Archive | June, 2013

Liverpool’s 5 Best Games 2012-13

24 Jun

Liverpool’s 5 Best Games 2012-13

 

Last season was Brendan Rodgers first season in charge of Liverpool and after a difficult start with some tough fixtures to start the campaign off with.  Liverpool’s results steadily improved as the season progressed. The second half of the season saw a vast improvement in both performances and results as the players got more accustomed to Brendan Rodgers’ philosophy.

 

Liverpool produced some really good performances during the season and I’ve tried to pick out five that I thought were the best, starting with Liverpool’s and Brendan Rodgers’ first league win of the season.

 

Norwich City 2-5 Liverpool

 

Liverpool started the match on the offensive and took the lead through Suarez after he collected a poor clearance from the Norwich defence before drilling home. Liverpool dominated the match and Suarez in particular impressed the most with a brilliant hat-trick.

 

On loan Sahin also netted for Liverpool along with the unfortunate Barnett scoring in his own net to complete the scoring in an emphatic display from Liverpool. The performance and result was very important for Liverpool after a difficult start to the campaign but unfortunately the results continued to be poor after this excellent away win.

 

Liverpool 5-0 Swansea City

 

Liverpool ended a five-match winless run in style with a dominant display over a weakened Swansea side who had one eye on the following week’s Capital One Cup Final. But Liverpool showed great appetite in seeking a much needed win as Gerrard scored from the spot to send Liverpool on their way, although it was only 1-0 at the half.

 

New signing Coutinho making his first start for Liverpool also scored his first Liverpool goal right at the start of the second half after being released by Suarez. Enrique made it 3-0 after a fine move before Suarez got in on the act with a fine finish. Sturridge converted another penalty for Liverpool after Wayne Routledge handled in the area. The win was just what Liverpool needed after a tough few weeks.

 

Liverpool 3-1 Zenit St Petersburg

 

A few days after beating Swansea 5-0 Liverpool had to overturn a 2-0 deficit to progress to the last 16 of the Europa League, but they just came up short after a spirited fight back shown by Liverpool, even after the early setback of losing an away goal after Hulk latched onto Carragher’s short backpass to give the visitors an important away goal.

 

But the famous Anfield crowd roared their heroes back into the match with goals from Suarez and Allen and Suarez produced a stunning finish from another free-kick but Liverpool couldn’t find that elusive fourth goal as the visitors held out. It was a tremendous performance from Liverpool against all the odds and after losing an early goal too.

 

Liverpool 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur

 

Liverpool’s win against Spurs was massive as they finally beat one of the top 5 teams in a thrilling match at Anfield. Suarez stabbed the Reds ahead after slick move, but a Vertonghen double fired the visitors in front. But with Spurs on the ascendency, Liverpool scored an equaliser after a poor backpass by Walker allowed Downing the opportunity which he didn’t miss.

 

Liverpool capped a fine comeback when Gerrard converted a penalty with 8 minutes remaining to give Liverpool a confidence boosting win.

 

Newcastle United 0-6 Liverpool

 

Liverpool produced their biggest win of the season away to Newcastle with a stunning performance as the home side found themselves totally outplayed. Agger opened the scoring in the 3rd minute before a Henderson and Sturridge double put Liverpool on easy street. The fine display was capped by the fit again substitute Borini coming on and scoring his first league goal for Liverpool.

 

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A Selling Club

22 Jun

You can buy my first e-book on Amazon in kindle format, it is called The Kopite View Season 2012-13, here is the link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kopite-View-Season-2012-13-ebook/dp/B00BMW7JTA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1362780961&sr=1-1

The book consists of my match reports and articles from earlier in the season. If you like my blog, you will like my book. All the money is going to help Hillsborough Families.

A Selling Club

 

Liverpool are now finding themselves struggling to attract top players in the game but also struggling to hang onto their best players too. The latest transfer rumours regarding Suarez who is arguably Liverpool’s best player, is a major problem for the club, as his goals last season proved crucial in a mediocre mid-table League position finish for Liverpool.

