EPIC. Epic because it was three and half hours long. Epic because it was a grand, gripping spectacle; a sporting battle of the highest order. Epic because every ounce of effort from every character involved was expended into emerging from the piece victorious; as the hero.
That hero, for Chelsea, and as far as the rest of the country was concerned, was wearing blue: Branislav Ivanovic for his extra-time winner, yes, but more Thibaut Courtois for his tremendous saves that thwarted Liverpool in both legs. The best team in the land right now needed an inspired display from the man between the sticks to win it. Think about that.
For many it simply went according to the script. But that ignores a large part of the story. Sometimes so much of the narrative seems written in advance — even more so in a two-legged semi-final. This was no different. Would Liverpool be made to pay for not making more of their domination at Anfield? Would the Jordan Henderson v Costa tunnel confrontation affect matters? How would the respective managers react to that breathtaking — and draining — first leg? And who had the options to change it most?
With the questions came the facts. Chelsea’s have a better squad, an enviable home record and a recent track record of winning silverware. The bookies had Liverpool at 11-2 to win the League Cup after the first leg. Like it or not, that said a lot.
Defeat is tough to stomach, particularly with Wembley in spitting distance, but is no disgrace after that performance. There’s nothing to celebrate but there are heroes in red over the two legs to quietly toast.
Jordan Henderson followed up his magnificent unmoved stare, an invite to take it off the pitch and a tunnel confrontation with Diego Costa with more fight — this time on the pitch. His effort and endeavour for 120 minutes offers more answers to the doubters who question his quality to wear the armband on a permanent basis when Steven Gerrard crosses the pond in the summer.
His midfield mate Lucas shone again too, a costly mistake at the end — consummating the one from Mario Balotelli — and dicing with disciplinary disaster aside. His is another story simmering on the back burner; the man desperate for honours; the man who missed out the last time medals were handed out in the same competition. This wasn’t the ending he wanted but this shouldn’t be the end.
The Brazilian, so significant to the rebirth of a season headed for the doldrums, was there to clean up when Costa threatened early on, ironically, and accidentally, with his hand. Then Martin Skrtel — the eternally up and down Martin Skrtel — was up and at ’em, perhaps too much in the case of his penalty box challenge, again on Costa. Two controversial decisions favouring the away side? These things even themselves out, they always say. Costa handling insde the box and Thibaut Courtois handling out at Anfield? ‘They’ were right for once. A yellow card for simulation though, Michael Oliver? Brilliant.
The team selections too, told a story. Liverpool confident enough to go to the home of the league leaders sticking with the three at the back; Chelsea worried enough to cater for Raheem Sterling’s pace by dropping Gary Cahill for Kurt Zouma and determined enough to go on the attack by swapping Mikel for Oscar.
Costa displayed the grim side of his game with which we have become so accustomed, sneakily treading on a floored Emre Can and leaving studs in on Skrtel to add to his stamp collection. Ugly and unnecessary. Much like the ‘always the victim…’ and ‘murderers’ songs aired by the home supporters.
Chelsea had more of the ball in the early stages, but, crucially, there were no signs of Liverpool worry . Instead, there was everything you would want to see in a game of this magnitude. Fight and fervour; the intensity of the play dialled back to 10 after a slow burner against Bolton. Since August people have asked where Steve Peters is this season. I’m sure he’d be the first to say that mentally Liverpool were prepared for this.
All night it looked like this would be a game decided by who landed the first punch and it was Liverpool who found their range first.
Zouma made a mistake that looked like Sterling would get in, but the 20-year-old defender’s blundering header also showed just why he was in the side in the first place — his recovery pace allowing him to snap back at Sterling as the No.31 readied himself to let fly.
Then — as those Chelsea wits trotted out “he lost you the league” — Gerrard displayed the vision that will never desert his aging legs, threading an incisive ball to Alberto Moreno, who later gloriously out-muscled Ivanovic, and his shot called Courtois’s 6ft 6ins frame into duty to block.
The again bright and brilliant Philippe Coutinho also tried his luck, opting for the Raheem Sterling route to goal — straight through the middle — only to see the big Belgian in the Chelsea goal blocking the way once again.
Henderson also had an effort blocked while Chelsea struggled, missing from distance, putting free kicks wide and failing to add to the penalty scored in the first leg as an effort on target in the tie until the hour mark.
All that said, there were hints at nerves among Liverpool’s play — Markovic needlessly and naively giving it away, Sakho playing Lucas into trouble. For once it wasn’t Simon Mignolet who looked like he had a mistake in him (he deserves credit for his save from a deflected Costa shot and a tackle on the same player). The same couldn’t be said for the team in general though — and it turned out the manager had one in him, too.
Sakho for Glen Johnson felt like a big loss given the Frenchman’s recent form, and Chelsea came into the game soon after. But to compound one disruption to the Liverpool flow with another with the Balotelli substitution with 20 to go felt like madness and proved to be just that.
Ok, Liverpool needed a goal. But the switch was accompanied with Henderson moving right and Gerrard dropping deeper. It all looked as bizarre as the sight of Ivanovic shaking hands with the ref when he received a yellow or Mourinho when he was caught on camera berating the nervous-looking official in the bowels of Stamford Bridge at half time.
