15 Jan 2012

Does Kenny really expect Liverpool fans to believe this LAME excuse...?

'Let the opposition worry about us' - A simple philosophy that has served Liverpool well over the years, especially at Anfield. Against Stoke on Saturday, that positive, empowering mantra underwent a negative transformation and became the far less intimidating 'let's worry about the opposition'. What other conclusion could be drawn from the negative team selection, which included five starting defenders and a further three on the bench? It was obvious from the start that such a cautious approach would increase the chances of a draw, but according to Kenny Dalglish, the team he put out was 'dictated' to him by the circumstance.

Speaking after the game, Kenny seemed to be aware of the growing criticism of his team selection, and provided the following explanation:

"The team we put out today was more or less dictated to us by the players we had at our disposal.

"We had a couple of injury problems, and that's why we came up with that team".


With the greatest respect, this is a pretty poor excuse for setting the team up so negatively. Let's take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding yesterday's game:

* Daniel Agger was injured so he was out of the equation.

* Maxi was missing from the squad for the second game in a row. Why? He is not injured, and Kenny confirmed on Friday that there were no new injury worries. It seems that for some reason, Maxi was simply dumped out of the squad.

* Here are the players who were available for yesterday's game: Reina, Johnson, Jose Enrique, Coates, Carragher, Skrtel, Gerrard, Henderson, Downing, Adam, Kuyt, Doni, Aurelio, Kelly, Flanagan, Shelvey, Carroll, Bellamy, Maxi

* Clearly, it was possible to put out a positive, attack-minded team; instead, Dalglish showed fear by putting out a defensive 3-5-2 formation, which seemed geared towards stopping the mighty Stoke. I say 3-5-2, but in-game in it was actually a 3-6-1 as none of the Liverpool's midfielders consistently supported Kuyt upfront.

Kenny could've put out any of the following POSITIVE, ATTACKING line-ups:

--------------------- Reina

Johnson ------ Skrtel --- Carra ---------- Enrique

Maxi ---------- Adam ---- Gerrard ------- Bellamy

----------------- Kuyt ---- Carroll

or:

--------------------- Reina

Johnson ------ Skrtel --- Carra ---------- Enrique

Kuyt ---------- Adam --- Gerrard ------- Maxi

----------------- Bellamy ---- Carroll

or:

--------------------- Reina

Johnson ------ Skrtel --- Carra ---------- Enrique

---------------- Adam --- Gerrard

Maxi -------------- Shelvey -------------- Bellamy

------------------- Carroll

or:

--------------------- Reina

Johnson ------ Skrtel --- Carra ---------- Enrique

---------------- Adam --- Shelvey

Maxi -------------- Gerrard -------------- Downing

------------------- Bellamy

or:

--------------------- Reina

Johnson ------ Skrtel --- Carra ---------- Enrique

---------------- Adam --- Henderson

Maxi -------------- Gerrard -------------- Bellamy

------------------- Carroll

or:

--------------------- Reina

Johnson ------ Skrtel --- Carra ---------- Enrique

---------------- Gerrard --- Henderson

Downing ------------- Shelvey -------------- Bellamy

------------------- Carroll

Yes, there is an issue with Bellamy playing more than two games a week, but he recently confirmed that he'd been fit and available for every game this season, so that excuse doesn't really cut it.

I'm not a fan of Andy Carroll but what is the point of leaving him on the bench at this time? With Suarez out, he needs game time to build up confidence and understanding with his team-mates.

Carroll was dumped on the bench against Oldham, and again against Stoke. If you're not going to play a 35m striker against those teams, who are you going to play him against?

Additionally, Stoke have the second lowest away goalscoring record in the league, so there was absolutely no need to play three central defenders.

Ultimately, the idea that Dalglish was forced into playing such a negative formation yesterday just does not wash. He could've put out a positive, attack-minded team but he chose not to, and what we got instead was worryingly similar to the kind of negative team selections Rafa Benitez used to come up with.

Stoke was a must-win HOME game, but, depressingly, it was treated as a must-not lose.

Jaimie Kanwar


118 comments:

  1. I read his comments after the game and in particular the one you
    highlighted Jamie. Utter Uter nonsense from Dalglish.  He basically
    said out starting line up was dictated by the loss of a center back
    (Agger).  How anyone can buy that drivel i do not know. I like Kenny, i
    think he'll make us contenders but he done himself no favours
    yeterday.. Even his substitutiions were poor.  Carroll on, Downing
    off.  Gerrard playing deeper  than usual.  
     
    Blackburn have scored 10 more league goals than us. We have spent over a 100m
    Gross over the past 12 months. It is simply inexcusable and the blame lies at
    the managers door for some terrible buys. There is no remedy for our poor
    striking power/finishing, not with the current playing staff. They just aren't
    good enough. That's the bottom line. 35M on Carroll and 20M on Downing was utter
    negligence on the manager's part. Every man and his dog knew Downing was average
    at best.

     No top club went near but oh no Kenny comes calling and now we are
    paying the price with shocking performances from the player week in
    week out. I have been saying it for 10=15 years. What let's us down
    time and again is ineffective management in the transfer market. We
    will never learn. We had the money to make the difference, to really
    propel us into the Top 4 but it won't happen with this team. Too many
    attacking limitations and poor buys.   We have a great defense, one of
    the best in the league but Dalglish needs to get his hid signings right
    in the next two windows and make a decision on Carroll. We  need better
    offensive players

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  2. I don't know if this could be an issue but we have had a lot of matches this month, maybe players were tired for example Carroll maybe didn't start because he has started quite a few this month?

