Liverpool 0 West Bromwich Albion 1.
Yet another defeat at Anfield for the mighty Liverpool.
They now sit in the Premier League in a group of teams separated by 3 points that include Norwich, Swansea and West Bromich Albion.
With only a couple of games left to go in the season, I see that as a disgrace for a club the size of Liverpool considering how much they have spent in the last year and a half.
However, I am not a Liverpool supporter.
I have enjoyed watching what I consider to have been great football under Rafa Benitez.
I have enjoyed watching the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher over the years and would hate to see them retire without winning the Premier League.
And I have enjoyed numerous epic European nights over the last decade.
But I am not a Liverpool supporter.
And I say supporter, as opposed to fan.
For it is they who support the club.
They who pay the entrance fee.
They who are the ones who experience the emotions of both the clubs successes - and failures.
Not me, nor other neutrals.
Who cares what they think about their club - It’s their club.
So as most Liverpool supporters have been staunch in the defence of Kenny Dalglish - most neutrals think it is blind nostalgia towards a hero of yesteryear who is so far out of the game he should not be allowed near a club the size of theirs.
Liverpool supporters believe that because Andy Carroll scored 2 important goals recently - he starting to prove his worth.
Most neutrals think Andy was a colossal waste of money and at €40m, consider him to be one of the greatest flops in the history of the Premier League.
Liverpool supporters believe Charlie Adam is an acceptable signing because he cost only €8m.
Most neutrals think he is nowhere near good enough to even grace the bench of a club that size.
Liverpool supporters believe Luis Suarez is in the World Class bracket.
Most neutrals look at the record of Luis this season - 8 goals in 28 games - and think why?
Van Persie has 27 in 35.
Rooney has 26 in 31.
Even Yakubu has twice as many as Luis and played a game less.
But again, us neutrals are not Liverpool supporters.
The way Kenny brought shame onto the club with his handling of the racism row was again something that we didn’t agree with.
We also didn’t like the handling of Roy Hodgson.
Sacked after only a few months, Roy now sits 1 point behind Liverpool despite not spending €130million.
Most neutrals laughed when Liverpool won the Carling Cup.
We think it’s a trophy that lost all its prestige when big teams, and Liverpool were one of them, started using the cup to blood youngsters and allow recently injured players get back to full fitness.
As Real Madrid defeated Barcelona on Saturday night to almost guarantee them La Liga - I couldn’t help but wonder what has happened in the 3 years since Liverpool destroyed Real Madrid 5-0.
I miss that team.
That for me, was where Liverpool belonged.
Not winning Carling Cups with Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing in their team.
Hammering the greatest club in Europe with World Class players like Torres, Gerard and Alonso.
But alas, as I said, I am not a Liverpool supporter.
It’s them and only them who can make their judgement on their club and where it should be.
If they support Kenny and Charlie, Andy and Luis, plus the Carling Cup and feel all that is good enough for their club - they will get what they deserve.
I just feel they should be aiming a little higher...
Showing posts with label Kenny Dalglish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenny Dalglish. Show all posts
Monday, 23 April 2012
Monday, 9 January 2012
One year on - Is Kenny still King?
Kenny Dalglish completed one year in charge of Liverpool Football Club over the weekend.
A lot has been said about how Kenny has had an excellent year when comparing Liverpool’s standing in the league now to where they where when he took over.
But Liverpool shouldn’t be comparing themselves to their lowest point of recent history - rather the height of just a few seasons ago.
Rafa Benitez did have a poor season to finish off his tenure, but he also had 5 great years.
And Kenny took over just 5 footballing months after Rafa.
Any comparisons should be made between Liverpool now and Liverpool under the great Spaniard.
This is where I have great difficulty in believing Kenny has done an excellent job so far.
He is not a patch on the master tactician and while you could argue that Rafa never lifted that elusive league title, that just goes to show how much further Kenny will have to go if he is to realise the dreams of the Anfield club.
Rafa never played the attractive brand of football that has become synonymous with teams like Manchester United or Arsenal, but his defensive set-up and tactical shrewdness meant he endeared himself to the purists of the game.
