Well Done Red Men!

Well thats it, its all turned around now. Kenny is the best manager we’ve had since... well.. Kenny. The glory days have returned and Liverpool are gonna win the league next year. If your sarcasm alarms haven't gone off yet, you might want to get them repaired. While we’ve not exactly achieved that, we certainly have improved, we've had a very difficult season in the league in which I accept we have under achieved, but in the cups, we've just been great. The bookies may have made us favourites for this game, but they were about the only ones who did. According to David Moyes the whole of England was behind his boys in blue, well if that was true I’m delighted we managed to disappoint the whole country. This one was certainly a game of 2 halves. I thought we started stronger, but Everton took control of the first half after 10 minutes and held that control through to the break. We came out the much stronger side in the second half though and eventually made our superiority tell to win the game late on. There was much to be happy about in this result, and performance. I’m going to try and look at some of them now.

We reminded the blues whats what.
It must be hard to be a blue. Even when they think they get the upper hand were always able to pull them back in some way. Its only 7 years ago when they finished above us in the league to qualify for the Champions League at our expense... or so they thought. We of course went and won Europe's premier competition that year and qualify by doing so. We also got the added joy of watching them fail to make it through to the their qualifier. They overtook us in the league a few weeks too, so we felt we better knock them out of the FA Cup. All I can say is thank god I’m red!

An important comeback
Of course Everton’s confidence coming into this game was only heightened by them taking the lead, I’m sure this moment seemed sweeter because it resulted from a mistake by our own ex Evertonian Jamie Carragher. I’ve got to be honest, I felt we still had a chance even when behind. It took a lot of patience and pressure to get back into the game. Where others may have panicked, we kept our cool to, in the end, force the win.

The Management.
It's clear Kenny has taken a lot of stick this season, and as I have admitted before he’s made mistakes. I was fearful that he had made another one in some of his selections to start this game but in the end he was vindicated and I was delighted to be proved wrong. Our shape was good and he made good decisions during the game to regain control when behind. If I doubted the initial selection of some I was in complete agreement with every substitution made. On the eve of the anniversary of Hillsborough it was a great feeling to see a man who has been, and continues to be, so instrumental in helping the families and the city and the city cope with such tragedy with that great big smile on his face. His face may have aged but that smile still defies his years.

Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll!
As every journo and commentator delighted in pointing out, our strike partnership for the game have taken a lot of stick this season. The reasons may differ, but they each, im sure, wanted to prove points. Well they certainly did that. Both had strong games and linked up to decent effect during the match. Andy got his second late headed winner in a week. I enjoyed Carra saying that this goal was worth 35 million on its own, but in fairness only time will tell if he ever proves to be worth the kind of money we spent. This was a decent place to start. At the very least he has secured a place in the folklore of the club and for that he should be proud. He has enough time to make some impact through the rest of the season and if he stays injury free over the summer, who knows how next season will turn out for him.

Wembley.
We waited a while before making our first appearance in new Wembley, but like the busses we've now been there twice in just a few weeks. We've secured 2 victories and who would bet against us securing a third in 3 weeks time? Anfield south, is proving to be a good hunting ground once more.

My answer to a question....

The last few weeks have been my hardest since I started writing this blog. Of course there were the time constraints I mentioned due to our new arrival, but mainly the problems are caused by how things are right now. Liverpool won the first trophy available of the season only 4 or 5 weeks ago, but in line with how the season has gone for the most part things took a downward turn after this. The nadir of our downturn became apparent when the players allowed a 2-0 lead versus struggling QPR be turned into a 3-2 loss. People thought that this was as bad as it gets and we would go out in our following game against Wigan and win comfortably to restore some faith. Unfortunately we got the reverse of our expectations when the players put in a particularly poor performance and again suffered defeat to a relegation threatened side. There is no point in sugar coating it, this is simply not good enough. The form guide shows what a low we are on, in the last 6 games we are L,L,L,W,L,L which gives us a total of 3 points from an available 12 with a goal difference of -2. Two of these games (Utd and Arsenal) were always going to be difficult but overall the return is pitiful. Its left us as supporters in a particularly low position. You cant go anywhere without people taking pot shots at you, and in fairness you just have to take it. There is no apparent defence, at least none which might make sense to your average idiot! Liverpool fans are taking the stick, letting it eat at them and ending up coming to all sorts of conclusions of what needs to be done. After a run like this its hard to look at an overall picture, you tend to just focus on what's hurting you. But just because our league form is at a particularly low point right now, it doesn't mean we are not building or picking up experience. Its clear that not everything is bad, we won our first trophy for 6 years a few short weeks ago. If the question is should we sack the manager, my answer is:

There are a lot of things going wrong at the club right now, but you cannot just throw out the baby with the bath water.

 

Is this where we are now? What happens if a new manager comes in and he has a difficult period in his first year? Do we sack him too?........ And the next?....... And the next? We are not Chelsea. We are not Inter Milan. We are Liverpool Football Club. I am not for one minute suggesting that Kenny Dalglish should be exempt from criticism or scrutiny. I don't deny that mistakes have been made. But we have to be realistic too. We are building and that will take time. Even through poor results we've seen that this side can produce some excellent football. We've seen some excellent results too. We've won a cup and we are going to play an absolutely mega FA cup semi final versus the blues in a couple of weeks. Mistakes may have been made in the transfer market, that is true of every manager who has ever lived. I would love for somebody to point my in the direction of any manager for whome every signing has worked out perfectly. In general it seems the best managers get about 50% of their signings spot on, I would argue that Kenny/Commoli's signings are not far of this figure. Some players have struggled but they can improve with this experience. We may need to cut our losses on some and there is no doubt we need to add more, but this can be done. I've said it before, but its still true. W are NOT a million miles from being a good side. It's not time to cut and run. It's time for a bit of faith and patience.

Things can change.... quickly

I should probably start with an apology for the lack of Articles over the last few weeks. Any readers who know me will know that my Wife and I welcomed our 2nd baby into the world last Wednesday, and to be honest the weeks leading up to then have been bedlam. Not that I will have loads of free time for a while but I should be able to work out a routine to get back to producing at least 1 Article a week going forward. I actually had a comprehensive article on the Arsenal defeat fully prepared but I never published it as it was out of date by the time I had a chance to.

With the baby coming home on Saturday, surprisingly in time for the match, I settled down to watch our game against Sunderland with the expectation that there was a script written and that after a few hard weeks, both personally and in terms of Liverpool we would return to normality by gaining victory. Sunderland had been in good form since appointing O’Neill, but so had Liverpool, albeit with the same difficulties in terms of chance conversion, I was confident we would have enough to beat them although I did accept that this would be a difficult game. As has happened so many times this season, my prediction was wrong.

From the minute I heard the team was slightly confused by our starting line-up. There is a persistence with selecting players who seem so clearly out of form and I find very difficult to understand. There was nobody named in our starting line-up who I am prepared to write off as Liverpool players just yet. Arguments on the merits of players that end with comments like “he’ll never be a liverpool player, simple as” baffle me completely. I’ve seen too many supposed failures reach unexpected heights and too many iron clad successes fall flat on their faces to ever base opinions about players on a short term of reference. Particularly when players are still young and learning their trade, or still acclimatising to life at Liverpool. I must admit, I am struggling to reconcile this point of view whilst watching Charlie Adam at the moment but I have no doubt that he is being utilised so often through necessity due to our midfield injury troubles this season. Also I have to accept that what I, or any other fan, see of the players and know about the players probably makes up about 10% of what goes into selecting the team week to week.