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  3. yes, agree we were too cautious. However this has been the storyline all along, no killer instincts in any of our mids, even none whatsoever in Kuyt or carroll. Basically we have no one who is willing to try to score. YNWA. Sigh.. I am getting tired watching goalless winless games at anfield.

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  4. You're right about kenny possibly wanting to rest players.

    It's all rather disappointing. It's like Kenny is almost intent on showing up his own failings at times. He bought some fairly average British players who have gradually got worse and now he's playing them in odd formations.

    That game was there to be won yesterday. 7 draws in 11 home games is truly awful and so obviously points to a lack of guile up front. I live Dirk, but surely the end is near for him now.

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  5. Kenny was doing this regularly at home games prior to quiting the club in the late 80's. So frustrating.

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  6. Wow I agree with you Jaimie!

    Kenny sort it out - sell Dirk and buy someone soon.

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  7. I might be being picky, but we played a 3-5-2 (or 3-6-1 if you must), i.e. 3 defenders. All the teams you've suggested had 4 defenders. Might it be said that these suggestions are more defensive? Plenty of attacking players, just lacking quality (and at least one refereeing decision)

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  8. we need a winger, a striker, and a skillfull midfield player...downing is poor what a waste of  money he is, carroll has lost all confidence plus service to him is bad.if were not going to buy bring in da siva s
    from ressies hes better than kuyt, and downing
     as is sterling. we need fresh faces plus those not pulling there socks up might with competion....

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  9. I totally agree i think  the third team selection would of  been the best on this list .It was like the days of woy hodgson so disapointing to watch another 2 points dropped at home to a lower team .We will never finish in the top four at this rate.

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  10. Tired of playing quite a few..what will Reina ,skrtel,jose b if playin quite a few makes u tired FACT KD is messing up give Rafa this squad and ull see what happens

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  11. Its not only this Jaimie, if our fans viewed him objectivley and scrutinised his interviews, post match analysis and press conferences as a "Manager" and not the King or best player in the history of the club there would be a lot he has to answer for.

    How is he happy with a squad and see's the need for no further signings when this is the worst Liverpool team in front of goal in the premiership era?

    Is the progress of the world's 8th most expensive player not to be scrutinised in any way shape or form considering his lack of goals, contribution, and appearances?

    I dont want Kenny to be sacked as it is not good for the club, he should have one more season beyond this to get into the CL if we dont make it this year , beyond that he should step down.

    There is a common consensus that in order to get back to the very top we need World Class players, how about the question of having a World Class manager? I am not arguing KD is a bad manager but he is not world class anymore as there are a number of coaches out there that are probably more in touch with the modern game - if we want to get back on top then this nostalgic attachment to the past through the current manager needs to be abandoned IMO.

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  12. I read his comments after the game and in particular the one you
    highlighted Jamie. Utter Uter nonsense from Dalglish.  He basically
    said out starting line up was dictated by the loss of a center back
    (Agger).  How anyone can buy that drivel i do not know. I like Kenny, i
    think he'll make us contenders but he done himself no favours
    yeterday.. Even his substitutiions were poor.  Carroll on, Downing
    off.  Gerrard playing deeper  than usual.  
     
    Blackburn have scored 10 more league goals than us. We have spent over a 100m
    Gross over the past 12 months. It is simply inexcusable and the blame lies at
    the managers door for some terrible buys. There is no remedy for our poor
    striking power/finishing, not with the current playing staff. They just aren't
    good enough. That's the bottom line. 35M on Carroll and 20M on Downing was utter
    negligence on the manager's part. Every man and his dog knew Downing was average
    at best.

     No top club went near but oh no Kenny comes calling and now we are
    paying the price with shocking performances from the player week in
    week out. I have been saying it for 10=15 years. What let's us down
    time and again is ineffective management in the transfer market. We
    will never learn. We had the money to make the difference, to really
    propel us into the Top 4 but it won't happen with this team. Too many
    attacking limitations and poor buys.   We have a great defense, one of
    the best in the league but Dalglish needs to get his hid signings right
    in the next two windows and make a decision on Carroll. We  need better
    offensive players

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  13. SACK dalglish and appoint FRANK RIJKAARD...... Everything will settle...

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  14. Kenny was preparing the draw for the incoming fxtures against M.city. Must sell kk now and found Maurihno.

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  15. Well... formation isn't everything. 4-4-2 can be played extremely defensively as well, and the 3-5-2 could well have been played more agressively. Enrique and Johnson were probably supposed to lead fast runs up the field before the Stoke defense had time to reorganize, but the fact was that the central 3 defenders spent too much time with the ball or gave it back to Reina for this to work well enough (missing Lucas just added to this). And those to blame for that were Coates and Carra. Coates of course is young and inexperienced, so it's maybe understandable, he doesn't want to mess up in the few games he gets a chance to play. Carra has never been the most technical player, and seems to be unusually insecure in possession (well, maybe to be expected, given that he hasn't played much recently). I wonder what including Kelly instead of Coates would have done. Or even Flanagan. And the importance of Lucas for the team is becoming ever more evident.

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  16. Kenny has to go he isn't good enough, Deschamps should be brought in as manager. 

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  17. again we making excuses, problem we have is as liverpool fans we tend to let our hearts rule, our hearts say king kenny, but do our heads say that, i dont think so, kenny will always be our hero, but the tactics we played, it was a rafa game, we played not to loose, and if we win bonus, lmfao,
    carrol is going to be dalglish ruin, how many real shots on target did we have, on target and not in that area, we waz pathetic, no desire to win, no direction, soz if this upsets a few, but it is my head ruling not my heart,its now 15/1/12 and still no bloody striker, leave it to late as normal, try try carrol but he will be dalglishs ruin

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  18. While I do see where you are coming from- Bellamy has the legs of a 60 year old and was no doubt sitting with bags of ice on his knees all week, maxi goes missing constantly, and carroll is terrible- doesnt leave us with much up front, does it?

