Liverpool’s Untouchabes

7Well, its been a while since I put finger to key, what with personal and professional business taking the lead, as well as one depressing football moment following shortly after the last simply sucking the soul out of the game and my enjoment thereof. Not all LFC related either!

Yet, I find my self compelled to regurgitate my inner monologue once more following on the back of that ‘performance’ at Selhurst Park, if for no other reason than to stop talking to myself; how (un)lucky for you (delete as appropriate).

Even Oedipus could see that the football emanating from the Anfield collective is, politely, sub standard, with the results following suit. Baffling to say the least. It is far too simple to suggest that Suarez carried the team or that the only issue is various different muscle groups in the leg of Sturridge.

Of course losing Suarez is huge, and undoubtedly Danny would have been dancing had Roy not been Roy leaving us with a very different view this November, but hey, sh@t happens,; deal with it. The issue is deeper than two, admitedly brilliant and proific, players. For me it is the subject of the Untouchables.

Sadly in the 2014 Melwood remake of the 80s classic, there is no Elliot Ness to bring down our enemies, and no Jimmy Malone to provide oscar success, although like Connery’s accent it is fair to say we have been Hilarious, Horrible and Horrific, a HHH that provides no Pedigree! Where to begin?

Sadly, the starting point has to be my second favourite LFC player ever and the one who has given me my best memories of watching the club I love – Steven Gerrard. What a servant he has been, and what success he has brought to a cub that continually flirts with being good only to be shot down quicker than me asking Beyonce for a snog (she doesnt know what she is missing).

The continued use of him in this kind of Quarterback/Pirlo role is damaging the team and restricting those around him. Telling that stat wise against Palace he made no interceptions and no tackles, simply put the game is quite often passing him by whilst at the same time detracting others from effectively performing, like Henderson.

Pirlo triumphs in this role as it is not a million miles to what he has played his entire career, Stevie’s game is far from that. Midfield is where tight battles are fought and lost, and in the Premier League now there are some excellent holding midfielders such as Matic, Wanyama and Schneiderlin (if only we had transfer scouts at Southampton last season.. ). Jedinak was excellent for Palace on Sunday, too.

Our fragile defence is exposed horribly because of this and it’s no coincidence that Lovren looked a better player last season with two of the aforementioned names in front of him. The question is does Stevie still have a role to play? In my opinion, without knwoing the background politics and whether his influence is detrimental to the manager, yes.

He is a symbol of the club (rare in the modern game for a local lad to be) and a player others look up to, and like Carra (who really should be involved) someone able to instill what the club is all about. How can we use him? For me, realistically it is as an impact player, coming on for the last 20 or so in a more advaced position where he can hurt tired opposition defences.

If there is an issue in dropping him (worst case scenario) then surely dropping him back further must be considered, will do no worse than Skrtel, and the way we play will be able to use that long pass he loves.

Next in the gruseome cast is one Glen Johnson. For me Johnson has always been suspect defensively, and a player who profited from the Abramovich early days when they threw money at decent young talent. Too much too soon? His defensive frailties were forgotten about when he offered more on an attacking front, but this has waned and I’m just not sure what he does offer!

On a spectrum of ‘Giving a sh@t’ to find the middle point for someone the two extremes are Dirk Kuyt and Glen Johnson. The least I ask for as a fan is to run and challenge until you are physically unable, thats what I would do, and what anyone around the world would do for their club. There seems to be a ‘Johnson Fit, Johnson Play’ mentality and I must have missed the briefing where the justification was given!

Besides performing on a par to what Mike Myers uses his surname to refer to in Austin Powers, the contract issue should be exhibit A in why not to play him. If reports are true that he has been offered a two year deal at a reduced wage of £60k per week (I must be getting old, I remember the drama when Roy Keane got £50k) and he hasn’t bitten the club’s hand off then ta-ra thanks for showing up! He is, now, the wrong side of 30, dropped from the England team and as affective as my 1 year old daughter would be opening the batting for England.

Central Defence.. wow! Skrtel is Skrtel: unfortunate to be penalised for the free kick for Palace’s third, but hey, Karma is a bitch! Skrtel is capable of performing to high standard, we have seen it, but he needs a leader next to him, effectively telling him what to do. Lovren is not that leader in any imagination barr his own.

He’s such a bizarre signing when we had two better left sided centre backs (although I think Agger’s time in the Premier League was done). He has been terrible and impressively worsened a rubbish defence whilst improving Southamptons! Toure would be a better partner for Skrtel, even with the imminent ‘Kolo’ moment he is capable of! Which leads nicely into my next culprit…

Brendan Rodgers – I am a fan of his, I rate him and I do not like to see managers sacked. I didnt want Rafa gone, I didnt want Kenny gone.. Roy, well.. I wanted him gone. The biggest issue with Brendan this year is the creation of the Untouchables. It seems that Gerrard will start every game deep, Skrtel and Lovren are the back two, when fit and Johnson plays when fit and we can’t steer away from one up top.

How is this impacting on the rest of the squad? Kolo plays out of his skin in Madrid against the best in the world, dropped. Skrtel and Lovren are toilet week in week out.. carry on lads!

Gerrard was at best a passenger against the Eagles yet gets 90 minutes whilst Allen is subbed. Allen who was arguably our best performer, and somebody quite capable of naturally playing that holding role. Can was excellent in both Madrid and against Chelsea, dropped. Markovic gave a good show in Madrid gets no game time… puzzling.

Recently, there is no incentive to perform and no punishment if you fail to do so. Nobody should be above the law, no matter what they have given to the club, how much they earn or what they cost.

The saddest aspect of all of this is that you can remove any reference to Crystal Palace from this article and replace with Newcastle, West Ham, Aston Villa and so on. Lessons are not being learned. Lovren and Skrtel are not a good partnership, Gerrard is not a deep lying midfielder, Johnson is rubbish, we don’t play well with a lone striker, our most succesful season in years saw at least two up top, with Sterling thrown in for good measure.

George Bernand Shaw said ‘success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time’ and this is why we are failing! Sadly, this may be Rodgers downfall, mistakes can be forgiven, we all err, but to continually repeat? That’s just dumb.

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