Liverpool need a Robbie Fowler to make the top 4

It’s an obvious and critical question. It’s one all Liverpool supporters have been asking themselves since the beginning of the season. Qualification for the Champions League, the only European tournament to be involved in, puts Liverpool back amongst the footballing elite plus it’s worth millions in additional revenue. I’m pretty sure a top four finish was the minimum target set by John Henry and Tom Werner at the beginning of the season. I mean they will have a new stadium to fill and pay for after all.

So with more than half the season over, Liverpool in 7th spot and 5 points adrift of 4th place, can they do it? The answer has to be a definite yes. The caveat is, however, (here comes the obvious) Liverpool have to start winning their home games and at the same time maintain their currents away form. It’s no easy task. There are nine home games remaining with the next three against Spurs, Everton and Arsenal. Can they win all nine points? On their current home form you’d be wise not to rush to the bookies and bet your house on it but these are the type of matches Dalglish and Liverpool thrive on and raise their game for, unlike those against the likes of Blackburn, Sunderland etc. Yeah I know we drew with United & City but we should have won both these matches.

I honestly thought this season Liverpool were going to learn their lesson and win the majority of their home games, especially against mid to lower table teams. But frustratingly this has not been the case. How can we forget the fact we’d have won the league in 2008/09 if we hadn’t drawn 11 matches, 7 of them at home. That one still hurts. And guess what? Already this season Liverpool have drawn 11 games, 7 of them at home. So what’s going to make the difference to making the top four? A Robbie Fowler. A young Michael Owen. An Ian Rush. A Kenny Dalglish. A clinical finisher. I know Dalglish is saying he won’t be buying anyone during the January transfer window but surely there’s room for a naturally gifted striker to play alongside the outstanding Suarez. Maybe with Gerrard’s return we’ll see the partnership of Suarez and Carroll gel and start to produce the return we have all been praying for but I’m not convinced. Liverpool need a quality finisher if they want that top four finish.

What utter “let’s print this crap so we can sell more newspapers” journalism this truly is. Are we supposed to respect this kind of preaching from those who a few months ago were happily tapping some innocents mobile? I didn’t think so.

What the football media have totally underestimated is just how strong the Liverpool family really is and always will be. When injustice is served up cold, as Liverpool have had to endure again and again over the decades, it unites Liverpool supporters and the team even more strongly. When Liverpool came running onto the field wearing Suarez shirts I couldn’t have been prouder of my team and of Kenny for making a stand against the flawed justice they had been handed down to Suarez.

What the band-wagon media failed to recognize, or acknowledge, was that Liverpool and their fans are totally against racism. Always have been, always will be. Liverpool is a multi-cultural, multi-racial club and proud of it. Just asks the likes of John Barnes who has stated that the FA are guilty of crucifying Suarez.

To say I love Liverpool is an understatement, however, that doesn’t mean I blindly support or condone anything a player may do that is out-of-order i.e. if Downing did indeed hit his ex-girlfriend then he needs to get what’s coming to him, both personally and professionally.

So Liverpool have taken the high-road and decided to accept the decision of the FA’s independent commission. I’m disappointed but respect it but let’s be clear, Liverpool are not the London media’s, or the FA’s, favourite football team and never will be. The media never questioned the hypocrisy of the FA fighting UEFA to reduce Rooney’s violent conduct 3-match ban versus Liverpool’s right to question Suarez’s 8-match ban. And if Terry is found guilty of racism will we see the same level of justice meted out? Don’t hold your breath.

No Gerrard (isn’t he supposed be fitter than ever?) and no Bellamy? Not having their immediate creativity was surely going to be felt and when City saw Liverpool’s starting line-up they must have been given a real boost. I realize Gerrard may not be fully match-fit but why wait until the last 35 minutes to have him make an impact? Why not have him play the first 60 and create a foundation for Liverpool to go on and either win the game or consolidate a lead? Who knows, he may have even played longer. But Bellamy doesn’t need to get match-fit and having scored two goals against Newcastle on Friday he should have been an automatic starter to keep his personal momentum going and attack City from the first whistle. I don’t understand the logic.