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  19. As a staunch Liverpool fan, I am totally disgusted with Kenny's approach of not finishing off weaker teams.7 home draws, this is totally unacceptable with the money Kenny spent on SHIT players.
    I also think that it is about time that Kenny gets the sack as he is a mid table manager and I am tired hearing his excuses.

    Ajay - South Africa

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  20. I was one to criticize this and but after more thought, could this be a test run for the City game at home?
    Did he try 5 - 4 - 1 to mould the team for that game? Either way, we should take each day as it comes, but if this was the case and a similar set up puts us through the Carling Cup, then it may be a good thing... Alhtough CL is a priority... and with the HUGE money spent... Hmmm i am losing faith in KD slowly, slowly... What happen to the KD of last year with the same players at his disposal???

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  21. I think saying Kenny needs to go after a year of improvement is shocking, call yourselves supporters? As for the lineup Jaimie I wholeheartedly agree, I was disappointed with it. Maxi and Bellamy are un the goals-play them. I'm a big fan of Shelvey, he makes things happen and knows where the net is, play him. I don't think Dirk has ever been prolific enough or us to play up front on his own. To be fair everyone slating Carroll, what service did he get really? We weren't scoring when Suarez was playing and were still not now so I'd blame the team. Not just Carroll.

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  22. KD will always be a liverpool legend but that doesn't mean he's a good liverpool manager those people who want rafa back must be mad, it was all 0-0 with the lower teams when he was around. I think they need a manager who gets the best out of his players and who will give the youth academy lads a chance (morgan,sterling, suso, coady)

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  23. Rafa was the same, do you not remember the season we finished 2nd. He was far to defense minded at home, we played stoke that season too and it finished 0-0 we started the game with 1 up front.

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  24. I don't want KD to be sacked either, however if he believes he doesn't need to buy this month (at least a striker) then he should be.

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  25. The stupidity of KD meant we played 5 defenders against a team that never attacked us - sack KD!

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  26. KENNY KNOWS BEST US SCOUSERS THINK YOU SHOULD BE HONORED TO SUPPORT ARE GREAT CLUB YOU DON'T CALL THE SHOTS YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A JOKE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TEAM OR MAN CITY

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  27. let us face it now that our problem is the manager we have and dont get me wrong kk is a hero to all of us but that does not make him a good manager..yesterday was awful to watch..sack kenny and bring a world class manager..then will start talking...of the cpl..

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  28. The formation was strong against a physically strong,tall and in form Stoke team it definitely nullified any threat from them Kenny won on that score was a bit of a strange interview after the game I think he knew he got it wrong but then again when the midfield players all sat deep and didn't break forward and your forward Kuyt is every where but up front no one was in the box. The subs were the let down Shelvey for Henderson,Bellamy for Adam and Carroll for Kuyt might haved worked and given us more urgency in getting into the box.
                                       With the these subs
                                       Reina                        Coates,Carragher,Skrtel        Johnson                                              Enrique                       Shelvey,Gerrard,Downing                                                       Bellamy,Carroll

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  29. KD knows what he is doing. If KD says the team virtually picked itself, then why doubt him? He is man enough to admit if he got it wrong and would have done so if he had! Dont you think he would lose the players respect if he went on TV and told a pack of lies!!!
    Also, keeping Bellamy fresh for the Man city game to ensure a trip to Wembley is critical  - success breeds success and he knows this!
    Managers are like goal-keepers; they get better as they get older and KD was the best twenty years ago - so what does that make him now? Also, do you want him to come out and say we are desperate for a striker so we can pay an extra 10 million on one. Get real guys - KD is a canny old Scot and is obviously too clever for you!!! YNWA
      

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  30. I don't know whose the coach here. You  lot or Kenny? You all seem to know more than him. LFC must is a sure champion when you lot are the manager. Please send your CV there. I begged you lot.

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  31. A 3-5-2 OR 3-4-2-1 formation can be defensive or attacking. It all depends on how you look at it really. I share the feeling of dissapointment but at least we're not too far off 4th place. Mathematically its a real possibility. I have grievous doubts but i'll put my faith in the club and in many seasons before, it seems to work as we always qualified despite languishing at 6th or 8th at some time during the season :)

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  32. I was at that game and we threw everything at them, Keane, Yossi and Babbel came on. Their back 4 didn't leave their box!
    Yesterday, by all accounts, we were lame and never even looked like scoring

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  33. Yawn!!!....Kenny has discovered another level to boring football, quite honestly its an embarrassment, I had hope when LFC got rid of all the dead wood, plenty of cash to spend and the backing of the new owners, then what happens, we go out and spend a small fortune on four pieces of driftwood (Adam, Downing, Henderson & Carroll). Our midfield is totally devoid of any kind of creativity, Adam is trying to see if he can foul every player in the league, Henderson must hold the record for the highest number of square and back passes, Downing is just rubbish and Carroll looks like a basketball player pretending to play football, add Kuyt into that mix (he should be able to take up a position with KFC when he retires, I heard they are looking for a headless chicken) and you can see why we cant score goals, if you look at most mid-table clubs, what do they all have in common with LFC ....they struggle to score, and why is that? well it might just be that they have mostly mediocre players (like us). If these players are the result of Comolli's stats and Kenny's approval then I shudder to think what crap these two are going to sign in Jan (maybe) and the summer season. If Hodgson was still with us the fans would have erected a guillotine outside the stadium. I find KD's response to yesterdays team selection an insult to our intelligence he obviously thinks LFC fans are so stupid they will accept any crap statement he makes, his performance so far has left me extremely frustrated, he has turned this proud club into a joke. 

