Home
We've all sat and watched the demise of Liverpool this season and we've all joked about it, took the piss and in our fans case - cursed and berated our performances. But what exactly has gone wrong? From playing brilliant football and steam-rolling the likes of Madrid, United and Villa last season, finishing 4 points off the top spot, we're now not even certain of a top 6 finish. The lack of effort, motivation and desire to win games is showing, the players want the season to end now and the manager appears to be cracking under the pressure. People have drawn ominous links back to the late days of the Houllier Era were we became a laughing stock, spending millions of pounds on the likes of Diouf, Cisse and Diao.
But how can you explain the complete transformation from a good all round footballing side in just 10 months. Here's a few of my reasons:
1) The loss of Alonso
Just to get this out the way first. We've all heard it a thousand times but you only have to look at some of his play for Madrid this season to see how he can get teams playing football.
2) Steven Gerrard's decline
I've been saying it all season. Gerrard has declined as an all round footballer. The spark and inspiration he once offered is no longer there, he's a shadow of his former self and whilst he still has ability, people are expcting far too much from him - probably even more now than they used to expect. The problem is when people used to expect him to save us he always used to do it and that brought more expecation. So when we are looking devoid of any motivation at all, people will obviously look to Gerrard, he's the captain after all. But he's lost a lot of pace and strength. His quick darts forward are easily halted and this generates frustration from him, his head drops, he doesn't believe in himself or his team mates, and it leaves us with another huge loss, the loss of one of our all time greatest players.
3 Defensive injuries
Our defence has up until the last 9 games or so been a total and utter shambles this season. The loss of Arbeloa was a massive one IMO - he knows how to defend, he keeps it compact and links up well with the right winger. Johnson hasn't had time to prove himself fully yet, he started the season well from an attacking perspective but injuries hampered his form and he's now missed a huge chunk of the season. Rafa's lack of faith in the likes of Martin Kelly haven't helped and I'll come to that shortly. This lack of faith has meant we've seen makeshift right backs in the form of Carragher and Mascherano. Carragher's had a very poor season by his standards in his preferred position so moving him to right back only compounds the problem. Lets face it, once he gets past his own half he doesn't have the slightest clue what to do. Mascherano can play in this role at home and we can get away with it but away from home against a side like Wigan who'll battle hard, we need him in the centre of the park, getting stuck in. It's criminal to play him right back away from home when he has the option of Martin Kelly, who has looked very promising in his cameo's thus far.
The injuries to Skrtel and Agger have also been a hinderance. There's never been a consistant defence because one or the other, or sometimes both have been hit with injuries. Kygriakos did a fantastic job standing in for them but Agger is a player who can add to the footballing side of the game as well. Kygriakos and Carragher are just defenders who will clear the danger with hoofed balls, this is the last thing you want when you have a team devoid of confidence.
Left back has been a problem as well. Insua has been hit and miss, he's young, he's by no means the finished article but Aurellio's injuries have meant Rafa has had to persist with him and when we've been forced to battle for points lately, Insua isn't the man for that. He has no defensive discipline, positionally he's all over the place at times but you can't put too much blame on him. It's an area we need to sort out in the summer.
4) Rafa Benitez - the pressure has gotten to him
Firstly, I'd like to state that like many I remain loyal to Rafa, he's a top manager, tactically one of the best but this season in particular he's done himself no favours.
The sale of Alonso may have been in part down to him but the replacement - Aquilani has up until now been a massive error of judgement. If Rafa wont play him because he isn't fit enough then how can he justify starting Maxi - another player who's had injury problems. If Rafa isn't playing him because he isn't good enough then there's a major problem. At the end of the day we can complain about the financial situation at present (and rightly so) but when we sold Alonso we got 30 million pounds. Where did that money go? Well I'm not one to answer but IMO Rafa probably got around half of that to spend on a player. He's spent at least 15 million on Aquilani, now to give an example from Everton, Moyes spent the same amount of money on Fellaini and so far he's proved to be a fantastic signing, he offers so much to their team. Aquilani has looked poor when he's played so far. Now I'm not going to write him off yet but there is no escaping the fact that he hasn't done the simple things right. The 2 yard passes, the tackles, they haven't been what you expect from a 20 million pound player. I'll reserve judgement until next season where he will get a pre-season under his belt and there can't be more excuses but right now I'm looking at this transfer and I am extremely annoyed by the whole situation.
Is Rafa's judgement then a major flaw? We know he likes his workhorses and we know he's obsessed with stats. Kuyt, Lucas and Maxi probably have good stats, good pass rates and work rates second to none but football isn't played on paper and manging isn't done in your office 3 days before the game. Rafa is too stubborn, he has game plans that can't be altered. If we're crying out for something different after 55 minutes we wont see a change until the 70th minute. He wont give players like Kelly and Pacheco a chance yet when they've featured so far they've given the crowd a lift and they've given the team a lift. There are options for Rafa but he chooses not to use them. He sticks religiously to a 4-5-1 system most of the time even if Torres is unavailable. Kuyt proves he can do a decent job up front but is then shifted back to the wing to accomodate the system once Torres returns. He doesn't gamble enough, he's too compact, too tactical and not enough of a man manager or a motivator. You need these qualities to go 38 games and finish top, you need to inspire your players to perform away at Wigan and Stoke as well as at home to United and Everton and IMO this just isn't happening.
5) The owners, debt and the future of the club
This IMO is the fundamental problem at the club. The club currently exists to pay off its debts. The owner's don't care about us going to Old Trafford and winning, they care about a return and the ability to pay off the debts. They'd sell off Torres, Gerrard and Mascherano to save their own asses. The players don't know if we can ever get to the top level because they know deep down Rafa now has financial constraints imposed upon him. The American's have destroyed the soul of the club and until they leave we can't move forward.