Perhaps Rodgers got caught up in dreamworld narratives — Balotelli sticking two fingers up to his old boss with the winner at Chelsea sounds great, doesn’t it?
Instead, the reality was he was to Liverpool’s momentum what a £50m move to Chelsea was to Fernando Torres’s strike rate. We saw Gerrard frustrated with his movement, or lack of. We saw him generally at odds with everything else that was going on around him. We saw him blam it over the bar in extra time. We saw nothing we didn’t know already: Balotelli doesn’t suit the way Liverpool play.
At the wrong end of the pitch he was twice involved in the build up to Chelsea’s winner, too. And that ball into the middle when Courtois had strayed from his line….
But let’s leave it there.
The goal didn’t change the task in hand — a Liverpool goal was needed before the header; a Liverpool goal was needed after. But once ball hit net Liverpool legs looked heavier. Henderson should have done better coming on to Sterling’s cross but there was very little else to shout about.
With 15 minutes left, Rickie Lambert came on for Moreno. Plans out the window, tactical flip books tucked quietly under seats. A good old-fashioned ‘let’s just go for it, lads’.
Sadly, by that time, Liverpool looked spent. Needless scraps, an increasing yellow card count — inevitability was knocking. Perhaps just one more chance? The clocked ticked into minute 120 and Lambert blammed it over the bar. Not what was needed. Liverpool paying the price for being clinical at the top end of the pitch. The same old story.
Other stories are already half written. But you can always change the ending. If Liverpool regularly reproduce the performances at Anfield and Stamford Bridge in this tie between now and the end of the season, a much sweeter one than tonight’s could soon be on the horizon.
For now though, as far as the League Cup is concerned, this is the end.
[yop_poll id=”24″]
Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda
WE got one game too many in the FA Cup. Bolton average team. Pace and intensity of both Chelsea games would have seen them off.Reds NEED silverware. If Rodgers arses around with the team like for the Bolton match Stevie G will be watchin on the Telly on his birthday. FFS lets get back to fielding our strongest team in EVERY fucken match then at least if we die we die by the sword!!!
It was a strong team. Only Skrtel and Gerrard were rested, and doubt they would have made the difference.
Excellent as always Gareth.
Sad to watch it during 36″ of snow falling outside north of Boston! And to lose!
The lads played great giving every ounce. Totally agree of Ballo and our momentum, I texted my Manc mate just that same thing when he came on!
Onwards and upwards though with displays like this.
Spot on. Balotelli change and everything around it was madness and not in the good way. Sterling, Coutinho and Henderson are brilliant but end product needs to be looked at with serious questioning. Finishing can’t all be down to Sturridge and the 343 as much as it suits our players’ way of playing requires end product from 3/4 players for it to work to it’s maximum potential. We’re at 80% here. Sturridge has adds 10% the rest need an end product to make it 100%.
YNWA
Enjoyed the article Gareth. Well balanced and thoughtful.
I’m really disappointed. It’s easy to discuss Costa or the ref but ultimately Courtois was their winner and the lack of a finisher our downfall. Although it obviously augurs well for the future, I don’t really care that we game them one hell of game (over both legs). We lost and I’m shattered.
Well done, Liverpool. For me you are a bit of class up top away from the top four. A Higuain would have helped tonight.
Agree, the balotelli substitution didn’t pay off at all. Maybe Brendan thought balo would raise his given his being omitted from squads when fit coupled with their recent conversations. Balotelli makes poor decisions consistently on the pitch. I can’t understand why borini wasn’t in the squad – I’ve heard nothing about him being injured so assume he must be fit. I would have felt a lot more upbeat if it had been borini coming on rather than balotelli. That doesn’t mean to say I think borini is great.
The game ultimately was decided by some poor marking from a set piece. Something which Brendan ignored in the post match interview focussing on the missed chances instead. His lack of concern over some of our defensive play is worrying. Just hope sakho isn’t out for long
Balotelli shoots!
Over the bar.
I thought Skrtel was sensational tonight (dodgy penalty box challenge on the elephant man aside). Never took a backward step in his confrontation with Costa and didn’t really give him a sniff all night.
Agreed. He was our standout defender, read the game really well. Needed to as it wasn’t one of Sakho’s better performances. He and Mignolet seem much happier with Can and Sakho flanking him. Now if only Migs could sort out his kicking. Was it just me or did anyone else think she was going to let the ball cross the line again?
I’m happy with our defending for the first time in a long time, much improved, long may it continue. Can continues to impress.
It wasn’t epic though was it? It was just what most of us expected.Maybe Balotelli will do better when Sturridge is there.At the moment I wouldn’t put money on it.But then again I wouldn’t blame Balotelli.
Before this game;a few days ago; there was a piece about Chelsea and plastic flags.
All I would say is Don’t cross the Rubicon.Don’t descend into a nether world of fixating on successful teams.
They are successful for one reason only.They spend massive amounts of money to secure the best players;the best managers and the best PR.
Don’t be envious.We had our time when football was a wholesome and honest game.
We had our time when we wore bell bottoms and perms.Before x factor when people had genuine talent that took them to stardom.When Mars Bars were about a foot long.Before Big Macs were…..well……just beef……and…….something else! Before obscene amounts of money ruined this game…before sound bites…..before SKY TV……..before a player could be tackled and not react as though he had just copped a sniper’ s bullet…before referees felt that they had to make BIG
decisions.
