Long time since I have written a blog post now and a things are to blame:
- Having a daughter and spare time and sleep has been in short supply lately
- Lack of excitement about the team (which by the way is changing)
- Frustration with lack of results despite playing well
- Complacency
I intend to make up for it though with a longer post so brace yourself!
Game verdict today
We played well today but Fulham as a team was incredibly poor. It was the best game I have seen from Gerrard all season. Downing has been unreal last two games. Where did that come from??? The revival in performances from him and Enrique has been fantastic to see. Lucas is back which makes a huge difference. He was a rock in that defensive mid position today and more and more he is getting his game fitness and passing range back as well coming back from the long term injury. Enrique also had a decent game today and not having checked the line up before the game today was not sure if he was playing left wing or left back. I was still not sure when the game finished which means we played well in itself. Suso and Shelvey seemed to switch between who was in that left wing position but both has a tendency to pull inside and Enrique took full advantage of the space left and Reither (Fulham right back) being dragged inside utilizing the space down that left wing.
Gerrard and Lucas was spreading balls from deep positions throughout the game and managed to get it wide early to both (wingbacks) Johnson and Enrique on either wing which creates a lot of 2 on 1 situations when the wingers (downing or suso/shelvey) made runs inside or outside the fullback.
When controlling a lot of the possession Gerrard would also make runs from deep which along with Suarez movement confused Hangeland and Hughes regularly throughout the game. The two central defenders got dragged out of position time and time again, primarily Hangeland which struggles to deal with someone who has the quick turn of pace, mobility, turns, trickery and tempo of Suarez.
The first goal however came from a great corner from Downing I believe. Agger should get a lot of credit as he occupies two Fulham defenders winning the first header and then it subsequently dropped to Skertel who with an delicate first touch had time to settle the ball then smash in a rocket volley.
Gerrard's run for the second goal was reminiscent of the Stevie G of old and Downing's disguised pass and the weight on that pass was magical. I think it did Mr. Downing a world of good in terms of his confidence and it is about time but I am so glad for him that he is performing.
You can tell there is a bit of revenge in his whole attitude because he has taken a bit of stick and criticism and deservedly so. In the last two games he has been the man of the match and I think he deserves a lot of credit. Many would have given up on him and I was close to it myself and I thought he was out the door. We will see if he still will be going now but if plays a few more good games before the end of the Jan I believe he will be staying. We will see I guess. He is just starting to show what type of player he can be. Too late in my book but good that he finally is performing. Our 3rd goal and his first PL goal for us (amazing when you think about his record and pedigree) was fantastic. Nice cut inside a slow Riise and a hard low shot that we hope to be seeing more in the coming weeks. Rodgers said in his post match press conference today that he thought the talk he had with him 6-7 weeks ago made a difference but I do not know if he is trying to take credit. I think downing should have a lot of credit for keeping at it and playing himself back into form. There is no way he loses his spot in the starting 11 after the last two performances.
Should we get our money back for him though in January I would take it because I think there are younger players that can be signed for that kind of money.... Hard decision to make but for me he still havent shown enough and we have tendency to live in the moment as fans. Considering he is 28 I would take 18-20M for him but anything below that we should not accept.
Suso had a decent game today but I still think he lacks a bit from being a world beater at PL level. He said he is working on his upper body strength in an online clip I came across and I think needs to practice his shots to add more of a goal threat to his game. Saying that he is young and will only get better and when he has been given the chance he has performed incredibly well. He keeps the ball well, can dribble a man and sneak past a player or two and is more than decent to be rotated in the squad but we will see what happens going forward.
The whole team played very well until we went up 3-0 when understandably our performance drops off a bit. I believe our possession stats would have suffered after that great Downing goal went it at around 50 mins and we let Fulham play a bit. If Fulham were up to their normal standard and played a bit better we easily could have conceded one goal there and then it becomes interesting. Luckily we defended ok despite giving them a bit of hope in terms of getting back in the game. All in all I can not fault the performance today. Great win, great clean sheet and a nice revenge after our poor performance against Villa.
Reina is starting to look better again after a dip in form last season. Johnson continued his good form after a decent run of games. Shelvey was decent but I still think he can get rid of the ball quicker if we want to keep the tempo in our passing. Sometimes he is one of the guys that takes one too many touches.
Joe Allen and Sterling both looked fresh when they came on towards the end. Great to see them get a rest and that we still got 4 goals and played well.
I got to thinking today.... What has happened to Andre Wisdom and Nuri Sahin. I was surprised neither of them has got any games in the last 3 weeks or so. I wonder if they are carrying an injury. Both are players that have done well when they came in but has seen less and less game time lately. I think they could have done well last week. I think through the Christmas period here we may see some squad rotation as well. Hopefully those two can get a game and I would like to see Agger get a games rest as well for Coates.