There was nothing more fascinating to watch than Rafa’s team defy the far superior attacking sides time and time again, bringing great success to Liverpool, namely in the Champions League.
Kenny, having spent over 10 years out of the game, has brought back all the passion, belief and inspiration that is loved on the terraces up and down England.
But he hasn’t added any tactical shrewdness - something that Rafa had in abundance.
The sort of tactical mind that is needed to take a team from being happy to compete for 4th place in the Premier League every season to a team that has their sights set on actually winning it.
What helped Kenny land the job was being a former player and manager of this great club.
If any Liverpool supporter actually thought about it objectively for one moment - handing the reigns of the club over to a man who had been out of the game for 10 years was ludicrous.
All this talk of ‘The return of the King’ was bound to cloud the issues for supporters - given the phenomenal support that Kenny could expect on the terraces from past glories.
Ultimately, they will be judge, jury and executioner for Kenny.
But walking into a courtroom when all 12 men are heralding you as a ‘King’ can only lead to clouded judgement.
For starters, his dealings in the transfer market have been questionable at best.
The signing of Andy Carroll his biggest mistake so far.
£35 million for a player of his quality was a massive misjudgment on his part.
However, his decision to sell Fernando Torres was both shrewd and brave.
An absolute hero to the Liverpool fateful and one of only two genuine world class players at the club.
But Kenny had seen signs of his demise and managed to top up his transfer kitty with £50 million.
Luis Suarez, whilst having undoubted talent, has question marks hanging over him following his 8 game ban for racism and 1 game ban for making an obscene gesture to opposition supporters.
Kenny was already aware of the disciplinary side of the ‘Cannibal of Ajax’, so aptly named by a Dutch newspaper following his 7 game ban for biting an opponents ear in Holland.
He will have his work cut out to make sure Luis doesn’t go the way of someone like Carlos Tevez.
However, the potential is there for Kenny to turn Luis into a world class player, if he can get the best out of his little South American.
Charlie Adam, whilst only costing £7 million, looks nothing more than a decent squad player, looking desperately short since the recent return of Steven Gerard.
Steven has shown immediately in his few games back, what is needed to be a general in the Liverpool midfield.
Good judgement on Kenny’s part was the signing of Jose Enrique, who has slotted in excellently to a defensive unit that Kenny is starting to build for the team.
But Stewart Downing until this weekend, had zero goals and zero assists.
Not the sort of return needed from an attacking winger.
Kenny just can’t seem to get the best out of his signing.
But with only one year in charge, and not even a full season to date, now is not the time to judge him.
He has his work cut out and should be given time during this transitional period.
However, with £115 million having already been spent, he is only in touching distance of fourth place because Arsenal and Chelsea are massively underachieving this season.
In a season without distractions like European competition either.
Kenny has appeased the terraces so far when supporters compare him to Roy Hodgson.
But he has a long way to go before he gets back to where Rafa had this great club.
Let alone to where the supporters really want to be...
A lot has been said about how Kenny has had an excellent year when comparing Liverpool’s standing in the league now to where they where when he took over.
But Liverpool shouldn’t be comparing themselves to their lowest point of recent history - rather the height of just a few seasons ago.
Rafa Benitez did have a poor season to finish off his tenure, but he also had 5 great years.
And Kenny took over just 5 footballing months after Rafa.
Any comparisons should be made between Liverpool now and Liverpool under the great Spaniard.
This is where I have great difficulty in believing Kenny has done an excellent job so far.
He is not a patch on the master tactician and while you could argue that Rafa never lifted that elusive league title, that just goes to show how much further Kenny will have to go if he is to realise the dreams of the Anfield club.
Rafa never played the attractive brand of football that has become synonymous with teams like Manchester United or Arsenal, but his defensive set-up and tactical shrewdness meant he endeared himself to the purists of the game.
There was nothing more fascinating to watch than Rafa’s team defy the far superior attacking sides time and time again, bringing great success to Liverpool, namely in the Champions League.
