Author: LFC Reds

LIVERPOOL STRUGGLE

Liverpool have had an indifferent last few weeks, as we have slipped out of the title race following defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea. They have also lost points against Aston Villa in the league, but there have been several positive for Liverpool along the way. The comeback victory against Stoke coupled with the comeback against Villa have made the team mentally strong according to manager Brendan Rodgers. Despite conceding very early against Stoke at the Britannia stadium, Liverpool came back strongly to win the match 5-3.

It was followed with a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa. Liverpool could have gone out of the race for the top four if they had lost this match, but they came back with a sense of urgency that only top teams have displayed in the past. Daniel Sturridge got one back for the home team just before half-time before Steven Gerrard equalised in the second half. As a result of these two matches, Liverpool maintain their advantage in the table over the likes of Tottenham and Everton.

Rodgers says that these results show that Liverpool players have developed a mentality where they want to avoid defeat at all costs. The biggest strength of this mentality will come against Everton in the Merseyside derby. The match will take place next week at Anfield.

“This season has been very important because we’ve been able to do a lot of work on the training field and a lot more work behind the scenes on that mental fitness. I think you’ve seen the benefits of that in the confidence and belief of the players, especially if we’re ever down in games or in difficult moments. We’ve definitely improved in that aspect. Stoke was a great example,” said Rodgers. Liverpool are level on points with Tottenham, but they are fourth due to a better goal difference.

THE SAS

Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge are leading the charge for Liverpool’s attacking department in this season but with the Uruguayan striker having faced a number of problems with the club and not only that but also being a major target of top European clubs for the upcoming transfer window, it will be a tough task for them to secure him for another season.

Brendan Rodgers is already looking for alternatives and one of them is the 25 years old Greek forward Kostas Mitroglou who plays for Olympiacos scoring 14 goals in 10 appearances for the club so far in this season.

Kenny Dalglish believes this is the time for Liverpool to take the Premier League title. They have won 7 out of 11 matches played so far and the only club that is ahead of them is Arsenal who are only 3 points ahead, according to the Scottish manager there is no better time for them to take the league by storm.

Southampton is another club that is surprising England having conceded only 5 goals so far, it’s the club that has received fewer goals in this season.

“They are the two sides that have been the surprise ­packages of the season so far and they appear to be the ones playing with the most freedom,” the Scot wrote in his Daily Mirror column.

“They look fresh and eager and I think they are both being helped by the fact they don’t have to worry about European football this season.

“Of course, you want to be involved in the Champions League and the Europa League, if you can, but sometimes you can use your absence from those competitions to your advantage.

RODGERS BEATS CRITICS

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has had some critics since taking over the Merseyside club almost 2 years ago. He has been able to get to the club only into the seventh position in the league despite spending a lot of money. Liverpool’s ambition has been to get into the top four once again, but they are quite far off from achieving this ambition. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard reckons that it is primarily due to the fact that Rodgers decided to use youngsters for most of the matches. He has praised the manager for being brave in deciding to use youngsters.

The likes of Raheem Sterling have become prominent players in the Liverpool squad after coming through the academy. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher remain as the established first-team players to have come from the academy and they made their progression almost two decades ago. Unlike in the past few seasons, Liverpool have made a great start to the league campaign and are currently second in the table. Gerrard believes that they can finally qualify for the top four after missing out on the Champions league for the last five seasons. The club was last seen in this competition back in 2009.

Apart from Sterling, 20-year-old Wisdom is also a part of the Liverpool squad.

“Managers are only ever eight to 10 games away from the sack, so to take risks on unknown young players is difficult. There’s no two ways about it, it’s a lot more difficult to break through nowadays because of the standard of players and because there is a lot more foreigners about. Brendan Rodgers has been fantastic at this club because he’s been brave and he’s given young players a chance,” Gerrard told BBC Breakfast. Liverpool are just two points below table leaders Arsenal after taking four wins from the six matches.

REINA SET FOR NAPOLI

Liverpool are extremely close to losing goalkeeper Pepe Reina for the season after the Spaniard is set to move to Napoli on a season-long loan deal. The arrival of Simon Mignolet from Sunderland for around £ 9 million has put the future of Reina at Anfield under a major doubt. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that they had no other option but to look at bringing in Mignolet to the club. Reina has been linked with a move to Barcelona ever since Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes revealed his intentions to leave the club.

Rodgers has said that Liverpool started searching for a replacement to Reina in the anticipation that they would soon received a bid from Barcelona, but that has not materialised yet. This put Liverpool in a tough situation because Mignolet seemed a great fit for the club, and it was hard to not sign him given his age and qualities. Once brought into the club, Mignolet and Reina were going to be fighting for the same position. Since the 2014 World Cup was only 12 months away, Reina needed to play regularly in order to make it into the Spain squad.

Rodgers has said that the only option at this moment was a loan deal, which has reunited Reina with his former manager Rafa Benitez.

“It was obviously a difficult decision. From last season I was led to believe that we were going to get an offer for Pepe that would probably see him leave the club. As events transpired, that move (for Reina) didn’t happen and it left us with two very good goalkeepers. Both would have been fighting for the No.1 position. An opportunity arose for Pepe and it was one we felt as a football club was best for him to take,” said Rodgers.