2 separate Cup wins. A 5-1 win against Oldham in a FA Cup tie and the 0-1 away win against Manchester City in a Carling Cup 1st leg semi-final encounter. This is really encouraging after coming back from a 0-3 drubbing against league leaders, City in a league match.
FA Cup
I have a feeling that the players are about the reach the peak of their form. They are not there yet but they are close. FA Cup, 5-1 scoreline is flattering. Oldham played really well and credit to them too but the lads just kept their focus and did what they were supposed to do. Bellamy had a splendid game, terrorizing the Oldham defenders tirelessly.
Oldham didn't seemed to faze when they took the lead. Anfield and yet they just went about their business and scored a fantastic goal. Luckily Liverpool kept they nerves and just continued fighting. The boys were rewarded with their effort, taking a 2-1 lead at half-time. The goals came from Bellamy and Gerrard. They added another 3 through Jonjo, Carroll and Downing and we already know the rest of the story.
On paper Liverpool should win the game with that kind of scoreline. But that was not the case. Oldham, as I stated earlier played good football. They were magnificent especially during the first half. The key to Liverpool's win was they never panicked and just concentrate on they job. It was obvious that they will score as the team has been playing some entertaining football this season.
They lost 3-0 to City prior to the game but the players are now more at eased on how they should play their football. They just continued on what they do best and it was unfortunate for Oldham that they had to meet Liverpool.
Carling Cup Semi Final (1st Leg)
Fresh from the win against Oldham and we meet City again. After the 3-0 league defeat the players are certain to make amends for this encounter. A win will put them in a comfortable zone before they meet again at Anfield for the return leg. The reward would be appearing at Wembley.
Kenny named his strongest line-up with Stevie G captaining the side. The Reds were off the mark quickly and they were rewarded with a goal from a Stevie G's penalty. They finished the half with a strong display. The fans was hoping for another similar showing from the boys but it was the other way round. It was City for the most of the second half. The Reds held strong to finally take the 1 goal advantage for the return leg.
I'm not sure whether they played defensively on purpose or because they just can't cope with City's attacking play. At first I blamed the defensive approach due to Spearing's injury. The lad was replaced by Adam and the game changed. I would have preferred Kenny to throw in Jonjo.
But again, after Liverpool ended the game with 6 defenders, including the old horse Carra, I started to think differently. Kenny had faith and Kenny knew his charges would go through by playing a defensive game. It was so un-Kenny like but at the end of the day he got the result. This also showed how the team has improved defensively. Kelly, Johnson and I'd say Carroll had a big part defensively. Hell maybe Kenny could turn Carroll to a good center back. Who knows!
Suarez's 8 match ban - a blessing in disguise?
Suarez has been a revelation. The fans started to worry when the news of his 8 match ban was released. We started to think that the season might have been over for Liverpool Football Club. We have lost Lucas Leiva through injury and the team is not scoring as many as the fans hoped for.
And again Kenny shows his wisdom. Liverpool will have to manage any suspension or injuries as any other team in the league. They will have to soldier on with or without Suarez, their best player thus far. He showed his faith on his players besides the return of club captain Steven Gerrard. Even so, Kenny handled it calmly. He didn't throw Stevie into the starting line-up instantly just because he has lost Suarez. The King opted to ease his talisman into the game slowly and gradually.
Suarez's ban might come at the right moment after all. Looking back, Suarez never really had good rest after his success at the Copa America. Maybe this will be the best time for him to take a short break. After all he will still be involve with the training. 8 games, at a young age I don't feel Suarez will lose his touch when he comes back. He will be fresh and we will also have a full charge Steven Gerrard. I'm seeing that Liverpool will finish the season with their guns blazing!
Gerrard - the return of the prodigal son
Gerrard scored the winning goal in yesterday's win against City. It was a typical performance from the captain. Rallying his men to hold on the lead when they were bombarded by City. Gerrard has been missing for the most of the 1st half of the season and now he is back looking stronger and fitter.