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  34. I'm sorry but although I agree with you in that KD got it wrong, it's not because of the formation, 352 or 361 is not meant to be defensive. It's how or what you set your players out to do that determines whether the formation is positive or negative.
    You need your wide players to be hugging the sidelines at all times in order to stretch a compact defensive unit.

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  35. I think if we gave Woy 130million to spend...he would have us playing the same so called wonderful football kk is producing with his team...and points wise wouldn't be worst off as well ...but because its kk do we have to pretend every thing is rosy ...well am sick of kkk and his lame excuses

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  36. We lack a level of cohesion because Kenny is constantly changing the team and formation for the team we are playing. Rather than playing to our strengths and making other team adapt to US. when you watch, the likes of chelsea, man city, man poo and arsenal - despite playing in europe mid wk and then the premier league on the wkend - their is very little changes to their formation or playing staff.

    Without playing in Europe, this season, playing to many games can't really be a issue!!!!

    Previously, Arsenal and Man Poo have played their reserves in the FA and League cups and this year, Tottenham played youthful teams in the Europa League. Thus, why aren't we using these competitions to play our young and up-coming stars rather than a full strength side?

    Hopefully, we actually utilise all these young stars and give them the opportunities to become anfield stars and not just during pre-season games. You look at what Wenger's kids have done and fergies golden crop of becks and then, did for that proxy club. Can't wait to see the likes of Sterling, Morgan, Suso, Coady, Pacheco - all gracing ANFIELD.

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  37. Agree , pathetic team selection , Kenny was saying the other week he wished he knew what Bellamy eats refering to his fitness and energy etc , who says he can't play every game he is a 30 year old sportsman not some OAP , it does seem like we are scared to put out our best team and just go for , this giving people a game for the sake of it is stupid and costly as league position shows , we gave Aurelio 60 minutes the other week , what possible benefit is that to Liverpool football club , good for Fabio like , I wouldn't mind a game myself , thats a joke by the way but so was yesterday's team selection

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  38. Kenny does not have the intelligence to be a modern day manager. 
    Rafa made us the most feared draw in europe, under kenny we are not even feared by stoke, in fact, we fear them.
    he waffles far too much rubbish and sounds like his brain is half gone already. i would love it if the kop started to sing RAFA RAFAEL RAFA RAFAEL.

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  39. I got this feeling in my gut in the first ten minutes during the latest Stoke game. The same feeling I've got all season against teams like Swansea, Norwich and Blackburn. That we just don´t have the offensive power to crumble those walls of defenders protecting the goal. Downing is mediocre at best and Carroll has problems just to stand up. I love to see Kuyt in his good old days back but it's obvious he's peaked by now. We do need some more movement, players running towards the goal and creating problems. All we got now are lame passes to no one. I really like both Johnson and Enrique but who can the pay pass the ball to? We really need someone like good old Torres (before he sold his soul) but I'm getting desperate so even Bent sounds like a sweet deal. 

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  40. Already bought all three type of players in the summer...but simply not of good quality

    What are the chances of the owners/Comolli/KK spending more money on the same positions in the summer?

    Very slim I would say.

    Looks like another a period of forgettable seasons for us 

    Great(!)

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  41. no matter what team we put out against stoke, it was missing a quaility striker, one who can finish and put an end to lots of possesion and chances with no end result. What is frustrating is liverpool do more than other teams to get it to the opponents box then as fans we watch the poor shooting and movement in the box. we need a striker, if darren bent is available then lets go and get him as he has no problem where the goal is, he has prven this for many clubs!! Until we get a striker then we will feel frustrated to often.

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  42. Kuyt has to go, he's been a decent servant and had his moments, but his touch and %'s are not good enough. Spending big on a forward or two now is going to give carroll yet another kick up the ass, and probably the only way we have a chance of grabbing a top 4 finish. between us, chels and arsenal for 4th, the other 3 places are sewn up. chels will spend money this jan and torres will come good, arse have RVP-a goal machine. if the board has the minerals they will (1) spend a load more cash this jan (2) sack KD if we don't get 4th. 

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  43. get a life rafa is gone

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  44. 0 - 0 simply not good enough. I can understand, possibly, using the formation as preparation for the 2nd leg against city. I can understand not wanting to publicly announce our need for a strikers to keep price down if we do go after someone. I can understand KK saying we weren't creative enough. What I don't understand is the tyrant selection... Why bring Shelvey back and hardly ever play him for a whole game. On current form of the rest of the team he's arguably one of our better creative players. As part of my job in the airline industry I regularly talk to people in operations at quite a few prem and championship teams, including Blackpool. They were gutted we recalled Shelvey as he provided goals and creativity, so why is he not getting the nod over Henderson? He's definately better than him and makes quicker, better decisions on the pitch. I currently believe KK will do us good but a lack of a new striker, whether bought or from our youth, and continued poor team selection might change my mind. Bet I'm not the only one!

