that idiots are at their most vocal and whatever I say will be ripped apart. Instead I have just put the Official Liverpool FC Statement about the ruling below. This discloses a lot of facts which were until today unknown about the case, and may show that there may be plenty more to be disclosed over the coming weeks.

STATEMENT:

Liverpool Football Club is very surprised and disappointed with the decision of the Football Association Commission to find Luis Suarez guilty of the charges against him.

We look forward to the publication of the Commission's Judgment. We will study the detailed reasons of the Commission once they become available, but reserve our right to appeal or take any other course of action we feel appropriate with regards to this situation.

We find it extraordinary that Luis can be found guilty on the word of Patrice Evra alone when no-one else on the field of play - including Evra's own Manchester United teammates and all the match officials - heard the alleged conversation between the two players in a crowded Kop goalmouth while a corner kick was about to be taken.

The Club takes extremely seriously the fight against all forms of discrimination and has a long and successful track record in work relating to anti-racist activity and social inclusion. We remain committed to this ideal and equality for all, irrespective of a person's background.

LFC considers racism in any form to be unacceptable - without compromise. It is our strong held belief, having gone over the facts of the case, that Luis Suarez did not commit any racist act. It is also our opinion that the accusation by this particular player was not credible - certainly no more credible than his prior unfounded accusations.

It is key to note that Patrice Evra himself in his written statement in this case said 'I don't think that Luis Suarez is racist'. The FA in their opening remarks accepted that Luis Suarez was not racist.

Luis himself is of a mixed race family background as his grandfather was black. He has been personally involved since the 2010 World Cup in a charitable project which uses sport to encourage solidarity amongst people of different backgrounds with the central theme that the colour of a person's skin does not matter; they can all play together as a team.

He has played with black players and mixed with their families whilst with the Uruguay national side and was Captain at Ajax Amsterdam of a team with a proud multi-cultural profile, many of whom became good friends.

It seems incredible to us that a player of mixed heritage should be accused and found guilty in the way he has based on the evidence presented. We do not recognise the way in which Luis Suarez has been characterised.

It appears to us that the FA were determined to bring charges against Luis Suarez, even before interviewing him at the beginning of November. Nothing we have heard in the course of the hearing has changed our view that Luis Suarez is innocent of the charges brought against him and we will provide Luis with whatever support he now needs to clear his name.

We would also like to know when the FA intend to charge Patrice Evra with making abusive remarks to an opponent after he admitted himself in his evidence to insulting Luis Suarez in Spanish in the most objectionable of terms. Luis, to his credit, actually told the FA he had not heard the insult.

Liverpool 1 - 1 Man City (Talking Points)

Prior to the game I think most Liverpool fans would have been content with a draw in this one. Everyone knew the type of form that City have been in. They were unbeaten and yet to score less than 2 goals in any of their previous games in the Premier League. They had recently recorded an astonishing victory over the reigning Champions and their fierce neighbours and they were playing the kind of attacking football that had journalists and pundits searching for superlatives to describe them. Liverpool’s form had seemed to be improving too. Fresh from a strong victory over Chelsea we were hopeful and believed it might happen rather than full of confidence that it would. The game opened with City looking the stronger of the two teams. The game plan seemed to be to cede possession with confidence that we could repel their attacks. After soaking up some pressure we would hope to hit them on the break. Suarez looked a little isolated at times as the lone front man during this opening spell. Before the half hour mark we had began to gain better possession and looked to try to take control. Unfortunately it was about this time too, when Kompany rose with his shoulder to give City the lead. It never felt like disaster though and the players clearly had belief.  Parity was restored moments later from Charlie Adam, via a massive deflection off Former Everton player the eleph....   Jolean Lescott. The second half was very entertaining. Liverpool clearly felt they could win the game and played without much restraint. City went down to 10 men when Balotelli lived up to his reputation somewhat by being sent off. There were more chances for both teams, with Joe Hart taking off a couple of brilliant saves in the dying minutes to help earn his league chasing side a point. After the game, the pre match acceptance of a point gave way to a sense of frustration that we couldn’t win the game when overall I think our performance could easily have deserved more. Its times like this though that it’s important to look at the bigger picture. A draw against this City side is no poor result. And if we look at the context of the last 2 weeks 4 points from consecutive games against Chelsea and City is a decent return. We go into a decent run of winnable fixtures and in all honesty picking up 3 points in each of our next few games will mean more than this one result. In the last few years we have struggled when expected to win and flourished against the bigger teams. This season so far has been true to form, but we now have a very good chance to correct that. Next up is the quarter final of the Carling Cup away to Chelsea but that’s followed by Fulham, QPR, Villa, Wigan and Blackburn. If we maintain our standards each of these games is winnable, but after 3 high intensity contests it will be difficult to maintain the form. Its times like this when the form might drop off slightly, hopefully Steven Gerrard will be back in during this period, and this alone can help keep the players intensity high.

The Defence

Yet again Carra remained sat on the bench, and yet again it didn’t seem like we missed him too much at all. I think a lot of people are being a bit premature in writing off his Liverpool career but there certainly has been a change in his status as an automatic pick. People have been talking of the Skrtel and Agger combination as the future of Liverpool’s defence for a while now but we’ve never really had an extended chance to witness this due to Agger’s injuries and Skrtel’s form at times. Now though we are starting to see this fledgling partnership start to blossom and I think they look better in tandem that any other possible pairing in this position. There is no doubt that Carra will return to the starting line-up soon. Probably in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night, or if not the next time Dagger breaks down but when he does at least we know that we have promise for the future in this area of the park. Sebastian Coates has looked promising in his few appearances too so there is genuine cause for optimism in this area of the park.

Substitutions

I must admit I find myself getting quite frustrated during games when were pushing to win and Kenny seems to wait an age to make a substitution. Even more so when the substation comes and its not the one I was calling for. Of course the obvious question is why do I think I know better than Kenny on this front. When it comes to these changes it’s a lot more complicated than simply saying “well player a is playing shite so bring player b on and well get the winner”. There are a myriad of things which go into these decisions, form being just one. It depends on what the other team are doing, whether a player is an injury concern, how a players been doing in training etc. In this game again, when the substitution came it was after a sending off and made sense, it also helped us keep control of the game. Carroll even came very close to netting the elusive winner with a header close to the end of the game. I would like to have seen Maxi introduced at some point as Downing seemed to put in another sub –standard performance, but all in all I think the shape helped us keep control so as ever it seems Kenny was proved right.

