It is not only under Dalglish where it has been a problem however. Under both Benitez and Hodgson over the last two seasons, despite the team performing quite poorly, 2-0 wins over Manchester United and Chelsea have still been the anomalies to question whether the quality of the squad is as poor as some would believe. Certainly from the performance against Man U on Sunday, there is quite clearly quality in the form of Suarez, Carroll, Gerrard, Meireles, Kuyt and Reina, but the majority of these players played against West Ham last week and looked shadows of the players they can be.
So what is the solution to this inconsistency? Although the players can play these big matches against Chelsea and Man U like cup finals, they seem to be very complacent and lack the drive required to beat so called “lesser teams.” For me this complacency comes from the lack of squad depth in the team. Many of our quality players seem assured of their first team places no matter what and so they feel they can get away with performances such as against Blackpool and West Ham. It might only be sub-consciously but the players clearly take their eye off the ball against smaller clubs. How else can you explain the divergence of performance between West Ham and Man U in the space of a week? The one sure fire way of keeping them focused in my view is to ensure there is another player on the bench who can take their place if they don’t perform.
If we add four or five quality additions to the side in the summer, and improve the parts of our team (left back, wingers, holding midfielder) that need reinforcing, then there can be no excuse for the inconsistent form that has plagued the club over the last two seasons.
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INTRODUCING THE WINDOWS PHONE 7!
This week it is Liverpool midfielder Albert Aquilani’s former girlfriend Pamela Camassa!
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CLICK ON THE IMAGE OR HERE TO GET TO THE GALLERY
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Yes u get it rite
In light of Liverpool’s FLUKEY win yesterday, it has to be pointed out that all we have done is replicate what United themselves used to do in the 1980’s to Liverpool. More often than not, Liverpool would win the league title and only take one point at best from the two head to heads each season. In terms of the rivalry between the two clubs one usually wins the league title while the other takes the head-to-head honours in any season. So my fellow Liverpool fans unfortunately all yesterday was was a consolation prize. United will unfortunately get no.19 while Liverpool will finish nowhere. So yesterday’s win was akin to Wimbledon beating Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup Final. I guarantee the level of effort by the players especially Kuyt will go down several notches against Sunderland and we will return to our true form.
Kenny you d*ck head are you blind? FLUKEY???? That was one of the most convincing wins against the scum for years. What game was you watching????
While I agree with some of your comments, that one destroys any credit that may be contributed to the rest.
If you believe we are not improving and that was a one off answer me this, do you honestly believe we could have been so “FLUKEY” six months ago with Roy in charge and do you really think there has been no improvement over that period in our results / position / performances?
Credit where credit is due, FLUKEY???? MY AR*SE!!!
u surely are a manc if u think that was a fluke..that was one of our most comprehensive wins of the season..
Baz, what happened after our brilliant win over Chelsea against Wigan and West Ham? What happened in the games against Blackpool,Everton,Wigan and West Ham since January where eight goals were conceded and 10 points dropped? If you think that 4th place with this squad is still possible than you are dreaming?
no doubt we are inconsistent and 4th place this season is almost impossible..but that doesn’t mean we haven’t improved..
since kenny’s appointment, we have lost just one game and drawn two in the last eight league games, which is much better than under hodgson…
with a few quality additions in the summer, we can surely challenge for top four next season…
Stanley,we have lost 2 games against Blackpool and West Ham. The 10 points dropped would have put us in fourth place but instead we concentrated on the mickeymouse Europa Cup. It is going for the title itself we need to do next season and not settling for finishing 3rd or 4th in this mediocre league.