26 Dec 2014

'Buzzing!': Sturridge, Carra et al hail LFC horror show. BR explains Can change & confirms promotion of another young star

Despite struggling for most of the game, Liverpool have somehow contrived to beat relegation-threatened Burnley today, and whilst the 'smash and grab' victory is a welcome boost, the three points is just papering over the cracks of a truly terrible performance.

In my view, this is one of Liverpool's worst away performances of the season, and if Burnley's finishing matched their desire and passion, the Reds would've been trailing 3-0 by the time Sterling popped up with the winning goal.

Post match reaction:

Sturridge

"Buzzing we won!! Great work from the lads".

Carra

"Good three points for Liverpool at Turf Moor today. Sterling is a star"

Linda Henry

"A great clean sheet on Boxing Day for Liverpool! Three more matches in the next ten days".

BR on Mignolet

"I thought he did well. He came for a couple of crosses really well; caught one and punched one. He didn't have a great deal to do, and his kicking was good".

BR on Jones

"It was his thigh muscle. We'll have to look at it to see where Brad is at. If he's missing out [on Monday], we've got young Danny Ward and he would come onto the bench."

BR on Can

"We needed to show a bit more composure on the ball in the second half, so we made a change with Emre [Can]. He showed really good athleticism, power and football ability in that position"

* Two shots on target all game, and 64% passing accuracy in offensive areas; against a side in the relegation zone. That says it all, really.

* Gerrard, Hendo, and Lallana were anonymous for most of the game. Gerrard popped up with a couple of great passes late on, but apart from that, he offered very little.

* Rodgers claims Mignolet 'did well', but in reality, he had a nightmare. Put the Reds under pressure several times with avoidable mistakes (Kicking the ball at Ings; allowing the ball to roll out of play for a corner etc), and he flapped at several crosses. There's no way back for him as LFC's number one, and the sooner the club gets a new goalkeeper, the better.

* I don't see the point of bringing on Can for Toure. Rodgers claims the team needed more 'composure', but Can didn't provide that). He wasted the ball on quite a few occasions with his aimless hoofing up the field. He made a few interceptions at centre-back, but that's his job in the position. Toure would've done the same, and Can's introduction had absolutely no bearing on the result.

* Superb assist from Coutinho, and it's good to see him regularly contributing to the cause.

* Good goal for Sterling, but apart from the finish, he did nothing in the game. Plus, he always seems to be looking for cheap free-kicks, which is irritating in the extreme. Still, it's his job to score goals, and he did that.

For me, the only real positive to take out of the game is the result. With Man Utd, Arsenal, and Spurs pulling away, the points are vital, but if Liverpool keep playing like this, the team will inevitably get punished at some point.

Author:


51 comments:

  1. In my opinion if we get Sturridge back and fit and maybe Origi in
    we could make a late push
    Southampton,West ham and Swansea should lose form soon
    Only Arsenal and Spurs will be hard but with Sturridge in our team we should win nearly all the games so we might get top 4

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  2. No way. I have seen MU starting with poor results, but they were never out of shape/thoughts which helped them to race in later stages. This had been the story for Arsenal & Everton as well. Problem with BR's team is it's disorganized, devoid of any planning/shape & the Manager doesn't know/trust his players, most of whom are bought by him, often at premium.


    Unless there is a drastic change of fortune or change in Management by Jan, I don't see us over CFC, AFC, MU, MC, Everton, Spurs, NCUFC & may be even few others. Today, it was injustice that we came 0-1 through back door - another day, could have gone to half-time 2-0 down.

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  3. Have to agree with above, Gerrard doesn't have the legs and leaves us exposed. I would prefer him further forwards and either Henderson who performs better centrally, or Can in there. I'm afraid to sat I believe that he would be better from thr bench overall. Allow others to step up and have some pace lacking when Gerrard or Allen play.

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  4. A great point I saw someone make re: Sterling is "Sterling holds the ball up like a 20 year old winger".

    He's got a lot to learn playing up top, but is a willing worker at least.

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  5. Actually, Joe Allen holds that record.

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  6. Doesn't matter how Liverpool play, from now its about getting 3 points and and a run of wins under the belt. Got very high hopes that Coutinho has finally stepped up to the next level. If Liverpool get CL football it will be down to him.

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  7. There was a similar comment last year when they said "Sterling holds the ball up like a 19 year old winger".


    I can't wait to see what they have to say about him next year

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  8. Unfortunately (perhaps fortunately) I didn't see the game but had a quick look at whoscored for some further info as well as other things I have read. Regarding Can and Toure and Rodgers changing them perhaps he had a point. Toure's passing % was 63 whilst Can's was 73.5. Whilst Can's is nowhere near what we want or have even come to expect it was significantly higher than Toure's.