Zonal Marking

I can’t let the opportunity pass to point out that Liverpool conceded a goal from a corner in this game, and I didn’t hear one commentator or read one journalist talking about our defensive tactic as blame for giving away the chance. Cast your mind back to when Rafa was in charge, everytime we conceded from a corner the “experts” were lining up to point to Zonal Marking as the reason for this. Completely ignoring the fact that we had a superb record in relation to defending corners during this period. I’m not pointing this out to try to explain the virtues of either Zonal or Man to Man marking on corners. I’m saying it more to point out the idiocy of said “experts”. On Saturday, contrary to the lack of criticism, you could see that Man to Man marking may very well have been to blame. Dirk and Glen both make a move in the same Zone because they are following either ball or man, they trip each other up which leaves Kompany unmarked to shoulder home. Neither style of defending corners is faultless and from time to time no matter how you defend you will concede from set pieces due to excellent delivery or fantastic execution, I just thought this was a decent opportunity to point this out.

Liverpool 2 - 1 Chelsea (Talking Points)

I must admit I was nervous about this fixture. It just felt like we needed things to click in order for us to win this one. Everyone will be aware that we had suffered a few poor home results recently and our profligacy issues were getting highlighted more and more over the last few weeks. It really felt like we would need to convert our chances in this game. We haven’t been at our strongest at the back in the last few weeks. Okay, we’d not conceded a lot of goals but we had conceded a fair few chances. Chelsea would punish us if we gave them opportunities to score, so we had to make sure we took our chances. I got more confidence when I saw our starting line-up though. In was Maxi and Bellamy, out went Carroll and Downing. We started off brightly and at times in the first half I felt this could reasonably be described as one of our best performances so far this season. We dipped a bit in the second half, Chelsea got into the ascendency and pushed back hard. They took control of the midfield and controlled things for a spell which culminated in an equaliser. There were some sensible tactical changes though which restored our control eventually leading to a great winner from Glen Johnson.

Maxi, Maxi Rodriguez goes down the wing for me!

It seemed a little unfair on Maxi that he had been out of the first team picture for pretty much the whole season so far. He was one of the most dependable players available for Kenny when he took over and he scored important goals as our season turned last year. It was great to see that his time out of the frame hadn’t diminished his goal-scoring form as his fine opener took his current scoring run to 8 goals in his last 5 league starts for Liverpool. A lot more people had started to question Dalglish’s decision to marginalise the player, the theory being that his intelligence, movement, creativity and finishing ability were exactly what we were lacking from midfield. Such theories are easy to trot out in pub conversations between amateur tacticians but often prove fruitless when an opportunity to prove them are presented. But in this case, the amateur theory was proven to be correct, and how! There was a lot to be admired in Maxi’s play. His very presence seemed to give the team more confidence when passing the ball, particularly in tight situations. The interchange in the lead up to his goal showed some evidence of this. His sharpness from the off was testimony to his professional attitude, a lesser player might have become lazy or distracted when out of the side but Maxi looked fit and alert and he deserves kudos for this. He certainly tired in the second half, due to a combination of lack of match fitness and his very high workrate. All big teams need to have players who while they want to start every week, must be prepared to be out of the side and be professional enough to be 100% ready when needed. Its something we’ve struggled with over the years, but in Maxi we seem to have this quality. I hope his attitude is rewarded with a prolonged return to the team.

The battle of the Ex's

A lot of talk and focus before the game had obviously been centred on Meireles and Torres. Two successful players for Liverpool who both left in acrimonious fashion were expected to be fired up and raring to kick-start their Chelsea careers against their former club. As it turned out, neither player was deemed worthy of a start by Andre Villas Boas. I saw something come up to say Torres had been brought on as a sub, but maybe that was a mistake because I didn’t notice him out on the pitch. Instead of these two it was another player playing against his old club that stole the headlines - Glen Johnson. Johnno’s return to fitness has been progressing nicely so far, and this performance certainly showed that he is now back. He had a great game all round but his finish for the winner was fantastic. He may have been helped a little by John Terry’s poor positioning but his run, confidence and the precision of his shot was worthy of winning any game. One or two people in fact pointed out Johnno’s own poor positioning for the Chelsea equaliser but I think its fair to say he made up for that. I was a bit surprised that he got man of the match from Sky, but I certainly don’t begrudge him the award.

Changes

As I discussed last week, the pressure had been building on our new signings over the past few weeks. When the results aren’t going the way we wanted, it is easy to look for scapegoats. If the scapegoats also have big transfer fees it makes it even easier to pick on them. Carroll, Downing Hendo and to a lesser extent Adam have been the scapegoats of choice for many over the last few weeks. Regardless of the fact that it made tactical sense I thought it was a very good decision to take these players away from the limelight a bit for this fixture. We’ve all spoken about the strength in depth we have this season and this game provided some evidence to back up that claim. It provides some breathing space for those in the firing line. Hendo came on and put in a really stong performance, much the way he did against Man U a few weeks ago. With Man City up next followed by another game against Chelsea, this time in the Carling Cup, There will be ample opportunity to spread games around and hopefully the new boys can rediscover their form under the radar.

Subtle Revelations

It seems strange to say it but something which doesn’t seem to have been mentioned by many people since the game is the absence of two of our Heroes. Two men who have been the epitome of everything that Liverpool stands for over the last few years. I’m talking of course about Stevie and Carra. Stevie’s injury luck has continued to be poor this season meaning he has featured very rarely this season and he again wasn’t available to be part of the squad for this game. Carra is further along the recovery road but wasn’t considered ready for a return to the first eleven. What’s not clear is whether the decision was based on fitness or form. Certainly Carra has been coming in for stick lately where he has been untouchable in previous years. Dagger has returned to fitness (touch wood) and Martin Skrtel, to my mind anyway, has been one of the best Centre Halves in the premiership so far this year. Either way, what is encouraging is that where in previous years Carra returning to fitness would mean an immediate return to the line-up, we are now comfortable enough to bide our time and the result we achieved certainly proved this. As for Stevie, there is no doubt that he remains one of the best players in the league. When he returns to fitness I have no doubt that he will strengthen the team in any position across the midfield, or further advanced. But what’s been striking about his absence is how little people have been talking about it. We achieved a fantastic result on Sunday, and it didn’t seem like we missed our talisman at all in the game. The fact that the absence of two such legends is worthy only of a footnote, not a headline, can only be taken as another mark to prove the strength of our squad.

