Liverpool have struggled against the so-called 'smaller' teams in recent seasons, and as we' saw with Swansea and Norwich recently, the league's newly promoted teams seem to be a particular problem these days. Former Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Robbie Savage has his own theory about why Liverpool have underperformed against the lesser teams. is he right?
Savage argued:
"It must be a mental thing. Is it in their minds that they've just got to turn up to win? Norwich at home; Swansea at home; I just can't see that with Carragher, Gerrard, and the other winners in their team.
"With Kenny Dalglish as manager, he won't let that happen. It must be a mental thing - Liverpool should be beating promoted teams at home if they're going to be serious contenders for a champions league spot".
So - is Liverpool's failure to beat newly promoted teams a 'mental thing', or is it something else?
Jaimie Kanwar
Savage argued:
"It must be a mental thing. Is it in their minds that they've just got to turn up to win? Norwich at home; Swansea at home; I just can't see that with Carragher, Gerrard, and the other winners in their team.
"With Kenny Dalglish as manager, he won't let that happen. It must be a mental thing - Liverpool should be beating promoted teams at home if they're going to be serious contenders for a champions league spot".
So - is Liverpool's failure to beat newly promoted teams a 'mental thing', or is it something else?
Jaimie Kanwar
How could Liverpool perform with players such as Lucas who is a handicap.
ReplyDeletetotally agree he has been the problem for a long time him in team means a decent player not in cannot understand it , you hear people say he protects the back four he does,nt he is to slow in everything he does , people say he has improved he has,nt
ReplyDeleteLucas is the problem? Absolute moron's.
ReplyDeleteHe's the reason we've been drawing against these lower teams instead of loosing! If Lucas had have been playing against Norwich our back four would have been in a better position to A) stop the cross in the first place. or B) CB's been in a better position to cover the striker. Charlie Adam running forward with his crap runs and wasteful 'quaterback' 1 in 5 success, passes left the back 4 vunerable, and in tern we got caught.
Didn't pre season show enough? Lucas missing the international tour, we ship 3 goals every game, he comes back for the last 2 games and we get 2 clean sheets.Actually watch a football match and get an opinion that's not from a report of Lucas 4 years ago. If he'd have signed last year and played as he has been you'd have hailed him as a star buy.
I'm not sure what to make of it really, i mean ok the swansea performance wasnt great, and spurs also, but in every single game we haven't won this season we've easily done enough to win those individual games, and in some cases (as with west brom) we'll play a little worse than we did against say sunderland or norwich and come away with a 2-0 or 3-0 win, perfectly good goals disallowed, posts/woodwork hit, keepers having blinders, refs not sending off opposition players for blatant red card offences, at least 3 blatant penalties... all of this has gone against us, and in the norwich game in particular suarez was kicked pulled and climbed upon all over the place and was only given 1 free kick in 90min, i defy any single forward in the league..in entire football anywhere that only gets fouled once in a game, so i dont subscribe that theres a mental problem really, its just a case of strikers needing to be 3-4 inches more accurate, we're not doing a lot wrong in the football we're playing. ok you may look at the results and think "whoa this isnt good" but our results and league position/points in no way reflect the football we've played this season for the most, we've had more shots on target than any other team but only 9% of those have gone in, if we'd had similar to man city's %age of 24% then we'd be only a point off top...there's a lot more good than bad that i can see this season, and generally thinks are looking good, its not time to press any panics button yet, we're only 3 points off 4th with a long way to go
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's purely a mental thing. I didn't cast a vote, because I can't answer Yes or No to this question.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, I think there is some mental aspect. Lack of killer's instinct. But also, there is some serious lack of tactical approach and some not very good manager's decisions before and during the game.
I don't have a clue. I think there's a mental thing with regards to scoring, the Norwich game we shoulda been home and dry at half time. I think licks a part of it too, but also, and it pains me to say this, when united play you always think their gonna snatch one. Despite some of our comebacks-ac Milan, west ham. I never feel like that with league games and I don't think other teams do too, and I don't think we feel like we can come back so I'd say maybe confidence. I hope we overcome it. As for Lucas being the problem, hahahahahaaaa. One player who's mainly there to break down opponents attacking play is the reason? We haven't been conceding many at all he's doing a great job, anyone with half a brain can see we need something to happen in the final third.