 

Strikers like Suarez are irreplaceable and I fear Liverpool are resigned to the fact of losing him, but understandably they will want as much cash as possible for their star player. Big money for a player like Suarez can help Brendan Rodgers bring his own players in to shape Liverpool into the team that he wants, but he will have to find promising youngsters with outstanding potential, or players like Daniel Sturridge that want the chance to show prove themselves.

 

Many supporters and affiliates of Liverpool feel that Suarez should show loyalty to a club that has stood by him during some tough and controversial times at Liverpool. But loyalty is a word that is not regularly associated with the footballing vocabulary and Liverpool would be naïve to expect loyalty from a player who is from the other end of the world, and who has showed ambition throughout his career, and now Suarez looks to take another positive step in his career as he looks to display his talents at the highest level in the Champions League at a club that can provide that. Unfortunately for Liverpool, they can’t provide that next season and possibly not for the foreseeable future.

 

Not qualifying for the Champions League is a major problem for Liverpool and in recent years qualification for this elite competition has got tougher with the improving Tottenham Hotspur and the bankrolled Manchester City along with the usual suspects of Chelsea, Arsenal and current League Champions Manchester United. With only the top four earning entry into the Champions League Liverpool find themselves adrift of the teams mentioned.

 

It seems an awful long time ago since Liverpool were regular entrants into the Champions League, managing to win it in 2005 followed by another final 2 year later. Liverpool’s previous owners have not helped in Liverpool’s decline and the new owners have tried to steady the ship. But the loss of Rafa Benitez and the managerial revolving door in recent years has not helped along with the loss of world class players.

 

Liverpool lost players of world class calibre like Xabi Alonso, Mascherano and Fernando Torres which was always going to be detrimental to Liverpool’s team. Those players left because Liverpool couldn’t pay them the big money, but more importantly because Liverpool couldn’t offer them Champions League football as they found themselves in a team in decline. World class players are difficult to replace and Liverpool have struggled with inferior talent. Liverpool’s current owners FSG backed former manager Kenny Dalglish with money to build a team to challenge in the league, although most of the money was from the sale of Torres to Chelsea. But after allowing Dalglish to bring in many new players they impatiently sacked him after one full season after a disappointingly low position in the League, although he won the Carling Cup and lost in the FA Cup Final to Chelsea.

 

With trigger happy tactics the American owners were not going to give Dalglish time for his new signings to blossom under a second full season in charge. I still think it was a big mistake, but they have changed their attitude by employing the relatively inexperienced and young Brendan Rodgers to rebuild this massive club back to former glory. By cutting the wage bill, and not allowing for more money to be wasted like the Andy Carroll investment. FSG don’t seem to be giving Brendan Rodgers much money to spend unless he sells first to bring his own type of players to the club.

 

The sale of Torres to a rival club like Chelsea was a sore one to take for Liverpool as they have become a selling club in recent years with their top players being plucked from Liverpool’s grasp by the vultures of European football’s elite clubs. Now young players from the Rafa era like Lucas and Agger have matured into top players and this summer is a summer of worry for Brendan Rodgers as he tries to hang onto the nucleus of his team as the vultures circle once again.

 

Liverpool have shown vast signs of improvement after a difficult start to the season and Brendan Rodgers would look to hold onto his players as well as add to his squad which is very young and lacks experience.

 

The latest talk of star striker Luis Suarez wanting to leave Liverpool is another example of Liverpool as a selling club as the lure of Champions League football looks to be all too much for the Uruguayan, and if his departure materialises then that would result in another world class player exiting the Shankly Gates. Liverpool will no doubt look to get financially rewarded if he goes, but Liverpool will be unable to attract an equal as a replacement which will once again be detrimental to the team.

 

FSG have set their transfer sights on young promising talent who have a long shelf life and can be re-sold later on, but every team needs a mix of youth and experience to be a top side, alongside world class talent and Liverpool will continue to be a selling club until they bridge that gap to finish in the top four and the longer they are out of that elite group the more difficult it will become as players won’t come to Anfield just because they have a great history, it is the present that counts to these top players and they want to challenge for honours.