Current Frustrations - Talking Points

Unfortunately Saturday turned out to be another mediocre performance where we went in with a very realistic ambition to win the three points but ended the day very frustrated having tried but failed to achieve all we felt was possible. After 90 minutes on Saturday I felt very low indeed. I had seen our form dip and rise (and then repeat) through the season so far but I really felt after the very comfortable (although not amazing) performance against WBA last week that we were ready to push on, hit some decent form and keep improving. On paper a home game against a newly promoted side always looks win-able. Unfortunately, if you don’t put games like this to bed when the early chances arrive, your own confidence suffers and the opposition’s confidence rises. Of course when at Anfield this can lead to the fans getting restless and all of a sudden there is a huge uphill battle to climb. Saturday followed this pattern to a T. Andy Carroll had an early chance which he struck well but unluckily crashed off the cross bar. From that minute you get a feeling of, oh no – not another one of these games. It took me a full day to cool down after the result and try to view things more calmly. Immediately after the game I was giving out about this and that and at times like this I know the best thing to do is stay away from twitter, facebook and message boards. I’m wound up enough without listening to the poisonous diatribe of the Doom-mongers not to mention wind-up merchant fans of other clubs. There’s plenty that I’m frustrated at right now and plenty of points I’ve heard others raise. I’m going to try to raise a few of them here and give them my own sense of perspective. These are my opinions and these are the reasons why I won’t let myself get too down, or agree with the points,  about where we are right now. I hope you’ll use the comments section below the article to agree or disagree, I’m more than happy to have some constructive debate on the subjects.

Complaint:                     Suarez’ Goal Ratio

Example comment:         He’s a good player but he’s no goal scorer

I’ve been guilty of this one myself, in fact I remember a long conversation with family after the Utd game where I was making this exact point. The difference is that it’s now being used by some as a stick to beat the team or Suarez himself with. When I made the argument it was to highlight that he is a brilliant player but that is something which, if improved, could make him even better. The thing that gets me about this argument is that although Luis may miss some chances, he makes most of these chances himself. Its not like we can say “oh Micheal Owen would be scoring bagfuls if he was in that team” because its not true. MO wouldn’t because he would need the other players to make his chances. Most of the chances Luis gets are down to his own endeavour so even if he does miss them, nobody else would have been capable of making the chance in the first place. He’s also not getting a lot of luck with his finishing at times. He could have had 2 on Saturday if not for the Swansea keeper’s superb performance. Same has been true against a few sides this season. I think he has had a decent return goal-wise so far with 7 goals in 14 games (all competitions) He could have had a lot more and I’m sure he’ll start converting more of his chances soon.

Complaint:                     Kenny’s too old

Example comment:         Its been years since he’s won anything, maybe we should get rid now.

No, just No! I don’t know what people expected Kenny to achieve in his first full season in charge. I can’t help but ask myself did he possibly over achieve in his brief caretaker role for the 2^nd half of last season? Perhaps after the upturn people just thought, thats it were back now we’ll win the league next year. Quite simply that was NEVER a possibility. Kenny steadied the ship last year and lifted us out of the doldrums with a very weak squad. He is 11 league games into his role on a full time basis. The players are still learning his methods and will certainly improve with him. I certainly don’t see that age has anything to do with anything. Remember Rafa’s first season? Or Houllier’s? Inconsistency comes hand in hand with a new manager. Changes to playing staff, tactics pre-game rituals can all be unsettling to players especially when trying to bed in so many at once. I know that there are very few managers in the world who boast such an impressive CV and there are none who can command the respect of our dressing room with such ease. I think Kenny is learning more about his players week in week out. Those calling for a change in manager would quite simply want to cop on! At the end of the day.... this is Kenny Dalglish at the very least the man deserves more respect. I thought it was very refreshing that he didn’t try to make any excuses after the Swansea game. He seemed to agree with supporters that this performance simply wasn’t good enough and that improvement was needed. You can bet your last Euro/Pound/Dollar/Yen (Delete as appropriate) that Kenny will be working every waking minute to ensure that improvement happens!

Complaint:                     Disaster

Example Comment:        We’ll never get fourth place now

The thing is we have reasons to be down, that’s true. I cant argue that there are plenty of things that are frustrating me right now. But there is NO disaster at Liverpool Football Club right now. No matter what the gutter press try to say, no matter how many supporters of other clubs talk about it and no matter how many doom-monger fans throw this shite in your face. A disaster is where we were just about a year ago when the club had literally been crippled by debt by two ignominious owners who cared not one iota for the club or the fans and were prepared to see the club fall into administration rather than lose a penny of the money they hadn’t even invested in the club. Disaster was when we were sitting in the relegation zone after 10 games . Disaster was when we were under the command of a man who’s CV offered no consolation of an impending improvement. Who’s signings, tactics and weekly comments showed that he had no connection with the club, players or fans. A manager who called a 2-0 defeat to Everton one of our top 3 performances of the season.

I think most right minded Liverpool fans felt that we could hope to qualify for the Champions League this season. And if we look at things in context there is absolutely no reason to lower that ambition. We are currently in 6th place in the table, 3 points off Chelsea in 4^th. Newcastle currently occupy 3^rd place but they are about to embark on the most difficult period in their season so far, I think its reasonable to expect that they will drop some points over the next few weeks. Things haven’t quite clicked yet, but that is always the case when so many new players along with a new manager, need to bed in together. We are now on an international break so hopefully (injuries permitting) our boys will come back raring to get on a run and start stringing some wins together. We have an immediate opportunity to start clawing our way to fourth when we face Chelsea in our next game. This is followed by a game against Man City which is nearly a no lose game for us. After that we have a decent run of winnable games which, if we can start converting more of our chances, could see us make a significant climb up the table. It’s a long season, most teams will have a period when things don’t go the way they want them to but that doesn’t mean that everything has to be an apocalypse. At times you just need to keep some perspective. I know one thing, Kenny, Steve Clarke and all the players will be working 100% to ensure an improvement.

There are more points to be discussed, but as this article turned into such a long one I thought I would break it into 2 parts. I hope to get part 2 up before the end of the weekend. Be sure to sign up to receive email alerts so that you don’t miss it!

Normal Service Will be Resumed Shortly

I just wanted to write a quick note to apologise for the lack of articles over the last few weeks. Its just been mad with work and other commitments. I've got some good articles in the pipeline but nothing ready to go just yet. I'll get a few of them up early next week and normal service will be resumed from then on.

To anybody reading this, thanks for continuing to check the site...

How are our new signings performing so far?

With the end of the international break on us, and no games to report on this week, I thought this might be a good time to have a look at how our summer signings have been doing so far. The season has been patchy as so many new players try to become part of the team, and our coaching staff try to work our tactics to make best use of them. Its not gone all according to plan really for any of our summer signings but we have seen pieces of brilliance from each one of them with only Enrique and Downing so far failing to find the back of the net. I've included marks out of 10 for each player, because I thought this may be useful if doing follow up articles at the midway point and end of the season. it will be good to see who I feel has improved, or not as the case may be, as the season unfolds. As always this is just my opinion and I welcome any comments from any reader in the section below the article.

