January Month Report

3W1D1L, we are out of FA Cup, but we get King Kenny back and are gradually climbing up the table. Future looks bright, and we shall keep climbing up the table as high as we can.

Players of the Month: (1) Kelly 7.10 (2) Reina 7.07 (3) Meireles 6.92. Kelly is the biggest beneficiary from the coming back of the King, and he took the right back position as his own. Reina is ever present in the month with 2 clean sheets and numerous saves. After moved to central midfield Meireles finally shown his worth with 2 superb goals on his account.

February Prediction:
2/2 Stoke City (h) We need to take a revenge on losing away at their home.
2/6 Chelsea (a) Chelsea is back to their own standard so it will be a tough match for us.
2/12 Wigan Athletic (h) Another home game and we need to take home 3 points.
2/17 Sparta Prague (a) King Kenny's first European match for us as manager.
2/24 Sparta Prague (h) A good result on this night should take us through.
2/27 West Ham United (a) A good chance for us to have the 2nd double of the season.

Match Report 110126 vs Fulham: Result matters

1:0 and it was a win that bring us back to 7th place, the highest this season. The performance was not really good, but at the end it is the result that really matters. The rebuilding work still needs to continue, but we are on the right track now.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Superb saves to keep another clean sheet.
Kelly: 6.5 A good performance in general.
Skrtel: 6.5 Solid performance.
Agger: 6.5 Solid but was unable to carry the ball forward.
Johnson: 7 Comfortable on the left.
Meireles: 7.5 Another good performance and played a big part in the goal.
Poulsen: 6.5 Played well before he is tired out.
Kuyt: 6.5 A bit tired.
Gerrard: 6.5 Not influential.
Maxi: 6.5 Had a few chances but could not take them.
Torres: 7 Lively, and have a goal wrongly ruled offside.

Substitution:
Shelvey: 6.5 Another solid performance when called upon.
Aurelio: 6.5 Did well when called up.

King Kenny: 7 Would be delighted about the result, but still need to improve the team performance.

Fulham: 6 Had been very solid in trying to get a point.

Men of the Match: Reina/Meireles. Good performances that bring us 3 points.

Keep winning

After a well deserved win at the Wolves we are now back to Anfield. With King Kenny as manager the confidence is back and result is starting to come our way. Stevie G is also back, and no doubt he will want to impress and bring King Kenny a long overdue Anfield victory.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Kelly
Skrtel
Agger
Johnson
Lucas
Meireles
Kuyt
Gerrard
Maxi
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 110122 at Wolverhampton Wanderers: Pass and move

3-0 and finally King Kenny won his first game for us after 20 years. The players are now more confident, and it can be witnessed especially from the last goal, that we passed 31 times before Torres tapped in easily. We can tell that the players are much more confident, and we will start winning games from now on.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Superb save to maintain the lead before half time.
Kelly: 7 Getting the right back spot at his own.
Skrtel: 7 A solid performance.
Agger: 7 Another good performance.
Johnson: 7 More comfortable at the left.
Lucas: 7 Solid display.
Poulsen: 7 One of his better performance with us.
Kuyt: 7.5 Worked hard and was crucial in the build up of the last goal.
Meireles: 8 Box to box performance.
Maxi: 7 A good performance.
Torres: 7.5 Scored 2 goals and confidence is back.

Substitutions:
Shelvey: 7 Good performance and should have scored one.
Aurelio: 7 Did well.

King Kenny: 7.5 Would be very delighted about this win. Need to sort out some unnecessary mistake by the defense though.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: 6. No complains in losing to us.

Man of the Match: Meireles. Scored one, created one and played very well.

