After beating Spurs 3-2 I was as happy as another LFC fan.
Had we finally made progress. I thought for the first time in a very long time we had won a game after not necessarily playing very well and that is a quality that we have not had since we were in the top 4.
Rafa was a master at winning games 1-0 or going scrappy and defending deep at times. It was not always pretty but he got it done with diminishing resources through his reign.
I have never said he was a miracle man and he was after all the man who signed guys like Aquilani, Alberta Riera and Jan Kromkamp but he also signed legends such as Alonso, Mascerano, Lucas, Torres and good players such Kuyt, Sissoko and he was also the man who moved Carragher to centre back.
Anyway, coming back to the Tottenham game I thought we looked shaky at times but the way we contained Gareth bale and btw we were lucky that Lennon was not playing, as he creates a lot of space for Bale because it is another man who can beat players purely with pace, never mind switching inside/outside on a defender.
We scored 3 good goals and Downing did very well to pounce upon his opportunity.
Suarez also scored a brilliant goal and Enrique did incredibly well to hold defenders off and play him in.
Johnson was still guilty of poor defending on the one Tottenham goal but all in all he did not have a bad game. I keep coming back to rotating Glen Johnson in the right winger position that Downing occupies.
One would expect Sterling also would be keen to get a game again as he has not played for a long time now so we have options there but to be fair until the last game against Soton Downing has done alright as of late.
Carragher had yet another good performance and Agger is starting to play the way he did the first 20 games last season.
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So here come Soton and I am thinking, here is a good chance for us to kick on and make a dent but it is not going to be a tough game. A few friends and fellow football fans mentioned to me that they expected another Wigan or Swansea performance on the weekend and that the game vs Soton should be an easy win. My reply was I expect them to be scrapping but we should manage a narrow win if we perform to our ability.
To my surprise we came out very flat, noone was working hard, passes were going astray.
Sturridge and Allen were two of our worst players but I thought Johnson, Enrique and Suarez all had bad days in the office. Ferguson mentioned in an interview I saw recently that a good team can carry 3 players having a had day and not performing well. Yesterday we had about 6 players not particularly playing well, especially in the first half and I thought that is what it came down to.
When the effort is not there as well and we do not work hard to get away from pressure or open for teammates and you are up against a team that is fighting for their lives to avoid being dragged into the relegation dog fight we cannot expect to come out on top or to have a lackluster performance and to get something out of the game.
Second half I thought Rodgers made one correct substitution in getting allen off and putting lucas in the frame and it helped. Having said that I would have taken Sturridge out as well. He did not look on yesterday and just seemed to be a bit rusty after coming back off injury.
Allen seems more comfortable when he is given a bit of time and space on the ball and when he gets to sit a little further in front of Lucas. I thought the pace of our passing yesterday was poor as well and we lacked sharpness in a lot of our play.
As any hopeful fan I thought we maybe had turned a corner and that we had a chance to push on for 5th but the team lack character. I did not see a Gerrard who by the way had a good form yesterday have a go at Joe allen when the 3rd pass in a row went astray. I would have liked to see some aggression from the captain and have a go at a few of the players for not showing the will to win.
I also did not see Brendan Rodgers making a move half way the first half yesterday and I am pretty sure if we had a manager like Jose Morinho he would have cause we were a shambles.
Skertel is still out of form and the last 3-0 goal yesterday I think he could have avoided if he fought harder for it. Apart from that his performance was actually not that bad but he is not a leader of men and Agger needs to step up and take more responsibility if our defense is going to get better.
We can no longer depend on Carra and our only solution may be now to sign a leader at the back. Maybe Ashley williams is that man. I am still partial to Chris Samba. He has shown after he came into QPR that he has still got it. Mind you I have not seen the game Rangers played and lost 3-2 against villa yesterday.
I now believe we are not going to make it to 5th. I thought we were better than this and I am disapointed in Rodgers and our players.
I wonder if Rodgers is a winner!
Comments are welcome...
YNWA,
Stian
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