KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum A different view on our difficult season

There has been a lot of debate on the liverpool and how their season has gone so far.

maybe we as fans were a little unrealistic to expect a full title challenge.

As has been said it has the first full season of a newly assembled team

players have not yet gelled maybe?

players have not found their feet?

luck has deserted us.

Injuries to players

I have heard all these reasons as to why we are not doing well in the league.

I would prefer to look at it from a different point of view

in recent times we have lost Assistant manager Mauricio Pellegrino, fitness coach Paco de Miguel and goalkeeping specialist Xavi Valero from our first team coaching squad.

we now currently have Steve clarke Kevin Keen and goal keeping coach John Achterberg.

I think it is obvious that there lies the problem.

pepe reina has not been his top class self for about a year now. and the lost of xavi valero has had a massive impact on him.

tactically we are less astute than we used to be, and with the loss of Pellegrino this is no surprise.

maybe we are seeing the results of having a coaching team more suited to a lower premier league team in charge of first team affairs at anfield.

players who have been doing well for the previous teams in the premier league, do not suddenly become bad players over night.

Caroll, Downing and Henderson come to mind (also adam)

Maybe the coaching of these players has a lot to do with it.

In his previous tenure as liverpool boss, Dalglish had a brilliant backroom staff, maybe this is part of the reason he is failing now.
Every manager needs a coaching staff capable of supporting him.

Just my humble opinion guys.

Slightly agree with your opinions on the coaches need a few more for specialized players etc like you say with Reina,
Also agree tactically havent been the same since Rafa but then again we're playing pass and move footy but since the end of last season where every game we played the perfect tactics this season we've messed up.

E.g chelsea last season played 3 at the back, this season stoke at home 3 at the back one successful other horrifc.

Also doesn't seem to be a plan B which every team needs when Plan A Pass and move doesn't work, and Kenny looks like hes just realised by what he said in the last interview.

Also player chemistry just isn't there and there too much rotation for any to form.

Right now the best partnerships are kuyt-johnson, skrtel-agger, enrique-downing, Maxi-suarez, suarez-kuyt, lucas-everyone lol,

All I can say is that whoever coaches dead ball delivery needs to be fired. Same for the corners coach (attacking and defending).

I don't feel we have the right mix of players for pass-and-move, but we do have some that are suited to it. We also don't have the right mix of players to play long-ball/targetman football, but we do have some. Neither of these styles is what we played under Benitez. I can accept that it would be a difficult job to mould this group of players into one tactic, but it should have taken less than 8 months of continual chopping and changing to reach it, particularly since the manager bought most of the players we see regularly.

Reina is definitely no longer the same keeper he was, and that's partly due to the change from zonal to man marking I'm sure, as well as the "loss" of Carragher.

Desh, you omitted Kelly-Skrtel as a partnership. I know the fullback and his neighbouring CB are not really considered a unit, but it's hard to find situations when we faced genuine threat from that side when they played. Skrtel just seems to cover for Kelly much better than for Johnson, and Kelly is excellent on his own in snuffing out threats down that flank. Kelly-Carra is just a whole lot weaker for instance. It's one of the main reasons I will continue to suggest Kelly-Skrtel-Coates-Enrique as the back 4 in Agger's absence.

I don't think anyone expected a full title challenge. Just noticeable improvement in line with spending was my exepctation, and the board wanted 4th place (for financial reasons, presumably to offset the massive spending as much as possible).
But even if poor coaching is to blame, the coaching staff is kenny's responsibility - the buck stops with KD no matter which way you look at it.

I think coaches are very important but they are not the demoninator. Thats the players themselves and the manager who tells them where are how to play. In terms of the players I have noticed a lack of fight and motivation recently and I am not sure what that is. Generally speaking when things go wrong its rarely a single reason but a combination of factors and normally driven by poor management in football or in life generally.

