In the wake of last week's defeat in the Champions League semi-final, Liverpool-Kop writer Tim Ellis examines where Liverpool have gone wrong this season and considers what needs to be improved for next season.
1. Steven Gerrard consistently goes missing against the big teams.
2. Resting players does NOT accomplish anything, and I can’t think of any greater argument against squad rotation than this season. Out of the League Cup and FA Cup; failing to challenge for the Premier League; knocked out the Champions League in EXTRA TIME, by a team challenging for the Premier League and consistently playing its strongest squad.
In the CL semi, which team looked tired and jaded in extra time - Liverpool or Chelsea? Which team looked like it had been rested for the two weeks preceding the game? Which team looked the more match sharp? Which team has consistently played its best players all through the season?
I’m not saying that we should have played our strongest teams in the recent League games where the result didn’t matter, but I submit that the notion of “saving” players for the end of the season so that they’re match-sharp has proven to be a load of rubbish.
There is no point having fresh and rested players if you have nothing left for which to challenge! And the match against Chelsea proves that our players were no fresher or rested than their unrotated opposition.
3. John Arne Riise has the mental strength of a baby deer. After his calamitous and avoidable own-goal in the first leg, the Chelsea fans cheered and jeered Riise’s name.
If I was Riise, this would inspire me to have the best game of my life and shove the mickey-taking down the throats of the Chelsea fans. Instead, Riise was completely ineffective for most of the night; and when his big chance came to throw himself in front of Didier Drogba’s shot, he trotted lamely over and just about mustered enough interest to attempt a sliding tackle.
Riise has had some great moments for Liverpool, but if he leaves this summer I won’t shed any tears. Compare our left back(s) to those of the big three, and you can see why he needs to go.
4.When taking a direct free kick at goal with a ten yard run-up, DON’T SWITCH THE BALL! This is one of Liverpool’s perennial mistakes. Do our players realise that in the time it takes to run to the switched ball, the defending players can do the same?! If you want to have a shot at goal from a direct free kick, just have a shot! How many free kicks do we waste in this manner?
5. Why do Liverpool play wingers without a target man? For that matter, when we do play a target man we invariably don’t play with proper wingers!
6. When chasing a goal, having two sitting midfielders who offer nothing going forward is a mistake. Xabi Alonso could be more effective if his strengths were played to.
Javier Mascherano is very good at tackling and breaking up play – he offers absolutely nothing creatively or offensively. To still have him on the pitch in the last minute of extra time with Crouch on the bench was ridiculous.
7. Liverpool yet again reaching the semi finals of the Champions League is a great achievement. Clearly this squad saves it best for Europe. What we are yet to understand is why they can’t raise reproduce their European form in the Premier League.
8. Rafa has had four years to assemble a squad capable of challenging for the League. We have over 60 players on our books. SIXTY! And how many of them are anywhere near good enough to play in our first team? An even more worrying thought is how many of our first team would even make the squads of our rivals?!
Compare the money spent to that of Arsene Wenger. Granted, Chelsea and United have spent more than us, but look at their players. Only Fernando Torres can be deemed a resounding success. The rest of Rafa’s big money signings are defensive midfielders or flairless uncreative non-scoring “attackers”, like Dirk Kuyt and Jermaine Pennant.
9. Liverpool need even more money to be spent in the summer in order to challenge for the League. However, that’s only because so much of it has already been wasted.
It’s true that Rafa has made a lot of money back, but what realistically do we have to show for it? No Liverpool fan can claim that Rafa has not been backed in the transfer market! David Moores even coughed up £10million of his own money so Rafa could buy...Dirk Kuyt.
Again, look at the flair players of our rivals (especially Arsenal) – you don’t necessarily have to spend fortunes. Even the best player in the world (who we had a chance to sign), Christiano Ronaldo, cost just over £12m - the same as Ryan Babel and far less than Mascherano.
10. Liverpool need creative technically proficient flair players. Lack of skill, guile, and pace permeates our squad like a disease. Fernando Torres is the only consistently world class player we have in this regard.
11. When did it become acceptable for Liverpool to play boring unattractive football? The following teams pride themselves on playing good football, whatever the price: Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle, West Ham, Arsenal, Manchester United – to name just a few.
Yet ever since the days of Houllier, Liverpool fans have become accustomed to seeing defensive negative “compact” reserved football. Can you imagine Arsenal or Manchester United tolerating the style of play that Liverpool consistently produce?
Remember, Liverpool is the club that put the word “total” into “total football” – for the 70s, 80s, and even the 90s, we played brilliant beautiful football. When did we start to accept the dross we regularly see now?
In the end, the technical ALWAYS triumphs over the tactical. ALWAYS. Because football is a beautiful game of skill – it is NOT a chess match.
Unfortunately, we will not learn these lessons and I predict next season will be very much like this one.
1. Steven Gerrard consistently goes missing against the big teams.
2. Resting players does NOT accomplish anything, and I can’t think of any greater argument against squad rotation than this season. Out of the League Cup and FA Cup; failing to challenge for the Premier League; knocked out the Champions League in EXTRA TIME, by a team challenging for the Premier League and consistently playing its strongest squad.
