22 Oct 2011

CRAIG BELLAMY: Why is Kenny Dalglish wasting his talent?

Liverpool legend David Fairclough has admitted he was surprised that Kenny Dalglish did not bring Craig Bellamy on against Manchester United at Anfield last week.

With the game stuck at 1-1, and Man United arguably there for the taking, the introduction of Bellamy seemed like a no-brainer for many people, but for some reason, Dalglish kept him on the bench.

Fairclough, who scored many vital goals for Liverpool during his playing career, argued:

"I think it was a surprise for most people that Kenny didn’t bring Bellamy on at some point [Against Manchester United].

"He had him warming up, and I thought we’d see him soon after half time. The fact Kenny didn’t use more than one substitute, I think , surprised a few, especially when Bellamy might have offered us a little bit of something different.

"The crowd is anxious to see him. Everybody you spoke to around the game last week wanted to see him play. I think he has made an impact, and I think he’s been widely well received".


Bellamy has played a pitiful 159 minutes of competitive football for Liverpool this season, with his sole start coming against Brighton in the Carling Cup.

In that game, Bellamy played brilliantly, and scored a goal. He also came on against Everton and had a major impact on the game.

In the Premier League, Bellamy has managed on 3 substitute appearances so far, but £20m winger Stewart Downing has featured in practically every game for Liverpool this season and provided next to nothing creatively.

What does Bellamy have to do to get a game? I doubt he's happy with continually being dumped on the bench, especially at this stage of his career.

If the players in his position were playing really well then it would be understandable, but whatever way you look at it, Downing is not doing the business for Liverpool.

The Norwich game is the ideal opportunity for Bellamy to be given another chance, and I sincerely hope to see him the starting line-up.

Jaimie Kanwar


33 comments:

  1. Well I don't know what David Johnson saw but from where i was watching since Henderson was brought on we created many chance and looked a lot more likely to score than United, so why would Kenny make a change? As for Downing creating next to nothing, did you not see the brilliant cross he played in to Kuyt? A cross that was only matched by the brilliant save from De Gea. Bellamy is a usefull player to have, Kenny sees all they players in training everyday, his achievements as a player and manager are unparalleled he has done more than enough to be classed as not only one of the best players to have worn the red shirt but also one of the best managers. I think he knows what he is doing. 

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  2. Downing hasn't managed one assist or one goal since he arrived.  A £20m player should be providing more than that.  One cross in one game doesn't mean he's done the business creatively; that's the least we should be expecting.

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  3. Don't forget to turn on your tv so you can give your critique some insight. Rafa won't be at the game I expect, but if we lose you can blame him.

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  4. agree about downing,we should be seeing some sort of return from him.
    you look at mata and wonder why we didn't spend big on him when we've overspent on the likes of henderson and carroll.

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  5. yes its a shame kenny doesnt play bellamy, he only plays him in friendly games or carling cup how sad is that, I mean why did he buy him then, from what Ive seen he could be better than kuyt or downing at wings, im sure craig is well disappointed for choosing lfc again, I thought he would be playing much much more than this, but I bet kenny bought him only for cups, carling and fa, I expect bellamy to leave in january if anything doesnt change and dont believe it will change actually, kenny is well stubborn as we all know in everything he does, bellamy could play behind suarez we all saw how good was that partnership at brighton or even at left wing, where downing sucks right now to be fair he looks well average and nothing special.

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  6. downing has created more chances to score for liverpool than anyother player FACT, ok he hasnt scored, but how can it be downings fault if people arent putting those chances away? assist stats can be very misleading without chances created stats too

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  7. No, that is not a fact.  If Downing has created the most chances, where is your proof?

    If Downing went the whole season without scoring or creating a goal, but made chances, would that be okay with you?

    His job is to score and create goals.  He isn't doing that, therefore he's not doing his job.

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  8. His price tag is irrelevant, I can guarantee that Kenny doesn't pick his squad based on the price of the players. Also the number of assists and goals downing has scored is meaningless. Downing is an excellent player who's movement on and off the ball is fantastic he drags defenders all over the pitch either creating space for Suarez in the center or Enrique on the flank. He suits the style of play brought to the club by Kenny perfectly with his short high tempo passing and his link up play with Enrique is great. Bellamy is a great player who give Dalglish an option that we did not have before but he just doesn't fit into the pass and move system as well as Downing.