Before we crossed the Rubicon!
Pretty much sums everything up well! My over riding feeling tonight is we can match anyone in the Premiership. Not long ago I didn’t have that feeling. I’m worried about West Ham at the weekend because of the toll of the two legs but fully optimistic for the future. I feel our decision making cost us a bit tonight. There were chances and at least one should have been taken but Sterling should have played Gerrard in and Coutinho should have pulled it back rather than shooting from an angle. Getting those type of decisions right can be the difference between winning and losing. Coutinho was superb again though. Looking forward to seeing him link up with Sturridge. I think a lot of people had that feeling that it was written in the stars that Balotelli would be the hero. Sadly, it couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve been looking forward to seeing him with Sturridge and though not based on tonight, I’m at the stage where I’m thinking, thanks Mario. I really hope you find somewhere and become a success but I’ll see you later. Hasn’t worked and won’t work. The truth is, they were poor subs. Brilliant effort by the lads though. So many positives. I’ve been making the point for a fortnight now to mates that Mignolet’s dark spell is over. He’s had a good run in the last 5 (his kicking is still baffling though). Lovren for Sakho would be disappointing on Saturday.
I’ve been in a foul mood since the match ended. This review helped immensely. Made me move on from the game.
Very good review. Hopefully the team can recover for Saturday and move forward.
Did anyone else feel that Terry’s challenge from behind on (think it was) Sterling in the second half warrant a straight red?
Game changed as soon as Sakho left the pitch. We missed his dominance in winning the ball but also his distribution forward. The amount of times Johnson played the safe pass…
Balo was a daft sub.
Can & Mignolet were epic tonight. Really hard to believe Mignolet played that well. And mighty Phil (again).
Great write up, describes the game I watched. Breathless opening, no way of guessing which way it would go.
Zouma was an excellent decision. Can’t understand why Lambert was brought on; why not LLana? His pace against tired legs would have been interesting to watch.
Can’t excuse Costa stamping and I suspect retroactive decision wil rule him out of crucial game against City.
Glad we don’t play you every week. Finally and seriously, how come Manyoo are so far above LFC? I haven’t seen them play one game with the spirit and movement that Liverpool showed over these two semi finals. Strange days, time for Liverpool to push on now.
Some questions. Why Gerrard for 120 mins? Why Ballo ever?
On the upside, saw nothing that a worldclass strike team couldnt sort out. We have half that team coming back soon. Trade in Ballo and lets get another 20 m striker who fits our pattern.
We seem to be content with being gallant little Liverpool putting up a spirited show against the west end money boys .a loss is a loss whatever spin you try to put on it
No one is content with losing soft lad, just encouraged by the manner of the loss. You know matching the team that are walking the league with ease over two brilliant match’s. A finisher like Sturridge (or Sturridge) and this has a different result…maybe.
We seem to be content? Why would anyone be content with it? I’m not.
Henderson needs much much more quality to be able to be spoken of as a replacement for Stevie G. Its about quality and quantity of work, not just endeavour. Stevie G would not have missed that header.
Apart from that, as mentioned many times, a couple more forwards (poacher/world class addition) and we should be close to where we were with LS.
When is anyone going to stop this “Balotelli doesn’t suit the way Liverpool play” thing, and comment that he’s just crap? The attitude/style of play/bad influence triumvirate is the biggest smokescreen since Elton John’s marriage to that woman. Balotelli is the myth that keeps on giving.
Please!!!! Someone!!!! Tell the world. He’s about as good at the actual football as you and me.
Speak for yourself. I’m better than that.
Haha,
I’ve been in that camp since he arrived.
Last night I got one of those eureka moments. It’s over. Nothing more to say. Simply not good enough for LFC whether it’s our style or his ability doesn’t matter. Its never gonna work.
I don’t think he’s a myth, as such, he’s got tonnes of ability, he’s just not a team player. Never was. He used to spend half his time at City hugging the left touchline moodily before engaging in a wrestling match just for the fun of it. He only seems to come alive when there’s a bit of mano y mano contact i.e. an individual battle to be won. I don’t think he’s lazy as such, I just don’t think he’s very interested in the wider game.
Good review.
The main issue with the Balo sub is why bring him on to make him play wide on the left after a few minutes? First game in ages, out of position… is it any wonder he struggled? (Not that he hasn’t generally for us, but you know what I mean). Mystified as to why Lallana wasn’t brought on to do that…
Great peformance generally though, lots to be positive about on the whole.
Good point on Ballo. Especially when Lambert came on it was Lambert on one flank and Ballo on the other. Almost as if the tactic was to use one target man to receive the ball then smack in a direct cross to the other side towards the other target man. Saw Lambert try that a couple of times in his brief cameo.
Appalling finishing cost us again. Courtois was immense as was Mignolet. Such an enthralling game. Balotelli is shite. He’s like that lad at 5 a side you end up screaming at to just pass it. If he was half as good as he thinks he’s is he’d be some player. Only thing that’ll disapoint me is if we can’t get a result v West Ham because of fatigue and if Lovren comes in for Sakho.
