Yes Anders, I am going to try to find something positive with this game as well despite being frustrated out of my mind.
The story repeats itself and this is why we should have put Benitez back in charge. I am loosing more and more faith in Kenny.
This is despite a game against City that was great in the first half but we are close to giving it away in the second when we should have kept the initiative. Many players had great games but in a difficult game that we played much better in the first half and were the dominating team we ended up coming up with the 1-0 win in the first leg.
I thought it was a little bit lucky that Agger got the penalty but and that we dropped way to deep in the first half. Spearing shows in that game why we need a world class midfielder in that defensive mid position and I think we could potentially go for someone of real quality like Lassana Diarra, De Rossi or perhaps Tiote? All would be an improvement on the current defensive midfielders. Having said that with the local content rules we need to keep some scouse blood in there and Spearing could potentially come back and impress me. Back to the City game... happy we won but thought we could have gone for a second goal in the second half. When neither Silva nor Toure is availble in midfield they are not the same team. At least not when Barry has not played attacking midfielder for a while, james milner will not be used through the middle (as a creative spark or someone driving into the box) much like he did at Villa, or when Ballotelli is having a poor day. Nasri, who has the potential to play the Silva role quite well was also disapointing, and seems to be out of form. Maybe because he is not a regular in the side.
Anyway, glad we won but thought we could have pushed for a goal in second half and may have come out 3-0 winners in the game at Etihad had we dared to attack more.
I think with Shelvey, bellamy, johnson, downing and gerrard we have players that should allow us to push them back.
STOKE GAME
In the end it was a disappointing result because we had all the play, but risked little to nothing to get the goal we so much deserved based on our possession and dominance and time spent in the stoke half.
Not enough men in the box.
My first point would be we did not push enough men into the box. We got so many crosses into the right areas but we had no men attacking it in the box. This is something that we did so well when Kenny took over in January 2011 and started putting wins together with a mediocre team. It was because everyone worked hard, fought defensively but when we attacked we had 4-7 guys in the box most attacks.
That simply was not happening against Stoke, and I think it was partly because they were told to be cautious. I think we need to take a bit more risk there. I know the stoke team is great on the counter attack but they really only have jon walters and mattew etherington to run at us in that game. Peter crouch, palacios, glen whealan (dean whitehead came on) and rory delap are not quick enough to beat us on the counter so the risk in my opinion is not that large.
What could we have changed to win this game
Well as I said above I think getting more men into the box would have helped.
Wingers that can beat people is another issue that is crucial in games like this. Downing had a double team on him (at least two men every time to beat). That means he needs to have the confidence and self belief to beat not only one man but two men which he currently does not have (Adam Johnson has just FYI... ). Alternatively, he needs to get more support from Glen Johnson. He did come and overlap from time to time but it was clear that he had been told to not go too far and expose himself for counter attacks as he is one of the few that could deal with the pace of Matthew Etherington.
Glen attacked and got a few crosses into the box but was not allowed to go all the way to the by line which just happens to be when I think he can be most effective.
It invited more players to move into the area and it makes the stoke defence panic and perhaps be more liable to concede a penalty cause Glen Johnson is good with the ball at his feet and can dribble.
This leads me on to my next point (one that I keep mentioning in this blog), namely that we need to wingers that can take guys on. Stewart downing used to be that player but needs a few more goals and good games to gain confidence. We need someone on the other side as well. Enrique did and does frequently take people on and get crosses into the box and had probably one of the better games on Saturday. Again he suffered from not enough support by way of populating the box.
Not having enough men in the box is caused partly by will to get in there but also by managers instructions of cautiousness and the formation 5-1-3-1 or 5-4-1 which ever way you chose to look at it.
When you put an extra guy at defense you lose a striker, or a man in midfield (depending on positions currently held on the field).
Gerrard was supposed to get up and support Kuyt and I thought he did not do that at all against stoke. He was for the most part stuck well outside the perimeter of the 16 yrd box trying to hit through balls.
Kuyt is not the right guy to have up there alone either. He is not physical and he is not pacy so how are you going to do much without much support from your team mates.
To return to my point and headline, we need more people in the box to score goals against a park-the-bus team. When they are physical, good in the air and good on the counter attack we need a creative players that can get through in small areas (Spanish/south American type players typically) or we need accurate shots from distance and quick strikers (javier hernandes) to attack the rebounds. We have 1 quick striker available right now (bellamy) and a few that can shoot from distance. Suarez is a bit of both but as we all know unavailable in this game.
Maxi is a more technical player than Henderson and is great at making quick little triangle one twos in tight areas, and appearing in the box and getting into scoring positions, more so than Henderson. In a game like this I think he would have been more effective.
He is not a winger I normally like but he at least gets into the box very often trying to score/get goals.
I think it is a shame Kelly does not get more playing time when we could have used Johnson at right wing and Bellamy and Carroll up front. (they worked great in the Newcastle game and Carroll never got enough credit for creating the one goal in that game [freekick]).
One reason why Bellamy and Carroll didn't start could be in what Kenny said after in his post match interview. "Injuries dictated the team this game". Agger was out which he said straight out but it may have something to do with the restricted playing time Andy Carroll is getting that he is not fully fit and is struggling with a reoccurring injury.
I was told today by someone close to Liverpool that Bellamy has continued problems with his knees and that is why he cannot start every game for LFC. I think his performances has warranted it.
Agger is a big miss and I hope he returns swiftly. If not I hope we go back to a 4-4-2 where Coates who had a decent game and has bags of potential should play alongside Skertel. .
Kelly got a bit of a game midweek and I was happy to see that. We shouldn't forget that the team was very successful when Glen Johnson played left back and guys like Kelly and Flanagan deputized on right back very well last season due to injuries etc.
What would impress me is if against Bolton we came out with this team...
Reina,
Kelly, Skertel, Coates (or Agger if fit) Enrique
Johnson, Adam, Gerrard, Downing
Bellamy, Carroll
maxi to come on. (for downing)
henderson to come on. (for Adam if leading)
Kuyt to come on for Bellamy to save his knees.
Positives
Defensive structure without Agger and Skertel together in central defence. How long is Agger out for by the way? anyone have a clue?
http://forums.liverpoolfc.tv/showthread.php?p=6201846 - This was a post on Coates. This is great description of the type of player he is. I think he can become more like Samba but he needs to become more physical and commanding.
Interestingly, he has got some of the characteristics like Agger in that he is good on the ball, can spot a pass and can dribble. Maybe he can be a new star in the making.
A point isn't terrible against stoke, but it the points lost earlier in the season that means we now are in a position were we have to risk a few things to get into that much coveted CL spot. Whether we are 3 or 6 points adrift doesn't matter. I think if we went for more wins against supposed weaker teams we would win more games and lose the odd one... but it will accumulate more points in the end.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/21/darren-bent-edin-dzeko-scout-report
brilliant piece from a top class scount. Clearly knows his stuff.
Also why I think we should not buy Darren Bent.
Bold prediction for the Bolton game. (David Ngog scores another goal). He is starting to look good despite not getting much to work with against United on the weekend.
YNWA,
Stian
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