Liverpool legend Steven Nicol has expressed his disappointment over Liverpool's ineffective performance against Manchester City last night.
Kenny Dalglish's 'tactical' approach of hoofing balls up to lone Striker Andy Carroll was never going to be successful, especially when he was up against quality defenders like Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure. Speaking on ESPN, Nicol acknowledged this, and criticised the quality of balls into the box:
"I think Kenny went about it the wrong way. There weren't enough players backing up Carroll when calls were put in, and frankly, the balls that were put in weren't good enough.
"Don't just kick the ball from anywhere into the penalty box and just hope Carroll is going to win everyting because that's not going to happen".
This is one of the most frustrating things for me: Liverpool players seem to think that just aimlessly hoofing the ball into the box means the job is done; the likes of Downing et al hardly ever pick out a man with a cross; they just whack it in and hope for the best.
Steven Gerrard showed his team-mates how it was done against Newcastle last week - every cross he put in was *accurate* and had purpose, and as a result, Carroll could've scored.
Downing is one of the main culprits when it comes to poor crosses into the box, and the former Villa man also missed a gilt-edged chance to score against City last night. If he had scored, would it have made a different to the result? Nicol doesn't think so:
"It would've changed the game, but would it have changed the outcome? I don't think so. The way Liverpool generally played today, they lacked a bit of bravery. There wasn't a lot of tackles, and they didn't get guys into the box. Even if Downing had scored, I still think they would've lost the game".
Jaimie Kanwar
Kenny Dalglish's 'tactical' approach of hoofing balls up to lone Striker Andy Carroll was never going to be successful, especially when he was up against quality defenders like Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure. Speaking on ESPN, Nicol acknowledged this, and criticised the quality of balls into the box:
"I think Kenny went about it the wrong way. There weren't enough players backing up Carroll when calls were put in, and frankly, the balls that were put in weren't good enough.
"Don't just kick the ball from anywhere into the penalty box and just hope Carroll is going to win everyting because that's not going to happen".
This is one of the most frustrating things for me: Liverpool players seem to think that just aimlessly hoofing the ball into the box means the job is done; the likes of Downing et al hardly ever pick out a man with a cross; they just whack it in and hope for the best.
Steven Gerrard showed his team-mates how it was done against Newcastle last week - every cross he put in was *accurate* and had purpose, and as a result, Carroll could've scored.
Downing is one of the main culprits when it comes to poor crosses into the box, and the former Villa man also missed a gilt-edged chance to score against City last night. If he had scored, would it have made a different to the result? Nicol doesn't think so:
"It would've changed the game, but would it have changed the outcome? I don't think so. The way Liverpool generally played today, they lacked a bit of bravery. There wasn't a lot of tackles, and they didn't get guys into the box. Even if Downing had scored, I still think they would've lost the game".
Jaimie Kanwar
I have noticed that with Carroll leading the line there is little pressing on the back four and so our midfield sits deeper whilst the opposition play the ball out. Stark contrast to the way we played at Stamford Bridge where the collective pressing of Suarez, Bellamy and Maxi made things uncomfortable for the back line and didnt allow them to play through midfield. It makes a massive difference and sets the tone for support to the striker as winning the ball in the oppositions half means a shorter build up to goal.
ReplyDeleteTo me the idea of "feeding" Carroll is never going to work, he will never get 15 + goals a season unless he is more versatile and we rely less on this mentality of playing to his so called strengths. A lot of fans deem that he has been a waste of money but he is here and we can find a role for him, I only see that role as a plan B to bring on when we are chasing games and the opposition sits deeper so that in the last 10 - 15 mins of a match balls go into the box and he has some sort of effect - like Man City and Norwich at home
Nicol is exactly right. Downing runs through the wing with the ball and does a back pass to Johnson from right in front of the goal. He acts like a brainless muppet. Just huffing and puffing all over the pitch without any purpose.
ReplyDeleteAnother culprit is Adam. He has really let us down in set-pieces. His corners and free kicks are never on the target or towards our strikers.
Adam doesn't deserver set-pieces duty. Even Jonjo Shelvey is better than him.
Totally agree, Madness. Carroll is one dimensional and predictable, and setting the team up to serve him will make Liverpool the same. As a plan B, he's an option, but other than that, Carroll as Liverpool's main striker is a non-starter.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. Carroll, adam and Downing, should NOT be playing for Liverpool. These three were some of the worst signings ever made, a total waste of funds, and whoever the scouting personnel are, they should all be replaced, pronto.
