Liverpool FC Forum

[RedSi35]

Saturday 3 March 2012
12:45 Liverpool v Arsenal Anfield  
Saturday 10 March 2012
15:00 Sunderland v Liverpool Stadium of Light  
Saturday 17 March 2012
15:00 QPR v Liverpool Loftus Road Stadium    
Saturday 24 March 2012
15:00 Liverpool v Wigan Anfield    
Sunday 1 April 2012
13:30 Newcastle v Liverpool Sports Direct Arena    
Saturday 7 April 2012
15:00 Liverpool v Aston Villa Anfield    
Monday 9 April 2012
15:00 Blackburn v Liverpool Ewood Park    
Saturday 14 April 2012
12:45 Liverpool v Fulham Anfield    
Saturday 21 April 2012
15:00 Liverpool v West Brom Anfield    
Saturday 28 April 2012
15:00 Norwich v Liverpool Carrow Road    
Saturday 5 May 2012
15:00 Liverpool v Chelsea Anfield    
Sunday 13 May 2012
15:00 Swansea v Liverpool Liberty Stadium    


Look at those fixtures, barring chelsea and arsenal, that looks a pretty easy run in for a top 4 side.

[kazza]

Saturday 3 March 2012
12:45 Liverpool v Arsenal Anfield  
Saturday 10 March 2012
15:00 Sunderland v Liverpool Stadium of Light  
Saturday 17 March 2012
15:00 QPR v Liverpool Loftus Road Stadium    
Saturday 24 March 2012
15:00 Liverpool v Wigan Anfield    
Sunday 1 April 2012
13:30 Newcastle v Liverpool Sports Direct Arena    
Saturday 7 April 2012
15:00 Liverpool v Aston Villa Anfield    
Monday 9 April 2012
15:00 Blackburn v Liverpool Ewood Park    
Saturday 14 April 2012
12:45 Liverpool v Fulham Anfield    
Saturday 21 April 2012
15:00 Liverpool v West Brom Anfield    
Saturday 28 April 2012
15:00 Norwich v Liverpool Carrow Road    
Saturday 5 May 2012
15:00 Liverpool v Chelsea Anfield    
Sunday 13 May 2012
15:00 Swansea v Liverpool Liberty Stadium    


Look at those fixtures, barring chelsea and arsenal, that looks a pretty easy run in for a top 4 side.

Due to our form I would also worry about Sunderland and Norwich and no doubt the many other draws.

[tubby]

QPR could be tricky too. It could be worse but we need to find out feet at home, it just hasn't happend for us this season at home.

[Kerry07]

mascherano-lucas looked every bit as negative on paper as it proved on the field. Lucas was Mascherano's understudy, the two were never meant to play together. Rafa made the error of alienating Alonso, brought in Aquilani who was meant to be his replacement.. but when that didnt work out he resorted to putting lucas alongside Masch.

This season we were outclassed at Spurs, and for long spells at Anfield they controlled midfield. We were chasing shadows in the first half. Scholes dominated midfield in the two games against us. The thought of our current midfield against a top CL side quite frankly is frightening.

Theres controlling possession, dictating the game (which we havent had since Alonso), and then theres just having a share of possession, which is where we are at. We don't hog the ball for long spells, we don't pin teams in. We merely get a share of the ball. The loss of Alonso has been the single most catastrophic thing on the field in the last decade. Our midfield became pants overnight, and almost 3 years on we have yet to adequately replace him. 18m Aquilani, 20m Henderson.. 38m would get a top class player... Javi Martinez and change.

i disagree mate, most games this season we have been the better side including the games against united, city and spurs at anfield not to mention chelsea and arsenal away.
it`s very rare that you dominate teams like that so i think you`ve got unrealistic expectations if you expect us to play every side we come up against off the park.
our problem has been that we dont take our chances.

you seriously cant be suggesting our problem is just not taking chances?

IF that were the case, we wouldn't be playing musical chairs with the midfield selection every week.

We have the least talented group of midfielders at the club since Souness (circa 1993).

Upfront we are short of a top class partner (or back up) for Suarez.

Its these two areas that we have to address.