ReplyDeleteAshfah has people who agree with him. This is the end of the world as we know it.
ReplyDeleteThey're not scared of us. The names on our team sheet doesn't send fear into the smaller clubs. It's like two boxers staring at each other before a fight trying to psyche each other out. When Tyson used to look into a mans eyes at the start of a fight everyone in the arena knew who the victor would be. We are no Tyson I can assure you. Teams come to Anfield and play without fear because were not ruthless enough or good enough. We are a team of flair less gentlemen. until we purchase genuine quality and grow some teeth we will never be in the luxurious position of Citeh and Man U whereby they sometimes win the battle before it begins.
ReplyDeleteFor me Lucas does not give the team any thing, there are loads of players who does what he does in the lower divisions . He hardly ever makes a good telling pass , when he goes forward he is to slow and very erratic and doe not seem to know what to do with the ball, when he is in his holding position he offloads the ball to any one near him even if they are tightly marked, and also note the amount of free kicks he gives away in dangerous positions.Is heading is also a lot to be desired , I will say in his deffence that he has improved over the last couple of seasons and obviously people who know more about football than me do like him, but for me he is just not strong enough and good enough for LFC.
ReplyDeleteanyone who tells me that lucas is not currently our best performing player should get off this website and go and read about the xfactor. lucas doesnt scroe goals or perform amazing stepovers or nutmegs, so people who knwo nothing about the game assume hes not a good player. his positioning and distribution is nearly as good as his break up play
ReplyDeleteIf you think he is our best player then yes you should go and read about the x factor are you saying he is better than suarez.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Im sick of the part time football fans who know nothing about the game and are constantly all over Lucas acting as if we replace him we will suddenly be challenging.
ReplyDeleteHe is a very good player, he knows when to press and where to position himself and reads the opposition well so os very effective at breaking up play- he is an unsung hero (like so many in his position) but because he does not regularly contribute to goals or assists or provide the "glamour" most fans want to see he is slated by people who really have no clue about tactics and what he actually does for the team...
"obviously people who know more about football than me do like him"
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to make an argument then I'd suggest that you don't also try to invalidate it.Lucas is an anchor point. His job is to break up attacks and offload the ball to more creative players, and then provide a safe passing option so that we can move the ball around the pitch looking for a weak spot.Here in Australia I have a team that I can follow in the A-League, Brisbane Roar. They're undefeated in 34 games and play possession football in the manner of Barcelona*. Erik Paartalu does exactly the same job for Brisbane and he's the one player that the whole strategy depends on.Liverpool aren't quick enough to rely on the counter attack which means that we need a base to build upon. Lucas provides that. He's not there to score and we've got players like Gerrard, Adam, Henderson and Downing who should be generating the chances for our strikers.*I am not suggesting that they have anywhere near the quality of Barcelona. They'd get thumped 5-0 on a good day. Just putting a playing style in your heads.
Hook, line and sinker with the title........... Not Fowler though, just another bottom of the barrel "pundit"
ReplyDeletei can see a thumping on the way. hopefully its city and chelsea. its early days, but not since the rafa 2008 season have we looked capable of not losing. we have had patches of form since then, BUT we fear going for the second goal after scoring first and then also fear coming back from a losing position. but i still have the faith, the boys will gel. downing and carol and hendo somewhat still have a lot to give.
ReplyDeletefine, performance on the pitch is very subjective, statistics (goals/assists v passes/tackles) can be very selective. if you're still not convinced with Lucas, he survived through 3 managers, 2 owners and the new director of football. surely you must have someone you hate out of those 6 people but all of them agree on one thing, keeping Lucas.
ReplyDelete*ps. the two cowboys didn't care about the club, why did I include them? the last thing they want is to devalue the club too much for the sale and Lucas was considered a valued asset if they kept him.
Totally agree with this statement, but we are stuck with him for now my friend and obviously we cannot field with 10 players. He's one of those type of players who will annoy you to death, never get injured, no team have come in for him in 4 years. Just pray that a AC or Inter Milan will come in for him as he would be best suited in the Italian league. Until we get into champions league, I doubt we can attractive a world class defensive midfielder like yaya toure/essien type player - who have scored some wonder goals as well as contibute towards their defensive duties. I refer to them as the WALL but we obviously cannot put that pressure on Lucas because its just not his style and he actually looks like modric, pity cannot play like him.
ReplyDelete