8 goals in 3 days. Playing without Fernando Torres......and 4 points clear of Chelsea (at least until their game against Fulham is over).
Title contenders?? Maybe but let's not lose ourselves in all that euphoria. All we wanted was to be challenging for the title at Christmas. We are now leading the table. It has been a fantastic start to the season but we are only half way there. We can't slacken and lose concentration especially when we expect a stronger challenge from Man United in the second half of the season. Chelsea will still be at least one point behind us, provided they beat Fulham at Craven Cottage (they are currently trailing by 1 goal).
The team is playing well and confidence is high. That can only be a good sign going into 2009. Whether we are genuine title contenders or not, let's just not speculate or lose ourselves in that discussion.
3 points every game. That's the objective from now till May next year.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Caution will not win us the title
In previous seasons, a draw at the Emirates will be seen as a good result and a valuable point earned. In this season's context, however, it's more like 2 valuable points dropped especially after the Gunners were reduced to 9 men momentarily. While Fabregas was being treated for a knee ligament injury and Adebayor sent off for a second yellow card offence, we were playing against a 9 men team for a while. With only one striker upfront, the Gunners were there for the taking. Instead of attacking, we slowed the game down considerably and were contented with passing the ball around in our own half. As a result, the game became scrappy and our momentum going forward was lost.
While I understand that a point will virtually end the Gunners title hopes, we could have very well capitalised on the situation and gone for the win. Instead, Reira was subsituted with Babel, Keane was taken out for Nabil El'Zhar and finally David N'gog for Lucas. As far as I am concerned, the substitutions were overly cautious for a team sitting merely one point above second-placed Chelsea. Lucas should have been substituted earlier in the game. He was losing possession easily and was ineffective in his role. I cannot understand Rafa's intentions as far as the substitutions were concerned. Wouldn't it be a sensible decision to play a 3 men defence at the back especially when the Gunners deployed a lone-striker upfront? Insua should have been taken off and Babel playing as a striker behind Keane and Kyut. Benayoun should have replaced Lucas on the right flank and Kyut moved upfront into a 3-4-3 or a 3-4-1-2 formation. With Alonso protecting the 3-men backline, Gerard can still maintain his position in the hole and push the attack from midfield. Benayoun could exploit Clichy's injury on the right flank with his surging runs. We will have Babel, Keane and Kyut in attack trying to score that winning goal.
I said before that while caution will not necessarily cost a team the title, it will not win us any either. Every single point counts. It is a blessing that Chelsea has continued to struggle so far. They could have easily taken over the lead this morning at Goodison Park. With Man United winning the World Club championships, they will return with renewed confidence. I agree that we have been playing our best football in recent years but to win our 19th league title, we need to be more ruthless and adventurous in front of goal. Our inability to kill teams off may return to haunt us in May.
Let's hope we will not have to face a heart-stopping second half of the season.
While I understand that a point will virtually end the Gunners title hopes, we could have very well capitalised on the situation and gone for the win. Instead, Reira was subsituted with Babel, Keane was taken out for Nabil El'Zhar and finally David N'gog for Lucas. As far as I am concerned, the substitutions were overly cautious for a team sitting merely one point above second-placed Chelsea. Lucas should have been substituted earlier in the game. He was losing possession easily and was ineffective in his role. I cannot understand Rafa's intentions as far as the substitutions were concerned. Wouldn't it be a sensible decision to play a 3 men defence at the back especially when the Gunners deployed a lone-striker upfront? Insua should have been taken off and Babel playing as a striker behind Keane and Kyut. Benayoun should have replaced Lucas on the right flank and Kyut moved upfront into a 3-4-3 or a 3-4-1-2 formation. With Alonso protecting the 3-men backline, Gerard can still maintain his position in the hole and push the attack from midfield. Benayoun could exploit Clichy's injury on the right flank with his surging runs. We will have Babel, Keane and Kyut in attack trying to score that winning goal.
I said before that while caution will not necessarily cost a team the title, it will not win us any either. Every single point counts. It is a blessing that Chelsea has continued to struggle so far. They could have easily taken over the lead this morning at Goodison Park. With Man United winning the World Club championships, they will return with renewed confidence. I agree that we have been playing our best football in recent years but to win our 19th league title, we need to be more ruthless and adventurous in front of goal. Our inability to kill teams off may return to haunt us in May.
Let's hope we will not have to face a heart-stopping second half of the season.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Another wierd weekend but we are still top
What a strange weekend!
Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Hull City at Anfield. We had to come from 2 goals down to level the game. Once again, Gerard was there to rescue the team and earn us what could prove to be a crucial point.
Man United, Arsenal and even Chelsea were all held to draws!! I must say that I am relieved to see us still top of the table. If the rest of the results had been otherwise, the 2 points dropped at home would have been a really bad result. However, in the context of the results over the weekend, the 2 points dropped against Hull did not seem that bad a result afterall. In fact there were positives to be taken from the game.
