Well, famous last words that are ringing very hollow-way now.
Blackpool hammered us. Johnson at left back is a joke and Poulsen and Lucas on the pitch means you have 6 defenders. Thats fine if you have genuine pace and guile in the other 4 positions. We have Torres.
There were signs that perhaps we are finally starting to believe in ourselves but our fragile confidence surfaced again against Everton. We should have been out of sight by halftime. Our wastefulness certainly came back to roost when we conceded 2 rather soft goals in the 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half. Thankfully we showed some character and got a deserved equaliser from the spot. Probably a fair result considering how much better they were in the 2nd half.
Yesterday was a further step in the right direction, you cant complain about a 3-0 away win the Premier league these days, especially with our woeful away form in the last year and more specifically no wins at Molineaux sice Kenny PLAYED in 1979!
Torres and Meireles were on fire and although Wolves put us under a lot of pressure, our 31 pass 3rd goal was something to savour. Its a long time since you have seen us move the ball that patiently and confidently.
Clearly Dalglish has had a positive effect already.Torres looks interested in playing again, there is a tempo to our passing that has been lacking for far too long. Meireles is settling in nicely now that he is playing where he should be. There were signs of this under Hodgson when he did play centrally, but too often has been shunted out wide to accomodate Stevie G.
Can they both play in the same team, absolutely. Dalglish seems to have adopted the Rafa 4-2-3-1 formation at the moment. Wenger has been using it for 2 seasons and no-one has commented on it. Perhaps Rafa wasnt as daft as we all think. Whether Kenny is using this formation as a 'needs must' option or whether it will be our standard going forward only time will tell. It has a solid and vibrant look about it which was lacking under Benitez. Sure it was solid but flair and individuality within the formation wasn't allowed. Yesterday Lucas found himself out wide, in the box and just about everywhere else. Thats how it should be. If someone sees they can go and get a goal or provide more attacking option they should. Several time Torres was the one crossing and we had Maxi, Dirk and Raul all in the box, much better.
So back to my point. I have said this before and I will say it again Stevie G is 31 not 25 anymore, also his long range passing is devastating. There is no need for him to be the Duracell bunny doing his usual headless chicken impression. In short we have never really needed to replace Alonso, the solution has always been to drop Stevie deeper. He can still make his maurauding, swashbuckling runs when it benefits the team and the opportunity arises runs. His workrate is awesome and that will help us defensively too. So for me he plays alongside Lucas as 1 of the 2 deeper midfielders. Let Raul do what he has been doing the last couple of games. If he isn't fit you have Cole and Pacheco who can do something similar.Hell we could even use the Roman Emperor who is still out on loan if need be.
The issue then the becomes the wide players in the attacking 3. Dirk seems to get slower by the week (if that is possible, one of these days aslough will beat him to a 50-50!!) although he did create 2 of the goals yesterday. Maxi like Dirk works hard and does have some flair but no pace to speak of. Babel's imminent departure weakens us further on the pace front. I will be sorry to see him go, don't think he has ever been give a fair crack of the whip as either a striker or a right winger, his preferred positions.
So I suppose that brings us neatly to the transfer shananigins of the January transfer window. We have already seen some strange moves. Mr Bent has made it quite clear what motivates him. It starts with a M and ends with a Y. Why else leave a team on the up and in 6th place for relegation battle with Villa. Will they finish above Sunderland this season NO. Clearly the form of Wellbeck and Gyan mean he isn't the main man anymore, so rather than thriving and competing he runs away. He is without doubt a proper goalscorer and in the last 5 season has scored as many as Rooney and Drogba.
So who and what are we bringing in? We need a striker, so it looks like we are plumping for Suarez. The Uraguayan cheat from the World Cup, who is currently serving a 7 match ban in Eredivisie for biting an opponent! Brilliant, a nutter just what we need. We had Dioufy and Cisse surely we are bored of these type of players? Sure he has scored 8 squillion goal in Holland but that as we know is hardly a decent benchmark. After all we bought Dirk for and Babel from the same League for the same reasons and they have hardly been prolific. We do desperatley need a striker and if he is the best that is available then fine. Commoli needs to start earning the free lunches he has been having for the last 6 moths since the new owners took over.
We also need a leftback. Glen Johnson is not the answer there. If Aurelio is fit play him. Johnson should be moved into midfield ala Gareth Bale. I know I keep banging on about it but he cant defend and has oodles of pace and skill, let him loose! If it works for Harry we shouldn't be too proud to copy the idea. Decent Leftbacks are at a premuim and perhaps we will just have to persevere and look at it again in the summer. Only one I can think of would be Luis Enrique at Newcastle, he defends well can cross and pass to team mates, skills lacking in Konchesky and the still on loan Insua.
I also believe we have made a derisory bid for Charlie Adam. That shows a lacks class from us. He is easily on par with Luka Modric as far as form goes, would Spurs sell him for 4 mill?? So why should Blackpool accept chump change for him? I agree with Holloway make it 14mill and you can have him. If we are serious I would hope 8 or 9 mill would be more acceptable and realistic. He could play on the left hand side of midfield but he is clearly at his most effective centrally. Would pose a formation and tactical problem. How do you accomodate Adam,Meireles and Gerrard in central mid, especially in a squad bereft of width. That is Kenny's dilemma to sort out.
On the width front, I haven't changed my tune. Left wing = N'Zogbia its the only sensible option without doing a Wolves and raiding the Championship (Hammill). I would not be averse to that either, there are plenty skillful wingers plying there trade at that level that would be worth taking punt on. Snodgrass (Leeds), Eagles(Burnley), Commons (Derby) and even Coppinger (Donnie) are but a few. The 1st 2 like especially and I am sure we could offload some of the squad dross we have in part exchange if funds are few.
We have Fulham and Stoke next, I was fortunate to see both at the Cottage on Saturday. Stoke dont look very good, but Fulham seem to be finding their feet again. At 33 Danny Murphy is still one of the best users of a football in the league. Wednesday night will not be easy especially as Dembele is back for Fulham. He plays between the lines and is very hard to shrug off the ball once he has it. Lucas will have to be particularly wary of him and Dempsey who have developed an excellent understanding together.
I would line up as follows
Pepe
Kelly-Skrtel-Agger-Aurelio
Gerrard-Lucas
Johnson-Meileles-Maxi
Torres
YNWA
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Goodbye Woy - Welcome back King Kenny
Well I was going to blog yesterday about our woeful performances in our Lancashire double against Bolton and Blackburn. The former because we won with a dodgy offside goal, the latter because we didnt play that badly but got sucker punched on the break thrice. Blackburn did what Newcastle and Wolves have done to us recently, pressed and couter-attacked.
Hodgson was bereft of ideas not just on the night but throughout his short, impotent reign. 2-0 down at halftime and made no changes, then they score the 3rd as he is about to bring Dirk on. You would think he would have changed that seeing as the game was lost at that point. But no he plowed ahead even though we needed Dirk for today.
The back 4 were a disgrace with Glen Johnson in particular outshining the cosistently inept Konchesky. I believe he has reacted to Merson's Soccer Saturday commets about his not being good enough by Twittering that the opinions of Alcoholic, drug addicts dont concern him. If that was the case why Twitter???