Even with the starting line-up they had Liverpool should have taken the lead. A great through ball from Henderson to Downing saw him break into the box with only Hart to beat. He didn’t and within a few minutes Aguero gave City a lead they didn’t deserve. A predictable give-away by Kuyt in midfield, I’m not a fan, led to a shot on goal from outside the box that Pepe should have dealt with fairly comfortably. He didn’t. It went under his diving body to give City a soft goal.

At times though Liverpool were playing well and had the majority of possession but with players like Adam having a shocker (he should have been off after 15 minutes) Liverpool were unable to capitalize and turn their possession into real goal-scoring opportunities. Sound familiar? Downing wasn’t having a great impact on the game either as he persisted in cutting inside instead of going down the by-line and beating the defender. Carroll had some good moments holding up the ball and laying it off but never got himself into good enough positions to test Hart. By the way, will someone tell Enrique never to shoot from outside the box again please.

What is more frustrating is an in-form Liverpool side could have beaten City on Tuesday. City didn’t look that good and the 3-0 score-line flattered them. By the time Gerrard and Bellamy were introduced to replace Adam and Kuyt after 57 minutes Liverpool were 2-0 down and a comeback didn’t materialize even though Barry was sent-off after a 2nd yellow with 17 minutes to go. And as for the penalty which made it 3-0 , all I can say is the Oscars are coming up on January 24th and Toure might be up for one.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Bellamy and Gerrard in the staring line-up for next weeks Carling Cup game at Eastlands so then perhaps we’ll see what could have happened if they had both started on Tuesday.

Of course the highlight was the return of the sublime Gerrard who looked like he’d never been away. His creative influence was immediate and Carroll must have wondered what had hit him as Stevie provided the pin-point accurate crosses he has so desperately been looking for. Gerrard himself scored an excellent goal, set up by the deftest of weighted passes from Henderson from the edge of the box. With no one in a good position to cross to Gerrard did the only decent thing and that was to fire in the third goal from a tight angle to put the game away.

However, the man-of-the-match for me was Bellamy. What a great re-signing he has turned out to be. The fact he is loving his second term at Liverpool shines through and although I’m not questioning Kenny’s team selections, I’d love to see him starting every game as he did on Friday.

So with Saturdays excellent results, still smiling about the Blackburn win, Liverpool find themselves 2 points out of 4th spot in 6th position and level on points with Chelsea, who have a better goal difference of just 4 goals.

So onto a challenging away game on Tuesday at Man City but with the way Liverpool prepare themselves for these “top 4” matches we might just be in for a pleasant surprise.

You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes (the new movie is great by the way) to figure out the reason’s for so many home draws. They lack killer instinct. Liverpool have dominated games but failed to either take their umpteen chances or turn their dominance into goals. The reality is Suarez hasn’t found the back of the net as many times as his play has deserved and Carroll just hasn’t produced the form he showed at Newcastle which is the reason Liverpool snapped him up after Torres scarpered. We need to buy a quality striker and fast.

Will Liverpool buy in January? I hope so. They really aren’t that far away from really challenging  for the top spots and defensively they are as good as anyone having only conceded 14 goals this season. With only a few days away from the transfer window the hope is Damien Comolli has identified several key targets and Mr. Henry is wiling to provide the funds.

Let’s pray we’ll see a quality forward arriving shortly.

Kenny wisely proffered that perhaps this was the way the FA always did things in these kind of situations (completely ineptly in my opinion) and they would have to wait and see before they could properly construct a response and an appeal. 