Gerrard could use a rest as he has played a lot but it is good that we have options now that does not weaken the team significantly.
Anyway, this section was supposed to be about this game and this win was great but if we do not go on and get 6 pts from Stoke and QPR or at the very least 4pts we will be very disappointed.
If we want to get to 4th games against these type of teams will need to be won. We need to go on a run like what Norwich did recently.
This season
A few times this year I feel as though results have gone against us and that we have been unlucky but that argument only goes so far when it happens again and again. Considering how many times we used the luck and referee reasons last year for being unable to win especially at home you have to start showing statistical evidence. Kenny blaming luck and us playing well when we weren't, started wearing on me last year and in the end I grew annoyed with his post match press conferences. I could agree with some referee decisions more often than not but even with those I thought he was going overboard. Credit to him for taking on a difficult job and getting us playing again when we needed it. The one impression I am left with after his reign though is a lot of promise the first 6 months only for it to fizzzle out .... I remember when we were flying, maxi was scoring goals right, left and centre and us always arriving in the box with 4 guys. That did not happen in the last 3 months of his reign. All in all we should thank Kenny for doing a job.
Rodgers I can kind of agree with occasionally when it comes to ref decisions, mainly because we have not had a penalty this year and there have been plenty of claims. It also should be pointed out that he is more honest in his assessments of the team and players (comments of Aston Villa and Arsenal games proves that).
There are also mitigating circumstances though and to be fair considering Suarez has only himself to blame for not getting more decisions. Now before criticizing him I should mention that he has been by far our best player this year and there will be an assessment on all players further below where he gets massive of praise for all the things he does well. Suarez can only for example could stop his nagging on referee and waving of his arms at everything he disagrees with. That Rodgers has not had a chat with him about that continues to surprise me, and the waving of the arms is unfortunately something Gerrard and Shelvey has picked up on as well. The 6 yellow cards that Suarez have gotten deservedly this season have largely been down to arguing with the referee and dissent.
Luckily the tendency to fall over too easily (or diving) that Suarez also has got I believe Rodgers may have talked to him about (judged solely on today's performance). I suspect he may return to old habits due to his heritage, personality but one can always hope.
A team that is successful is exactly that for a reason; they put put games out of site more often than not. Whether it is ruthless finishing, calmness and quality in the final 20 minutes of games, defensive solidity, belief you can always win and/or pure quality and number of chances created it is a combination of those factors that makes success possible. Blaming luck only goes so far, and it is funny how momentum and a bit of luck follows when you have that ruthless quality in you.
Man United has shown this for years and years and again this year when they look down and out, time and time again they have come back in games that they should have struggled to get points from or come back in at all. That is truly an amazing quality and you have to give credit to Mr. Ferguson. Squad strength continues to be part of the reason for that but he has not had the best squad this season and look at where he keeps that team and how he keeps them winning.
I still think they can be beat and so can Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. There are no teams that we (LFC) on our day should not be able to compete with. We showed in our performances against City and United this season that we can play with the best.
So where do we stand after today's win against Fulham, with 18 games played in PL, 6(8) in Europa league and a few league cup games (by the way I refuse to call it by whatever the name the advertisers wants it called his year).
- 8th in PL 10 pts from relegation spots and 17 off the top
- 5 pts of top 4 spot (with chelsea and united with games in hand and )
- Out of the league cup after two games
- Progressed to knock out phase in EL
It does not sound too impressive but our season is so much more than that. We have got to remember we are a team in transition. Rodgers philosophy is still taking hold and we are variable in our performances. Losses vs. West Brom, Villa last week, vs. West ham the week before, losses in Europa league have been among the disappointing moments (It was our play and not result in the West Ham game was cause I think we were lucky to win and lucky that Diame went off injured and that was the only reason we were able to get back in that game).
Game vs. City (2-2), United (loss 2-1), Tottenham (loss 2-1), Norwich,(win 5-2) Fulham (win 4-0), has been games I have enjoyed watching. Wigan and Anzhi (1-0), Udinese (1-0 win) and Stoke (0-0) have also been positives and games we need to start producing if we are to become a successful team. Notice we have not won all of them but our play have at times been outstanding in part of all these games. The quick passing game and possession game that Rodgers wants us to play is there for everyone to see and when we do it correctly, there is tempo in our play and when we also defend and press and win the ball back we have a chance to beat everyone.
I have to commend Rodgers with creating a competitive line up with youngsters that are there to prove themselves. He has also created an atmosphere which breeds competition and leaves those that do not fight for their place behind. He has now got Joe Cole, Stewart downing and Jose Enrique working the socks off to get in the starting line up and they know they have to perform to stay in the team. How did he do it? He identified the youngsters in the squad that was good enough to play first team football and continued to give them chances when they performed.