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  9. Perhaps Sterling holds the ball up like a 21 yr old Bayern winger?

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  10. Butch Wilkins still holds the UK record.

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  11. The whole team is disjointed and has no balance . Moingolet a complete disaster, he can't catch a ball, he's a bag of nerves kicking the ball. Markovic loses the ball just about every time he gets it, I don't see the point him playing so deep, he's weak on the tackle and can't pass under pressure. Henderson can't cross a ball from wide areas yet he plays out wide. Rogers substations made no sense, if Emre Can is playing he should be playing midfield, Coutinio taken off when he was our only creative player. I could go on but I'll depress myself too much. We'd better get a strong midfield player and a forward in January as we can't expect Sterling to keep scoring enough goals it's not going to happen.

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  12. I fully disagree on your assessment of Can. I dunno if it was just me or the fact that everyone else looked shit but he was confident in possession didnt 'hoof' it up the park anymore than what Kolo wouldve and did so with better accuracy. I thought he played quite well in what was a shaky back 3 most of the match. Overall a terrible away performance but a win is a win. Definitely need to improve in January

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  13. The game highlights the fact we have zero creativity. Really it was Sterling's endeavour that snatched the game. 3 shots on target the whole game. This is papering over the cracks, big time!
    The balance was awful, there is no energy or drive from midfield, I'm afraid Gerrard was so magical he disappeared during the match. Coutinho on his own cannot be relied on due to his inconsistency & Sterling on his own is not enough of a threat. Rodgers should be absolutely ashamed on how we are relying on Sterling.

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  14. That's such a horrible cliché mate because it does matter. You cant play like we did and win consistently. Any other opponent today and we'd be talking about yet another lost game. Sickens me really to know thatv sheer luck is what will keep Rodgers in his job until the summer. I can only hope we dont lose out on Frank de Boer in the meantime.

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  15. To be fair, a lot of what we have been missing this session is a quick forward who presses high up the pitch and is a world class finisher, and true, our defence is still dreadful, but with sturridge at least goals will come more naturally to the side

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  16. Is and has? Against Arsenal they didn't look disjointed they looked to have balance. Markovic loses the ball each time he gets it? Again not true of the other day. If you are just referring to today perhaps you need to work on your tenses. Can has played CB, FB, AM, DM and CM. Playing him as one of the three is not an issue for the player. In fact I was hoping he would get a shot there.
    I personally think the keeper is the most important position we need to fill.

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  17. I agree with you - he actually like the most assured defensive player out of himself, skrtel, sakho and toure and his passing was a lot better than others. That being said, I would like to see him play more in a central midfield role more regularly

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  18. Yeah +1 for that comment about sterling. Every time he gets the ball I just hopelessly expect him to eventually tumble forward after getting a bit of pressure from behind, where he then tries to flop on top of the ball or reach his arm out and quickly pull it towards him. If the guy actually focused on what he should properly be doing then maybe his assist/goal return would be even better.

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  19. who ever wrote this is not well in the head

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  20. Absolute crap again. Good job it was Burnley today or it would have been embarrassing or should I say more embarrassing. Rodgers is being found out
    this year total toss pot.

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  21. can has to play instead of lucas...every game he hides behind other players and when he wins a tackle its a free or he gives the ball back .....in other words he is useless...can stats 100% tackles won 85 % heades won ..play him

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  22. Can did well - kicked ran chased and headed all he could - Emre can added height also
    Mignolet had two crap punches and his kicking was crap as always - if the club can't see we need a new keeper then we are more in trouble then I thought?

    Liverpool need sturrridge back and we need to hold the ball up better - sterling has to learn to do that

    Balotelli mignolet borini should be sold In the jan transfers window and don't tell they could not be shifted - I'd take even 20 mill for the above

    I'd then get ibe back from Derby too

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  23. I'm afraid that Swansea gonna expose our weaknesses in a far more emphatic way than Burnley...

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  24. On a positive note good sides often find a way to win when playing badly i just hope we are not going to put anymore performances like that this season anyway.
    A clean sheet is a start i hope we can build on it.

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  25. but how long before he`s out injured....again !!!

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  26. totally agree with Gerrard coming on as a high pressing impact midfield player who can make that difference in the later part of games...used be used `a la `Frank Lampard....will be much more effective....his best days long gone now.

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  27. Wats all the fuss about players playing badly,no quality,wrong tactic and blah blah...blah...isn't all this piss *@#()^& thing was the doing of the boss and his genius team,HEs turnin us from top 4 to become a mid lvl laughing team. BR,PASCOE,MARCH OUT.

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  28. Liverpool weren't a top 4 team when Rodgers took charge.

