A game of no significance

It is only the start of April but the league has long been over, and this match bears not much significance and King Kenny may consider using more kids.  We should also play Carroll and hope that he would awake in his familiar ground of St. Jame's Park, or whatever it is called now.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Kelly
Carragher
Skrtel
Enrique
Spearing
Kuyt
Gerrard
Shelvey
Suarez
Carroll

Result 2:0

March Month Review

2W 4L and no matter how optimistic you are, this is a very poor month.  We are still at 7th place but is now 13 points behind 4th place with only 8 games to go.  In fact we are only 3 points ahead of 11th place Norwich City.  And with only 8 points from the league since the start of the year, I really don't know what we can do to resurrect the season.  Maybe we should give the youngsters more chances as they would be more eager to show us how well they can be done.

Players of the month: (1) Gerrard 7.54 (2) Spearing 7.083 (3) Suarez 7.076.  The Captain is back with a superb hat trick in the derby game, although he himself along could not lift us every game.  Spearing has also grown more mature and is one of the constant good performer of the team.  And Suarez, with 2 goals and 2 assists but still he needs to improve on the linkage with teammates.

April prediction:
4/1 Newcastle United (a) A defeat and we should target to finish 10 ten only.
4/7 Aston Villa (h) Villa's form is as worse as us, so this is a game to get some points.
4/10 Blackburn Rovers (a) Blackburn are fighting for survival and you would expect them to have more hunger to win the game than us.
4/14 Everton/Sunderland (n)  Yes we visit Wembley again, and make sure we will visit Wembley a third time this season.
4/22 West Bromwich Albion (h)  First time Hodgson is back after he was sacked, but we seems to be worse than when he left...
4/28 Norwich City (a)  By the time we face them we may be trailing with them...

TBC Fulham (h) Fulham is a consistent team and they could be more eager to win than us.

Match Report 120324 vs Wigan Athletic: No way out

1:2 and this is another defeat and we seems to be no way out of the mess.  Would only 8 points obtained in 2012, we would be in bottom 3 if the league starts on 1/1/2012.  Certainly this is a team in crisis, and despite we are still in the FA Cup, we definitely need to improve the league form, or else King Kenny would probably have to go.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6 Should have done better for the second goal conceded.
Flanagan: 6.5 A good game from his second league start of the season.
Carragher: 6 Tiredness is showing up on him.
Skrtel: 6 Responsible for the penalty conceded.
Enrique: 6 A bit tired as well.
Spearing: 6.5 Solid as usual.
Downing: 6 Not effective on the right, but played better on the left.
Gerrard: 6.5 Failed to inspire teammates.
Henderson: 5 Yet another disappointed performance.
Kuyt: 6 Poor on the left.
Suarez: 7 Scored the equalizer and was a bit unlucky to have a goal denied.

Substitutions:
Carroll: 6 Another disappointment.
Shelvey: 6.5 Provided some needed strength to the team.
Sterling: 6.5 A solid debut.

King Kenny: 5 Once again failed to inspire the team.

Wigan Athletic: 6.5 Credits to them in never give up.

Man of the Match: Suarez.  But he should play more with his teammates.

Give kids a chance

With the defeat at QPR there is really no point for us to play the strongest team, and we should give the kids a chance.  No disrespect to Wigan, but our kids will probably be more hunger to beat them.

My Team Prediction:
Doni
Kelly
Coates
Skrtel
Flanagan
Henderson
Spearing
Shelvey
Bellamy
Suso
Sterling

Result 2:0

Match Report 120321 at Queen's Park Rangers: Where is the spirit

2:3 and it was a very poor result to have 2 goals lead and then conceded 3 goals.  Tiredness may be an excuse but still we should protect a 2-goal lead well.  This is just simply not good enough.  And I have nothing to say as I did not watch the match.

Keep it up

We will have a hectic schedule in the closing in of the season, and any points still count at this moment.  It has been a while since we last visited QPR, and with the injuries King Kenny may also be forced to make some changes, but in any case, players need to improve and bring 3 points home.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Kelly
Carragher
Skrtel
Enrique
Kuyt
Gerrard
Spearing
Downing
Suarez
Carroll

Result 2:0

Match Report 120318 vs Stoke City: Wembley, here we come again

2:1 and two fine goals by Suarez and Downing sent us to Wembley again.  Although defense was shaky but at the end two fine goals and two superb goals were enough to book us another Wembley trip.  No matter who we will be facing, we need to win it and go to Wembley again the 3rd time of the year.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6.5 Should have do better for the goal conceded.
Kelly: 7.5  An all-round performance.
Carragher: 7 Lead the defense well.
Skrtel: 7 A good performance.
Enrique: 7 Did well despite not much support from Maxi.
Downing: 7.5 What a superb goal!
Gerrard: 7.5 Another good performance.
Spearing: 8 Grown a lot during this season.
Maxi: 7 A good assist.
Suarez: 7.5 Scored another magic goal.
Carroll: 6 A bit disappointed and was at fault for not marking Crouch.

Substitutions:
Kuyt: 7 Provided more steal to protect the lead.
Coates/Henderson: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

King Kenny: 7 Would be delighted about the way we respond in 2H, although there is some problem in defending set pieces.