Possibly because Merson is not wrong in his assessment. I find Merson's comments in general to the point and more often than not correct. He says Torres hasnt tried a leg and Johnson and Konchesky are rubbish, hardly earth-shattering or incorrect!
So Hodgson had to go. He was disrespectful to the fans, who I feel have been very patient, waiting for an outbreak of football. There have been too few times when that has happened this season. He has show a lack of tactical nouse and a distinct unwillingness to make big decisions. There are several times whe he should have dropped Torres especially and others and he wouldnt do it. From the players body language and lack of effort one wonders if he ever had the dressing room. Perhaps Gerrard, Torres and Carra hold too much influence. Lets be honest the 1st 2 have hardly tried at all this season.
Dalglish coming in does seem a bit desparate, although he is already on the payroll and will instantly command and recieve respect in the dressing room. So perhaps there is some sense in it. He already showed today he wont shirk decisions. Made 2 changes 10 minutes into the second half which were positive and almost produced a goal instantly with Babel's shot.
Then with 15 minutes left he brought Torres off who had worked hard for the team and with a game on Wednesday not a bad decision. Hogdson would not have done this. I thought we put up a good fight today and if our captain had a brain between his ears instead of compost, we could won with 11 against 11. We were always on the back foot after the penalty which I think was the right decision. Agger makes contact any striker worth his salt would go down. The Stevie G sending off was a no brainer and Dalglish did not protest after seeing the replays.
Today's result was not important in the context of King Kenny's 2nd spell in charge. We saw more belief and desire and with a bit of luck we could have earned a replay. Even my Manc friends said pen was harsh and they werent very good. In fact if you swapped our midfield for theirs you wouldnt really changed the teams all that much.
Its been our failure in the last 3 years to find suitable partner and cover for Torres and our failure to secure decent fullbacks in that time. We let Riise and Warnock and Arbeloa go and replaced then with Johnson,Konchesky and Insua, clearly not of the same quality.
Lets hope Kenny can motivate the players ad hammer Blackpool on Wednesday night.
YNWA
Hodgson was bereft of ideas not just on the night but throughout his short, impotent reign. 2-0 down at halftime and made no changes, then they score the 3rd as he is about to bring Dirk on. You would think he would have changed that seeing as the game was lost at that point. But no he plowed ahead even though we needed Dirk for today.
The back 4 were a disgrace with Glen Johnson in particular outshining the cosistently inept Konchesky. I believe he has reacted to Merson's Soccer Saturday commets about his not being good enough by Twittering that the opinions of Alcoholic, drug addicts dont concern him. If that was the case why Twitter???
Possibly because Merson is not wrong in his assessment. I find Merson's comments in general to the point and more often than not correct. He says Torres hasnt tried a leg and Johnson and Konchesky are rubbish, hardly earth-shattering or incorrect!
So Hodgson had to go. He was disrespectful to the fans, who I feel have been very patient, waiting for an outbreak of football. There have been too few times when that has happened this season. He has show a lack of tactical nouse and a distinct unwillingness to make big decisions. There are several times whe he should have dropped Torres especially and others and he wouldnt do it. From the players body language and lack of effort one wonders if he ever had the dressing room. Perhaps Gerrard, Torres and Carra hold too much influence. Lets be honest the 1st 2 have hardly tried at all this season.
Dalglish coming in does seem a bit desparate, although he is already on the payroll and will instantly command and recieve respect in the dressing room. So perhaps there is some sense in it. He already showed today he wont shirk decisions. Made 2 changes 10 minutes into the second half which were positive and almost produced a goal instantly with Babel's shot.
Then with 15 minutes left he brought Torres off who had worked hard for the team and with a game on Wednesday not a bad decision. Hogdson would not have done this. I thought we put up a good fight today and if our captain had a brain between his ears instead of compost, we could won with 11 against 11. We were always on the back foot after the penalty which I think was the right decision. Agger makes contact any striker worth his salt would go down. The Stevie G sending off was a no brainer and Dalglish did not protest after seeing the replays.
Today's result was not important in the context of King Kenny's 2nd spell in charge. We saw more belief and desire and with a bit of luck we could have earned a replay. Even my Manc friends said pen was harsh and they werent very good. In fact if you swapped our midfield for theirs you wouldnt really changed the teams all that much.
Its been our failure in the last 3 years to find suitable partner and cover for Torres and our failure to secure decent fullbacks in that time. We let Riise and Warnock and Arbeloa go and replaced then with Johnson,Konchesky and Insua, clearly not of the same quality.
Lets hope Kenny can motivate the players ad hammer Blackpool on Wednesday night.
YNWA
Friday, 31 December 2010
Woy Was Weally Wubbish With Wolves
Oh My God!!!!
It has taken me 2 days to calm down after that disgraceful display on Wednesday night. Can you think of one player on the pitch who even bothered to try?
Clearly we were rattled by Wolves' fearsome away record (1 point in 8 games), intimidated by their Worldclass strikeforce (Ward& Ebanks-Blake 2 goals in 4000 appearances) and lets not forget the legendary centre-half pairing of Berra and Stearman!!! How else do you explain it?
Torres and Ngog were completely useless as forwards. Soty and Skrtel didnt know what day it was and Stevie G was in 'Hollywood' pass mode again. IE 40 yarders for his boyfriend Torres. 7 times he could have passed the ball to Meireles who was 10 yards away and unmarked, no lets ping another hopeful ball at a striker who's 1st touch wouldn't get him a game a Droylesden! He didnt win a single header all night!!!
Only Konchesky was consistant, in that he was completely shit again!!! Glen Johnson didnt cross the halfway line once in anger. Dirk was asked to play left wing he spent more time in centre mid. (Why the fuck does every manager of Liverpool insist on playing right footed players who have no clue at left wing/midfield!!!!!!). Meireles was asked to play right mid, a position he has been completely useless in previously, just so Stevie G could play centre mid. Again we play Lucas at home. WHY,WHY,WHY,WHY,WHY,WHY,WHY??????? We were playing a team in the bottom 3 attack, attack,attack,attack!!!!!
So before the game even started we have an unmatchfit Captain in centre mid, a right midfielder on the left and a central midfielder on the right. Brilliant let put a squad of players lacking in confidence in positions they arent comfortable in!! Has Hodgson really taken over or is he a Rafa clone???
If uncle Woy only trusts the same 13 players, then why did he poo-poo Comolli's list of around 18 players whom we should ship out? Answer uncle Woy wants to be everyones friend. So for the first 30 minutes we are rubbish. Then Eureka!!! Stevie G goes to right wing, Meirles comes centrally and we almost look like a Championship side for 15 minutes! Alas no changes at halftime, to be fair Woy could have taken off half the team. So more dross at the start of the 2nd half.Result Wolves score after Soty and Skrtel contrive to fresh-air kick the ball between them and the most unknown, useless striker in the Premier League scores!
So what does our esteemed leader do well not much for 6 minutes then he brings on Babel, OK that should be positive, oh wait he took off Ngog not Torres! What a clown, even the fans in Kop didnt like that. Woy cant make big decisions. Babel tried his best when given the ball and was probably worth 6.5/10. that was comfortably 3 points better than anyone else on the pitch!
