It’s been a tough week to be a Liverpool fan, having to mull over yet another defeat that could and should have been a win. At some point we have to start asking questions, such as why when we’ve created nigh on 70 chances in the past two games (including 120 minutes of the cup final), do we have only 2 goals to show for it? Granted, we ‘scored’ against Arsenal last weekend but let’s be honest, to say we’d scored it would be clutching at straws. It just isn’t acceptable any more but that doesn’t mean I want Dalglish sacked this instant, nor does it mean that I’m happy with his management to this point, either.
You see, there are arguments on both sides but on both sides there needs to be a degree of perspective also. I will be the first to admit that, in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s defeat to Arsenal I was so angry that I couldn’t think straight but over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that there are more important things in my life than football, so I spent the evening having a few beers, watching a film and drowning out the disappointment with other, more positive things; this is how I get my own perspective on the state my team are in.
On the one hand, I can understand the argument that we need to give Kenny time. This is true, to a degree but how much time is enough? How much time is too much? Kenny has completely changed the way the team plays and, usually, we come out of the blocks at full-pelt more often than not starting games quickly and attacking impressively. Our football in general has improved since Dalglish took over and we’ve played some great stuff at times this season, as well as performing well in both cups, winning the Carling Cup and picking up our first silverware in almost 6 years.
However, last weekend sadly epitomised what has gone wrong this season: great performance, numerous opportunities but an almost uniform inability to finish any chances we get. Some Liverpool fans (those who worship all things Kenny, namely) will argue that the performances are a sign of progress and that we’ve moved on and that the style of football we now play is a sign that we’re moving forward. I would tend to disagree, we haven’t suddenly become Arsenal overnight; we don’t value a style of footballing over winning matches, all of a sudden do we? I’d happily take goals over performances and winning matches over entertaining the crowd any day of the week. This is why I’ve always had a begrudging respect for Jose Mourinho’s style of coaching; I loathe his character and personality but his methods win games – style comes second.
Roy Hodgson was swiftly sacked just over 13 months ago for a below average league performance and for making ill-informed signings, not to mention being incredibly weak-willed and cow-towing to a certain Scot that works just up the motorway and effectively killing team-spirit and the faith of the fans in the team. However, a lot of fans appear to have short memories in this respect because, while Kenny has certainly instilled a sense of purpose and camaraderie that can only be admired back in to our squad, there are some startling similarities between Hodgson and Kenny when you consider the below average league performance and the ill-informed signings. You can’t judge one manager on these things over 5 months and then argue that another hasn’t had enough time when he’s had the job twice as long and spent over 5 times as much and the results are pretty much a mirror-image. That, my friends, is called massive hypocrisy.
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I will be honest: League Cup aside, I’m not happy at present. Yes, we’ve won our first silverware in years but even then we laboured for over 2 hours, creating near 40 chances and scoring twice, then managing to nearly squander it all in a shoot-out. In years to come, we will forget the final was a close-run thing but it was and no matter how much you argue about it, we were lucky. Like I said above though, winning is what’s important and no matter how you do it, that’s all that matters.
Which is why Kenny should be given until the summer to prove his worth. We have a Cup, with the potential for another and the players seem to be enjoying themselves the majority of the time. But anybody blinkered enough to argue that we’ve seen significant improvements since the change in management and the near £120 million outlay in the past 13 months needs to take a bit of their own advice and look at the bigger picture and that is quite simple: we haven’t. The improved on-field performances and the first trophy in years show only that we’ve had a slight upturn since this time last year. Between now and the end of May, Kenny and his staff have to look at where our issues lie in terms of tactics and in terms of personnel and there needs to be definite signs that our inability to finish teams off is becoming a thing of the past during the remaining months of the season because the personnel are certainly there, we had no problems at the end of last season (I won’t mention Maxi’s unfathomable benching for the umpteenth time).
And on the outside, all Reds (no matter which side of the battle-lines you fall on) need to keep a bit of perspective during good results and bad and remember the favourite mantra of all Liverpool fans: no one man is bigger than the club and that includes King Kenny. I only hope we’re judging him on the back of a massive upturn in form and praising some late season performances from last summer’s signings.
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The answer is a big NO.
can henry pliz just fire the hopeless and arrogant dalglish.he is a legend rite and he loves the team but even legends must be fired
you are as daft as a brush and should no liverpool supporter could even think of such a stupid question, utter idiot hodgeson is the worst thing to happen to our club ever and i count hicks and gillett in that.
Def improved and we have a manager with cojones now.
My only complaint is Kenny changing a winning formula. Benching Maxi and Kuyt regularly because they are ‘old’.
But I think NESN are committed to finding out whether Moneyball can work here and as such they have to play those players together for a while to see.
