2011/12 Mid Term Report

The season 2011/12 was a season in change.  We have many new faces but still some of them are yet to gel with the team.  We also have key players injury and can yet to field our strongest squad.  Suarez had been good and bad - he's amazing in creating chances but his finishing is often poor, and he had many off the field controversies.  But we are still fighting on 3 fronts, and the best case scenario will see us win both domestic Cups and finish in top 4.

Departmental Comments:
Goalkeeper
Reina is ever present in the whole calendar 2011.  In this season he had 8 clean sheets in 23 games, and only conceded 18 goals.

Defender
Agger and Skrtel had formed a solid foundation and Carragher cannot get a game.  Johnson had been good after his injury past is gone, and Enrique had been one of the best performer so far.  The new kids are also knocking the door, with Kelly, Robinson, Flanagan and Coates waiting to be first team regular.

Midfielder
Midfield had been so so this year.  Lucas was the star player but unfortunately he is now injured and may miss the remaining season.  From the new boys Adam was doing well but not consistent, but Henderson and Downing had yet to convince the Anfield fans.  Young kids such as Shelvey and Spearing will get games and they will grow a lot this season, especially now that Gerrard is back.

Attacker
The lack of goal is a real problem that King Kenny need to address.  Suarez has been very exciting but his finishing really let us down.  Carroll had yet to pick up his form for us, but fortunately Bellamy had performed well and is another bargain.

Player Rating (Games played, Minutes played, Goal scored/conceded, Assists/cleansheets, MoM, Rating)
Goalkeepers
Doni: 23 unused substitute
Reina: 23G 2070M 18GC 8CS 1.5MoM 7.04




Defenders
Agger: 17G 1377M 0GS 0A 0.5MoM 7.14
Aurelio: 1 unused substitute
Carragher: 13G 1042M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.74
Coates: 4G 333M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.68
Enrique: 20G 1800M 0GS 2A 2.5MoM 7.15
Flanagan: 3G 184M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.50
Johnson: 12G 999M 1GS 0A 0.5MoM 7.08
Kelly: 8G 656M 1GS 0A 0.5MoM 7.11
Robinson: 2G 180M 0GS 0A 0MoM 7.00
Skrtel: 20G 1600M 2GS 1A 1MoM 7.06
Wilson: 1G 90M 0GS 0A 0MoM 7.00


Midfielders
Adam: 21G 1670M 2GS 5A 1.5MoM 6.96
Downing: 20G 1530M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.79
Gerrard: 7G 279M 2GS 0A 2MoM 7.07
Henderson: 22G 1569M 1GS 2A 0MoM 6.82
Kuyt: 19G 1062M 1GS 3A 0MoM 7.08
Lucas: 15G 1295M 0GS 1A 1.5MoM 7.17
Maxi: 9G 673M 4GS 1A 0MoM 7.19
Meireles: 3G 54M 0GS 1A 0MoM 7.04
Shelvey: 4G 118M 0GS 0A 0MoM 7.22
Spearing: 7G 542M 0GS 0A 0MoM 7.05

Attackers:
Bellamy: 16G 681M 5GS 4A 2.5MoM 7.48
Carroll: 20G 1176M 3GS 0A 0MoM 6.65
Ngog: 1 unused substitute
Suarez: 21G 1683M 8GS 5A 9MoM 7.41

Players of 1st half season (Minimum 1,242 mins (60%) or above):
(1) Suarez 7.41
(2) Lucas 7.17
(3) Enrique 7.15
(4) Agger 7.14
(5) Skrtel 7.06
(6) Reina 7.04
(7) Adam 6.96
(8) Henderson 6.82
(9) Downing 6.79

With 9 players played more than 16% of the time, we can see how King Kenny would like a steady team.  Apart from Suarez who is impressive in the attack, the top players from 2nd to 6th place are all defensive mind.  This shows how strong our defense is, but it also highlighted how much we need to improve in the attack.  Of course, Bellamy and Maxi had played very well as well with 5 and 4 goals respectively, despite not playing enough minutes.

Team: 7.03. This is a good improve from the last two years, mainly due to Suarez and the defense.  But we still need to improve the scoring and win more games.

2H Prediction:
League:
1st-5th place teams (Manchester City A, Manchester United A, Tottenham Hotspur H, Chelsea H, Arsenal H) 3W2D we did reasonably well against the top teams this season.
6th-10th place teams (Newcastle United A, Stoke City H, Norwich City A, Everton H) 2W2D These are teams that we should beat but inconsistency may mean we will fall apart...
11th-15th place teams (Swansea City A, Aston Villa H, Fulham H, West Bromwich Albion H, Sunderland A) 4W1D Again these are team we should beat especially at home.
16th-20th place teams (Wolverhampton Wanderers A, Queen's Park Rangers A, Wigan Athletic H, Blackburn Rovers A, Bolton Wanderers A) 4W1D  We need be more merciless and beat the bottom teams.

Total for 2H 13W6D 45 points
Total for the season 79 points

This is very optimistic but we probably need at least 75 points for top 4 spot.

League Cup:  Manchester City is awaitng and if we beat them we have a fairly good chance to win it.

FA Cup:  Oldham in 3rd round should be a good draw, but after that, we need some luck.