Kenny, having spent over 10 years out of the game, has brought back all the passion, belief and inspiration that is loved on the terraces up and down England.
But he hasn’t added any tactical shrewdness - something that Rafa had in abundance.
The sort of tactical mind that is needed to take a team from being happy to compete for 4th place in the Premier League every season to a team that has their sights set on actually winning it.
What helped Kenny land the job was being a former player and manager of this great club.
If any Liverpool supporter actually thought about it objectively for one moment - handing the reigns of the club over to a man who had been out of the game for 10 years was ludicrous.
All this talk of ‘The return of the King’ was bound to cloud the issues for supporters - given the phenomenal support that Kenny could expect on the terraces from past glories.
Ultimately, they will be judge, jury and executioner for Kenny.
But walking into a courtroom when all 12 men are heralding you as a ‘King’ can only lead to clouded judgement.
For starters, his dealings in the transfer market have been questionable at best.
The signing of Andy Carroll his biggest mistake so far.
£35 million for a player of his quality was a massive misjudgment on his part.
However, his decision to sell Fernando Torres was both shrewd and brave.
An absolute hero to the Liverpool fateful and one of only two genuine world class players at the club.
But Kenny had seen signs of his demise and managed to top up his transfer kitty with £50 million.
Luis Suarez, whilst having undoubted talent, has question marks hanging over him following his 8 game ban for racism and 1 game ban for making an obscene gesture to opposition supporters.
Kenny was already aware of the disciplinary side of the ‘Cannibal of Ajax’, so aptly named by a Dutch newspaper following his 7 game ban for biting an opponents ear in Holland.
He will have his work cut out to make sure Luis doesn’t go the way of someone like Carlos Tevez.
However, the potential is there for Kenny to turn Luis into a world class player, if he can get the best out of his little South American.
Charlie Adam, whilst only costing £7 million, looks nothing more than a decent squad player, looking desperately short since the recent return of Steven Gerard.
Steven has shown immediately in his few games back, what is needed to be a general in the Liverpool midfield.
Good judgement on Kenny’s part was the signing of Jose Enrique, who has slotted in excellently to a defensive unit that Kenny is starting to build for the team.
But Stewart Downing until this weekend, had zero goals and zero assists.
Not the sort of return needed from an attacking winger.
Kenny just can’t seem to get the best out of his signing.
But with only one year in charge, and not even a full season to date, now is not the time to judge him.
He has his work cut out and should be given time during this transitional period.
However, with £115 million having already been spent, he is only in touching distance of fourth place because Arsenal and Chelsea are massively underachieving this season.
In a season without distractions like European competition either.
Kenny has appeased the terraces so far when supporters compare him to Roy Hodgson.
But he has a long way to go before he gets back to where Rafa had this great club.
Let alone to where the supporters really want to be...
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Sorry Liverpool Football Club
Not in an apologetic sense.
But the actual sorry state of the club right now.
They are completely wrong in their handling of the Luis Suarez racism situation.
And it’s time to change their staunch attitude towards supporting Luis and try save some grace.
Because the way things are going - they are on course to do some serious damage to the reputation of this great club.
Following the release of the 115 page document from the Football Association, it has become quite apparent just how guilty Luis actually is.
But Liverpool Football Club seem insistent on giving their full backing to a player who has unequivocally being found guilty of racial abuse.
The show of ‘unity’ from the club by wearing t-shirts supporting Luis before the Wigan game was a disgraceful decision.
If they had t-shirts supporting anti-racism - I could understand.
But to stand by a player who has just been convicted of racism, completely undermined the whole idea of zero tolerance against this disgusting side to the sport.
What was going through Glen Johnson’s head as he warmed up for the game?
It was a baffling decision by Glen as an individual - let alone by a club the size of Liverpool.
At the start of this unsavoury incident, it was unclear as to whether Luis was a racist or actually misinterpreted.
To support a player at this stage is what one would expect from most clubs.
But Liverpool, and Kenny Dalglish in particular, must have known from an early stage that Luis was going to be found guilty.
