THE recent win against Everton has been great and has injected a lot of positivity amongst the players and fans. After all, it was a Derby win in which Liverpool scored 3 goals, kept a clean sheet and controlled most of the match.
However, the win should not hide the fact that, bar Gerrard, the squad still has a problem scoring goals. The rest of the squad has yet again managed to miss a handful of clear goal scoring chances.
Suarez missed two chances, as did Kelly (excluding the miss that led to the first Gerrard goal), while Carroll missed a relatively easy chance. To be honest, If I was Kenny, I would still be worried.
This is not to say that Liverpool have put in a poor performance against Everton. In fact, it was a top drawer performance. It is rather to highlight that our main problem of finishing off teams while controlling proceeding of the matches and creating numerous goal scoring chances still remains. The same problem was highlighted by Opta earlier this week (prior to match against Everton):
“Liverpool have had 22 more shots than Manchester Utd in the PL this season but have scored 38 fewer goals”
For Liverpool to return to being a top club, the conversion rate needs to improve drastically and goals must also come from all around the pitch, starting with the defenders. You just have to look around the other top clubs in Europe. Most of them have both a player who has a high goal conversion rate and consistently scores, and a squad that chips-in with goals every now and then.
To me, Liverpool are halfway there. Tactically and with the exception of few matches, the team has generally controlled proceedings of the matches and created a lot of chances while keeping the defence tight. Despite his 8 match ban, Suarez has had enough chances to be amongst the league’s top goal scorers while everyone else has had a relatively good number of goal scoring opportunities. Now, Kenny and his backroom staff need to work on players finishing off their chances. Once that is rectified, Liverpool fans will have more smiles on their faces.
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com
Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool and ‘Like’ us on Facebook
i think its time shelvey gets game time at least he is tried and tested at blackpool, i feel sorry for the lad. I reminder a comment comparing hendo and shelvy. Hendo is a squad player just does his job but shelvey unpredictable suddenly gets you on your feet does have the movement which i think will be dangerous if partnered with suarez
I agree completely. We are still in the “one man” game play syndrome. We are indeed improving but very very slowly. Whatever happens ( either bought in or Academy) we badly need a goal scorer to assist Suarez.