I’m not going to go into the game itself too much, sufficed to say I was not happy with our performance. Like a lot of fans, I have no problem expressing my frustrations and asking questions as to why this isn't done and that isn't done, but when it all boils down to it I honestly cannot suggest any quick fix solutions to the problems we face right now. Its not simply a matter of 1 or 2 things that can be solved by instant decisions, but at the same time lets not throw out the baby with the bath water and start demanding huge changes purely because of frustration. One major frustration is when Kenny doesn't criticise the players following a performance like this, but lets be realistic such criticism would do no more than appease fans for a very short period of time but could damage the team on a much larger time frame. I have no doubt there is a major crisis of confidence amongst the players right now (how many spot kicks have we missed again?) and that needs to be managed very carefully.

I don't want to sound like I’m trying to be positive just for the sake of it. I know from talking to some fans that some people have reached a type of point of no return where trying to point out any type of positive is seen as crazy talk. I think that people who cannot acknowledge, or remember that this is not the first time we’ve been down, and it wont be the last either, are crazy. I’m always saying it but the only way to control your emotions and not allow yourself to be eaten up by despair is to maintain some sense of perspective. One of the things I've heard that particularly annoys me is people saying that we are no better off than we were under Roy. I can admit that we are currently going through a run of results that were typical during Hodgson’s time, but the repercussions of those results are nowhere near as drastic as they were becoming at that time. I’ve repeated myself far too much this season to bother pointing out the steps forward that we have taken in the last 12 to 15 months and to be frank I think if anyone still needs these improvements spelled out they are probably too far gone for their minds to be changed.

We are down right now but we will not stay down. We have, at the very least a very strong spine of players who have experience and will fight tooth and nail to see this club succeed. We have a manager who, while still in the early days of this term in charge, has shown he can manage this team to fantastic performances and results. He lives and breaths the club, the city and its supporters. We have already won a trophy and have booked our place in next seasons UEFA cup. We are still in the FA Cup.

Regardless of League position, current form, or even time of the year we have a fixture on Tuesday which is always the first I look to at the start of the season - the home tie against Everton. This one ALWAYS sets the pulses racing no matter what the end result. It offers a perfect opportunity for the players to win the fans over again and gives the whole team a chance to redeem themselves. It is also a perfect opportunity to change mindsets and get back in form. Its important to remember that things can change very quickly, sure only last week it was possible for me to get a full nights sleep. It might seem unlikely but the hardship is what makes it all worthwhile.

YNWA

Carling Cup Winners 2012

Step 1.… complete!


On Sunday Liverpool took another major step in their mission to return to their former standing. It had been a long 6 years since Liverpool last appeared in a final, and an even longer 7 years since we had last lifted a trophy. It is not the most glamorous competition to win and when Europe is on the cards it is rightly deemed to be 4th in the pecking order of possible achievements at the start of the season. Of course due to previous failures Europe wasn’t on the cards this year and so at the beginning of the season the most pragmatic Liverpool fans were saying a season of transition where we improve on the league and hopefully pick up a cup would be successful. The most optimistic of fans were saying that we should win a cup and finish in the top 4. I’m sure there were pessimists too but the less said about them the better. Whether you were in the pragmatist or optimist camps, your pre-season ambitions are still well and truly alive and step one of this mission has been completed. Although some Liverpool fans were blinded to the reality of our perilous situation last year, I don’t think anyone can say that what we have achieved, even at this (relatively) early point of the season, doesn’t show massive improvements. The silverware for one means Kenny has continued a record which is blighted only by one Hamster Scratching individual, this being that every Liverpool manager since Bill Shankly has won at least one Trophy during their managerial tenure. Granted, Hodgson was only in for a short period of time, but he had already ensure we suffered an embarrassing defeat at mighty Northampton Town and were firmly locked in a relegation battle, remember people this is just over a year ago I am talking about here. Pundits have been lining up to criticise our performance in winning this final, conveniently forgetting the epic battles which went into securing our place in the showpiece event. Heroic battles away to Stoke and Chelsea and a 2 leg war versus Man City meant we earned this The game itself was never going to be a formality, well I say never but who knows how we may have kicked on had Johno’s early effort not crashed back off the bar only to be launched into row Z by Stevie. The optimists were out to make life difficult as always proclaiming that we would steam roller the lowly Cardiff City who it would seem from these kind of predictions must have been given a by all the way through to the Final. You would think Liverpool fans would know better after previous recent difficulties against the likes of Alaves, Birmingham City and West Ham. Anyway … I tweeted at half time, and it proved to be the case right through to the final whistle that this game served as some sort of microcosm of our entire season so far we had huge amounts of possession and created some chances, although very few clear cut ones, but failed to make our advantage pay. From the minute the starting 11 was announced (which was very late by the way) it seemed we may be missing something, and with retrospect we can we were. Some big players failed to deliver and some previous under-achievers stepped up to the plate.

