On Sunday 30th December, in the last Premier League game of 2012, Liverpool faced QPR at Loftus Road. Liverpool dominated the whole game, and came out comfortable victors.
The first half performance from Liverpool was scintillating. They played the sort of football we all hoped for when Brendan Rodgers was appointed as manager (though incidentally, he wasn’t at the match due to illness), with the team passing the ball around brilliantly, stretching the opposition, and creating chances. They carved through QPR’s defence with ease, and the first goal looked inevitable right from the start. Sure enough, in the 10th minute, Luis Suarez opened the scoring with a great goal. Suarez continued to look exceptionally lively, in my opinion the best he’s played all season. He darted around, terrorised the defences, but also passed when it was the right option. He got his reward for such excellence, with another goal in the 16th minute. Liverpool continued to press, and Agger headed home in the 28th minute to make it 3-0. In all honesty, we could have been 5 or 6 goals up at half time, but we had to settle for 3.
In the second half, the tempo dropped significantly. Although QPR never looked at all likely to score, I was quite disappointed with this. After the first half performance, I wanted the players to go out there and carry on where they left off. They created a few chances, but were not able to score again, meaning the game finished 3-0. Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter at all, because we went on to comfortably get the three points. However, it would have been a huge lift for the players and fans had they gone on a real rout. They were certainly capable of scoring more.
Suarez looked absolutely deadly in this match, with no trace of the ankle injury which looked set to keep him out of the game, and, until he came off injured, Enrique looked great. Other performances worthy of note were those of Allen, who pulled the strings exceptionally in midfield, and Agger, who got forward a lot, resulting in a goal, and defended well on the very few occasions he was called upon. Sterling was disappointing, but showed some promising signs. Downing also played quite well, and played a large part in the second goal. I certainly hope he doesn’t get sold in January, as he has been an asset to us in the last few games.
On the whole, I was thrilled with our performance. Although QPR were frankly poor, Liverpool capitalised on their bad play brilliantly, and the first half was the best 45 minutes of football I have seen them play all season. Admittedly it was a shame they slowed down in the second half, but overall I was delighted with the win.
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Despite Harry Redknapp’s arrival QPR sit bottom, while Rodger’s reds sit 10th after a boxing day defeat to Stoke City.
QPR have lost their last 2 games but have improved since Redknapp took over. They finally got that first win of the season and had a few draws before that. They have a lot of injuries and the fans need to be patient and give Redknapp until the end of January and see how the team looks then. He never hides from a challenge and will splash the cash in January, also moving on one or two. The next 4 league games look difficult and they can’t afford to lose all 4. I don’t think they will either. I think moving M’Bia out of centre back is an obvious but a good decision by Redknapp. I think he should start Hoillet over Wright-Phillips because Liverpool’s defence is dodgy at best. Cisse could have a fun time against his old club because let’s face it, QPR have nothing to lose in this game. Liverpool have huge pressure to get us back into contention with the top 4 sides. Taarabt should run at Skrtel and Agger as much as he can because they are not as solid as they were last season and the side’s defending as a whole was horrible against Stoke City. Cisse and Taarabt will see a lot of the ball in this game and must try to be creative because at the other end, we have one of the best strikers in the world. There are alot of overpaid players at QPR at the moment. Harry needs to give these players an ultimatum and if they don’t improve, then ship them out in January. He will get tough like he always does and the Luka Modric scenario 2 summers ago show if he is given the choice, then no matter how much money is offered, he will not be parting with players he has in his plans.