The Spurs game u must have missed. We created diddly. Friedel barely had a save to make, and by far the best chance of the game fell to Bale 5 minutes from time. The criticism towards Kenny in that game was leaving on Spearing, and taking off two forwards. We need to win games not preserve goalless draws. There has been a major lack of bottle from him this season, especially at home. Its this negativity and reluctance to throw everyting at the opposition that has led to 8 draws at Anfield.. against Swansea (who controlled midfield), Sunderland (when they were awful before O'neill arrived), Norwich, Blackburn (rooted to the bottom), Stoke. Our next home game is on 3 March. In August if you had said to those who attend Anfield week in week out...we will have 4 home wins by March, they would have sent u to the funny farm. We lack quality and cutting edge at home to break teams down. Henderson, Kuyt, Downing or Spearing aint going to pick a pass and slice open a defence.

[Thommo's perm]

I will show my ar'se in Lime Street station if Liverpool handed over £35 million to Newcastle for Carroll

Who said our economy is in decline ?

This time last year you could have seen Thommo's ar'se round the back of Lime St station for just £3.50

To be fair you could have seen it for nothing after a bellyfull of pear cider and a kebab from the Athena.

[yckatbjywtbiastkamb]

mascherano-lucas looked every bit as negative on paper as it proved on the field. Lucas was Mascherano's understudy, the two were never meant to play together. Rafa made the error of alienating Alonso, brought in Aquilani who was meant to be his replacement.. but when that didnt work out he resorted to putting lucas alongside Masch.

This season we were outclassed at Spurs, and for long spells at Anfield they controlled midfield. We were chasing shadows in the first half. Scholes dominated midfield in the two games against us. The thought of our current midfield against a top CL side quite frankly is frightening.

Theres controlling possession, dictating the game (which we havent had since Alonso), and then theres just having a share of possession, which is where we are at. We don't hog the ball for long spells, we don't pin teams in. We merely get a share of the ball. The loss of Alonso has been the single most catastrophic thing on the field in the last decade. Our midfield became pants overnight, and almost 3 years on we have yet to adequately replace him. 18m Aquilani, 20m Henderson.. 38m would get a top class player... Javi Martinez and change.

i disagree mate, most games this season we have been the better side including the games against united, city and spurs at anfield not to mention chelsea and arsenal away.
it`s very rare that you dominate teams like that so i think you`ve got unrealistic expectations if you expect us to play every side we come up against off the park.
our problem has been that we dont take our chances.

you seriously cant be suggesting our problem is just not taking chances?

IF that were the case, we wouldn't be playing musical chairs with the midfield selection every week.

We have the least talented group of midfielders at the club since Souness (circa 1993).

Upfront we are short of a top class partner (or back up) for Suarez.

Its these two areas that we have to address.

The Spurs game u must have missed. We created diddly. Friedel barely had a save to make, and by far the best chance of the game fell to Bale 5 minutes from time. The criticism towards Kenny in that game was leaving on Spearing, and taking off two forwards. We need to win games not preserve goalless draws. There has been a major lack of bottle from him this season, especially at home. Its this negativity and reluctance to throw everyting at the opposition that has led to 8 draws at Anfield.. against Swansea (who controlled midfield), Sunderland (when they were awful before O'neill arrived), Norwich, Blackburn (rooted to the bottom), Stoke. Our next home game is on 3 March. In August if you had said to those who attend Anfield week in week out...we will have 4 home wins by March, they would have sent u to the funny farm. We lack quality and cutting edge at home to break teams down. Henderson, Kuyt, Downing or Spearing aint going to pick a pass and slice open a defence.

i do go to anfield every other week and have been going since the 70`s so that`s why i dont have unrealistic idea`s what a great side is.
you seem to think we should be this crushing machine that dominates every game from start to finish, i`ve only seen that twice in nearly 40 years, 78/79 and 87/88
most of our title wins were by one or two points (and thats over 42 games) and there were plenty of other good teams about that could beat us on their day it`s just that we were a bit, and i mean a bit more consistent.
you go on about bales chance at anfield, that often happened years ago, practically every game the likes of clemo and brucie would have nothing to do all game but then they`d have to save a one on one. you`d be one of those fella`s walking out the ground moaning saying that should have been a draw there.
why didnt you mention suarez`s header from about 6 yards out or the good chance andy carroll had on the turn?
those games you mentioned - sunderland - we missed a pen and they should have had a man sent off in the first ten minutes, they equalised with a flying volley that usually end up in row z, downing hits the bar and their keeper makes a couple of great saves in the final minutes.
norwich - dominated the game, hit the post about 3 times, went 1 up then reina comes out for a cross when he should have stayed on his line. their keeper had a blinder. carroll misses a sitter in injury time.
stoke - not a great performance but it was a couple of days after we beat city at their place in the cup, team looked shattered but even so kuyt missed an absolute sitter of a header from about 4 yards out, unbelievable miss.
blackburn - we conceded a freakish own goal when adam sliced the ball into the net from a mad angle, maxi brought down in box but linesman gives offside against suarez who was inactive, carroll has goal ruled out, agger has header cleared off the line, keeper has a blinder.
we have played worse in the past and won games.
it`s about fine margins, seen tons of performances like those in our title winning years but we just seemed to get the goal where as now we dont

