After Liverpool's defeat to Arsenal FC on Saturday, 4th place is surely out of reach now. This will mean another season without Champions league football at Anfield which is obviously disappointing. After thinking for some time I have thought of the 5 main reasons our Premier League form has been off the mark this season.
Liverpool FC have dropped 19 points at home this season, this is more then the last two seasons combined. 8 draws and only one defeat. The draws have really killed any type of momentum we have had in the race for 4th. Drawing with the likes of Stoke City FC, Swansea City FC, Norwich City FC, Sunderland FC and Blackburn Rovers FC has been really frustrating for the fans. Of course most of those teams have just parked the bus and been tough to break down but that's what you expect.
I think that the new signings have struggled to realise what it's like to play in front of the Kop. There has been no late winners, no back to back home wins to get the fans excited. Just missed chance after missed chance after missed chance. Anfield this season hasn't been the fortress it normally is and this will have to change in the future if we are going to get anywhere.
HOME FORM
Liverpool FC have dropped 19 points at home this season, this is more then the last two seasons combined. 8 draws and only one defeat. The draws have really killed any type of momentum we have had in the race for 4th. Drawing with the likes of Stoke City FC, Swansea City FC, Norwich City FC, Sunderland FC and Blackburn Rovers FC has been really frustrating for the fans. Of course most of those teams have just parked the bus and been tough to break down but that's what you expect.
I think that the new signings have struggled to realise what it's like to play in front of the Kop. There has been no late winners, no back to back home wins to get the fans excited. Just missed chance after missed chance after missed chance. Anfield this season hasn't been the fortress it normally is and this will have to change in the future if we are going to get anywhere.
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| Sebastian Larsson celebrates after securing Sunderland FC a point. |
INJURIES & SUSPENSIONS
Liverpool haven't had too many suspensions or injuries just the ones they have had were to crucial players. Right from the start we without the captain Steven Gerrard. He missed the first five weeks of the season with a groin injury which kept him out the back end of the last season. Once he was back he somehow managed to pick up an ankle injury at the beginning of October which kept him out for another two and a half months.
With our captain missing a large part of the season we were always going to struggle but one man had really stepped up in his absence. Lucas Leiva was having a fantastic season until at the end of November he did his knee cruciate ligament which ruled him out for the season. This was a huge shame as he had really been excellent and the shining light of the Liverpool team.
Just when Steven Gerrard was coming back to full fitness, Luis Suarez was given his infamous eight match ban which ruled him out for a month. In that period, Liverpool FC played four Premier League games and only won one.
If there was a trophy for missing chances we would definitely win it. With the worst conversion rate in the league of 8%, Liverpool have only scored 30 goals. To put that in to perspective, Robin Van Persie has scored 25 goals on his own in the league. Chances have come and chances have gone. Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy are our top goal scorers in the league with 6 goals each. When you see Demba Ba, Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Sergio Aguero all have 20+ then 6 is a really pathetic total.
Luis Suarez is a truly fantastic player, some of the things he does are unbelievable but for the amount of chances he makes/gets he really needs to score more. In saying that the midfield really need to chip in. Between Steven Gerrard, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson there is 5 league goals. That is just not good enough.
Liverpool FC have hit the woodwork a outstanding 21 times. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and when it's come to shooting it just hasn't been with us. Against Arsenal FC we hit the post twice, for me we should of really scored both of the chances but instead we just added to the tally.
If we could make the goals a couple of inches wider then we would of scored a lot more goals. Luis Suarez has hit the woodwork 19 times in his 46 games at the club. That is surely some sort of record.
In the league alone we have missed 4 penalties. That's a crazy amount, if those 4 had gone in we would be 5 points better off. That's 3 kicks of a ball going differently and there's 5 more points in the tally. That's how close we have been this season. Would Steven Gerrard of scored those penalties? Probably... That's an easy thing to say though, everyone should really back themselves from 12 yards.
In conclusion, this season we have made progress under Kenny Dalglish this season. That's not what frustrates the fans, the frustrating thing has been how close we have been. If little things had gone our way then we could be sat in 4th spot right now. I'm keeping the faith in Kenny Dalglish and I'm backing him to get us in to 4th next season.
By James Mannion
Follow James on Twitter: @AnfieldReds_
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| Lucas Leiva sustains a nasty injury which will keep him out for the season. |
MISSED CHANCES
If there was a trophy for missing chances we would definitely win it. With the worst conversion rate in the league of 8%, Liverpool have only scored 30 goals. To put that in to perspective, Robin Van Persie has scored 25 goals on his own in the league. Chances have come and chances have gone. Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy are our top goal scorers in the league with 6 goals each. When you see Demba Ba, Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Sergio Aguero all have 20+ then 6 is a really pathetic total.
Luis Suarez is a truly fantastic player, some of the things he does are unbelievable but for the amount of chances he makes/gets he really needs to score more. In saying that the midfield really need to chip in. Between Steven Gerrard, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson there is 5 league goals. That is just not good enough.
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| Another chance goes a begging. |
WOODWORK
Liverpool FC have hit the woodwork a outstanding 21 times. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and when it's come to shooting it just hasn't been with us. Against Arsenal FC we hit the post twice, for me we should of really scored both of the chances but instead we just added to the tally.
If we could make the goals a couple of inches wider then we would of scored a lot more goals. Luis Suarez has hit the woodwork 19 times in his 46 games at the club. That is surely some sort of record.
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| Andy Carroll after he hits the bar against Swansea City FC. |
PENALTIES
In the league alone we have missed 4 penalties. That's a crazy amount, if those 4 had gone in we would be 5 points better off. That's 3 kicks of a ball going differently and there's 5 more points in the tally. That's how close we have been this season. Would Steven Gerrard of scored those penalties? Probably... That's an easy thing to say though, everyone should really back themselves from 12 yards.
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| Wojciech Szczesny saves Dirk Kuyt's penalty at Anfield. |
In conclusion, this season we have made progress under Kenny Dalglish this season. That's not what frustrates the fans, the frustrating thing has been how close we have been. If little things had gone our way then we could be sat in 4th spot right now. I'm keeping the faith in Kenny Dalglish and I'm backing him to get us in to 4th next season.
By James Mannion
Follow James on Twitter: @AnfieldReds_
You might be backing kenny but mark my words,his support is rapidly waning....His continous support of his buys despite them doing nothing is crazy...Why is he benching maxi and kuyt so much while giving playing time to henderson and downing?His press conferences have become cringe-worthy and I have stopped watching the pressers because of him now.....AND DONT EVEN START ABOUT THE TACTICAL NOUS OF KENNY NOW BECAUSE IT IS NIL.....his subs are too late and why does he praise carroll for his nobody-cares-for goal against brighton while benching him against a crunch tie against arsenal when we needed a goal...He should admit that 35m went down the drain and sell him so we can cut our losses.....Our league form has probably stagnated like roy hodgson's here and with AVB out,we should fire kenny and get AVB...You compare AVB's signings to Kennys-- Downing vs Mata....Meireles vs Adam/Hendo...Cahill vs Enrique....at best we have 3 good signings of enrique,suarez,bellamy while 5 poor ones of downing,adam,coates,carroll,hendo....YNWA!!
ReplyDeleteps- Its a shame that LFC with 120m spent cant do better than pea-nut spenders NUFC..SHAME!!!!