This is not an all doom and gloom article. This article is about why Liverpool are struggling in 7th. A certain manager once said..."football is a simple game complicated by fools".... Its not tactics, its not selections, its not that we are now missing Lucas. Van Persie Arsenal 14 Aguero Man City 11 Dzeko Man City 10 Ba Newcastle 9 Rooney Man Utd 9 Yakubu Blackburn 9 Adebayor Tottenham 7 Balotelli Man City 7 Sturridge Chelsea 7 Defoe Tottenham 6 Helguson QPR 6 Hernandez Man Utd 6 Klasnic Bolton 6 Lampard Chelsea 6 Van der Vaart Tottenham 6 Its very simple We need to start scoring goals period!!!. The buck now falls with our attacking players. Its all good saying we hit the post 12 times but there are no awards for that. All the teams above Liverpool have scored more goals both home and away than Liverpool. Goals win games and our strike force needs to step up a bit. Yakubu has scored more than both Carroll,Suarez,Bellamy and Kuyt yet his team is struggling. Until those Goals for numbers improve we will continue having this discussions blaming referees, the upright and the post. Defense is doing pretty fine very few goals conceded. Midfield is also creating chances as evidenced by the number of times we have hit the post. On to you strike force.
The sending off was harsh, at best a yellow card, Suarez's goal was wrongly ruled out too. I think keny was wrong to play Carroll instead of Maxi. To sum it up we missed Lucas.
We should have put ourselves in a decent position before 70 mins with at least one goal, there are plenty of things for the lads to think about. One other thing to think about...what is it with opposition keepers and the woodwork upping their game against us!? Look at Ruddy vs Man City...a shadow of a keeper compared to the game at Anfield.
Another frustrating night which involves us dominating the games, having the best chances, hitting the woodwork and still on the losing side. The encouraging thing is that we are still playing good football and dominating games. If we were playing poorly and deserved to lose, then I would be worried.
I feel the same, don't really feel too disheartened about the result because yet again we created chances, hit the wood twice and had yet another perfectly good goal disallowed which probably would have allowed us to go on and win the game. December can still be a good month for us.
Absolutely. The only issue we have is scoring goals. Quite a big issue nonetheless, but it is the only one we have. We have pretty much dominated every game we have played this season (except against Spurs) and we should have won them all. One point I would like to make is that I felt playing Carroll was the wrong move by Kenny as Fulham have tall, strong defenders which nullified Carroll easily. We saw last season where Suarez and Maxi cause havoc with their movement and intelligence. Suarez did it again last night. Andy Carroll should not be starting - he contributed absolutely nothing. A striker is must in the January window.
The question then becomes who do we go for in January. It is very tricky as we may be milked by any selling Club. That said I would like for Commolli to have sported a bargain buy who is relatively unknown.
I agree with the sentiment and the simple facts presented. It is quite simple I thought our team on the pitch looked ok and our bench looked strong right up to the point where you saw dirk kuyt as the only real striking option. That says it all. Carroll is a flo, i think we can all acknowledge that right now and in the end we've not got an option and have not had an option in 3 years. Fortunately we can resolve this and we should all know 7 players in in 6 months plus all the dead wood shifted was good work. However it was just some of the work done and a long way to go. Wishful thinking and bashing anyone who dares point out the reality won't change that. I think if we pay 25 mil and get a 25mil player we'll go and do fine in january. If we pay 35mil for a 10mil player (at best) we'll be in trouble
MITO - I wouldn't label AC as a flop just yet. I still see him as a youngster just as I do with Hendo and Spearing and should be nurtured into the team. But I agree in that he has done absolutely nothing and does not fit our style of play at all. The first name that pops into my head would be Llorente. What are the chances of getting him?
That is harsh, at best, and an outright lie at worst. The lad has been a 1 in 4 striker for Liverpool in the league so far. Not bad considering the lack of time he's had on the pitch (he had 90 minutes once last season in 7 appearances; 90 minutes 4 times this season) - at his best for the Geordies he was a 1 in 2 for that half a season last year. He's not a flop, but a work in progress. Perhaps when you look at the price tag, you see 'flop' but he didn't set the price. Perhaps you'd rather have a floppy cock back?
We can see that AC is struggling and I wouldn't mind his lack of goals if it wasn't for his poor all round game. I understand that he's not had a consistent run of games but how many does he need to be able to control a ball and be involved in the game? He is struggling with the basics which is the most worrying thing, especially as the current Liverpool side is based on passing and moving. He can do neither at the moment. IMO Carroll had his best game against Chelsea in the Carling Cup when he was winning the long balls, controlling well, held the ball up and played it to the nearest player (Yes - he controlled the ball and passed it 5 yards! Sounds simple but he has struggled to do even this!!!!). He missed a penalty but I didn't care because he was becoming more and more involved in the match and doing the simple things right. On the other hand, you have Henderson who hasn't exactly set the world alight but his touch and technique has been very good which gives me confidence that he has a platform to build up on.