[devaney]

mascherano-lucas looked every bit as negative on paper as it proved on the field. Lucas was Mascherano's understudy, the two were never meant to play together. Rafa made the error of alienating Alonso, brought in Aquilani who was meant to be his replacement.. but when that didnt work out he resorted to putting lucas alongside Masch.

This season we were outclassed at Spurs, and for long spells at Anfield they controlled midfield. We were chasing shadows in the first half. Scholes dominated midfield in the two games against us. The thought of our current midfield against a top CL side quite frankly is frightening.

Theres controlling possession, dictating the game (which we havent had since Alonso), and then theres just having a share of possession, which is where we are at. We don't hog the ball for long spells, we don't pin teams in. We merely get a share of the ball. The loss of Alonso has been the single most catastrophic thing on the field in the last decade. Our midfield became pants overnight, and almost 3 years on we have yet to adequately replace him. 18m Aquilani, 20m Henderson.. 38m would get a top class player... Javi Martinez and change.

i disagree mate, most games this season we have been the better side including the games against united, city and spurs at anfield not to mention chelsea and arsenal away.
it`s very rare that you dominate teams like that so i think you`ve got unrealistic expectations if you expect us to play every side we come up against off the park.
our problem has been that we dont take our chances.

you seriously cant be suggesting our problem is just not taking chances?

IF that were the case, we wouldn't be playing musical chairs with the midfield selection every week.

We have the least talented group of midfielders at the club since Souness (circa 1993).

Upfront we are short of a top class partner (or back up) for Suarez.

Its these two areas that we have to address.

The Spurs game u must have missed. We created diddly. Friedel barely had a save to make, and by far the best chance of the game fell to Bale 5 minutes from time. The criticism towards Kenny in that game was leaving on Spearing, and taking off two forwards. We need to win games not preserve goalless draws. There has been a major lack of bottle from him this season, especially at home. Its this negativity and reluctance to throw everyting at the opposition that has led to 8 draws at Anfield.. against Swansea (who controlled midfield), Sunderland (when they were awful before O'neill arrived), Norwich, Blackburn (rooted to the bottom), Stoke. Our next home game is on 3 March. In August if you had said to those who attend Anfield week in week out...we will have 4 home wins by March, they would have sent u to the funny farm. We lack quality and cutting edge at home to break teams down. Henderson, Kuyt, Downing or Spearing aint going to pick a pass and slice open a defence.

i do go to anfield every other week and have been going since the 70`s so that`s why i dont have unrealistic idea`s what a great side is.
you seem to think we should be this crushing machine that dominates every game from start to finish, i`ve only seen that twice in nearly 40 years, 78/79 and 87/88
most of our title wins were by one or two points (and thats over 42 games) and there were plenty of other good teams about that could beat us on their day it`s just that we were a bit, and i mean a bit more consistent.
you go on about bales chance at anfield, that often happened years ago, practically every game the likes of clemo and brucie would have nothing to do all game but then they`d have to save a one on one. you`d be one of those fella`s walking out the ground moaning saying that should have been a draw there.
why didnt you mention suarez`s header from about 6 yards out or the good chance andy carroll had on the turn?
those games you mentioned - sunderland - we missed a pen and they should have had a man sent off in the first ten minutes, they equalised with a flying volley that usually end up in row z, downing hits the bar and their keeper makes a couple of great saves in the final minutes.
norwich - dominated the game, hit the post about 3 times, went 1 up then reina comes out for a cross when he should have stayed on his line. their keeper had a blinder. carroll misses a sitter in injury time.
stoke - not a great performance but it was a couple of days after we beat city at their place in the cup, team looked shattered but even so kuyt missed an absolute sitter of a header from about 4 yards out, unbelievable miss.
blackburn - we conceded a freakish own goal when adam sliced the ball into the net from a mad angle, maxi brought down in box but linesman gives offside against suarez who was inactive, carroll has goal ruled out, agger has header cleared off the line, keeper has a blinder.
we have played worse in the past and won games.
it`s about fine margins, seen tons of performances like those in our title winning years but we just seemed to get the goal where as now we dont

yckatbjywtbiastkamb - Excellent post.