ReplyDeleteThe huge ammount of money being wasted, on the above three, should have got us quality, not very average and overpriced donkeys.
yeah, liverpool was not playing with disrespect, they respect City too much and lost their way.. Poor poor result. If they were a not more hungry, liverpool would hv beaten them. I stayed up all night (3am-5am) to watch them play but when the results showed 2-0 i knew it was the start of the end. We played well but well poorly
ReplyDeleteHuh!!
ReplyDeleteWe had 50% possession, you don't get that by "hoofing" the ball to Carroll
ReplyDeleteWe probably created as many clear cut chances from open play as they did, so don't know how Steve Nicol says we still would have lost if Downing had scored. A draw would have been a fair result
Nicol loves to spout off ever since he lost his job, fingers crossed he is employed soon
Carroll is not to blame...he was left completely isolated in the Manchester City penalty area, at times there were about six players ssurrounding him. Besides the centres were awful. One other problem facing Liverpool is that Spearing is not doing a great job filling for Lucas. I would have substituted him and not Adams.
ReplyDeleteI m trying not to have a knee jerk reaction to a bad defeat, but nicol and you guys have it spot on. Charlie adam though capable does not have guile or pace or class. Stuart Downing is absoluetly useless., Can t cross, can t pass can t tackle can t shoot . So when KK plays both with Hendo/spearing we have a flat 4 midfield withno pace or flair no wonder we got pumped.i Like Henderson but he needs to be led and shown the way please hurry back SG. Spearing is an excellent player easilly as capable as lucas and when he partnered SG against the bar codes he was awsome. Bench Adam for SG replace Downing with Jonjo/maxi and always always play bellers. Carrol is to slow out of shape i don t know but he needs to buck up or ship out. No first touch no passing and because of Adam/Downing no headers. KK is nt blameless either his irratic team selection is beginning to make me wonder. We defo need 2 new front men and a winger come on KK sort it out.
ReplyDeleteSometimes i wonder if kenny know what he is doing with his vision for liverpool,it's obvious he bought these downing,henderson,adam and enrigue to compliment carroll but he should know liverpool style is pass n move and i don't think carroll is this type of player and so does adam,but why he is buying players suited for long ball tactic and wasted all the millions on these slow mo,very very everage players instead of getting skillful players with proven quality skill which are more cheaper,Only suarez n enrigue is well worth the fees.
ReplyDeleteSomehow i think kenny is a man with an iron neck,stubborn and arrogant with his decision.
I think we can find a role for Carroll and it can be in the starting 11. It looks unlikely, to say the least, right now but he can improve. His acceleration is a problem but a much bigger problem is his movement. His pace is sufficient that he could still cause defences problems if he thought more about his movement. There have been teams that have played decent football with a big man up front. One thing people need to do, as highlighted, is put quality balls in the box. If Carroll played for Tottenham he'd be in double figures by now.
ReplyDeleteDowning just can't seem to get out of this rut of form he is in. At the start of the season he was desperately unlucky not to score or set some up and his delivery looked tantalising but he just looks like he isn't up for the challenge of playing for a club like Liverpool now. If he was more willing to take people on and get in behind his quality of crossing would probably improve and it would also keep the defence guessing, giving the attacks more variety and making them harder to defend.
I agree that Adam seriously needs to work on his set-pieces considering they are his thing apparently. They've been laughable at times. I agree Shelvey is probably better at them. Bellamy certainly is. Adam's form as a whole has dipped big time post-Lucas. Oh how I miss that lovely slow moving bastard!
Henderson, as we all know, needs to pick up his game but I think he could make it as a squad player at least. He has a good attitude and is pretty versatile. That doesn't sound like £15million worth but it can go a long way long term. I think his problem is that he is too humble. If you look at some of his deliveries, skills in certain games and particularly his performance as captain of the u-21s you can see the talent is there and seems more like a reluctance to implement it than a inability to execute it.
I think though, having Gerrard in the team, on the basis of his energised cameos, will be more effective than having Suarez and will help compensate for Luis' absence. As long as he can get back to striking a ball properly (something he hasn't done consistently since 2008-9) and driving from deep, he'll help in a big way.
