I’ve always wondered why I find it hard to drag myself to write about Liverpool, week in week out. I’ve always seemed to have something, if not a lot to say about things, especially when things are this bad. This is the worst run of form that we’ve had in 22 years, ironically in arguably the better years that we’ve had in that period. No one can explain it.
Not even the manager.
Hell in fact, probably even God would’ve been stupefied. Although he’s currently enjoying some sort of an Indian summer in the faraway lands of Australasia, it probably wouldn’t take half a second for him to cast his gaze over this side of the earth and wonder what the hell is going on.
Actually, there can be no other appropriate expression than that right now– what the hell is going on.
There are just so many ways that hell can actually be related to Liverpool FC right now – the afore mentioned fact that we are in our worst run of form in the last 22 years, we are currently in what is possibly our worst run of injuries in the last 10 years losing 9 first time players at one point, we’ve lost a key player in our spine to another Perez mega project, commercially and financially the club is in it’s most limited and restricted periods, getting beat by a beach ball, Stanley Park doesn’t look like it’s getting built anytime soon and lastly the fans, whom have always been the club’s most distinguishable features apart from Gerrard, are starting to divide themselves into two and debating on Rafa’s position, something which is blasphemous and forbidden just 6 months ago.
And the most hellish thing that is happening to us right now, on top of all the above, is the fact that it’s happening to Liverpool FC.
Yes, it’s happening to us.
On the back of one of the most glorious seasons in the last 10 years, where we did not lose to any of our top 4 rivals, beating the Rentboys, the Mancs and Real Madrid both home and away, scoring the most number of goals in the last 10 years, scoring the highest points tally in our Premier League history, all while missing both Gerrard and Torres for a combined third of the season and coming back from numerous games and winning them.
Just what the hell is going on?
As I write this, it’s half time at Anfield with us trailing Birmingham by the odd goal in 3. It’s a surprise scoreline really, considering The Blues were trailing 15 minutes in, and equalized through a soft set piece goal 15 minutes later, before taking the lead through a strike which will definitely be a contender for Goal of the Month for November. But the most surprising part of all was that for the entire half, the team, which included the fit-again Riera who then injured himself with 5 minutes left and the steadily improving Ngog in Torres’ place with Kuyt captaining the side with Gerrard warming the bench, played well.
Yes, they played well.
Although my Kop eyes are young, the team played well. Lucas was a steady – and steadily improving – influence at midfield, biting timely, harassing effectively, running the game smoothly while occasionally – although with increasing regularity – making up for the absence of Gerrard’s incisive passing with his own. Johnson showed why we missed him during his injury, proving already just a quarter of the season in that he’s worth every single penny spent with his direct running, skinning the whole left wing, reassuring covering and physical presence just about every time the ball comes his way. Ngog consistently showed flashes of what Rafa has been seeing in trainings, sneaking in and out in between defenders, showing a good physical side to his game to hold defenders off for the pass, and most of all, wanting the ball played to feet before turning to take the first defender on.
I can go on and on. We were assured in possession, not wasteful, patient, passed the ball well, spread the game and shrunk it with good control, and created opportunities for almost everyone from midfield to the forward line. For my money, as good, if not better, as how our second string side performed against Arsenal in the recent Carling Cup defeat, having given them a considerable run for their money. Any other day, this team – the same team that went into halftime 1 goal behind – would’ve been 2-0 up.
No doubt about it.
Which was the exact reason why Rafa put this team out.
Yes, I admit, the starting lineup didn’t make perfect reading. Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Insua, Benayoun, Lucas, Mascherano, Riera, Kuyt, Ngog. Ideally, we’d have Gerrard, Torres and Aquilani in Ngog, Riera and either Benayoun, Lucas or Kuyt’s place. But things are from ideal right now. It’s Hell. In case you’ve forgotten. And four weeks ago, everyone would’ve been happy with the above starting lineup. In fact, everyone would’ve been calling out for the line up during the good times of last season.
So what was different then?
