We're On Our Way To Wembley

     So, we are on our way to Wembley, a poor performance from the Reds, who as always, did it the hard way, with a penalty shoot out win.  For me the most memorable things from the semi were Lucas appearing to want to fight the whole Stoke support and the post match interview from Jurgen Klopp, how can you not smile when your manager told you it doesn't matter who we play in the final we will in the cup.

     I'm delighted to have made a final, we have our big day out and for me it shows that we are developing under Klopp.  I know it's "only" the league cup and we would probably swap it for a top four place but it's a cup final a huge chance of silverware and its Liverpool back at Wembley, where we belong, challenging for trophies.  We have made it to a final amidst the worst injury crisis this club has seen for years, without our star player for almost the whole season and with according to most commentators no creativity, nobody to take a chance, the worst defence in the country, the worst keeper, the worst record from set plays both defending and attacking and having changed managers half way through the campaign it would appear that our manager can work miracles, especially when you consider we have had to play far to many games in a short period and we are still in both the FA Cup and the UEFA league more chances of glory.

     Success in the League Cup is often seen as a stepping stone with supporters believing it will lead to further success in bigger trophies, " it shows the team are heading in the correct direction".  In the case of Liverpool this season I'm not sure we had far to many problems with the team but what it does who is the manager is working along the correct lines h can do it, he can do it with the players he has available at the moment, imagine what he could could achieve without the injuries, imagine hat he can achieve when he has had time to work with the players, imagine what he can achieve when they understand fully understand his philosophy , imagine what he can achieve when they have completed a full pre season and are a fit as he needs, imagine what he can achieve when he a brought in his own players, when we have a goalkeeper who can catch and a striker who can score, just imagine.  I liked Klopp from the moment he walks through the door but I had been hoping he would take us forward that he could take us to finals but he has now proved it to me, to all the support, to the players and to the owners there is now no reason why he can't be given everything he needs and when he is watch us go.

@lumolfc

Problems At The Back

      It's getting beyond the point of worry or concern now for years we have had weaknesses at the back but over the last year or so things have appear to be getting progressively worse until we are now at the point that it seems every shot on target is a goal, a corner for our opponents is as good as a penalty, every attack causes fear to spread around the support and players and our individual international level defenders all appear to have never played the game before with horrendous individual errors a weekly occurrence with communication and organisation a thing of the past.

     I am not claiming to be a coach and certainly not to have all the answers but I along with most other supporters have seen some issues that need addressing sooner rather than later.  Firstly and for me the biggest issue is our goalkeepers, Mignolet and Bogdan are not good enough, Mignolet our regular starter appears now to have reached the stage of Reina before him where every shot on target is a goal, a huge problem when his only attribute was that he was a good shot stopper.  His distribution is still appalling, organisation non existent, command of the area equally poor and his confidence appears to be totally shot and I believe all of this has caused problems with his defenders in front of him, people have no confidence and the panic is spreading.  Bogdan is worse so we don't have the solution of giving him again he has similar problems but actually seems to add to the problems causing problems that aren't there almost throwing the ball in his own goal.

     What's the solution, for me a new goalkeeper and long term we need to look at our keeper coaching, Mignolet is not the first keeper we have broken, when you are this far down there is no way back.   I am aware that we have recently given Mignolet his new contract and I simply don't understand why, I am hoping we will be bringing in a new number one and he will be our reserve cover although I would like to see the promising Ward given a chance as well.

     Our defenders are not without blame all of them seem to have a mistake in them.  Skrtel in my opinion flatters to deceive he is one of those players who is often not directly to blame but is always at the edge of the crime, Toure has been quality in his day but is finished his legs have gone and is prone to a bit of panic despite his constant calm down gestures, Lovren before his injury was in the process of proving me wrong for a whil he looked like a joke player but under Klopp has been far better, in the wait and see basket for me, Sakho also is proving me wrong I thought he was quality but recently has been coming down to the level of the rest of our defenders and doesn't seem to be strong enough in the air needs to do far better mor often.  Moreno is an idiot just seems to be to thick to learn, a superb athlete with very little brain and Clyne has been a disappointment started off well it's consistently good defending but has got worse each week to the point that he is now targeted by many teams as the week link and thats amongst those listed above.  What's the solution? Again for me it's personnel changes but I think we can improve from coaching we have no communication , nobody taking the lead nobody organising and when mistakes are made somebody should be handing out a bollocking, we need to get nasty, we need to get physical and we need to get in the front foot and individuals need to do their jobs if your marking somebody then mark him and make sure he doesn't get his head in the ball, oh and just as an aside get somebody on the posts from corners I have been told all my life that this is what you do but for some reason we have stopped and we have conceded goals because of this

    Overall we need players who can do the job to the required level and that's going to mean replacing one or two or more of our back line but we also have to get organised and get nasty it's has been to long since we have looked comfortable at the back to challenge at the top we have to be strong at the back. 