[JC_81]

i do go to anfield every other week and have been going since the 70`s so that`s why i dont have unrealistic idea`s what a great side is.
you seem to think we should be this crushing machine that dominates every game from start to finish, i`ve only seen that twice in nearly 40 years, 78/79 and 87/88
most of our title wins were by one or two points (and thats over 42 games) and there were plenty of other good teams about that could beat us on their day it`s just that we were a bit, and i mean a bit more consistent.
you go on about bales chance at anfield, that often happened years ago, practically every game the likes of clemo and brucie would have nothing to do all game but then they`d have to save a one on one. you`d be one of those fella`s walking out the ground moaning saying that should have been a draw there.
why didnt you mention suarez`s header from about 6 yards out or the good chance andy carroll had on the turn?
those games you mentioned - sunderland - we missed a pen and they should have had a man sent off in the first ten minutes, they equalised with a flying volley that usually end up in row z, downing hits the bar and their keeper makes a couple of great saves in the final minutes.
norwich - dominated the game, hit the post about 3 times, went 1 up then reina comes out for a cross when he should have stayed on his line. their keeper had a blinder. carroll misses a sitter in injury time.
stoke - not a great performance but it was a couple of days after we beat city at their place in the cup, team looked shattered but even so kuyt missed an absolute sitter of a header from about 4 yards out, unbelievable miss.
blackburn - we conceded a freakish own goal when adam sliced the ball into the net from a mad angle, maxi brought down in box but linesman gives offside against suarez who was inactive, carroll has goal ruled out, agger has header cleared off the line, keeper has a blinder.
we have played worse in the past and won games.
it`s about fine margins, seen tons of performances like those in our title winning years but we just seemed to get the goal where as now we dont

Good post and good to see you back posting a bit more mate.

Agree, very fine margins in football at this level.  Clearly we've had better sides in the past, but the current lot aren't nearly as bad as some make out.  We play decent stuff at times and are probably only a couple of players off being a side that can challenge (but not necessarily win) the title.  We have dominated almost every league game this season, even ones we have drawn/lost.  Only Spurs, Bolton, City and United away have we been genuinely poor imo.  Other than that we have generally been very good but clearly lack that ruthlessness and cutting edge up front.

We have had the most goalscoring opportunities in the league, but the worst chance conversion record in the league.  That tells you where the problem is.  The midfield can't be that bad if we create that many chances, the problem is putting them in the back of the net.  A signing such as Cavani or someone of that ilk could make all the difference to this team.

[JC_81]

A post on behalf of a mate....

I've been thinking about our results and performances on the whole this season - and I've come up with a bit of theory of what may be happening.

It regards 'balance' in an attacking and defending sense. Earlier on in the season (in the first few months or so) we played some excellent football, typical Dalglish style of pass and move. We attacked with pace, held possession and dominated most games. At this point I was convinced we were simply unlucky in front of goal and a tonking for our next opponents was on the horizon. Alas, this never eventuated and with it our attacking play has regressed, leaving an isolated Carroll or Suarez up top to feed off scraps.

I recall at the beginning of the season Dalglish trying the 4-4-2 formation and when he could would try and play Carroll and Suarez upfront together.

Here's the crux of my theory: As the season has progressed, I can see, or think I can see Steve Clarke's contribution on the training ground being put into place - while slightly marginalizing Kenny's footballing philosophy. Clarke, by all accounts is very adept on the defensive aspect of the game and remembering he worked under Mourinho (similar style to Rafa), he could be accustomed to the pragmatic approach of the game. Where as, I think, after watching us play at the tail end of last year and in the first few months of this season - we saw an expansive game, Kenny's game perhaps. Where we were genuinely unlucky in front of goal.