Charlie Adam

He has certainly shown signs that he can be a potent attacking threat. We have seen many of the qualities which we hoped we would see, he can play some magnificent long range passes, this has been very useful when trying to switch the play quickly from one wing to the other or when trying to build quick counter attacks. He has been very good in possession and hasn’t shown many signs of stress at making the step up to such a big club from Blackpool. Unfortunately, we have also seen some of the drawbacks to his game of which we were forewarned by supporters of his previous clubs. He doesn’t seem to be the best tackler and when trying not to allow his man to get past him he gives away a lot of needless free kicks. He also seems to drift out of games when it gets to around the 60 minute mark. I actually think this is more of an issue around his fitness and conditioning, he doesn’t look like a natural athlete and his stamina suggests he isn’t one either. Overall I think he has done well , and although giving away free kicks can be very frustrating, his efforts when taking our free kicks have been a joy. Be it a fiercly driven shot, a sublime curling placer or a good delivery into the box Charlie can provide them all perfectly. It will be interesting to see what kind of role Kenny deems him worthy of when Steven Gerrard is fully fit. I see him as understudy to Stevie who can offer an alternative tactically as the 3rd man in a 3 man midfield but right now I don’t think he is a definite member of our strongest 11.

7/10

Jordan Henderson

Hendo is what he is, a youngster still learning his trade, albeit a youngster with a very hefty price tag around his neck. He certainly hasn’t done much wrong, but he hasn’t shown an awful lot to justify his price tag either. He has shown that he is capable of producing brilliance, particularly in the Bolton game when he scored a great goal and played some beautiful passes too. I just don’t think he brings an awful lot to the sideright now, certainly not as much as the more experienced and industrious Kuyt, or the more classy Maxi.  I certainly don’t think it harms us to have him in the team, as long as we appreciate what he is, a young inexperience player. Unfortunately a lot of our fans have fallen into this trap of writing him off already. When the results were briefly going against us he became a bit of a whipping boy to certain sections. Ridiculously, he has even been jeered by sections of the Anfield faithful. When judging Hendo I think everyone just needs to have a little perspective. The price-tag has much more to do with what he will become, than it does to what he is right now. Perhaps Kenny's faith is what is causing people to make harsh judgements, but you need to remember that he needs experience. He is not going to start every game (as evidenced by the game at Goodison) but when he is in the team he needs to be cut a bit of slack and be allowed to grow. As is true for nearly all players at his level of development, inconsistency will just have to be accepted until he matures. I have certainly seen enough to convince me that he can become an important player.  For now I think he should also be an understudy but Kenny can see something in him which has earned his trust

6/10

Stewart Downing

Another player who has shown bits of what he is capable but is yet to truly announce his arrival. He started off very brightly in the first few games, his performances improving simultaneous to the whole teams, but when the team hit a bad patch so did his form. He still looks fit and offers quality which no-one else can right now, genuine natural width and pace on the flanks. He has been useful as an outlet too as he always seems to be available for a pass when needed.I feel he is one where those who welcomed his arrival will be satisfied with what they’ve seen, but the doubters will not have seen much to change their minds as yet. It has been so long since Liverpool have had a natural winger, that by virtue of him being that I think his place in the team has been justified. There certainly arent many wingers i can think of in the premiership who match his level of experience in the league. Its important to remember too that his position on the left, is not being backed up by a veteran of the team, his main support comes from another newbie and as their partnership grows, each of their performances will surely improve.   I certainly think ive seen enough to justify his starting place right now and assure me that he will be a big success through the rest of the season. Andy Carroll too seems to be coming into better form and this can only help Downing.

6/10

Jose Enrique

Probably the most impressive summer signing has been the arrival from Newcastle, Jose Enrique. Different from the others, he has arrived without the burden of a big price. I think this has helped him in settling in so quickly. In his first game he kept his game simple and made defending his priority, rarely carrying the ball past the halfway line or overlapping Downing on the wing. In subsequent games he has shown more of his attacking ability, without ever compromising his defensive stability. Its been refreshing and exciting. Himself and Downing are still getting used to how each other plays and I feel that each of their performances will grow at the same time. Already as a change from last season, and seasons before most of our attacking play seems to come down the left hand side. . I think once Glen Johnson returns to the team this will change and we might begin to use the right flank as frequently as the left but until then, it seems that our left side is more of a potent weapon than it has been for many years. From starting last season with a very poor left back, with  an experienced and very classy but also very fragile substitue. We now have a very classy and exciting left back, with the same experienced and fragile player in reserve along with an impressively improving young player. The form shown by Enrique so far means he is definitely a member of our strongest 11, and in my eyes one of the top 4 left backs in England.

8/10

Craig Bellamy

Its a bit to early to make a major judgement on Beller's return to L4. The fact that he was a free transfer means that it really is a no lose situation for us. If it were not to work out we couldnt really have many complaints, but the early signs are that he is going to give everything to make a success of his second spell in red. He was impressive in his (second) first start, showing the pace, drive and tenacity we have come to expect. And adding a fine finish to get his (second) debut goal out of the way. His introduction at Goodison Park also seemed to give the team some much needed impetus and he was very much involved in the build up to Carroll's opening goal of the game. He can perform in pretty much any of the positions accross the front and so gives us options as well as putting a number of people under pressure for their place in the side simultaniously. He may not necesarily be a member of our strongest 11 on paper, but for different opponents when variable tactics are required he is very much part of the 11.

Too early to give a rating

Spurs 4 - 0 Liverpool (Talking Points)

Liverpool travelled to White Hart Lane on Saturday hoping to rekindle their early season form but instead suffered a bit of a thrashing from Spurs. It really was a day when everything seemed to go wrong, although while defeat seemed likely from the kick-off the score line surely would not have been possible but for 2 sendings off. Spurs were brightest from the first whistle and had chances to open the scoring even before Luka Modric’s sublime effort in the 7th minute. While trying to stop the Croats effort Daniel Agger managed to damage his ribs and he was in evident pain from then until his withdrawal at about 20 minutes. Dagger has been our best defender so far this season but unfortunately his injury curse has stuck again and it seems like he will miss at least a few weeks as a result of this latest set-back. Young Uruguayan defender Sebastian Coates came on in Dagger’s stead to make his debut in a Liverpool shirt.Shortly after Agger was replaced, Charlie Adam was also leaving the field, Kenny Dalglish however didn’t have the luxury of replacing the Scot, because Adam was leaving after receiving his second yellow card, for a tackle which although it didn’t seem malicious was certainly reckless. From here on in damage limitation seemed to be the order of the day. Hold on in the game and hope to sneak one on the break. It seemed that we had achieved the unlikely equaliser before half time when Luis Suarez slotted home but his strike was ruled out for offside, upon seeing the replay it was clear this was the correct decision. The game continued at 1-0 into the second half when another unnecessary foul, this time from Martin Skrtel earned him his second yellow and an early bath. With Glen Johnson injured and Martin Kelly only regaining his fitness, Skrtel in an unfamiliar role was preferred to young JohnFlanagan in his natural position. It seemed a strange decision, but more on that later. By the time the final whistle blew Liverpool had conceded a further 3 times, 2 goals from Adebeyor and 1 from Defoe. It was a dark day and certainly one we cannot allow to linger. The lads need to regain their confidence and soon before any downward spiral begins to take hold. Our next opportunity is away at Brighton in the Carling Cup, for me its not an ideal fixture. It’s a real no-win situation, where by a win will be greeted as no less than expected but a loss could be used by critics as a major stick and the players themselves would find it much harder to restore confidence. Let’s not expect a cricket score, a win would be enough to satisfy me and begin the turn around in fortunes to set us up nicely for the Wolves game next week.