Brendan Rodgers know the boxing day defeat wasn’t good enough. The player need to put their hand up and take the blame too, as well as the owners. If Rodgers was backed in a bid for Sturridge and/or Dempsey in the summer, it could have been a different season. But Sturridge is on the way now so that’s a bonus. I like Rodgers as a manager, I think he has passion for the club, no matter what some fans say and his ideas are good but some of the players are not giving their all or are just not good enough. Reina just get any form going at the moment because the usually reliable Agger and Skrtel partnership has been very poor this season. Johnson is a good right-back but he needs to improve the defensive side of his game. Sahin has gone missing in the last few games but he seemed lost when he was playing. Lucas is nearing his best but needs more time and support to get there. Henderson is non-existent in every game. Gerrard is quiet nowadays too, he’s starting scoring lately but he no longer has the legs to play as a box to box midfielder. Shelvey has only played well in the Europa League and the odd league game. Allen sprays the ball around well but there’s not much more to him. Suso and Sterling are improving all the time. Downing’s recent performances are getting better but he probably will leave in January. Enrique and Suarez are flying at the moment and King Kenny’s best two buys deserve applause but need more support around them. There was a good aura around the club after the Fulham game but not for the first time, a poor result knocked us off course. The player need to repay the manager’s faith by getting 3 points here.
Liverpool are so hard to call recently but I usually back them to win so I’ll take one for the team and go 1-1. Hopefully it turns into an important 3 points.
-Adam Norman (@AdamN1996)
After the disappointing loss to Stoke on Boxing Day, we have seen quite an angry backlash from Liverpool fans, mainly towards Brendan Rodgers. The anger of some fans has seemed to have been building up since almost the start of the season, and came to a head for many after the Stoke loss. There is no doubt that most fans would love to be, and maybe expected to be, further up the table, but it has not happened. Rodgers has not been dealt the best hand since taking over at Liverpool, and is still implementing his ideas.
It looked like it was always going to be difficult for Rodgers before the season had even started. Influential and experienced players in Dirk Kuyt, Bellamy and Maxi all left the club in the summer transfer window, leaving an already relatively light attacking group even weaker. It left Rodgers with just Suarez, Carroll and Downing as his attacking options. He moved to sign Fabio Borini, and aimed for Dempsey, so sent Carroll on loan, thinking the Dempsey deal would be simple to complete. For reasons we may never truly know, FSG wouldn’t cough an extra £2million to sign him; they wouldn’t go higher than £4million. After having an already light strike force, FSG compounded the situation even more on the final day of the window.
The only criticism that can maybe be aimed at Rodgers during that window was spending £15million on Joe Allen. I’m guessing he felt Allen was crucial to making his philosophy successful, but spending pretty much half of the spending of the whole window on a player that was going into an area that needed the least strengthening was strange in my eyes. Even with the departure of Charlie Adam, a loan signing of Nuri Sahin would have left the central midfield in an improved state to the previous season, even when the midfield was perfectly acceptable. It has been lucky for Rodgers that youngsters Suso and Sterling have performed so well in the attacking areas, otherwise we would be in a disastrous state, especially with the injury to Borini. I’m sure Rodgers had a budget given to him, so he knew what he could spend, so maybe allocating more to the attacking third would have been a better move.
Whilst the results may not be what the fans have wanted, you can see that we are still getting used to the system, but we are definitely moving in the right direction. Whilst there are performances like the ones against Aston Villa and West Brom on the opening day, there have been some brilliant performances, such as Fulham as well as Man City, which we would have won but for one lapse of concentration. When the system works, it is devastating, but when it doesn’t, we lose badly. Over time, the players will find that consistency and the bad performances will become fewer, and we will see more performances like the Fulham game.
After seeing Sahin becoming player of the year in Germany before his Real Madrid move, the way he has been used has been frustrating. Rodgers used Sahin as the attacking player of the midfield three when he played him in the PL; a position he is not entirely suited to. When played in the Alonso-esque deep playmaker role, he can really dictate the game, as I remember seeing in the West Brom cup game. It is frustrating to see one of the few world class players we have be utilised so poorly.
Rodgers was left to pick up the scraps of a Liverpool team that had finished 8th in the previous season, and had then lost three of its most influential players. It is unfair to criticise Rodgers so harshly at this point of the season, as whatever manager we had got in the summer would have struggled with this squad. Rodgers needs time, and FSG are going to give it to him.
Owner – Max
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Stewart Downing: Stay or Go?
When Liverpool FC signed winger Stewart Downing in July 2011, many fans we excited at having an out and out winger who could be the answer to some of their goal-scoring problems.