Recently though, we've gone back to a five man midfield, two (sort of) holding midfielders with one upfront. Apart from Wolves recently, I cannot remember us carving the chances we made earlier on in the season. Spurs at home would be a prime example for me, Friedel was hardly tested and even though Spurs were excellently disciplined we didn't create that much to be fair. Even away at the Mancs, Suarez was feeding off scraps, like Carroll has been too recently. The numbers going forward have reduced and we're not get runners from midfield into the box. The expansive game that we were playing has turned into a pragmatic one. And I wonder if Clarke's contribution to this on the training ground, as time has gone on, and with his efforts played a part in out toothless displays recently?

[mart]

We have had the most goalscoring opportunities in the league, but the worst chance conversion record in the league.  That tells you where the problem is.  The midfield can't be that bad if we create that many chances, the problem is putting them in the back of the net.  A signing such as Cavani or someone of that ilk could make all the difference to this team.

I dont think its as easy as that. Our problem is that we lack bodies in the box when we create chances. We attack more as individuals than as a team. The few times Downing manages to get a decent cross in, we only got one player in the box. Our midfielders tend to stop and stay 30m or so away from the goal. You can see the difference when Maxi or Bellamy plays as they go for the goal when they have a chance to do so. We tend to make it way too easy for the opposition as their defenders only have to worry about one or two players.

Gerrard who was at his best playing on the "wing" or just behind torres is now pushed back into the Alonso role where he is just an average player. I guess spearing needs help, but its a shame we waste one of the few top players we have to help him out. If we continue to play in a 451 formation we should push gerrard up on the right wing or just behind suarez where we know he will score goals. I'm sure that Suarez and Gerrard could form a great partnership if they are given a chance to do so.

[yckatbjywtbiastkamb]

i do go to anfield every other week and have been going since the 70`s so that`s why i dont have unrealistic idea`s what a great side is.
you seem to think we should be this crushing machine that dominates every game from start to finish, i`ve only seen that twice in nearly 40 years, 78/79 and 87/88
most of our title wins were by one or two points (and thats over 42 games) and there were plenty of other good teams about that could beat us on their day it`s just that we were a bit, and i mean a bit more consistent.
you go on about bales chance at anfield, that often happened years ago, practically every game the likes of clemo and brucie would have nothing to do all game but then they`d have to save a one on one. you`d be one of those fella`s walking out the ground moaning saying that should have been a draw there.
why didnt you mention suarez`s header from about 6 yards out or the good chance andy carroll had on the turn?
those games you mentioned - sunderland - we missed a pen and they should have had a man sent off in the first ten minutes, they equalised with a flying volley that usually end up in row z, downing hits the bar and their keeper makes a couple of great saves in the final minutes.
norwich - dominated the game, hit the post about 3 times, went 1 up then reina comes out for a cross when he should have stayed on his line. their keeper had a blinder. carroll misses a sitter in injury time.
stoke - not a great performance but it was a couple of days after we beat city at their place in the cup, team looked shattered but even so kuyt missed an absolute sitter of a header from about 4 yards out, unbelievable miss.
blackburn - we conceded a freakish own goal when adam sliced the ball into the net from a mad angle, maxi brought down in box but linesman gives offside against suarez who was inactive, carroll has goal ruled out, agger has header cleared off the line, keeper has a blinder.
we have played worse in the past and won games.
it`s about fine margins, seen tons of performances like those in our title winning years but we just seemed to get the goal where as now we dont

Good post and good to see you back posting a bit more mate.

Agree, very fine margins in football at this level.  Clearly we've had better sides in the past, but the current lot aren't nearly as bad as some make out.  We play decent stuff at times and are probably only a couple of players off being a side that can challenge (but not necessarily win) the title.  We have dominated almost every league game this season, even ones we have drawn/lost.  Only Spurs, Bolton, City and United away have we been genuinely poor imo.  Other than that we have generally been very good but clearly lack that ruthlessness and cutting edge up front.

