LFC : 1st term report

3-0 was the scoreline. City won. Looking at the score we would think City ran rampage. I have to say City was not that great. We were not that bad either but City took their chances very well. The first goal that was conceded by Liverpool came from a Kuyt's mistake although many would see it as a blunder from Pepe Reina.

The second one came from Yaya Toure's header via a corner kick and the third came from a penalty kick taken by Milner. I consider all goals conceded were soft ones. Mistakes that was done by our midfield. Our center players had their off days and unfortunately it was against City. 

Earlier before Aguero put City ahead we had a chance ourselves. Henderson laid a beautiful pass to Downing but he didn't manage to score after a 1-on-1 situation with Hart. We even had other few good chances which it's never hard to guess - the keeper did well to save our shots. The story of Liverpool's season thus far. The only and really disappointment during this game we did not even manage to hit the post - I think.

"Work in progress" - a phrase that I use a lot in most of my posts. We have just finished the 1st half of the season and we are now 6th in the league. The players have been magnificent so far. We could have won many more but there's so many reasons for us not to be unhappy as we did not lose that many either. 

I know we need to finish at least 4th in the league to qualify for next season's Champions League. I still believe that this is achievable. The games that we lost or we drew, we did not played that badly. Maybe Spurs was one of the off days for the whole team. We even finished the game with 9 man! 

Why I'm happy is with the style of play. The boys can now consistently produce the same level of energy and enthusiasm week-in week-out and this is very encouraging. What they need to polished for the second half of the season is to be more consistent and persistent during a match. 

We surely have been unlucky a lot! Hitting the post so many times, goal keepers having the game of their lives. Missing key players through injuries and suspensions. And I just hope the luck will swing in our way more during the 2nd half of the season. The players deserved to get something from their hard work that they have put in. 

Looking at individuals. I am not too happy with Downing and Adam's contribution thus far. Well, they are new to the team and there have been good games from both of them. But I expected more from these two players. They were supposed to be 'key' players. Downing is great when he makes his runs down the wing. But his final crosses were a lot of disappointments. It's just like he crossed the ball with his eyes closed. I wonder at times, who does he expect to get at the end of his crosses? He needs to cross more from deep, he also needs to vary his crosses. He can't be floating them all the time aye? Sometimes I feel he can just drill it across the goal. Other than that I think he's done considerably well. 

Charlie Adam, touted as the next play-maker for Liverpool FC. He has not done that yet. I'd say the best midfielder award for the 1st half of the season should go to the injured Lucas Leiva. Against City it was so obvious through my observation that he had more passes to his defenders than to the front players. He looks slow at times. I'm not sure if he does not have pace or he's just slow to react. But there were times he's everywhere. It's just puzzling me!

What we really need to improve the most for the 2nd half of the season is to be able to finish off the chances that came our way. We need to be more clinical in front of goal. The return of Steven G can actually ignite this. His goal against Newcastle is an example on how clinical he can be and I hope this can be a trigger to the others. Andy Carroll looked better and this is also another proof why the return of Steven Gerrard could change things!

Keep on working hard and keep on fighting. I believe that Liverpool FC will be rewarded handsomely.

YNWA!