Your thoughts please?
But how can you explain the complete transformation from a good all round footballing side in just 10 months. Here's a few of my reasons:
1) The loss of Alonso
Just to get this out the way first. We've all heard it a thousand times but you only have to look at some of his play for Madrid this season to see how he can get teams playing football.
2) Steven Gerrard's decline
I've been saying it all season. Gerrard has declined as an all round footballer. The spark and inspiration he once offered is no longer there, he's a shadow of his former self and whilst he still has ability, people are expcting far too much from him - probably even more now than they used to expect. The problem is when people used to expect him to save us he always used to do it and that brought more expecation. So when we are looking devoid of any motivation at all, people will obviously look to Gerrard, he's the captain after all. But he's lost a lot of pace and strength. His quick darts forward are easily halted and this generates frustration from him, his head drops, he doesn't believe in himself or his team mates, and it leaves us with another huge loss, the loss of one of our all time greatest players.
3 Defensive injuries
Our defence has up until the last 9 games or so been a total and utter shambles this season. The loss of Arbeloa was a massive one IMO - he knows how to defend, he keeps it compact and links up well with the right winger. Johnson hasn't had time to prove himself fully yet, he started the season well from an attacking perspective but injuries hampered his form and he's now missed a huge chunk of the season. Rafa's lack of faith in the likes of Martin Kelly haven't helped and I'll come to that shortly. This lack of faith has meant we've seen makeshift right backs in the form of Carragher and Mascherano. Carragher's had a very poor season by his standards in his preferred position so moving him to right back only compounds the problem. Lets face it, once he gets past his own half he doesn't have the slightest clue what to do. Mascherano can play in this role at home and we can get away with it but away from home against a side like Wigan who'll battle hard, we need him in the centre of the park, getting stuck in. It's criminal to play him right back away from home when he has the option of Martin Kelly, who has looked very promising in his cameo's thus far.
The injuries to Skrtel and Agger have also been a hinderance. There's never been a consistant defence because one or the other, or sometimes both have been hit with injuries. Kygriakos did a fantastic job standing in for them but Agger is a player who can add to the footballing side of the game as well. Kygriakos and Carragher are just defenders who will clear the danger with hoofed balls, this is the last thing you want when you have a team devoid of confidence.
Left back has been a problem as well. Insua has been hit and miss, he's young, he's by no means the finished article but Aurellio's injuries have meant Rafa has had to persist with him and when we've been forced to battle for points lately, Insua isn't the man for that. He has no defensive discipline, positionally he's all over the place at times but you can't put too much blame on him. It's an area we need to sort out in the summer.
4) Rafa Benitez - the pressure has gotten to him
Firstly, I'd like to state that like many I remain loyal to Rafa, he's a top manager, tactically one of the best but this season in particular he's done himself no favours.
The sale of Alonso may have been in part down to him but the replacement - Aquilani has up until now been a massive error of judgement. If Rafa wont play him because he isn't fit enough then how can he justify starting Maxi - another player who's had injury problems. If Rafa isn't playing him because he isn't good enough then there's a major problem. At the end of the day we can complain about the financial situation at present (and rightly so) but when we sold Alonso we got 30 million pounds. Where did that money go? Well I'm not one to answer but IMO Rafa probably got around half of that to spend on a player. He's spent at least 15 million on Aquilani, now to give an example from Everton, Moyes spent the same amount of money on Fellaini and so far he's proved to be a fantastic signing, he offers so much to their team. Aquilani has looked poor when he's played so far. Now I'm not going to write him off yet but there is no escaping the fact that he hasn't done the simple things right. The 2 yard passes, the tackles, they haven't been what you expect from a 20 million pound player. I'll reserve judgement until next season where he will get a pre-season under his belt and there can't be more excuses but right now I'm looking at this transfer and I am extremely annoyed by the whole situation.
Is Rafa's judgement then a major flaw? We know he likes his workhorses and we know he's obsessed with stats. Kuyt, Lucas and Maxi probably have good stats, good pass rates and work rates second to none but football isn't played on paper and manging isn't done in your office 3 days before the game. Rafa is too stubborn, he has game plans that can't be altered. If we're crying out for something different after 55 minutes we wont see a change until the 70th minute. He wont give players like Kelly and Pacheco a chance yet when they've featured so far they've given the crowd a lift and they've given the team a lift. There are options for Rafa but he chooses not to use them. He sticks religiously to a 4-5-1 system most of the time even if Torres is unavailable. Kuyt proves he can do a decent job up front but is then shifted back to the wing to accomodate the system once Torres returns. He doesn't gamble enough, he's too compact, too tactical and not enough of a man manager or a motivator. You need these qualities to go 38 games and finish top, you need to inspire your players to perform away at Wigan and Stoke as well as at home to United and Everton and IMO this just isn't happening.
5) The owners, debt and the future of the club
This IMO is the fundamental problem at the club. The club currently exists to pay off its debts. The owner's don't care about us going to Old Trafford and winning, they care about a return and the ability to pay off the debts. They'd sell off Torres, Gerrard and Mascherano to save their own asses. The players don't know if we can ever get to the top level because they know deep down Rafa now has financial constraints imposed upon him. The American's have destroyed the soul of the club and until they leave we can't move forward.
Your thoughts please?
Gerrard can't play, he's got to be accomodated in a team just like Lampard and protected like Terry with real talented players. Xabi Alonso ain't there no more to clean up EVERY SINGLE ONE of Gerrard's fuck ups. No more! AND I KNEW IT AS SOON AS XABI ALONSO WAS GONE! 
)
wrote:
