Stewart Downing recently admitted that he prefers playing on the right wing, and the former Aston Villa man put in a good performances against QPR in that position at the weekend. However, a goal or an assists still eludes him, something he's painfully aware.
Downing, who has now gone 16 games without scoring or creating a goal, said:
"Our performances have been very good this season, and we have created plenty of chances, but the biggest issue so far is we haven't converted enough.
"We haven't scored enough goals and that means we haven't killed teams off. We all know we have to finish them off when you get those sort of chances, because if you don't they invariably punish you at this level.
"I don't know how many times I've hit the post or crossbar. It's frustrating - but I think I'm getting closer and closer each time.
"I'm hoping it will happen soon. For me, that would be so good, but obviously the best thing is that the team is winning"
Obviously, the best thing is that the team is winning, but Liverpool's inability to score goals has led to 4 home draws and two avoidable defeats, which is a total of 14 points dropped.
I genuinely think that the title was there to be won this season, and would've been if transfer funds had been spent more wisely over the last year.
Imagine if Liverpool had bought a striker and a winger that actually score?
Actually, let's not think about that - it's too depressing.
Jaimie Kanwar
Downing, who has now gone 16 games without scoring or creating a goal, said:
"Our performances have been very good this season, and we have created plenty of chances, but the biggest issue so far is we haven't converted enough.
"We haven't scored enough goals and that means we haven't killed teams off. We all know we have to finish them off when you get those sort of chances, because if you don't they invariably punish you at this level.
"I don't know how many times I've hit the post or crossbar. It's frustrating - but I think I'm getting closer and closer each time.
"I'm hoping it will happen soon. For me, that would be so good, but obviously the best thing is that the team is winning"
Obviously, the best thing is that the team is winning, but Liverpool's inability to score goals has led to 4 home draws and two avoidable defeats, which is a total of 14 points dropped.
I genuinely think that the title was there to be won this season, and would've been if transfer funds had been spent more wisely over the last year.
Imagine if Liverpool had bought a striker and a winger that actually score?
Actually, let's not think about that - it's too depressing.
Jaimie Kanwar
but sadly the war chest has been largely squandered............
ReplyDeleteWell. Kenny rushed on some transfers. I always had faith on our transfers, because everybody was saying "In Kenny, We Trust". But they are failing on our eyes.I still believe in Kenny. But he needs to be better on transfer on oncoming transfer windows.
ReplyDeleteDalglish has essentially rebuilt Rafa's 06-07 team with a superior defence! Reina, Kuyt, Agger and Bellamy reprise their roles with Andy Carroll and Downing in for Crouch and Pennant, but using their left feet instead. Adam has effectively replaced an 06-07 Alonso with Suarez deputising for Gerrard and Henderson for Momo Sissoko. Maxi is a toned down and more reliable Garcia. Gerrard and Lucas have gone on to replace Kewell and Aurelio in rehab - and incidentally, we still have Aurelio, whom like Fowler at the time, looks set to retire from Liverpool!
ReplyDeleteSpearing is a fine English imitation of Mascherano with Shelvey no worse than Sinama Pongolle. Coates shares Hyypia's birthdate and Skrtel has filled in nicely for Carra - who has taken Hyypia's place on the bench. That's 1 extra defender for Kenny. Johnson is great going forward for us but suspect at the back in the same manner Riise was while Enrique and Kelly have been as dependable as Finnan and Arbeloa.
Just like our 06-07 team, opportunity after opportunity gets created and then goes begging. Like that team, our defence is exemplary - 13 goals conceded, the least in the league. Will we likewise bring in a goal machine next season? Of course, it would be great to be pushing for the title 2 seasons from now though, which does seem very realistic.
I think Kenny is a fine manager, but our transfer dealings have left us, and him, still grasping for solutions in many of our same problem areas.
ReplyDeleteMy head hurts when I consider how much better we could have spent our money...
Think the key is getting someone to compliment and getting him to relax. He's a great goal-scorer (Ajax and Uruguay) but anxiety is affecting his game. Game against QPR was another example of this. Think Maxi needs an extended run to see if he is the player to play aside Luis. Think KD would have done better playing him more often.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Ryan Babel,he did'n't like the left side either! Maybe KD should give him a try on the right wing then? Kelly at left fullback and Johnson on the left wing !
ReplyDeleteHowever, Downing is a left footer who is comfortable with his left, like Adam, and Babel was horribly right footed. It'd be a fantastic idea for Downing to play on the right, so he does a little more than just cross from the byline, which he predictabily does from the left. It's what most clubs would pay him to do, but we can benefit from him cutting in.
ReplyDeleteAs for swapping fullbacks, I don't think it's very clever defensively. It would give away more corners and cut out less crosses - But it would force our fullbacks to shoot more.