If you look at Liverpool’s team sheet that started against Sunderland on Saturday, most Reds fans would believe it was more than capable of beating the Black Cats, especially at home. The creative talents of Joe Cole, Raul Meireles & Steven Gerrard, the attacking threat of Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt mixed with solid defensive performers in Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel and Christian Poulsen, is for me a good competent group of players. The match should have been a positive sign to supporters that Liverpool were ready to get into gear after a difficult start to the season against top four contenders Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United in the first five games of the season. Despite defeats to our Manchester rivals, there was enough to feel that we could put in an improved performance against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
Surely, considering the Black Cats had failed to score in any previous meeting between the two sides at Anfield for ten years, it wasn’t too much to ask. The disappointing display that characterised the match until Steven Gerrard got the game back to 2-2 should worry any Liverpool supporter. Of course, a new manager needs to time to get his side playing the way he wants, but even a work in progress should have been able to get a result here. Hodgson commented after the game:
“It was only Meireles’ second start and there was another start for Joe Cole. There are moments giving me satisfaction but I know it’s a big job and I can’t just wave a magic wand and Liverpool will suddenly dominate English football again. But there were a lot of pleasing factors.”
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He wouldn’t know a team if he tripped over it. He’s got to go, bring back Rafa.
Got to love the liverpool fans. Despite ten years of turgid anti football from houllier and benitez they still think players like Dirk kuyt, Skrtel and most laughable of all the plodder known as jamie carragher are all capable of playing football against anyone.
NEWSFLASH LIVERPOOL FANS.
YOUR TEAM IS VERY AVERAGE. AND HAS BEEN FOR A LONG LONG TIME.
20 years and counting……
@ Bill: Whatdya mean bring back Rafa? U mean Rafa’s willing to come back or Inter are willing to let him go within months of appointing him?
And sad as it is, but I have to agree with Peter…. Kuyt is a solid worker, but a out and out winger he’s not, something that we desp need… (along with another winger, a striker better than N’Gog and a good wing back). Have you noticed most of Carra’s long balls end up resulting in loss of possesion? He’s a good ol fashined centre back… great in tackling, crap in passing..and let’s not even bring up Skrtel & Poulsen here!!!! Seriously, if we are hyping the reserve prospects so much for the last few years, where’s their chance?
Confucius says: Ducks learn how to swim only if you push them in the deep end, and not on land.
People need to get off Hodgson’s back, give him some time to get the lads all pointing in the same direction.
Its the same feckless twats spouting the same bollocks day in day out on here, and its still early doors in the season, get a frigging grip.
I think we’ve got to a point now were too many of our players are using any excuse to perform badly. From Torres right down to Johnson at the back; it needs to stop. I’ve not been impressed with Roy so far, he looks lost and a little out of his depth but the players aren’t helping. I just hope we haven’t got into a situation Tottenham had a few years ago were players were performing at such a low level in order to get their manager sacked. That is not how we do things here.
Hodgson, given the funds to purchase more quality players would do a lot better. In order for Hodgson to get the funds, we need “NEW OWNERS A.S.A.P !” Our new owners should be capable of bringing the club back to it’s normal state and not to mention be able to compete with rivals Chelsea and Man United fundamentally and shouldn’t only be interested in profiting.
Therefore, by the next transfer window Roy should have at least 60M to spend on bringing in :
David de Gea for 6M – Young and could be Reina’s understudy like Jones. Then, we can be rid of Itandje. Looking at his performances, I can see him as the next Pepe.
Fabio Coentrao for 8M – He is a superb left-back, full of pace and is capable of running pass defenders. He’s like a left-footed Glen Johnson (possibly better) who loves going forward with the ball and getting shots on
goal as well as supplying good balls into the box. We can get Mereiles to persuade him to sign for Liverpool.
Javi Martinez for 15M – Young, has a great eye, really fast, good in the air(excellent for set-pieces), could be the next Xabi Alonso(a void that couldn’t be filled since Xabi left) and at 21 he is a heck load better than Lucas.
Juan Mata for 14M – He’d be the solution to the lack of depth on the left-wing(something that has been missing for quite sometime now). He has the pace, the ability and a great mind . He is one talented young man. Plus he will cope well with Torres. It’d be fantastic to see
him in play for Liverpool.
Patrick Helmes for 17M – Forget Carlton Cole, N’gog is almost as good as him. If we want a quality striker, I would say Helmes is what we’re looking for. Torres and Helmes would be unstoppable. No defence can destruct the partnership of this two huge talents(considering he can adapt to the PL and that they can work together).
• By purchasing these players, the chances of keeping Torres in a Liverpool jersey are more likely.
After bringing in all the players above, we can then concentrate on offloading :
– Charles Itandje for 0.5M
– Sotirios Kyrgiakos for 2M
– Fabio Aurelio for 2M
– Lucas Leiva for 8-10M
– Maxi Rodriguez for 4M
With Pepe in goal and both Skrtel and Agger leading the back row. Leaving the right and left flank to be dominated by the English duo of Johnson and Cole and Coentrao and Juan Mata. In addition, the partnership of Gerrard and Mereles in midfield would make Liverpool a very threatening side. With Torres and Helmes up front, Liverpool might just be on their way to a twentieth Prem League victory since 1990.
As for the subs, we have De Gea / Jones, Carragher, Konchesky / Kelly, Javi Martinez, Babel, Jovanovic , Kuyt.
Sign this few players in the January transfer window and will be up and going in no time.