I don’t think he’s shite, he just can’t be arsed. Rodgers has tried everything now and it’s time for us to take the hit and move him on.
I think Lovren has to come in. He has to be a better defender than we’ve seen so far. I’m hoping his enforced rest will have given him time to get his head right. He’s tried too hard to be the organiser of the back four. He doesn’t have to be that now, just get on with his own job. If he doesn’t play Saturday he might as well pack his bags.
A lack of an adequate striker to back up Sturridge has come back to haunt us once again. It’s put us out of the CL and now the League Cup. It’s hampered us in the league and the FA Cup. By the looks of it we are doing nothing to rectify the problem this window either. How badly is this gonna affect our future??? How much money is it gonna cost us in the long run if we fail to make CL??
Balotelli, Borini and Lambert are simply not good enough. Sterling has been trying his best, his movement is fantastic but he’s still only 20 and not really a striker. Having said that the likes of Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana, Hendo are not contributing enough goals to the cause. Their finishing/shooting generally isn’t good enough and needs to improve.
I fully appreciate we are being investigated by FFP but we have already offloaded Assaidi and Suso with several more players leaving at the end of the seaosn meaning their massive wages are off the bill. We need a goal scorer this window…..unfortunately I’m not holding out much hope this will happen.
My thoughts exactly, the lack of another quality striker is killing us but looks like the club are content to cross their fingers and hope that Sturridge returns as the saviour and remains injury free.
Great team effort over the two legs, now the challenge is to take it on to league matches (and add goals!).
Lallana’s a goal threat. His goals to chances ratio is healthy, which is why he should have been involved last night. You’re right about the others though, all creators with little composure in front of goal. All improving though.
I don’t really consider 4 goals in 23 appearances good enough, especially for the position he plays.
He’s been coming back from injury and in and out of the team. I’d anticipate at least 10 goals and a fair few assists given a full season. That’s not to say there aren’t better players out there, but to acknowledge that he generally hits the target.
I want him to put the ball in the back of the net……you know, actually score goals not just hit the target.
A couple of things there Michael. Anything can be twisted. He’s started 12 league games and scored 4 goals. Of those 12 we’ve only lost 2 which isn’t bad considering the season we’ve had. The other thing is, only once has he started more than 2 league games in a row. That was before and after Christmas when our form improved due to how he and others were deployed.
So, yes, you can find stats that say he’s scored 4 in 23 but it’s not the full picture. Add to that Paul’s comments and I think he can be a good player for us – give him a chance!
I’ve not said he’s a bad player, in fact I quite like him.
The fact of the matter is he is one of our attackers and our attackers arnt scoring very many goals. Plenty of chances are being created but the ball is not being put into the back of the net.
While this is happening we are falling out of the CL, falling out of the League cup and falling behind in the race for top 4.
It’s simply not good enough. He, and the rest, need to step up to the plate and start scoring more goals.
My attitude is the more the merrier. If we sign a good striker then brilliant.
From the clubs point of view I’d guess they’re looking at it and asking do we really need one.
Agree Borini, Lambert and Balotelli aren’t good enough but bearing in mind we’ve found a system that works playing wing backs, can you guarantee a new striker would play before the end of the season? I think it’s unlikely or more realistically he would be very limited.
if we’re playing a keeper, 3 at the back and 2 wing backs then that leaves 5 players per game to fill. I think Henderson and Lucas have to play the majority of games. Coutinho’s form is unbelievable at the minute and Sterling has to play. Sturridge has to play too and barring injury I’d expect him to play 90% of games till the end of the season. So, where would the new striker fit in? I know people like to be smart and point to Suarez, Sturridge and Coutinho but January is not a good time to buy players. The summer opens up much more possibilities and when we buy we’re buying for 5 years not 5 months.
So, if we could guarantee Sturridge stays injury free then I’d say we don’t need a striker at the minute. Obviously, we can’t say that though. It’s a gamble. We’ve showed recently we can cope with our current squad though. Yes, I agree we went out the CL because we lacked strikers but that was before we worked it out.
P.s The wages saved from Assaidi and Suso won’t cover the wages of the striker we need. Far from it. It seems to me football fans react to situations with simplistic views. Buy him, sell him, sack him. So out of interest, what role would this new striker that we’re desperate for fill between now and May?
Why would a new striker struggle to get games??
Clearly Balotelli, Borini and Lambert arnt good enough and arnt really trusted.
Sturridge has yet to kick a ball yet so there no guarantee he’ll hit the ground running.
He could very well get injured again.
We are still in the Europa League, FA Cup and league so there plenty of games to go around and Sturridge can’t play them all.
We HAVNT showed we can cope that’s the whole point!!
We are OUT of the CL because of a lack of a proper striker. We are OUT of the league cup because of lack of a proper striker. We are struggling in the league because of a lack of a proper striker. We have to play an FA cup replay because of a lack of a proper striker. We are NOT scoring enough goals with the players we have and the one player who is a genuine consistent goal threat has barely kicked a ball in 6 months and is prone to injury.
How you think we are coping is beyond me??!!
Sitting 8th in the league and out of the CL at the group stages is not coping.
So, if Sturridge doesn’t hit the ground running you’d replace him?
Personally, I’d play him. Therefore a new striker wouldn’t get a game.