Stoke City: 6.5 Typical Stoke performance but at the end the better team won.

Man of the Match: Spearing.  Lucas should be worried about his position.

Cup is our priority

With 4th place virtually gone FA Cup has become a bigger priority for us.  It will be our 4th time to meet Stoke this season and they proved to be tough opponents to us.  But we beat them in the League Cup so we can do it again this time as well.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Kelly
Carragher
Skrtel
Enrique
Kuyt
Gerrard
Spearing
Downing
Suarez
Carroll

Result 2:0

Match Report 120313 vs Everton: Captain Marvel

3:0 and what a perfect way to celebrate Stevie G's 400th League appearance.  We did very well in general, and in particular Suarez was linked up with Gerrard very well with a hand in all 3 goals.  Of course it was due to injury that we cannot play like this during the past, but for the remaining of the season, we should keep fighting on and try to get as high as we can.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Rarely tested.
Kelly: Confidence in going forward and was rewarded with a nice assist.
Carragher: 7.5 Grown taller in the derby game.
Skrtel: 7.5 As good as ever.
Enrique: 7 A solid performance as usual.
Henderson: 7 A bit poor in 1H but confidence returned in 2H with a superb pass for the 2nd goal, and get a well deserved round of applause from the Anfield crowd.
Gerrard: 10 Superb hat trick that he will remember forever.
Spearing: 7.5 Another superb performance to provide a platform for Gerrard to roar.
Downing: 7 Provided a few dangerous crosses.
Suarez: 8 Linked up superbly well with Gerrard.
Carroll: 7 Won many aerial duals and is more confident.

Substitution:
Kuyt: 7 Worked hard as usual.

King Kenny: 7.5 Can we play like this week in, week out?

Everton: 5.5 A really toothless performance.

Man of the Match: Gerrard.  Captain Marvel.

Save the season

With only 1 win in 2012 and losing 3 in a row, we are in deep trouble.  4th place is 99% gone, but we still need to save the season by winning the remaining games.  Derby is a game that form doesn't count, so perhaps this is the perfect place to resurrect the season.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Kelly
Carragher
Skrtel
Enrique
Spearing
Kuyt
Gerrard
Henderson
Downing
Suarez

Result 2:0

Match Report 120310 at Sunderland: Disappointment

0:1 and we simply deserve nothing from the game.  We were supposed to have a last spark after the League Cup final, but 2 weeks after that, 4th place is almost gone.  We need more passion from the players to resurrect the season.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6 Should have done better for the goal conceded.
Kelly: 6.5 Can't do much to help the attack.
Skrtel: 7 Solid defending.
Coates: 6 Need more games to build up his confidence.
Enrique: 6.5 Failed to provide attacking assistance.

Adam: 6 Too many miss passes.
Spearing: 6.5 Solid in providing defensive coverage.
Kuyt: 6 Not much impact to the game.
Henderson: 6 Need some improvement to his game.
Bellamy: 6 A poor performance.
Suarez: 6 No supply and didn't do much.

Substitutions:
Gerrard/Carroll/Downing: 6 Failed to do much to help the team.

King Kenny: 6 A very disappointed performance and can he inspire the team?

Sunderland: 6.5 Only win by a bit of luck.

Man of the Match: Skrtel.  But need to inspire his teammates as well.

Season restarts

The season started when we played Sunderland and it shown what we did this season:  Missed penalty, lots of chances created, yet drawn at home.  It's time for the reverse fixture and we will hope that the season can restart and we can witness a miracle for the remaining of the season.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Skrtel
Enrique
Kuyt
Gerrard
Henderson
Downing
Carroll
Suarez

Result 2:0

Match Report 120303 vs Arsenal: 4th place almost over

1:2 and despite we played reasonably well, the lack of composure at the front really hurt us.  Not just this game, but the whole season.  And with this loss, 4th place is almost unreachable with 12 games left and 10 points behind.  Perhaps King Kenny should consider giving the kids more chances as they will have more hunger to fight for the first team places.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6 Should do better on the 2nd goal conceded.
Kelly: 7 Missed a glorious chance to win the game.
Carragher: 5 Guilty for both goals.
Skrtel: 7 A solid defending.
Enrique: 7 Defended well.
Henderson: 7.5 His best performance so far.
Adam: 7 A better performance than the league cup game.
Spearing: 7 Bossed the midfield.
Downing: 7 Another nice performance.
Kuyt: 6 Missed a penalty and hit the post.
Suarez: 6.5 Should have scored in 1H and faded in 2H.

Substitutions:
Bellamy/Carroll: 6 Not enough time to impress.

King Kenny: 6 The lack of heart at times is particular worrying.  We need to improve a lot.

Arsenal: 6.5 They have a good goalkeeper and they take their chances really well.

Man of the Match: Henderson.  A confident performance.

Fight for 4th place

We are 7 points behind Gooners and we definitely need to win this game if we want to fight for it.  Arsenal seems to be revived recently so it would be a difficult game for us.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Skrtel
Enrique
Kuyt
Adam
Henderson
Downing
Suarez
Carroll

Result 2:0