Cole and Aurelio came on to little effect although in Fab's case the opposition didnt have free reign down our left flank anymore. We cant complain about the result Wolves pressed us all over the pitch, we couldn't cope with this amazing, never-been-seen before tactic. (How dare anyone come to Anfield and play football against us!).
Next up Bolton a team full of confidence, big physical strikers who are scoring for fun, God only knows how much we will lose by.I reckon 3-0 Elmander 2,Petrov 1. Hodgson can moan all he like about the fans behavior towards him. He is not inspiring any confidence in the players, fans or owners. In fact this is worse than having Rafa in charge and you all know how much I admire that piece of jumped up Spanish shit!
Woy you have to go, what we are seeing is not acceptable from a Conference team why should we accept this from a team of players representing our club? Liverpool fan do not accept that the best we can do is 12th.
You have signed Konchesky,Cole,Poulsen and Meirelees and only the latter looks like he can hold a regular place, clearly you are not to be trusted with transfers.
So Mr Henry the transfer window opens tomorrow. My suggestion to you would be not give Woy any cash, instead a traditional British document, know as a P45, would be more appropriate. Then I would get on a plane to Holland and tell Martin Jol he starts immediately. Do you think he would hesitate to drop Torres as he continues to disrespect the Club, fans and himself, or kick Stevie G up the arse, absolutley not.
I would go with the following for the Bolton game.
Reina
Kelly-Agger-Skrtel-Aurelio
Babel-Meireles-StevieG-Jovanovic
Cole
Ngog
As Bolton are a tall team we need to match fire with fire. Yes, no Torres.Lets be honest at the moment if you pass the ball to him it comes straight back. He no longer makes any runs at all unless Gerrard has the ball and he appears to have lost his pace and ability to control a football.
We are 11 points behind 5th placed Spurs and only 3 points of relegation zone again. I said before the Newcastle game we had a run of about 11 league games where Chelsea and Bolton were the only top half teams we play. If we had won that last 2 we would have sitting 7th and looking good, instead its 12th and looking over our shoulder.
YWNA
It has taken me 2 days to calm down after that disgraceful display on Wednesday night. Can you think of one player on the pitch who even bothered to try?
Clearly we were rattled by Wolves' fearsome away record (1 point in 8 games), intimidated by their Worldclass strikeforce (Ward& Ebanks-Blake 2 goals in 4000 appearances) and lets not forget the legendary centre-half pairing of Berra and Stearman!!! How else do you explain it?
Torres and Ngog were completely useless as forwards. Soty and Skrtel didnt know what day it was and Stevie G was in 'Hollywood' pass mode again. IE 40 yarders for his boyfriend Torres. 7 times he could have passed the ball to Meireles who was 10 yards away and unmarked, no lets ping another hopeful ball at a striker who's 1st touch wouldn't get him a game a Droylesden! He didnt win a single header all night!!!
Only Konchesky was consistant, in that he was completely shit again!!! Glen Johnson didnt cross the halfway line once in anger. Dirk was asked to play left wing he spent more time in centre mid. (Why the fuck does every manager of Liverpool insist on playing right footed players who have no clue at left wing/midfield!!!!!!). Meireles was asked to play right mid, a position he has been completely useless in previously, just so Stevie G could play centre mid. Again we play Lucas at home. WHY,WHY,WHY,WHY,WHY,WHY,WHY??????? We were playing a team in the bottom 3 attack, attack,attack,attack!!!!!
So before the game even started we have an unmatchfit Captain in centre mid, a right midfielder on the left and a central midfielder on the right. Brilliant let put a squad of players lacking in confidence in positions they arent comfortable in!! Has Hodgson really taken over or is he a Rafa clone???
If uncle Woy only trusts the same 13 players, then why did he poo-poo Comolli's list of around 18 players whom we should ship out? Answer uncle Woy wants to be everyones friend. So for the first 30 minutes we are rubbish. Then Eureka!!! Stevie G goes to right wing, Meirles comes centrally and we almost look like a Championship side for 15 minutes! Alas no changes at halftime, to be fair Woy could have taken off half the team. So more dross at the start of the 2nd half.Result Wolves score after Soty and Skrtel contrive to fresh-air kick the ball between them and the most unknown, useless striker in the Premier League scores!
So what does our esteemed leader do well not much for 6 minutes then he brings on Babel, OK that should be positive, oh wait he took off Ngog not Torres! What a clown, even the fans in Kop didnt like that. Woy cant make big decisions. Babel tried his best when given the ball and was probably worth 6.5/10. that was comfortably 3 points better than anyone else on the pitch!
Cole and Aurelio came on to little effect although in Fab's case the opposition didnt have free reign down our left flank anymore. We cant complain about the result Wolves pressed us all over the pitch, we couldn't cope with this amazing, never-been-seen before tactic. (How dare anyone come to Anfield and play football against us!).
Next up Bolton a team full of confidence, big physical strikers who are scoring for fun, God only knows how much we will lose by.I reckon 3-0 Elmander 2,Petrov 1. Hodgson can moan all he like about the fans behavior towards him. He is not inspiring any confidence in the players, fans or owners. In fact this is worse than having Rafa in charge and you all know how much I admire that piece of jumped up Spanish shit!
Woy you have to go, what we are seeing is not acceptable from a Conference team why should we accept this from a team of players representing our club? Liverpool fan do not accept that the best we can do is 12th.
You have signed Konchesky,Cole,Poulsen and Meirelees and only the latter looks like he can hold a regular place, clearly you are not to be trusted with transfers.
So Mr Henry the transfer window opens tomorrow. My suggestion to you would be not give Woy any cash, instead a traditional British document, know as a P45, would be more appropriate. Then I would get on a plane to Holland and tell Martin Jol he starts immediately. Do you think he would hesitate to drop Torres as he continues to disrespect the Club, fans and himself, or kick Stevie G up the arse, absolutley not.
I would go with the following for the Bolton game.
Reina
Kelly-Agger-Skrtel-Aurelio
Babel-Meireles-StevieG-Jovanovic
Cole
Ngog
As Bolton are a tall team we need to match fire with fire. Yes, no Torres.Lets be honest at the moment if you pass the ball to him it comes straight back. He no longer makes any runs at all unless Gerrard has the ball and he appears to have lost his pace and ability to control a football.
We are 11 points behind 5th placed Spurs and only 3 points of relegation zone again. I said before the Newcastle game we had a run of about 11 league games where Chelsea and Bolton were the only top half teams we play. If we had won that last 2 we would have sitting 7th and looking good, instead its 12th and looking over our shoulder.
YWNA
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Festive Fantasies
WooooooooHooooooooooo!!!!!
Yes what brilliance!! Mr Moratti I love you!!! RAFA the Fat Spanish Waiter has been sacked by Inter!!!!! In the last 2 weeks thats been the best bit of sporting news I have come upon. Surely this proves the existence of a higher being- God, Allah,Santa, Buddah etc.
It appears our Rafa tried some brinkmanship with the Inter chairman and was unsuccessful. He has taken the Champions of Europe and latterly the World and turned them into mid-table also-rans in Serie A. Sound familiar? Clearly Rafa has completed another UEFA coaching badge. How else do you explain his ability to sink Inter in just six months!! It took the clown 4 years to make a mess of our club! Legend. May he never work in football again.Chief bottle washer in Bootle sounds about right!
