16 Mar 2015

Redknapp: 'Fabulous' £20m LFC maestro will make the 'difference' against Swansea by scoring the winning goal

Liverpool face Swansea City in the Premier League this evening, and with the Reds now five points off fourth place, a victory at the Liberty Stadium is now even more essential to the the club's hopes of making the Champions League. After drawing a blank against Blackburn, Liverpool's big players have to perform tonight, but who is going to step-up and make the difference?

Previewing the Swansea game over the weekend, Redknapp predicted a narrow 1-0 win for Liverpool. He told Sky Sports:

"I'm expecting a tight occasion, but Liverpool to have the edge. I'm going to go for the man of the moment, Coutinho, to get the goal. He's the one who's making the difference for them"

Coutinho is playing well, but is he really the 'man of the moment', i.e. Liverpool most in-form player? Well, not really, as his stats show:

* 2 goals/0 assists in the last nine games.
* Only 2 assists in the last 17 games.

£20m**-rated Coutinho is revered by the fanbase, but as LFC legend Ronnie Whelan argued last week:

"He [Coutinho] is gifted with some fabulous skills, but...my problem with Coutinho is his inconsistency and the amount of times he gives away possession."

Two assists in seventeen games highlights this inconsistency, and if the Brazilian is to progress, he really needs to covert his undoubted talent into game-changing contributions on a more regular basis. Tonight, for example, is a game where players like Coutinho, Sterling, Henderson, Lallana, and Sturridge really need to make an impact. The pressure to finish in the top four is back on, and these players - who are constantly revered and deified like they're gods - have to step-up and earn their grossly inflated pay-packets. Their recent goal stats are not encouraging, though:

* Sterling: 1 goal in 6 games.
* Henderson: 2 goals in 24 games.
* Coutinho: 2 goals in 9 games.
* Sturridge: 1 goal in 6 games.
* Lallana: 1 goal in 13 games

The good news is that despite the collective inconsistency in front of goal, Liverpool are still finding ways to win; however, as the Blackburn game showed, the right game-plan can derail the Reds' forward progress, and there's clearly very little margin for error in the last ten games of the season.

The bad news is that Liverpool have never beaten Swansea at their own ground in the Premier League, and with only two away wins against the Welsh club since 1959, the odds are not in the Reds' favour.

Still, after nine days' rest, the player should be raring to go, and hopefully, that much-needed rest period will set the club up nicely for tonight's game, and the rest of the season.

** Last reported valuation

Author:


34 comments:

  1. At the end of the day we are the form team in all the European leagues in 2015 so we must be doing something right. The team is obviously working very well so I think this article is a little bit harsh on some of these individuals as they are all contributing to our great run in the league.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jonathan Capozzola4:39 pm, March 16, 2015

    Never beaten Swansea away in the EPL... sounds like we are due...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Coutinho has scored in two of our last three league games. Perhaps that is what he means by moment.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So we are crap attacking. As far as we keep winning those stats don't bother me..

    ReplyDelete
  5. You know what, it has been the case for a fair old time now that I have been talking about Coutinho's inconsistency and the amount of possession he loses, and for the most part I have been slagged off for it, told I know nothing.... But Little old Ronnie Whealen mentions it, and it becomes fact...Classic. I would happily swap for Roberto Firmino....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Stats are so misleading, I really don't know why their constantly used to try and prove a point one way or the other, especially GK stats..

    ReplyDelete
  7. He is the man of the moment, it's just the number of attempts it has taken to get two goals that bothers me, hopefully though, this is the turning point.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Statistics are like bikini, giving you a good look but by no means telling the whole story..

    ReplyDelete
  9. You clearly haven't seen me in a bikini :-/

    ReplyDelete
  10. To be fair to him he plays balls into dangerous areas where the defenders are 50:50 to get the ball, but then so are our forwards, so I don't mind his success rate falling below Joe Allen levels. Coutinho is a brilliant footballer but he needs the space to operate in and that's why I can't understand why it took Rodgers so long to utilise the pace of Sterling whilst Sturidge was out. Let's hope he and the other lads do the business tonight, and don't allow Shelvey and co any positive headlines!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Team - Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Allen, Henderson, Lallana, Moreno, Coutinho, Sterling, Sturridge.

    ReplyDelete
  12. There are lies, damn lies and Ronnie Whelan comments

    ReplyDelete
  13. No. That's our lineup ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for clearing that up.. Can't find Liverpool Echo thread for the match, they are usually on time, and interesting while waiting..

    ReplyDelete
  15. You can always give Moon another go while you wait...

    ReplyDelete
  16. I recommended he watch the movie, Moon. He didn't like it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Disregard, just Bob giving poor advices on movies..

    ReplyDelete
  18. I hear Plan 9 from Outer Space is supposed to be the best movie in existence.

    ReplyDelete
  19. My time is coming. I'm saving up a rant that will ban me from the Internets entirely.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Black and white science fiction?!?
    Jaimie, ban this guy!!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. No good for me then. Like orme I'd just howl all the way through

    ReplyDelete
  22. One of the worst movies ever made- the actors are not actors the people who made the movie are not movie makers- it's fantastic you must see it- utterly pathetic and yet hilarious

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'd rather LFC has both.

    ReplyDelete
  24. He's been poor so far tonight, but then they all have... Hopefully they increase the intensity in the second half.. I think we are so much better as a team when we attack the ball and close down the opponents... something we seem to forget on occassion...

    ReplyDelete
  25. We just weren't doing that in the first half. Much better in the second half. Rodgers earned his money at half time. Bring on Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Fewer than it used to be.

    ReplyDelete