Liverpool's victory against Everton at Goodison Park was marred by an outrageously negligent red card decision, but there were still plenty of positives to take away from the game.
1. That's three wins in a row now, which is a great response to the defeats against Stoke and Spurs.
2. The team kept a clean-sheet, which is always good.
3. No one got injured, and with Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger and Fabio Aurelio all back training now, the club could be in the unique position of being injury-free very soon.
4. Another solid performance from Jose Enrique. It looks like Liverpool's left-back problem has been well and truly solved now.
5. Andy Carroll got a confidence boosting goal, hopefully the first of many. The manner in which he scored the goal was the most encouraging thing though - he demanded the ball, and buried the shot with aplomb, which shows (to me) that he has strong self-belief.
6. Luis Suarez scored his 5th goal of the season. That's 5 goals and 3 assists in 9 games now this season, which is superb.
7. As Kenny Dalglish highlighted after the game, Dirk Kuyt (and the team) showed good resolve and strength of character after the penalty miss.
8. The players also showed good composure in a hostile atmosphere throughout the game.
9. Dalglish made good substitutions at the right time. Charlie Adam was tiring, and the team was lacking attacking impetus; Stewart Downing was pretty ineffective on the left, and Lucas was on a yellow.
10. Gerrard played well yet again, spraying the ball around and pushing the team forward.
11. Craig Bellamy also played well, providing the attacking threat down the left that was missing before he came on.
12. Lucas continues to do a sterling job in midfield, and OPTA stats show that he is still the most effective tackler in the league.
13. Liverpool are seven points better off in the league than at the same point last season.
14. Despite recent setbacks, the club is only 6 points off the top of the table after seven games.
15. Liverpool are totally on target to reach the season's stated goal of finishing in the top four.
Things could get even better over the next 4 league games, three of which are at home (Man United, Norwich, Swansea), with an away game at West Brom in the middle. I really think Liverpool could win all four, but 8-10 points out of 12 is probably more realistic.
Is the international break over yet?!
Jaimie Kanwar
1. That's three wins in a row now, which is a great response to the defeats against Stoke and Spurs.
2. The team kept a clean-sheet, which is always good.
3. No one got injured, and with Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger and Fabio Aurelio all back training now, the club could be in the unique position of being injury-free very soon.
4. Another solid performance from Jose Enrique. It looks like Liverpool's left-back problem has been well and truly solved now.
5. Andy Carroll got a confidence boosting goal, hopefully the first of many. The manner in which he scored the goal was the most encouraging thing though - he demanded the ball, and buried the shot with aplomb, which shows (to me) that he has strong self-belief.
6. Luis Suarez scored his 5th goal of the season. That's 5 goals and 3 assists in 9 games now this season, which is superb.
7. As Kenny Dalglish highlighted after the game, Dirk Kuyt (and the team) showed good resolve and strength of character after the penalty miss.
8. The players also showed good composure in a hostile atmosphere throughout the game.
9. Dalglish made good substitutions at the right time. Charlie Adam was tiring, and the team was lacking attacking impetus; Stewart Downing was pretty ineffective on the left, and Lucas was on a yellow.
10. Gerrard played well yet again, spraying the ball around and pushing the team forward.
11. Craig Bellamy also played well, providing the attacking threat down the left that was missing before he came on.
12. Lucas continues to do a sterling job in midfield, and OPTA stats show that he is still the most effective tackler in the league.
13. Liverpool are seven points better off in the league than at the same point last season.
14. Despite recent setbacks, the club is only 6 points off the top of the table after seven games.
15. Liverpool are totally on target to reach the season's stated goal of finishing in the top four.
Things could get even better over the next 4 league games, three of which are at home (Man United, Norwich, Swansea), with an away game at West Brom in the middle. I really think Liverpool could win all four, but 8-10 points out of 12 is probably more realistic.
Is the international break over yet?!
Jaimie Kanwar
Jaimie Kanwar a great positive article to go into the international break:)
ReplyDeleteHow we took control of the game in the last twenty minutes of the game reminded me of a Rafa team especially how Lucas and Gerrard played together and how they kept moving the ball left to right or right to left keeping moving the Everton defence until we struck Lucas involved with both goals .
12 points from those 3 fixtures would be sweeeet and certainly have to agree that such a haul is achievable. I just hope we keep Kuyt in the line-up ahead of Henderson and eventually see Gerrard replace Adam from the start. Other early Christmas wish is that we see more of Bellamy; I thought he had a very significant impact yesterday. Finally, would we want Johnson back over Kelly? Great problem to have.
ReplyDeleteGood thing about Johnson is he can play a number positions he can play RB,LB,RW or LW I think he his going to be our utility player when he his fit.
ReplyDeletePlease... Enough of the Rafa observations. That cancer is gone thank god. One of many that had to be cut out! Any play by this team is totally Kenny and no one else! YNWA 5
ReplyDelete5 Would that be the 5 EUROPEAN CUPS?
ReplyDelete3 Bob Paisley
1 Joe Fagan
1 Rafa Benitez
Thanks for the positive article, Jaimie!
ReplyDeletei'll pick kelly over johnson any day...infact one more positive from the game was that we have a great young rightback
ReplyDeleteYes but they can only be positives if you disregard the score. Everton were at least as good for the first 25 minutes. Let's face it Everton are not going to win the league. So it was a cheap victory won by an overzealous referring decision, and it was only hostile given the decisions against Everton. Think settling for europa cup next season given a mediocre squad is the best Liverpool can realistically aim for.
ReplyDelete