Away woes wreck Reds revival

A very entertaining game against Tottenham at the Lane saw the Reds lose any points in the last few minutes of stoppgae time. The flick by ex 'pool Peter Crouch released the speedy Aaron Lennon who left the ageing Paul Koncheski for dead to then fire confidently past a helpless Pepe Reina. The Reds defence has looked very shakey this season, regular stalwart Jamie Carragher is now out for around 3 months after dislocating his shoulder and needing surgery after a clash in this game.
A first ever Monday night win at Anfield against Aston Villa followed a draw in Bucharest against Steaeu after a Milan Jovanic opener; 3-0 against ex Reds boss Gerrard Houllier in what was a relatively easy game for the boys. Fernando Torres missed this as his wife went into labour with their second child.
Then on the road again to the home of the Toon army; and another dismal performance against a Newcastle side with newly installed boss Alan Pardew; the Magpies reeling after the shock dismissal of Chris Hughton. A dreadfully poorly defended free kick saw Kevin Nolan sneak in unattended to flick in an unchallenged Andy Carroll header.
Liverpool were the better side for much of the game, but the front 2 of Fernando Torres and David Ngog looked slow and ineffective. The second half saw a much faster tempo and a Dirk Kuyt equaliser, and a very dominant Liverpool in total control. Then came the introduction of Newcastles' Ranger; very fast and very strong.....and the writing was on the wall for the Reds. He tore into the defence and caused panic at every turn. Newcastle turned up the aggression, and that is the one thing that Liverpool seem unable to deal with. Any side hitting the 'pool hard and fast are likely to get a result, and footballs biggest muppet Joey Barton got stuck in at every opportunity. He then proved to be a nemesis when he prodded home another poorly defended free kick before big Toon striker Andy Carroll beat Pepe Reina from around 25 yards with a blistering, unchallenged strike.
If anything has become very clear this season it is that the Premier League is now more about attacking forces; there are no rock solid defences on show, and every team is capable of beating anyone. The sides with the most potent attacking forces are likely to win the honours this year. To me, those are Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. Though newcomers Blackpool and Newcastle are not short on attacking options, or Bolton and Sunderland to a lesser degree.
January must see proven attacking players joining the ranks of Liverpool, because this season is going the way of the mid 90s where it was the norm to go out and score at will, even at the expense of conceding nearly as many! The current Tottenham side is the most exciting and most attacking since that of the mid 90s which included Jurgen Klinsmann, Nick Barmby, Teddy Sherringham, Darren Anderton David Ginola and Les Ferdinand; often used as a 5 man attacking formation, scoring many goas and providing great entertainment, but conceding as many and sometimes more. The Newcastle team under Kevin Keegan was very similar, and I don't think it will last.
Fulham at Anfield next week.....should we dare hope???

Hodgsons' Heroes

What a fantastic shot in the arm for Roy Hodgson and Liverpool after Fernando Torres struck 2 goals to push the Reds back to within a whisker of a Champions League place against the early frontrunners Chelsea. This was probably the most convincing performance by the Anfield men this season, although I don't fully subscribe to the doom merchants who have been conviced that Roy is not the man to guide us to greater things, I have been less than happy with the performances thus far.
Personally, I think the teams we have played already are likely to have given us a problem whatever part of the season we played them; Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea already. We normally have those games spread over the season and if we had lost all of those games in such a "normal" scenario, nobody would be batting an eyelid. Because the results essentially haven't been good so early and so close together in the season, coupled with the increasing standards of all the teams in the Prem, the Reds have found themselves in the unprecedented position of a relegation spot. The results are starting to come, the performances are improving too, though I still think we have a long way to go, and I don't doubt there will be hiccups still; but at last the boss is getting something back from the lads. I predict a win this Wednesday against Wigan, though I don't think it will be easy, and then again when we play Stoke at the weekend. Who knows, if other results go our way, we may find ourselves right back up there. Remember, people....You'll Never Walk Alone! Back the lads through thick and thin and we will be rewarded.