Injuries to Martin Kelly, Lucas and Fabio Borini have hurt the team in a big way. Lucas and Borini most because the lack of replacements in their positions. In my book that is three first team starters. That has made it difficult for Rodgers.
Considering that Rodgers has been fortunate that Sterling, Suso, Shelvey, Wisdom and Coates performed really well for him.
A weaker manager would have been tempted to put Enrique in for Wisdom, Downing in for Borini and Cole in for Sterling... much sooner than Rodgers did.
Playing Sterling and Wisdom every game was not an easy decision. A weaker manager would also have faltered in his belief in the style of football that at times lacked penetration and directness that we have seen in Everton and Swansea's football this year.
I find it interesting that players like Jon Flanagan, Jack Robinson, Adam Morgan and Danny Wilson have not been given as much of a chance as some of these others youngsters. From what I have seen I honestly do not think the three local lads have as much talent as the ones that have played. They have the attitude and endeavor but perhaps not the quality and talent just yet to be starting premier league/Europa league players. Danny Wilson always seemed a big talent in my book when I saw him play but maybe he does not have the work ethic and has put in the effort required to be given a chance with Rodgers. It is hard to say without being on the inside but these are my impressions after seeing Being Liverpool and watching many of them in pre season games and training.
I still think strikers and natural finishers are lacking in the team. Now it looks like that is being dealt with in this window already. Daniel Andre Sturridge has passed his medical to sign with us according to Liverpool echo at Melwood tomorrow which is encouraging. The man is a natural finisher and a goal scorer. He is quick, technical, a decent dribler, finishes with both feet and is a little bit selfish which is not all bad when you want a goal scorer. It has been reported by many media including Echo, Guardian and others that a fee of £12M has been agreed and I think it is reasonable.
I wonder how he is going to fit into the system. It is hard to see Suarez being displaced from the top of the 4231 formation however I think that is where Sturridge wants to play. I know he can do well in a right winger position as well but he was not happy playing there at Chelsea.
I think he is good enough to start considering the squad we have today so it begs the question who's position would he take. Maybe play Sturridge up top and with suarez right behind. I think that would work great considering Suarez loves to come deep with regularity anyway.
At the same time if Daniel is promised a starting spot with regularity, gets given more freedom as a right winger to come in and support Suarez, plays the top striking role when Suarez is missing through suspension or injury or just being rested, then that may keep him happy as he would play quite a bit more than he does at Chelski.
Until the signing is confirmed there is no point in speculating too much, but the deal is almost done it looks like and potential is always fun to consider.
Another player who looks to be on his way in is Tom Ince. If that happens I believe Joe Cole is gone from the team and considered redundant. For £4M Tom Ince is a steal with 13 goals and 8 assists (I believe I read today) from Blackpool in the Championship this season that is not a bad deal. He needed game time and went for 250K after being offered numerous deals to stay at LFC. He made the right decisions, became a regular and developed and in the end I am ok with paying a few mill to get him back. From what I have seen he is an exciting prospect that is coming along and still has some development to do. PL quite a step up from the Championship. Adel Taraabt has shown that. Hopefully Ince can keep developing but some of the older guard will have to go for him to get playing time more competition for places now one could argue (current wingers should he and sturridge come in - sterling, suso, shelvey, enrique, borini, cole, downing, johnson ).
Now I realize that many of these guys can play more than one position downing (left back plus both wings), enrique (left back plus left wing), Johnson (left and right back and right wing), sterling (both wings and striker) and Shelvey (anywhere across the midfield or wings and even emergency striker) but the wings can get a bit crowded eventually. So far I do not think it is too bad considering the competition for places and the number of competitions we would like to take part in.
If we now can put together a run starting with beating Stoke (which btw is not an easy team to break down)on boxing day, we can have a go at moving up the table. We need to start putting a string of wins (not unbeaten games) together to make that jump up the table because even though we are 5 points off 4th place there is many teams on that 30 number that we should be ahead off at the moment.
Stoke just held Tottemham and Everton to draws but if we can play the way we did against them and maybe create a few more chances we have every chance to go on a run. Next game after that is vs. QPR who will also be fighting for their lives but if we continue in the vein we have this season against the weaker teams (Wigan, Norwich, Southampton) then we should be able to beat them.
That is one thing that seems to have come out of this new style. We seem to find it more straight forward to beat the lower down teams. I hope that continues. I do not count West brom in that category because of how much better they have become under Hodgson and now Steve clark and they are a prime example of signing good strikers that have got them more points than maybe their play at times have deserved. Odemwinge, Long, Lakaku can all be expected to get you over 10 PL goals a season and we do not have 3 guys up front that can do that.