I know this morning Kenny Dalglish is going to conduct the autopsy, he said yesterday before the game that he found it difficult to leave Maxi out, and he eventually left him out.I do not know whether his statement is part of the politics of being a football manager.If a player is scoring goals he must be encouraged, but I would not like to question Kenny Dalglish's judgement. I think our opponents are now of the opinion that if they can stop Suarez they can stop Liverpool.Goals must come from other area of the field if the opponents are making life difficult for our forwards. I have nothing against Andy Carrol, but I strongly believe that he should be on the bench yesterday. Lucas absence was obvious yesterday, we all know now how importance he is to the team.
Lucas' absence wasn't significantly noticeable until after Jay got harshly sent off. Regards Carroll, I don't know whether the bench is the answer for him; I tend to think he needs a run of games where he isn't pulled off before the end, both for match fitness and for confidence (how many strikers can play their natural game when under pressure and wondering whether (in the second half)the next chance will be the last one. We should have won that game 4-0 had the decisions gone the our way (Senderos off for challenge on Adam + pen; Suarez 'offside' goal, Dempsey off for clashing heads with Bellamy; Dembele off for two yellows - repeated foul play; Downing and Henderson hit the post; Fulham at least two players down and we'd have crucified them). They didn't and we'll have to move on - the FA can't change the result.
The primary function of a striker is to get goals.If his fellow team mates chip in then you get a team that can win most matches than draw. I think Suarez gets away with a lot of criticism for being a mercurial player to watch.For all the nutmegs and beautiful turns there is an awful miss afterwards. Look at that list of the current top scorers. Only Van der Vaart is what you would consider as not a striker. Based on striking then so far Suarez 4, Kuyt 0, Bellamy 1 and Carroll 2 are all struggling to perform. Only when they up their numbers will you see Liverpool climb up the table.
now now st john.... carroll has been a tthe club 11 month and he is a flop. end of story. don't birng n'gog into it cos i was proved right there. Andy carroll reminds me more of a lazy fernando morientes.... god we could all see it wasn't going to work out cos the lad had zero pace but he did try. Andy carroll looks for all the world like he's simply not going to make it ergo fl.... we are all quick to laugh at veron but this one is a monumental error and thats al lther eis to it. have to call it like i see it. a work in progress is ok to say, i've no issue with that and you're entitled to that but i gotta be true to me and call it my way so don't call me a liar thats being rude. no work rate, no goals, no fitness, players saying he's a bad trainer as well.... he'd have to increase wrok rate by double, learn how to make good runs that trouble defenders, not make thier jobs easier and become more lethal by getting far more headers on target than he does... i can't see all that improving.
it was soooo obvious Lucas was not playing, Spearing did well but his passing vision less and his positioning and sense of danger is not as good also. Fulham picked up the ball in the hole far too many times to cause us trouble, I think Lucas would have snuffed out Dempsey quite well, helped us retain posession for longer periods and grind the opposition down, instead, hmmm we trashed ourselves against Fulham and lost, sounds like a familiar scenario to a lot of games last season.
I rather Suarez was running into the box and creating the chances for others rather than being waiting around in the box and being on the end of one. There were a few times when he dribbled beautifully down the left hand side and put it into the box. This is where he is most dangerous. Carroll does not suit our style of play and shouldn't be playing just yet. We need a proper striker, if only Torres wasn't such a knob ...
the game had 0-0 written all ove rit at half time. 1. we played 4-3-3 and henderson was found wanting positionally. johnson was exposed to risee constantly and henderson could be found ove ro nthe left side of the pitch. 2. Fulham had no directness about them... any time they got the ball forward or a break they'd pass it sideways and we'd be able to funnel back. 3. fulham paplied zero pressure on us at the back so we could pass it round, they defended deep. 4. carroll would not jump or get in fornt nor stay up top so either he was out the field and nt able to get up for the attack or was out wide... or hangeland ate him up. 5. Brede hangeland was brillinat, not only in the air but also passing the ball... really top play. 6. we rarely got behind them and then didn't show much composure when we did. 7. we didn't really mis lucas but i felt spearing got more frantic as the game went on. he started out doing the right things but as the 0-0 kept on the score sheet i feel hew as thinking of sunderland last year and the lambasting he got then. Lucas.... not the reason we lost, not even the reason we drew... far far too many missed chances again
MITO - I'm not calling you a liar. I was quite specific in saying it was a lie (Carroll is a Flop) not you. I have too much respect for you to call you a liar. Pessimist, perhaps, but not a liar. I think he's a work in progress and lacks any kind of confidence, and we all know strikers are an object lesson in confidence. I also agree that he has mountains to learn, and that includes upping his workrate, but I can't see how he's going to improve his fitness if he isn't seeing out 90 minutes regularly. As observed by LFC-009, Carroll was a different player against Chelsea in the Cup and that is more of what we want to see. He does need to get more involved, but as a 'targetman' he needs to be in and about the area at all times, not dropping deep and chasing back. We're used to having the front man chasing all across the line, but Carroll needs to occupy the centre backs, not the full backs.