How the media decided that his return to Liverpool was going to result in the sacking of Hodgson is beyond me. He has property here and his wife and daughter probably still live here. Although sacking Uncle Woy may not be a bad idea!
So we haven't kick a ball in anger in a few weeks, I hear some of you say we haven't kicked a ball all season! Thanks to 'weather' which I believe is a daily occurence on this Planet and it is generally cold this time of year, we have not played Fulham or Blackpool. I am glad of the last one as getting humped by Holloway (again) does not fill me with joy.
The Europa League draw was very kind to us. Sparta Prague followed by the winners of the Lech Poznan/Braga tie should we succesfully negotiate that. These latter teams have already drawn English blood this season. Lech, having drawn both games with Juve and beaten Man City 3-1 at home. Braga eliminated Celtic to get into the CL and are the reason the Gooners now have to face Barca in that competition.
We should have enough to beat Sparta over 2 legs and I imagine Braga will just shade the other tie. Braga have skillful players and play quick counter attacking football, so I imagine we may go out at that stage as we have neither!
The last Group game was disappointing, the fringe players didnt really put their hands up.Other than perhaps Martin Kelly and Danny Wilson. Poulsen,Babel,Cole et al showed why Woy is not starting them. Pacheco did more in 35 minutes than Cole has done all season. Surely we have to involve this boy more?
The transfer window is opening soon and the media is linking us with everyone from Nuneaton's tea lady to Dzeko (36 mill - where are we getting the money for that???).
Man City have 43 players to offload but I cant see them selling any to us. Although we are clearly no threat to the top end of the table this season! Plus can we really afford the ridiculous wages they are paying their players. How many would be willing to leave and take less money. Not something you would do yourself, take a new job for less.
So what do we need?
A leftback - Aurelio is never fit (perhaps Rafa wasnt so daft offerig a play as you play deal)
Konchesky is another waste of money.To think we gave Lauri Della Valle as part payment for this ,bald headed,blue-eyed berk ,to Fulham is disgraceful.
So who can we recruit? - Bridge or Warnock would be nice, Baines would be magic.No doubt we wont do anything on that front.
A left winger/left sided midfielder. IE one who can kick with his left foot!
Joe Cole is not a left winger, Maxi is not a left winger and Jovanovic has proved he isnt one either.
There isn't a lot around on that flank. Duff at Fulham or N'Zogbia perhaps? The former hasn't really done anything under Hughes and doesn't even start and they are bottom 3. But you know he can play. N'Zogbia would be my preference, has a bit of an attitude and oozes confidence when on the ball.
STRIKERS PLEASE- Anyone will do! Van Wolfswinkel - Utrecht (great name - 'from the wolf shop'). Surely he would add some much needed bite up front?
Robbie Keane Take 2 ??? unlikely but perhaps Woy wont play him as a lone striker peppering him with logballs, ala Benitez.
Bellamy again????
Santa Cruz? - Not sure he would be anything but a stop gap due to his age and lack of any game time recently will probably take him until August to get up to speed anyway.
I would also see us buy a right winger - If we arent going to play Babel or Johnson there.Dirk works hard but has no pace and isnt a huge goal threat either. Again who can we get? Wright-Phillips perhaps, not what I would go for. Been at 2 big clubs now and cant hold a regular place.
Why not take a punt on a Championship player or two? Seems to work for Blackpool and Birmingham. Chris Eagles at Burnley comes to mind. Wont cost lot and has a point to prove to both Coyle and Ferguson. Robert Snodgrass at Leeds also seems pretty decent.
Really not sure if there is anything out there worth buying. Lets hope Mr Comolli has a rabbit or 3 up his sleeve. After all he is the 'Grand Player Wizard' or whatever title we have given him. No doubt an influx of French players ala Houllier .
On the way out I would like to see the following - Poulsen, Jovanovic, Babel (only if we buy a striker),Johnson, Maxi,Konchesky. That should raise at least £47 , which I belieive is what the Nuneton tea lady costs!
Johnson might seem a strange one but he cant defend and unless we do a Spurs (ala Bale - using him as a winger) I dont see a future for him. Kelly,Carra and Darby mean we have 3 other options at right back. Plus we might get some decent wegde for him.
Let hope whoever we add will breathe some life into a squad bereft of confidence and ideas. Hopefully this will launch us up the table to 6th and a Eurpoa League spot again. I cant see us doing any better.
Lets hope we can beat Wolves on Wednesday although Mr Doyle likes scoring against us.
YNWA
Yes what brilliance!! Mr Moratti I love you!!! RAFA the Fat Spanish Waiter has been sacked by Inter!!!!! In the last 2 weeks thats been the best bit of sporting news I have come upon. Surely this proves the existence of a higher being- God, Allah,Santa, Buddah etc.
It appears our Rafa tried some brinkmanship with the Inter chairman and was unsuccessful. He has taken the Champions of Europe and latterly the World and turned them into mid-table also-rans in Serie A. Sound familiar? Clearly Rafa has completed another UEFA coaching badge. How else do you explain his ability to sink Inter in just six months!! It took the clown 4 years to make a mess of our club! Legend. May he never work in football again.Chief bottle washer in Bootle sounds about right!
How the media decided that his return to Liverpool was going to result in the sacking of Hodgson is beyond me. He has property here and his wife and daughter probably still live here. Although sacking Uncle Woy may not be a bad idea!
So we haven't kick a ball in anger in a few weeks, I hear some of you say we haven't kicked a ball all season! Thanks to 'weather' which I believe is a daily occurence on this Planet and it is generally cold this time of year, we have not played Fulham or Blackpool. I am glad of the last one as getting humped by Holloway (again) does not fill me with joy.
The Europa League draw was very kind to us. Sparta Prague followed by the winners of the Lech Poznan/Braga tie should we succesfully negotiate that. These latter teams have already drawn English blood this season. Lech, having drawn both games with Juve and beaten Man City 3-1 at home. Braga eliminated Celtic to get into the CL and are the reason the Gooners now have to face Barca in that competition.
We should have enough to beat Sparta over 2 legs and I imagine Braga will just shade the other tie. Braga have skillful players and play quick counter attacking football, so I imagine we may go out at that stage as we have neither!
The last Group game was disappointing, the fringe players didnt really put their hands up.Other than perhaps Martin Kelly and Danny Wilson. Poulsen,Babel,Cole et al showed why Woy is not starting them. Pacheco did more in 35 minutes than Cole has done all season. Surely we have to involve this boy more?
The transfer window is opening soon and the media is linking us with everyone from Nuneaton's tea lady to Dzeko (36 mill - where are we getting the money for that???).
Man City have 43 players to offload but I cant see them selling any to us. Although we are clearly no threat to the top end of the table this season! Plus can we really afford the ridiculous wages they are paying their players. How many would be willing to leave and take less money. Not something you would do yourself, take a new job for less.
So what do we need?
A leftback - Aurelio is never fit (perhaps Rafa wasnt so daft offerig a play as you play deal)
Konchesky is another waste of money.To think we gave Lauri Della Valle as part payment for this ,bald headed,blue-eyed berk ,to Fulham is disgraceful.