We have had the most goalscoring opportunities in the league, but the worst chance conversion record in the league.  That tells you where the problem is.  The midfield can't be that bad if we create that many chances, the problem is putting them in the back of the net.  A signing such as Cavani or someone of that ilk could make all the difference to this team.

ta mate, btw i think your post is probably the most accurate reflection on where we are at as a team that i`ve read anywhere.
people forget that around 1990 united finished mid table (and i mean mid table) twice with a team that contained 8 or 9 of the team that won their first title in 26 years 2 or 3 seasons later. pallister and bruce were in that side that finished mid table as were the likes of mark hughes, paul ince, bryan robson, brian mcclair etc.
i`m not saying we are going to find our scmeichel, giggs and cantona anytime soon i`m just saying sometimes when fans look at a side and think we are miles away quite often you are not as far away as you think.
look at kevin keegan, one player turned a side that looked way off the pace into a side that just missed out on the title, and if the ref hadnt have ruled out a good emlyn hughes goal at arsenal for nothing in the last game of the season we would have been champions.
the team needs strenghtening but it doesnt need a radical overhaul either imo.
people forget that before kenny took over this side had only won 2 away games in a calender year (one under rafa, one under hodgson), we were floating around the lower half of the table and hadnt qualified for the CL for 2 seasons.
the fans werent in a much better state either with fella`s in all four corners of anfield having stand up rows inside the ground over the state of the club, there was civil war amongst the fans.
within a year kenny has united the fanbase, has us in a cup final and within 4 points of a CL place, yeah he`s had money to spend but he`s also had to deal with losing torres as well, 18 months ago a liverpool without torres was a nightmare scenario for most fans.
all in all kenny has done well imo.

[yckatbjywtbiastkamb]

A post on behalf of a mate....

I've been thinking about our results and performances on the whole this season - and I've come up with a bit of theory of what may be happening.

It regards 'balance' in an attacking and defending sense. Earlier on in the season (in the first few months or so) we played some excellent football, typical Dalglish style of pass and move. We attacked with pace, held possession and dominated most games. At this point I was convinced we were simply unlucky in front of goal and a tonking for our next opponents was on the horizon. Alas, this never eventuated and with it our attacking play has regressed, leaving an isolated Carroll or Suarez up top to feed off scraps.

I recall at the beginning of the season Dalglish trying the 4-4-2 formation and when he could would try and play Carroll and Suarez upfront together.

Here's the crux of my theory: As the season has progressed, I can see, or think I can see Steve Clarke's contribution on the training ground being put into place - while slightly marginalizing Kenny's footballing philosophy. Clarke, by all accounts is very adept on the defensive aspect of the game and remembering he worked under Mourinho (similar style to Rafa), he could be accustomed to the pragmatic approach of the game. Where as, I think, after watching us play at the tail end of last year and in the first few months of this season - we saw an expansive game, Kenny's game perhaps. Where we were genuinely unlucky in front of goal.

Recently though, we've gone back to a five man midfield, two (sort of) holding midfielders with one upfront. Apart from Wolves recently, I cannot remember us carving the chances we made earlier on in the season. Spurs at home would be a prime example for me, Friedel was hardly tested and even though Spurs were excellently disciplined we didn't create that much to be fair. Even away at the Mancs, Suarez was feeding off scraps, like Carroll has been too recently. The numbers going forward have reduced and we're not get runners from midfield into the box. The expansive game that we were playing has turned into a pragmatic one. And I wonder if Clarke's contribution to this on the training ground, as time has gone on, and with his efforts played a part in out toothless displays recently?

yeah i`d noticed it myself, recently we have been nowhere near as adventerous and expansive as we were earlier on in the season but i sort of put it down to suarez being banned and maybe him not being on the pitch led to some of the other players lacking a bit of belief that we could break teams down without him.
your right about mourinho`s style of footy (when clarke was a coach), infact wasnt chelsea`s pragmatic style the thing that pi$$ed abramovitch off?

[yckatbjywtbiastkamb]

We have had the most goalscoring opportunities in the league, but the worst chance conversion record in the league.  That tells you where the problem is.  The midfield can't be that bad if we create that many chances, the problem is putting them in the back of the net.  A signing such as Cavani or someone of that ilk could make all the difference to this team.

I dont think its as easy as that. Our problem is that we lack bodies in the box when we create chances. We attack more as individuals than as a team. The few times Downing manages to get a decent cross in, we only got one player in the box. Our midfielders tend to stop and stay 30m or so away from the goal. You can see the difference when Maxi or Bellamy plays as they go for the goal when they have a chance to do so. We tend to make it way too easy for the opposition as their defenders only have to worry about one or two players.