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  9. the opta index shows him as creating 15 goal scoring opportunites, enrique is the next with 6, i agree he should be doing a little more, but he certainly isnt doing nothing, and again, how can it be downing fault if players arent putting his chances away?

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  10. I think we did very well last week, Skertl slipped and Utd got lucky, end of!!!!. Bellamy is class and will play a huge part as the season unfolds, he is incredibly fit and still quick as a flash. I'm happy with KK holding him back before letting him off the leash, he will be angry and will be looking like a man on a mission when he plays.

    I wouldn't be surprised if KK plays him against Norwich on the left and Downing on the right?, with Henderson in for Lucas. On the topic of Henderson, we saw how good he is in the middle, along with SG and Adam i see a good dynamic three-some there!!!!. We should have 4 pts more than we have, on the performances so far but we are still fully fit with lot's of options...........Bellamy for one!!!!!

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  11. calm your skin lad!!!!

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  12. Leave the Mata issue for Gods sake! everyone knows he is a good player but the thing is we were not attractive enough at that time. We didnt qualify for champs league therefore all we had to do was get better players who wanted to come in spite of our status. Do you really think we didnt want to sign him.

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  13. get rid of Kuyt (he can't cross the ball, he can't dribble, he can't control the ball, he can't run, he is not creative and can't even scare 50 year old defender) and replace him with Bellamy, much quicker, creative, good touch, can cross the ball and will get the defenders worried all the time. Lucas is just like Kuyt as well, slow, clumsy and hopeless, replace with Jordan - Ndebenkulu

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  14. the players kenny has bought are average and over priced, while gettin rid of quality i.e Raul Meireles and aqualani, if u ask me kenny is digging his own grave, if cant make 4th with the money spent is there really reason for him to stay? he is good as an intrim manger and he stabilized liverpool but thats as far he can really take us

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  15. Negative kanwar again, why dont you crawl under the same rock again you did last yr after u were brutally proved wrong about tom n jerry.. Everything u say about liverpool is negative and always has been, the only positive things you have ever written were about dumb n dumber.. You're no fan your a complete mug

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  16. You are living in a dreamworld,just like a lot of LFC fans! I think that he 'DOES'N'T know what he is doing! LFC need to bring RAFA back, ASAP!

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  17. kenny is clueless, bad sellection and tactics once again.downing down the right??
    having a bath. brings on a centre back at 90 mins!! wasnt just raffa that likes that then!! just woefull today, two points dropped last week now another 2 today and another championship team gets a result at anfield. were just relying on suarez, and no dought can see a torres situation on the horizon, midfield so deep were playing 6 at he back. sorry for being negative, but ive watched the same shite for the last 20 odd years, and we dont help ourselves. were very much like england, were strolling a game and we let off and effort and mind go else where. must say feel for carroll

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  18. it is quite astonishing the level of negativity on this site...... absolutely breathtaking.  Not so much critical realism (itself something that would be something that could be seen objectively) but more gauged towards personal attacks on players and the manager.

    Astonishing.  But I suppose the daily mail readers have somewhere to go.

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  19. Stupid and ill informed.  Downing played over half the season last year on the right for Villa.

    Why not go and support another team, we don't need 'fans' who knee-jerk like you.

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  20. I agree downing as produced nothing! but then henderson and carroll fall into that list as, well all crap!!!!

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  21. i dont think so, young played down the right and im entitled to my opinion.
    were you at the game today???? nah didnt think so. does that make you an arm chair man?  just because im not pro kenny as much as i admire him and wat he has done. sorry forgot i was meant to say..........oh good game boys maybe next time eh..........only a few seasons ago these draws at home cost us dearly. but you probably cant remember that far back nipper.
    isnt it quite obvious that if you were left footed you would be stronger playing on the left side?? maybe add a little balance to the team.
    some of my previous points were negative yes, but some were good ones.
    was kelly injured ? if not wats that all about. another prime example if not.
    persists with skretel, why? be honest with yourself. these few things are costing us. we got a team to be a force

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  22. Downing has the ability. There is no denying that, which is why we paid 20 mill on him, but he is just a typical English player with no brains. He isn't penetrating defences with runs, he waits for the pass most of the time and is very static.   If he is ever in a good position he will put in a good cross, that's a given. But as a player he still needs to improve and be smarter. There are times where he just puts his head down and doesn't bother looking up for teammate runs, blasting shots/crosses when a curler would be more appropriate, holding the ball playing one twos. Off-the ball he can certainly improve. Right now he is playing like a player worth half his price, and thats the truth. 20 million spent should be getting you good all-round performances week in week out for the majority of 90 minutes and not for small instances like one good cross in a game. 