I just can’t understand why some people are just trying to make a cosmetic show out of what is happening in Liverpool. Instead of taking the bull by the horn we are even trying to blame “luck” for our dismal season!!! I am flabbergasted with such thinkers. The bucks stop at the door of the coach!!!! This is as simple as that. He controls what goes on the field!!! No one holds the team’s redemption on the field of play than the coach !!! Lets speak facts without shame and fear!! The fact is that our coach has failed and failed dismally. His strategic initiatives to achieving his objectives have failed abysmally!!! Although he has good intentions, but good intentions do not deliver results. It’s performance that cuts the deal. Kenny is the root cause of our lackadaisical approach and performance. Let’s for once put away his legendary status and critically assess his current performance as a coach. Its clear to even simple minds that the man cannot cut it!!!

Take your pick of threads criticising Kenny,what makes your point any different?

Certain fans keep saying it will take time for all the players to gel together, to become a complete football unit on.the pitch, due to so many new players being signed.

It does not take this long, nearly a whole season for quality players to gel together.....o wait a minute.....
I meant to say ... it does take nearly a whole season for average players( exclude Jose, saurez, coates) to try and gel.
Average players shud not cost 70m+.

If fans are going to defend the players with the above sorry excuses, then let's go a step further......
Kd is getting use to being a manager again, he needs time to adjust, as he has not managed for years.

Manager,players all taking a season to gel.
Progress is one step forward, two steps back, one step forward and lfc is no better off, than b4........but ......70m+ wasted.

Heggy, an interesting idea and one I wouldn't readily dismiss, but Steve Clarke gets the highest kind of praise from managers such as mouhrinio and players like drogba, and it is said by both Clarke could be a top PL manager in his own right (not in the future but now and when he was at chelsea). I believe tactically, Clarke is incredibly astute.
I wouldn't know much about the new goal keeping coach, but I would say Reina has had 4 or 5 years being top top notch, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he is just on the decline (bit early for a keeper but players are peaking earlier and earlier these days).

HAHA, thunder, totally agree, anyone involved in attacking, taking, or defending set pieces needs to be sacked without compensation, there is no court in the world that would claim wrongful dismissal!
Kelly is certainly the better defender and I guess a defenders primary job is to defend, but whilst Kelly is good going forward, Johnson is still incredible for a full back. If he doesn't have to think his feet are so quick and his delivery is more consistent than Kuyt's, henderson's and downings has been all season. He still has a lot of quality going forward, he's just unfortunately losing his pace.

On the style of play you mentioned thundyr, I think that's where Kenny's biggest failure lies, I don't think he's bought the players to compliment the style he's clearly implemented. Regardless of players underperforming, adam carroll henderson (less so) downing aren't quick enough thinkers nor of deft enough touch to play this kind of game. That's why despite the obvious that players aren't playing to potential (which obviously compounds the problem) I think the players were the wrong ones to begin with.

You can argue till your blue in the face. It always comes back to one thing Kenny's signings. I have never known in all my years of following football such average players for such over inflated prices. It’s hard to fathom particularly with the so called expert Comolli at Kenny's side. I hope Kenny goes soon for the love of Liverpool FC (who he is destroying) but also out of curiosity what went on? That maybe revealed in an update or new book by Kenny once he has gone. I speak as a season ticket holder who will have to find £800 in a few months (which I don’t have) I have been in this position before and have normally managed to beg, borrow or steal to get the money. However I really have no desire at all to watch a Liverpool team with Dalglish at the helm because there is no future he is clearly not up to the job and his leaving is a case of not if but when so have can you follow a team on that basis? Therefore he cannot and must not be allowed to continue beyond this season. I stated a week or so ago I hated Kenny. I apologised for use of that word but you know what I am starting to hate him. I don’t like to see his face, hear his voice whenever he comes in that Liverpool managers job he wrecks. He was a god to me in the 1970’s early 80’s but at the end of the day my prime loyalty is to Liverpool football club they are the team I support and they are the team I pay my hard earned / or saved up money to watch. End of the season Kenny in the name of god GO.