10 May 2012

LFC Legend blasts: These two Dalglish signings are 'letting the club down' - Agree?

Reds legend Jimmy Case has slammed Kenny Dalglish's signings over the last 18 months, and suggested that the likes of Stewart Downing and Jose Enrique do not have the right 'character' to be successful at Anfield.

Speaking to the Official Liverpool FC website recently, no-nonsense Case - who won four league titles and three European Cups with the Reds - argued:

"There's something going on, possibly in their minds.

"Anfield can be frightening for some players, and they have to have that bit of character to pull themselves through, and I think some of them have been letting the club down when it comes to that.

"For example: Downing might have one good game but then he goes missing in the next few games. Enrique played magnificently for half a season, and now he looks a totally different player. They're not consistent enough"


Downing, Henderson and Carroll are small fish in a big pond, and I think this season has proved they don't have the strength of mind to be successful at LFC. Carroll may have improved in the last few weeks but he's been at the club almost a year and a half, and call me cynical, but sudden improvement in form probably has more to do with getting into the England squad for Euro 2012 than fighting for LFC.

From the interviews I've seen with him, Downing comes across as someone who lacks self-belief, especially now that he's around players with massive international reputations. At Aston Villa, he was the proverbial big-fish in a small(er) pond; the perennial 'player with great potential', who never had to prove it on the biggest stage.

Living up to assumed potential has seemingly proved to be overwhelming for Downing, and his own views on what's expected at Anfield illustrate a possible mentality issue:

"Here, you're expected to win every game, but when I've been at lesser clubs, if you lose a couple then win a couple, it was okay".

Downing clearly hasn't made the mental transition yet from Villa to Liverpool. He's spent his whole pre-Anfield career thinking that it's 'okay' to fall short of the highest standards, and changing that ingrained way of thinking is probably impossible at his age.

The ultimate irony of all this is that Downing, Henderson and Carroll could be rewarded for their breathtaking underperformance with places in England's Euro 2012 squad (!)

Jaimie Kanwar


50 comments:

  1. hes got a point, because they have, but lets not forget that dalglish made the decision to sign them in the first place. actually theres a school of thought that says liverpools league placing is about right, because thats where downing, adam, henderson would expect to finish. so actually they've done all right..

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  2. Downing is quite ok I can see he is trying just not lucky enough, Enrique is up and down. Sometimes good and sometimes bad

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  3. Tbh i hope Carroll Downing and Henderson DO get the call up for England, i would love to see Carroll in there for sure, it would be good for there confidence... IMO.

    This season has been shite in terms of our league form, the team/squad has looked out of sorts and im not going to excuse Downing because he has been frustrating to watch at times likewise with Hendo and earlier on in the season with Carroll too.

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  4. All those who are heavily
    involved with LFC (owners, coaching staff, players, and fans) should be seeking
    for the well comprehended interest of our beloved club.  We do not hold the right turning a blind eye
    in front of the raw reality we went through this season and which is that Kenny
    Dalglish was proved incapable to correspond up to the high expectations of the
    owners, players, and fans.  Kenny
    Dalglish had a first class opportunity to get things right.  He was provided with sufficient funds and had
    all the resources in his disposal to do that. 
    But instead, his old fashioned managerial approach/style guided him to
    poor transfer and tactics decisions. 
    This season’s failure was based on the following Kenny Dalglish’s
    milestones:


    1.      Kenny
    Dalglish’s inability to persuade Fernando Torres to remain at least until the
    end of last season and then if he was still not happy to let him go


    2.      Kenny
    Dalglish’s poor decision to spend an amount of 35,000,000 to buy Andy Carroll
    instead of spending that amount to sign Kun Aguero


    3.      Kenny
    Dalglish’s poor decision to spend an amount of 28,000,000 to sign two unrated
    midfielders (Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson)


    4.      Kenny
    Dalglish’s poor decision to spend an amount of 20,000,000 to buy a 27 years old
    average AM (Steward Downing) instead of spending that amount to sign Juan Mata


    5.      Kenny
    Dalglish’s poor tactic knowledge which led him not being able in the majority
    of our games to present a disciplined team in the pitch


    6.      Kenny
    Dalglish’s poor tactic knowledge which led him setting up inefficient
    formations and not being able exploiting each player’s capabilities


    7.      Kenny
    Dalglish’s poor perception of what real progress in modernized football means
    and how it is achieved


    8.      Kenny
    Dalglish’s poor perception that he is untouchable which made him thought that
    whatever he says is a reason divine and whatever he does is a divine decision


    It is that
    simple and as soon as we face it the much better: KENNY DALGLISH CANNOT GET
    THINGS RIGHT AND TURN AROUND THE FORTUNES OF THIS HISTORIC CLUB; A NEW WORLD
    CLASS MANAGER SHOULD BE APPOINTED FOR THE NEW SEASON!

