2009/10 Season Review

It was a disappointing season in any measure, as we only finished 7th with 63 points. Many reasons contributed to this decline, namely lose of key personnel, injuries, bad luck and poor management decision. The team seems to be getting nowhere with the unclear cloud of ownership hanging around, but there is no excuse and we should do much much better next season.

Player Rating (Games played, Minutes played, Goal scored/conceded, Assists/cleansheets, MoM, Rating)
Goalkeepers
Cavalieri 4G 390M 6GC 1CS 1MoM 6.96
Gulacsi 3 unused substitutes
Reina 52G 4710M 48GC 21CS 11.5MoM 7.16

Reina once again lead the team but he himself is not enough to prevent the downfall. Cavalieri did OK when called upon, but is likely to leave next season.

Defenders
Agger 36G 3209M 1GS 0A 0MoM 6.87
Aurelio 23G 1171M 0GS 2A 0MoM 6.61
Ayala 5G 233M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.68
Carragher 53G 4724M 0GS 1A 4MoM 6.90
Darby 3G 180M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.50
Degen 11G 589M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.35
Dossena 5G 235M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.16
Insua 44G 3905M 1GS 5A 1MoM 6.64
Johnson 35G 2999M 3GS 4A 3.5MoM 6.87
Kelly 3G 123M 0GS 0A 1MoM 7.30
Kyrgiakos 21G 1667M 1GS 0A 2MoM 6.71
Robinson 1G 3M 0GS 0A 1MoM 6.50
Skrtel 29G 2060M 1GS 0A 1MoM 6.56

With so many injuries many kids got a chance to play this season. Ayala was in particular impressive when called upon. Carra once again lead the defense and Johnson did OK in his first year, although he is better going forward than defending. But we still need to strengthen in this area, especially Carra is getting old and we are still a bit weak in left back.

Midfielders
Aquilani 26G 1213M 2GS 6A 1.5MoM 6.89
Babel 38G 1708M 6GS 3A 1MoM 6.68
Benayoun 45G 2828M 9GS 7A 2MoM 6.97
Eccleston 2G 14M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.07
El Zhar 7G 129M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.77
Gerrard 49G 4127M 12GS 12A 4MoM 6.99
Kuyt 53G 4477M 11GS 4A 4.5MoM 6.81
Lucas 50G 4166M 1GS 3A 2MoM 6.77
Mascherano 48G 3946M 1GS 2A 6MoM 7.00
Maxi 17G 1208M 1GS 3A 1MoM 6.89
Plessis 1G 76M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.50
Riera 16G 898M 0GS 4A 0MoM 6.67
Spearing 5G 256M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.54

Stevie G's form dropped a lot this season with only 12 goals scored comparing to the previous season of 24. With Alonso left there is a big hole yet to be filled. Aquilani has been troubled by injury but at least we see some good points for him. Mascherano and Lucas did solid in the middle, but they lack attacking creativity. Maxi was perhaps the biggest surprise in the season, and quickly adapted to the England style.

Attackers:
Ngog 37G 1751M 8GS 0A 2MoM 6.71
Pacheco 7G 79M 0GS 1A 0MoM 6.62
Torres 32G 2481M 22GS 3A 7MoM 7.05
Voronin 12G 376M 0GS 1A 0MoM 6.19

We are still very weak in the attacking department. With Torres as lone striker it is really difficult to find a good backup. Torres is still troubled by injury but still managed to score 22 goals. Ngog had grown up a lot of this season but it is a tough job to be Torres' acting. We definitely need to find some more firepower next season.

Players of the year (minimum 2550 minutes played, 50% of time)
(1) Reina 7.16
(2) Mascherano 7.00
(3) Gerrard 6.99
(4) Benayoun 6.97
(5) Carragher 6.90
(6) Johnson 6.868
(7) Agger 6.866
(8) Kuyt 6.81
(9) Lucas 6.77
(10) Insua 6.64

Torres, 7.05, just missed out as he only played 2481 minutes.

Team 6.85 and it is a big drop from last year's 7.01. With so many uncertainly ahead, we really don't know where the team will be heading. Can we see the golden sky?

Goal conversion
We have 939 shots this season, 36 more than last year despite playing 1 more game. And we only scored 84 goals this season, comparing to 106 and 119 in the last two seasons. Once again we deeply rely on Torres and when he was injured there is no backup, and Gerrard's form has deteriorated a lot. In defense we allowed 609 shots, 106 more than the previous year and we conceded 54 goals vs 46 last season. We struggled a lot in Europe, with only 0.8 goals scored and 1.2 goals conceded.

Match of the season
(1) 10/25/09 vs Manchester United 7.72
(2) 3/28/10 vs Sunderland 7.56
(3) 3/18/10 vs Lille 7.54
(4) 9/26/09 vs Hull City 7.53
(5) 8/19/09 vs Stoke City 7.40

In terms of rating, the best performance this match was only 5th in the previous season.

Worst match of the season
(1) 12/19/09 at Portsmouth 6.09
(2) 3/11/10 at Lille 6.219
(3) 8/24/09 vs Aston Villa 6.220
(4) 10/31/09 at Fulham 6.26
(5) 10/4/09 at Chelsea 6.30

May Month Report

1D1L and this is how we ended this miserable season. With nothing to fight for it is really difficult to raise the team. Chelsea was really better than us and we have no comment to lose to them, but we failed to take any chances and can only managed a draw with relegated Hull City. And so, 2009/10 season finally come to an end, and more uncertainly is ahead of us.

Players of the month (1) Reina 7.75 (2) Mascherano 7.25 (3) Lucas 7.00. Reina worked very hard and were worthy Golden Glove winner. Mascherano did very well in the right back position, and Lucas were very solid in protecting the back 4.

