Fickle Fans Need Longer Memories

In the wake of Liverpool’s exit out of the FA Cup at the hands of League 2 side Oldham Athletic, fans were quick to criticize the team, the manager, the owners, and just about anyone associated with the club.

Fans called for certain players to never wear the Liverpool shirt again, for Brendan Rodgers to be sacked, and also condemned the American owners for not putting in adequate investment into the side despite the imminent arrival of Inter Milan’s Philippe Coutinho for £8.5mil, which will take Liverpool’s January spending up to £20.5mil.

Valid concerns were raised regarding the progress of the club, the readiness of certain youngsters, and the quality of both the overall squad and the man in charge.

Sturridge Provides the Reds with a Wealth of Options

Liverpool finally confirmed an early contender for worst kept secret of 2013 when they announced the signing of Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea for a reported £12mil on January 2. Ever since manager Brendan Rodgers was shortchanged by owners Fenway Sports Group on transfer deadline day back in August, the squad has had little to no support in the attacking department for Luis Suarez, especially with Fabio Borini sidelined for the past three months. The signing of Sturridge has gone some way to correcting that.

Sturridge comes to the club with mixed reviews. While there is little doubt surrounding his talent and potential, many concerns are raised over his attitude and his ability to cut it at the top level. He made defenders look like fools on a regular basis throughout his youth career at Manchester City, and there were a number of clubs waiting to snap him up when he ran down his contract with the Citizens.

From 17-year-old Reserve Player to Household Name

The diabolical conclusion to the transfer window which saw Brendan Rodgers thoroughly starved of financial support from the executive side of the club in his pursuit of Clint Dempsey – who eventually found his way to Tottenham Hotspur on deadline day – was a huge cause for concern for Reds fans. It was clear that Rodgers would be forced to dip into the gold-mine that is the Liverpool academy to fill his first team squad until he can bolster his options in January.

Three youngsters have gone straight from the U21’s side to the starting XI this season. English winger Raheem Sterling, defender Andre Wisdom, and Spanish playmaker Suso have all been drafted into the first team to fill the gaps left by the departing Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez and Andy Carroll, as well as the injuries to Fabio Borini, Martin Kelly and Jose Enrique.

Game Recap of Fixtures with Anzhi, Everton and Swansea

Liverpool 1-0 Anzhi Makhachkala

After finally getting that illusive first home league win of the season against Reading, Liverpool welcomed Russian super-spenders Anzhi Makhachkala to Anfield in the Europa League. Brendan Rodgers recognized the strength of the Dagestan outfit and fielded a strong line-up of his own including the likes of Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez.

The Reds were on the front foot for most of the first half but struggled to make a breakthrough. Jonjo Shelvey missed an excellent opportunity to give Liverpool the lead but could only scoop his shot over the bar from 18 yards with only the keeper to beat after great work from Suarez. Liverpool were also denied a host of penalty appeals, the most forceful being when Glen Johnson was tripped from behind just as he was about to pull the trigger from six yards out.

Recent Games Round-up Part 3

Liverpool 2-3 Udinese

After finally securing their first league win of the season with the 5-2 thrashing of Norwich, Liverpool’s attentions shifted to the Europa League and the visit of Italian side Udinese.

Jonjo Shelvey was making his first appearance since his sending off against Manchester United, and it took him 23 minutes to make his mark as he headed in a floated cross from the much-maligned Stewart Downing – who was also making a rare start. The lead stayed with Liverpool until half time with Udinese posing little attacking threat and little evidence that they would be able to get back into the game.

Recent Games Round-up Part 2

West Brom 1-2 Liverpool

Liverpool travelled back to the Hawthorns in an attempt to gain revenge for their season-opening 3-0 drubbing against West Brom with a tie against the same opponent in the Capital One Cup. Brendan Rodgers used the cup competition to throw youngsters and new signings into the deep end yet again, with Sebastian Coates, Andre Wisdom, Jack Robinson, Dani Pacheco and Samed Yesil all awarded a starting spot, as well as opportunities for new signings Nuri Sahin and Oussama Assaidi.

The game started in the worst possible fashion for the Reds as Gabriel Tamas capitalized after reserve goalkeeper Brad Jones had dropped a lofted free kick, with replays showing that the Australian keeper was in fact struck in the face by West Brom defender Jonas Olsson just as he went up for the catch. 

It took only 14 minutes for Liverpool to reply though, with Sahin firing in a speculative shot from thirty yards only for Ben Foster to make a complete hash out of the save and could only watch the ball bounce into the back of the net for the Turkish internationals first goal for the club after his loan move from Real Madrid.

Recent Games Round-up Part 1

It has been a while since I last had a match report write-up, so I am going to quickly cover all the games I have missed since the draw with Sunderland.

It will be split into three parts with the first covering the games against Young Boys and Manchester United, part 2 will cover the Capital One Cup game against West Brom and the trip to Carrow Road to face Norwich. Part 3 will cover the next Europa League fixture against Udinese, and the two back-to-back home league games against Stoke and Reading.