Fulham, Stoke and Transfers

Ok, so it wasn't the greatest performance that we are likely to see from the reds, but lets face it, in our current situation we'll take the three points how ever they come. Also, too many times in the past we have seen Liverpool cave in to pressure in the final 10mins of games and drop points as a result, Wednesday is a step in the right direction, it may have been a laboured performance, it may have been sloppy at times, and we may have invited pressure on too much, but, we still left with three points. Now I'm sure the players are in agreement with the supporters that we would all love to avoid situations like what we found ourselves in for the final 10mins against Fulham in future games, but it is reassuring to know that we are actually capable of holding out.

Fulham never really came to do any real damage, looking at the way they set up, and the way they went about the game, their plan was all about frustration. They closed down and tried to restrict the passing movement that Liverpool had expertly displayed against Wolves, they had plenty behind the ball, and played quite deep at times always looking to play on the break, which, when you consider that Liverpool had a 5 man midfield, was something of a strange way to play. And for the first 10mins at least, it looked like we where going to run riot, we started brightly, we retained the ball well, passing was excellent, the goal was coming.

And where is Sian Massey when you need her?? Fernando Torres incorrectly ruled offside, in pretty much the same position between the defenders as Meireles was at Wolves. The finish was calm and composed and just what we needed. Had the goal stood, the game would have taken a different turn, Fulham would have to have played with more purpose, open up a bit more, and with energy levels running high more goals would have come. Instead the first half seemed to pass without incident. The second more of the same.

The own goal was brilliant, a chip and then a complete miss kick, nice to see a bit of luck go our way for a change. The game then dragged on to the point where we found ourselves under increasing pressure for no reason at all, too much haste in the play, sitting back too deep, inviting Fulham forwards, but Fulham never really looked like making the push on their own, even after the goal, their game never changed, we where contributing to our own downfall yet again and the final whistle couldn't come soon enough.

The reason i suspect is down to tiredness, early on the players looked bright and energetic, but from the hour mark onwards, many players looked like they where running on empty. And there was definitely a big Lucas sized hole in midfield, say what you will, but for the last 18months he has been a very dependable and often unsung performer in the middle, and he was missed. Poulsen again, as he did against Wolves, played well, he looks a different player than the one we saw before New Year, doesn't quite have it there for a full game, but he was physical, passing was good, link up was good, still not world class, but he did a good job.

I have to say though, Steven Gerrard had no effect on the game whatsoever, too often was he playing too deep, dropping back to collect the ball to take it up, and more often than not the ball played went backwards or sideways, others did this at times, but for a player who was chomping at the bit to get going, he didn't even get started. Match fitness doesn't come into it either, he has trained everyday with the team and a comeback game against a Fulham side with little ambition to do anything other than get a point was just what he needed. Hopefully he will rediscover his form in the coming weeks like so many of his team mates have.

Johnson for once did quite well at left back, the main problem with him in this position though is that nine times out of ten he has to turn back onto his right to get the cross in, this makes it too easy for defenders to force him to use the left, which isn't going to be of much use most of the time. Have to say though, Dani Pacheco must be wondering what he has to do to get a game, great summer with Spain at the under 19 championships, golden boot winner, a real hot prospect, if he's lucky he gets to sit on the bench - give him a go!

We may have been fortunate to come away with a victory but at least it saved us from bemoaning another poor decision from the officials, both linesman had a poor game as did the referee to be fair.

Stoke up next, and lets face it, not an easy team to play against. Interestingly, they lost their last game to Fulham and play Wolves at the weekend, so by the time the game comes around they could have lost back to back games against the teams that we recorded back to back victories against. So it is promising, and with the reds playing better football, confidence up i think we are very good for the three points. Stokes only real threat is those silly throw-ins that take about 90seconds to complete, stop them, stop the threat, maybe throw the Greek in to rough it up a bit. Next Wednesday is a perfect opportunity for us to start February off as we mean to go on, and make up for the disappointing 2-0 defeat from earlier in the season. These are the games LFC should be winning - no doubts.

Transfer time! Bid rejected for Charlie Adam?? Get in, made up, over the moon, decent player he may be, in good form, yes he is, but, he is not what Liverpool need. We have plenty of depth in midfield, Poulsen, Lucas, Gerrard, Meireles, Shelvey and if needed Pacheco can play through the middle albeit slightly advanced. Adam is worth at the very most, very very most, £6m. £4m is a fair price for player who cost Blackpool just £500k, and he is not a priority for Liverpool at this time, and he is by no means worth upwards of £10m, the thought is ridiculous. Buying him would be a waste of money, currently we already play with 3 central midfielders, can't see how signing another would help, especially not with other potential signings having the ability to alter the formation.....