Stuart Downing in particular put in his best performance whilst wearing the Liverbird yet, even if I do think his performance has been exagerated by some. Jordan Henderson on the other hand failed to make any impact, in his defence he was played in the position which he has struggled to impress in for much of the season, wide-right and even more wide in this game than in many others. Its not a good sign that he allowed this game to pass by, but on the plus side its good experience for a player of 22 to have, especially because we managed to win the game in the end. Luis Suarez also struggled to make an impact as he has done in each game since his ban. I don’t think he should be dropped but perhaps if Andy keeps his form up to a decent level we could think about introducing him from the bench on the weekend against a tired Arsenal defence. It may take some pressure off and help him impose himself to regain some confidence. Andy Carroll had a decent enough game, he was involved in us getting the equaliser but didn’t really add much in other phases. He is doing simple things well,much better than he was at the start of the season but I still find myself frustrated by his lack of movement in the box. His confidence in general play is improving, to a point where he no longer looks like an elephant on one leg when controlling the ball but his strikers confidence is not yet at 100%. He has done enough to take the pressure off himself for a while but he needs to keep improving. Jose Enrique played, what he admitted afterwards, was the biggest game of his career to date, but unfortunately put in one of the weakest performances of his time in this team. He definitely needs to improve to maintain his place in the side through to next season but again the experience will surely benefit him. The outstanding performer of the tie, and of the season so far has undoubtedly been our Slovakian monster Martin Skrtel, He continued to defend with the strength and consistency Kopites are becoming acclimatised to and he scored our equaliser, succeeding where our more natural scorers had failed by simply putting the ball over the line! Gerrard, Carra, Reina, all had decent but unremarkable games. I was delighted to see Carra coming onto the pitch and being involved in adding another medal to his collection. I think its important to note that we won this final without having to lean on the hero of many previous finals, Steven Gerrard, who played well enough but who’s shooting was way off the mark.

By the end of the season I hope that this wont have been the biggest game we have played in. Its just as important to win on Saturday when we face an Arsenal side which is resurgent after a huge victory in the North London derby last weekend. We have a game in hand on them at the moment, even if this is the tricky derby, but if we lose this one we will be 10 points behind them and even the most optimistic fans would have to acknowledge this would be too big a task. A draw isnt much use either but I am hopeful of getting a victory. We’ll need to be on top form of course but spirits should be high now that the players have a medal in their pockets.

A Look back at the last few weeks

There has been a lot happening since my last blog, going to be hard to comment on everything but i’m nothing if not a tryer....