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  29. Not pretty at all but Burnley played a very effective style, they pressed really well and although it will be derided as an "excuse" the reality is that the pitch was terrible. That lack of passing precision wasn't helped at all by the surface, especially the kind of football Liverpool play. Of course the team need to be better and the pitch can't be blamed for a large portion of what was wrong.


    I thought Can did well and certainly was more effective than Toure. When Toure had the ball we frequently came unstuck but Can delivered much better passes and was just as good in the tackle. I thought it was the right choice because otherwise we had 3 defenders under pressure and failing to find the right ball forward.


    I agree that Mignolet did well. He's been dropped so his confidence was shot and was then introduced into the middle of a chaotic situation after 15 minutes. To come back from that and not concede a goal is a good performance. Bottom line is that no goals ended up in the back of his net. You can't on the one hand demand that keepers be judged on clean sheets and goals conceded and then change your story to start analysing the details when it suits you. It was a clean sheet, according to your previous articles and arguments you've made that's all that needs to be said about it.


    Roll back two weeks and United were poor against Liverpool, giving up possession in their own half and gifting Liverpool a host of chances on goal. And yet when it came to clinical finishing they got the job done. That's the same for Liverpool against Burnley and they at least deserve credit for putting the ball in the back of the net in a difficult game.

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  30. Poor performance yet again but grateful for the 3 points.

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  31. I thought Sakho had second good game in a row. Stevie trotted all day and was a liability. I would haves to see Ojo: saw him on bench and didn't know who he was. Looks fast..is he? Sterling needs help on offense as Lallana and Henderson didn't seem there much of the game. I saw us win one ball in the air all game.. Burley in truth deserved better. Glad we won as butt ugly as it was to watch.

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  32. We could have beaten united but they were indeed clinical when the opportunities arose. We stunk against Burnley except for twenty second of magic with Coutinho and Sterling....Migs was shaky as hell....that end line episode was something I hadn't seen even at the grade school level.... It's getting harder to watch this team. I felt some hope after Arsenal but even that game we could and should have won with any decent strike force.....

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  33. Me too......

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  34. Sadly, spot on Doc.....

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  35. Got to get results any way you can whilst things are tough. Its a miracle we're only 7 pts back off 4th place with sturridge to return, possible reinforcements to come and improvements to come too

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  36. Pieter Engelbrecht6:10 am, December 27, 2014

    could somebody help me out?IS it such a sin for the gk to kick the ball upfield rather than to pass the ball after goalkick/ free kick being given?teams knows this and we put ourselves under pressure

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  37. Bloody delusional. We are crap.

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  38. His assist/goal record would be better if he played in a balanced team wherr a child isn't expected to be the saviour

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  39. Playing like this and managed by that ! Sadly it's a huge possibility but more likely city .

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  40. The desperation in Rodgers will see Can playing there next.

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  41. Agree with your sentiments. BR had free first season blagging his way to 7th , last year was last year and enough said on why. This year worse than ever and squad full of mediocre bottom of the league players and a manager that cant manage them to play. Can we have a Manager and some players that are ift to wear the red shirt please. was at BURNLEY and we were shi......!!!

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  42. The club can't see we need a new manager ! Were are in deep shyte!

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  43. It's our style of play and I agree with it ,all that is missing is the personnel to play it .Unfortunately we ditched players whom could play the system and bought players who can't simple as that really .The first player that arrived told me everything I needed to know about Rodgers (Joe Allen) £15 million pounds welsh xavia remember ? Jaw dropping statement .The first time I saw him at Swansea I thought what nice tidy footballer but look at that a tackle or a quick player with a bit of strength and he's out the game .And sadly we have a squad full of them .The rough diamond ,aggressive ,hard working ,tenacious fight that fired the team up has gone ! The kid from the gutter ,saurez .

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  44. agger and pepe suit the system of playing it from the back so where promptly sold

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  45. A player who looks more than tidy on the ball, like to run with the ball and has played full back and center back. If that's desperation I am desperate. In a defensive three having a player who will burst forward and actually be a threat is a great weapon. Having said that I never want to see Lucas and Gerrard in the two in front of the defence again. Lucus and Henderson or Lucas and Can or Gerrard and Can should play there. Not those two, never again.

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  46. It reality dude, look at man u they won 6 on the bounce and on the whole where unconvincing in those victory's. But it gave them a platform to build on and now the performances are matching the results. Liverpool don't have much to grasp on to apart that they have a run of winnable fixture over the next month. If the get they wins, everything else will take of itself. Its a ugly period for Liverpool but its a period to write of the disappointment of the first half of the season and to provide green shoots of optimism for 2015 and I think I have seen signs over the past 2 weeks Rodgers can put this right.

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  47. and they wont be when he leaves

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  48. I think Sturridge is done.
    His situation has the hallmarks of him being another Torres. We've seen the best of him.

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