There was a reason Kenny didn't last in Newcastle. He's unquestionably a legend at the Club but as manager the game's passed him by tactically and in terms of player selection. Play the kids the rest of the season and then find a better manager in the summer.
Bielsa...please...please! All kidding aside, I don't know what to think. As poor as some of the games have been...we have deserved so much for so many other games. One wonders if that is a trend that will continue next year.
This squad has done something I thought not possible. They've made me not care about them. Kenny must do the honorable thing and go on his own this summer.
All four of the British/domestic buys have been absolutely catastrophic. I still hold out hope for Henderson - but 30+ games into the season they have shown they were big fish small pond players. I will reiterate - and yes I'm crying over spilled milk - but Rafa deserved better. So much better.
Imagining things like that will hurt you. We'd have Dani Alves, David Silva, David Villa, Pato, Vidic, etc if Rafa had any money.
what he said. starts at the top and carries through to the squad. no more excuses to not play the kids so put them out there and get some time on the pitch. They can't be any worse than what our "top" players have been lately!
Agreed.....I want to watch but I'd rather mow the yard with our current form. Usually make my schedule around the matches, but with this $hit i'll record the games and then MAYBE watch them.
I am always willing to look on the bright side but today that is difficult. I must admit that it is mystifying why we set out in a 4-5-1 to play Wigan at home. Stupid me drew the team sheet with Kuyt up top with Suarez. Instead we were over run in the midfield with 3 CMs. Spearing was poor today, easily his worst outing of the year. Henderson is complete and utter shit. Needs 4 touches to do anything but usually passes directly to the other team after the 4 touches. I keep thinking he is young and will improve but I am beginning to doubt it. Kuyt simply is too old and slow to play as a wing twice in a week. He never really was a good fit there but his effectiveness is all but gone out there. Play him up front maybe. So the formation I blame on Kenny. After today if he plays Carragher I will blame him for that as well. But the lack of effort, desire and commitment I lay at the players. Suarez never stops and wants to win even if he makes some poor decisions in trying to win but the remainder don't seem to give a shit. The first goal started with Henderson failing to clear an easy ball. Then Carragher couldn't clear the ball or handle Moses so Skirtel was put in a bad position. But he did not deal with it well. It was the worst half of football all year and that is saying something. Bringing on Carroll changed the game and opened things up. Andy's run opened the space for Luis to score a delightful goal. Maybe I see things with Red glasses but I thought our second goal was fair as it went off the shoulder of Suarez. But the fight seemed to go out of us after that. We reverted to the play of the first half. Their second came from complete comic defending and if they hadn't scored they deserved a second penalty as Carragher handled the ball clearly in the build up. Down a goal again we stopped moving and stopped playing to feet and reverted to trying to find Carroll's head while he was surrounded by 3 or 4 defenders. Only when Shelvy and Sterling came on did we start to play again. Shelvy found people with long balls on the deck and Sterling actually scared somebody with a bit of pace. I love Kenny but it is also legitimate to examine where we are going and whether to wait another season and see. I am inclined to do so but I think he should be persuaded to change the trainer. I don't know what we are doing defensively or in attack. Clark does not seem to be improving the new players or getting the most out of the older ones. As has been pointed out we are the team playing relegation football and we have just lost back to back to QPR and Wigan. That is simply not good enought at Liverpool Football Club. For the remainder of the season we should play the kids. sterling and Shelvey should get starts. Coady and Morgan need to see some first team time. Until Agger returns Coates has to start. I hope Kelly returns and plays. Hell give Enrique a rest one day and play Robinson. We need to see what they can do as we really need to sell and buy a lot of players But remember we need to keep hope in our heart. YNWA
I find it difficult to lay the blame on most of the players; I think it's a case of a few players bringing the rest down. That's not to say that they aren't all responsible for this mess and the attitude on the pitch but I think there is something more to it. Clearly Carroll has not wanted to be here since day one when in his first interview he said he didn't want to leave Newcastle but would do his best. I would get rid of him for a fiver given half the chance. I can't write off Henderson or Downing, I still believe for some reason. My concern is that we have a manager who is a legend, an idol, but can't seem to motivate his own team, struggles to put into action any strategy or plan for a game and what worries me most of all doesn't know how to regain control of a game. I nearly stayed for this match but came home instead - glad I didn't because right about now I'd be saying 'Well that was a waste of money wasn't it?'. Which is exactly what is being said in Boston right about now.
If they were too tired why did they play? Why play Kuyt and not Carroll. Henderson only played a half on Tuesday so he should have been fresh. Why not play Coates who only played once on Tuesday. It just doesn't wash. I mean this is one where he should say I picked the wrong team and tactics. Maybe he is also tired. I still think that we need an infusion of some ideas in training and I don't think Clark is the man for that.