Perspective 

The old adage that “your only as good as your last game” is a truism of modern football. Its an adage which I’ve never gone for. When trying to determine where your team is at any moment a sense of perspective is needed. True this performance was poor but there are certain extenuating circumstances which need to be thought of along with the result. Its very easy to watch a poor performance, accompanied of course by a surprise score line and decide that that means we are currently crap, the players are crap, tactics are crap and the manager is crap. How true is this though? I mean the players were certainly poor on the day, with one or two exceptions, and I am certainly of the opinion that some of Kenny’s decisions were not very good, but this game doesn’t reflect an entire season. Only 2 weeks ago the players were on top form, our tactics spot on and changes were influential as we put in a stellar performance against Bolton at home. Throughout the upturn in fortunes since the Kings second coming we have seen magnificent performances against Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal. We have pride back and we are building towards a new set up with a lot of new young blood in what will surely be a very exciting team. Nobody can expect that everything is going to click immediately and that we will be unbeatable throughout the campaign. The players will have more off days, and the manager will make mistakes, every manager does. In the grander scheme of things though there will be more good performances than bad, and more great decisions than poor ones. In the same way as we shouldn’t herald every victory as a return to greatness we should be careful not to over emphasise poor games as a sign of regression. The manager still has plenty to learn about his players and the players have a lot to learn about each other.

Tactics

There were a few decisions on the day that I found hard to interpret. Of course I am only talking about these because we suffered defeat, had the game plan worked there would be no need to think about any of these. But after seeing how the game pans out, and with the benefit of hindsight you can spot things which may have been improved if different choices had been made. I thought the decision to go with a straight 4-4-2 seemed strange, especially starting with Suarez & Carroll together for the first time in a few weeks. I felt Andy was one of our better players on the day actually so its not that i didn’t want him in the team, i felt thought if we were going with the 2 up top either Kuyt or Bellamy may have been the better option as they could drop off and become auxiliary midfielders when we lost possession. Having said that, Spurs are quite a big team these days so perhaps Kenny felt we needed Andy’s height for defending set pieces. In the end we were being over-run in the middle of the park prior to Adam’s exit. Lucas worked hard, doing what he doesn’t, but i felt he wasn’t given much help by Adam, Downing or Hendo. Of course, all three of the midfielders I just named had weak games and so perhaps an extra body wouldn’t have helped either way.

Our right hand side also seemed to be screaming out to be attacked. As mentioned before Skrtel was chosen to play out of position at right full, I presume Kenny made the decision due to Spurs quality on their left, he went with the experience of the Slovakian rather than play Flanno who is natural in the position but clearly still a bit green. That seems like a reasonable decision but the question mark for me is in advance of this position. Hendo was picked again to play right midfield, this lessened the support on offer to whichever right back was picked to play. I just want to point out, I don’t actually have any problem with Hendo, but he is still young and while he has attributes in an attacking sense he doesn’t offer much yet defensively. It seemed clear to me that whether we chose Skrtel (out of position) or Flanagan (inexperienced) Spurs were going to attack our right full back, and knowing this maybe it would have been a better idea to offer the better protection of Dirk Kuyt who would get up and down and take a bit of pressure off the full back. While i’m on the subject, i thought it was also strange that Flanno didn’t even make the bench in the end. It seems that Kenny has lost a bit of trust for him. From starting our first game of the season against Sunderland he is no out of the picture, even when he is our only fit right full. In that Sunderland game he was blamed for their goal, he lost his concentration on one or two occasions during the game but at the time i felt he would need a break but get back into the squad soon enough. The thing is, in that game he was paired on the right with Hendo, and i personally felt that his lapses in concentration were connected to the lack of support he had been offered throughout the game. I wonder if his fall has something to do with Kenny’s faith in Hendo? He knows he cant play them both together but right now it seems that he has complete faith in Hendo, which seems to mean young Flanno has to miss out.

Stoke 1 - 0 Liverpool (Talking Points)

Liverpool fell to their first defeat of the new season on Saturday when we were defeated 1 - 0 at the Brittania stadium. Liverpool had started the season well and in our first three games of the season we certainly seemed to be improving with each performance. So much so that expectations for the season ahead had started to rise. From aiming for a return to the Champions League suddenly there was talk of title challenges and people were starting to consider us as only behind the 2 Manchester clubs in our aims for the season. If there is any positive to be gained from this defeat its that hopefully it will give everyone a slight reality check. Its not that optimism itself is a huge problem, but when expectations get too high, a team, at our early stage of development, can end up in a no win situation. If people start to have expectations above what is realistically achievable they can only be disappointed when the expectation is not realised. We saw this a few years back when a second place finish under Rafa somehow became painted as utter failure, regardless of the fact that we got 86 points, lost only two games in an entire season and finished behind a Man Utd team who picked up 90 points! As things stand we still in a decent position and in line with our realistic targets. We are not the only team who will come away from Stoke with nothing and the performance by the man in black (charcoal?) on the day was nothing to be ashamed of. We were in control of the game for the most part and how we didn’t score at least once on the day is beyond me. Jordan Henderson alone could have had three, alone all in the same move! The fact that the performance levels never slipped and the effort put in right until the end, shows that the players haven’t necessarily lost form, it just wasn’t to be on the day. It certainly wont knock |Kenny, or the players, confidence going into next weeks game against Spurs.

Kenny’s post game comments

I’ve heard a lot of comment over the last couple of days about Kenny’s post match comments regarding the referee. Some are trying to use them to say that Kenny is clearly in a state of paranoia and getting worried now that his honeymoon period is over. Ridiculous! What Kenny said was nothing more than the kind of statement Fergie has been making for the last 20 years when he spots a pattern of decisions going against his team. it’s a kind of mind game where he knows he cannot influence what has happened in this, or pre-ceding games, but he is trying to influence the referee’s thoughts in our next games when there is a 50/50 decision to be made. There’s nothing wrong with that, Lord knows we can use all the help we can get this season! The comments about speaking to the owners about which course of action to follow are, I believe, for effect only. I would be very surprised if there are any official complaints made by Liverpool. Hopefully the short few comments will have the desired effect and there will be no more need for discussion on the subject!