Let’s see – Carragher wasn’t suspended, Gerrard wasn’t just coming back from a groin injury, Torres didn’t have his hamstring killing him, Alonso was still here, Johnson was still playing with Portsmouth (and hasn’t just recovered from his injury), Riera was fit and playing, Lucas was fit and waiting for playing time and Aquilani was fishing with his club doctor while Agger was watching from the balcony.
I could go on and on.
If we had put out this lineup last season, it would have been because of opportunity. But today, it was because of necessity. The necessity made even more certain by the fact that Voronin could not make up for Gerrard’s absence in his run of 3 games, that Babel is not tactically aware enough yet to complement a more calculated team yet, and that Torres needs a rest after playing 3 straight games (whilst scoring 2) while still recovering from injury.
But we would’ve still put the same team out, although with starkingly contrasting differences in expectations.
I am going to say that our usual suspects’ performances – Lucas, Ngog – have been really good considering our reduced expectations and reservations about them.
I am going to say that in spite of missing 3 of our first team players – Gerrard, Torres and Aquilani (yes, he is in the first team) – the rest of the patched up team (inclusive of all those who were somewhat rushed from injury) we’ve been seeing from the Lyon defeat at Anfield have been playing consistently well with each other, and that the team’s understanding hasn’t deteriorated since then. The initiative has been the same, the mentality has been the same, the approach has been the same, and the intent has been the same. And proof of that were moments of brilliance and excitement and surprise and positivity, all throughout the match.
And that was the same thing I saw in the second half against Birmingham just now.
Yes, we looked desperate. And I agree with everyone out there we didn’t get the results we wanted and expected, but I will defend the team by saying that they did not play badly from that Lyon defeat at Anfield.
You may chose to be in denial, or take the high ground on this matter, but I chose to see the positives. In each of those matches – Lyon, Manchester United, Arsenal, Fulham, Lyon and Birmingham – the team has more than held it’s own against its opponents. It may have lacked cutting edge, or incisiveness at vital moments, but never in any of those matches did we feel that team that was playing could not do the job.
I will agree that individual mistakes, individual lapses of concentration, individual lack of determination, individual inability to hold composure and individual bad judgment were all the reasons why we have only won 1 out of the last 9 games. The rest of the time, I’m sure none would’ve been unhappy to see the way the team played.
We’ve never seen our second team play good enough. Even through last season. But this season, I’ve seen a lot better. It is gross injustice to not let the teams that played those 9 matches take anything positive away from those matches, especially if in the joy of last season, all of us would’ve been even more pleasantly surprised with the very same performances.
Yes you may accuse me of trying too desperately to look for positives. You may even accuse me of trying – valiantly – to make a mountain out of a molehill, but it’s this very same mountain that Shankly was thinking about when we were relegated. And what did we get?
Not a bloody mountain. But instead a history. A bloody glorious history.
And our history has taught us many things, things that we forget in the heat of the moment, in the despair of a defeat, in the frustration of a draw, in the intoxication of expectation – the virtues of patience, perseverance, persistence and perspective. Manchester United won the title last season on the back of 4 defeats and 6 draws, which is a total of 24 points dropped. We’re currently on 5 defeats and 1 draw, which make 17 points dropped so far. We can still afford to drop another 7 points and win the title, meaning we can still afford to lose 2 more games and draw another one (dropping 8 points), or lose 1 more game and draw 3 more games and still win the title. However, considering how open the league is this season, we might be even able to afford to drop a bit more.
Yes, things don’t look like they’re getting better any time soon. But is there anything we can do about it, anything constructive? Yes.
And that is to keep looking for positives, and merely acknowledge the negatives. We’ve stopped the run of defeats with our fighting draws. Gerrard’s back. Aquilani’s back. Torres is going to get some rest with the 2 week break. Johnson is back. Agger is back. Skrtel is back. Ngog is coming on nicely. Lucas is showing his potential. Yossi’s made it to the first team. So a lot has changed positively, albeit just in little bits and pieces. Hell, even Degen has shown that he can actually play a bit of football.
And if that’s not enough, then there is the last thing we could do.
