Liverpool VS Wolves : Match Review

What a season it had been for the Reds!
Liverpool will now end year 2010 at the 12th placing with
22 points in 18 matches and 8 defeats in the league, a place
below arch-rival Everton and 16 points behind 1st place Man United.
The Reds suffered another humiliating defeat in Anfield in
the hand of last-place Wolves with a 0-1 scoreline.

I think Hodgson won't get pass the January transfer window
as Liverpool manager as he is now walking on a very thin
thread and any undesirable result against Bolton at Anfield
this Saturday New Year fixture may well be his final match
in charge of the Reds. He has been Clueless, Aimless and Witless
dealing with the opponents and I think he is more suitable for the 2-tier teams.

Yesterday, while watching the live match, I keep wondering
why is right-footed Kuyt playing as the left-wing when we have
Maxi, Jovanovic and Babel as the natural left-sided wingers.
Hodgson had played Cole as the left-winger and his performance
had been woeful and so predictable to the opposing defenders.
Then he played Kuyt on the left-wing which cemented my view that
Kuyt had past his prime and should be sold in the coming days and
week when he is still worth about 8 million if my guess is correct.

When Babel was substituted into the squad and played in the
left wing, there is a huge improvement in the flank attacks and
crosses. Why didn't Hodgson start Babel or even Maxi in the match?
Meireles had a great scoring chance in the first half to calm the
nerve of the team when a quick-wit free-kick by Torres found him
in a one-on-one situation, but somehow he shot right at the goalkeeper
and the ball went out for a corner. This is the best scoring chance
for Liverpool in the entire match, other than the speculative half-chances
taken by a handful of players.

Have the team rested far too long in the 2 weeks (18 days) break that they
have lost the match fitness and awareness? Even with captain Gerrald
back from injury, the team failed to perform infront of the home fans
and the passes and crosses were terribly below-par. Wolves played
a well-planned pressing game and they were rewarded with decent
midfield possessions which limited how the Reds midfielder can deliver
crosses and passes to Torres and Ngog at the front. Lucas was virtually
anonymous throughout the match except for his sudden appearance with
reckless tackle which earned him a deserved yellow card.

Skrtel and Kyrgiakos made a mess of themselves in dealing with a
simple pass by Wolves and allow Stephen Ward to score in a one-on-one
situation with Reina and this is his first Premier League goal. The back-four
played a forgettable match and I expect Agger to be in the line-up against
Bolton and either of the central-defender replaced. Johnson looked tired
yesterday and his supporting play was clearly missed as he made few attempts
to support the attacking play. Konchesky don't deserved to wear the Reds jersey
as he is always out of position and find wanting by the opponent attackers.
Aurelio played better than him when he was replaced in the 2nd half.

With regards to the 2 foward upfront, I think Torres touched the ball
less then 20 times yesterday and Ngog lacked the experiences and skill
to trouble Wolves defenders and goalkeeper. If Torres is not willing to
strive for the team and deliver what he is being paid for, then it maybe
a great time to cash him out. He is worth a stunning 60 million and the
money can be put into good uses since John Henry may just give the
team a 10-20 million to spend in the transfer window.

I am very disappointed with the team's performance yesterday as
I was expecting a perfect 6 points from the 2 home matches against
Wolves and Bolton. Now, there is another 3 points that the team
can strive for this New Year day. Hodgson deserved to be sacked
and go into the history book as the first manager the Reds have fired
before the season is over. I am still as always behind the team and
players but I am not behind the woefully lousy Hodgson to continue
as the manager. Sack the man! Bring King Kenny back!

I leave this posting with a article on why Hodgson must  GO now!

Six reasons why Hodgson must go now

Roy Hodgson's Liverpool reign hit a new low last night with defeat by Wolves, catcalls from the Kop and ill-advised criticism of fans for their lack of support, Here are six reasons why the Anfield faithful want him sacked - and fast.

Torres turmoil
It's slowly becoming clear that for whatever reason - and Liverpool supporters should look to their beloved striker as much, if not more, than their beleaguered manager - Fernando Torres isn't doing it for Hodgson or isn't willing to do it for him.
So abysmal was the striker against Wolves, one of a string of downbeat and disinterested displays in a season briefly illuminated by his heroics against Chelsea, that serious consideration must be given to shipping either he or his manager out in January.

It doesn't matter whether the reasons for El Nino's slump are tactical, personal, fitness-related, whatever. Liverpool simply can't go on with an undroppable player playing as badly as this week-in and week-out. Something has to give.