Fast forward 12-months and nothing has gone to plan, with no goals or assists in the Premier League in the 2011/12 season, many fans were questing if they should have bought the winger or not – with some even calling for him to be sold.
Now, 17-months after his big money move from Aston Villa, the question on many people’s lips is should Stewart Downing stay at Liverpool or go?
Why people believe he should go
No assists or goals from a winger who should be registering a fairly high number of both is extremely disappointing. Not only is it disappointing but it is worrying. If in the 2011/12 season Stewart Downing could not register a single Premier League goal or assist – can he be relied upon to bring some to the table in the coming seasons?
Downing may have had a great Carling Cup and FA cup run in 2011/12 – with goals and assists – but is that really good enough? Shouldn’t our wingers be doing this week in – week out for us not only in cup competitions but in the Premier League too?
There is no denying that Stewart Downing is a talented footballer who, on his day, can probably do what you need him to do but is probably enough for a club like Liverpool FC – especially now we are trying to rebuild our great club and take it back to the dizzying heights of world football?
Why people believe he should stay
One whole season is not really enough to see what a player is made of – both talent and commitment wise.
Many people believe that Stewart Downing has not been given a fair chance and needs time to prove himself to the Anfield faithful. Liverpool fans don’t need to be reminded of what happened when Lucas Leiva first came to Liverpool, how he was treated, what was said about him and ultimately how important he is for us now.
As mentioned above, Stewart Downing is an extremely talented footballer who has a fantastic technical ability, a brilliant understanding and reading of the game, a pace that most defenders find tricky along with the ability to shoot off both his left and right foot. It has been proven at his previous clubs that Downing usually has a better second season than first, so why not give the guy a chance to show us he can do it?
Last season Downing created the most chances for Liverpool in the Premier League yet none were put away – surely that speaks volumes in explaining why he failed to make an impact with the fans. If new manager Brendan Rodgers can manage to find people to connect with the brilliant crosses Stewart puts in the box along with bringing his confidence to such a level where he can put them away himself too – doesn’t that mean he will become what we have wanted him to be from day one.
Can Stewart Downing really do it for Liverpool FC
I may be bias, or I may just be looking at it from all angles but I really do believe that he can do it for Liverpool, he can make that impact we need him to – and if you look closely, he is already starting too.
The beginning of the 2012/13 season started really well for Stewart in terms of the Europa League – the winger being credited with really helping Liverpool gain qualification to the knockout stages of the competition with 2 goals and 3 assists and widely praised performances, not forgetting that he alone has featured in every single game.
For Downing, the start to the Premier League game has not gone as he probably would have hoped. With only 3 league appearances by the start of November, things were not looking too good – with rumours circulating that the wide-man would look elsewhere come January. But now, after a word with Rodgers and becoming a more versatile player – adding left-back to the positions he can play – things are looking good for Downing’s Liverpool career.
Featuring in 7 of the last 9 league games, gaining praise from his manager, Liverpool FC journalists and fans alike – it looks like our winger could turn things around. Admittedly most of these performances have been at left-back but they have still been great.
The best moment came against Fulham on 22nd December when Brendan put his faith in Downing as a winger and it paid off…big time! Getting his first Premier League assist and goal for Liverpool in a match where he produced arguably his BEST performance in a red shirt to date Stewart Downing looked to be showing fight, commitment, confidence and ability all in one game.
After the match Rodgers said if Downing continued to play like that he wouldn’t need to go anywhere else….could that be true?
Stoke v Liverpool -PremierLeague- 26th December 2012
These two teams have been in good form of late and have both been proven to be hard to beat. In fact in the last 10 games between them, there is only one loss (Liverpool at home to Villa). Their both stuck on the same points with Liverpool 8th and Stoke 9th.