    

Sturridge A Problem Or The Solution

     When Sturridge missed yet another game with a foot injury, I, like almost wverybody else, was incredibly frustrated, I remember some of the goals he scored whilst alongside Suarez, I knew he was good but to be honest I had forgotten how good he was and I think after reading my Twitter timeline so had many others.  Enough is enough, we need to get rid, get what cash we can for him and farm him out, he is no longer worth the wages, we must get rid, he has become a liability were all comments posted by Liverpool fans and you can certainly see why people were this frustrated injury after injury, constant stories that Sturridge has broken down again, returns to the team only to break down again after only a couple of starts and then this time injured before he even got back on he pitch, it did start to feel like we were paying him for nothing.  Then Klopp worked his magic and Sturridge was encouraged back on to the pitch and within a half had two goals and had inspired Liverpool to a 6-1 win away to Southampton and we all remembered why we love him.

      For most of this season we have been lacking in goals, with only Benteke and Coutinho looking to me like they could get a goal, certainly on a regular basis, far to many draws were the outcome of not having a player  who can tuck the ball away on a regular basis.  It took 45 minutes for us to realise what we were missing not only a goalscorer but a player who can create space, who makes intelligent runs, who lifts the rest of the team who can do the simplest yet most difficult task and put the ball in the net, a player who can turn those draws into wins and who could just possibly turn our dreams into reality.

     Nobody single player is more important than any other, but a striker is responsible for scoring goals and if you as a team don't score you don't win its that simple.  I can't think of any championship winning team woo it a top quality striker, without somebody who can turn those draws into wins, who can break the deadlock when it seems the goal is never going to come.  We have strikers and I am reasonably hopeful that Benteke will turn out to be a good signing for us, Ings had looked like he was finding form just before a season ending injury and Origi despite his three goals recently still has a long way to go despite looking like he may have the potential to achieve but not one of them can compete with Sturridge for goal scoring, match wining ability.

     So yes that statement is always there, "if we can keep him fit" Sturridge is the key man to us challenging for and yes we can dream, winning the title. Not a problem, not a waste of money, we should pay anything for a chance, just a chance that our dreams may come true.  So it turns out that Sturridge may be the solution to our problems the solution we have been waiting for.

@lfclumo

Rotation, Rotation, Rotation

Whilst like almost everybody else I think rotation, used correctly, is vital, sometimes I think it  is getting out of hand and dare I say ridiculous again with our supporters appearing to jump on a bandwagon and start shouting their mouths off before engaging the brain and thinking about what they are saying or asking for.

Firstly let me say that i agree with most it is absolutely imperative that we rest players so that we don't ruin careers like we have done in the past with the likes of Owen through over playing but also so that out team doesn't suffer in the hear and now suffering with unnecessary injuries or loss of form through tiredness both of which could cost us points.

Having said that I have listened to one recent podcast that during the course of their show called for all ten of our outfield players to be rested or rotated for an important league fixture and this is silly, taking things to extremes again.  Obviously all ten can't be replaced while we still field a strong enough team and whilst I agree that tired players need to be given a week off occasionally we have to look at it from the perspective of the whole team and who we can afford to drop and who we need for that particular fixture as well as who is available to come in and replace those we are resting, if we don't have replacements fit and available then players can't be rested they are just going to have to tough it out.

Form is an important consideration, if a player is in top form banging in the goals every week, for me it is not the time to rest him, let him play, let the team get the benefits and rest him when there is the inevitable dip.  By the nature of it his form will drop off when he tires and that is surely the time to drop or rest somebody not when they are in the middle of a hot streak.  At Liverpool we always seem to want to protect players for the later, that never seems to come.  When is the big game that we are resting or wanting to rest all these players for?  We have calls to rest players in the League Cup semi finals, in the FA Cup, in the UEFA cup in the Champions League and in big six point League fixtures exactly what are we saving them for, there is nothing left, they will all be nice and fresh for their summer holidays.

The opposite is also true a player struggling with form should be the one who is dropped or rested and given a chance to recover, poor form will inevitably be a symptom of tiredness so this would be the ideal time to take somebody out of the team but hen our manager does this we seem to criticise claiming he has chucked players under the bus and we should be supporting them.  Rodgers does take players out of the team when they appear to be suffering and when he brings them back it appears to work Sterling last season was dropped, Mignolet this season was dropped or rested and now looks like a star, Lovren, Balotelli, Sakho, Can, Lucas, Markovic, Lallana, Moreno, Sterling all possiby first eleven have had time out of the team and when they have come back have looked stronger with possibly only Sterling not showing terrible form before he was rested, when you add to this list the players who have been injured Sturridge, Gerrard, Johnson, Allan and those such as Lambert, Enrique and Manquillo who were possibly always just cover we are changing or rotating our team a lot.

 For me Rodgers is taking people out of the team and when they come back their form has been good so we are resting players and now at the end of the season when the fixture list is becoming more of a problem and every game seems to be a six pointer we should be seeing the benefits, we should be able to play our strongest team more often then rest players over the summer it's what Rodgers does look at our record in his previous seasons we finish strong look at the evidence players have been taking out of the team and have come back stronger and better.  So please trust our manager in this at least he appears to know what he is doing.

 @lfclumo