2013-2014 Season

[Martinmarx]

On another note. Against Gunners Sturridge stood on the brink to become the first ever Liverpool player to score in 9 consecutive games - bottled it big big time. Remember last year when he was about to become the first ever Liverpool player to score in 5 consecutive games as a new player? Bottled it.

Coincidence or maybe he haven't matured all that much when all comes around? Suarez is much much more of a team player.

[barticus]

On another note. Against Gunners Sturridge stood on the brink to become the first ever Liverpool player to score in 9 consecutive games - bottled it big big time. Remember last year when he was about to become the first ever Liverpool player to score in 5 consecutive games as a new player? Bottled it.

Coincidence or maybe he haven't matured all that much when all comes around? Suarez is much much more of a team player.

Right, bit of luck that Sturridge didnt bottle it for the previous eight games then.  WTF is that about? He lies 2nd in the Premier league top scorers table and he's 6 above van persie and 7 above negredo and rooney. He's scored 19 in all and 5 short of Luis. Strikers need to be greedy and when i hear that a striker does a lot of defending then it's obvious that his days are numbered.

[Martinmarx]

Just saying he's too occupied with making a name for himself to the extent he lose concentration which effects the team in a negative way. Just look at the goals against Everton, Arsenal and Fulham. Clinical as can be, then he goes on to waste more clear cut chances than Chelsea or Spurs managed to create this season inside one game. He's not the finished article no matter how many goals he's scored this season. Don't trust him fully yet to deliever when we need it the most as was evident on Sunday.

[Martinmarx]

Fuckin Skrtel's gonna cost us CL qualification. Fuckin waste that one. So overrated. Costs us a goal every fuckin time he steps on the pitch. So fuckin worthless it's unbelievable. Agger's no better.

[Martinmarx]

Incredible this game isn't done and settled. Coutinho and Henderson needs a kick up the backside after a terrible, terrible first half where they allowed Swansea oceans of space in the center for the simple reason they weren't willing to run that extra yard (but they sure as hell are eager to tell anyone willing to listen we're gonna win the title). Not enough humility. Sterling brilliant first 20 but haven't got the chance to shine thanks to our dysfynctional midfield.

Very very disappointed by the attitude. It's one thing if the opponents are better, a totally different when you allow them to be just because you don't have the right attitude. SORT IT fornicating OUT!!!

[Martinmarx]

Thank you Skrtel, thank you very much. Surely this has got to be his last game in a red shirt when Sakho's back. He's gonna cost us 4th. Mark my words.

[Martinmarx]

That's 4th gone. Outplayed and outrunned by a team that played in the EL less than 72 hours ago. Embarrassing. Never want to hear our players talk about confidence and quality again.

Most important of all is to get rid of Skrtel. A total liability who cost us a goal/game.

[Martinmarx]

Talk about making it difficult for ourselves Not impressed at all with our attitude today. Too many players on the pitch thinking they're good enough as it is without being willing to put the hard work in. The spaces we constantly keep giving away is alarming and needs sorting out ASAP. Allen a revelation when he came on. Must start at St. Mary's at the expense of Henderson who, besides his goals, did nothing today to merit a starting place.
 
During the 35 years I've watched this great club play football I have NEVER seen such a shaky defense. We so miss Sakho and another quality CB. If we can sort out our defense this summer (agree with Lawro it's too late ths season) we will be a force for the title next season.

I'm terribly disapointed with the attitude among the players. We've been telling anyone willing to listen this weak what a blessing it was going out of the Cup, just to put in such a lacklustre performance.

My player ratings:

Mignolet 5 - Is lightyears behind Reina in terms of providing calm and stability to the defense. Made a number of bad decisions that almost got costly. The one save he made would've gone wide anyroad.

Flanagan 7 - So and so in the first half but stood up and made a number of initiatives when it mattered the most in the last quarter of the game.

Skrtel 2 - Directly involved in all three goals. More and more look like the white answer to Titus Bramble. Laughable at best.

Agger 4 - Didn't link up with Johnson at all. Looked short on confidence and did Little to help the defense get back into the game when it mattered the most. Disappointing considering he's the VC.

Johnson 6 - Had a few shaky moments defensively but did well considering he's been out for quite some time and made his come back in an unnatural position.

Gerrard 6 - Did not manage to keep the central midfiled tight. Was poor on their first and reacted way way too late. Not the leader we needed today.

Henderson 4/7 - I put 4/7 because his 2 matchwinning goal could prove vital to our season. Other than that he looked complacent and totally out of sorts. Back to his back-/sidepassing worst. No inititative, no hard work. Will see his place threatened by Allen and Lucas.