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  45. With fans like this its no supprise lfc do better away from home

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  46. Not a Liverpool fan yourself obviously, if you are you should be as concerned as the rest of us

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  47. kenny is a disgrace hes obviously lying hard there he thought that team would be good enough to defeat stoke but he was wrong as hell soon as i saw that team i knew we wouldnt score even if we were gonna play 1 week non stop, we wont get that top 4 and kenny will and must leave hes a legend but so old minded and so stupid tactics and buying so horrible players wasting our money etc. kenny must leave if we dont get that 4th place end of

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  48. Blind faith in bad management/purchases just cause its 'the king' is also stupid. had rafa/gh/woy spent that amount of cash on that amount of mid table trundlers , the knives would be out. there is no fairytale ending to kenny's LFC career. LFC aside(and blackburn with loads of cash when it was still cool to buy brits), kenny has never proven himself a good manager NEVER. All he's doing now is proving what we already knew. As a player , he will always be the king(along with SG) but id rather not taint that memory with some very average management. He HAS to get 4th or else bye bye, thanks for the memories.

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  49. I don't believe FSG will make further funds available and really who can blame them... We have a golden generation of kids and if you're good enough you're old enough. Now is the time to find out if they are good enough

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  50. Haha do not worry, John Henry is not stupid and he is not emotionally attached to the club, any of it's players or staff, if they chose to sack Dalglish then believe me they will. They are businessmen. Dalglish needs to stop giving dumb excuses, the formations he pulls out sometimes makes me wonder!

    Dirk and Carroll were ineffective, we have no pace in the wings and Adam is playing way below average.

    Dalglish is out of touch.

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  51. Also to note, Dalglish is human and he will make mistakes, but I see in a lot of forums that Liverpools fans blindly' support him because they have good memories of when he was here before.

    Let's be honest, we are not that bad. But goals win matches.

    Tottenham have by far a better squad than ours without spending 20M on a single player. And they give youth a chance also.

    Dalglish sort it out. Stop making excuses for Carroll.

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  52. the drivel some of you spout is epic

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  53. Your a bit strange with your comments!

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  54. NIL NIL twice against Stoke with Rafa then they got promoted!

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  55. Didn't THE KOP end up groaning at Rafa?

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  56. dalglish is a legend rite.he brings confidence to the team.he is liverpool thru and thru.he feels the pain when he is on the bench when the team is losing.but we dont eat all that. we want results.he could be a legend but tactically and technically he is bankrupt. i feel he is not the best guy to take us forward.he is too arrogant like rafa,he makes funny stupid team selections.he favours non performers like kuyt,stew over maxi,bellers and shelvey.just watch wat he will buy for us in january.we will finish outside the top 4 with such a coach

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  57. We have been to cautious this season?
    I thought this season it has been about players not taking chances, yesterday was a strange game but we had 7 players attacking up to them to get into the box.

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  58. Not going to say that it is time to move Kenny on, but our goalscoring record is shockingly bad. And if we cannot play 4-4-2 at home to Stoke, then we really are in trouble. I don't blame Carroll too much either, whenever i have seen him play, the support he has received has been awful. He needs one goal and it could all turn around for him. But we should be playing with width and getting crosses in to him, as well as getting someone who can lay on proper chances, like in front of the opposition goal, for our strikers. Bellamy needs to play more and Kuyt, for all his effort has neither the pace to be much use away from home or the skill to create much at home. He is a hard working poacher but we don't have the players to create the chances, neither Downing or Adam have been doing what they were bought for.

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  59. Agree, Chuckyred, we did not score only 24 goals with Carroll in the team all this time, so the problem is more than him. He had very little service at City, had one god chance saved, put a header wide, that was it. I think the service he has had has been awful, although he does need to work on his touch and movement off the ball.

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  60. In the late 80s you mean when we were winning the league?

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  61. hehehe time for kenny to go AY? lol only last year he was the messiah and now hes useless. you sound like toon fans with Keegan. caRROL 35m everyone was laffin when you signed him but scousers said it was a kd masterstroke hahahahahaha

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  62. could be worse , kenny could have come out and said we can still win the title, like wenger just has..........lol

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  63. Honestly, I think you're making too much of this. The reason Kenny selected this team was because we were missing both Agger and Spearing with injuries. And thus, Kenny was correct in what he said; he assumed we all knew Spearing was not available for selection for this game. (By the way, I'm not against criticising Kenny).

    All the alternate midfield combinations lack defensive steel (which we've learnt from by now?) and with the fragilities showed by Carra and Coates against Oldham (due to a lack of game time I guess), playing three central defenders could answer the lack of Agger and Spearing. (Especially because Stoke's height and play would have put additional on young Coates and, in my opinion, shaky Carra if either were selected to fill Agger's place alone).

    In principle, this would then also allow greater freedom to our attack minded midfielders and wing-backs who love getting forward. (Three defenders and seven overtly attacking players is an attacking lineup no matter where the three defenders are positioned).

    The fact that our attacking players did not break down Stoke is of great concern of course but not an indictment of the team lineup. Another alternative was to play Carra in the holding midfield role which would have been a terrible mistake.

    That Maxi was not even in the squad is certainly a mystery and I'm one who feels with a team so goal shy, he should be a certain starter, However, again we're making assumptions as to why he wasn't in the squad and, again, it is not a reflection of the the three man defensive lineup.

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  64. I agree it's embarrassing, 'fans' calling Kenny a disgrace and KKK etc. we've beaten or played better then every team we have played this season bar Spurs and possibly Swansea. We're in the semi finals of a cup and we have improved on last season, we've lost less games then Chelsea and Arsenal who have had either stability or spent huge sums I money to get a few positions ahead of us. It's shocking. I think a few people have been playing on Fifa and Championship Manager a bit too much, we're a work in progress and progress is what we're making!

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  65. I think Steve Clarke is having a major influence on team selection, he is a very defensive minded coach which worked well at Chelsea because they had a creative midfield and hot strikers. Unfortunately we have an average midfield and without Suarez we have a woeful strike force. I think Kenny wants another striker and maybe played that team to highlight to the owners the apparent shortage of options up front, even though we had Bellamy and Carroll sitting on the bench again. Another poor performance from some of the players and another poor performance from the management.