As you may have already read form my previous post, I think the FA has shown complete lack of professionalism and leadership in this matter. How can it take so long to reveal the evidence that formed the basis of Suarez’s heavy-handed punishment? No one has pointed out that I am aware of that the only reason they went to an independent panel was because they didn’t have the balls to deal with the issue themselves and take the heat for the decision, one way or another. They abdicated their responsibility under the guise of being impartial. 

The FA have now created an amazing precedent for themselves. If a player is actually found guilty of racism, which Suarez was not, what punishment will they now have to hand out? You can only imagine it would be way beyond eight games and lord knows how much in fines. 

It’s clear the FA in accepting the decision of the independent panel have not thought through the repercussions of the Suarez decision and I’m going to be fascinated to see what action they take if John Terry is found guilty of actual racism in February.

This has led to the understandable outrage by the club and supporters and why we are all behind Suarez in his appeal. The fact he admitted he used a term he thought was none offensive should have been taken into account.

The FA have shown absolutely no leadership in this matter. They have remained silent while the situation escalates. They should have held a press conference immediately after the decision and revealed the evidence the independent panel used to make their decision so there is complete transparency. They should have made it clear that they fully accept Suarez is not a racist, as does Evra, but by not doing so they have caused great harm to Suarez and the club who rightly are standing by him.

I totally support the campaign to remove racism from football but the FA have to do it in a fair, open and transparent way.

With Liverpool’s up and down start to the season it would be just too easy to begin looking for faults. Kenny signed eight new players during the summer transfer window and sold or loaned out 16 players. Of those eight, five have featured in the first six games of the season which makes for radicle changes in the squad. You can even argue that Carroll and Suarez are still relative newcomers, so does it make sense to think that they would all gel quickly and perform at the highest level from the opening game of the season? It’s just not going to happen. Better to judge how Liverpool have performed and where we sit in the table in January or, as Kenny might say, next May.

Carroll still not fit?

When Liverpool made the quick decision to invest the majority of the proceeds from the sale of Fernando Torres on Andy Carroll I think most of us were delighted that such a powerful centre forward had been acquired. It spoke clearly of Liverpool’s intention to invest in the best (dare I say British) young talent even though they weren’t fully proven.

Injury kept Carroll on the sidelines for the first few months and when he did play he wasn’t at his best. Dalglish admitted it was probably unfair to play him as they did before he had fully recovered from injury.

I won’t name the good fella who wrote the email but you can find him in one scene in the documentary “One Night in May” right in the middle of the stands as it fades from a profile of Ancelloti to the Liverpool fans behind.

So here’s his list of players who should go and why:

•  Cole:  (his style doesn’t fit)
•  Agger:  (injury prone) 
•  Aurellio: (injury prone)
•  Konchesky: (crap)
•  Javanovic: (crap)
•  Poulsen: (crap)
•  Degan: (crap)
•  El Zhar: (crap)
•  Mavinga: (crap)

Succinct and to the point, but who can argue that any of these players should be pulling on a Liverpool shirt next season? Plus, I can’t image how much in wages this lot picks up each and every week.

His email went on to name two players he felt had the potential to still do a good job for Liverpool but due to problems they had with Rafa (but who didn’t were his thoughts) they were both out on loan. If they aren’t wanted then they should generate good money:

• Insua: (I don’t think he ever let us down, could save us a lot of money)
• Aquilani: (good touch player, works hard off the ball)

I have to agree. I really liked Insua and always felt he had solid games. The jury is still out on Aquilani but it seems Dalglish would be happy to have him back in the squad so it will be interesting to see where these two players end up next season.

And finally, there were two players he felt that needed a hard look. Even though they weren’t putting anybody under pressure if their positions were covered through new acquisitions they too should be sold and provide more money for Kenny:

•  Ngog
•  Pacheco

So what’s your take on who should be thanked for their services and shown the door? What we do know is that before buying Liverpool FSG were amazed at the number of mediocre players on the books and the annual wage bill to the point it was almost a deal breaker.

So gives us your thoughts.