I thought I’d pointed out the CL games were before we found a system that works for our personnel. Since then we’re at the top of the league on form so I’ve no complaints there. We gave a very strong Chelsea team a run for it’s money and arguably went out because their keeper was outstanding across the two legs. Not a lot you can do about that. Yeah, we were a mess back in the CL games then but your point was about the future, not the past. You said, we need to buy a striker. I hate to point this out to you but whoever plays up front from now will not get us back into this seasons CL. It won’t get us back into the League Cup or avoid a replay in the FA. If you’re asking did we need a striker in the first half of the season then I’d say absolutely yes. I believe this point is about do we need one now. So, I’ll reiterate, Sturridge can play 90% of games from now until the end of the season. If he gets injured we go back to what we’re doing now which is top of the league form. Let me ask you again, this striker you claim we’re desperate for – how many games would you expect him to play between now and the end of the season?
Completely agree with Michael. While Sterling is doing a fair impression of an out and out striker he isn’t that type of player. His finishing is ropey. We need cover for Sturridge. Sterling is fine for now in that position given the players we have at our disposal but looking forward we need an orthodox striker to cover for Sturridge and play from time to time to rest him. Bring forward the Origi deal if FFP permits. Alternatively go for a cut price option to fill the 3rd or 4th choice berths once Balotelli and Lambert have done one. Might seem like a mad idea but I’d go for Sone Aluko of Hull. He’s pacy and direct. That said haven’t seen that much of him.
Jesus mate! Is that the strategy we need to take us forward over the next few years? – Buy a player “you haven’t seen that much of”. You should get a job with Ian Ayre. Bring back Origi? Is he any better than Borini or Lambert? Doesn’t seem to be as yet. “Buy a cut price option” – this is my whole point, we need a very good striker not a cut price option. We’ve got hundreds of them up front. The reason I think we may do better to wait is to get a good striker, not another bag of wank. Yes, we need a striker. Stevie Wonder can see that. The question is do we wait until better options become available in the summer or do we panic buy now (again)? I think we can see the season out.
I agree with Robin on this. Any striker we brought in now would need to offer more than Balotelli, Lambert, Borini and Sterling in the central role. He would also need to have an immediate impact, and slot straight in to the system we are playing at the moment.
If such a player was identified and available, then maybe the club should go out and get them right now, but even then there would only be a 50/50 chance the player would be a hit for us.
Have a look at the strikers being moved on this window. With the exception of Bony most are on the market because they haven’t been a hit at there current club or are early in their career and are going on loan for game time. People can pluck names out of the air, or out of the Metro football pages, but that doesn’t mean they are available.
If Sturridge doesn’t score goals I would want another striker to fall back on who can, yes!!
Sturridge can’t play every league game, every Europa league game and every FA cup left this season even if he can stay fit so we need someone who can be relied on to score goals to either start the match, come on in his stead or come on alongside him.
NO OTHER CLUB would expect to go through a half a season with only one semi reliable striker to count on……why should we?!
Why can’t a new striker help fire us to 4th spot or an Europa league win??
I’m serious here, why not??
We’re creating plenty of chances, the rest of the team are playing very well, the teams around us can’t find any sort of consistency so what’s to stop a new striker firing 10/15 goals before the end of the season and help us climb up the league turning those draws into wins and loses into draws???
You won’t find a better forward than Sturridge and certainly not in January. He’s missed half a season, so he’ll be able to play 90% of our games. Therefore you’re looking for a new striker to play around 10% of games. I can understand why the club will probably wait till the summer.
No Robin you are ASSUMING he will be able to play 90% of our remaining games.
We KNOW Sturridge has a poor injury history therefore it’s not too hard to imagine him getting injuried again. Even if he does stay fit, there’s no guarantee he’ll be scoring regularly after 6 months out and to expect to him to play Thurs and Sun every week (throw in FA Cup games too) and keep scoring is unrealistic.
So do we wait until the end of the season when we add our failure in the league, Europa league and FA Cup to our failure in the CL and League Cup or do we endeavour to ensure that we have 2 goal scoring forwards?? The course we are on is to finish 6/7th and win no cups. A goal scorer can change that. We finish with no CL football next yr what kind of striker do you think we’ll be able to attract in the summer?? Will we be more of less attractive to Sterling and Coutinho when it comes to signing new contracts??
Out of our last 8 home league games we have won 2 and drew 6…..simply not good enough for me.
Buying a striker is no guarantee for 4th. We are where we are. I think the current squad can still get top 4 but I’m looking at the bigger picture. I want us to do well next season and the season after that. My feeling is we won’t get the quality we need in the next 3 days. Certainly won’t get anyone in the same league as Sturridge (and that applies to the summer too, with or without CL football).
If we could guarantee Sturridge staying fit then we don’t need another for the last 14 weeks. Obviously we can’t but I still don’t want a 5/10 player when we can get 7 or 8 out of 10 in the summer.
Perhaps we shouldn’t have left it until the last 3 days of the window then to bring in a striker……basically we’re back to the point that I made in my initial post then.
I wonder if we had closed the Salah deal last Jan, when we had agreed a deal in Dec then tried to renegotiate, would we have won the league?
