Whilst I didn't expect us to win the title this season ( I thought we'd be 2nd) I did expect us to put in a pretty serious challenge. Yet here we are in mid October with less than a quarter of the season gone & we are more or less out of the title race.
Some may argue we are still in with a chance. If we beat the Mancs next week we are only 5 points off them. We still have to play Chelsea at home & The arse home & away. However, this is very much clutching at straws.
we are 8 points off Man U & Chelsea & 6 off Arsenal if they win their game in hand. I'm not being pesimistic, just realistic. Number 19 isn't coming home this season.
So what gone wrong. How has our challenge evaporated so quickly.
well first up, the spine of our team has been poor. our recent success has largely been built on a great defence with a gerrard inspired attack. our defence has been woeful, particularly Reina. His nightmare Cup Final has spilled into this season & he's been very poor. We look very vulnerable from crosses but Reina isn't alone.
Carra has been way below par for me. He's made more mistakes this season than he made all last season. Agger has been impressive & Hyppia solid but that apart we've been poor. We've missed JAR when he was injured, something I never thought would be the case. Warnocks ok but Aurelio has been very poor. His Galatasary performance was a disgrace. Even the ever relaible finnan has wobbled at times.
Next up is SG. By his own high standards he's been average at best. No league goals speaks volumes about his form. Rafa doesn't fancy him in the middle away from home and SG looks unhappy to me.
Alonso has been off form too. His form has picked up a bit but early on he didn't warrant his place. Maybe the World Cup has took its toll on SG & Alonso. But the other top teams had plenty of players there & they've still done the business. I'm afraid tiredness won't cut it as an excuse.
Next up is rotation. I'm not opposed to it per se but Rafa has gone OTT at times. My problem is that rotation is ok when players are used to the style of play. But Rafa's been rotating players who've just arrived at LFC. No wonder Pennant & Aurelio have struggled to fit in. They play one game in about 3. how can they establish themselves under such conditions. At times we've played 4 or 5 new boys in the same team. You can't do that & expect to carry on from last season. we should have had a nucleus of 7 or 8 players, playing all the time with new players fitted in around them.
We've had 2 new strikers playing together more often than not. We should have played Crouch & Bellamy, then introduced Kuyt slowly when Bellamy was settled in a bit. It takes time for players to settle into a settled side. Its almost impossible to settle into a side with 4 or 5 changes every game. As our new boys have tried to settle into an unsetteld side, performances & results have suffered whilst Arsenal, Man U & Chelsea have sailed away into the distance.
As the season goes on we will improve, but it will be too late. I hope Rafa learns from this poor start for future seasons. When introducing new players you need a reasonably settled side to introduce them into, not 1 with 4 or 5 changes every week.
Some may argue we are still in with a chance. If we beat the Mancs next week we are only 5 points off them. We still have to play Chelsea at home & The arse home & away. However, this is very much clutching at straws.
we are 8 points off Man U & Chelsea & 6 off Arsenal if they win their game in hand. I'm not being pesimistic, just realistic. Number 19 isn't coming home this season.
So what gone wrong. How has our challenge evaporated so quickly.
well first up, the spine of our team has been poor. our recent success has largely been built on a great defence with a gerrard inspired attack. our defence has been woeful, particularly Reina. His nightmare Cup Final has spilled into this season & he's been very poor. We look very vulnerable from crosses but Reina isn't alone.
Carra has been way below par for me. He's made more mistakes this season than he made all last season. Agger has been impressive & Hyppia solid but that apart we've been poor. We've missed JAR when he was injured, something I never thought would be the case. Warnocks ok but Aurelio has been very poor. His Galatasary performance was a disgrace. Even the ever relaible finnan has wobbled at times.
Next up is SG. By his own high standards he's been average at best. No league goals speaks volumes about his form. Rafa doesn't fancy him in the middle away from home and SG looks unhappy to me.
Alonso has been off form too. His form has picked up a bit but early on he didn't warrant his place. Maybe the World Cup has took its toll on SG & Alonso. But the other top teams had plenty of players there & they've still done the business. I'm afraid tiredness won't cut it as an excuse.
Next up is rotation. I'm not opposed to it per se but Rafa has gone OTT at times. My problem is that rotation is ok when players are used to the style of play. But Rafa's been rotating players who've just arrived at LFC. No wonder Pennant & Aurelio have struggled to fit in. They play one game in about 3. how can they establish themselves under such conditions. At times we've played 4 or 5 new boys in the same team. You can't do that & expect to carry on from last season. we should have had a nucleus of 7 or 8 players, playing all the time with new players fitted in around them.
We've had 2 new strikers playing together more often than not. We should have played Crouch & Bellamy, then introduced Kuyt slowly when Bellamy was settled in a bit. It takes time for players to settle into a settled side. Its almost impossible to settle into a side with 4 or 5 changes every game. As our new boys have tried to settle into an unsetteld side, performances & results have suffered whilst Arsenal, Man U & Chelsea have sailed away into the distance.
As the season goes on we will improve, but it will be too late. I hope Rafa learns from this poor start for future seasons. When introducing new players you need a reasonably settled side to introduce them into, not 1 with 4 or 5 changes every week.
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