Terrible transfers
With a few notable exceptions, Liverpool's last two managers didn't have much luck in the transfer market, especially in the latter days of their reigns. Yet amid the mountains of mid-budget dross, Gerard Houllier managed to unearth gems like Sami Hyypia, Dietmar Hamman and Gary McAllister, while Rafa Benitez's big-money moves for Torres, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano paid off sufficiently to give the 'Being Back Rafa' campaign amnesia about him spending £56.5m on Robbie Keane, Alberto Aquilani and Glen Johnson.

Hodgson, meanwhile, has had no luck - or shown no judgement - at all so far. Joe Cole was a questionable gamble after a lost couple of seasons at Chelsea, Brad Jones has not played, Christian Poulsen has not inspired and Paul Konchesky has not been anything other than a nightmare.
The sensible thing to do after his  mother's Facebook outburst against Liverpool fans would have been to quietly drop the former Fulham defender, but Hodgson has kept him in the fold. As such, Konchesky could end up being Hodgson's John McGovern - the Derby player who became a terrace hate figure during Brian Clough's 44 days at  Leeds and whose continued presence in the side despite a string of poor performances hastened Ol' Big 'Ead's Elland Road dismissal.

Missing man-management
Joe Cole's stay on Merseyside has so far been an unmitigated disaster. But there's surely no-one in the country who believes the former Chelsea and West Ham man would be playing so badly if he were now at Spurs, where Harry Redknapp - who was outbid by Hodgson in the summer - is a master of putting an arm around players short on confidence and bringing them back to their best.
Hodgson, by contrast, has always been more stick than carrot - after going 2-0 up in a match during their struggle against relegation, one Blackburn player recalls him strolling into the dressing room at half-time and jokingly asking, "what are you going to do to f** this one up?" His public criticism of Cole, Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger, while certainly justified in the first two cases, can't have gone down well in a tight dressing room. And, again, he has failed to bring the best - or anything approaching it - from Torres.

Backroom unrest
Not even Hodgson claims Liverpool is a happy ship at the moment. In addition to the player issues detailed in the previous point, gossip suggests that some Melwood backroom staffers - though crucially not yet their boss Daniel Commoli - view Hodgson's tactics, training and attitude to scouting unfavourably next to Benitez's precision and attention to detail.
If you believe "informed" talk from fan websites, the players' jury is certainly out on first team coach Mike Kelly, a Hodgson friend for over 40 years.

Tactics and personnel
While Hodgson must be given credit for making Lucas look like a footballer at last, the deficit column of his account is mounting up by the match. Torres' lacklustre form might be down to his head not being right, but some of it is surely to do with the switch from a 4-3-2-1 system with two players to support him.
Despite Daniel Agger's protests that "I'm here to play football and not to unload", it is too strong to call Hodgson a long-ball manager. But his desire for the ball to be played quickly to Torres will not pay off when the forward continually finds himself isolated even when he successfully holds play up. Meanwhile Liverpool's 4-4-2 makes them look among the Premier League's slowest and narrowest teams - no wonder Hodgson wants Ashley Young in the window - while fans are rightly baffled by their manager snubbing Agger and Fabio Aurelio, and either dropping Maxi Rodriguez and Raul Meireles or playing them out of position. It's a mess.

The final straw
Hodgson's remarks about the missing Anfield roar sound much worse in isolation than they did during his fairly reasonable post-match comments. However, he just shouldn't have gone there.
Remember David O'Leary's throwaway remark about Villa's "fickle" crowd and the subsequent "we're not fickle, we just don't like you banner". Where is O'Leary now? And where will Hodgson be in a fortnight?

Liverpool VS FC Utrecht : Match Review

I nearly fell asleep watching the match this early morning
as it was quite a boring, dull and disappointing all-square game.
My mind was telling me to skip this live match as Liverpool
are already guaranteed top place in the group and there
is really nothing to urge and spur the player on to achieve
a desirable result. But my heart and body are willing to forsake
a few hours of sleep to watch my beloved supported team
and players in action. I was disappointed by the proceeding
but I guess it is just what was expected when Hodgson is
still the lead-man.

In this purely academic match, Hodgson made the right decision
to put in the reserves and allow them to show the manager and
the fans what they are capable of. He made 10 changes to the
squad which lost to Newcastle at the weekend with Skrtel the
only player from the last match and was the captain for the match.
Reina wasn't even in the reserves and Brad Jones was the goalie
and it was a pretty reasonably quiet game as he was rarely challenged.