Salah wasn’t the answer mate. I think the reason we’ve got probably the strongest squad we’ve had for 2 decades is because we’re not prepared to do whatever it takes to get his type, as in average. Saying that, he had a chance to make his name on the world stage but he chose the bright lights and now it’s downhill all the way for him. Rejected by a big club and confined to see out his days in the Dutch or French league.
I think it’s fair to say the strategy has ups and downs mate. I sometimes defend FSG because regardless of whether it’s right or wrong they have a plan and if it pays off we all win. As a result of our lack of leadership for years I’m prepared to give them a go and accept that mistakes will be made. If SOS were running the club there’d be mistakes too. It’s how you react to them. For the record, my feeling is I agree with a point Neil Atkinson made – pay what it takes for a striker. I don’t care what you do elsewhere on the pitch but at least pay what it takes for a striker. Anything else massively increases the chances of failure. Other than that a think a lot of the ‘attitude’ towards them is harsh. I would rather we waited till the summer to buy one though. All the good ones are still in the Champions League, no way they’d leave to come and sit on our bench.
We’ll never know if Salah would have helped us win our first championship in decades because we fucked about after negotiating a deal which we then reneged on. Can’t really blame him on that. Smacks of the amateurism we’ve been conducting in recent transfer windows.
Come the end of the season and if we finish 6th, 4 points of fourth I really hope I’m not sitting here again wondering what could have been if we had actually bought a decent striker in Jan when we were crying out for one.
Come the summer and we don’t get CL I don’t see us getting back into it anytime soon.
Salah wasn’t worth the money. Chelsea found that out.
I’ve had those thoughts too, mate but I think without CL footy next season we could knock Arsenal off 4th place, and Utd. I doubt it’d be the catastrophe I thought it would be. I think we’re a good team. Just need to swerve the Europa.
If we are that good a team Robin how come we are not ahead of Arsenal this season then?
What’s gonna change between now and next season that’s gonna see things drastically change around?
You see come next season when we have either Europa League football to offer or no European football to offer Arsenal will be spending the mega money they will receive from the new CL TV deal on more stars like Sanchez who are intereted not just in living in London but also CL football and decent wages. Speaking to Arsenal fans they will tell you that they need a defensive midfielder and a central defender as a priorty……guess what? They just signed a central defender to help in their push for 4th and to continue on their CL adventure this season.
We will be scraping around some 20yr old striker in the hope he makes it in 2/3yrs time because that’s all we can attract. Meanwhile the likes of Sterling and Coutinho will think “Fuck this, I’m off somewhere that can give me CL football and decent wages!” followed shortly after by the likes of Markovic and Can.
Utd will just spend their way out of trouble like they did last summer and will attract more big players with what they can offer.
What’s gonna change? Are you trying to wind me up now, lol.
We know quite well why we’re behind Arsenal. We’ve spent all day debating it. Sturridge got injured if you remember and we thought Balotelli was a striker. We’ll have at least 2 new strikers for next season. That’s what the club does. It gets rid of the deadwood immediately and replaces them with more deadwood, except one of them turns out not to be dead wood. I said before, that’s the reason we’ve got our strongest squad for over 2 decades. But, to answer your question, strikers. That’s what’s gonna change.
Think of last season, think of the recent League Cup semi. We’re good mate. Unfortunately, remember the period in the middle but understand why it happened. The revelation may cheer you up. We’re better than Arsenal.
Arsenal will spend mega money, lol.
P.s when you say Sterling and Coutinho will leave, do you mean those two young lads we bought who are now good?
So these great strikers are gonna come join us in the summer ahead of the likes of Arsenal etc…….you do remember what happened with Sanchez don’t you??
We have the strongest squad in 2 decades?? Really??
Is that why we’re sitting 8th and out of the CL at the group stages with only one decent striker who’s injury prone, one mediocre keeper and handful of youngsters with potential??
Think you need to re-evaluate our squad. The proof is in the league table!
Not sure if you’ve noticed but now that Arsenal have recouped the cost of the Emirates they’re now starting to spend big again in recent windows. Ozil, Sanchez and now today theyve signed Paulista. You think when the big CL money kicks in next window they’ll just stop spending?!
Those top 4 teams will just pull the ladder up from below them and pull further away from the rest.
And yes I mean Sterling and Coutinho who have become good. How long do you think they’re gonna stick around with no CL and getting offered meagre wages?? We might get another 2/3 more seasons out of them without CL football. The big CL teams will come along and cherry pick our best players every summer unless we can offer them something they can’t or at least equal what they can offer. It’s been gathering pace in recent yrs with the likes of Alonso, Masch, Torres, Suarez etc being snapped up as soon as they start looking like top players. We are in danger of becoming a feeder club to the likes of Barca, Real, Chelsea, Bayern, City etc etc
If you think after being consistently out of the CL for several yrs that when the big boys come calling we’ll be able to hold onto our best players you’ve another thing coming. The best players want to play in the best comps, alongside the best players while getting paid a good wage.
The quicker people wake up to the road we’re heading down the quicker we can turn back.
Michael. You are going to drive yourself mad with the Chicken Licken routine that the sky is going to fall in if we fail to make top four this season. It won’t.
Graham, best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour.
We have been consistently poor and amateurish in the transfer market with the odd exception and while there are some gaping holes in our squad seemingly we are gonna do nothing about it again this window.
