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| Liverpool celebrate at Wolves |
Well there you have it, it has taken Liverpool 3 away games under Kenny to do something they failed to do in the previous 7 months under Roy Hodgson that being to win, convincingly, away from home. It was a display which many had seen coming in the weeks since Kenny's return. Many people had knocked Liverpools fans for being blindly optimistic, caught up in the nostalgia of the Kings return. Well to those people we can now point to a specific example of how these players are able to perform better than they had been when let free, and given tactics to suit their specific skill sets.
POSITIVES
Confidence is returning: Prior to the game i said that we had now had performances which encouraged us all we were missing and gave the fans and the players reason to believe in the team again.
Meireles’ 2nd super goal in 2 weeks: In last weeks column I said I hoped that Meiereles getting his first goal would help give him the confidence to push on and score more goals this season, and boy, didn’t he just prove that to be the case. It was one of them goals were he caught it so perfectly that for a second you couldn’t believe it. I had to look twice just to make sure but once it hit the back of the net I was in the air! It was a phenomenal piece of class from a player who is improving and looking more comfortable every week. When Steven Gerrard returns to the team in midweek it will be interesting to see where Raul will fit in, personally I would drop him back slightly rather than push him wide, but wherever he plays he will play to the best of his ability thats for sure.
Pass and Move is the Liverpool Groove: All throughout the game Liverpool passed the ball with better quality than we had gotten used to earlier in the season. We were patient when we needed to be and incisive when opportunities arose. In the build up to our 3rd goal there were 31 passes, granted we got a bit of luck when the ball fell kindly after the challenge on Dirk but, thats something we have been due too.
Lady luck seems to be turning: As I said last week, its funny the way a teams current form seems to dictate how their luck goes too. When were playing poorly and struggling for results we cant get a lucky break, as soon as things start to lift our luck improves. See how the ball breaks to Nando for our 3rd goal for an example.
Kenny’s post match interview: Since Kenny’s return his humour and demeanour in front of the camera’s has been a breath of fresh air, the antithesis of how Roy presented himself. With every interview he has restored more and more of the fan’s faith and belief in this team. He has used his words to give his players confidence. He has reminded this whole club who we are, and what we stand for. Never have Liverpool been media darlings. This is what Martin Broughton (who don’t forget is a Chelsea fan) wanted us to become. Thats why he hired popular, safe bet Roy Hodgson over King Kenny in the summer. Thankfully, the decision makers at Anfield do not share this view and so now Kenny is the man who speaks on our behalf. These few words from Kenny after the game got me jumping out of my seat celebrating in a similar fashion to how I had moments earlier when Nando knocked in number 3. Here is the transcript in full:
“Sky’s Andy Burton, “Kenny just a final thought,” said Burton, “allow me to ask, if I can, about transfers which may be coming up this week. Are you aware of what might be happening in the next few days, particularly with Charlie Adam?”
Judging by Kenny’s face, it wasn’t going too well for Burton already. But then the man known for his work on Sky Sports News during the transfer window pretty much put his foot in it: He said: “A lot of the fans watching the show today will want to know if that is getting closer.”
It’s a moment Andy Burton will remember for a long time. Kenny responded: “Well it’s a bit sad when you spin it onto the fans.”
Just enough of a pause to make sure his point was heard, but not enough for Burton to rescue the situation, before Kenny went on: “We know more about our fans than what yourselves do. So we know how they want to be treated and they know what we want.
“They want us to treat them with respect and they want us to treat them the way Liverpool fans have always been treated by the club.
“And that’s if we’ve got business to do we’ll do it behind closed doors and once we’ve got a story to tell about anybody then we’ll let you know.
“But we’ve no stories to tell about anything.
“I know what’s going on, but it doesn’t mean to say I’ve got to tell you.”
Kenny did smile at that point, but the point was made.
NEGATIVES
At times we still looked shaky in Defence: Similarly to what I said last week, this can mostly be attributed to nerves and a lack of confidence, prior to this game
I’m not going to dwell on too many negatives for this week, I think nearly everything I noticed as a negative could be explained by nerves and a lack of confidence, all of which is currently returning at pace so hopefully these silly errors will be worked out in time, whether that be on the training field or on a match day.
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