We've lost our best skeptic, so here's a fairly interesting article.
Honestly, Kenny Dalglish
It's easy being critical after a loss, I am going to mix it up, and be critical after a win instead. This way I'll avoid the "kneejerker-after-a-loss"-tag.
By Joar Hansen
We've had a good start to the season, and we are placed relatively comfortably on the league-table. I still find it necessary to sound the alarm on both our midfield, and our central defence. We have for many seasons now, with good reason, been able to claim a world-class centreline, but with poor coverage up and down both sides. In my opinion, this has been turned upside down in today's team. Now, we have good fullbacks, and at least a left side worth of comparison with most top teams in Europe. We also have an attack with three strikers, all with qualities we can be proud of.
I have said it earlier, that the coverage in our central defence is not strong enough, that we can go into a game against any opposition without too much worry. We have to admit that we are average, and that Dalglish and Co are holding on to players who are not good enough when the goal is a top-placement in the PL. The hope is that Coates will turn into an addition which will solve our central defence problems, but so far it looks as though he is a solution in the long, rather than the short-run. If we remember pre-season, where we leaked goals like a sieve, and the fact that our best CB spends most of his time in the hospital, it is a mystery for me why Dalglish did not prioritise an established centre back who could have solved our apparent weakness there. Especially considering our spacious transfer-budget.
But it turns for worse when you look at our central midfield. After the sales of Meireles and Aquilani(loan), we are left with Lucas, Adam, Henderson, and hopefully Stevie G. There is little doubt that the boss has gambled high. The result so far is a tempo weak central midfield, with clear deficiencies offensively, both regarding offensive runs, pressure height, and pass quality. You could argue that Adam has a silky left foot, but his capacity and tempo is shockingly bad. Lucas has a good engine and runs a lot, but also he lacks the required tempo, and certainly the pass quality. Our last game against Wolves was a typical Lucas-game, where the work-effort is impeccable as usual, but ripe with unnecessary free-kicks, awkward obstructions of not just opponents, but also team-mates. And when it comes to the offensive contribution, he is found lacking. Adam is constantly late, and never manages to put pressure on the opposition, as a result Lucas must work his socks of to cover the enormous rooms left by Adam. This must be apparent for all, but it doesn't seem like it is for Dalglish, and witnessing it is scary. Remember that this was one of the poorest teams in the league, and it turned into a "Hawaii-match", where we easily could have dropped points. We also create a lot of chances, by all means, but I am far from convinced. In this game, we barely had any midfield at all, and it gets worse when Jordan Henderson is put out of position on the right hand side, time after time. Dalglish cling to his talented youngster, and tries to play him into form. To do this he has to give him a chance centrally, where he feels more comfortable
Even though our CB-pair and our central midfield leaves huge rooms and big questions, it was good to see Andy Carroll looking more like himself again. Still, it was surprising to see Craig Bellamy, who played exceptionally against Brighton, not get a single minute in front of his own fans in this game. I reserve judgement if there were any injuries, but I had not heard anywhere that this was the reason for the lack of minutes. So with the scoreline 2-1, in a game that could easily flip both way, Suarez is taken off, and the captain is put on. This worked well in the end, and Stevie G seemed very light on his feet after the long break. But again, I am left wondering about the logic behind Dalglish's decisions.
When it comes to surprising starting elevens, and subs during the game, it's got the feel of a certain Rafa Benitez, whose subs and starting elevens made other teams coaches, journos, know-it-alls, and also own players left on the field scratching their heads. I really don't hope Dalglish continues down this path.
7.30pm
Chris Iwelumo who plays for Watford now used to stay in the same village where i live, and i used to play football against him and his brother when we were younger. Also used to pick him up some nights coming home from my work and even back then i had know idea he was any good at football, some might say he is not that good even now:lol: But he has done ok for himself and he is fucking massive nowadays, he is some size of a boy.
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