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  5. some good points. of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing and there have been several poor decisions made by dalglish not least suarezgate. remember, dalglish is an exceptional motivator and some of the play this season has been sublime on the eye. but let me ask all those dalglish-doubters out there what other manager would come in and do a better job?

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  6. Douglas Mackenzie5:03 pm, May 10, 2012

    "...call me cynical...". Classic.

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  7. no assists or goals in the league.
    is that 'quite ok'.that's 'quite bad' if you ask me.
    he's a very poor player.

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  8. n't you already post this on another story?

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  9. Correction to points 2,3 and 4...he didn't agree the fees!

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  10. I agree on the tactic criticism part. His tactic seem too predictable and the players couldn't cope up with. Others I think not Kenny fault.

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  11. All the following world class managers can do much better than Kenny Dalglish in all the aspects of football:
    1. Jose Mourinho
    2. Pep Guardiola
    3. Louis Van Gaal
    4. Guus Hiddink
    5. Fabio Capello
    6. Marcello Lippi
    7. Maximiliano Alegri
    8. Joachim Low
    9. Antonio Conte
    10. Marcelo Bielsa
    11. Jurgen Klopp
    12. Andre-Villa Boas
    13. Rafael Benitez

      

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  12. i agree that carroll is lazy and is only playing well lately to get into the Euro 2012 team

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  13. Absolutely spot on mate

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  14. "quite OK" isn't good enough

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  15. You put Villas Boas in there but not Wenger?

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  16. Downing has always been average. I was gobsmacked that Villa got £20 million for him.

    He's not particularly quick, not a great crosser, has got an awful shot and goes missing a lot. He looks scared to play most of the time.

    He has to go, even if we got half our money back on him it would be a decent deal

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  17. i agree- its a case where "quite OK" simply isnt OK enough.

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  18. thats what i thought...
    surely AVB has to be the most underwhelming big name manager ever. i dont like managers who think themselves clever.

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  19. downing gets in so many positions where he could shoot but always cuts back or overplays the ball.of all the signings from last summer i hope he's first out the door,he has no excuse about his age of settling into a new league etc.
    he's just not good enough if we want to push for top 4.

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  20. The quotes were about Enrique and Downing, but somehow the article then goes on to focus on Henderson and Carroll again??

    Anyway, Enrique has suffered a massive dip in form, but Dalglish could've easily dealt with this by using Aurelio seeing as the guy has actually been fit and available for months. Aurelio has proven to be one of the better left backs in the league, but not dependable due to his fitness - that doesn't excuse totally ignorning him for an entire season while he has been fit and his counterpart has been floundering however. Having Insua also would have helped, as Insua was the total opposite to Enrique - weak defensively, but very good in attack, whereas Enrique is very good defensively, but just another body in attacking positions.

    On Downing, he is clearly somebody that has wholeheartedly bought into this statistical analysis stuff. All he is concerned about is maintaining his stats so that he can say, look, I had a high pass completion % and put a few crosses into the right areas. It doesn't appear to matter to him that he's not hurting the opposition by just lofting a corner up towards the penalty spot, or swinging in a cross miles ahead of any attackers - as far as I'm concerned, he's a coward on the pitch, and for a £20m 27 year old winger, that is totally unacceptable.

    Henderson & Carroll are worth waiting on, but just as with Robbie Keane, I really would be willing to take the hit on Downing already

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  21. torress was going no matter what,
    aguero hmmm really, when mancity offer him CL and a pot of gold?? who payed 35 million, KD or the owners through comolli.
    again mata hmmm really, when chelsea offer CL and a pot of gold??
    his tactics dont fail against the top sides. Kenny poor peception of what real progress is, do you remember hodgson and the fact that its not just this year we have not made CL football. Finally a world class manager, who??? the last time liverpool offered the job out hodgson was top choice so who was in the melting pot this time if liverpool kick out the third manager in 3 years? I do like some of the aspiration on this site of getting the likes of mourinho, hiddink but it is a waste of a comment as why would they come to liverpool, settle quickly,  knowing a frustrated liverpool fan base will chop them down if they do not seriously achieve something in their first year with a team that is not their own??. Any manager who comes into liverpool will have to build slow as we do not have the funds to transform overnight like city or chelsea. Any manager that comes in needs time and thats why i will give KD another season. If he gets into the top 4 next year then he will get another season and see if he can keep on getting better. it took him 4 years at blackburn, slowly working his way up the table and that was with a mostly british team. If KD does get the sack ensure you also draw up a list of people who may not be on your list of 13 as it may just work out that the owners employ someone that maybe a massive suprise to us all.