Stoke have conceded just 3 goals in the last 5 games, picking up 2 wins and drawing the last 3. They have a tough run now but they should still stay in the top 12 or 13. They got a great result in the stalemate at White Hart Lane at the weekend. They should set up with a regular 4-4-2 and will attempt to bully Liverpool around who will want to obtain as much possession as possible. Begovic is a top goalie and the defence is as tight as they come. It is definitely possible to hold Liverpool and I can see Stoke setting out to do that first and see what they can get. Shawcross and Huth frustrated Suarez last time the teams played and they will hope they can do it again. Walters will be everywhere in the game and will be a real handful. I hope Lucas can contain him. Agger and Skrtel are good in the air but Crouch could be a step too far for them. The midfield battle will decide the outcome of the game so Stoke might have 5 in there against Liverpool’s 3 which will give them the upper-hand. Stoke would probably settle for a 0-0 because none of their players have scored over 4 goals this season so they don’t score often. Hopefully for the fans, it’ll be exciting, but I think it will be an un-attractive battle of a match.
Liverpool’s 4-0 home victory against Fulham was very impressive. It was the perfect response to the 3-1 reverse against Villa. Downing played excellent and showed that maybe he still does have the talent which made Kenny splash out near 20 million. It’s still 5 points try and catch the top 6 or 7. That’ll be the aim in the next 4 games. Also, the so-called thin squad will be pushed into the limit. Rodgers will go 4-3-3 again with Reina in goal and the usual back 4 with the outstanding Jose Enrique at left-back. His form has been crucial to the recent good spell and Stoke will have to keep an extra eye on him. I think Allen will brought in alongside Gerrard and Lucas in the midfield 3 although I would prefer Sahin, because we need more forward minded players to break Stoke down. Shelvey would be another good option. Sterling should regain his place although he might struggle in this kind of game, same with Suso as Stoke’s physical side will make them struggle. I’d play Downing and Shelvey as the wingers with both of them cutting in and helping 11-goal Luis Suarez. A win here would go a long way to pushing for a top 4 place. The January window will be crucial and it looks like Sturridge is on the way. I think he’ll be a good signing and will offer more options and hopefully help lift the burden off Luis Suarez who ended his mini goal drought last week. I’d like to see Tom Ince brought in and that should do for the forward areas. The 35% sell on clause is a huge advantage and should see us beat off competition from Tottenham.
This game will be tight and scrappy, with neither side giving much away. 0-0 would be for a neutral. But I think we have a lot of players on good form and there seems to be good vibes around the club at the moment. So I’ll go for a 0-1 win for Liverpool.
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A few days ago Lucas said the players owed something to the fans. He said the support has been fantastic, in spite of some difficult results, and he wanted to give the Anfield faithful a performance to send them into Christmas feeling good.
I can certainly understand where he was coming from. But I said at the time that a true LFC fan will not waiver win, lose, or draw. That’s what it means to be a “supporter”. But I appreciate that he understands the significance of giving a performance in front of the home crowd to feel good about.
And they delivered. With some panache, I might add. A dominating, clinical, 4-0 thumping of Fulham was just was the doctor ordered. It offered us a glimpse of what Brendan Rodgers has slowly been building all season. Their was crisp passing, fluid movement, overlapping play on the wings, and finishing. Let’s not ignore the finishing.
For all the talk of Liverpool relying too heavily on Luis Suarez, we were up 3-0 in stoppage time before our Uruguayan playmaker found the back of the net.
We started off by giving young Joe Allen & Raheem Sterling a much needed rest. And that provided Stewart Downing with an opportunity to show why he was brought to Merseyside in the first place. And he was great yesterday. His overlapping play from the wing was great, working nicely with Glen Johnson to provide width & movement on the right. And his strike for the goal was crisp & powerful. In fact, he wasn’t far off from adding a second.
On the opposite wing, Enrique continued to shine in an advanced position. His dribbling run in stoppage time off a short corner provided Luis Suarez with a goal that will reward his tireless efforts. If those two can continue their chemistry, I’m exciting about what that could bring us.
Gerrard was a visionary as usually, spraying pinpoint accurate passes across the field. And just to remind everyone, he made a great run of his own and finishing for his 3rd league goal of the campaign.