Yea I don't know what he was referring to. I got the quote off twitter so who knows. Anyways, my question is if some of the die hard Liverpool supporters are ready to face and accept a possible reality of Dalglish not being good enough.
It is not a question of die hards it is a question of whom do you blame and what do you do as an alternative. In the end the Red Sox guys will not be sentimental and this last four months have been very poor. I assume you put me in that die hard category.
No one specific, just anyone who regards Dalglish so highly because of his past accomplishments with the club. That can dilute the gravity of a scenario.
Tough to watch that one, but the positives from my point of view: Sterling looked solid. Not sure we should rush to start him, but I would like to see him get 30 minutes rather than 10. Shelvey looked good. I think he's ready to get a couple of starts. Carroll was solid after coming on. Great work ethic, won a lot of headers and cleared space in the final third. Shame we didn't capitalize, but I thought he was good. Suarez looks like he's getting into better form. It seems like he tires greatly toward the end of matches, but he just keeps running. Flanagan was solid. Not much of note, but a good outing. Downing wasn't great, but I think he was one of the better performers today. I think he's been in good form recently. Still makes mistakes, but he seems to have emerged from his shell in the attacking third. He's sending in better crosses and doing much better when cutting in toward goal. I'm not sure it's time to replace Kenny, or Clark for that matter. Our defense has been shaky the last couple matches, but it was so solid for the majority of the season. Losing Agger (and not having Lucas) hurts, and being without Glen seems to have disrupted things as well. It sucks seeing these types of performances, but I don't think the major problem is with desire. I think these players do care (the majority of them at least), but they are not playing intelligently (listen to a few episodes of TAW for their excellent argument about this). Big picture, this is not our first team. A lot of money was spent last summer in transfer fees, but it saved a lot of money in wages. And the guys we've purchased could be excellent depth/rotation guys in an actual full squad. After managing the wage bill, my hope is that we'll now move out to get the Juan Matas of the world. I think the owners are willing to spend, but they want that wage money spent on key players, not the Joe Coles of the world. Consider that next season we'll get Lucas back, which will cure a lot of these ills with the defense and it will free up Gerrard to attack. We'll also have an excellent backline intact (hopefully no injuries), with Coates and Kelly as great cover. If we go out and purchase one or two high-upside attackers, plus keep bedding in the young guys (Shelvey, Sterling, to a lesser extent Suso, Eccleston and Morgan) then this team has a pretty good amount of quality. If Dalglish can't motivate that squad, then it may be time to move on. But a lot can happen between now and the beginning of next season. The guy has led us to a cup and we're on the verge of a second, let's not jump all over him.
Well I assume, perhaps erroneously, that Clark runs the training. Which would include work on set pieces, taking penalties, taking and defending corners, practice of shooting etc. These are the areas where we have been consistently deficient. Most of the time we have been well prepared in the tactical set up and team choice which I assume is Kenny's job. In therms of motivating the team, today you could see that the half time talk motivated us and led to two quick goals, even though one was wiped off. It's when things get tough on the pitch that the players revert to muscle memory and reactions. Those are the areas you inculcate in training so they are done without thought. Again, that is the job of the trainer. That's why I question Clark's contribution.
one thing- Suarez is NOT a striker. If Kenny does go, hopefully the new manager can play him as as SS or wide forward in a 433. btw, Huntelaar hit 40 today. Him up front with Suarez roaming behind, yes please!
I've been saying this for a couple years. I always seemed to get laughed out of the room (to be fair, I haven't mentioned it on these boards).
The Red Sox guys had better be careful or the kop will turn on them another monkey sh*t performance, when you consider what we have spent this is very sad
Does anyone have the stats (wins/losses) when Carroll STARTS? In the last couple of months, including the Cup games LFC seems to almost always win with Carroll as a starter. Is that right? But I am amazed, after a win, that KD, then leaves him as a sub. Weird. He's come in twice in a row as a sub? All interviews I've seen with SG during that time was high praise for Carroll, and talking about how great it was to play with Suarez and Carroll and himself at the same time. Could there be friction between the players and KD over his player selection and non-attacking formations. I think so. The lone striker has been a dismal failure. Carroll seems to create space for other players (Suarez and SG), and should be a menace for the D if they can get some players and balls in the box - at the right time. Hope they can still pull off the FA Cup!!!
Tread careful and use tact rather then a wrecking ball, simply sacking kenny without a quality replacement lined up is dumb.
Our board is not the Wolves board. I don't think you would have to worry about that. Besides, with how things are going, I think Kenny may walk if we don't win the FA cup. I think he has too much pride in himself and love for Liverpool for us to be such a bad team.