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  22. Think if Henderson and Downing get in it will show what a poor state our national team is in, having said that Hodgson is in charge!

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  23. In all aspects of football you say, ok how about playing the game???? dalglish in his prime against all of above in their prime would of wiped the floor with them. only guardiola and cappello coming in second and third.  In total what they have won in football as player and mananger, who comes out on top? oh yes dalglish with guardiola and cappello in second an third.  class argument!!!! Did you forget that dalglish was nominated as the no1 player who shook the kop!!!

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  24. It's a little bit amusing the fact that you think Mata wouldn't sign for us but then in the next breath you want Mourinho as manager??

    Aguero and Mata were wanted by another of our managers but the funds were not there, we probably had a fair chance of getting them back then, being in CL every year! Maybe he should be given the opportunity to finish what he started??

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  25. Actually Jamie there r lots of people who r letting Liverpool down. You can start with KD as main one.And you can also add SD,AC,CHA,JH,JS and you have half of the team who r letting the club down. It's not their fault IMO they r just not good enough to b Lfc players. Enrique started well but his form dipped and Reina was not in good form either. That could b down to the club not doing well. Hoping for changes after the Sundays game.

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  26. I think if I was manager I'd be saying I want a certain player, but don't pay more than £x??
    After all £35m is Kun Aguero money or Juan Mata + Arda Turan.
    Not slating Carrol but he's not worth half that. 
    Henderson, Downing and Adam love to see sold.

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  27. Those of you who think kenny,his tactic and his f4 done alright think again,with money to spend and we still end up mid table and $$$35 mil + $$16 mil + $$20 mil = 2 fantastic game for whole season. This legend clown is turning liverpool into a amusement park.

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  28. I don't think many needed hindsight to realize that, £35 m was far too much to pay for Carrol, £16m was far to much to pay for an unproven CM like Henderson, £20m was far too much to pay for the always average sometimes poor Downing and why buy Adam then sell Meireles and loan out Aqualani?

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  29. Absolutely correct my fellow LFC friend Turks with your assessment!

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  30. No 1 PLAYER that shook the kop!! NOT MANAGER!!

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  31. For whatever reason.... our left side has been very poor at times, Enrique has been very inconsistent, i've already mentioned Downing but him and Enrique together were shocking at times. Neither seemed to want to take any responsibilty when it came to getting the ball into the box...

    I also think that Aurelio should have been brought in and given a run of games....i don't know how long he has been fit and available but Kenny IMO was misguided with persisting with Enrique, at least with Aurelio we would have had more support in our attacks....

    And it might have worked a bit better with Downing and him on the left, instead of the disastrous Enrique Downing combo....

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  32. Getting back to football. Watching the Blackpool Birmingham game. Tom Ince looking very good on the ball. Tricky, confident, takes on his man, looks skillful. Something I can't say about some current Liverpool players.  

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  33. It would b nice if they r called for England and if they do well. It would b good for Lfc cos their price will go up and we might get some of the money back. Otherwise all three r shit and we will have to pay somebody to take them.

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  34. wanting and getting are very different? I want liverpool to sign messi but will we get him?? I presume your on about benitez. I liked benitez and if KD where sacked he would be my choice, however wanting him and getting him like i say are two fdifferent things. The owners will probably not go with benitez and benitez will not work under a director of football who holds on to the purse strings. I could be wrong and the owners may just give benitez the job he was doing before and a stack full of cash, however seeing that our wage bill was astronomical, i think they wont!

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  35. I do believe that Downing lacks self-belief. Pressure of playing for a big club and pressure of the price tag. Age and personality don't help. Sports people become more fearful as they get older because they appreciate what's at stake. Downing doesn't exhibit the arrogance needed to achieve at the highest level.

    Then there's Shelvey on the other hand. No price tag pressure, the fearlessness of youth, arrogance to the extent that he walks and plays with a swagger. He appears to believe he deserves to be at Liverpool - which is good.