Beat the wolves

Wolves are a difficult place to visit and we have not win there for 3 decades. We have yet to win under King Kenny, so we need to defy all odds and bring three points home.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Kelly
Kyrgiakos
Agger
Johnson
Lucas
Meireles
Kuyt
Cole
Maxi
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 110116 vs Everton: Better performance

2-2 and in terms of performance, we are getting better and better. However it has yet to translate into result, but we need to do so as soon as possible. There are still 16 games and 48 points to play for, so there is still a lot to fight for, so there is still a long way to go.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6.5 No protection for the 2 goals conceded.
Kelly: 7.5 A very assured performance.
Skrtel: 5.5 Once again it was another disappointed performance.
Agger: 6.5 Solid but unfortunately get sicked and couldn't carry on.
Johnson: 7 A much better performance and provided a deadly cross for the first goal scored.
Lucas: 7 Solid in the middle.
Spearing: 7 A good first league start.
Kuyt: 7 Coolly taken penalty.
Meireles: 7 Opened his scoring account with a nice shot.
Maxi: 6.5 Have a few chances denied.
Torres: 7 Getting better and better and was unlucky to hit the post.

Substitutions:
Kyrgiakos: 6.5 Solid when came up.
Shelvey: 6.5 Good performance.

King Kenny: 7 Would be disappointed about how we conceded the goals. But he can take positives from the players performance in general.

Everton: 6.5 Fight hard and at the end the draw is justified.

Man of the Match: Kelly. Getting more assure game by game.

215

After the 172th Merseyside Derby, King Kenny left us. 43 games later, he is now back to lead us in the 215th Merseyside Derby. The team is still low in confidence, without the captain and vice captain, but this is a derby and the players will be lifted up.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Kelly
Skrtel
Agger
Aurelio
Lucas
Meireles
Kuyt
Cole
Maxi
Torres

Result: 2-0

Match Report 110112 at Blackpool: Away blue continues

1-2 and our poor away form continues. The team did better but the players are still lacking confidence, especially the defense. It will be a big project for King Kenny to sort out, and we need him to sort it out as soon as possible.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Made a few superb saves.
Kelly: 7 Good performance with a nice assist.
Skrtel: 5.5 Not looking confident and was at fault for the goals conceded.
Agger: 6 A bit shaky.
Johnson: 5.5 Not looking good on the left.
Poulsen: 6.5 A better performance than previously.
Kuyt: 6.5 Worked hard as usual.
Meireles: 6 Did Ok in the middle.
Lucas: 6.5 Solid performance.
Jovanovic: 6 Not much impact, and naive to get booked.
Torres: 7 Getting better.

Substitutions:
Shelvey: 6 Solid performance.
Ngog: 6 Not enough time to impress.

King Kenny: 6.5 Some interesting selection like Poulsen started and Johnson on the left. What he needs to do is to install confidence into the players.

Blackpool: 7 Did really well and should be able to survive.

Man of the Match: Reina. Lead the team with example.

Show us what you can do

King Kenny is now back and players have no excuse and need to start picking up points, especially in away games. We lost to Blackpool at home so this adds another spice to the game. But if we play like what we did on Sunday, we can win it.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Kelly
Skrtel
Agger
Aurelio
Johnson
Meireles
Lucas
Maxi
Kuyt
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 110109 at Manchester United: Unjust

0-1 and we will feel gutted in the way we lost the game. Apart from the penalty we were playing really well, especially with 11 men on the pitch. With King Kenny finally back, the players are motivated and performed really well. Now we need to be together and try to climb up the table, and there is no excuse now.

Players Rating:
Reina: 8 Will conceded more if not for his heroic saves.
Kelly: 7.5 Very impressive performance.
Skrtel: 6.5 Solid performance.
Agger: 6.5 Was very unlucky to concede that so-called "penalty".
Aurelio: 6.5 Almost scored from a superb free kick.
Lucas: 6.5 Protect the midfield well.
Kuyt: 7 Worked very hard.
Gerrard: 4 Stupid tackle let us down.
Meireles: 6 Not impressive.
Maxi: 6.5 Had a few half chances.
Torres: 6 Need to improve a lot.

Substitutions:
Babel: 6.5 Made an impact when called up.
Shelvey: 6.5 Did well in the match.
Ngog: 6 Not enough time to impress.