So who can we recruit? - Bridge or Warnock would be nice, Baines would be magic.No doubt we wont do anything on that front.
A left winger/left sided midfielder. IE one who can kick with his left foot!
Joe Cole is not a left winger, Maxi is not a left winger and Jovanovic has proved he isnt one either.
There isn't a lot around on that flank. Duff at Fulham or N'Zogbia perhaps? The former hasn't really done anything under Hughes and doesn't even start and they are bottom 3. But you know he can play. N'Zogbia would be my preference, has a bit of an attitude and oozes confidence when on the ball.
STRIKERS PLEASE- Anyone will do! Van Wolfswinkel - Utrecht (great name - 'from the wolf shop'). Surely he would add some much needed bite up front?
Robbie Keane Take 2 ??? unlikely but perhaps Woy wont play him as a lone striker peppering him with logballs, ala Benitez.
Bellamy again????
Santa Cruz? - Not sure he would be anything but a stop gap due to his age and lack of any game time recently will probably take him until August to get up to speed anyway.
I would also see us buy a right winger - If we arent going to play Babel or Johnson there.Dirk works hard but has no pace and isnt a huge goal threat either. Again who can we get? Wright-Phillips perhaps, not what I would go for. Been at 2 big clubs now and cant hold a regular place.
Why not take a punt on a Championship player or two? Seems to work for Blackpool and Birmingham. Chris Eagles at Burnley comes to mind. Wont cost lot and has a point to prove to both Coyle and Ferguson. Robert Snodgrass at Leeds also seems pretty decent.
Really not sure if there is anything out there worth buying. Lets hope Mr Comolli has a rabbit or 3 up his sleeve. After all he is the 'Grand Player Wizard' or whatever title we have given him. No doubt an influx of French players ala Houllier .
On the way out I would like to see the following - Poulsen, Jovanovic, Babel (only if we buy a striker),Johnson, Maxi,Konchesky. That should raise at least £47 , which I belieive is what the Nuneton tea lady costs!
Johnson might seem a strange one but he cant defend and unless we do a Spurs (ala Bale - using him as a winger) I dont see a future for him. Kelly,Carra and Darby mean we have 3 other options at right back. Plus we might get some decent wegde for him.
Let hope whoever we add will breathe some life into a squad bereft of confidence and ideas. Hopefully this will launch us up the table to 6th and a Eurpoa League spot again. I cant see us doing any better.
Lets hope we can beat Wolves on Wednesday although Mr Doyle likes scoring against us.
YNWA
Monday, 13 December 2010
Doon in the Toon
Well last week I was full of optimism. I was looking forward to waxing lyrically about our great performance against Villa, who thankfully came to Anfield and did a West Ham. Rolled over, let us tickle their belly, then allowed us to savagely rape them.
We played with a good tempo. Ngog and Babel did something we haven't seen since Fowler and Owen, 2 forwards linking up as a strike partnership. Perhaps all these Reserve games together is paying off. Konchesky also did some strange things, there was tackling, blocking of crosses and shock horror interceptions!!!
So who needs Carra, Stevie G and Torres when you have Meireles, Skrtel and Ngog! Clearly not us! There was talk on Soccer Saturday that perhaps we had turned a corner. Clearly after 19h00 that that corner led to a cul-de-sac covered in grease at the edge of a cliff! We duly slipped off.
You can argue that Newcastle away is a trickier fixture than it looks in light of the ridiculous dismissal of Chris Hughton and the players devotion to him. So you would think that there would a bit of fire in our bellies saying lets go for the kill here.
Ngog and Babel together again and keep Torres on the bench. After all he has done bugger all since he scored against Chelsea. It would have sent a message to Fernando that he cant rest on his laurels.We all know he is going to leave at the end of the season but we pay his wages have stuck by him through all 374 of his injuries, so 6 months of output isnt too much to ask........
Plus there is the psychological effect on the opposition. The 'fuck me they can afford to leave him on the bench' factor and send a message to Ngog and Babel that you did well and you can have another go.
No Woy Hodgson doesn't have 'the minimals' to make big decisions. In fact Grandpa Woy doesnt have the ability to make any decisions! Again his pre-match interview did not bode well. Moaned about us always being on telly!!! We are Liverpool FC we are on the telly more than any other team in England EVERY season Woy. Even the Legions of Doom dont get as much airtime!!!!! 'I have one more big job left in me' he said in July I would like to know when he is going to start doing it.
Again he said about it being a difficult place to come (our last 2 visits 5-1 and 3-0wins!)and that we would have to play 'very well' to get anything. Hardly tub-thumping stuff. There was no 'we are 4 game undefeated and going to stamp our authority on a newly promoted team' speech.Hopefully he says slightly more positive things to the player in the dressing room. Although our performances suggest not.
So to the match. Some of you may watch 'Match of the Day' or 'Goals on Sunday'. Some not. For those that dont, these programs show you highlights of all the games on a weekly basis. So you can see what other teams are doing and how they score goal etc. Clearly NO-ONE at Liverpool FC has watched these programs this season, especially not Woy Hodgson or any of the back 4. Newcastle have a 6'4" Striker called Andy Carroll (effectively under house arrest).When they get free kick Joey Barton (another jailbird scumbag)normally aims the ball toward Carroll who is generally out wide on the left or right of the penalty box. If Carroll wins the header, which he usually does, he goes for goal or heads the ball back into the centre where his court appointed jailor (Kevin Nolan) normally pick up the scraps.
Unsuprisingly this is exactly what happened in the first time they got a free kick. result 1-0 and 11 bemused players in red! Seriously no marking on Carroll no marking on Nolan. WTF!!!! A phone call to Steve Bruce prior to the game would have confirmed that he watched them do that 5 times to him recently!!!
We had looked the better team up until that point, but really hadnt make Tim Krul do anything. We leared our lesson and started double teaming Carroll at free kicks. Well Torres decided he would help Skrtel out, not sure if that was his own decision or Woy's.
Halftime and we had more shots than they did 12 vs 2 with 5 on target, but all long range powder puffs. So 10 minutes into the 2nd half and we get a bit of luck, Dirk uses his 'blistering' pace (there are 1 legged Ethiopian famine victims who move quicker!) and his sclaffed shot hit Steven Taylor and trundles into the bottom corner 1-1 the comeback is on we are going to thrash them now!!!!
Dont be silly we are going to do nothing cos an away point is the greatest and most common Wesult in Woy's Wepartie! Newcastle make the brilliant tactical change of removing the completely useless Shola Ameobi (no doubt a transfer target for us) and replace him with Nile Ranger (Another jailbird).Must have something to do with the black and white stripes in the kit! Phew, he is young tall, gangly and generally runs around like a headless chicken. At least that what he has done on previous appearances.
No, he changes the game, he almost scores with his 1st touch and then for the next 25minutes batters Skrtel and Soty around like Didier Drogba on steriods! So what do we do, capitulate the 2nd goal was a farce, 4 people could have cleared it they all got way to allow Barton to waltz in and score crowning his already 'man of the match' award. This player normally gets sent off against us, half of his career dismissals have been against us. Were we in his face were we putting him under any pressure, nope!
