Time To Start Panicking?

It’s now dawning on the most fervent LFC loyalists and optimists that something has gone wrong. Five defeats in the last six Premiership matches wasn’t quite the run-up to season’s end that we were looking for – hey, at least we won the Merseyside derby! – and I think we’d all be ill-advised to predict a finish higher than the seventh place we currently occupy, which is one down on last year.

Yes, of course there are silver linings in plenty. A series of tremendous Cup performances, winning us one trophy and leaving us well set to achieve another final at least; why do we seem to be able to pull off this sort of big occasion and yet fizzle out so disappointingly in the weekly Premiership slog? Several of the newer players are beginning to find some form, and fit-again Stevie G has put in some fantastic performances; but it can’t be denied that the team conspicuously fails to add up to the sum of its parts. Something is wrong.

Perhaps the Cup games hold the key; the fact that one carelessly conceded goal can dump you out on your arse concentrates minds, and this consciousness brings a coherence to Liverpool’s play which is sadly absent elsewhere. The QPR game was a case in point; unusually, it was the defence that went walkabout in those final fateful fifteen minutes. The first QPR goal looked like the sort of carelessness which can creep in when cruising to victory; nobody expected it to lead to collapse. But, if the forwards hadn’t continued in their wearily familiar profligacy, we could have been out of sight by half-time. (Still, the stamping of Seba Coates’ personality on the game was worth quite a bit.)

Part of the enigma is, of course, Carroll, that least enigmatic of players. His problem, I think, is that people see him as a different kind of player to what he really is. He looks every inch the big front man, who’s there to get on the end of the subtle crosses and flicks supplied by our midfielders and bang the bloody thing in. But he’s not. He often works better playing slightly deeper, up to Suárez rather than vice versa; and he’s better with his feet than with his head. I would guess that his motor coordination is not quite all it might be; sometimes he looks less likely to get anywhere near a cross than Count Dracula. And one thing he certainly isn’t is an impact substitute.

The midfield – when it’s good it’s very very good, but… Charlie Adam really hasn’t shone at all recently. And how to get the best out of Hendo? He’s looking far better down the centre than he does when playing on the right. Downing is getting better and better, but do we really have a freely adjustable plan to take account of his abilities on both wings? And I’d like to see Kuyt on the field more – we should use him as a linchpin for the attacking force, getting into the area and teeing up Carroll and Suárez. But these are the sort of things we’ve been saying all season, and some of them have been put into practice, and it still isn’t working reliably.

And, inevitably, voices are beginning to pipe up saying that Kenny isn’t after all the man for the job. (Not to mention one Red friend of mine, an Eeyore-like pessimist from the start, whose every utterance is a variation on “I told you so”.) I don’t see any reason for this. Kenny is what he always was, a heart-and-soul man with 100% Red DNA who knows the club, the players and the Kop. It’s possible that he falls down somewhat in the field of imagination; we often seem to be banging our heads against the same wall, particularly in team selection and substitution policy. I think he needs more support. LFC, of all clubs, should know the value of building a proper bootroom around an iconic manager. We’ve got to show a lot more flair, not just on the pitch but in the dugout. But no need to panic just yet. The season’s largely a failure; let’s use the opportunity to take a risk or two.

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