King Kenny: 7 Would be delighted about the team's response and felt robbed off.

Manchester United: 6.5 Hope they lose many games soon.

Man of the Match: Reina. Superb defending.

The King is back

Finally. It will be a tough job, but he will unite friends and players. Let's support the team!

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Skrtel
Agger
Aurelio
Lucas
Meireles
Kuyt
Gerrard
Maxi
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 110105 at Blackburn Rovers: No more chance to be given

1:3 and why should we give RH another chance? Get out now!

Can we win away from home

With a well fought victory on the new year's day we are now going back to our away blues. We need to start winning away from home, but is it possible?

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Skrtel
Kyrgiakos
Konchesky
Kuyt
Gerrard
Lucas
Maxi
Ngog
Torres

Result 2:0

2010/11 Mid Term Report

After get rid of G&H and with NESV on board the club is moving to the right direction in the long run. But in the short run this is a very disappointing year. We sacked Rafa and RH is a very poor manager. With him there is no hope at all. NESV will do something to reverse the downward trend for sure, but when?

Departmental Comments:
Goalkeeper
Despite the shaky defense Reina continues to excel, with 9 clean sheets in 26 games. However he did conceded 28 games which is very high. In the league, he only had 6 clean sheets with 24 goals conceded in 19 games. This is something we need to address, especially in away games where only 2 clean sheets and 1 win is recorded. Jones is still yet to convince us.

Defender
Very poor. Despite Carra is getting older he is still very important in leading the defense. Kyrgiakos did show some signs of sparkling but is a bit too inconsistent. Skrtel has been very steady, and Agger was affected by injury, but will play a more important role in the 2H. On the sides, both Johnson and Konchesky were not very good at all. Especially Konchesky which is yet to convince the Kop.

Midfielder
With Mascherano left there is a big hole in the midfield, but Lucas and Meireles stepped up and partly filled the gap. Stevie G continues to shine, but Poulsen is awful. On the sides we don't have any good players at all, so the whole midfield played very narrow.

Attacker
Torres is still yet to pick up his best form so we are a bit short of firepower. With only 23 goals scored in the league no wonder we are struggling. Ngog did try to lessen Torres' burden but he is yet to score away from Anfield.

Player Rating (Games played, Minutes played, Goal scored/conceded, Assists/cleansheets, MoM, Rating)
Goalkeepers
Cavalieri: 2G 180M 0GC 2CS 0MoM 7.00
Gulacsi: 3 unused substitutes
Hansen: 6 unused substitutes
Jones: 2G 210M 2GC 1 Cs 0MoM 6.43
Reina: 26G 2340M 28GC 9CS 4MoM 6.87

Defenders
Agger: 10G 724M 0GS 1A 0MoM 6.63
Aurelio: 10G 526M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.40
Ayala: 1 unused substitute
Carragher: 21G 1841M 0GS 0A 2MoM 6.79
Darby: 1G 7M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.50
Flanagan: 1 unused substitute
Johnson: 17G 1530M 1GS 0A 1MoM 6.41
Kelly: 13G 1117M 0GS 1A 0MoM 6.57
Konchesky: 17G 1405M 0GS 1A 0MoM 6.28
Kyrgiakos: 19G 1468M 2GS 1A 2MoM 6.59
Robinson: 2 unused substitutes
Skrtel: 25G 2115M 1GS 1A 0MoM 6.46
Wilson: 3G 300M 0GS 0A 1MoM 6.45
Wisdom: 1 unused substitute

Midfielders
Aquilani: 2G 111M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.87
Babel: 15G 667M 2GS 1A 0.5MoM 6.55
Cole: 18G 11863M 2GS 4A 1MoM 6.49
Gerrard: 17G 1436M 7GS 4A 6MoM 6.98
Jovanovic: 16G 974M 2GS 0A 0MoM 6.54
Kuyt: 17G 1424M 4GS 2A 1MoM 6.76
Lucas: 24G 1813M 1GS 3A 3MoM 6.65
Mascherano: 1G 78M 0GS 1A 0MoM 7.50
Meireles: 19G 1459M 0GS 2A 2MoM 6.75
Pacheco: 7G 341M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.29
Poulsen: 15G 1104M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.15
Shelvey: 9G 439M 0GS 0A 0.5MoM 6.47
Spearing: 7G 497M 0GS 1A 0MoM 6.68