If they didn’t, then why didn’t they instigate an internal investigation immediately?
Liverpool’s defence was built on misinterpretation, because of the different cultures.
Put a Uruguayan and a Frenchman together in England and it’s easy to understand how that could happen.
But as soon as Luis admitted to actually saying all of the numerous different expressions of the insult that he used, it became clear that he didn’t have a leg to stand on.
According to the 115 page report from the FA, Luis admitted to calling Patrice Evra ‘Negro’ seven times.
He also admitted to saying “Because you’re black” when asked by Patrice why he had kicked him.
He continued with “I don’t speak to blacks” and “OK, blackie, blackie, blackie” during the exchange.
Luis and Kenny were joined by Dirk Kuyt and Damien Comolli in issuing statements regarding the incident.
The FA found them to be ‘inconsistent’ and ‘unreliable’.
At least one of them was lying.
The report suggests at least two.
It is both thorough and conclusive.
And the FA should be commended for their handling of the case.
Clearly stating facts and providing hard evidence.
All of it leading to no doubts about Luis being guilty.
100%.
It was one thing supporting a player before his conviction.
But an entirely different situation if you continue to support a player in this way when found guilty.
An appeal now, would be irresponsible beyond belief from a club that has held so much respect in the footballing world for as long as I can remember.
Liverpool Football Club should back down immediately from their current stance.
Because they aren’t just supporting Luis.
They’re supporting racism.
That part of the situation is black and white...
But the actual sorry state of the club right now.
They are completely wrong in their handling of the Luis Suarez racism situation.
And it’s time to change their staunch attitude towards supporting Luis and try save some grace.
Because the way things are going - they are on course to do some serious damage to the reputation of this great club.
Following the release of the 115 page document from the Football Association, it has become quite apparent just how guilty Luis actually is.
But Liverpool Football Club seem insistent on giving their full backing to a player who has unequivocally being found guilty of racial abuse.
The show of ‘unity’ from the club by wearing t-shirts supporting Luis before the Wigan game was a disgraceful decision.
If they had t-shirts supporting anti-racism - I could understand.
But to stand by a player who has just been convicted of racism, completely undermined the whole idea of zero tolerance against this disgusting side to the sport.
What was going through Glen Johnson’s head as he warmed up for the game?
It was a baffling decision by Glen as an individual - let alone by a club the size of Liverpool.
At the start of this unsavoury incident, it was unclear as to whether Luis was a racist or actually misinterpreted.
To support a player at this stage is what one would expect from most clubs.
But Liverpool, and Kenny Dalglish in particular, must have known from an early stage that Luis was going to be found guilty.
If they didn’t, then why didn’t they instigate an internal investigation immediately?
Liverpool’s defence was built on misinterpretation, because of the different cultures.
Put a Uruguayan and a Frenchman together in England and it’s easy to understand how that could happen.
But as soon as Luis admitted to actually saying all of the numerous different expressions of the insult that he used, it became clear that he didn’t have a leg to stand on.
According to the 115 page report from the FA, Luis admitted to calling Patrice Evra ‘Negro’ seven times.
He also admitted to saying “Because you’re black” when asked by Patrice why he had kicked him.
He continued with “I don’t speak to blacks” and “OK, blackie, blackie, blackie” during the exchange.
Luis and Kenny were joined by Dirk Kuyt and Damien Comolli in issuing statements regarding the incident.
The FA found them to be ‘inconsistent’ and ‘unreliable’.
At least one of them was lying.
The report suggests at least two.
It is both thorough and conclusive.
And the FA should be commended for their handling of the case.
Clearly stating facts and providing hard evidence.
All of it leading to no doubts about Luis being guilty.
100%.
It was one thing supporting a player before his conviction.
But an entirely different situation if you continue to support a player in this way when found guilty.
An appeal now, would be irresponsible beyond belief from a club that has held so much respect in the footballing world for as long as I can remember.
Liverpool Football Club should back down immediately from their current stance.
Because they aren’t just supporting Luis.
They’re supporting racism.
That part of the situation is black and white...
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