And that brings us to Luis Suarez, the biter, the cat between the posts, an he scores some decent goals too. His arrival is not nailed on certain, but quite likely, and in the event that it does go through, you would have to say that the formation is also likely to change, with him off Torres, a midfielder will have to make way, presumably one of the middle 3, and that's a hard pick to make, on performances alone though, i have to say Lucas and Meireles deserve their places. Reports suggest 20m euros offer rejected, Ajax want 25m euros apparently, middle ground then, 22.5m euros should close the deal on that one, if the reports are true, the player himself certainly wants to come, especially to play alongside Torres....

Speaking of the #9, Chelsea bid £35m, but then again don't they do this every window?? has it ever worked? We always have something that they want, sadly for them though, they'll never have Torres, or Gerrard, or 5 European Cups, or 18 League Titles, or Anfield and its atmosphere, Mr Abramovich probably wakes up hot an sweaty in the middle of the night wondering why he bothered with Chelsea in the first place when he could so easily have bought the club he so wishes to emulate. As for reports that Torres has held talks with Kenny Dalglish about his future, that is I'm afraid, old news, that was weeks ago, remember, it was after those talks that he came out and expressed his desire to stay with Liverpool and honour his contract, how long ago was that? errrrr little over 3 weeks.

The fact that the media are reporting it now as if its new is just a poor attempt to elevate the story further, to sell more papers, get more web hits, as far as i see it, Chelsea made an offer of £35m, when asked, Liverpool responded by saying NO even posting on LFC.tv that the player was not for sale. That's it, there is nothing else, direct quotes there, Chelsea acknowledge bid, Liverpool acknowledge turning it down further adding that he isn't for sale. The media then add that he has had talks about his future, yep, covered that, weeks ago, and that he is begging Liverpool to negotiate with Chelsea, begging?? of course he is, that's why the stories use direct quotes from the player and his representatives and LFC, oh wait a second, they DON'T. Don't believe everything that you read in the comics, or the pro Manure/Chelski media.

Nando has more respect for the club and it's supporters than people give him credit for, would not surprise in the slightest if stories to the contrary are being spoon fed to the media by Chelsea, really wouldn't surprise me.

Right thats me done now, as always feedback is much appreciated - it really is, you can follow me on Twitter HERE please feel free to retweet this post, followbacks for those who do!

Oh an if the woman with the Vuvuzela, KOP 305 Wednesday v Fulham, do me a favour love....leave it at home next time.

Reds On Track

Just over a week since Kenny Dalglish returned to Liverpool Football club, a week?? seems a lot longer than that to me.

And the main reason for that is probably the rapid transformation of the club in such a short space of time. The game against Blackburn, a game that saw an awful performance from the reds in every area, a game which ultimately proved to be the final nail in Roy Hodgsons coffin, is (at the time of writing) not even 2 weeks old and already much has changed.

The supporters have been well and truely lifted, the affect that Kenny Dalglish has had could not have been achieved by any other living person. There is optimism, belief, unity, and that's just the supporters. The players do not look in any way shape or form like the players who capitulated at Ewood Park, and for so long this season have been below par.

There is a real attacking intent, the players believe that they can do it, the manager knows they can do it and the supporters are right behind them. And it is all down to the King.

Look at Torres, suffered with injuries last season and in the summer, this season he has been fit for a considerable amount of time, more so than he had been at this stage last season, but he looked completely dejected, he had lost his way, showing only flashes of what he's capable of, and those flashes few and far between. Hodgson's line on Nando was that he was lacking confidence, not fully fit, or he simply couldn't explain the reason for his lack of form. Perhaps the reason was the managers lack of ambition, his methods, his team talks, the way he carried himself, the transfer targets that he set himself?? I wouldn't want to play up front with Carlton Cole down the local park never mind at Englands greatest club. In comes Dalglish and Torres immediately moves to dismiss any suggestion of him leaving, he looks sharper against Utd, scored a goal against Blackpool that had been beyond him all season, and ran rings around the Everton defence. He looks sharper, he's running at defenders, he's tracking back and chasing down, he's pressing players when he's off the ball, and this is all in ONE week, only thing that had changed was the manager.