The run began with an abysmal peformance away to bottom of the table Bolton. There was nothing much good to take from the game, other than the fact that (with hindsight) it seemed to prove a catalyst. The players on the field that day let the shirt down, and where King Kenny had made it a point to defend his players through thick and thin during the season so far, he took this opportunity to publicly state that performances needed to improve. Of course this public statement was, i’m sure, much more cordial than what was said behind closed doors.
The first game following the public criticism was the second led of a Semi-Final versus top of the league Manchester City. The first leg was as close to a smash and grab as you are ever likely to see. Once we got in front we hung on and dug in for dear life eventually going home with a goal advantage.The second leg was a much more confident display. I must say the atmosphere that night was the best I have to experienced in my time going to Anfield. From before the game until well after, the red faithfull shouted and lifted their team over the finish line. We went behind during the game and many may have thought this game was over at that point. But the mighty Kopites have seen some dramatic turn arounds over the years and never let their spirit drop. I honestly believe this transmitted to the field where a heroic effort brought the equalising goal which won the tie. A first cup final since Athens 2007 (a game i also attended by the by) and a first appearance at the new Wembly for the red men. It actually annoyed me in the coverage of this game, people kept making such a big deal of our first appearance at the new wembly, like as if all those appearances at the Millenium Stadium didnt count, even though we appeared there so frequently it was dubbed “Anfield South” by many.

After a strong performance in such a big tie, it can sometimes be hard to keep the intensity up for a lower profile game against a smaller side. There was no chance of this after the city game though. Next up was a 4th round tie against the old enemy, Man Utd. Of course the Reds looked tired at times in this game, there were some mistakes and we were not crisp enough in possession at times, but we had enough to win the game 2-1 to keep our cup momentum going. All the talk prior to this game had been around the Suarez-Evra controversy. Inevitably Evra was booed throughout the game by the Anfield crowd. Its was painted in the press yet again as if this means Liverpool fans condone the alleged racist remarks that Suarez is accused of making. I just want to make it clear, Liverpool fans (on the whole, i’m sure there a lot of A-Holes in the bunch too) are not defending racism, and we are not racist sympathisers. The booing and protestations at the punishment meted out to our number 7 are because we do not believe the accusation and do not believe that the FA panel proved Luis Suarez to be a racist! I know its a bit “broken record” here but i honestly cannot believe how some people (journalists and opposing fans) cannot get this into their heads. A quick analogy, if a member of my family is accused of murder, and I do not believe they did it so I protest their innocence, does this mean I am saying murder is ok? of course it doesnt! There was also some revolting, but not surprising, songs sung from the away end. In fairness i’m sure there were some songs sung back at them and I will never condone it from either end. I wish we could ever just get to a point were death and tragedy is not used as a stick in this immature baiting.

Anyway, rant over, back to the football! These two highly impressive results were followed up by a strong performance, against a poor Wolves performance which resulted in a fairly pedestrian 3-0 victory. Following this run we were confident going into a very important game against one of the league’s strongest sides, Spurs, at Anfield. Unfortunately it was back to service as normal in the league and a return to “Copy, Paste and Repeat” where we dominated the game for large parts, rarely looked in danger but were somehow unable to find the winning goal. Of course, out of context this is a decent result. Spurs are a very stong side and still involved in the title race. But having watched the 90 minutes it was hard not to be disappointed at only achieving the 1 point when it would not have take much more to achieve the 3.

While our League form has continued to frustrate, I don't think anyone would say that things aren't looking rosier than they were this time 3 or 4 weeks ago. As well as what I've written above we've also had a number of other positives. Andy Carroll has bagged a goal, a couple of assists and his performances have improved to a level where many are starting to believe that we might actually have a player on our hands. Bellamy has been a revelation and he has seemed in better shape to start games more frequently which has been a bonus. Dirk is back amongst the goals too and maybe making people who wrote him off think twice. Lets not forget that this run has also coincided with Luis Suarez’s ban, imagine what we can achieve with him back in their side. We are still without Lucas meaning Kenny still wont have a chance to name his strongest 11 until next season at least but on the whole Spearing has looked an able deputy in the hard running defensive mid role. We have another huge game coming up at the weekend. this time an away trip against United. I think all in all were are sitting quite well in the league. There is no doubt we need to improve our chance conversion rate if we want to get into the top 4 but with Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle all looking like they will drop more points there is no reason to stop believing that we can make it. Were already in 1 cup final and who would bet against us making it 2? As transitional seasons go... its not bad is it?