 

This summer is very important for Liverpool Football Club and the transfer activity that occurs will shape the new season for the Anfield club as they desperately try to break into the top four again.

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Carroll Never Got A Chance

21 Jun

You can buy my first e-book on Amazon in kindle format, it is called The Kopite View Season 2012-13, here is the link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kopite-View-Season-2012-13-ebook/dp/B00BMW7JTA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1362780961&sr=1-1

The book consists of my match reports and articles from earlier in the season. If you like my blog, you will like my book. All the money is going to help Hillsborough Families.

Carroll Never Got A Chance

 

Liverpool sold Andy Carroll to West Ham and cut their losses on a player that didn’t fit into new manager Brendan Rodgers’ plans. Carroll finally made the move to West Ham permanent after passing a medical ending speculation regarding his future.

 

Carroll signed from Newcastle for £35 million on January 31 2011. Carroll was recovering from injury at the time of signing and he had to wait some time before making his debut . Andy Carroll had a difficult start to life at Anfield as he struggled to find the net and he also looked to be struggling with his fitness after his injury setback.

 

Carroll’s first full season ended with Carroll in fine form as he netted the winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton before coming on as substitute in the final against Chelsea to score again and change the game as Liverpool just missed out on another trophy. A few days later Carroll tormented the Chelsea defence again as Liverpool gained revenge by defeating the Blues at Anfield in the league.

 

That summer led to Liverpool’s manager Kenny Dalglish’s departure and Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers taking over the Anfield hot seat.

 

Dalglish’s departure signalled the end of Carroll’s career as a Liverpool player as Brendan Rodgers hastened to move him on albeit on loan before the end of the summer transfer window. It seemed a crazy decision to let Carroll, go as Liverpool were left short of strikers in their squad. They did try to bring Fulham’s Clint Demspey to Anfield on the last day of the transfer window but it fell through and left Liverpool very short of strikers.

 

Brendan Rodgers came into Anfield and stated that every player would be given a chance, well I don’t think he gave Carroll much of chance by moving him out so quickly even with a shortage of strikers.

 

In fairness to Rodgers he does have a style of play that he wants his team to play and a certain type of player to fit into his team, Carroll was not his type of player for his team. Regardless of the amount of money that Liverpool Football Club paid for Carroll, Rodgers was not in any way going to work with Carroll to coach him into fitting into his team’s style of play. OK so Carroll was an investment from the previous management team at Anfield, but I got a feeling that by getting rid of Carroll so quickly was like an announcement to Dalglish and his staff that Carroll was a waste of money.

 

If a club pay so much money for a player then you would think that they would give him every opportunity to fit into the team and to find his form. Chelsea and Torres is a prime example as they even changed manager to bring the best out of their struggling expensive investment.

 

But Liverpool and Rodgers refused to give Carroll time and this week ultimately cut their losses by selling him to West Ham after his season’s loan spell at Upton Park.

 

It is surprising that Liverpool’s owners allowed Rodgers to move the big striker on after they invested so much money on him. But at the same time it is to be applauded that the owners are allowing Rodgers the freedom to make his decisions of who he wants and doesn’t want in his team, even if the player moving out has cost a lot of money.

 

Carroll is a big strong player who can lead the line well and he is also dangerous in the air. Carroll is also valuable at defending set-pieces with his heading ability. His powerful left foot shot is also a highlight of his abilities and he would have given Liverpool another attacking option.

 

Many experts thought that Liverpool lacked a plan B in attacking options this season under the leadership of Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool were left at times frustrated in trying to break teams down especially at Anfield where some teams sat very deep intent on frustrating Liverpool’s passing game and preventing Liverpool space to penetrate. But the option of Carroll in attack would have posed a different problem for opposing defences and gave them something different to think about instead of the predictable style set by Rodgers.

