What will it be for the Mighty Reds this season...???

The season has begun. The league is 2 games old. The 2-1 lost to 'Chelski'. The 0-0 draw with the 'Villians'. What's next against the 'Spurs'?

With the arrival of Australian Harry 'the Kid' Kewell, Frenchmen Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle and the Irishman Steve Finnan, what can one expect from these players? Are they Championship material?

Armed with yummy snacks and refreshing thirst quenchers, I was looking forward to the first game of the 2003/2004 season. No wait, I mean the Reds first game of the season. Then having sat through the first 90 minutes of the season, I find myself with a sore bum and gastric complications. Then came the following weekend (Sunday) whereby another 90 minutes passed by with nauseating effect towards the extent of visiting the washroom. One could only imagine how badly the two games turned out to be.

Lets see, based on the latest news post on the various websites imaginable in this universe, it was noted that the beloved Reds are playing too much 'long ball'.

Hmm...now where have i heard that before?

Oh! Silly me. It was the mad voices in my head drumming common sense and logic from what was viewed and interpreted by the eyesight.

So the question is, how long will we have to see this carry on?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do think that the Reds should get back to the basics!

If one would assess the previous 2 matches, one would note that the passing was poor, ball control was catastrophic, teamwork was terrible, positioning was pathetic, the shooting was 'senseless' and the list goes on.

My fellow Red Fans have been asking, what's wrong with the team?

Why don't we go one by one shall we?

1. Passing Lesson: Try passing over shorter distance, say 5 to 10 yards rather than spraying the ball 3 quarters of the field and asking a hell of a lot from the forwards. It's not as if all the strikers have the legs to chase after the 'stinger missile' long balls neither are they all 'Bruno' Heskey.

2. Ball Control Lesson: Looks like all the other teams manage this rather well except for our Mighty Reds. First touch at the back, the center and the front are soooo poor that none of the players are now comfortable with the ball at their feet. So how do one expect to do anything else?

3. Teamwork Lesson: Remember the phrase, "there's no I in team" well as i reckon there's no other alphabets (apart from the T.E.A.M.) either in the Reds TEAM. There's no communication amongst the players. Unless the players are all mind readers I don't see how they can understand one another.

4. Positioning Lesson: The year that the Reds won the treble, solidity in the defence was at its best. Defenders positioned themselves superbly. It was so hard to beat them. But now, opponents seemed to be running rings around the defenders. Does one know why this happens? Lately, it's not only the defenders are out of position but practically the team. Most of the time they were caught flat footed when caught out on a counter attack.

5. Finally, the Shooting: So what if we have half a million shots on goal? It's the ball in the net that counts for all that one cares! But the saddest (is there even this word) thing is, most of the shots are not directly on goal. Balls are pumped senselessly high, wide and god knows where else. Just think, the probability of a ball entering the net would be oh sooo much higher if they were on target anywhere within the 4 corners of the goal post.

Final Lesson, it kills me to say this but, Learn from Man U!

These are all basic ball skills which seemed to have deserted the Mighty Reds.

Where's the Liverpool of Old? We sorely miss the Pass and Move game!

Houllier should seriously think of cutting down on the tactical game play and get back to basics.


Will the slumbering giants ever wake up from its hibernation?



You'll Never Know Until You've Walk Alone!




Jim