I don’t think they’ll stick to it forever though. Clearly some players (the ones worth over £30m in particular)show some serious deficiencies even if they have some unique skills (huge left boot) to match.
Since January 2011, LFV have 9 first team squad players come in from different clubs with different philosophies. Out of those 9, 4 are under 25 years old and no one is under 27 in the remaining singings apart from Bellamy. They have to play together to learn and I think Kenny is merely giving them a chance to gel. What people also dont get is the financial sense of this all. Not only these players are young, they have promise. Thats why they were bought. Carroll has been below par this season but when he was at Newcastle everyone was on his side, calling for his England cap. The promise is still there but it will have to adapt the Liverpool way. Our “net” business is around £30 million over 2 years. Thats not bad for replacing old team with a younger one and with their best years ahead of them. The Academy business has been off the roof which is a good sign of future self-sufficiency. Since NESN have taken over, every move makes business sense but on the pitch I am not sure. The team needs time and on the bright side we have managed to win a trophy. Arsenal came close but got nowhere and LFC achieved that with the players who have been playing together for merely 6 months. Dirk and Maxi are in their 30’s so we have to learn to rely on the future rather than find ways to adapt the past.
A rightful return to the old values of the club has been ushered back under Kenny which, as u point out under Hodgson, was missing as he didn’t have a clue what the club was all about. This is the main reason why Kenny will be looked at differently to Uncle Woy! The football we play is well better also. Ultimately though, results are what counts and a vast league improvement is needed.
i would rather have a coach who wins triphies than somebody who knows the club in and out and still brings sadness to the club
LFC has hit the woodwork more than most any team in Europe. If a third of those had been centimeters closer, they’d have gone in the net. Would your perspective on the season then be different? It seems to me team tactics can be judged well from chances created, and the ball going in the net is more indicative of poor finishing by individuals. It’s true that Kenny’s boys haven’t finished this year, but to say they haven’t improved is going too far.
At last, a sensible view! If a third of those chances were finished those bashing Kenny now would be the same ones basking in the glory of the club. Perspective people.
IS that really a serious question? If it is, I think you’ll find the answer in your own article.
Under Hodgson we gave teams the freedom of the park, limped out of the Carling Cup and were in the relegation zone.
We play MUCH better football, have won a trophy, and are closer to the top four than the bottom 3.
If anyone feels that Kenny has silently ushered in the old Liverpool values can they please expose them to the rest of us.
I am very confused to what that actually means. Kenny was a success 25 years ago but left behind a shambles that we never recoverd. His values then were, we don’t need a reserve side as we will simply buy the best players. Then he went out and brought Speedie?
All of our great managers left behind a legacy for the next man to continue. He left a mess!
You don’t play with style or win many football matches and you have the league’s biggest cheat. You have spent ridiculous amounts on dross and King Kenny is an unpleasant gutter-mouth who is ruining the good name of Liverpool week by week. I hope he stays for a long time.
Spoken like a typical blue/manc.
do you agree athletico should have scored five last night and that moyes ten years of 0000000000 is a great record.
Look at the carling cup mathc from a diferent point of view – Cardiff like Arsenal and a lot of other teams this season were lucky not to get hamered.
Yes things have improved vastly, but need to improve more and they will.
Adam; I take it that you are referring to Suarez, so I suggest that you look at replays and you will see that over 75% of tackles that he doesnt get a free kick he is actually fouled. You moron.
Did I honestly just read that Kenny has until this summer to save his job?
YOU, just like everyone else is OBSESSED over Daglish!…Many of you all don’t support LFC do you???? Daglish is not LFC as he personafies a lot of what it was!, but in today’s football, not what it needs to be! Along with Daglish, Hodgson is just annoying to see his team selection!! I CAN’T BELIEVE WEEK AFTER WEEK WE as LFC FANS have to put up watching Henderson, while MAXI,the same MAXI who made him look good at the end of last season, rides the bench! I predicted a 2-0 Sunderland win because Daglish CONTINUES to to have Henderson playing match after match! If you all remember, the best match we played this season is without Hendo coming off the bench! Daglish along with Hodgson is and was a joke! I along with many others knew Rafa is the man! He brought in the best talent in the squad for years! PEPE, ARBELOA, XABI, TORRES, SKRTEL, AGGER, LUCAS, LUIS GARCIA (youngsters like STERLING, JONJO, SUSO, PACHECO and many others)even brought in Bellamy…brought back Fowler for the sake of US the fans! IF Rafa was supported by good owners, we’d be top of the world! because the Spanish contingent would have brought! A la MATA, SILVA!…Really!!! Try to touch that Daglish! The best Daglish has brought in was years and years ago! such BARNES and Co.! OUST DAGLISH!!! Bring back RAFA!!!