Sing our lungs out, loud and proud. Quiet and dignified. And do not stop.
For the day the sweet silver song fills the golden sky.
Not even the manager.
Hell in fact, probably even God would’ve been stupefied. Although he’s currently enjoying some sort of an Indian summer in the faraway lands of Australasia, it probably wouldn’t take half a second for him to cast his gaze over this side of the earth and wonder what the hell is going on.
Actually, there can be no other appropriate expression than that right now– what the hell is going on.
There are just so many ways that hell can actually be related to Liverpool FC right now – the afore mentioned fact that we are in our worst run of form in the last 22 years, we are currently in what is possibly our worst run of injuries in the last 10 years losing 9 first time players at one point, we’ve lost a key player in our spine to another Perez mega project, commercially and financially the club is in it’s most limited and restricted periods, getting beat by a beach ball, Stanley Park doesn’t look like it’s getting built anytime soon and lastly the fans, whom have always been the club’s most distinguishable features apart from Gerrard, are starting to divide themselves into two and debating on Rafa’s position, something which is blasphemous and forbidden just 6 months ago.
And the most hellish thing that is happening to us right now, on top of all the above, is the fact that it’s happening to Liverpool FC.
Yes, it’s happening to us.
On the back of one of the most glorious seasons in the last 10 years, where we did not lose to any of our top 4 rivals, beating the Rentboys, the Mancs and Real Madrid both home and away, scoring the most number of goals in the last 10 years, scoring the highest points tally in our Premier League history, all while missing both Gerrard and Torres for a combined third of the season and coming back from numerous games and winning them.
Just what the hell is going on?
As I write this, it’s half time at Anfield with us trailing Birmingham by the odd goal in 3. It’s a surprise scoreline really, considering The Blues were trailing 15 minutes in, and equalized through a soft set piece goal 15 minutes later, before taking the lead through a strike which will definitely be a contender for Goal of the Month for November. But the most surprising part of all was that for the entire half, the team, which included the fit-again Riera who then injured himself with 5 minutes left and the steadily improving Ngog in Torres’ place with Kuyt captaining the side with Gerrard warming the bench, played well.
Yes, they played well.
Although my Kop eyes are young, the team played well. Lucas was a steady – and steadily improving – influence at midfield, biting timely, harassing effectively, running the game smoothly while occasionally – although with increasing regularity – making up for the absence of Gerrard’s incisive passing with his own. Johnson showed why we missed him during his injury, proving already just a quarter of the season in that he’s worth every single penny spent with his direct running, skinning the whole left wing, reassuring covering and physical presence just about every time the ball comes his way. Ngog consistently showed flashes of what Rafa has been seeing in trainings, sneaking in and out in between defenders, showing a good physical side to his game to hold defenders off for the pass, and most of all, wanting the ball played to feet before turning to take the first defender on.
I can go on and on. We were assured in possession, not wasteful, patient, passed the ball well, spread the game and shrunk it with good control, and created opportunities for almost everyone from midfield to the forward line. For my money, as good, if not better, as how our second string side performed against Arsenal in the recent Carling Cup defeat, having given them a considerable run for their money. Any other day, this team – the same team that went into halftime 1 goal behind – would’ve been 2-0 up.
No doubt about it.
Which was the exact reason why Rafa put this team out.
Yes, I admit, the starting lineup didn’t make perfect reading. Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Insua, Benayoun, Lucas, Mascherano, Riera, Kuyt, Ngog. Ideally, we’d have Gerrard, Torres and Aquilani in Ngog, Riera and either Benayoun, Lucas or Kuyt’s place. But things are from ideal right now. It’s Hell. In case you’ve forgotten. And four weeks ago, everyone would’ve been happy with the above starting lineup. In fact, everyone would’ve been calling out for the line up during the good times of last season.
So what was different then?
Let’s see – Carragher wasn’t suspended, Gerrard wasn’t just coming back from a groin injury, Torres didn’t have his hamstring killing him, Alonso was still here, Johnson was still playing with Portsmouth (and hasn’t just recovered from his injury), Riera was fit and playing, Lucas was fit and waiting for playing time and Aquilani was fishing with his club doctor while Agger was watching from the balcony.