In the CL semi, which team looked tired and jaded in extra time - Liverpool or Chelsea? Which team looked like it had been rested for the two weeks preceding the game? Which team looked the more match sharp? Which team has consistently played its best players all through the season?
I’m not saying that we should have played our strongest teams in the recent League games where the result didn’t matter, but I submit that the notion of “saving” players for the end of the season so that they’re match-sharp has proven to be a load of rubbish.
There is no point having fresh and rested players if you have nothing left for which to challenge! And the match against Chelsea proves that our players were no fresher or rested than their unrotated opposition.
3. John Arne Riise has the mental strength of a baby deer. After his calamitous and avoidable own-goal in the first leg, the Chelsea fans cheered and jeered Riise’s name.
If I was Riise, this would inspire me to have the best game of my life and shove the mickey-taking down the throats of the Chelsea fans. Instead, Riise was completely ineffective for most of the night; and when his big chance came to throw himself in front of Didier Drogba’s shot, he trotted lamely over and just about mustered enough interest to attempt a sliding tackle.
Riise has had some great moments for Liverpool, but if he leaves this summer I won’t shed any tears. Compare our left back(s) to those of the big three, and you can see why he needs to go.
4.When taking a direct free kick at goal with a ten yard run-up, DON’T SWITCH THE BALL! This is one of Liverpool’s perennial mistakes. Do our players realise that in the time it takes to run to the switched ball, the defending players can do the same?! If you want to have a shot at goal from a direct free kick, just have a shot! How many free kicks do we waste in this manner?
5. Why do Liverpool play wingers without a target man? For that matter, when we do play a target man we invariably don’t play with proper wingers!
6. When chasing a goal, having two sitting midfielders who offer nothing going forward is a mistake. Xabi Alonso could be more effective if his strengths were played to.
Javier Mascherano is very good at tackling and breaking up play – he offers absolutely nothing creatively or offensively. To still have him on the pitch in the last minute of extra time with Crouch on the bench was ridiculous.
7. Liverpool yet again reaching the semi finals of the Champions League is a great achievement. Clearly this squad saves it best for Europe. What we are yet to understand is why they can’t raise reproduce their European form in the Premier League.
8. Rafa has had four years to assemble a squad capable of challenging for the League. We have over 60 players on our books. SIXTY! And how many of them are anywhere near good enough to play in our first team? An even more worrying thought is how many of our first team would even make the squads of our rivals?!
Compare the money spent to that of Arsene Wenger. Granted, Chelsea and United have spent more than us, but look at their players. Only Fernando Torres can be deemed a resounding success. The rest of Rafa’s big money signings are defensive midfielders or flairless uncreative non-scoring “attackers”, like Dirk Kuyt and Jermaine Pennant.
9. Liverpool need even more money to be spent in the summer in order to challenge for the League. However, that’s only because so much of it has already been wasted.
It’s true that Rafa has made a lot of money back, but what realistically do we have to show for it? No Liverpool fan can claim that Rafa has not been backed in the transfer market! David Moores even coughed up £10million of his own money so Rafa could buy...Dirk Kuyt.
Again, look at the flair players of our rivals (especially Arsenal) – you don’t necessarily have to spend fortunes. Even the best player in the world (who we had a chance to sign), Christiano Ronaldo, cost just over £12m - the same as Ryan Babel and far less than Mascherano.
10. Liverpool need creative technically proficient flair players. Lack of skill, guile, and pace permeates our squad like a disease. Fernando Torres is the only consistently world class player we have in this regard.
11. When did it become acceptable for Liverpool to play boring unattractive football? The following teams pride themselves on playing good football, whatever the price: Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle, West Ham, Arsenal, Manchester United – to name just a few.
Yet ever since the days of Houllier, Liverpool fans have become accustomed to seeing defensive negative “compact” reserved football. Can you imagine Arsenal or Manchester United tolerating the style of play that Liverpool consistently produce?
Remember, Liverpool is the club that put the word “total” into “total football” – for the 70s, 80s, and even the 90s, we played brilliant beautiful football. When did we start to accept the dross we regularly see now?
In the end, the technical ALWAYS triumphs over the tactical. ALWAYS. Because football is a beautiful game of skill – it is NOT a chess match.
Unfortunately, we will not learn these lessons and I predict next season will be very much like this one.
6 Comments - Disagree? Add your comment!:
Completely agree about Riise. He hasn't been on the ball for ages, which is such a shame as he used to offer lots of positives for the team. Even last season he was doing well, scoring that vital goal against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Then I remember things like his payslip going missing and ending up in the press, and his champions league medal showing up on ebay. There were rumours about him having a gambling addiction - perhaps that has caused him to lose focus...?
Whatever the reason, it's definitely time for him to go.
Well, yes, I agree about Riise. He has been an accident waiting to happen for some time and the own goal is likely to prove his swan song at the club. Probably we'd have won the tie if the score had remained 1-0. At Chelsea, we were always chasing the tie due to Riise's error.
