Wolves Post Mortem

[DannyMan2006]

White Armani suits

three dropped crosses by James at home to PSG in the cup winners cup

Neil Ruddocks equalizer against the mancs in the 3-3, oh yeahhhhhh!!!!!

[Drago]

The second leg of that PSG game was brilliant, even though they didn't manage to get the 3rd. Those two games just summed that side up really.

Then they went and done the same thing against Strasburg

[RoadEnd]

As the curtain came down on a third defeat in four league games, Liverpool fans chanted the name of former manager Kenny Dalglish and, ironically, "Hodgson for England".

"I am getting used to it, that is the way it is," said Hodgson. "We've had to live with that for quite a long time now as ever since I came here the famous Anfield support has not really been there.

"There were the problems with the owners, then Kenny being so popular and not getting the job and it being given to me. "It is sad and I don't like hearing those things because I am trying to do the best job I can do.

"As manager you take responsibility for that so I have to take that criticism on the chin as well."

Is that why he's always rubbing it?

[Icon]

Right now I'd give Montse the job...

[cream]

No chance I'm afraid, he could go if we lose the next couple of games but even then I'd expect him to get until the summer, by which time my passion for th game will have been completely drained.

If we lose the next couple of games, we'll be in the relegation zone. Too late to do anything then.

[Lecter]

I think if we got a new manager in who was the right man, people would be amazed at how quickly many ou our major problems suddenly vanished.

Because of this, not for one second am I saying rush into getting a new permanent manager. I'm saying sack the one everyone knows is a dead msn walking and get a temp appointment in who will get the respect of the fans and players and who will have us playing attractive football.

I dont want either of them as manager (well not long term anyway) but Holloway and Coyle are higher in the table than us, with inferior players and are playing more attractive, attacking football

Said before its not rocket science someone who got us pressing higher up the pitch, moved the back four 20-30 yards up the pitch would get far more rewards than the current manager is with his 35 year old master plan of waiving the white flag

[SK]

Outplayed, outfought, and outsmarted...no bad luck in the games against Northampton, Blackpool and now this waste of an evening i'll never get back.

The piece of **** that gets the pay check to be our manager claims the team doesn't have enough quality in them?! how about those three teams we've lost to? how much individual quality do they have? not much, but the slight ****ing difference they play like a unit, press high up the pitch, defend and attack in numbers and have a slight idea of how football is played in the year 2010 and not how it used to be played in the lower divisions about 30 years ago.

like many on here this was the game i really, didn't want us to get a lucky equaliser at the end, it's like shooting a horse with a broken leg, it ain't pretty but i has to be done.

and now to our beloved captain. i advocate doing what roma have done with Totti, fantastic player in his day, but doing more damage than good now. and if playing him means playing a formation that does not suit us, and playing others out of position, we really, really have to think hard if it's worth it. I've a lot of respect for what he's done, but sooner or later the time has to come when we have to move on..

[andrewces38]

Not Sure If this has been mentioned in the match thread , But did anyone else notice Glen Johnson tell the KOP to " **** Off?...................It was during the 1st half when Johnson was on the edge of our box and just aimlessly just kicked the ball into the paddock with his left foot the Crowd jeered because of the stupidity of it and he turned to the Kop and he could clearly be seen to say " **** OFF" .............I thought what a prick not just for the aimless kick but his attitude , I suppose Roy has brought this frustration on the players

[SK]

Not Sure If this has been mentioned in the match thread , But did anyone else notice Glen Johnson tell the KOP to " **** Off?...................It was during the 1st half when Johnson was on the edge of our box and just aimlessly just kicked the ball into the paddock with his left foot the Crowd jeered because of the stupidity of it and he turned to the Kop and he could clearly be seen to say " **** OFF" .............I thought what a prick not just for the aimless kick but his attitude , I suppose Roy has brought this frustration on the players

i was under the impression he said he got cut off by a wolves player so his only option was to clear the ball out of play with his left foot.

[dww]

I really don't think he is, the fact that he lied about Rafa and has criticised us as fans shows this.

I'm not sure how much he has lied and how much he was just misinformed.

Jimmy Arnfield likes him so he probably is genial enough when not under pressure. He seems to deal with the stresses of top management marginally better than I imagine Holloway would but it has certainly bought out the worst in him.

I don't really feel the personal hatred many do I just want him sacked ASAP. I was beginning to accept he had to stay until the summer but my attitude is hardening against him again.

[SK]

we might not be talking about the same situation tough

[Arn]

Liverpool vs Wolves – A Horror In Chalkboards

I’m back to take another depressing look at the chalkboards. Skipped a few games in between largely down to the fact that the chalkboards didn’t have any interesting tale to tell. While the news from the Wolves game isn’t positive, there are a few things worth noting.

I’m still trying to understand how we lined up last night. Kuyt on the left and Meireles on the right? Why oh why?!! If you’re trying to bring Gerrard bring back into the line up, why would you:

1. Drop Maxi Rodriguez who’s been the best personal form since he moved to the Reds?
2. Move Meireles from center of midfield, where he’d really started to excel, to the right wing, a position that doesn’t come naturally to him?
3. Play Kuyt on the left-wing instead of the right?