Without European football this season, the timing is just nice for him to join his team mates. He will be a great asset to them. With his vast experience, this is the crucial times when we need someone like Stevie G to guide the other players on the field.
Liverpool have not been playing that bad during the 1st half of the season. The only thing is they are not scoring enough goals. I can see this to change with the return of Steven Gerrard. Liverpool will be more dangerous when Suarez completes his 8 match ban.
Suarez & Gerrard together, I am certain that we will win at least 1 Cup and qualify for Europe next season.
Gerrard singed an extension to his current contract makes me more optimistic about Liverpool's future.
YNWA
3 comments:
Hope our good run continues. Anyway, noticed that the London-based & pro-Manure/Fergie medias are having a field day attacking Kenny Dalglish & LFC almost daily. They are trying to tarnish his image for defending Suarez. Any lesser manager would have crumbled under these relentless attacks. But not King Kenny. Show some respect to the King!!! He has won trophies after trophies as PLAYER & MANAGER including as PLAYER-MANAGER! There goes my rant for today. YNWA!
~Enonimes~
my thought
yes, we did blame all the signings, andy carroll, downing, charlie adam, blabla. now look, let's take a look at our last summer, we sold Raul Meireles who is a fine player, we loaned Aquilani out who is a intelligent player, we loaned Joe Cole out. these players are really good players. they have the abilities to help us out in a tight game.
Now we expect who to deliver us the cutting edge? Charlie Adam? Downing? Henderson? I hope Henderson still can develop at liverpool. Maxi Rodriguez can give us that cutting edge but Kenny just don't want to play him.. the only thing that is good in our current situation is we have Steven Gerrard back, thankfully.
and Andy Carroll, yes he does not perform like he did at Newcastle. he's a bit slow and the midfielders don't give him a good service. hopefully, with Gerrard is now back, he can get the best of Andy Carroll.
now it has been a year since Kenny Dalglish return. and still i don't see any REAL PROMISING future. i hate to say that. let's take a look at the managers before Kenny's return. Roy Hodgson, yea he's not that good and he's sacked. but yet he's given a little time to prove himself.
now let's take a look at Rafa Benitez. in his first season, he won the UEFA champions league. and he won the FA cup in the second season. we were a force under Rafa. Rafa really worked his wonders at liverpool. in his first season, he brings xabi alonso in, he put Jamie Carragher in the centre with Sami Hyppia, he put Gerrard in a more attacking role. he even brought out the best of Igor Biscan, Smicer.
we were always have that believe that we can win against teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan. and we did actually win. it's simple with Rafa, we put a steady defense, we played a great counter attack and we DON'T let the opponent play their own game.
and as the time goes, things did not work so well with Rafa. and the fans have growned impatient. yes, he made a mistake losing Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. but then, let us think, our previous owner, Gillet and Hicks are bad owners. they don't support Rafa much. yet Rafa still can made us a great team.
and as Rafa always said, " someday, people will realize how great Lucas is " and guess what? he is right people, he is right.
now back to Kenny Dalglish, he has the utmost backing of the owner. he has millions to spend. he already spend so much. and still, i don't see any significant improvement.
they said they build a team for the future. yes, but we want instant success too. but then why sack Roy Hodgson so fast? maybe he build a team for the future too and why don't give him time?
correct me and pardon me if i'm wrong. i'm just a concerned Liverpool fan and i'm sure i'm not the only who miss how Liverpool used to play under Rafa. and i always wonder what Rafa can do if he has good support from the owner.
as for the players, the staff, the manager, the owner, i hope somehow you are able to prove me wrong right now. we always want to believe in kenny. but, we have our limits. we don't want to see our beloved club become a gone club.
sincerely,
a concerned Liverpool fan
that's a point that we could think of. rafa did produce something but H&G ruined it.
we are hoping the king could bring back the glory days. lets give him at least 1 full season to prove himself.
Post a Comment