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  66. we spent 90 mins attacking Stoke what the hell are you on about?? So we couldn't score a goal, what's new.. we need to sign a striker in his prime even though we have some decent ones.. and we kept a clean sheet because kenny knew they would play counter attack.. 

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  67. yeah this makes sense.. just want to add that it was around this time last season that Kuyt and Maxi went on their goal spree so I can see why Kenny would be using Kuyt up front but still mistified as to Maxi's absence after KD spoke soo highly of him recently!

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  68. couldn't agree more... especially about all the pretend managers out there!

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  69. Agree with Jamie that there was absolutely no reason to play 3 centre backs against a stoke side that was going to park the bus. It almost felt to me that this was somesort of experiment that may be used in the up coming cup games if we need to defend a lead to get through. (KK may have thought that with Stevie in the side we may have nicked a goal somehow)
    I don't know what Maxi has done but as he isn't injured it must have been something big enough to get him bannished without so much as an explanation to the fans.

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  70. "kenny is a disgrace.." LOL - are there any mirrors where you live mate?? You need to take a look in one LOL 

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  71. Kenny's days at Anfield looks numbered.

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  72. Meireles, Maxi are the difference. We sold one and will sell the other soon seemingly as he is not even getting into the squad.

    Steve Clark has sorted out our leaking defence but there is nothing free flowing, creative or remotely threatening in our display against Stoke.

    This is down to not getting the best out of our squad. Enrique was playing with a stomach bug so we should have played Robinson, Flanaghan, Aurelio or even Johnson at leftback with Kelly on the right.

    Kuyt was ineffective, stranded on his own chasing aimless passes so we should have played Carroll upfront with him for him to play off.

    Shelvey has looked impressive almost every game he has played. Why is he not playing? 

    KD is a legend but he is quickly running out of excuses and I only hope we bring in Reges as Lucas cover as we won't see the best of Adam or Gerrard playing them deep and giving them defensive responsibilities. This in my opinion is just as problematic, if not more serious than not having wingers that provide assists and score and strikers who are not scoring. It is the shape of the team that is affecting our overall display.

    I am confident if Gerrard, Adam and Henderson are given less defensive responsibilities and the license to push forwards we will see more chances created, more mobility and even Downing and Carroll will benefit from this.

     

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  73. It took us 32 mins to get our first shot at goal - and, even then, it wasn't on target. in 90 mins, we only got one shot on target.

    I think what you meant to say was that we spent almost 70% of the 90 mins in possession but that doesn't mean we spent all that time attacking Stoke. A large chunk of our passes went backwards.

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  74. Christ almighty.

    Abandon ship! Abandon ship!

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  75. But it wasn't a 3 man defensive lineup, though was it? No matter how you look at it, we had 5 defenders on the field at all times - even after it became apparent that Stoke were only playing with Crouch up front.

    The only attacking minded players we had were Downing, Henderson, Kuyt and Gerrard. Even when he brought Bellamy and Carroll on, KD didn't take off any defenders. Hardly a signal that he wanted to play an attack oriented game.

    Also, of late I note that we only tend to have 1 (max 2) players in the box at any one time. Everyone else seems to be hanging outside the box - waiting for who-knows-what. There was one clear cut situation where Kuyt was drawn outside the box chasing a ball but when he first turned to try to lay it on, there was absolutely no one in the area. Johnson eventually made a run in. How sad must the situation be if you are relying on your defenders to make runs into the box. Even Coates and Skrtel at a couple of points were further forward than our regular "attackers"

    It is so consistently the case, that I have to think this is a deliberate strategy.

    Sure, the players themselves didn't have a good day but KD didn't exactly help "unlock" Stoke with his tactics.

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  76. Yep bollocks excuse by Kenny.

    There has got to be something wrong with Maxi, I don't believe that he would be completely dropped from the squad for no reason. Dalglish has made a point of saying he likes him a few times which you don't do if you don't fancy a player. You'd just say nothing.

    The big mistake yesterday was not starting Carroll. Unless he is having fitness problems there was no reason not to play him. If not now then when? I know he has been poor so far but you've got to give him a run of games to see how he'll do and there is no better time than now.

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  77. Well we have gone nowhere but backwards after Rafa's sacking which was unwarranted. He had one bad season, despite having his hands tied behind his back, Tom, Hicks and Purslow, the media and ungrateful clueless so called fans believing the bile/campaign at marring our manager who made us great again in Europe and got us within a sniff of the league, before the interest payments robbed us of transferfunds and any chance of signing the kind of targets that would have gone a long way to cementing our standings.

    But nevermind eh?! I'm very frustrated with KD's record so far this season but I'm not going to get the knives out yet and say we should sack him. There have been poor toothless performances,  7 draws at home, the worst goals tally in years and what is at the moment very poor purchases in the market overall but to say we should sack him is kneejerking. Just like all those so called "supporters" who jumped onto the anti-rotation, anti-zone defence, anti-negative Rafa tactics campaign although he still managed a lot more goals with players like Ngog and Voronin up front when the likes of Torres and Gerrard were injured.

    We have gotten rid of that attacking edge we had with clever players like Benayoun and Meireles and I fear we may sell Maxi this window.  
     

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  78. Calling the formation 3-5-2 or 3-6-1 is being generous.

    It was really more like 5-4-1.