There was only one winner now and again it wasnt likely to be us. The 3rd goal tipified a miserable performance. Carroll rises unchallenged 30 yards out controls the ball, turns takes 2 more touches then shoots. Rasper, bottom corner, thank you for coming and good night. Nearest player - Lucas 10 yards away scratching a ball!
So where are we. 9th in the League, thats about right. We have only beaten 2 teams taht are currently in the top half and only Chelsea you would say is a noteworthy result. If this continues we will have about 50 points at the end of the season which will see us finish roughly where we are now. Who the hell is goig to come and play for a team like that?
Fortunatley only 1 of our next 11 league games are against anyone in the top half as the table stands today. I would say that we will have to win all of them to be honest to even qualify for the Europa League again next year. The current top 5 cannot be as inconsistent again as they have been so far and we are almost half way through the season. Spurs will implode they always do. Man City, who knows with Tevez being an enormous twat (among 23 others). Chelsea seem to have lost the plot, losing to relegation candidates like us has clearly killed their mojo.
I will discuss transfers another time with the window upon us. We need to ship out about 10 -12 players and bring in 6 quality ones. Trouble is will they want to come to a mid table bunch like us.........
YNWA
We played with a good tempo. Ngog and Babel did something we haven't seen since Fowler and Owen, 2 forwards linking up as a strike partnership. Perhaps all these Reserve games together is paying off. Konchesky also did some strange things, there was tackling, blocking of crosses and shock horror interceptions!!!
So who needs Carra, Stevie G and Torres when you have Meireles, Skrtel and Ngog! Clearly not us! There was talk on Soccer Saturday that perhaps we had turned a corner. Clearly after 19h00 that that corner led to a cul-de-sac covered in grease at the edge of a cliff! We duly slipped off.
You can argue that Newcastle away is a trickier fixture than it looks in light of the ridiculous dismissal of Chris Hughton and the players devotion to him. So you would think that there would a bit of fire in our bellies saying lets go for the kill here.
Ngog and Babel together again and keep Torres on the bench. After all he has done bugger all since he scored against Chelsea. It would have sent a message to Fernando that he cant rest on his laurels.We all know he is going to leave at the end of the season but we pay his wages have stuck by him through all 374 of his injuries, so 6 months of output isnt too much to ask........
Plus there is the psychological effect on the opposition. The 'fuck me they can afford to leave him on the bench' factor and send a message to Ngog and Babel that you did well and you can have another go.
No Woy Hodgson doesn't have 'the minimals' to make big decisions. In fact Grandpa Woy doesnt have the ability to make any decisions! Again his pre-match interview did not bode well. Moaned about us always being on telly!!! We are Liverpool FC we are on the telly more than any other team in England EVERY season Woy. Even the Legions of Doom dont get as much airtime!!!!! 'I have one more big job left in me' he said in July I would like to know when he is going to start doing it.
Again he said about it being a difficult place to come (our last 2 visits 5-1 and 3-0wins!)and that we would have to play 'very well' to get anything. Hardly tub-thumping stuff. There was no 'we are 4 game undefeated and going to stamp our authority on a newly promoted team' speech.Hopefully he says slightly more positive things to the player in the dressing room. Although our performances suggest not.
So to the match. Some of you may watch 'Match of the Day' or 'Goals on Sunday'. Some not. For those that dont, these programs show you highlights of all the games on a weekly basis. So you can see what other teams are doing and how they score goal etc. Clearly NO-ONE at Liverpool FC has watched these programs this season, especially not Woy Hodgson or any of the back 4. Newcastle have a 6'4" Striker called Andy Carroll (effectively under house arrest).When they get free kick Joey Barton (another jailbird scumbag)normally aims the ball toward Carroll who is generally out wide on the left or right of the penalty box. If Carroll wins the header, which he usually does, he goes for goal or heads the ball back into the centre where his court appointed jailor (Kevin Nolan) normally pick up the scraps.
Unsuprisingly this is exactly what happened in the first time they got a free kick. result 1-0 and 11 bemused players in red! Seriously no marking on Carroll no marking on Nolan. WTF!!!! A phone call to Steve Bruce prior to the game would have confirmed that he watched them do that 5 times to him recently!!!
We had looked the better team up until that point, but really hadnt make Tim Krul do anything. We leared our lesson and started double teaming Carroll at free kicks. Well Torres decided he would help Skrtel out, not sure if that was his own decision or Woy's.
Halftime and we had more shots than they did 12 vs 2 with 5 on target, but all long range powder puffs. So 10 minutes into the 2nd half and we get a bit of luck, Dirk uses his 'blistering' pace (there are 1 legged Ethiopian famine victims who move quicker!) and his sclaffed shot hit Steven Taylor and trundles into the bottom corner 1-1 the comeback is on we are going to thrash them now!!!!
Dont be silly we are going to do nothing cos an away point is the greatest and most common Wesult in Woy's Wepartie! Newcastle make the brilliant tactical change of removing the completely useless Shola Ameobi (no doubt a transfer target for us) and replace him with Nile Ranger (Another jailbird).Must have something to do with the black and white stripes in the kit! Phew, he is young tall, gangly and generally runs around like a headless chicken. At least that what he has done on previous appearances.
No, he changes the game, he almost scores with his 1st touch and then for the next 25minutes batters Skrtel and Soty around like Didier Drogba on steriods! So what do we do, capitulate the 2nd goal was a farce, 4 people could have cleared it they all got way to allow Barton to waltz in and score crowning his already 'man of the match' award. This player normally gets sent off against us, half of his career dismissals have been against us. Were we in his face were we putting him under any pressure, nope!
There was only one winner now and again it wasnt likely to be us. The 3rd goal tipified a miserable performance. Carroll rises unchallenged 30 yards out controls the ball, turns takes 2 more touches then shoots. Rasper, bottom corner, thank you for coming and good night. Nearest player - Lucas 10 yards away scratching a ball!
So where are we. 9th in the League, thats about right. We have only beaten 2 teams taht are currently in the top half and only Chelsea you would say is a noteworthy result. If this continues we will have about 50 points at the end of the season which will see us finish roughly where we are now. Who the hell is goig to come and play for a team like that?
Fortunatley only 1 of our next 11 league games are against anyone in the top half as the table stands today. I would say that we will have to win all of them to be honest to even qualify for the Europa League again next year. The current top 5 cannot be as inconsistent again as they have been so far and we are almost half way through the season. Spurs will implode they always do. Man City, who knows with Tevez being an enormous twat (among 23 others). Chelsea seem to have lost the plot, losing to relegation candidates like us has clearly killed their mojo.
I will discuss transfers another time with the window upon us. We need to ship out about 10 -12 players and bring in 6 quality ones. Trouble is will they want to come to a mid table bunch like us.........
YNWA
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Where do we go from here?
Axl Rose never wrote a truer phrase.
Thursday squad run-out in Bucherest was hard work to watch and from the display by the players it was hard work to be involved in! We looked to have reverted back to the 'we can only play at walking pace' mode. We were very generous about givig free headers down the right in the first half. Thankfully Steau couldnt hit a cow in the preverbials with a banjo. The first time our 'new' ober-striker Babel decided to run at people down the right wing (Pay attention Roy Babel- Right Wing.....) he caused mayhem cut back inside, which left 3 Steau players on their bums and deftly clipped a left foot cross into Jovanovic, valous 1-0!