Gerrard who was at his best playing on the "wing" or just behind torres is now pushed back into the Alonso role where he is just an average player. I guess spearing needs help, but its a shame we waste one of the few top players we have to help him out. If we continue to play in a 451 formation we should push gerrard up on the right wing or just behind suarez where we know he will score goals. I'm sure that Suarez and Gerrard could form a great partnership if they are given a chance to do so.

this has been a bugbear of mine for years, we havent got numbers in the opposition box consistently for a long long time.
as a team our crossing is poor but the players trying to put the delivery in have practically no margin for error because they are sometimes lucky to have even one player to aim for never mind 3 or 4 because our lone strikers sometimes get involved in the build up play and no one makes the run beyond them.
years ago look at the amount of goals our fullbacks used to score by ghosting in at the far post and getting onto the end of crosses, chris lawler scored more goals in his liverpool career than dirk kuyt (and unlike kuyt lawler never took a pen) and phil neal scored more than a few himself including that `strikers tap in` during the european cup final in rome in 84. lets face it would any of our fullbacks be in that center forward position in a CL final these days?
it`s hard work for midfielders and fullbacks to back up every attack and then when it breaks down to get quickly back goalside again, they might support the front men 20 times in a game and only get one half chance, but often it`s all that effort and those half chances, especially if you take them like alan kennedy did in paris in 81, that make the difference.
if you get numbers into the box you can just put percentage balls in, you dont need the best cross in the world, and when you have got numbers in there even half hit shots, rebounds or ricochet`s off defenders shins become goalscoring opportunities.
but as i say it takes effort.

[parchpea]

We can talk all day and night but truth is we just need better players and the tactics will work.

Dalglish can shuffle the pack and change formations as much as he likes but without the right quality it will pretty much always fall short.

Doesnt take a genius to look at the table and see we have a lot of work to do in terms of over hauling the squad to challenge for the league.

If we are going to forget that and concentrate on 4th then its a little less work but none the less a job to do to claim back what was our by right not so long ago.

Good players prevail and unfortunately we dont have enough of them.

[Homebooby]

We have had the most goalscoring opportunities in the league, but the worst chance conversion record in the league.  That tells you where the problem is.  The midfield can't be that bad if we create that many chances, the problem is putting them in the back of the net.  A signing such as Cavani or someone of that ilk could make all the difference to this team.

I dont think its as easy as that. Our problem is that we lack bodies in the box when we create chances. We attack more as individuals than as a team. The few times Downing manages to get a decent cross in, we only got one player in the box. Our midfielders tend to stop and stay 30m or so away from the goal. You can see the difference when Maxi or Bellamy plays as they go for the goal when they have a chance to do so. We tend to make it way too easy for the opposition as their defenders only have to worry about one or two players.

Gerrard who was at his best playing on the "wing" or just behind torres is now pushed back into the Alonso role where he is just an average player. I guess spearing needs help, but its a shame we waste one of the few top players we have to help him out. If we continue to play in a 451 formation we should push gerrard up on the right wing or just behind suarez where we know he will score goals. I'm sure that Suarez and Gerrard could form a great partnership if they are given a chance to do so.

this has been a bugbear of mine for years, we havent got numbers in the opposition box consistently for a long long time.
as a team our crossing is poor but the players trying to put the delivery in have practically no margin for error because they are sometimes lucky to have even one player to aim for never mind 3 or 4 because our lone strikers sometimes get involved in the build up play and no one makes the run beyond them.
years ago look at the amount of goals our fullbacks used to score by ghosting in at the far post and getting onto the end of crosses, chris lawler scored more goals in his liverpool career than dirk kuyt (and unlike kuyt lawler never took a pen) and phil neal scored more than a few himself including that `strikers tap in` during the european cup final in rome in 84. lets face it would any of our fullbacks be in that center forward position in a CL final these days?
it`s hard work for midfielders and fullbacks to back up every attack and then when it breaks down to get quickly back goalside again, they might support the front men 20 times in a game and only get one half chance, but often it`s all that effort and those half chances, especially if you take them like alan kennedy did in paris in 81, that make the difference.
if you get numbers into the box you can just put percentage balls in, you dont need the best cross in the world, and when you have got numbers in there even half hit shots, rebounds or ricochet`s off defenders shins become goalscoring opportunities.
but as i say it takes effort.

Don't know how you passed the test to be able to post on here mate...you actually seem to know what you're talking about as opposed to most on here who think that buying our way out is the solution to all of the problems.

Please continue.....