The Penalty

To be 100% honest, I think there was enough to excuse the referee giving this penalty. I’m no fan of Clattendburg, I find it very hard to read him as a ref. but on this occasion he probably got it right. Carra gets himself into an awkward position by allowing Waters to get his body between him and the ball which leads to him putting his arm around Waters. I certainly don’t believe that he pulled the Stoke man to the ground, but by putting his arm round he gives the striker the chance to go down, and gives the referee a decision to make. Put it this way, if this was up the other end I would have been screaming for a pen!

The Performance 

Of course, whilst watching your team suffering a loss and immediately after the game its very easy to say it was shite and rant about the performance, once you let the dust settle a bit you can look back on the game and see things a little clearer. We didn’t hit the heights we’d been hitting recently but we were still very much in control of the game from early on. Stoke did their thing and played a solid hardworking game but never put us under much pressure. We started with a strong team. Skrtel, who had impressed in this position last time out, continued at Right Back. Caroll stayed on the bench leaving Kuyt to start up top with Suarez and Hendo moved to the right. The new boys in particular struggled in this game. Downing’s levels dropped, Henderson and Adam, even more noticeably, but we still had enough on the day to win the game, we created enough chances. The team worked hard enough, as said before, if we continue in this vein we will certainly win more than we lose.

Arsenal 0 - 2 Liverpool (Talking Points)

On Saturday we achieved our first win of the 2011/12, we also simultaneously won our first away fixture against Arsenal in almost 11 years. Suarez was dropped to the bench for this fixture, along with John Flanagan, who made way for Dirk Kuyt and Martin Kelly respectively. Arsenal were clearly under strength, between injuries and high profile departures, they were not at their strongest. This was still Arsenal though, and through the game they looked pretty strong at times. Liverpool looked strong too and for the first time in as long as can remember we dominated possession against Arsenal. We were a little fortunate in that the first goal was a pretty calamitous own goal from Arsenal, but i don’t think many people would deny that Liverpool were worthy winners on the day. Certainly there were no question marks over the quality of our second goal.

A Lucky Victory

A lot of people have been writing this victory off as nothing more than a “lucky” victory. From fans of other clubs this is no more than we’ve grown to expect, but I have hear it said by a lot of Liverpool fans too, which is surprising. There are a number of things people point to back up this “lucky” theory. Firstly, the early injury to Koscielny, well this is just one of those things really isn’t it? In this very fixture last season we had to start with John Flanagan (still in his first few appearances) at Right Back, he was quickly joined by Jack Robinson on at Left back when Fabio Aurelio succumbed to his usual fate. I don’t remember Liverpool being given extra credit for achieving a draw in that game and so similarly I don’t think Arsenal’s injury issue should take anything away from this victory. Secondly the sending off of Frimpong. The only thing lucky for Liverpool about this sending off was that the tackle which lead to his second yellow card didn’t also lead to Lucas being seriously injured! That tackle on its own could very well have resulted in a straight red card, and I’m sorry but Frimpong had been at it all game. He really does look like an outstanding player and I’m sure it was not malicious, most likely nothing more than youthful naivety, but from the first few minutes he was throwing himself into tackles, having niggles and moans at the referee and opposition players so it seemed it could happen that he receive a second yellow at some point, if his manager chose not to take him off having seen all this then I don’t think that is as much down to our good fortune as it is the player or manager themselves. Finally, we come to the Own Goal and Offside. I wont for one minute try to deny that the OG was good fortune. The offside may have been fortunate too, but it was an incredibly difficult call, the kind of one where if its given against you moan, no matter which team you support. My problem with the own goal being used as fuel for the “lucky” win theory is that this wasn’t the type of OG where a defender tries a hopeful punt back to his keeper only for the keeper to fall and allow it in. This was a crisp passing move where Liverpool forced the ball into a very dangerous position which left a young defender in trouble in a crowded penalty area, he tried to clear through the bodies and it took a wicked deflection over the, here-to unbeatable Szezesny. It was a fortunate outcome but it was forced too.

The Squad

Liverpool started this game with the strongest bench I can remember for a while. Doni, Skrtel, Flanagan, Spearing, Maxi, Meireles, Suarez. The bench had natural cover all over the pitch. It contained some experienced players and it also contained some game changers. Of course Suarez would be everbody’s starting 11 whenever fit, but it showed something new to us that even with these players on the pitch we had a very strong starting 11 on the pitch, a starting 11 which you would back against the majority of premiership teams. Lets not forget that we still have Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio, and although it seems nailed on that he will leave soon Alberto Aquilani, in reserve. I would still like us to improve in certain area’s a centre back seems to be lined up by the club and I personally feel we need a back-up striker, but the squad is certainly taking shape and looking stronger than in recent seasons.

The Big Man up Top

Are certain people under some contractual obligation to mention Andy Carroll’s fee every time they mention his name? “Was that worth £35 million?” is the usual refrain, the only way to stop this question being asked is for everyone of Andy Carroll’s touches to be a header into the top corner, or to score a 25 yard screamer with every shot. I understand that Andy Carroll is by no means the finished product and I understand that his price tag seems to reflect that of a player who is very much the finished product, but lets keep things in perspective and not write him off after every poor touch or every goal-less game. I personally think he is doing ok overall. He came into the team last season when clearly not fit and scored a few good goals to get him off the mark. He has done well in getting a full pre-season under his belt, and although he is not at 100% fitness at this early point in the season, neither are most of our players. The team has a set up now which will naturally lead to getting more out of Andy. We can see that our wingers have been told to hit him when in possession out wide. The problem at the moment seems to be too many balls into his head, don’t get me wrong I know the wingers are mostly going to hit his head, and while on the subject I think it’s pretty incredible how many crosses he actually gets his head to, I know these haven’t lead to goals in the first two games but once it all starts clicking it should prove very productive. When I say the problem is too many balls into his head I mean more-so from midfield and defence. When under pressure or when rushing to start a move its an easy option to just lump it, but this ignores the fact that Andy is strong in possession and a lot of the time it would be preferable to see the ball played to him to hold-up, wait for support, lay-off and go. This hasn’t been happening too much so far but I’m sure it will come as the players get more used to playing with him, and of course he with them.