We've just got to hope that the physios can squeeze more games out of Maxi and Bellamy. Why Maxi wasn't played yesterday I don't know. I'm guessing this time it was tactical rather than fitness related as usual. Then again, I don't know what Bruckner and the lads are telling Dalglish. Dalglish singles him out for praise more often than most players which makes me think it may be the latter. Just conjecture.
spearing good as lucas wise up
ReplyDeletedont wory it took king dong long 6 years to win anything kenny could win somthing in his first year give him a chance
ReplyDeletethe players are average but liverpool are still in transition downings miss was down to confidence pluss hart's 17 clean sheets in 1 year the best in premier league history
Poor performance (awful!).
ReplyDelete+ Key players either injured (Lucas), not fit enough to start (Bellamy & Gerrard) or suspended (Suarez).+ Man City are absolute beasts at home (only dropped 2 points in 2011).= To be expected and could have been worse if they hadn't played 2 days before (although they did rest the likes of Silva to play against us).
I think the tactic was to try and see it through to around the hour mark without conceding and then bring out Bellows and Stevie to ry and nick a winner, but that backfired with 2 soft goals against the run of play.
Hardly the worst result of the season. Dropping 2 points to promoted clubs at Anfield more than once should be more of a concern. YNWA
Agreed re Carroll - does anyone think Kenny actually "bought" Carroll - or was it a case of "make the best of it" - Kenny had only just returned, Torres just left - hadn't quite found his feet and the deal was done from "above?".
ReplyDeleteIt seems such a no-brainer that he isn't an LFC type of player and seems inconceivable Kenny wouldn't see that?
Although it is clear that Liverpool lacked cutting edge - and leaving Gerrard and Bellamy out of the starting line-up did not help - I thought Liverpool's overall strategy in the first half was bang on. Keeping possession denied Man City of meaningful opportunities (at least up to the mistake by Reina that let in their first goal) and obliged them to attacks that created gaps in the back, which in turn provided Liverpool with opportunities they failed to convert into goals (in particular the glorious chance wasted by Downing). And although Downing was guilty of missing more than one opportunity to score or provide valuable assists, his pace caused several problems for Man City in the back.
ReplyDeleteAt the latest after the second goal, however, Liverpool's tactics were no longer effective, as Man City were happy to sit back and let Liverpool pass the ball around aimlessly, without providing the gaps that had in the early stages of the match suggested that Liverpool could be up for a win against the EPL leaders.
You cannot say kk just returned because he was at the club for over 2years before taking the job...so he knew the ins and outs so no excuses there .
ReplyDeletelove it in the past we use to lose 6-0 everytime we played whooo the bad oldd days
ReplyDeleteYep, seems a bit of a kop out (see what I did there folks!?) to let Kenny off with this one. This isn't Chelsea or City- Kenny could have absolutely vetoed the Carroll buy even if it wasn't his idea (which it probably was).
ReplyDeleteOur superb form in the second half of last season seems like a distant memory now. That kind of form pisses all over our form this season.
ReplyDeleteSome proper muppets on here at the minute. Doom and gloom. Carroll had no support when he received the ball or when an accurate cross was played in. It's all very well blaming Carroll but besides the Newcastle game (when Carroll played) when was the last time we scored more than 2 goals in a game????? It's a team effort an it was a bad day at the office. But to be fair we've played well most games this season and our finishing has been unlucky (how many times have we hit the woodwork now? 20?) excellent keeping (al habsi, ruddy, cerny, bunn and hart all playing the games of their lives) or just woeful (in particular Suarez has missed a high amount of opportunities). If we where playing so badly then I would be gutted but we're not playing like the sixth best team in the premiership, but we're finishing like the 20th against keepers playing like their number one. Some of our fans seem to be gettin more and more fickle. Comparing our spending in comparison to Chelsea's And Citys, aswell as the years of stability of success united and arsenal have had we don't have a divine right to be at the top after less than 12 months of spending and stability.
ReplyDeleteWell it looks like you might be on to a winner this year- you have some superb players at your place, great balance and a manager with the personality and force of will to hold it together.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you, hopefuly we'll be in a position to catch you in a few years time.
I'm sure Carroll will be flying by the time we play in the cup so watch out! Oy...
Have to agree with Chucky, im new on here and suprised how negative most people are. I'd expaect it from fans who dont watch the game and just see the results. The only thing missing is the finishing. And while I have to agree Kenny hasnt bought a 20 a season man in two transfer windows the lot we have should do better. We have worse finishing than smaller clubs with cheap players that arent even internationals. So although a £25 million striker is what im hoping for we should have many more points than we have. And the front five players are all under acheiving.