And the same can be said for the whole team, Martin Kelly has been superb and he is well worth his place, the only time i want to see Johnson back at right back is if Kelly is injured or suspended, like i've said before i don't see Johnson as a defender, he should be out on the wing helping with the attacking, his defending lets him down, but he has improved. Heard alot of talk about Meireles not being good enough, makes too many mistakes etc etc. All players make mistakes, he's a very creative player, he is trying to be creative all the time, his confidence is up and he is becoming a real threat to the opposition. Once the entire team is singing from the same song sheet and their understanding of each other in the new style of play we have adopted improves, the mistakes will be fewer and far between. His goal against the bitters was well taken and fully deserved and i know for fact that had we won the game there would have been very little talk of any mistakes he might have made, and any talk that did occur would simply have been washed away in the glory of victory over that lot.

Dalglish has made it quite clear that he intends to give some of the younger players a chance to prove their worth in the first team, with Kelly a success. So in the absence of Steven Gerrard, Jay Spearing was handed a starting place, on the merit that he had a good game for the reserves in midweek. Now i know this will rock the boat a bit with some but i have to say that i'm not a big fan of his. Alot of supporters blindly give him praise purely and simply because he 'a local lad'. Locality has nothing to do with a footballers ability, but the really good players who get into their local sides are pretty much hero worshipped. At the age of 22 he has made a mere 5 first team League appearances, by age 22 i would expect a really good player to have made a few more than that. He's small, not very fast, his passing is on the whole below par, he seems to lack strength yet gives off the impression that he is quite a strong player and his creativity is barely there, what he does have is determination but thats not enough. I've heard many talk of him as the 'Next Gerrard' but the gulf in class between the two is huge, and im comparing a 22yr old Gerrard to a 22yr old Spearing. Gerrard had made over 100 League appearances by the age of 22 and was only a year away from the Liverpool Captaincy and had already played in over 10 internationals and scored 2 goals for his country. There is no comparison, and at times against Everton he didn't look up to the job, he had an OK game but i dont think he has the ability to displace Lucas, Meireles or Gerrard in the middle, there is talk of Van Bommel coming in, and the younger Jonjo Shelvey looks to be a much better midfielder and has already made more League appearances, and has the potential to claim a first team place before he turns 22 in just over 3 years time. Even in the reserve game, Spearing was only OK, Pacheco had a much better game and is probably wondering what he has to do to get a decent shot at the first team, can be used as a striker but looks the part in a central attacking role. And thats the only negativity from me this week.

Against the bitters we where unfortunate, first goal for them should never have happened as it was quite clearly a goal kick, if Dowd wasn't sure all he had to do was ask himself why Kuyt was escorting the ball off the pitch quite casually rather than trying to prevent the corner. Second goal again unlucky, Anichebe leads with the elbow and he like a vast number in the Everton team is, politely, overweight, or just fat. Whilst he doesn't seem to catch Kelly with that elbow the collision was a rough one and the landing even harder. Now maybe i'm wrong with this but im pretty sure that the referee has to stop play for head injuries, now, Kelly takes a knock to the head and then lands awkwardly with his head hitting the floor with some force, Phil Dowd is no doctor and head injuries can be quite severe and need to be dealt with immediately, that is why referee's are instructed to play 'immediately' good thing Kelly was OK. If Dowd does this then no second goal, just bad luck, if he'd have gotten the first one right then this one is slightly forgivable but he still made a mistake.

Luck will come our way, like i said it  might seem like Dalglish has been back aaaages, but its only just over a week and already the signs are positive. Much improvement from the reds, and now its time to push on and at the rate the team is improving i can see us having a fair number of wins to celebrate in the coming weeks.

Talk of LFC getting in 5/6 players in January is a bit wild in my opinion, i would expect money to be spent, but only on 2/3 players. Suarez looks more an more like a done deal by the hour, and reports of loan signings rather than actual money changing hands implies to me that NESV are prepared to stave off the main rebuilding job until the summer, by which point they will or should have, their CEO in place, and have a much more rounded understanding of the game and how thing's work, oh and know who the manager will be next season!

Fans were great at the Derby, as always!!

As always, feedback is appreciated, i've also noticed you can tweet this post by clicking the little 't' on the bar below, shout outs for everyone who does that! And of course you can also follow me on Twtter Follow ME!

Take care Folks,

ash