Coutinho 4 - Another wasted game where he was anonymous for virtually 90 minutes. Need to ask more of himself.

Sterling 7 - Absolutely brilliant opening 20. Faded early due to our inability to keep possession and be on top of things which is a must if Sterling's to excel. Fantastic assisst to Sturridge's opener.

Suarez  6 - Ouch. Have a bad feeling about Luis. Totally out of form. Desperate for a goal that's obvious. Made many confusing decisions. Going through a tough run but once he scores I'll expect him to be back at his lethal self.

Sturride 8 - You have to hand it to the man. Scores a brace and sets up a third. Could sometimes do better with his decisionmaking but as long as he keeps scoring and assisting I won't complain too much. My MOTM.

Moses 3 - Does he really want to play?

Toure 4 - Marked by his mistakes of lately. Totally out of confidence.

Allen 8 - Made a great contribution when he came on and was the only midfielder to show som will and grit today. Surely he must start against So'ton.

All in all an incredibly important win. Either it serves as a wake-up call or this is a sing the wheels is coming off. Next weekend's game will give us a hint.

[Edward224]

A bad deflection and a penalty makes it look a lot worse than it was, but the defending was a consequence of the open midfield. Allow a good passing team to go at your defence without pressure and you'll see your back four get carved up. A few things to be fixed, but it starts with the middle of the park before you go to the back four. We were every bit as open in the middle today as we were tight and compact in the middle against Spurs. There seems to be no middle ground. Having said that, they only got one "real" goal from an open shot, which was Shelvey's.

Mentality was a key here, and although we pushed through to win, the first half sloppiness is what made this a contest, not anything endemic to the system.

[Martinmarx]

Yer way, way to kind IMHO, Edward mate. I would agree the non-existing pressure from our midfield didn't help our back-4 but Skrtel gave that free-kick and penalty away unnecessary. Everytime they got near the box it was a cirkus and you really felt they could score from anything.

I don't question the system as much as I question Rodger's ability to get the lads fired up for the games. Villa, WBA, Fulham and Swansea. Four games we should win easily but we didn't. This is a weakness in his management and it won't see us through to 4th unless he sorts it out. Mark my words. Fergie would never accept such a run of lacklustre performances.

[barticus]

That's 4th gone. Outplayed and outrunned by a team that played in the EL less than 72 hours ago. Embarrassing. Never want to hear our players talk about confidence and quality again.

Most important of all is to get rid of Skrtel. A total liability who cost us a goal/game.

Keep the faith Martin! We have been to the mountain top and all we can do is believe!

[barticus]

Yer way, way to kind IMHO, Edward mate. I would agree the non-existing pressure from our midfield didn't help our back-4 but Skrtel gave that free-kick and penalty away unnecessary. Everytime they got near the box it was a cirkus and you really felt they could score from anything.

I don't question the system as much as I question Rodger's ability to get the lads fired up for the games. Villa, WBA, Fulham and Swansea. Four games we should win easily but we didn't. This is a weakness in his management and it won't see us through to 4th unless he sorts it out. Mark my words. Fergie would never accept such a run of lacklustre performances.

Martin, Martin, Martin...why the negativity? We won with the helter skelter nonsense that has been our season, what more do you want?
Us seasoned pros have given up on making comment, about the lack of a tight midfield etc...
and all we can do is crack open the 18th beer, smoke a large spliff, descend into transcendental meditation and then enjoy the ride...things like tactics,  the right players and the like are simply a passe and outmoded way of thinking. The future is chaos, the future is Brendan!

[barticus]

Oh and on a more serious note...bring back Steve Clarke to sort the shambles that is our defence, it's beyond a joke now...

[Martinmarx]

Oh and on a more serious note...bring back Steve Clarke to sort the shambles that is our defence, it's beyond a joke now...

At the same time, and in fairness, I really think Rodgers got a point when he says some of our errors are "uncoachable".

[Martinmarx]

So, here we are in 4th place, 4 points off the summit with 11 games to go. I really, really think we're a tad unfortunate to have our homegame against Sunderland postponed as it sees us face 3 consecutive awaygames. Furthermore, it forces on us a 2 week break between the So'ton and ManU games which could be detrimental to our momentum.

I would say the So'ton game is arguably the most important of the season. A win and we'll definitely close the door to 4th for United thus making it easier to get a result at OT. A loss at St. Mary's, on the other hand, would mean United will have more than halfed the number of points they trailed us in just two games if the beat us at home. That would put us under a lot of pressure going into the Cardiff (a), Spurs (h), West Ham (a) and City (h) games.

I really really hope we will be prepared this time and that Skrtel's staying behind watching the game on telly.