Gerard scored 2 goals and seemed extremely lively during the game. That has to be a good sign as we all know the kind of impact he can make in a game. I liked our wing play in recent games too especially with Benayoun coming in for Kyut on the right and Reira on the left. I have always been impressed with Benayoun and he is the kind of player that has the ability to change a game and score crucial goals. It was also good to see Hypia playing alongside Carragher and I felt he deserved at least a goal after so many attempts at goal from the corners. The spirit of the entire team was unquestionable. They fought and fought. The pressure on Hull City was immense especially in the last 20mins of the game. However, what I felt could have been done better was the substitutions made by Rafa in the second half.
Why did he bring on Nabil El'zhar for Benayoun on the right? He couldn't cope with the pace of the game, often losing possession. Why did he take off Reira for Babel? And what was the wisdom for a one-for-one substitution between Mascherano and Lucas?? We were fighting for the winning goal and Hull City seemed contented with a point. They had 10 men in their own half and were happy to try to play the counter attack. Why not go 3 men at the back?? Take off Dossena and replace him with an attacking player. Why not play Babel upfront or maybe even Keane or David N'gog with Kyut?? Why not instruct Gerard to push further up? Why not get everyone to shoot at will instead of trying to play that 'perfect' final pass??
We probably wont lose a championship by being overly cautious but neither will we win one if we remain so. We needed 3 points regardless of the other results and that was clear. Given the way Hull was playing in the last 20mins, I felt we could have been a lot more adventurous. We needed to signal our intent clearly and could have gone on the offensive by bringing in an extra attacking player.
It is clear we missed Torres' presence. We need him back soon. With Keane dropped to the bench, we clearly lacked a out-and-out striker. Kyut has been playing well this season but we all know he can be rather wasteful at times.
It is important to note that despite not playing at our best, we are still leading the table and that should be a blessng. Of course, the other argument could also be that we should capitalise on their current form and pull away from the rest. Whatever it is, nothing will change the fact that we are in the driving seat for now. Let's just savour the moment and enjoy it.
Next up, the Gunners at the Emirates.
Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Hull City at Anfield. We had to come from 2 goals down to level the game. Once again, Gerard was there to rescue the team and earn us what could prove to be a crucial point.
Man United, Arsenal and even Chelsea were all held to draws!! I must say that I am relieved to see us still top of the table. If the rest of the results had been otherwise, the 2 points dropped at home would have been a really bad result. However, in the context of the results over the weekend, the 2 points dropped against Hull did not seem that bad a result afterall. In fact there were positives to be taken from the game.
Gerard scored 2 goals and seemed extremely lively during the game. That has to be a good sign as we all know the kind of impact he can make in a game. I liked our wing play in recent games too especially with Benayoun coming in for Kyut on the right and Reira on the left. I have always been impressed with Benayoun and he is the kind of player that has the ability to change a game and score crucial goals. It was also good to see Hypia playing alongside Carragher and I felt he deserved at least a goal after so many attempts at goal from the corners. The spirit of the entire team was unquestionable. They fought and fought. The pressure on Hull City was immense especially in the last 20mins of the game. However, what I felt could have been done better was the substitutions made by Rafa in the second half.
Why did he bring on Nabil El'zhar for Benayoun on the right? He couldn't cope with the pace of the game, often losing possession. Why did he take off Reira for Babel? And what was the wisdom for a one-for-one substitution between Mascherano and Lucas?? We were fighting for the winning goal and Hull City seemed contented with a point. They had 10 men in their own half and were happy to try to play the counter attack. Why not go 3 men at the back?? Take off Dossena and replace him with an attacking player. Why not play Babel upfront or maybe even Keane or David N'gog with Kyut?? Why not instruct Gerard to push further up? Why not get everyone to shoot at will instead of trying to play that 'perfect' final pass??
We probably wont lose a championship by being overly cautious but neither will we win one if we remain so. We needed 3 points regardless of the other results and that was clear. Given the way Hull was playing in the last 20mins, I felt we could have been a lot more adventurous. We needed to signal our intent clearly and could have gone on the offensive by bringing in an extra attacking player.
It is clear we missed Torres' presence. We need him back soon. With Keane dropped to the bench, we clearly lacked a out-and-out striker. Kyut has been playing well this season but we all know he can be rather wasteful at times.
It is important to note that despite not playing at our best, we are still leading the table and that should be a blessng. Of course, the other argument could also be that we should capitalise on their current form and pull away from the rest. Whatever it is, nothing will change the fact that we are in the driving seat for now. Let's just savour the moment and enjoy it.
Next up, the Gunners at the Emirates.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Break down the 'bus'
2 home draws in the League and a scrappy 1-0 win over Marseille in the Champions League. Championship material? I certainly hope so.
