Irrelevant to how positive of a Red you may be, confidence dwindles when you are battered by week after week of if’s, but’s and maybe’s. In most of their performances this season, if football rules matched those of boxing, most of the games would have been stopped in the early rounds, but to the avid football fan Liverpool resemble a branch of the territorial army currently as never mind how menacing they may look, they continue firing blanks. This is evident to all and now even the minnows of the league come to Anfield with slight hope of coming away with the spoils.
This weekend throws up a visit to the Reebok Stadium to face lowly Bolton. The opponents seem pretty irrelevant to our current woes as whether we were facing Barcelona or Bolton the same trend would continue, creating plenty of chances and failing to convert them. The only difference between the quality of the two opponents being losing and drawing as better opposition will take their chances. Bolton are a side short of confidence at home and really struggle in front of their own supporters since the days of Sam Allardyce. Liverpool should have too much quality in all areas of the pitch for Bolton, but this isn’t always the telling factor and we will need to be on our guard at the back whilst making our possession tell in front of goal.
We are now well into the New Year of 2012 and for me there are too many recent signings who have shown the Liverpool faithful why their club shelled out so much money for them. Everyone is jumping on the Andy Carroll bandwagon, but I am confident the big man will come good and he is very much a long term plan. Ask any Liverpool fan to think of Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam and when you picture them doing their stuff you don’t see them in a Liverpool shirt doing it but in the top of their previous clubs where they were performing consistently. This is not good enough 6 months into their new job and in any other job the management would be asking some serious questions of the employee who is still unable to perform their role.
It’s a real headache for any manager to have underperforming players, especially when you were the one who brought them to the club with a large outlay in the process. Kenny will want to give them time to settle, but if they continue underperforming the only person accountable for what goes out on the pitch is King Kenny himself. If we do not achieve our goals for the season FSG will no doubt be asking serious questions of him. Some may wonder whether formations or tactical strategies are hampering the players showcasing their talents, but this is questionable. Would someone as knowledgeable as King Kenny be actually saying to Stewart Downing, “I want you to run with the ball but not at pace and I don’t want you to beat anyone. Always look to pass backwards when confronted by an opponent. Never hit early crosses to Andy’s strengths always get to the byline and hit a low ball in, give him more to do to get to it”. It seems unlikely. However, playing him right wing does make him predictable to anyone. We are in no danger of a surprised expression being on a full back’s face when Downing checks back onto his stronger foot to try and cross the ball. Also why is Kuyt getting a starting berth ahead of Bellamy for any reason other than fitness as the Dutch workhorse has a smaller return of goals than Andy Carroll for the season and is unlikely to beat Kenny for pace on the wing!
But it’s not all negatives, we do have our inspirational leader back in the fold and he is capable of turning any match on its head but he does need time also after spending so long out. As it showed last week when we were incapable of beating Stoke at home, it’s not a given that even Stevie G can bail us out of the mire all of the time currently. One shining light for me this season has been Jose Enrique, he is nothing short of world class. So strong on and off the ball, so attack minded but also capable of putting in a well timed challenge. The attraction initially with his signing was excitement of him linking up with Downing on the wing but this only looks viable if he fancies plying his trade as a right back. Anything but three points at Bolton on Saturday will all but confirm the words the no Liverpool fan wants to utter... we are not good enough to qualify for Champions League football.
This isn’t a damning verdict there still is time to right that wrong, but games like this weekend’s fixture is a must win and nothing else is acceptable. Average teams can put a winless streak together but good teams put a streak of wins together!