    But you know, everyone is different. Give Downing another season and let's see how things pan out.

    I can't explain Enrique's loss of form. Fatigue? Loss of confidence? Who knows? Either way he needs to regroup, the ability has been evident in the early part of the season. 

    I do feel you have to consider that if part of the team suffers, the whole team suffers and only the supremely talented will shine during these dark moments, as Gerrard has done in the past and Suarez does in recent times.

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  36. yes, thats what i am saying, i do refer to his playing if you read my comment.

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  37. to be fair for all your benitez love, KD is still the last manager to win the league with liverpool, you cant take that away from him!

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  38. aquilani did not wan liverpool at all. He was wanting to stay in italy and made that point very clear. As for meireles i would of liked him to stay but as soon as chelsea come sniffing and AVB was manager then it was inevitable he was going. It does make me laugh when people think dalglish sanctioned the money for these players as if it where a football manger type situation. do you think owners who are buisness men first gave KD 120 million in a bank account and said go and spend it on what you want. Managers do not get involved in the aspects of money and contracts as it is a can cause a conflict of interest. imagine if the manager sorted out the wages of players, he would be put in a nightmare situation and held to ransom. i know this as one of my friends is a football agent working around the continent. it is sorted out between the club and the players agent. all the manager will do is draw up a list of players. if they dont arrive then they dont arrive. How managers get pissed off is when they ask for a midfielder and the board sign a striker instead. My friend said this can often happen when owners have thier own ideas and agents see an opportunity to make a bit of cash from an owner who thinks he knows better than the mananger.

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  39. seems to me you want kenny to go!
    i also think your being a bit narrowminded regarding who he should and shouldn't of got. ie, kun & mata, they wouldn't of come to liverpool over chelsea, we not offering CL. 
    i also believe that if lucas had remained injury free we would of had a much different league campaign.   love an peace. YNWA

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  40. Enrique has lost his form because he left Newcastle thinking "They're going straight back down - They'll never compete in the top 6" and then he's had to watch in horror as Newcastle have rocketed up the table while the Anfield revival has stalled. Leaving aside the long term futures of both clubs, my point is that Enrique has had to endure scorn and gleeful laughter from his old club on one hand,  and frustration, disappointment, and heartache with his new club on the other. Enrique came to Liverpool at the start of the season thinking "My dream is to qualify for the champions league and to get picked for Spain at Euro 2012. I stand a better chance of achieving this with Liverpool" Although he's won his first silverware with Liverpool, none of what he really wanted has come true for him. If you look back Enrique's loss of form has coincided with champions league football gradually slipping away this season, and every press statement he's made this season has said something along the lines of "we must work harder if we want to qualify for the champions league this season" In short, Enrique's unhappy at the moment, and that's why he's lost hos form.

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  41. Living in the past...

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  42. What a load of bollocks. Kenny did not buy the players. Comolli did.
    Kenny might have identified the players, but Comolli put the price tag on there heads, not Kenny. Thats why he`s been sacked 3 times now. Did comolli buy any of the players without Kenny`s consent ??, like he did for Arsenal and Spurs. Google comolli. If fsg would have done this they would not have employed him.
    Liverpool have played some of the most exciting attacking football for years except a handfull of games, since Kenny come back. Yes we have had problems scoreing goals. The line up should have been Torres and Suarez but torres done a runner last minute and left us in the s**t. Do you honestly think we would have been short of goals with them upfront. Top 3 finish would have been no prob.
    Moaners like you, should get your facts straight or piss off and support Manure..

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  43. Over past 27yrs I've seen some great wide players, barnes, mcmanaman, riera and berger. Then i heard we'd signed downing and could not believe it. I even said at the beginning of the season that he will struggle and is very very average. Some deluded fans were having a go and said i waz wrong and he would be world class as he plays for england. Haha....never rated him and if he's dumb enough to be here next season then he'll struggle even further with embarrassment when sterling gets more chances and looks a frightening prospect. Thats right........wingers should send fear into defenders and not hide behind their team mates. As a club we have really gone backwards in our standard of wingers and dont give them that coz we're not in euro we cannot sign decent wingers, its a load of bollocks.

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  44. This kind of wishy-washy mentality is apparent throughout the squad in varying degrees, though maybe in some players' cases, they are just not good enough for this club, rather than their mentality. It was apparent before KK came in, even under Rafa but not as bad as it is now, nowhere near. The manager doesn't seem to have gotten to grips with instilling a steely mentality into the squad.