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  79. yeah well if that's the stats it's hard to argue but just seemed to be a typical game where we aren't short of chances (ie tactics fine) just don't have that killer striker up front... i do recall a lot of stoke players behind the ball which is no excuse but certainly a factor

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  80. what a fool you are

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  81. all the pretend managers????? Everyone is entitled to an oppinion i thought........ plus it was our OWNER who stated before the season started that the top four was the  minimum requirement for the season! so i just see a lot of concerned fans that are expressing their oppinions!

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  82. The problem isn't simply getting someone with a killer instinct up front.

    There is a deeper malaise in that everyone seems determined to stay outside the box. The only time we have more than 2 players in the area (and, trust me, most times we only have 1) is when we get a corner.

    Of our 15 shot at goal, only 7 were from within the area.

    This is happening with such alrming regularity that I'm beginning to think this is a KD strategy.

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  83. hey to top one harrydun u say that i like keeny agger was not available and calling him king i think u mother gets fucked by kk every week so u r never tired to applauding him wait for some more time he will start fucking ur wife and sister and then i will say kk is real king

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  84. Agree. The names we've heard bandied about are Hoilett, Defoe, Bent etc!  More average players... We need someone with star quality!  It's all very well to say if we get top 4 at the end of the season, then we'll be able to attract better players - problem is: it's looking less and less likely that we'll finish anywhere near top 4.

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  85. I see what you're saying but it would be very worrysome if KD was risking top 4 for the Carling Cup!

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  86. Will you be happy if we win the Carling Cup but finish 7th?  Just asking....  CL has to be our priority... even the owners are expecting top 4!

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  87. Nobody would mind drawing a few tight home games or effort put in by the players but what we all disagree is the mindset while going to such games, are we bold enough to put in the strongest possible attacking lineup to get the three points ? This debate has started because of the poor defensive mindset of KD in the last game although we won against Stoke last season with the same tactic i don't see why he would trust history to repeat itself or did we overestimate Stoke or underestimate Tony Pulis

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  88. I would have the last of your selective teams with a little change of Kelly at right back,Johnson in front of him and Coates instead of Carra,while Agger is injured

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  89. What happened to Adams super corners Carrolls super heading and finishing and Downings magical crosses i can tell u nothing they were crap to begin with.

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  90. You are a fuck head.

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  91. I agree with the article.
    I get the feeling, though, that Dalglish is 'saving' players to ensure we win the Carling Cup. That guarantees European football next season and then a little of the pressure (on the players) is off(?).
    Personally, I'd sound out Ba while his get-out is staggeringly low. Defoe's getting on a bit and he STILL misses a lot more often than he scores.... well, you know what I mean, he isn't as prolific as you would think, same goes for Bent and his pricetag is just ridiculous. Ba is cheap and has scored more than Bent AND Defoe put together this season.
    While Suarez is out, Carroll HAS to start every game, with maybe Kuyt, Bellamy & Rodriguez rotating alongside (since they're apparently old & knackered).
    Anyhoo, have a look at our next six Premier League games. I think we're going to be dropping a lot more than two points in the next six weeks - scary.

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  92. This is what the crowd want. The vast majority claim Dalglish is untouchable so they must lie in the bed they have made for themselves. He is a manager NOT a deity and the sooner that fact is digested the better!

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  93. how can u be afraid of poor stoke and at anfield for that matter as to adopt a 3-5-2 formation with a blunt clueless kuyt as the focal point of the attack.why not put maxi,bellers or even shelvey.aah,kd is clueless for sure.he should be relegated to the role of ambasador.let even steve g coach the team as i feel he could do better than this legend.even cara could be better.there is no difference between kenny and hodgson tactically.keeny just brings confodence to the team and nuts else.roy could even be better.

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  94. my biggest disappointment was playing to Stoke's strength other than to our strength. Because however good stoke are, maybe they would have scored 2 but if we lay to our strength, should have scored 5. Kenny first thought about defending other than scoring goals yet we have the best defense in the  PL statistically. That was a total let down.

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  95. top four is out of the question - we have absolutely no chance whatsoever. Unfortunately Dalglish has consigned us to mediocrity, and set th club back 3 or 4 years with some truly shocking buys in the transfer market... and there are rumours of putting in a £10m bid for Defoe, wtf!!?
    Kenny really has a lot to answer for

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  96. i want that arrogant racist bastard SACKED!

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  97. English please? dumb Asbo

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  98. Its all too predictable. I remember the teams of the 80's and even Roy Evans teams where we batter teams in the first 20 minutes and be well up by half time - game over. 

    Now it seems the opposite and lucky to see us going into half time with any kind of a lead. The striker department is a total joke, most clubs have 3-4 good strikers, we're struggling to find one. We won't make top 4 this year as we can't finish teams off, don't have attacking options and like Saturday are scared off clubs like Stoke.

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  99. agreed with all the above.

    I also take massive exception to Kenny's attitude when being interviewed post game. Fair enough he doesn't like the media, but the questions he is being asked by them are exactly what I want to know so he insults me when he comes out with his inaudible drivel and poor excuses. He needs to hold his hands up, admit hsi mistakes and start shifting the utter dross he has accumulated int he squad; Downing, Carroll and Adam are poor signings, very poor signings indeed.

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  100.  I trust you mate believe me I was going off my brain for the same reason - much harder to score when there's no one in the box.. But the plan was probably for Stevie to solve that problem that is his style, and we missed Suarez, Maxi and Carroll in that respect.

    By the way I hope we r pretty happy with Coates he looked very good all over the pitch.