Match Report 100509 at Hull City: Miserable end for a miserable season

0-0 and we failed to overtake Villa. The match is similar to the season: We have lots of chances but failed to take any of them; there are lots of injuries that weaken the team, and we have hit the bar/post with bad luck. Anyway the season is now over and we need to improve a lot in the following season.

Players Rating:
Reina: 8 Made two superb saves to earn himself another golden glove.
Mascherano: 7.5 Superb fighting spirit.
Carragher: 7 Come back to break Hansen's record.
Kyrgiakos: 6.5 Solid overall.
Agger: 6.5 Solid defending.
Lucas: 7.5 Protected the back 4 well.
El Zhar: 7 Had a superb chance denied.
Gerrard: 7 Quiet in 1H but gradually improved. Unlucky to hit the post.
Aquilani: 7 Solid and was unlucky to hit the bar and missed several chances.
Babel: 6 Not much contribution.
Kuyt: 6.5 Still go to right wing too much.

Substitutions:
Ngog: 6 Very quiet.
Pacheco: 6 Did Ok when come on.
Robinson: 6 Glad to see another lad to be promoted as our youngest debutant.

Rafa: 6.5 Need to find ways to improve the squad, if he is still around.

Hull City: 6.5 Determined to end the season undefeated.

Man of the Match: Reina. Solid throughout the year.

End of the miserable season

Time really flies and our disappointing season is coming to an end. Future is still uncertain but players would like to win in the last game for the fans. Hull is already relegated and this is their last game in Premier League, but we still need to try to win and finish 6th in order to avoid an early start next season.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Skrtel
Kyrgiakos
Agger
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Aquilani
Babel
Kuyt

Result 2:0

Match Report 100502 vs Chelsea: Toothless

0-2 and we simply do not have the energy and squad to compete with Chelsea, after the 120 minutes fight with Atletico. In the 1H the players did have an intention to win the game, but an awful back pass by Gerrard changed the game, and in the 2H the players were too tired for any miracle. The defeat means our fight for fourth is officially over, and we will be competing in the Europa League in the coming season.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Did very well to reduce the hurt to the minimum.
Mascherano: 7 Another good performance at right back.
Carragher: 6.5 Could not help the team to another clean sheet and was injured.
Kyrgiakos: 6.5 Did OK against the big guy.
Agger: 6.5 Did not provide too much attacking help.
Maxi: 6.5 Did well but was injured early on.
Gerrard: 6 Poor back pass proved to be decisive.
Lucas: 6.5 Solid in the middle.
Benayoun: 6.5 Too slow to cover that lead to the second goal.
Aquilani: 6.5 Did well in 1H but quickly faded away.
Kuyt: 6 Drifted away too often despite in the forward role.

Substitutions:
Babel: 6.5 Could not change the game.
Ayala: 6.5 Solid and calm when called up.
Ngog: 6 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 6 Would be disappointed about the way the team act. Is his days numbered?

Chelsea: 7 A bit nervous at the start but as soon as they scored, there is only 1 winner.

Man of the Match: Reina. Never let us down.

Farewell to Carlsberg

This is the last home game we play under Carlsberg and there will be a special jersey with Chinese name on it. The players will be tired today after 120 minutes against Atletico and we need to try hard to raise our game, but it will be very difficult.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Kyrgiakos
Agger
Maxi
Gerrard
Aquilani
Benayoun
Babel
Kuyt

Result 0:2

April Match Report

4W2D2L and we are out of Europa League and all but out of top 4. The month started with a defeat at Benfica, although we did turn around in the 2nd leg in between 2 disappointed draws in the league. We then beat West Ham convincingly but then we lost at Atletico after a long long journey and then we beat Burnley. Although we finish the month with a victory over Atletico, but it was not enough and we are out of Europa League.

Players of the Match (1) Mascherano 7.35 (2) Gerrard 7.22 (3) Reina 7.18. Mascherano was superb throughout the month no matter where he plays, and Gerrard finally edge closer to his best form. And Reina was as reliable as usual with 3 clean sheets kept in the month.

May Prediction:
5/2 Chelsea (h) Players will be tired after 120 minutes at Atletico, not sure if we still have gas for this.
5/9 Hull City (a) An end of the disappointing campaign.

Match Report 100429 vs Atletico Madrid: Too little, too late

2-1 but it is not enough and we were out of the Europa League by an away goal. In summary Yossi's wrongly disallowed goal proved to be crucial, and we did very well to try to go through. It is really disappointed to see us lost the tie like this and we now need to wait till next season for any chance of winning a trophy.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Could do nothing on the goal conceded.
Mascherano: 8 Superb commitment as a right back.
Carragher: 7 Solid at the back.
Agger: 7 Had a goal ruled offside.
Johnson: 7 One mistake proved to be crucial.
Gerrard: 7 Did well in 1H but faded out afterwards after receiving a yellow card.
Lucas: 7 Good performance as defensive midfielder and capped with an assist.
Benayoun: 7.5 One goal, one assist but was not enough.
Aquilani: 7.5 Scored an absolutely great goal to bring us some hope.
Babel: 7 Did well in drifting the Atletico defense apart.
Kuyt: 7 Still moved tonte side too often even though he should be the center forward.

Substitutions:
El Zhar: 6.5 Not much impact.
Degen: 6.5 Did not provided any width as instructed.
Pacheco: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 7 Would be delighted about the team performance.

Atletico Madrid: 6.5 One chance and they are in final. Good luck.

Man of the Match: Mascherano: As impressive as usual, no matter which position he is playing.