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  45. Angelos Kalogrias1:05 am, May 11, 2012

    I'm afraid that KKD is risking his legacy here... His first managerial era was a massive success, but with a world class team and with him more confident and full of winning mentality etc. Now he had to take a wounded team (he was the 3rd LFC manager in 7 months, plus ownership change), in an era that many teams have CHL targets like us! Not only traditional forces like Man U and Arsenal, but Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham as well (OK this year we have even Newcastle hoping for something really big). But our team didn't have Europe games to play in this season and we have spent big after many years. Definately Kenny was unlucky (injuries, hitting posts so many times, missing penalties etc) yes, but he was stuck with Reina (very - very poor this year), Carragher (for me his last really good season was 2007 - 08) and he finished one precious key player (Kuyt) and a very useful one (Maxi). Maybe he should find a way to keep Torres, like Rafa persuade Gerrard not leave (but Benitez, couldnt move Alonso to stay as well)... For me his transfers were really expensive (one reason for that is that home players cost more - almost in every country), but I think that only Adam is a really bad player for Liverpool in every aspect... Suarez is a world class player, Caroll, Coates and Henderson in my humble opinion have a bright future ahead, Bellamy, Downing, Doni and Enrique can have a place in a LFC team of 25 players (but not in our first eleven). The worst thing about King Kenny, I think that was the absence of a plan and game style. "Pass & Move" seems like a generality to me... United have a plan or Arsenal have a style of playing, but we don't... I still believe that Kenny can have a future in LFC (after all HE IS KKD), but he needs a tactician by his side. He is a motivator, he is an ambassador of LFC way, but he needs someone to help him. I hope owners to bring back Rafa as assistant manager and keep Kenny as manager as well. They are friends, they respect each other, they love LFC. In the past we had again managerial duets like Barclay / Mckenna (in our first ever team), Shankly / Paisley (as manager & assistant manager respectively), Evans / Houllier (and that happen not so long ago). Lets do it again and the combined force Dalglish / Benitez / players / fans / owners, hopefully will make Anfield a happy place again..! YNWA     

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  46. If Arsenal didn't have Vermaelen or Wilshere injured, they would of bla bla bla. If Manure didn't have Vidic and Fletcher missing, they would of bla bla bla. Injuries are par for the course and if the club handle one player being injured, it says more about the state of the squad and the manager than it does about how good the missing player is

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  47. Yep, FSG, a bunch of reputable businessmen didn't do their due diligence on Comolli and brought him in with their eyes closed(!)

    'comolli put the price tag on there heads....like he did for Arsenal...'

    Comolli wasn't a DoF at Arsenal. He was a scout for them and wasn't even the chief scout, that was Rowley. He wasn't responsible for putting price tags on players at Arsenal, just mostly scouting players. So he most certainly was not sacked at Arsenal because of financial reasons, as he had nothing to do with the transfer fee side of things. Wenger and David Dein ran that side of things. Comments made by both Rowley and Wenger illustrate that Comolli was a scout at Arsenal, nothing more and only good scouting success he had was Clichy, thats it.   

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  48. Septimus_severus8:00 am, May 11, 2012

    We  have been talking about players, form  & tactics all YEAR!
    THE ROT STARTS AT THE TOP IN DALGLISH.

    As long as this man is at he helm we will not be able to win a consistent amount of games at home or away.

    Dalglish has shown nothing this season which suggests that we have improved look at the Premier League Table.

    Poor player purchases regardless of the price tags is the problem.
    What ever is going on in training we have seen players going backwards in form.

    Finally before anyone says we won a trophy I remind you that we beat Cardiff on Penalties after 90 mins.

    When FSG sit down with Dalglish they will point out what mistakes he as made and they themselves made in appointing him.

    I said the fact they have not replaced the DoF with anyone is a suggestion that whoever is coming in doesn't want a DoF.

    I will not renewing my season ticket until I know that Dalglish is not Manager next season.
    I've had enough of him and his purchases.

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  49. I remember the first half of the season everyone going on about Enrique solving the left back problem finally. Since Christmas he has been a flop.
    Adam would probably be a great player at the likes of Sunderland or Fulham but doesnt fit into the Liverpool style of play. As you say a big fish in a small pond at Blackpool  but now a small fish in a big ocean at Liverpool.
    Carroll the way he has finished the season deserves a chance come the new season, give him to the January transfer window and then ditch him if he doesnt do the business. Also if KD does go a new manager might get more out of him.

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