Wilson started alongside Skrtel in central defense with Kelly and
Aurelio at the side. Poulsen was given the call-up to partner Shelvey
in the central midfield and surprisingly Cole was played as a left-wing
and Javanovic was at right-wind when they should have change
sides. Babel and Eccleston were leading the attack.

The defense were doing fine with the countable challenges from
the opponent and Kelly and Aurelio were charging forward to
help out in the attacks whenever possible. The main issue is with
the midfield section.Poulsen was virtually anonymous in the match
and I think he has very few touches on the ball and was running around
like a headless-fly. Shelvey is doing well for a player at his age and
if he continue to perform and mature, he will be a wonderful asset
to the team and looks to fill Gerrard's shoe when the time comes.

Cole played badly in this match and really failed to meet expectation
of a player with his talent and pay grade. He lacked the speed and agility
to run-at and dribble pass the opponent and when he was given a clear
half-chance to score, he took a wild swing and delivered a weakling shot.
As what I have said before, Javanovic is a good player and when
given chance to play in a couple of games, he will show what he can do
to help the team. He was unlucky not to score in the 1st half when his
25m shot hit the cross-bar. If only Hodgson can allow him to play a
few more matches to allow him to show his prowess.

Unfortunately, Babel returned to his former self and performed below
par again in the match. Hodgson gave him a full-match to prove himself
but he was woeful in his shots and runs.Young Eccleston was also
given a chance to show his ability but his over-zealous late tackle resulted
in the only yellow card in the match. Although, he show-off his
speed and agility but he lacks the match positioning but at his age,
he can only improve if he get to play many more games.

Hodgson was seen rubbing his face in frustration as the team
was finding difficulties in finding opening in the opponent's defense
but he should see it coming with the squad that he put in.
If he put Pacheco in the starting 11, I think the whole game will
be played in a very distinct tempo and pace as from the way that
little Pacheco played when he was substituted into the team in
the 56th minutes. Liverpool clearly lack a winger to fully utilised
the width of the field and put in well-placed crosses for the
forward to attack it, and Hodgson need to address this issue
to bring in a quality player during the January transfer window.

Liverpool will face Hodgson's old club Fulham at Anfield this Saturday
and hopefully Gerrard will be fit to be featured in this match with
Torres back in the attack too. Given the terrible away form, the Reds
need to get all the 3 points at home and to correct the once-again
negative goal-difference with a delightful scoreline win.

You Will Never Walk Alone!

Newcastle VS Liverpool : Match Review

Final Score:
Newcastle 3 - 1 Liverpool

Another lousy and disgusting away loss by the Reds
and as the match proceeds, my anger was so hot that I
on the brink of smashing the TV. Fortunately, I never do
so but I just got to vent my anger with the team and
manager's performance at 4am now.

This is by far one of worst performance by the team
in the league with the 3-0 loss to Man City being the worst
in my view. Hodgson and his staffs and the team should have already
watched the video recordings of how Newcastle played again
other teams in the league. They should and must know that
the focus of the team is Andy Caroll and Kelvin Nolan.
I was expecting that the Liverpool's defense will be tight
on the play-maker and goal-scorer and I feel that it is not
shameful to even double man-mark the dangerous players
in the opponent team. Somehow, the defense and marking
on the 2 players was very lax which lead to 2 goals scored
by this 2 danger men.

Andy Caroll is a tough man to mark even with the injured
Carragher is around, but I feel that Skrtel and Kyrgiakos
did a really bad job in this match. The first and second goal
from Newcastle can be avoided and are really too soft a goal
to let in. The third goal by Caroll is an individual brilliance but
the defenders simply back off and back off and was inviting
Caroll to have a crack at Reina's goal which was duly punished
by a well-taken left-bottom shot. Lucas was the closest player
at that time, but he take no initiative to close down Caroll which
sum-up his below par performance.

I was expecting that Hodgson will start Babel with Torres infront
but I was disappointed to see Ngog got to start the match. Babel
should have start the game given his great form lately but Hodgson
choose to start with a safe option rather than taking a risk AGAIN.
Kuyt continued to be full of running and he scored the goal for the team
in this match but I feel that the fans will agree that he can't be the leading
player for the Reds for long. His pace is non-existence although his
hardworking attitude is admirable. He need to be replace with another
right winger and be "downgraded" to the squad or be sold away since
he still got some value in his price tag. As a player, he is without doubt the
most hardworking players in the Reds but he has past his prime
and it is time to let him go in January.