Liverpool 1 - 1 Sunderland (Talking Points)

The new season officially began with a one all draw against Sunderland. Anticipation had been getting higher as the season approached and in the opening half an hour of the game it seemed that all the optimism was totally justified. Early in the game Liverpool were completely in control, we attacked well and early on Suarez went through one on one with the keeper and won a penalty. The shine was quickly taken off the penalty though when referee Phil Dowd failed to dismiss Kieron Richardson, and also of course when Suarez missed the penalty with some flair! He made up for this of course a few minutes later when he got the all important flick to a dangerous Charlie Adam free kick. At this point in the game it seemed Liverpool would capitalise on our control, as the half continued we had many more chances. Adam had a long range effort saved, Downing smashed the cross bar following a blitzing run from the half way line there were other less notable chances too. The best chance of course fell to Andy Carroll who finished it well, the referee struck again though when he disallowed the goal. As half time approached, with the important second goal proving more elusive it became apparent that Liverpool’s intensity had dropped, it seemed the players were getting tired, we hoped that the half time break would prove to re-invigorate them, unfortunately this wasn’t the case. Sunderland were the stronger side throughout the second half and equalized in some style through, a debutant of their own in Sebastian Larsonn. Kenny made some changes, and the players tried to rally but were not able to raise their game to the levels achieved in the first half.

The sending off and penalty: 

The rules state that you receive a red card for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity and I don’t know of a much clearer goal scoring opportunity than Luis Suarez one v one with a goalkeeper.  The ref stated he was moving away from goal, but it is very hard to bring a ball around a goal keeper without momentarily going away from goal. To me, it seemed that Phil Dowd bottled it, he didn’t want to be the first ref to give out a red card in the season and so he took an excuse. I also think that if the rules lead to ambiguity then they need to be clarified for everybody. I think the penalty miss made have been as case of over confidence from Luis. He made up for the miss with his goal a few minutes later, you can be sure the Kop wont hold it against him, so long as he doesn’t make a habit out of it.

The disallowed goal:              

I’m not going to dwell on this too much, I could not see any reason for this goal to be disallowed. A very slight coming together between two players, the defender goes to ground and the referee blows for a free kick. If the same circumstances had left the Striker on the deck, You can be sure that a penalty wouldn’t have been awarded. It was a big decision, looking back on the game we can see how it panned out and say that a draw was a fair result, but who’s to know how a second goal at this point might have effected both teams performances?

The Performance: 

As I said earlier, Liverpool looked tired as the game wore on, I don’t think this is necessarily something for us to be overly concerned about. Pre-season training is not designed to have any team at peak fitness for the first game of the season, its usually  intended that a team hits peak from the second or third game onwards. I think there was enough in the first 30 minutes to show that this team has something about them. Once the team starts to gel and players start reaching their peaks we will be a force to be reckoned with.

There are other talking points, the right hand side, Flanno, the first 11, the tactics overall and playing people out of position but as this is the first game of the season i think we need to reserve judgement on a lot of things for the moment. If things keep on cropping up over the next few games I will certainly discuss them but for now I think we can trust that these issues are nothing more than teething problems

First Game, First Blog

The season is at last upon us and Liverpool kick off the 20011/12 Premier League season at Anfield against Sunderland at the traditional, but rare for us in recent seasons, fixture time of 3:00 on Saturday. The excitement has been building ever since Kenny Dalglish returned as Liverpool manager, and the liberation of the club by John Henry and Fenway Sports Group. The upturn in fortunes last season saved us from our horrible plight, and brought the positivity back to our minds, so much so that defeats in our final two games of the season, and the loss of our League title record didn’t dampen scouse spirits. We have had a very busy summer, a summer in which our new owners have fully backed our manager and director of football and brought in players which every Liverpool fan can get excited about. With a few weeks of the transfer window remaining we have most certainly improved the first team and overall squad. We have brought in Henderson and Adam to strengthen the Midfield, both are versatile and strong players, both are ready to play football but neither will feel they have an automatic right to a first team place and will be prepared to fight for their place in the team. Stuart Downing has come in as a specialist left winger, for me, this is the most exciting of our summer transfers so far. Its the first time we have had a specialist left winger at the club in a long time, I am purposely ignoring loathsome Albert Riera here.

There is still some work to be done. We all know there are players that we would like to see moved on from the club, of the expensive rejects still on the books at the start of the summer only Milan Jovanovic has so far been moved on from the club. It looks like more will be moved on before the close of the transfer window, the likes of Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani are constantly linked with moves. It seems as though there wont be much incoming until some more players have been moved on. Regardless of transfer fees it seems the wage bill will need to be reduced before more can be added.

The question marks now are about how we are going to line up for the first game of the season. Pre-season has been a bit patchy, between players returning to training at different times and other players recovering from injury we have not really had a chance to see what Kenny’s first choice line-up will be. That’s not to say that I think he is some sort of tactical dinosaur who will pick his team based on the famed “best eleven” that Andy Gray and his ilk like to spout shite about, quite the opposite in fact, I think the main thing the summer signings have given us is plenty of options. Two of the most important absentees from pre-season have been two of our most important players. Steven Gerrard has been injured and although we recently received good news with regard to him it still appears it will be September before he makes his campaign debut. Luis Suarez in contrast played football through most of the summer, he won the Copa America with Uruguay, at the same time winning player of the year and top scorer for the competition. Suarez returned to training on Monday, and should be available to play some part on Saturday. Reina, Merieles and Skrtel all had disrupted pre-seasons too. So what we have seen in pre-season cant really be a strong indicator of where we are. Saturday will give us a much better picture of whats to come. Sunderland will be a difficult game but it is definitely a game we should be aiming to win, and, if we do get off to a good start we could hope to go on a nice run at the start of the season which could lead to a strong season overall.

Dont Forget to join The Red Article's Fantasy premier League. You can find the League code on my previous post.

Fantasy Premier League

With the season almost set to get underway, and along with that a lot more blogging from me. I thought I would start off the season by creating a league for the readers of The Red Article. We'll have periodic updates on the site which will hopefully keep it competetive throughout the season.

Its quick and easy to set up:

Just click on this link http://fantasy.premierleague.com and create your team. once you've created your team click on "Leagues", then click on "Join League", select "Private League and click next. Next, enter the League Code 529590-287546

Once thats done your all set up! Feel free to pass the league code to anyone who wants to join.