All in all, it was a fantastic display for Liverpool. 4 goals, a clean sheet, and a team performance. It was a great way to end the 2012 calendar year at Anfield. So thank you Lucas, and all the other players & staff, for a wonderful Christmas present.
When Brendan Rodgers signed Joe Allen in the summer for £15million, I was a bit unsure about whether he was worth that sort of money. But then he completely dominated the midfield in the second game of the season against Manchester City. Seeing that removed almost all of the doubts I had had concerning Allen. However, since that magnificent performance, it seems that Allen’s showings have been gradually getting worse over the season. Before the return of Lucas, we had no choice really but to play Allen in the holding role, but now that Lucas is back, there is a real question of whether Allen should be in the starting eleven.
Since the return of Lucas especially, many people have called for Allen to be left out. Allen and Lucas are very similar types of players. Both are good passers, whereas Lucas is a better tackler. They can both play the simple passes very well, so there is the question of whether both players are needed. I would like to think that Lucas would keep his place as the defensive midfielder, simply because he is a far better than Allen in that position. As seen in the game against Fulham where Allen wasn’t playing, the central midfield of Gerrard and Lucas worked exceptionally well, as you had Lucas to play the simple play, and Gerrard to play the long diagonal balls as well as the key passes to get at the defence. There was then Jonjo Shelvey who could get forward to join Suarez, which resulted in one of the best attacking performances of Liverpool’s season.
As Dietmar Hamann said on twitter during the game, the team looks a lot better balanced without Joe Allen in the team. In attack, with Gerrard sitting a bit deeper, it allowed him to make his trademark late bursts into the box, resulting in the second goal of the game, something we don’t see from Allen very often. Something we have lacked all season has been attacking penetration, and the new system without Allen seems to have found that penetration.
The main attribute of Nuri Sahin’s game in Germany was his long passing. Keeping this in mind, I would personally play Sahin next to Lucas to play the way Gerrard did against Fulham, playing the diagonal balls to the overlapping fullbacks or wide players, and then try to get in the box when possible. Gerrard would then move up to attacking midfield role to make use of his excellent goal scoring ability. That is my personal opinion, but I’m sure many people would happily keep the midfield trio that played against Fulham.
The only criticism I have of Brendan Rodgers is his ‘stubbornness’ when it comes to Joe Allen; he always seem to play despite the fact other midfielders are in better form. I fully expect Joe Allen to return for the next game even though Rodgers has seen the effectiveness of the midfield without him. Allen is a good player, there is no denying that, but not currently good enough to be in the midfield in my opinion.
Tom Barker
(@Barker_LFC)
Jose Reina- B+: It’s hard to give him a rating, because he had so little to do all game, but when he was called upon he made the saves. His highlight was a great stop from a free kick right at the end of the game.
Jose Enrique- A+: My MOTM. A great defensive performance as well as some brilliant marauding runs forward, culminating in him getting an assist for the 4th goal.
Daniel Agger- B: In terms of defensive work, Agger was as always brilliant. The reason he only gets a B is because he missed a sitter in the first half, scooping it over from about 2 yards out.
Martin Skrtel- A+: Good defensive work as usual from Skrtel, and a great a goal as well. Admittedly nobody came to close him down, but he smashed the ball emphatically into the net to open the scoring for us.
Glen Johnson- A: In the last few games, Johnson has really impressed me.
Steven Gerrard- A+: Another contender for MOTM. Great to see the captain back at his best, playing some killer balls, making some great runs and getting on the score sheet.
Lucas Leiva- B: Lucas had a pretty uneventful game, but was as always solid in the heart of midfield, playing some good passes and defending when necessary.
Jonjo Shelvey- B: I must admit I am not Jonjo’s greatest fan, but he was perfectly reasonable today. He played fairly well, and got involved in some of the attacks. Nothing special though, and I’d have gone with Sahin.
Suso- C: To me, it seemed that Suso didn’t really do much in this game. Despite playing as one of the 3 attackers, he seemed to be lurking around midfield too much. All in all, not his greatest performance.
Luis Suarez- B+: Suarez was lively as always, and made some great runs. He also got on the score sheet to bag Liverpool’s 4th goal. However, his finishing wasn’t great, and he missed some chances that were, by his standards, relatively easy.
Stewart Downing- A+: Stewart Downing was absolutely exceptional in this game. I have always said that Downing had potential at Liverpool, and he showed it all today. He scored a great goal, and assisted Gerrard with a wonderful pass. Sterling will have trouble getting his place back in the Liverpool front three.
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The two sides sit side-by-side in the league and have been unpredictable to say the least this season. Liverpool are one place and two points above 13th place Fulham.
I under-estimated Villa last week. I got a bit too excited by Suarez’ return to the set-up, he looked a bit off pace and got booked once again. A 3-1 home defeat isn’t acceptable and the players and manager need to take a good long hard look at themselves. This season hasn’t been good enough, even though the quality is there. The 4-3-3 isn’t really working because fatigue is kicking into lots of players. Players like Suso and Assaidi haven’t been given enough playing time and Rodgers needs to fix this. Suso has great vision and flair, so he suits this set-up better than most at the club. Assaidi’s speed and skills would worry any defence if he got to show it off more often. I think the two players that need to make way are Allen and Sterling. Sterling is clearly tired after playing in 25 first-team games this season while Allen has played every league game. They should have been rested long ago because the replacements are as good as them. I don’t agree with Shelvey out wide and Rodgers needs to hold his hand up and admit he was wrong there. Also, Downing at left back, I’m not gonna say too much because he played well but we would have been better off with Wisdom on the right and Johnson on the left in Enrique’s absence. Reina had just started to get his confidence back and hopefully last week won’t affect him. The rock-solid partnership of Agger and Skrtel last season has been quite poor at times this season. Benteke ripped them apart last week and Berbatov and/or Petric will look forward to playing against them. I think the midfield 3 should be Lucas-Gerrard-Suso. Lucas can sit back while Gerrard and Suso can move forward. Assaidi and Cole would be my choice for the wide positions. I think warranted a start last week after getting a goal against West Ham. The main man Suarez should start up front and I hope he can add to his 10 goals because it really depends on how he plays, he could decide the outcome.
Fulham were beat by QPR last time out. It was a game they didn’t need because QPR are improving now, while Fulham have lost 3 of the last 5, winning just one. The injury to Ruiz is a blow, but I think they are ok in forward positions. I honestly think Fulham are fine for a mid-table club going through a bit of a slump but the fans will obviously always want to push for more than that, maybe a top 8 place so it’s important Martin Jol gets them out of this rut. I’m a fan of Rodellega but I think Petric should start up with Berbatov because he the first goal will be vital and Petric has a knack of scoring first, 3 times this season, higher than any other Fulham player. Hughes and Hangeland are usually steady and just need a bit more cover from Sidwell and Baird. I think their job will be to stick tight to what ever 2 LFC midfielders push forward and I don’t think they will be able to cope if Suarez drops back like he usually does. They’ll need support from Duff and Richardson. I think Fulham will get a goal this game but how many depends on how the 2 middle men perform. Aston Villa proved that this match doesn’t have to be a daunting task so Fulham will go into the game confident.
Suarez has opened the scoring 6 times this season and I think he will again, meaning that all important first goal will go to the home side, Fulham score most of their goals in the last 30 minutes (57.2%), so we will have to have our eyes open all through the game. I think we’ll edge it, 2-1.
-Adam Norman
Follow me on twitter: AdamN1996
This year has been a very mixed year for us, winning our first cup in many years to reaching the FA Cup Final to finishing 8th place in the Premier League. A very controversial year for Liverpool too, where the FA decided to award Suarez with an 8 match ban for being ‘racist’. We’ve fired Kenny Dalglish, and hired Brendan Rodgers. A very busy year for us indeed.
In January there wasn’t much going on for us apart from us winning the Carling Cup Semi Final. We didn’t sign any players, but this is when it looked like we needed new players the most. This is when some fans turned against our owners, Tom Werner, owner of the Fenway Sports Group (FSG). People now are still complaining about FSG, however I don’t think we can say that they don’t spend any money on us. They have bought many players; Carroll, Borini, Allen, Henderson, Downing. Fair enough this wasn’t the best of our signings but that’s not their fault. They are also looking to expand the Liverpool stadium, costing a lot of money.
We won the Carling Cup his year too, I know, not the most prestigious cup in the world. We still ended our cup drought which is brilliant. For me, I was excited when we won, we had to beat the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea who did put strong teams out.
We also got into the FA Cup Final, sadly we lost against Chelsea but still a great achievement with Liverpool beating Everton in the semi-final. It was a very controversial final, with arguments for both sides whether Andy Carroll’s late goal should have stood, I thought it crossed the line.
Sadly the cup competitions didn’t match our league performances, drawing many of our games. We struggled to score however our defence was very good. We finished 8th in the end which, for Liverpool, is a terrible result. However seeing as we were in the relegation zone for some time, I think this is a fairly reasonable position.
Kenny Dalglish got sacked by the owners after the season finished, probably due to the bad league position. I personally felt it was unfair for King Kenny, I don’t think he had enough time to prove himself. I still thought he could have given Liverpool a lot, what do you think?
When Brendan Rodgers was appointed there was mixed feelings across Liverpool. Some thought Brendan wouldn’t be able to manage a ‘top 4 side’, on the other hand some thought it was the perfect manager after his successful reign as Swansea manager. His style of football was ‘tika-taka’, which many of the fans loved.
We signed a few players during the Summer transfer period; Allen, Borini, Assaidi, Sahin and Samed Yesil. Allen has been playing well for us, however recently his form has dropped. His passing accuracy is superb however I think he needs to play long balls more often and not be scared to go forward. Borini hasn’t played that much because of his 3 month injury, he should be back soon. I think he will be a very good player in the future and will be crucial for Liverpool in the upcoming seasons. Assaidi was a surprise signing to us all, however he has straight away been a fan favourite with many fans begging Brendan to give him more chances. He’s very young and defiantly has big potential, can’t wait to see him play in a couple of years time. Sahin was seen as an amazing capture for Liverpool, with Arsenal looking to have the upper hand to sign Sahin. He’s been playing well at the start of the season however his performance has dipped recently. I don’t think he’s been playing in his correct position so I he can’t play to his full potential right now. Hopefully Brendan will see that. Samed Yesil was signed by Rodgers with a little hit of help by Sami Hyypiä. He will be one of the best players in the world and I cannot wait to see that. His goal scoring form is amazing and recently he won the German Under 21s Player of the Year, beating the likes of Götze. So he’s defiantly going to be a well known player.
However this included some players leaving the great club. Liverpool fan favourite, Dirk Kuyt left for a Turkish club, most of the fans were sad after this but understandable after not getting enough game time. Charlie Adam left us, probably the correct decision after a not very impressive performance last season. Also Maxi left, such a great player and the home to one of our favourite songs, ‘He runs down our wings’. Craig Bellamy also left us for family difficulties, so he returned to his home ‘country’, Wales. Also Aquaman left which wasn’t at all a big surprise. Andy Carroll went on loan to West Ham, this is when the transfer chaos came, as we only had one experienced striker after that, Suarez. One of my favourite players Jay Spearing also left for Bolton on loan who is doing a fairly good job there however rumours have it that he might be coming back in January.
One big plus for us is the contracts, we have signed 6 new contracts since Brendan’s arrival, Jonjo Shelvey signing a long term contract, a great token for the club. Suarez signing a new contract, Luis Suarez is all I can say :-). Agger and Skrtel signing a new contract, very good indeed. Suso signing a new long term contract, very good for the young sensation and Brad Jones signed a two year contract for the back up for Pepe.
Our results haven’t exactly been the best and we have already been knocked out of the Capital One cup. However we did win our Europa League group which is a brilliant sign. Our recent performances (excluding the one against Aston Villa) has been good, the players are getting the feel of the tika taka movement. I think the players need another season to perfect Rodgers’ plan.
How do you think 2012 went for Liverpool?