Attackers:
Amoo: 1G 83M 0GS 0A 0MoM 7.00
Dalla Valle: 1G 7M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.50
Eccleston: 7G 142M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.01
Ngog: 25G 1520M 8GS 2A 2MoM 6.63
Torres: 20G 1580M 6GS 3A 0.5MoM 6.51

Players of 1st half season (Minimum 1,638 mins (60%) or above):
(1) Reina 6.87
(2) Carragher 6.79
(3) Lucas 6.65
(4) Skrtel 6.46

It is worth noting that injury affected Gerrard and Kuyt and they are about 200 mins short. Should they reach the minimum minutes played, they will get 6.98 and 6.76 rating respectively. Ngog and Torres are about 100 min short and they get 6.63 and 6.51 respectively.

Team: 6.60. We considered last year's 1H of 6.81 as poor, and this is even poorer. We simply need to improve especially away from Anfield. But most fans have already written off this season.

2H Prediction:
League:
1st-5th place teams (Manchester United H, Manchester City H, Arsenal A, Tottenham Hotspur H, Chelsea A) 1W2D2L We simply won't beat them...
6th-10th place teams (Sunderland A, Stoke City H, Newcastle United H) 2W1D
11th-15th place teams (Blackpool A, Blackburn Rovers A, Everton H, West Bromwich Albion A, Aston Villa A) 3W1D1L Finally we can win some away games?
16th-20th place teams (West Ham United A, Wigan Athletic H, Fulham H/A, Birmingham City H, Wolverhampton Wanderers A) 5W1D

Total for 2H 11W5D3L 38 points
Total for the season 63 points

This may be a bit optimistic but with 63 points we should be able to get into Europa. But is it enough?

In FA Cup we draw Manchester United in the 3rd round and it is already the toughest test. Our best hope for any trophy is Europa Cup, but this really depends on the draws.

And finally, can I have a new manager?

Match Report 110101 vs Bolton Wanderers: Double

2:1 and this is a great performance in 2H that see us have a 100% record in 2011, and a long awaited come back performance from trailing behind. Gerrard's performance is superb and he is back to drive us forward. Of course it is really nice to see Cole open his league account, but we still need to improve especially in away games if we want to climb up the table.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6.5 Exposed for the goal conceded but in general a good performance.
Johnson: 6 Failed to mark Davies for the goal conceded and nearly give up a goal for a careless passing.
Skrtel: 6.5 Good performance.
Agger: 7 A good performance coming back from injury.
Aurelio: 6.5 Solid performance.
Kuyt: 6.5 Worked hard as usual.
Meireles: 6 Injured early on.
Lucas: 6.5 Wasted a golden opportunity in 1H but luckily it is not crucial now.
Maxi: 7 Have a feel good scoring opportunity missed.
Torres: 7 Superb equalizer after improvement in 2H.
Ngog: 6.5 Have a few half chances.

Substitutions:
Gerrard: 7.5 Captain marvel again with his two superb assists.
Cole: 7 A nicely tap-in winning goal.
Kyrgiakos: 6 Not enough time to impress.

RH: 6.5 A much better performance in 2H but still it is questionable whether he should be in the job.

Bolton Wanderers: 6.5 Provided us a few scares.

Man of the Match: Gerrard. Saved us again again and again.

New Year, same old problem

It's a new year but we still have the old manager, so there is really no hope. Bolton are on a high so it won't be a surprise if we lose this game, and it could be a blessing in disguise.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Skrtel
Kyrgiakos
Konchesky
Kuyt
Meireles
Lucas
Maxi
Gerrard
Torres

Result 2:0