While it is easy to moan and cry over the 4 points dropped in the League, we should also take the positives from the current situation. Sitting 1 point clear at the top of the League is something I am sure we will all gladly accept at the start of the season. This is afterall Liverpool's best start in a long while. What we said at the end of last season was that we needed to be challenging for the title after December. It is early December now and we are leading the League. That in itself is a remarkable achievement.
The context of this is that whilst we may not have been at our best, the rest of the traditional top 3 teams are doing just as bad, if not worse. Arsenal had lost 5 times thus far whilst Chelsea have been beaten at home twice already. Man U barely scrapped through with a 1-0 win over their city rivals last weekend and are 6 points below us (with a game in hand).
Yes, we need to start churning out title winning performances and getting 3 points for every game but as long as Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal are below us, I dun care even if the team scraps thru 0-0 draws and earn a point. What worries me more is the mentality of the players. They need to remain positive and confident. Winning of course breeds confidence but what's more important is that the team's current position be pointed out to each and every one of those players in the dressing room. They need to understand that they ARE the League leaders. And being League leaders, they need to start playing like one and bulldoze their way through every team that comes to Anfield to "park their bus" in front of their goal. Look at the last 2 games. Both Fulham and West Ham came for a draw. They were just happy with a point and hopefully minimise the damage should we score the first goal. The key for them was to keep a clean sheet in the first half and frustrate Liverpool. In the second half, as we push more men forward, they will hope to hit us on the break and try to steal that wining goal. What that means is that we will need to play with confidence, flair and creativity. We can't simply rely on the wingers to do the same thing game after game! Every coach in England now knows Albert Reira is the threat on the left and Kyut or Benayoun on the right for Liverpool. Shut these fellas out and we will be forced to play down the middle. Put more men behind the ball and stop us from playing our usual football. Soon, we will be forced to pump the long balls in and hope for the best. Given that, I feel that Gerard thrives in situations like that. It was unfortunate he didn't start off the game in a more attacking role this morning. Without Mascherano, Gerard was tasked to sit in front of the back line whilst Alonso sprays the passes to Keane and Kyut. Surely, we missed Torres and Keane seems to be lacking in confidence. We need Gerard to be at his best for these teams to be broken down.
In any case, it's still early days and we are sitting at the top of the League. We need to remain positive and look forward to Blackburn this weekend. Without the League Cup to distract us in the next 2 days, it's time to re-group in order to drive forward. It's not time to panic yet. We just need belief.
3 points for sure on Saturday.
While it is easy to moan and cry over the 4 points dropped in the League, we should also take the positives from the current situation. Sitting 1 point clear at the top of the League is something I am sure we will all gladly accept at the start of the season. This is afterall Liverpool's best start in a long while. What we said at the end of last season was that we needed to be challenging for the title after December. It is early December now and we are leading the League. That in itself is a remarkable achievement.
The context of this is that whilst we may not have been at our best, the rest of the traditional top 3 teams are doing just as bad, if not worse. Arsenal had lost 5 times thus far whilst Chelsea have been beaten at home twice already. Man U barely scrapped through with a 1-0 win over their city rivals last weekend and are 6 points below us (with a game in hand).
Yes, we need to start churning out title winning performances and getting 3 points for every game but as long as Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal are below us, I dun care even if the team scraps thru 0-0 draws and earn a point. What worries me more is the mentality of the players. They need to remain positive and confident. Winning of course breeds confidence but what's more important is that the team's current position be pointed out to each and every one of those players in the dressing room. They need to understand that they ARE the League leaders. And being League leaders, they need to start playing like one and bulldoze their way through every team that comes to Anfield to "park their bus" in front of their goal. Look at the last 2 games. Both Fulham and West Ham came for a draw. They were just happy with a point and hopefully minimise the damage should we score the first goal. The key for them was to keep a clean sheet in the first half and frustrate Liverpool. In the second half, as we push more men forward, they will hope to hit us on the break and try to steal that wining goal. What that means is that we will need to play with confidence, flair and creativity. We can't simply rely on the wingers to do the same thing game after game! Every coach in England now knows Albert Reira is the threat on the left and Kyut or Benayoun on the right for Liverpool. Shut these fellas out and we will be forced to play down the middle. Put more men behind the ball and stop us from playing our usual football. Soon, we will be forced to pump the long balls in and hope for the best. Given that, I feel that Gerard thrives in situations like that. It was unfortunate he didn't start off the game in a more attacking role this morning. Without Mascherano, Gerard was tasked to sit in front of the back line whilst Alonso sprays the passes to Keane and Kyut. Surely, we missed Torres and Keane seems to be lacking in confidence. We need Gerard to be at his best for these teams to be broken down.
In any case, it's still early days and we are sitting at the top of the League. We need to remain positive and look forward to Blackburn this weekend. Without the League Cup to distract us in the next 2 days, it's time to re-group in order to drive forward. It's not time to panic yet. We just need belief.
3 points for sure on Saturday.
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