Of course all this comes down to the “insistence” on playing a 4-4-2 system. The most natural thing in the world would have been to drop N’gog and play Gerrard off Torres. Now that’s no fault of N’gog, but it would have let us retain the midfield that has worked reasonably well on it’s day i.e. Maxi on the left, Kuyt on the right and Lucas + Meireles in the center of midfield.

Selection and formation surprises were the only holiday surprises in store for the Red faithfuls, as there was no pleasant surprises forthcoming on the performance front. (Yes, a good performance at home to Wolves would count as a surprise where we are at.) The Reds were awful from start to finish and the chalkboards have survived to tell the tale.

Wednesday, 29 December 2010

Lineup: Reina Johnson Skrtel Kyrgiakos Konchesky (Aurelio 73) Meireles (Cole 73) Gerrard Lucas Kuyt N’gog (Babel 62) Torres
Result: Liverpool 0 – 1 Wolves (HT 0-0)
Scorers: Ward 56 (Wolves)

For matters of comparison, I’ve picked the same fixture from last season, played almost exactly an year ago. It also happened to be the first league start for one Alberto Aquilani. Just saying.

Saturday, 26 December 2009

Lineup: Reina Johnson Carragher Agger Insua Benayoun (Spearing 88) Aquilani (Pacheco 84) Lucas Aurelio (Kuyt 76) Gerrard Torres
Result: Liverpool 2 – 0 Wolves (HT 0-0)
Scorers: Gerrard 62, Benayoun 70

Reina watch

Let’s start with the chalkboard I usually end with. This chalkboard is a personal favourite, as regular readers would know, and this time I have an especially awful looking chart for you.



One of them looks like the Reina we know and the other one looks like a drugged Reina with a blindfold on, trying to kick the ball as far as humanly possible. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which is which.

Some like it deep

“In too deep, can’t touch the bottom” goes the Pearl Jam song, but you can count on Roy on proving Vedder wrong. If we continue playing like this, it won’t be too long before we’re back hovering around the bottom of the table.

Looking at the passing heat map below, it’s evident that only 16% of our passes were in the Wolves 1/3rd, less than half of the 38% last year. Conversely, we spent twice as much time passing the ball in the defensive 3rd (36% compared to 18%).



We managed 541 passes in this game, a good number compared to most of our games this season, but still far short of the 668 we managed in the equivalent fixture last season. The pass completion rate also fell down from 82% to 72%. To put that in context, that’s around 150 successful passes less from where we were last year.

The next chart proves how we practically invited the Wolves upon us (pun intended), with the direction of play reversed to show the areas where they used the ball.



The percentage of time spent in each third reads 22-39-39 compared to 37-42-21 last season. Almost the same amount of time spent in the midfield, but the time spent in the attacking and defensive thirds has been reversed for all practical purposes. And that doesn’t make for pretty reading if you’re a Liverpool supporter. (Wolves did get a man sent off in the second half last season, but even so, the pattern of play was largely established. And remember, we’re not comparing this performance with the very best of Liverpool in recent seasons.)

“All you get from young players is relegation”

Roy’s comments, not mine, during his stint at Vikings. That would explain his experienced buys, Konchesky and Poulsen. With the latter finally finding his feet at Liverpool (firmly planted on the bench), let’s take a look at how the former fared, compared to the performance of a young buck last season.



In numbers that reads:

Konchesky
74 minutes
46 passes attempted
34 succesful passes
74% pass completion rate
0 assist(s)

Insua
90 minutes
65 passes attempted
59 succesful passes
91% pass completion rate
1 assist(s)

Loaning out Insua, one of the best left-backs in the world in every age group growing up, and paying people for the privilege looks like a better decision with every passing day, doesn’t it? Yes, he had his shortcomings, but which young defender doesn’t? Experience and proper coaching would have taken care of that. Okay, absence of the latter under Roy is probably what sealed Insua’s fate then. By February, Insua had six assists for the Premier League season; Konchesky, who looks no better at the back than the young Argentine, has just one.

Clicky

[Redspin]

Hodgson has to go!!!

8 defeats in 18 games

........and, unbelievably, still with a negative goal difference. A total disgrace

[Redspin]

Sorry Shaggy, cant click the link, I literally cannot ever listen to him speak, not watched one full post-match interview with him - The Cunt.

Same here. I was watching the post-match phone-in on LFC TV and when he came on I had to switch channels. Same whenever I see his miserable gob on any channel. He makes my flesh crawl

[el matador]

what i dont understand with roy is why the midfield and defence are so deep compared to the front two. his basic game plan is to pass the ball long into the forward line with the midfield there to pounce on the knockdownsand our play is built from there.

but theres a 15 - 20 yard gap between the forwards and supporting midfield. any knock downs and second balls are won by the opposition which means that we give the ball away to the opposition pretty much every time. our midfielders are just too far behind to make any sort of impact on the game.

its no surprise then that the opposition get more possession that we do and they dominate the midfield and the game in general. until roy sorts this out we will continue to look and play like a pub team.

getting outplayed, out passed and out fought at home by the likes of blackpool and wolves tells its own story. his tactics arent working and its time for a change because we will get relegated if he stays in charge. teams have sussed us out.