I could go on and on.
If we had put out this lineup last season, it would have been because of opportunity. But today, it was because of necessity. The necessity made even more certain by the fact that Voronin could not make up for Gerrard’s absence in his run of 3 games, that Babel is not tactically aware enough yet to complement a more calculated team yet, and that Torres needs a rest after playing 3 straight games (whilst scoring 2) while still recovering from injury.
But we would’ve still put the same team out, although with starkingly contrasting differences in expectations.
I am going to say that our usual suspects’ performances – Lucas, Ngog – have been really good considering our reduced expectations and reservations about them.
I am going to say that in spite of missing 3 of our first team players – Gerrard, Torres and Aquilani (yes, he is in the first team) – the rest of the patched up team (inclusive of all those who were somewhat rushed from injury) we’ve been seeing from the Lyon defeat at Anfield have been playing consistently well with each other, and that the team’s understanding hasn’t deteriorated since then. The initiative has been the same, the mentality has been the same, the approach has been the same, and the intent has been the same. And proof of that were moments of brilliance and excitement and surprise and positivity, all throughout the match.
And that was the same thing I saw in the second half against Birmingham just now.
Yes, we looked desperate. And I agree with everyone out there we didn’t get the results we wanted and expected, but I will defend the team by saying that they did not play badly from that Lyon defeat at Anfield.
You may chose to be in denial, or take the high ground on this matter, but I chose to see the positives. In each of those matches – Lyon, Manchester United, Arsenal, Fulham, Lyon and Birmingham – the team has more than held it’s own against its opponents. It may have lacked cutting edge, or incisiveness at vital moments, but never in any of those matches did we feel that team that was playing could not do the job.
I will agree that individual mistakes, individual lapses of concentration, individual lack of determination, individual inability to hold composure and individual bad judgment were all the reasons why we have only won 1 out of the last 9 games. The rest of the time, I’m sure none would’ve been unhappy to see the way the team played.
We’ve never seen our second team play good enough. Even through last season. But this season, I’ve seen a lot better. It is gross injustice to not let the teams that played those 9 matches take anything positive away from those matches, especially if in the joy of last season, all of us would’ve been even more pleasantly surprised with the very same performances.
Yes you may accuse me of trying too desperately to look for positives. You may even accuse me of trying – valiantly – to make a mountain out of a molehill, but it’s this very same mountain that Shankly was thinking about when we were relegated. And what did we get?
Not a bloody mountain. But instead a history. A bloody glorious history.
And our history has taught us many things, things that we forget in the heat of the moment, in the despair of a defeat, in the frustration of a draw, in the intoxication of expectation – the virtues of patience, perseverance, persistence and perspective. Manchester United won the title last season on the back of 4 defeats and 6 draws, which is a total of 24 points dropped. We’re currently on 5 defeats and 1 draw, which make 17 points dropped so far. We can still afford to drop another 7 points and win the title, meaning we can still afford to lose 2 more games and draw another one (dropping 8 points), or lose 1 more game and draw 3 more games and still win the title. However, considering how open the league is this season, we might be even able to afford to drop a bit more.
Yes, things don’t look like they’re getting better any time soon. But is there anything we can do about it, anything constructive? Yes.
And that is to keep looking for positives, and merely acknowledge the negatives. We’ve stopped the run of defeats with our fighting draws. Gerrard’s back. Aquilani’s back. Torres is going to get some rest with the 2 week break. Johnson is back. Agger is back. Skrtel is back. Ngog is coming on nicely. Lucas is showing his potential. Yossi’s made it to the first team. So a lot has changed positively, albeit just in little bits and pieces. Hell, even Degen has shown that he can actually play a bit of football.
And if that’s not enough, then there is the last thing we could do.
Sing our lungs out, loud and proud. Quiet and dignified. And do not stop.
For the day the sweet silver song fills the golden sky.
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