That, along with the strong liklihood we will not qualify for the CL this yr again doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence about our future. We will continue to fall behind the big boys unless we change our ways.
Don’t be mistaken, as soon as one of these young guys fulfils their potential the big boys will come swooping in unless we can satisfy their ambitions.
You’ll forgive me if I’m not blindly optimistic!!
Robin, what we’ve learnt from the first half of this season is that this side is built around having a pacy and physical striker. A “reference point” as Brendan referred to Sturridge. I don’t think we can be at all confident that Sturridge will stay fit for the rest of the season. I agree that ultimately we should be going after an elite level striker and throw a lot of money at getting that striker. In the interim Borini, Lambert or Balotelli cannot serve as that “reference point”. My argument is that it is likely that Borini, Lambert and Balotelli will be off in the summer. By that time Origi will have arrived. We will still need a 3rd or 4th choice striker then. Why not buy that 3rd or 4th choice striker now?? Especially when this league is at particularly low level, when defending is generally poor among all of the teams and when we now categorically know that this team cannot function without the profile of striker I’ve described!!!!!
It’s a fair point mate but Take Ings as a 3rd / 4th striker. I’d be happy if we got him now, I think he’s good. But, I don’t think we could get him. He plays for Burnley for gods sake yet I don’t think we could get them to sell him. It’s a tough window. If you sell a good player and get relegated then you get slaughtered. If they find someone, then great. If they don’t then I won’t be going into meltdown about how wank the club is run. There’s mitigating circumstances.
We won’t be buying a striker Robin. I thought it would’ve made sense to bring Origi back early but it looks like Ibe’s the only forward coming in.
Me, I still think our priority has to be a keeper. Just imagine Mig breaks a finger and we have to go into the final month of the season, maybe a cup final, with Brad Jones? Honestly I’d rather give Danny Ward a chance.
Exactly mate. A keeper should be priority. Again though, I don’t think we’ve been able to find one. The Aussie and that Neto didn’t inspire me much. Have you seen Origi’s form lately? I haven’t but I’ve heard about it. It may be the case that his head is already in Liverpool or that Lille are rubbish, who knows? I think he’d be an option though but not one I’d be pinning much hope on for this season.
In reply to Rowan…. hendo may never replace the finishing quality of Gerrard. but IMO, i am looking at sterling and phil to provide more of those game winning defining moments (over time) and very happy to have hendo in the team in centre mid for his energy, discipline, dynamism, aggression and importantly, the balance to the team he brings.
Re the match…. now i am not Rogers greatest fan. i think he is a great coach, but maybe not yet a great manager. he doesn’t make enough of the right in-game decisions and i don’t think he is too smart when it comes to psychological battles in the press/public. That said, he deserves EVERY credit for bringing us back from the depths of despair two months ago and providing us all with the belief that we can again challenge for top honours (i mean the league) next year. That said, he screwed up with his subs. Glen for Sakho was fine, marginal call between him and lovren. Ballo was a huge gamble, and i think we all realised why he did it (looking for the response) but it was the wrong time to make the gamble. Should have been last throw of the dice, the 3rd sub, instead of lambert (if at all). ALL momentum was lost from that point on. Moving Hendo to the right was a disaster, having balo on the field was a disaster. We should have kept plugging away, had the patience and confidence and belief that we would make the breakthrough playing our way. Llanna should have come on for Gerrard. it was a big call to sub gerrard after 60 in the first leg, but it absolutely seemed the right call. Gerrard after 80 this time, for llanna would have been another big call, but the right call. No point keeping Gerrard for pens if we don’t get there.
I am not Rogers biggest fan, and he screwed up last night, but keep going son, keep going, i firmly believe you can get us to where we all want to go.
Was very confused by the Markovic/Balotelli sub last night.
Gerrard was struggling, Lallana was sitting on the bench ready to come on to press and use his energy.
Instead we move Hendo to wing back, Gerrard into a midfield 2 beside Lucas and put Balo on???!!!
Bizarre!!
I think Gerrard was knackered from making runs that Sterling and Coutinho kept ignoring.
I’m still screaming at Raheem for not squaring that ball to Stevie before that F*ck Zouma recovered,
Fastest I have seen Stevie belt it in awhile and the look he gave Raheem when the pass didn’t arrive was withering to say the least.
Sakho was injured so it wasn’t a managerial mistake to bring in Johnson for him – would you prefer Lovren?! Agree about Balotelli but can see why he tried him as we were so under the cosh and couldn’t keep hold of any possession in their half. Personally I would’ve preferred Lallana on in place of Gerrard, who was contributing little other than misplaced passes after 65 minutes.
Lucan and Henderson were mostly fantastic. Switching Gerrard would’ve enabled us to keep them together while offering them fresher legs in front in Lallana.
Still, can’t fault the effort from anyone. Onwards and upwards.
Disappointed with the result, but I want to take the positives out of a very competitive performance.
It’s great to see Mignolet looking confident again. He might not be the sweeper keeper we need for the best fit with the system, but he no longer looks like a problem that needs sorting right now.
I was happy that defence still looked Ok after Sakho came off. Although Sakho has perhaps been out best CB, Skrtel and Can still looked solid once he had been replaced.