Unfortunately we didnt build on that and inevitably we conceded a goal, for some reason Pepe threw one in the back of the net. Had it happened in the 1st half when he was having a laser pen constantly aimed at him from the crowd, then fair enough. Overall the result was enough but the performance was tepid. I dont see too many of those involved who will be pushing for a start against Villa on Monday.
Therein lies our problem we complain about some of the starting 11 but what is there underneath that? Not a lot. Youngsters aside, who are obviously still learning and finding their feet. With exception of Pepe and Soty none of the others really laid a claim. Aurelio is coming back to fitness and didnt do anything wrong so perhaps he has a case, but that is probably only because Konchesky is so shite.
Poulsen,Cole,Jovanovic, Babel - did not see enough to convince me they really are good enough. Sure Babel and Jovanovic combined for the goal and Babel ran around for the 1st 40 minutes but after that what? Poulsen looks completely lost I have never seen a holding midfield player who can play for 90 minutes and not tackle anything! This guy has 86 caps for Denmark has played for Anderlecht and Sevilla in the Champions League over the last 8 years and cant cope???? Bizarre, we never seem to be able to sign a foreign player who hits the ground running, they always need 650 games to get up to speed!
So Villa will be tricky, they have pace and like to couter-attack, hopefully the Liverpool of the last 2 league games turns up from a performance point of view. We really cant afford not to win at home anymore this season, as under Hodgson away wins are not possible, only 3 in his 3 seasons at Fulham!
Now that we are in Decemembr obviously its Tranfer Window time and who is moving where. There is historically very little value to be had in January.Not sure if it would be wise to look for anyone other than a striker obviously.Dont know where we are going to find one. If we are moving players on then fine but lets not panic buy. We spent all the Mascha money on Poulsen and Meirles in the summer, a bit more patience and we could have had Van der Vaart. Now that was bargain!
I see that we paid out the 2nd highest amount in agents fees only Chelsea paid more, which is impressive considering how much Man City spent on players.More money that we couldnt really afford to waste. Lets hope Mr Comelli has a few rabbits in his hat otherwise what is the point of having a 'Director of Football Strategy' whatever that means?
Agger has been moaning saying he wants to stay and he wont be forced out as he has 4 years on his contract. Lets hope Hodgson has some balls and sorts that out. We really need a fit and motivated Agger, he is the only centreback we have who is comfortable on the ball. The others are just ball winners and centrebacks cost almost as much as strikers these days.
I really am lost as to who we can bring in, Man City have loads of unhappy players who arent involved, but are they going to loan them to the likes of us, I doubt it. N'Zogbia at Wigan is a possible I suppose. We have to be realistic we cant shop at Harrods M&S or Waitrose these days in the transfer market. Its ASDA,Iceland and Aldi for us!
YNWA
Thursday squad run-out in Bucherest was hard work to watch and from the display by the players it was hard work to be involved in! We looked to have reverted back to the 'we can only play at walking pace' mode. We were very generous about givig free headers down the right in the first half. Thankfully Steau couldnt hit a cow in the preverbials with a banjo. The first time our 'new' ober-striker Babel decided to run at people down the right wing (Pay attention Roy Babel- Right Wing.....) he caused mayhem cut back inside, which left 3 Steau players on their bums and deftly clipped a left foot cross into Jovanovic, valous 1-0!
Unfortunately we didnt build on that and inevitably we conceded a goal, for some reason Pepe threw one in the back of the net. Had it happened in the 1st half when he was having a laser pen constantly aimed at him from the crowd, then fair enough. Overall the result was enough but the performance was tepid. I dont see too many of those involved who will be pushing for a start against Villa on Monday.
Therein lies our problem we complain about some of the starting 11 but what is there underneath that? Not a lot. Youngsters aside, who are obviously still learning and finding their feet. With exception of Pepe and Soty none of the others really laid a claim. Aurelio is coming back to fitness and didnt do anything wrong so perhaps he has a case, but that is probably only because Konchesky is so shite.
Poulsen,Cole,Jovanovic, Babel - did not see enough to convince me they really are good enough. Sure Babel and Jovanovic combined for the goal and Babel ran around for the 1st 40 minutes but after that what? Poulsen looks completely lost I have never seen a holding midfield player who can play for 90 minutes and not tackle anything! This guy has 86 caps for Denmark has played for Anderlecht and Sevilla in the Champions League over the last 8 years and cant cope???? Bizarre, we never seem to be able to sign a foreign player who hits the ground running, they always need 650 games to get up to speed!
So Villa will be tricky, they have pace and like to couter-attack, hopefully the Liverpool of the last 2 league games turns up from a performance point of view. We really cant afford not to win at home anymore this season, as under Hodgson away wins are not possible, only 3 in his 3 seasons at Fulham!
Now that we are in Decemembr obviously its Tranfer Window time and who is moving where. There is historically very little value to be had in January.Not sure if it would be wise to look for anyone other than a striker obviously.Dont know where we are going to find one. If we are moving players on then fine but lets not panic buy. We spent all the Mascha money on Poulsen and Meirles in the summer, a bit more patience and we could have had Van der Vaart. Now that was bargain!
I see that we paid out the 2nd highest amount in agents fees only Chelsea paid more, which is impressive considering how much Man City spent on players.More money that we couldnt really afford to waste. Lets hope Mr Comelli has a few rabbits in his hat otherwise what is the point of having a 'Director of Football Strategy' whatever that means?
Agger has been moaning saying he wants to stay and he wont be forced out as he has 4 years on his contract. Lets hope Hodgson has some balls and sorts that out. We really need a fit and motivated Agger, he is the only centreback we have who is comfortable on the ball. The others are just ball winners and centrebacks cost almost as much as strikers these days.
I really am lost as to who we can bring in, Man City have loads of unhappy players who arent involved, but are they going to loan them to the likes of us, I doubt it. N'Zogbia at Wigan is a possible I suppose. We have to be realistic we cant shop at Harrods M&S or Waitrose these days in the transfer market. Its ASDA,Iceland and Aldi for us!
YNWA
London Double Bubble
Well is been a couple of weeks since I last posted. I have attempted several times to blog over the last couple of weeks but my Interet connection is playing up. So what have we seen and what can we expect going forward.
Well against West Ham we saw a team devoid of confidence, lacking in belief and hopelessly out of their depth. Fortunately it wasnt us for a change! West Ham decided to do what we did against Stoke and gave up before kick-off, if only more teams would adopt this attitude against us!
We played really well with a good tempo. Meireles looks far happier running the show in the middle of the pitch and was for me, man of the match. Although ESPN gave it to Johnson. We moved the ball around well contantly went forward probed and had loads of chances. Yes the Hammers were poor but you can only beat whats in front of you and we did that well.
Also something I have been moaning about for years, Stevie G is six one and we let take corners. Now I am sure that the stats bear this out but we cant score more than about 5 or 6 goals a season from corners. So that about 1 every ten or twelve games. So against West Ham, Meireles takes 3 corners and we score!! No Stevie G, no problem. Surely its better for Stevie to be in the box trying to score a goal???? Chelski let Drogba take corners for a while as well I dont like it.Your strong powerful headers should be in the box and your short arse dwarf midfielders should be taking the corners or stay back defending. Perhaps this is traditionalist but how often do you see a short man beat a tall man for a header. NEVER! Unless their names are Defoe or Cahill!
