http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/10516624/Liverpool-midfielder-Joe-Allen-ready-to-step-into-void-left-by-Steven-Gerrard-against-Tottenham-Hotspur.html
Good article on Joe Allen who really stepped up against Tottenhm on the weekend The team as a whole played well and I was very impressed with pretty much the whole team on Sunday.
Flanagan who I have said we should get rid of a few times both on my blog and on my twitter, proved me wrong. I would argue he had his best game ever in a Liverpool shirt. Maybe he was worth a chance after all.
His pace has been used expertly the last few games and he performed not only in the derby but was amongst our best players on Sunday against Spurs. I thought it also was Sterling was terrific and the truth is we need more of these in the coming games.
We should be more than strong enough to be Cardiff although it cant be taken for granted and the hard work will have to be put in. I see this as a chance to give players like Moses, Apas a run out in a busy December and maybe give Henderson and Coutinho (after we lead at half) a breather .
Wonder if Rodgers will do that or if he will continue with the team that performed amazing at the weekend.
Suarez was yet again the best player and he is getting deserved praise in the media. 17 goals in 11 games is unheard of in England. The only thing that compares that I can recall in the modern era is Ronaldo and Messi in Spain. I cannot see why Suarez would want to ruin a good thing right now if we keep this up.
I will reiterate though that I think the best way to keep him is to strengthen the squad in January. He wants CL football and we just handily beat a CL spot contender on Saturday. If we can put in performances like that against City and Chelsea coming up when we are without Gerrard and Sturridge chances are we can just convince him that he may want to stay with LFC for another couple of seasons. Further down I will comment on signings.
I am encouraged about our form, us remaining in the top 4 and that we are finally showing our best football and getting the results in the big games. I really hope it continues. We will need our youngsters to continue to step up including Allen, Sterling, Flanagan and our more regular first team players.
Right now it is hard to argue that Flanagan should be taken out of the team but we all recall the game Cissoko set up suarez for his hat rick (think it was Norwich) with the bullet header from outside the box to start. Amazing.
I thought we were going to miss Sturridge and Gerrard in the next few weeks but the team really stepped up and surprised me on Sunday against Tottenham and I hope it continues.
The pressure from the front was terrific and I think giving Suarez the captaincy was a smart decision. It will encourage him to lead from the front and do his best to keep us winning.
Not sure if Agger is injured at the moment but we are not missing him. This is the difference from previous years we actually have 4 centre backs that can perform at the highest level. The competition has improved everyone's level and it is great to see.
I wonder if he will give Skertel a rest on the weekend against Cardiff as well and puts Agger or Toure in there. Sakho was great but so was Skertel on the weekend. The thing is there is not European games or league cup games to contend with so they are still getting their rest in between games and that is probably a major factor in the team being able to bounce back when we have had a poor result in the league the previous week.
We have the cover in central defence with 4 top players but the same can maybe not be said for the other areas of the team. We have 3 solid central midfielder in Lucas, Gerrard and Allen and Henderson can get in there as well although he has been used at right wing a lot this year.
There is no clear first choice for that position and I think it has been well documented by different pundits that Henderson is best when he gets to play through the middle like against Tottenham and make those darting runs in beyond Suarez or the 3 right behind him (Coutinho, Allen and Sterling on Saturday) against Tottemham. Henderson was terrific, worked his socks off, exploited Tottenham's high line and ran beyond it, got a goal and an assist to show for it and played perhaps his best game of the season as well.
This is of course assuming you agree that we played a 4231 formation on Saturday (some call it a 433 and others yet call it a modified 451 or 4411. In any event players move around a lot and as a result they can look like either of these at any moment of the game.
If Sterling keeps up the performance he had on the weekend and can maintain the level of performance over the next 3 games he can make that right wing position his own. I think he needed playing time to get into form and now that he has gotten it all we can say is he has taken his chance and gotten better for every game. Glad to see him get a goal and that will increase his confidence. This weekend he started showing the sign of being the player he was when he burst on to the scene against Man City last season and made Kolo Toure look like a fool. He did the same to Kyle Naughton on Saturday and they key now is replicating those performances when he comes up against better wing backs and opposition. Against City assuming he plays on the wide right will see him facing Clichy or Kolarov and against Chelsea right now he will be up against Azpilaqueta which are all better than Kyle Naughton, however still very beatable. The Cardiff left back I cant remember of the top right now... but presume he will start again on Saturday early morning. 5.45am start here in Canada. 12.45 in the UK.
As a conclusion I think we should not forget the significance of the Tottenham win. Not only was it away but it was against one of our main rivals for the top 4 spot and done in such an emphatic fashion that it is bound to give the players confidence that they can go and perform against City and Chelsea. Both teams are in good form lately and they are not going to be easy to beat. They are also away games and I heard a stat this week that City playing at home this season has scored more goals than any other club if I am not mistaken.
Having said that it is easy to buy into the hype. Tottenham were maybe not at their best and Andre Villas Boas had to pay with his job despite decent results in Europe and the league cup and not a terrible run in the league.
Signings
I think we could do with a goal scorer or two if we want to ensure Suarez stays. The following 3 are all in that category but doubt any may be available in January. To me they are the type of players that we need to get even better.
Scott Sinclair - On loan to the end of the season at WBA who coincidently sacked Steve Clark this week (doubt this was a smart move unless Roberto Dimatteo wants back there or they have a gem up their sleve)
Yohan Cabaye - going to be expensive and may struggle to get a spot in the team but Gerrard is getting older and here is a leader we do with who could take over set piece responsibility, covers a lot of ground and would strengthen our squad.
Edin Dzeko - Top player close to world class. Could convince Suarez we are going places and would enable us to keep pushing for more than top 4 spot maybe. He may also not be that happy with playing time lately considering the Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo partnership. I thinkt that may change however as Aguero is out for about 8 weeks I read today... Also doubt city will let one of their top strikers go to a rival club.
We may in other words have to go look for hidden gems (Coutinho) and perhaps Rodgers do not have that much money to spend. Suggestions from readers are welcome.
I still think Moses and Apas can come good if given a bit of playing time but perhaps January with easier fixtures is the same.
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Encouraging that we are trying to get Suarez to get sign a new contract as well. By far the best player this year and deserved the award for Supporters Premier league player of the year despite suspensions stupidity at times. Everyone can change although I suspect he may do something stupid at some point again.
Thoughts and comments on my blog post are always welcome. Always enjoy the discussion and banter.
YNWA,
Stian
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