 

Most good teams need a plan B option for when things are not going right and good managers know when to use it. Barcelona are about the only team that don’t use a plan B but that is because they are so good and don’t need one anyway.

 

The other disappointing thing about Carroll’s departure is the reluctance by Rodgers to work with him and mould him into the player that he would like for his team. Carroll is not a veteran and has many years ahead of him where he could have been coached and he should have been coached.

 

Andy Carroll’s career at Liverpool will go down as a flop and one of the worst signings in history. But it didn’t need to be that way if he had been given a chance after Kenny’s departure and if you don’t get a chance to prove yourself then what chance do you have.

 

This article is not intended to be a criticism of Brendan Rodgers’ management style, I am just being highly critical of Rodgers’ treatment of Carroll and like all managers he has favourite players and players that he doesn’t like and unfortunately for Carroll, his face didn’t fit.

 

The Carroll episode is now closed at Liverpool and I’m sure everyone wishes him all the best at his new club at West Ham where I’m sure he will be more appreciated by his manager.

 

The hope now is for Rodgers to bring in the right players to improve Liverpool in their quest for Champions League football.

 

 

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Reina Must Stay

13 Jun

Reina Must Stay

 

Good goalkeepers are as hard to find as are top class strikers, but Liverpool are in danger of losing a very good goalkeeper in Pepe Reina if you are to lead the national tabloids. Liverpool have been blessed over the years with top class keepers from the days of Elisha Scott, Tommy Lawrence, Ray Clemence, Bruce Grobbelaar through to Pepe Reina.

 

Reina joined Liverpool in the summer of 2005 to replace the hero of Istanbul, Jerzy Dudek. The Spaniard has not disappointed with his excellent displays in goal highlighted by his own heroics in the FA Cup Final penalty shootout against West Ham United in 2006.

 

Reina has been as consistent a performing goalkeeper in the Premiership in the last 10 years, but in the last couple of seasons his standards have dropped slightly encouraging some so-called experts to criticise the Spaniard and deem him not good enough for Liverpool.

 

Reina did made a few uncharacteristic mistakes in recent years but goalkeeping mistakes are always highlighted more than any other player. For people to think Reina is not good enough for Liverpool need their head looked at. His record and consistent number of clean sheets over the years is second to none and Liverpool will be a lot poorer without him between the sticks.

 

Pepe has amazing agility and commands his penalty box with confidence as he consistently helps his defenders out by coming off his line to collect high balls. Reina must be the best keeper in European football at distributing the ball to set up attacks with precise accuracy with both feet and by throwing to colleagues which is a unique talent in a goalkeeper’s repertoire.

 

People have taken Reina’s talent for granted and like all good things, you don’t miss it until they are gone. But Liverpool have a relatively young team and the loss of Jamie Carragher is huge loss for Liverpool’s defence, and if Liverpool were to lose Reina’s experience too then you would fear for Liverpool next season.

 

Since the end of the season the rumour mills go into overdrive and Reina has been in constant speculation of a return to his homeland. Barcelona were the favourites but the news that their number one goalkeeper Valdes seems to be staying for another year was music to the ears of most Liverpool fans, and hopefully Reina will stay at Anfield.

 

Names as replacements for Reina have been Stoke’s Begovic and Sunderland’s Mignolet, but with the greatest of respect they are not as good as Reina and like many players lost to Liverpool in recent years, Liverpool will be poorer off. The loss of Alonso, Masherano and Torres to name the most notable has left Liverpool slipping out of the top four and out of the Champions League. Suarez has provided a touch of quality that Liverpool need but he looks like the latest world class player to leave Anfield as Liverpool struggle to hold onto their best players.

 

But great teams are built around a strong defence the loss of Reina would be a massive loss for Liverpool. Reina is in his prime in terms of a goalkeeper’s age and his experience will be invaluable to Liverpool over the coming season as he knows what is required at Anfield.