Torres looked a little better , but seems to have lost some pace and lacks that killer instinct but we cant really afford not to play him if he is fit. He can play like donkey but until we have another alternative what else can we do.
So more optimism after that result we were up to 9th again, our highest league position of the season. I have the 'priviledge' of working with several Spurs fans and they were quite confident about sweeping us aside in the run-up to our game last Sunday. I did concur, especially after their performace against Werder Bremen. I said we had to keep Bale and Lennon quiet to have a chance. How prophetic that comment turned out to be.
We began brightly but quickly faded as Spurs played really well in the first half. Bale wasnt causing us too many problems however the mis-match on the other side of the pitch was ringing alarm bells. Lennon has never been a consistant player and after his brilliant display against Bremen, one would have expected that he would have returned to type.Alas this was not the case. They were a constant threat down the left hand side.
So perhaps slighty against the run of play we took the lead Skrtel using the back of Ngog's head for a clever 1-2 before poking the ball home. Then something amazing happened we belived we could win and for the next 15 or 20 minutes we tore Spurs apart, Maxi and Torres both had gilt-edged opportunities to finish Spurs off, sadly they could not capitalise. What Maxi was doing for his chance god alone knows, he almost dislocated his knee the plonker!
When Nando burst through early in the 2nd half after Lucas' quick thinking through ball(i cant believe I just typed that!!!) surely he was going to leave Bassong for dead, burst the net kill off the game? Nope he completely bottled it! This man is still clearly not right. Torres of 18 months ago had an initial burst of acceleration that caused people to gasp in astonishment, gave central defenders nightmares and in general caused mayhem. That appears to have gone from his arsenal of weapons, so to has the confidence to shoot on sight. His touch also seem heavy. He has that downtrodden look on his face again which isnt good. I also notice he isnt making runs in the box anymore he is reacting rather than anticipating.
Anyway back to the Spurs game, we rode our luck and when Defoe missed the penalty, I thought that it was going to be our night. Lo and behold it was not to be, Soty got sucked into competing with Crouch for a header (probably just over-eagerness after coming on as a sub for Carra), Konchesky used his usual iability to read the game and waddled belatedly after the bullet-like Lennon and we lose it in injury time.
A harsh result, I thought our overall performance deserved a draw. Sure Spurs had more clear cut chances but the 20 minute spell we were dominant we could have scored 3 or 4. Unfortunately that is beginnig to sum up our season good but not good enough.
Top 7 is still on but top 4 is not going to happen. Unless Man City and Spurs completely implode and we go 20 games undefeated. I just cant see al three of those things coming to pass.
On a more positive note I am estatic to see our former leader making such a pigs ear of the Inter Milan job. He has taken a 5 or 6 years running Scuddetto winners and Champions of Europe and turned them into a pile of steaming shite in just 6 months, does this mans talents know no beginning????? Rafa for the sack over the Italian closed season, their 3-1 drubbing by Lazio was laughable could have been 6-0.
YNWA
Well against West Ham we saw a team devoid of confidence, lacking in belief and hopelessly out of their depth. Fortunately it wasnt us for a change! West Ham decided to do what we did against Stoke and gave up before kick-off, if only more teams would adopt this attitude against us!
We played really well with a good tempo. Meireles looks far happier running the show in the middle of the pitch and was for me, man of the match. Although ESPN gave it to Johnson. We moved the ball around well contantly went forward probed and had loads of chances. Yes the Hammers were poor but you can only beat whats in front of you and we did that well.
Also something I have been moaning about for years, Stevie G is six one and we let take corners. Now I am sure that the stats bear this out but we cant score more than about 5 or 6 goals a season from corners. So that about 1 every ten or twelve games. So against West Ham, Meireles takes 3 corners and we score!! No Stevie G, no problem. Surely its better for Stevie to be in the box trying to score a goal???? Chelski let Drogba take corners for a while as well I dont like it.Your strong powerful headers should be in the box and your short arse dwarf midfielders should be taking the corners or stay back defending. Perhaps this is traditionalist but how often do you see a short man beat a tall man for a header. NEVER! Unless their names are Defoe or Cahill!
Torres looked a little better , but seems to have lost some pace and lacks that killer instinct but we cant really afford not to play him if he is fit. He can play like donkey but until we have another alternative what else can we do.
So more optimism after that result we were up to 9th again, our highest league position of the season. I have the 'priviledge' of working with several Spurs fans and they were quite confident about sweeping us aside in the run-up to our game last Sunday. I did concur, especially after their performace against Werder Bremen. I said we had to keep Bale and Lennon quiet to have a chance. How prophetic that comment turned out to be.
We began brightly but quickly faded as Spurs played really well in the first half. Bale wasnt causing us too many problems however the mis-match on the other side of the pitch was ringing alarm bells. Lennon has never been a consistant player and after his brilliant display against Bremen, one would have expected that he would have returned to type.Alas this was not the case. They were a constant threat down the left hand side.
So perhaps slighty against the run of play we took the lead Skrtel using the back of Ngog's head for a clever 1-2 before poking the ball home. Then something amazing happened we belived we could win and for the next 15 or 20 minutes we tore Spurs apart, Maxi and Torres both had gilt-edged opportunities to finish Spurs off, sadly they could not capitalise. What Maxi was doing for his chance god alone knows, he almost dislocated his knee the plonker!
When Nando burst through early in the 2nd half after Lucas' quick thinking through ball(i cant believe I just typed that!!!) surely he was going to leave Bassong for dead, burst the net kill off the game? Nope he completely bottled it! This man is still clearly not right. Torres of 18 months ago had an initial burst of acceleration that caused people to gasp in astonishment, gave central defenders nightmares and in general caused mayhem. That appears to have gone from his arsenal of weapons, so to has the confidence to shoot on sight. His touch also seem heavy. He has that downtrodden look on his face again which isnt good. I also notice he isnt making runs in the box anymore he is reacting rather than anticipating.
Anyway back to the Spurs game, we rode our luck and when Defoe missed the penalty, I thought that it was going to be our night. Lo and behold it was not to be, Soty got sucked into competing with Crouch for a header (probably just over-eagerness after coming on as a sub for Carra), Konchesky used his usual iability to read the game and waddled belatedly after the bullet-like Lennon and we lose it in injury time.
A harsh result, I thought our overall performance deserved a draw. Sure Spurs had more clear cut chances but the 20 minute spell we were dominant we could have scored 3 or 4. Unfortunately that is beginnig to sum up our season good but not good enough.
Top 7 is still on but top 4 is not going to happen. Unless Man City and Spurs completely implode and we go 20 games undefeated. I just cant see al three of those things coming to pass.
On a more positive note I am estatic to see our former leader making such a pigs ear of the Inter Milan job. He has taken a 5 or 6 years running Scuddetto winners and Champions of Europe and turned them into a pile of steaming shite in just 6 months, does this mans talents know no beginning????? Rafa for the sack over the Italian closed season, their 3-1 drubbing by Lazio was laughable could have been 6-0.
YNWA
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