The rest I don't agree about so much and one can see how the negative comments about Gerrard would be so pleasing to Jaimie Kanwar. As far as I know, this is the only Liverpool site which consistently attacks Steven Gerrard. Most top managers fall over themselves to say how much they'd like him in their teams. This season he has scored 21 goals and played really well against Arsenal in the CL. Furthermore, skill obviously doesn't always win over tactics--did you forget the previous 2 semi-finals between Liverpool and Chelsea? As for being negative, I don't agree. In all competitions, Liverpool have scored more goals than any other PL team (117) and they have 6 players in double figures. Moreover, we actually have several world class players: Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano, Alonso, Carragher, Reina. We also have a number of very good players: Babel, Kuyt, Benayoun, Crouch and Skrtel. We cannot say that Rafa Benitez has failed if he doesn't win the PL next season. After all, the top 2 clubs that have the most resources, seem to win nearly all their games. In the "Golden Age" of Shankly and Paisley, the kind of points total that Rafa hauled in a couple of seasons ago (82) would easily have been enough to win the League. Instead, he came third. However, I agree that he needs to at least be seen to make a serious challenge next time out.
The argument about Christiano Ronaldo's transfer fee being compared to Ryan Babel's or Dirk Kuyt's is a ridiculous one. First off, Ronaldo was signed 3 years before Kuyt, and 4 years before Babel. The value of money has changed over this period due to inflation, thus while the nominal monetary value may be similar, the "real" value of these transfers is rather different. Essentially, Ronaldo was more expensive that either Babel or Kuyt. End of story.
In addition, Ronaldo was, if I'm not terribly mistaken, the most expensive teenager at the time. He hadn't even played for Portugal yet! In contrast both Kuyt and Babel were international players when signed by Liverpool. Granted, Ronaldo has developed into a world class player so it was money well spent. Who knows where Babel will be in 4 years' time? Van Basten seems to think he will be the new Henry. Let's wait and watch.
Therefore accusing Benitez of overspending in the transfer market is preposterous. In 4 seasons, Rafa's total net transfer spending (transfers in - transfers out) is 55.2 million pounds. That's an average of less than 14 million a season! One could argue that the 05 CL win, and the 07 run to the final alone, financed these transfers. Rafa is definitely earning his keep, in my opinion.
Ofcourse, some of his transfers have not been successful. But no one, not even Arsene Wenger has a perfect record in the transfer market. But no one can argue that Arbeloa (2.6m), Agger (5.8m), Skrtel (6.5m), Crouch (7m), Sissoko (5.6m) have not been good players at reasonable prices. Sissoko was even sold for a profit of 2.6million pounds.
Rafa's biggest flops have been Josemi (2m), Nunez (free), Morientes (6.3), Pellegrino (free), Zenden (free), Gonzalez (4.5m) Bellamy (6m), Palletta( 2m). The jury is still out on Voronin, who came on a Bosman anyhow.
The amount expended on these flops combined (20.7m) does still not match up to Man Utd's mega flop Veron who cost 28.1 million pounds.
So lay off Rafa lads, he's done a decent job in the transfer market.
Slight correction to my post above. When I wrote about Ronaldo's fee being compared to Kuyt's I meant Mascherano (as the writer had originally suggested). My mistake.
On that note, Mascherano is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. 17 million is peachy compared to what Man Utd paid for Michael Carrick (18.6 million) 1 year before.
In addition, like I stated earlier, it is fallacious to compare transfers 4 years apart like Ronaldo and Javier, because inflation distorts prices. Thank you.
There seems to have been some confusion about my labelling of only Torres as world class.
Here is what I actually said:
"Liverpool need creative technically proficient flair players. Lack of skill, guile, and pace permeates our squad like a disease. Fernando Torres is the only consistently world class player we have in this regard."
There is no doubt that Carra, Masch, Reina, Alonso, Gerrard are world class players.
I was referring to quick attacking flair players - the only consistent one we have is Torres.
I love Stevie G, but I don't believe he is consistently world class - at least he hasn't been this season.
Ryan Babel has potential.
As for the Ronaldo remark, I was pointing out that you don't have to break the bank. And as for the "changing market" which one commenter mentioned, we signed Cisse for £14m only a year after Ronaldo joined United. Part of buying a class player is judging his POTENTIAL. Sure Ronaldo was just a show-pony when he first arrived, but technically he is faultless and Ferguson saw something in him. How many of Liverpool's "attacking" options can you say the same about?
Again, another commenter weighing up Rafa's buys and sells missed the point I was making: my point was not "look at how much Rafa has cost us". It was: "look at how many players Rafa needs to buy before he gets one that's any good!"
What does it matter if he makes all his money back? I'd rather a £50m "loss" and a squad of great players to show for it.
I suggest that for a more balanced review of the season supporters read my article below:
http://ulyssesonithaca.blogspot.com/2008/05/season-in-retrospect-it-has-certainly.html
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