ReplyDeleteDid you watch the City game yesterday then? Because it wasn't finishing that was the main problem, it was creating it.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, we had a lot of possession but created nothing nor did the other players get up to support Carroll.
Same story against Newcastle before Gerrard came on.
Without Suarez, we're not creating much.
welcome aboard Jaime!
ReplyDeleteOk, but what about all of the other games that Suarez has played in, but we haven't finished? You can't have one without the other. The same way as you can't have a good offence an a completely inept defence, which yesterday was exactly that too. Not many games you can concede three in and win. It wasn't a good enough TEAM performance, but judging by the comments on here you'd think Carroll and Downing where the only two players on the pitch.
ReplyDeleteRather have creativity and poor finishing, instead of no creativity and poor finishing.
ReplyDeleteDowning's got good attitude too, but he tries too hard and does all the things a winger is supposed to. He delivers crosses that a winger should, and lots of them - but he is not spotting and feeding individuals which is what we want from him.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was Kenny who wanted Carroll. I read Kenny's Daily Mail article on Carroll and how to get the best out of the big man. Kenny was spot on, however, none of our players have been playing the kind of through balls like Nolan and Barton did.
ReplyDeleteI initially thought Adam was bought to partner Gerrard either alongside or in front of Lucas and then play diagonals to a 3-man forward line, off Gerrard's right boot and Adam's left. This would clearly suit a 3 pronged attack with 3 synchronised attackers, be it from the Bellamy/Suarez/Kuyt/Maxi set or the Downing/Henderson/Carroll/Bellamy set, one based on speed, the other based on industry and clever passing. Adam and Gerrard have the ability to provide the service Carroll needs, but Adam obviously can't do it while focusing on defense and Gerrard isn't fit enough to play 90 mins. yet.
"What if we had then lost to Liverpool? It could have happened. The first big chance of the game was for Stewart Downing. If he had scored, maybe Liverpool would have won 3-0. We had played just 48 hours earlier. We could have been too tired to come back." - Roberto Mancini
ReplyDeleteYep, I'm not saying he is a shirker but a good attitude with Henderson points to good signs for development but Downing shouldn't be having these problems at his age. At 27, playing for a club like Liverpool, he should be able to motivate himself sufficiently.
ReplyDeleteHe isn't playing terribly but he is not playing confidently and doesn't look like a top level player. It is up to him to change that. It might just take that first goal/assist to get the ball rolling but he isn't doing enough right now. He showed in his first few games for us, when he was probably our best player bar Suarez, and last season for Villa he is capable but he needs to do it now.
So we were expected to win at Man City by the lfc experts on here.
ReplyDeleteHow many points city have dropped at home.How much has their squad cost. Its amazing the sheer arogance on this site and a fair few others.
I could understand if we,d won everything in sight ploughed 250 million in 3 seasons into the club but we have not. Maybe if we,d gone under with H + G in charge (Jamie loved em) we would,nt have such a bunch of fair weather tosspot fans whining everytime we dare to lose a game.
If you think Kennys not up to it and we coulda shoulda bought blah blah then fair play,thats your opinion.Its not the 1980s were starting again on a limited budget with a manager trying his best to create a team not an individual dependant but a TEAM. Get behind the team stop playing F M and be happy we;ve still got a club a fantastic support and show some faith.If it goe,s tits up then Kenny will walk no worries about that.Till then remeber you will never walk alone! Unless you choose to!
Not expected to win, but not expected to lose by such a huge margin either. I don't think it's arrogance but actually understanding the game, and if you look at the match stats and watched the game, you'll find it was very reasonable to think Liverpool could beat City. In general, Liverpool's play did shade City's, but a few silly and uncharacteristic mistakes gifted City their first 2 goals. Mancini did imply Kenny got his tactics right and that Liverpool did have the quality to beat City, although the reality is that City scored 3 goals and Liverpool scored none, but that's football - shit happens.
ReplyDeleteYeah I saw the game , I also saw the stats that we created 18 chances to their 10 with possesion 50%. Dont forget we were playing the league leaders, the most expensive squad the in epl ever at their ground. LFC have an 8% conversion rate that was before this game. The manc clubs have 18%.
ReplyDelete