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  23. Funny because no matter how much you sweep it under the carpet it is so apparent that some signings aren't cutting it when other players before them did their job. But its all about egos and feelings when it comes to this team now and not the pure quality or class of a player. Carroll was a panic buy, if we wanted a player of his physique we should have gone for tall players like Cavani, Ibrahimovic who can actually control the ball and be dangerous outside the box as well as in it. Does Kenny actually believe Carroll will unravel this natural skill from his potential. I hope he can, that doesn't make me negative. 

    Signing Henderson we went backwards. Why? Put aside how Henderson is doing. It is so obvious that his best position is CAM, the same position Aquilani was denied because a certain person said that was Gerrard's position, and on top of that Henderson is still developing while Aquilani is experienced. And its not like thats the only positon Aquilani can play when we have Adam running the midfield. Is Adam faster than Aquilani, is Adam stronger than Aquilani, from what I seen Adam looses his legs and runs into the ground because he cant catch up to the ball in his possession, his tackling is also ill timed. I know for a fact that Aquilani can distribute the ball better than Adam, he is quicker and neater with his passing and has the ball control to do it even faster where as Adam takes an extra touch. Another point, do you think Adam can push a first team start in AC Milan with the likes of Van Bommel, Boateng, Ambrosini like Aquliani has, dont think so. The only good thing I can say about Adam is that for the money we spent it isn't bad, but he isn't the long-term solution for Liverpool. He is just another player where his heart is in the right place, but his ability is not. 

    Why isn't Rodriguez not getting a shift, is it because he came out and said he would like to move back to Argentina. Why does it have to be about a players emotions when it comes to Liverpool. Rooney came out and said he wanted to leave Manchester United, same with Modric ( who wears the captains armband). Its the day and age where you got to put aside foolish stubborn pride. Dalglish may think hes looking out for the best interest of the club by signing players who "love" the shirt, but its all about the points on the board and only ability and quality will get you that and not passion. Do you think a player will quit drinking, spend less time with family, friends and solely concentrate on LFC with wages they are getting paid. Its not the old days where players were paid less and played for pride. Players are going to be selfish, its the nature of human kind. Suarez has passion, but the fans don't love him because of that. They love him because of his skill and quality.  

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  24. Well said, i cant also understand y we let go of Raul Meireles, he was one of better players last season if not the best, maxi also came good toward the close of last season, our own onwer said aqualani was class, seems to me performance on the pitch doesnt count in kenny's books, was suarez even a kenny buy, from how swift we got him i would say not, negotiations must have started way before kenny took power, not too mention that kuyt get dropped for no apparent reason, if resutls continue like this, and we dont attain  4th should we really stick with a manager who has over spent on average players, we cant be wasting money. its like liverpool is cursed when we had a manager (rafa) who had strong links with one the best footballing nations (spain) and  could attract top quality players like villa, silva , mata, eto were willing to come and play we didn't have the money, but when we do have the money we go and spend 35mil on carroll, really? as i say kenny should realize this is not the 80's but if we get rid of him, should i say he should step down by himself, who can come and turn this club to where its really supposed to be

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  25. cant agree anymore!!!! y we let him go in the first place still puzzles me, it looks that they were jus waiting for him to fail,and they were quick to press the trigger, without considering what he had done for the club, took us right from mediocrity to a real contender for champs league and the prem, now we back to where we were, roy evens and  GĂ©rard Houllier dayz  SAD AND FRUSTRATING!!!!