Lucas and Meireles are ok in the midfield section but still not good
enough. Gerrald should return for the home game against Hodgson's
former club, Fulham and he should be partner with Meireles for
the match. Maxi is only alive in the first half and is chasing shadows
in the 2nd half and was rightfully substituted by Babel. The fans should
noticed a significant improvement in the team's attack when Babel
came on. He created chances after chances but his efforts were
wasted by his teammates. Torres had an lousy match in his standard
and one wonders what will happen to the end-result if he put away
the goal when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper when the score
was 1-1 Liverpool may have won the match in the best-case scenario.

There is another one thing that I really need to get off my mind and
that is regarding the manager, Roy Hodgson. In my view, he HAS
TO GO in the January transfer window. He has a bad away games
record even when he was still in Fulham last season and he is always
hopping for miracles when the team is not doing well and was pinned
down by the opponent. He took his own sweet time to make substitutions
and change of tactic (if any) in the match proceedings. I know that
Liverpool has a good record of not sacking any manager in the
mid-season but Hodgson really GOT TO GO! He is like a jinx and/or
curse to the teams he managed which caused the team to have
a very bad away game record. There are plenty of astute managers
out there who must have better away games record than him,
so bring the axe out!

Liverpool is like a ferocious tiger in the home matches and become
a fragile weaklings in away match, this has to stop to prevent any
more points erosion due to failure to win in away match even if it
is a much weaker team. If the team can only play with " You Will
Never Walk Alone" singing in the background, then the team is
in a dire state.

Liverpool will face FC Utrecht this Thursday followed by Fulham on
Saturday which is a must-win home match. Gerrald will be back
to lead the team again so I expect nothing other than 3 points in
the bag this weekend.

You Will Never Walk Alone!
(December 12, 4:40am)

Liverpool VS Aston Villa : Match Review

I have to confess first that I only managed to watch
the second-half of the match and completely missed
the first-half due to tiredness and went back to sleep
after the alarm had rang. I woke up in shock after suddenly
sit-up and rush out to switch on the cable box and TV.
Fortunately, I am rather pleased to see that Liverpool
was 2 goals up against Villa and I am still able to watch
the 3rd goal scored by Maxi live.

Liverpool started the match without Torres as his
wife is in labour and give birth to a baby boy, Leo Torres.
Congrats to Torres. Joe Cole was also sitting on the
bench and was only substituted in the 2nd half to replace
the hardworking Kuyt. His performance was again flat
and normal although he only had 10 minutes on the field.
Cole really need to play a few more matches to regain
his form and composure.

Babel and Ngog started as the front two for the Reds
and both performed well with a goal each to show.
I have long said that Babel if given the chance will
shine and glow in the squad and I still maintain this view.
Hodgson gave Babel a December 31 deadline to perform
or face the exit during the January transfer window.
I say, keep Babel for another 6 months at least and partner
him with Torres at the front or put him as a winger to let him
run at the defender with his pacy and trickery skill.

Hodgson may have other ideas about Babel and he may
still sell him away in January, but given his performance
lately, he should be able to command a higher transfer fee
this is the eventual outcome. I don't like to see Babel leave
the club as I consider him to be an asset to the team, but Hodgson
has the final say. I held the same view for Aquilani and hope to
see him back into the squad next summer and not at Juventus.

Maxi appears to be improving with goals and wonderful
performance to show recently. It is looking like he will be
useful asset as a utility man in the reserve if Hodgson were
to bring in new faces as the left winger role.
Actually, we will definitely see new faces come into the
squad in the transfer window, but what I really hope to see that
nobody is leaving the team at least for another 6 months.
It is a long season and we will need all the players we have to
have a serious assault for the Champions League position or even
higher if the top teams continue to stumble along the way.

Hodgson requires a transfer kitty of about 25-30 millions to be able
to bring in quality players to strength the team and we will see
how determined is Henry in his pursue of great honour for the team.

The Reds next game will be away to Newcastle at St James Park
this Saturday, and looking at the current manager-less situation at
Newcastle, Liverpool should be able to come back with 3 points in the
bag again. Torres should be able to start in this match and hope that his
newborn son, Leo, will be able to bring him luck to score a brace or hat-trick.
Hopefully, Gerrald can be back to the squad after the injury and that will
increase the strength of the team against the Magpies.

You Will Never Walk Alone!