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  101. Definitely entitled to opinion mate just don't finish it off with .. .and Kenny must go .. type of bs, that's all.. it's ridiculous to suggest he doesn't know what he's doing after all they have to earn FIFA qualifications

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  102. nonsense - we have not progressed at all. We have regressed and that is a fact. The signings have been woeful, and the likes of having Adam, Henderson, Carroll and Downing in the squad has actually ensured mediocrity for the next 4 to 5 years at least.

    You're right, Kenny is NOT  a disgrace and the insults are unneccesary, but at the same time he is not the right manager for LFC and he has made huge mistakes in the teransfer market and his tactical awareness leaves a lot to be desired. Simply not good enough

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  103. His tactical awareness didn't seem too bad when we beat city, or Chelsea twice, or Chelsea away last season, or played united off the park this season. He also has Steve Clarke at the side of him, premier league winner as an assistant so I don't agree. We don't concede too many either, not bad for a man with no tactical nous eh? And mediocrity yet weve lost none at home, lost one game more than Man United an City, we're 5 points off the top 4. Get a grip.

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  104. No one in their right mind would want to sack the manager, we don't want to be another chelski and sack managers left right and centre. What we need is an offensive mindset rather than showing respect to the opposition. THIS IS ANFIELD is becoming a joke, we need to play these teams off the park from the start.

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  105. cant believe some fans are saying KK is useless, oh my god. right who here has been to anfield and watched a game this season? who has watched games away from home? or who is playing to much football manager and watching highlights or just pulling the latest score up on sky sports news, then swiftly coming on here to share their infinite wisdom of not having a bloody clue?? It is the same liverpool fans who are saying lets go and get ozil, hazard and neymar!!!. right liverpool have not won anything for 6 1/2years, the first 5 years where down to rafa, the other 1/2 a year was hodgson and we all know how that went. this year we may win the carling cup, we are still in a shout with 4th as all the top sides still have to come to anfield and hopefully we have a striker in jan scoring. We are still in the FA cup and may go on to beat man utd. we have played teams off the park and been consistent all but the tottenham game, the only thing we need is goals, everything else is going great. If there is one place that KK will get right its the scoring of goals. he needed to get us into a position where we are a hard team to beat, we have achieved that; we are the only team in the league to not loose at home, we may not be winning but we sure are not getting beat. people need to wake up and understand that we need to give kenny time, at blackburn and liverpool he had mostly british players,

     blackburn players shearer, sutton, flowers, batty, le saux, sherwood, henry, tony gale, ripley, pearce, wilcox, atkins,

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  106. I have never been to Liverpool in my life but i have started supporting Liverpool since Chelsea didnt win the league last year , I think Dalglish is good

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  107. He had 2 bad seasons in the league remember we finished 6th in his first season also Liverpool's worse results in 22 years in his last season. It wasn't a sacking it was more a parting! To much bad blood he fought for the club but got himself isolated against dirty dealing BIG time business men! Needed to keep people on his side like Purslow who had landed the club an £80 million contract but fell out with everyone can't work in a company if you don't get on with the owners even if he had got Champions League football he would have gone no working relationship.

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  108. Yeah. Coates got off to a shaky start at the start of the season but I liked the look of him on Saturday. He definitely needs to be allowed to play more often - especially if Agger is out injured.

    There was a point towards the end of the first half where I think even he got frustrated by our more "forward" players' lack of penetration and fear of taking on the Stoke fullbacks and went for a run himself. Good on him.

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  109. Ok he left by "mutual consent", but definitely it wasn't his wish to quit Liverpool. His position was untenable at the time with the amount of constraints, politics, backstabbing and pressure at the time. He finished sixth in the first season but that was also due to players like Owen jumping ship and other players coming to the end of their careers age wise. He had to re-build a team including experiments that didn’t pan out left by Houllier (Biscan, Traore, Le Tallec, Pongolle, Diouf, Diao and the list goes on.) It wasn’t until he had a significant transfer budget that he was able to bring in his own players albeit at a glacial speed due to the budget being a fraction of United and Chelsea, the sell before buying policy and having so many players to replace.
    Purslow was no angel and there was a division at the Club, he definitely took sides and is no longer at the Club. And if you are talking about the Standard Chartered 80 million that was Ian Ayre, our marketing chief who was responsible for that and also our switch to Adidas if I am not mistaken. Purslow was mainly responsible in carrying out Rick Parry's former duties which also included transfers, which he pulled the plug on under orders, probably preparing for Hodgson's arrival.  Let's not forget the Klinsmann saga as well which was where it all went sour to begin with. Anyway, there never could be a working relationship with these bandits and the supporters were campaigning to get shod of them with all the interest payments and debt they piled on.
    The last season was a write off with negative transfer funds, injuries to Gerrard and Torres, players becoming distracted, demotivated and discontent and other teams like Spurs and City starting to invest more and on the rise. Add Hodgson to the equation who wasted money on everyone with the exception of Meireles and it was a disaster which we haven’t recovered from yet.

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  110. At least Hoilett is young and would come cheap - I'd be happy with him. The others on the other hand have proven that they can do a job in the Premiership, but are not the players to lead a team where we (supposedly) want to be

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  111. 3 defenders? Enrique, Coates, Carragher, Skrtel, Johnson - surely that's 5 defenders?? :-/

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  112. Pacheco's Liverpool career is finished. Judging from the use of the squad so far (including preseason) I'm not too optimistic about too many of the other reserve stars breaking through either.

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  113. but we finiswhed 2nd.go all to hell with your king kenny.he is past

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  114. so kenny will be soon as well

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  115. he can stay as much as he wants beacause he is a legend.You all people who thinks he does well dont understand football and he is poor poor manager.

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  116. for last 20 years,tell me when were you more proud of beeing liverpool fan than with rafa benitez?

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