A promising start to Transfer Season

We are only a couple of weeks into transfer season and already it is one of the most exciting I have ever experienced. As was the case during the FSG’s only previous transfer window, they have gone about their business in a manner befitting the clubs history and traditions by keeping their cards close to their chest and acting swiftly to ensure they captured their first priority at a price they deemed agreeable. Their first priority of course was Jordan Henderson, the England U-21 player signed from Sunderland for a fee in the region of €20 million. One transfer attempt which did leak was our bid for Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers, another star for England U-21’s, this time a Centre Back. At the same time as signing Henderson, it was widely being reported that we were very close to capturing Jones’ signature, as the day wore on though it became apparent that Man Utd had also tabled a bid which had been accepted by Blackburn, and not only that, Jones was actually in Manchester completing a medical and discussing Personal Terms. It seemed we had been pipped at the post and that Jones to Utd was now a formality. It was strange however that such a formality did not seem to be being completed. The reasons for this became clear last night (11/0/2011) when the Guardian reported that a spanner had been thrown in the works by Liverpool attempting to gazump the deal by placing another bid of £22M for the player. This resulted in Rovers’ owners (Venky’s) calling a halt to the deal with Utd as they attempted to start a bidding war between the two neighbouring cities. At the moment there is a bit of a stalemate going on, it has been revealed that there is a clause in Jones’ contract which states that any club which bids more than £16M for the player is allowed to speak directly to him to discuss personal terms, It seems that the Utd hierarchy interpret this as a transfer clause, whereas Rovers’ Chiefs say that they are not obliged to accept the offer and can accept a larger off if available. Liverpool’s second offer, while obviously has a main objective of signing the player, has some further intentions too. It shows that for the first time in a long time, we are credible contenders for the best available players. It also proves that for the first time, maybe since Greame Souness sat in the hot seat, Liverpool can genuinely contend with Man Utd with regard to value in the transfer market. I personally think that after a bit of wrangling Jones will still end up a Man Utd player, he has already made his decision it seems, but isn’t it refreshing to see our great club showing Utd that no longer will they have it their own way. We might even cause them to spend an extra €7 million on a player they thought they had sewn up days ago. This could also be a tactic to ensure they have less cash should we go head to head on another target down the road. Wherever Jones ends up now, the manner in which our club have handled this transfer has given Liverpool supporters further cause for optimism as the window continues.

Damien Comolli spoke during the week about our targets going forward, saying there would definitely be more signings and that they would most likely be from within England stating "If a player is English, or British or has played in the Premier League, we'll look at that over someone abroad” This would be in-line with the players we have been linked with over the past 2 weeks, I’m sure you have heard most of the names by now, Downing, Adam, Wickham, Dann, all players who could add something to our squad. They may not be the exciting continentals that get fans pulses rating but they are all proven quality in England and could settle into the side with the minimum amount of adjustment required. I won’t go in depth with regard to any of the players until they are, if they are, signed but I am pleased with all of these names, in particular Wickham the exciting young goal scorer from Ipswich who fits perfectly with our current policy of signing the best young British talent available. The policy which Comolli has spoken of is easy to understand in that we will be signing players who don’t need as much time to adjust to life in Liverpool and the English culture, but I do hope this doesn’t mean we will forsake exceptional talent from abroad. Players we have been linked to recently, in particular Juan Mata from Valencia are true quality players with the ability to lift any team, and while I certainly will back Comolli and Dalglish’s choices I hope we are still considering every option available.

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On another note, thanks to everyone who voted for The Red Article’s player of the year. I don’t think it will come as much of a surprise that Lucas Leiva has won by a large amount picking up 47% of the votes. As we continue to sign midfielders lets hope Lucas can continue his rate of improvement and cement his place in the side again next season.

The Red Article - Player of the Season Poll

The end of a crazy season has come. I don’t want to keep treading over the same old ground, everybody knows how desperate things became under Hodgson when it became more likely you would hear a Liverpool fan talking of relegation battles instead of Champions League qualification. Of course, that’s not to mention the ownership situation which almost strangled this great football club to death. Both issues were resolved during the season which lead to a strong recovery. That recovery however, ultimately ended fruitlessly when losses in the two decisive, and final, games of the season put paid to our hopes of European football for next season. The impact of failure to qualify for the Europa League has effected Liverpool fans in different ways. Some find it a relief, some a disappointment, but regardless of how you feel the fact is we will not be playing in Europe next season and though it may be a major step backwards Liverpool fans are very optimistic about next season. This optimism is based on a few factors, the afore mentioned change of ownership, the return of King Kenny to the Anfield hotseat, the return to quick and offensive football. But another reason has been the Players. By which I mean the improvement of many previously underrated players, the maturing of some younger players and some high profile new additions.

That is the point of this article, to acknowledge the outstanding performers in the squad throughout the 2010/2011 season. These kind of decisions often split opinions, not everyone will agree on the number one so instead of just putting up my pick for best player of the season, i thought it would be best to pick my top 5 players of the season and then put it up to a vote for all The Red Article readers to vote on. So here are the options in no particular order.

LUCAS LEIVA

Lucas has been Mr. Consitency this season and has already been named the official Liverpool FC player of the year, as well as being revealed as the choice of Steven Gerrard. According to official statistics Lucas completed more tackles than any other premiership player this season. Lucas has been much maligned since coming to Liverpool, ridiculed by most although now of course those who slagged him off will swear blind they always thought he was a great player and never gave him stick. He is the unspectacular but always dependable player every team needs, and boy, didn’t he show everyone this year!

DIRK KUYT

Another player who has split opinions a lot during his time in Liverpool, Dirk also converted a number of non-believers this season. He looked lost at times under Roy, then again who didn’t, but since Kenny has returned, accompanied by a more intense pressing game, Dirk’s form returned to its previous levels too. For a time when Carroll was injured and Suarez was acclimatising Dirk lead the line imperiously. He also forged a formidable partnership with Suarez, which culminated in an unforgettable hat-trick against Man U.

MARTIN KELLY

Young Martin Kelly was one of the very few outstanding performers under Roy Hodgson. I mentioned at one point in the season that every time i did a “positives and negatives” article Martin Kelly was mentioned as a positive. At first this was down to encouraging performances from a youngster but increasingly due to him being a standout performer in a struggling side. Kenny believed in him so much that he moved Glen Johnson to the left back position to accommodate him. Strong defensively and exciting going forward he gave Liverpool fans some great excitement throughout the year. His season was unfortunately cut short by injury but there is no doubt that this youngster will go on to cement a place in the side.

RAUL MEIRELES

The one lasting legacy of Roy Hodgson’s reign has been, and will be Raul. We are still to find his strongest position but he has performed very well in a number of positions. Deep Midfield under Roy, Attacking midfield under Kenny, and a few games at right midfield under both. He plays intelligent football and is very much a Liverpool type of player. Everyone will remember his purple patch in the early Kenny days as when they took full notice of him, but he has done more for the team throughout the season than just his goals. He has been, and to a certain degree, still is acclimatising to football in the premiership. If he’s this good now, he can only improve next year!

LUIS SUAREZ

When FT’s departure from Liverpool was announced, most Liverpool fans just couldn’t imagine when we would have another player of his type. It seemed like dark days were ahead. That was until Suarez made his debut, he wasn’t quite there yet, but even in a short cameo we could see that we had reasons to be optimistic. Although he was only with us for half the season his performances were so exhilarating and exciting that it helped Liverpool fans believe again, and for this alone he deserves to be considered for this award.

So there you have it. 5 choices, as well as the option of “Other” for those who don’t agree with the 5 I have laid out here. The Poll is located in the top right corner of this page.

Please everybody vote as it is the only way we can pick an outright winner.

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