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  26. Kenny's proving to be more clueless than Woy because I really dont see how Downing deserves his starting spot in the team ahead of Maxi who's a clever player with the ball and doesn't just run into blind alleys as well as costing almost as much as Silva or Mata. Why did we let Raul and Aquaman leave just to buy another waste of space in Hendo, I mean seriously, even Rafa who's constantly accused of wasting LFC money wouldn't have paid that much for him but when Kenny does it's labeled 'good business'.

    I really don't understand the hypocrisy of some fans, with the same results, I'd bet my house, if we had a different manager you'd all be calling for his head right now and protesting at matches about money wasted, the inability to beat small teams at home, certain players not getting a game etc. Last season Woy sent Aquaman on loan and bought Raul everyone went berserk and Kenny does even worse by letting them both go without any real replacement and everyone's ok with it. Well I'm not and the results are starting to show that we are missing that bit of guile in midfield which players like Raul, Aquaman and Maxi offer just to be a 'British team'. At the risk of being unpopular among the purists I sincerely hope FSG are a ruthless bunch and get short of him as soon as the results dont improve like they did Woy.

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  27. knee jerk? I've been posting here since July ( pre season ) and Downing, Adam and Carroll have been DIRE. Yes Downing did play on the right for Villa, so what? He has done nothing in a red shirt. He has no pace, he rarely seems capable of beating the defender. He goes inside more often than not.
    Henderson ( invisible man ) Liverpool havn't been able to hit a barn door since July. No creativity, no guile, no flare, dull and predictable. Yet we didnt need Aquilani, we treated him shoddily, likewise with Mereiles. None of our current midfield is fit to lace the boots of thosee 2 guys. And as we seen yesterday without Lucas, the gap between midfield and defence was a gulf. Adam and Gerard too slow. Shocking. But then I repeat myself Matt, check on any post I've made, nothing knee jerk about it. Hopefully Fenway wont suffer fools and make a management clear out at the end of the season.

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  28. Hughes. You are deluded. Are you talking about Stuart Downing? Are you his agent? Making a you tube vid of his best bits for the next club are you? I wouldnt mind a bit of movement with the ball. If we wanted someone with movement off the ball we could throw a goat on there and get a similar return. He doesn't seem the be able to drag passed any defender this season, he has no ideas, he is not fast, he is predictable, easy to read and most defenders since July have had him in their pocket. I agree that the price tag is irrelevant, but he simply isn't doing it, the same way Joe Cole didnt do it. And the English media love in refuses to criticise their own, rather they print headlines like Downing back to his best, Downing reaching his peak.. God help us.. 

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  29. Give King Kenny some time to configure a winning combination.

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  30. Most of the comments here are absolutely unbelievable.  Totally shocking and show a real, total lack of knowledge about the game.

    Stick to talksport and sky sports guys.  You have no idea.  If we listened to people like yourselves, we would be changing managers every 10 games.

    People are too ready to knee-jerk as yet again, they expect a divine right in winning games and again people think we are automatically due a top 4 finish.  We have to WORK at these things.  Bedding in new players takes a little time.  New tactics, new people at the club.  We're in Kenny's project for a few years NOT a few games.

    Please idiots.  Grow up.

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  31. DEFINITELY a Utd supporter.

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  32. Check your facts mate.  Downing DID play on the right for Villa and Young often played on the left AND up front.  Please check your facts before you even attempt an adult debate.

    Don't even dare to insult me by calling me a nipper - I was born in the 1970's so was there to see what KD did the first time.

    There is too much regimented thinking in football.  The modern game is about fluidity.  Zidane used to play left midfield for Madrid for example. 

    Of course I was disappointed with the result.  We created enough to win handsomely.  But I will not knee-jerk like some people that comment on this site.  The fact that no many people comment here shows that most of the views here are in a minority - which is very good news for us more sensible, rational thinkers.

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  33. Yeah just like Roy and Rafa did then all wise Msister Onions? My question to fans like you is why Kenny gets this special treatment yet all that should matter to us are the results on the pitch. When Roy failed to beat West Ham, Wigan etc there were very vocal protests in the Anfield terraces and before that when he signed players everyone moaned about but at least he was spending measly sums in comparison to King Kenny but yet Kenny's buy are heralded as good business when clearly they aren't.

    So dont be surprised when I expect the same treatment for Kenny as his predecessors as thats the way we've been made to feel is the Liverpool way lately

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