It's a big weekend for Liverpool. Chelsea have dropped points to Norwich, Arsenal has to play Man United, Newcastle loses to Fulham due to an excellent performance by Clint Dempsey, and Tottenham has a fixture against Man City. This is the perfect storm for Liverpool to start gaining some much needed momentum to fit themselves in one of the coveted top four spots. Their opponent? Bolton Wanderers, who are sitting in the relegation zone. As this season has gone on any fan of any team has come to know that there are no easy games in the Premier League. However, this is no excuse to take another stroll down let down lane for the "performance" that was given today.
It's amazing how much money has been spent on new players in the past year for the Reds. Carroll £35M, Suarez £27, Downing £20M, Henderson £15M, Adam £7M, and the list goes on. Yet they have almost nothing to show for it. Liverpool has a solid amount of money to spend on players yet they seem to do a great job wasting it on overpriced English players.
Andy Carroll is purchased for £35M. He is said to be an aerial threat with his deadly headers and solid left foot. As it turns out he has scored zero goals with his head and four with his feet after starting fourteen games and being subbed on for ten. Where that £35M price tag came from is beyond me; why Liverpool thought it would be beneficial to pay it is something Tyler Durden would even question. It baffles me how every time the ball touches his foot it goes 10 feet away from him. It baffles me how every time a ball is crossed to him he has no idea how to create space for himself. It baffles me how every time he tries to get the ball he finds himself, yet again, on the ground. At the game’s top level these things should be elementary.
Many say that Carroll isn't getting the service that he needs to put the ball in the net. We'll luckily the men in charge thought of that and purchased some great crossers to help with said service to Andy, those players being Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam. As it turns out neither of them are any good at crossing or finishing. Downing has one goal and zero assists while Adam has two goals and four assists in a combined forty eight games. Surly Aston Villa and Blackpool were sad to see them go.
Charlie Adam truly doesn't deserve a starting spot on this team. He commits hard and very unnecessary fouls, likes to shoot right at the defender, and most importantly he refuses to get back on defense as a center mid. This forces Gerrard to get back and play defense for him which then takes Stevie away from being up top which is where he’s needed most. Someone who plays center mid should never be this non-athletic. Simply put, he isn't a good player, he is a third string center mid not even a backup player. Yet week in and week out he is on the pitch with his poor play.
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
Johnson – Skrtel – Agger – Enrique
Henderson – Shelvey
Bellamy – Gerrard – Downing
Maxi/Kuyt
With the injuries and bans Liverpool has to deal with right now why wouldn’t something like this be considered? Gerrard won’t have to come back as a holding CM anymore and can be strictly a CAM, Downing can work his way inside coming up the wing rather than sending in horrible crosses, Maxi/Kuyt both have great positioning and can move the ball, and Bellamy has been lights out in front of the net since he was signed and seems to be able to play any position up front. It could be argued that Henderson and Shelvey are too inexperienced for the defensive positioning. On the other hand they are young, athletic, skilled, and (for the most part) intelligent players. They have a very strong defense behind them, and an experienced group in front of them. They are signed professional players, and have proved they can take on the task.
With two huge upcoming cup fixtures this week against both Manchesters, Liverpool is in for quite the ride. If they keep playing like this they can kiss a top four spot goodbye. If they keep playing like this they can kiss both cups goodbye. If they keep playing like this they can kiss the Adidas sponsorship goodbye… wait that happened already. On the bright side there is a lot of season left and ten days left in the transfer window. No one seems to be sure of the Red’s fate, especially not the men in charge. But if King Kenny keeps this nonsense up it’s a safe bet that the Fenway Sports Group will have his head by the end of the season.
In closing here is a short summary of how ‘Pool fans feel.
P.S. Go Giants.