With Sturridge and Suarez hopefully we have two that can score 15 which is progress. Borini and Gerrard plus one or two others needs to start contributing. Hopefully we can see that happening.
Transfer saga has came back to haunt us and could have cost Rodgers his job
We have paid for not keeping signing a striker or goal scoring midfielder. Dempsey was available for 6M but we refused to pay up (was revealed through a few reliable news sources in conjunction with some comments made by Ian Ayre on Being Liverpool that confirmed it).
Imagine if Suarez had not had the season he has had. I think that would have cost Brendan Rodgers his job. We would not have many points at all this season if it was not for that man. For example against Newcastle he saved us a point with his goal of the season contender. I think that is just fantastic control, vision, speed and strength to pull that goal off. The chest down was fantastic, his shimmy and his way of getting in and around Collecini.
But throughout the season so far he comes up with goals. He has become more clinical than last year and has added a few nice freekick goals to his game as well. I still think if he concentrated he could score on more of his easy chances but he continues to impress with the amount of shots on goal he gets off (most in the PL I heard today with one in every 20mins played), his movement, his touch when he cushions the ball off to team members, his strength in his hold up play and his energy.
Anyway it looks like we are addressing this now in January so I am hoping for Strurridge and Ince but crucially also Walcott as well would be brilliant just because of his extreme pace and I think Rodgers (the teacher) could make him even better than Wenger did for a number of reasons.
If we get all three I think we have a chance at 4th place.
Being Liverpool
For those that have not seen it "Being Liverpool" is well worth a watch. It is a documentary on LFC for the first 5 games of the season and part of the preseason and you get to see much more than you typically would. Fox produced and it was shown on Sportsnet in Canada, and it can be downloaded if you look around online (torrents for example). It was a bit tabloid but a first of its kind and resemble documentaries done by HBO on some hockey teams if anyone has caught that. Yet this series was much more comprehensive and went into all aspects of how Rodgers communicates to fans, his team, his coaching, his life at Anfield, the signing of players, the man behind the football and all in it all it was just a great watch even if you are not a fan of LFC specifilally. It was also given a glowing reference from my NFL loving american buddy Jon who watches soccer occasionally but is really more of an American sports (NFL, basketball and Baseball) fan all around.
Player assessments this season
Brad Jones - really stepped up when Reina was out and played well when called upon. He was rewarded with a new contract when he cemented his position as second goal keeper.
Pepe Reina as mentoined above is coming along nicely after a dip in form last seaosn.
Martin Kelly - shame he got injured because I think he is our best all round right back. He is good both offensively and defensively but has a poor injury record. The one he got where he twisted his knee was a real shame and detriment to our season.
Glen Johnson - one of our best players this year. Has played well both on right and left back when needed. I still think he would be very useful on the right wing but he has had a great season.
Andrew Wisdom - Amazing whenever he has played. Has impressed and has become a first team regular and more than good enough to play in PL at 19. Impressive.
Jamie Carragher - Has rebounded nicely and is important in the dressing room although he does not start regularly anymore. I still think we should play Coates more often but he should remain part of the coaching setup. Has a lot ot teach the up and coming players.
Martin Skertel - Top notch defender, great again this season and one of most important stalemates. Our central defence is growing stronger and stronger the more games they get.
Daniel Agger - has finally got rid of his injury woes this year and with a new training program and
Jose Enrique - after a poor start he has come on great and proved himself.
Joe Cole - been hampered by inuries etc but cant see him staying too much longer. Too many young talents performing and getting better. Does not have any extreme qualities.
Steve Gerrard - poor season until recently. Has finally starting to up his game of late and lets hope that continues. I still see the future for him is in defensive mid as his pace has gone a bit.
Lucas Leiva - star who has lost a good portion of the season to injury. We willl see if he can stay fit second half of the season
Stewart Downing - been poor yet again before his last 4 games. Lets hope his good form continues and he just needed time to adapt and get motivated.
Suso - after a great start to the season he has gotten some rest and I think it is the right thing to do as shelvey, downing, henderson and enrique offers more of a goal threat. He will contnue developing though and perfect at keeping the ball and slipping through passes through to runners from midfield or strikers.
Jonjo Shelvey - the new Gerrard. Enough said!
Fabio Borini - ok start but never got flying. Got injured (long term) just when he was about to kick on.
Luis Suarez - best player by far this year despite his faults mentioned above. Is a unique talent and I just hope we get better as a team and develop. If not he may look for CL football going forward.
More to come going forward.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment.
YNWA,
Stian
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