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View from the Kop

151 shots, just 12 goals: The Stat Positively Terrifies Me

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I wrote last week also that, with the return of Steven Gerrard we were likely to see this problem fade a little and I thought that that, coupled with Craig Bellamy’s inclusion at Anfield on Saturday would see a much more dynamic and capable Liverpool side.  I wasn’t wrong but we still struggled when the chances came our way.

I can’t quite put my finger on the problem, as creating chances doesn’t seem to be an issue at all.  Nor is a lack of ability, as we’ve created more than enough opportunities and possession to put 95% of the sides we’ve played in the league so far to the sword.  So perhaps it is a psychological thing?  But can an entire team suffer from the same problem, at the same time?  I guess it has to be a possibility, as we’ve seen both Suarez and Kuyt miss penalties this season.  Kuyt, perhaps, being most surprising as I don’t think I’d ever seen him miss a penalty before up until this season.

What I’m hoping can solve the problem though is just good, old practice.  I’m sure the players get plenty of practice on the training ground but some of the shooting on display on Saturday reminded me of myself when I play after work: I see the goal, the ‘keeper bears down on me, I hear heavy footfalls behind me and I panic; it’s much easier to miss than it is to score.  So I can only hope that Kenny has the players on a heavy regime of practising their shooting this week as, come the weekend, we travel away to face the man that contributed largely to our most miserable 6 months ever last season and it would be a travesty if he was able to come away gloating because we couldn’t put away more than one of our 20-odd chances.

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I'm a 32 year old Liverpool fan, living in the heart of the City Centre. I've supported the club since the day I was born and have been writing articles for L4L for over 3 years, writing close over 350 articles in that time. My favorite player of the past generation is Sami Hyypia.

I am the current editor for L4L, with my day job being in R&D for the NHS.

5 comments

  • anfield rd dreamer says:

    Yes we should have converted more goals and yes a worryingly large percent of our shots are off target BUT we’ve got a good defensive record with only chelsea and man city having a better goals against record at moment AND we have one of the best chances created in the league too. You’ve got to remember this is a new team that will have teething problems here and there but its only a matter of time and luck before we click in front of goal and start handing out thrashings. We weren’t that impressive against norwich and ruddy gave an awesome account of himself with some great saves but we still hit the woodwork 3 times, that game COULD have been a very good 4-1 win with a bit more luck.

    • strebby says:

      I’m with you on this one dreamer, as i generally with with most of your post on kopsource too, you’re absolutely right we do need a little luck, we hit the woodwork AGAIN last night, thats 10 times already this season, but i tell you what, at least we are making the chances, i’d be far more concerened if we werent, it seems to be a liverpool thing that very ordinary opposition keepers seem to grow an extra pair of hands or grow 3 feet and play a blinder against us and the very next game they return to type, letting in shot thru their legs or limp wrists. OK we got a little deflectio on the goal vs norwich but id say 18 times out of 20 any deflected shots of ours go on to hit the post or deflect wide, when for certain other teams they tend to hit the net more, its this little bit of luck that we rarely get can be a factor. added to that the referees this season if they made the right calls we’d be sitting on 20 points(a perfectly good goal vs sunderland disallowed, a blatant red card not given to richardson in the penalty incident, and two blatant penalties at stoke not given) and not to mention not one single free kick given to suarez vs norwich when he was blatantly tripped, kicked and climbed upon for 90 minutes… we’ll play worse this season than we have vs norwich, stoke and sunderland but we’ll come away with a 2-0 or 3-0 win from it…. its just a matter of inches at the minute tho, we’re creating LOADS and its only a matter of time before they go in. keep the faith!! YNWA

  • Shaun says:

    Luck SHMUCK! Too many clear chances gone to waste. Though this is not the first season we’ve done this. I remember in 2008 when we came second, we had numerous shots on net, but the thing is we scored at a higher pace than this! To be honest, I have a feeling Andy will come good, but its October and he only has 1 goal! This is really a stress test for LFC fans! He needs to be clinical, as well as with Downing. Suarez needs another Suarez in the line up if you know what I mean! ie: Mancity has Silva, Nasri, Johnson etc…Players with Trickery! and more of it!. I truly hope that ‘Pool will see a few come Jan and re-invest that money in the Brazillian-Englishman, Adam Johnson! That would create a mess for other teams! and more goal chances! Too many shots at the GK and not enough around him! Throw young Morgan in for these games and I’m sure he’ll come good! The lad is such a clinical poacher at his age and the future star of LFC along with fellow scorers/poachers Sterling, Silva, Bijev, Ngoo and may be even Moli

    • strebby says:

      shaun, the problem is, if johnson was at any other club than city then i think we’d easily get him, problem is its city, they have no need whatsoever to sell, for any player to leave city now they would have to hand in a request i feel because they simply wont allow their players to go to rivals(bellamy is slightly different situation) and i think this was proved on the last day of the transfer window where we bid 20+ for him but it was flatly refused, i’d love to sign him and personally i’d pay anything city wanted, but i just cant see it

  • Vipakindele says:

    I think we should charge the coaching staff to urgently do somthing about it.We can’t continue to just hope and watch the season fly untill we find it deficult to meet our target.

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