Lets be honest we are lacking a goalscorer. If we had someone who could finish the chances we are creating things would be much more rosie. Like most people Kenny is struggling to admit to his (and Comolli’s) biggest mistake – namely mr Carroll. Lets hope there is some money left to buy a decent quality striker(and one willing join).
I am also concerned about my lovely club. However, I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t happy when Kenny signed Carroll and co. How many of us, LFC fans, would lie and say he/she never liked the things the big guy did with NUFC. Sometimes these things chance and we must remain steadfast in earnest expectation.
My problem with Kenny is his attitutde. He’s trying to prove a point that isn’t there. We need goals, but he would rather bench Maxi, who scores more clinically than even Suarez, for his Hen or Down. He wants them to play until they blend and that is taking us no where. Maxi is like Hernandez- they are foxes.
True we have the milk cup; true we played like Barca against Arsenal; true we create chances; but at the end of the day all those are far from the level LFC had once enjoyed. They are below par.
My verdict is this: we must have at least three world class players come summer window- a striker of Sanchez (Barca) quality and two world-class midfielders. Gerard is ebbing out; in fact, the team played better without him against Arsenal. Let these new players play league matches, while others come from the bench and remain regulars for Carling cup and FA cup. Anything less than this is disastrous.
Kop Priest
the Answer is YES Because now our has selected for Europe and has playing in an Liverpool way and also each and every manager has taken his time to Improve his team. for eg mourhino has taken 2 long years to overtake the Barca in league and so has to be KENNY so plz give this man so much needed time to prove his worth and surely the results will change.
VISHNU4LFC
YNWA
we need a couple of more players and we will challenge for the league next year,cant believe u can ask the question walking out the match after a win was as bad as losing the football was that bad
Kenny is drawing flak for his spending and his signings. But if the question is as simple as the one asked here, then the answer is a most definite ‘yes’. Yes, we have improved, quite a bit. Most fans would have liked us to improve more, read more 3 points, but there is no denying our movement om the pitch have been much more fluent, we certainly DO NOT go to away matches with a negative mindset as Hodgson’s team did, and inspite of some ‘poor’ signings (although I personally believe jury is still out on Hendo and Carroll, judge them next season) the squad depth is better, much much better.
What irks fans is that we could have gone out and perhaps get better players, that can still be possible come summer.
I would like things to change more, get more 3 points and start scoring goals ! But Kenny should be given the next season and while not completely happy with what he has done, the club has gone forward under him for sure.
At the end of the day, the players kenny have bought have been grim and not good enough, for the future or whatever excuse you want to give still just papers over the cracks that he’s bought very poor. When a team like Liverpool, get rid of players and spend £120m you expect alot better results than we’ve seen. I like kenny, I think he came in the right time to stabilise what Roy destroyed. I will never understand sacking a world class manager and replacing a mid table manager like Liverpool did. I think kennys done what he can and should step down in the summer, he might have good man management skills but he lacks massive amounts of technical tactics and thinking he can replicate what he done at lfc 20 years ago, you can see it just doesn’t work like that anymore. Obviously we create alot of chances and we need a goal scorer, I don’t think it’s in the best interest for the owners to give serious money to kenny to blow on another dud. I think the owners should bring back Benitez and start again, with decent investment and his tactics and ability I think we could push on and go for the title again, but it’s going to take time for whoever comes in, it’s ensuring if u spend big u buy quality and not stupid statistics people (comolli) seem to be using to buy players
I have a simple question for all of you.
If the name of LFCs current manager was NOT Kenny Dalglish but Roy Hodgeson [and everything else remained the same], how would you feel about the manager?
As someone said “perspective people”. Kenny Dalglish weally weaaly wanted the job. So:
1. he should be compared with all the current managers
2. he’s spending should be compared with all the managers
3. the results should be compared with teams around LFC
4. LFCs points tally should also be compared previous seasons, on the basis of £/point spent
So…bearing in mind a king’s ranson was spent on the team, how does the manager compare with all his peers?
someone who spent 20m on henderson 35m on carrol
and 20m on downing should be SACKED daglish has not go a clue
Ahmad is correct. The facts tell us we have barely improved at all. When was the last occasion a Liverpool side produced a home recored as atrocious as this one? Four wins, eight draws and a defeat with a mere six home fixtures left. The truth is the this year’s signings haven’t delivered-Downing, Henderson Carroll and Adam foursome have contributed fewer than 10 goals! That’s Bolton Wanderers territory. It just goes on. Looking at Kenny’s transfer record over the past doesn’t inspire , either. The Benitez era seems a long long time ago now.
I also tend to disagree the players selection. What had happened to those young players and why still filling Carragher that again proved to be a liability rather than asset at his age ?