I was happy enough with the substitutions. It’s easy to find fault with the manager’s decision after the fact, but we can’t know if the other possible strategies would have worked any better. Rodgers delayed making the second change until quite late. At that point throwing Balotelli on looked a gamble worth taking. It presented Chelsea with a different problem to solve, whereas for all Lallana’s quality, he would have been more plan A, rather than a plan B. Bringing Lambert on was probably intended allow a more direct style given the tired legs both teams had in the middle of the park.
I’m just hoping we don’t suffer a hangover from this game, when we play West Ham.
Sakho on- clean sheet, Sakho off – goal conceded, as important to the team as Lucas, I wanted to see Lucas lift trophy above any player even Stevie.
Ivanovic free header wtf.
I have not read any of the comments yet, however I feel Raheem and Phillipe must find a bit more composure and pick the right pass, will have more shots on target, if not goals, I particularly recall Coutinho end of 1st half going near post, when 2 players were free with time to get a shot off around the D.
Yes striker is not Raheems natural position but he is also left quite isolated and has to take on the defence single handedly( with his feet of course)
Aston Villa- Rickie Lamborghini, Chelski- Rickie Lada.
He loves a near post shot does Coutinho…….
When all is said and done, I woke up this morning and I wasn’t a Chelsea fan. So however bad it gets, it could be worse.
Beaten. Again. Another hard luck story at the death. So close, ah well never mind, if we could just catch a break….*knocks back a short*….
It is becoming clearer now that Rodgers is a good manager but not a great one. Liverpool will never crash under his stewardship but it will also never quite mount the peak. Personally speaking the Premiership is THE one to win. We may or may not reach fourth place but I’m afraid that my confidence in Rodgers leading us to winning the Premiership at some stage in the future is waning.
We are a club in the thrall of mediocrity.
P.S. Balotelli. £16,000,000 – wasted.
Mr P.S. Balotelli is not the man we thought we’d signed – got a ringer in Mario.
Have tried to defend him this season but – fuck me, that was an abysmal ‘contribution.’
As for new striker(s) coming in: a) who??? b) why would they???
Therefore. Melwood. Practice fucking shooting, Is it so hard? In Liverpool?
May be being harsh on Rodgers though, Soft Lad. Breaking the billionaires is no easy task. Probably impossible. And at least I’ve had some fun (ha – pogoing against City? It all went way beyond fun); the last two seasons (excepting this season up till this Xmas obviously – see how I repressed the ‘other’ Horrible Thing’ out?) -but how joyous has it been since to see the jammy bastard fall over the formula once again?
Mean Rodgers there, not Mourinho,
Rodgers shines when he stumbles upon a team that subsequently picks itself. It’s when he makes substitutions – enforced or voluntarily – that he reveals his ordinariness.
Having said that, I think I may have been tempted to play Balo myself against Chelsea, but not so early and not before Lallana. To tell the truth I feel a bit sorry for Balo; he didn’t buy himself, and with a modicum of luck he might have scored 6 or more goals this season. But he doesn’t fit, end of.
I don’t think I fully understand that.. with a bit of luck he might have had 6 or more goals this season… which would be an acceptable rate for a striker and would show that he was a good fit for the club. So what does that mean… he needs to be lucky to be a good fit? Seems all a little too over reliant on systems and tactics here… a fella who can hit the ball into the net on a regular basis is a good fit for any club.
I feel a bit sorry for Balo too, seems easy to forget that he was just back from a few games out with illness and form and thus probably missing a little in match sharpness and sprint speed. Brendao clearly brought him on because we needed someone who’s job it is to score goals. We created chances fairly easily, as good as Lallana is, he is broadly similar in style to couts or raheem or even Marko and a change is a logical move. Who else do we know who is good for a late goal or stunning set-piece delivery? Oh yes, our captain. I’m not sure of the wisdom of removing him from play for over 50 minutes of the game as I have heard suggested. And had it gone to pens and our best taker was off the pitch… I dread to think what the reaction might have been.
I don’t always agree with Brendao’s decisions or tactics… is it possible to always agree with another human being? But generally you can see what he’s trying to do. And most of the time he’s trying to do something. He still freezes occasionally… he’s young and relatively inexperienced still… but progressively we can see him working out solutions and then implementing them. What more can you ask for… apart from a bit of luck.
And that brings us right back to Balo… we all know that you make you own luck in football, as in life… but what is less known is that you really need a healthy slice of it free first to get the ball rolling, so to speak.
… just to note that Balo IS a fella who can score goals regularly.. even if he is not doing so at the moment.
Have a look at Balos goal scoring record for his last 2 seasons in his homeland. He scored 30 goals over 2 seasons. Half of those were from penos and free kicks. 15 goals over 2 seasons from open play in his home country doesn’t strike me as anything to get excited about.
Defending in Serie A is a bit better than it is in the EPL. 15 goals there is easily 20 here.
Disappointed that this blog only mentions mignolet’s contribution with a back handed “he usually is the one making mistakes” complement. Is it any wonder his confidence gets so low?
The worst LFC goal keeping display this season was at old Trafford when he was dropped. We all know his faults, but credit were it is due, about time the anfield wrap recognised. If we had courtois in net, how would that help us put the ball in the net at the opposite end? That’s the real issue at the moment