The following is an excellent, in-depth look at the reasons for signing Joe Cole, by guest writer James Seth Owens. He looks at what Cole has offered so far, and how his game – and the team’s overall tactics – can develop at Liverpool.
The worst league start for 18 years, and an undeserved (but very welcome) equaliser away from it being the worst for 56 years. Add to that the most humbling cup exit since 1959. So, whose fault is it?
The SOS Extraordinary General Meeting took place in Liverpool city centre before the game with Sunderland. The purpose of this article is to provide an abridged update on what I thought were the key aspects.
Exclusive to Subscribers of The Tomkins Times, both the Introduction and Chapter One of “Pay As You Play: The True Price of Success in the Premier League Era” are available as a PDF download.
Compare that to our league form which has seen Liverpool make their joint worst start to a Premier League season (shared with 1992/93) and become only the third LFC side in 29 seasons to have a negative goal difference after five matches: -2 in 1992/93 (finished 5th) and -1 in 2006/07 (finished 3rd). We currently have a goal difference of -3, which is our poorest showing after five games since we were relegated in 1953/54.
It’s one thing Alex Ferguson misleading the press about the plight of Liverpool Football Club, quite another them lapping it up like suckling pups. Of course, not that you’d expect a lot more from the worst breed of hacks with their pre-set narrative.
Kyrgiakos, Jones, Wilson, Agger, Spearing, Pacheco, Ngog, Babel all set to start tonight’s game, against League Two’s Northampton Town.
Liverpool appear to be facing a monumental task when they head to Old Trafford on Sunday to face Manchester Utd in the Premier League. Following the 0 – 0 draw at Birmingham, our away record remains poor and we have now failed to score in seven out of our last ten away games. Manchester Utd on the other hand have won both of their home games this season 3 – 0 and last season saw the Red Devils fail to win just three of their 19 games at Old Trafford (two defeats and a draw).
With four league games gone, it’s a bit soon to be making blanket assessments. So this is written with that caveat in mind. I can only give my thoughts, as requested by Well Red Magazine, on what I’ve seen so far. Therefore, what I’ve witnessed is the definition of Liverpool under Roy Hodgson. (Until it changes, which could be within a game or two, six months, or never.)
Matthew Cain continues his regular feature of filing match reports on the Reserves, this time following their 2-0 win over Wolves.
As a caveat, it must be noted that, as with any new manager, Roy will certainly require more time in order to comprehensively convey his methods to the squad; and it will take time for them, in turn, to imbibe his ideas and execute them appropriately in a match situation. Nevertheless, there are certain tactical nuances worth examining [...]
When the sales are coming to a retailer near you, you know to hang off a few days before you go and spend your money, don’t you? It’s a real frustration when you see the item you bought a few days earlier now sat on a shelf for half the amount you paid. The more expensive the item the higher the frustration and financial ‘loss’.
Liverpool have won just two out of the 12 Premier League meetings prior to this match, with Birmingham claiming three victories. There have been six consecutive draws between the clubs in the Premier League dating back to the 2005/06 campaign, while Liverpool have failed to win any of the previous eight games in the league between the two sides.
More so than any other Liverpool manager, Gérard Houllier’s stewardship is characterised by two distinct periods, divided by a single dramatic event: the building up of a very good side, and then failure as he dismantled it following a near-death experience as his aortic valve ruptured.
This is not an easy time to be a Liverpool fan. We are being pulled this way and that; torn between the old-fashioned notion of what supporting our club entails and doing ‘the right thing’ in a political sense (with people having different ideas as to what that is).
This was a much, much better performance from Liverpool reserves – although it was basically a different team to the one that laboured to a draw against Wigan. The reds played a higher line, moved the ball about more quickly and rather than constantly knocking it long, were happy to play neat passes in to feet and work an opening.
By Matthew Cain. For all the anticipation of the first game of the season, Wigan in the sunshine at the academy was never likely to be a springboard for an exciting game or the hint of promise for the rest of the season. And so it proved. Many of the reserve team were unavailable due to slight injury (Ayala) [...]
In terms of the gross cost of the squads, Liverpool now languish in 6th place with £108.7m, slightly behind Aston Villa. The top spot goes to Man City (£322m), who are now way above Man Utd (£228m) and Chelsea (£215m). The media may be up in arms at Daniel Levy’s reluctance to help Spurs push on but a squad cost of £191m should be enough to secure 4th place, if the finances are anything to go on.