 

The summer will come and go and so will many players but hopefully Pepe Reina will not be one of them as Liverpool try to improve on last season after an encouraging second half to the season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Suarez Owes Liverpool

11 Jun

here is the link to buy my brand new e-book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kopite-View-Season-2012-13-ebook/dp/B00BMW7JTA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1362780961&sr=1-1  all the royalties will go to the Hillsborough Charity.

Suarez Owes Liverpool

Luis Suarez has been a sensation in terms of footballing quality since his arrival on Merseyside, and the Liverpool supporters have taken them to their heart. But with all his world class footballing ability, there is also heavy baggage that weighs him down.

Suarez has never been out of the headlines since his arrival from Dutch side Ajax, and unfortunately mostly for controversy. The English media have found great delight in highlighting every misdemeanour the Uruguayan has made with little mention of his wonderful play on the park for Liverpool.

The English media made Suarez public enemy number one since his infamous role in the 2010 World Cup Quarter Final, when he got sent off for saving Dominic Adiyiah’s goalbound header with his hands on the goal line, which would have been the game winner. Gyan hit the crossbar with the ensuing penalty kick before Uruguay won the penalty shootout 4-2 to advance to the semi-finals.

It was despicable treatment from the world’s media for Suarez’s action, when any footballer would have done the same thing with an instinctive save to prevent a goal. Suarez was punished by receiving a red card and also missed the semi- final through suspension, so why the outcry, it was hardly similar to Maradona’s handball against England in the 1986 World cup was it ?

But although the media had an agenda against Suarez, he hasn’t helped himself with his diving, although he has worked to clean up his act in recent months. The Evra controversy still seems mysterious to me but he was punished rightly or wrongly, one man’s word against another man’s word but he was found guilty.

But his latest misdemeanour was his worst yet and possibly his last in a Liverpool shirt. There was no excuse for biting Chelsea defender Ivanovic and he was rightly punished.

Suarez has missed many games through suspension since joining Liverpool as the FA have joined the nation’s media to hammer English football’s public enemy number one and make an example of him to others.

Suarez was banned for 8 games for racially abusing Evra whereas Chelsea’s John Terry only got 4 games for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, with much more evidence of the offence on offer.

The Uruguayan’s latest ban is 10 matches for biting Ivanovic and I believe the punishment is for the man and not for the crime as Suarez has previous convictions.

Like I say Suarez has not helped himself, for example not shaking Evra’s hand the next time the two players’ met after his ban was not the brightest thing to do and caused more trouble. But throughout all Suarez’s troubles and strife Liverpool Football Club has consistently defended and backed their star striker even though he has dragged the good name of the club through the mud at times and tarnished their great name.

But previous manager Kenny Dalglish constantly defended Suarez, even getting his team to wear T-shirts in an act of support for Suarez, and Brendan Rodgers has been singing off the same hymn sheet in regards to protecting his star player.

So how can Suarez betray the loyalty of Liverpool Football Club and more importantly his worshippers that stand in the Kop, by saying in a recent interview in his native land that he wants to leave Liverpool.

Suarez owes Liverpool at least another year to see if they can achieve a top four place in the league and qualification into the Champions League after the loyalty they have shown throughout his troubles.

Suarez’s excuse for wanting to leave Liverpool was blaming the media, like I said they have treated him disgracefully and I feared some time ago that they would drive him out of this country, but come on Luis you didn’t help yourself and just tell us the real reason that it is because you want to play in the Champions League and Liverpool can’t offer that and although the truth may hurt, Liverpool supporters will at least understand this excuse. But to blame the media no I’m sorry Liverpool deserve better.

I think Suarez is vital to Liverpool’s challenge for a top four place next season and without him I fear they will struggle, yes they will be compensated with good money, but losing a world class player is extremely difficult to replace and Liverpool will be a poorer team without him.

But no player is bigger than the team and Liverpool will go on with or without Suarez. Suarez is a great player but nowhere near the best to grace the hallowed turf of Anfield but he is certainly one of the most controversial and anybody that endeavours to tarnish the name of Liverpool Football Club is better away from Anfield.

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