Anthony McIntyre bemoans a Liverpool loss of form in front of goal.


Just finished watching Liverpool lose in the FA Cup to Manchester United, a glorious free kick from Bruno Fernandez securing the win and progress to the next round. My son beside me was in his element. Good that we don't exercise bragging rights. Not that I could retaliate by finding some vindictive and vengeful excuse to ground him when Covid has done that already. Even when my Mancunian friend, Kevin Morley, rang me it wasn't to gloat. So, few grounds for complaint. I got off lightly. 

The red half of Manchester might not, as of late, have produced the city's best side but at least they are a good side and Liverpool surprisingly, given recent form, did manage to score, twice.  No point in getting annoyed at United. They did what they had to do and did it better than Liverpool.

During the week Liverpool lost their unbeaten Premiership home record to Burnley. That's how bad fortunes have plummeted. Burnley - Seriously? 

The sourness of it all has been compounded by not being able to reach for a drink to sweeten the pill. I have been on the annual January dry. Liverpool have as well in the EPL. Not one sip of whiskey for me, not one sniff of the net for Liverpool. The team that would not score have successfully managed not to do so in four consecutive games. Having lost one record during the week, the Merseysiders seem to have their hearts set on establishing a new one. Not one of the sides currently in the bottom three, West Brom, Fulham or Sheffield Utd have failed to score in four Premiership league matches in a row.

This is a side that will not retain the EPL title this time around. 

Despite all the injury worries in the backline, the defenders have been pretty effective for the most part. The partnership of Henderson and Fabinho at the centre, flanked by Robinson and Alexander-Arnold has coped in the prolonged absence of Van Dijk and Gomez. That tightness across the back will be sorely tested if Henderson, absent today, does not return quickly to replace the cumbersome and sluggish makeshift-makeshift, Rhys Williams

The forwards, on the other hand, have been useless. The input coding seems to have gone wrong, leaving the front line to believe that it is their job to keep a clean sheet. Imagine a binman who week-in-week-out failed to pick up any bins on his run and demanded to be paid for not doing it. He would be told where to go and stick his pronounced sense of entitlement where the sun don’t shine. At the moment the sun is not shining inside the opposing team’s 18 yard line. It is so blacked out that the Liverpool forwards can’t see the posts. Or else it is shining so brightly in their eyes that it has damaged their vision. All that can be said is that at the moment  the front three are running around the park with white sticks with no sense of where the goal is. I half expect them to walk out next week led by a guide dog. 

The side are currently in the form that afflicted them two seasons ago, where a useless run damned their title chances. Seven points clear at Christmas and they managed to blow it. Four draws from games they should easily have won. But even then they could find the back of the net.

Against Manchester United last week they put on a lackluster performance. They look nothing like title contenders and more like strugglers. In some ways they mirror Leeds United – both have good managers, on paper a good squad, but on the pitch aimless and ineffective.  

Nor is it easy to watch. Even superlative goalkeeping loses its ability to excite after a while. It is not the main meal.  Looking at Liverpool go forward is like watching a car being pushed with a rope. It might be a great experience to play in a scoreless draw, the back line at least can come away feeling satisfied. But too many of them is not the purpose of the game. Think of watching a Brazilian national side that could defend well but not attack. 

The talent squander in front of goal is what has damned Liverpool this season, not the absence of the Flying Dutchman. 

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Pushing A Car With A Rope

Anthony McIntyre bemoans a Liverpool loss of form in front of goal.


Just finished watching Liverpool lose in the FA Cup to Manchester United, a glorious free kick from Bruno Fernandez securing the win and progress to the next round. My son beside me was in his element. Good that we don't exercise bragging rights. Not that I could retaliate by finding some vindictive and vengeful excuse to ground him when Covid has done that already. Even when my Mancunian friend, Kevin Morley, rang me it wasn't to gloat. So, few grounds for complaint. I got off lightly. 

The red half of Manchester might not, as of late, have produced the city's best side but at least they are a good side and Liverpool surprisingly, given recent form, did manage to score, twice.  No point in getting annoyed at United. They did what they had to do and did it better than Liverpool.

During the week Liverpool lost their unbeaten Premiership home record to Burnley. That's how bad fortunes have plummeted. Burnley - Seriously? 

The sourness of it all has been compounded by not being able to reach for a drink to sweeten the pill. I have been on the annual January dry. Liverpool have as well in the EPL. Not one sip of whiskey for me, not one sniff of the net for Liverpool. The team that would not score have successfully managed not to do so in four consecutive games. Having lost one record during the week, the Merseysiders seem to have their hearts set on establishing a new one. Not one of the sides currently in the bottom three, West Brom, Fulham or Sheffield Utd have failed to score in four Premiership league matches in a row.

This is a side that will not retain the EPL title this time around. 

Despite all the injury worries in the backline, the defenders have been pretty effective for the most part. The partnership of Henderson and Fabinho at the centre, flanked by Robinson and Alexander-Arnold has coped in the prolonged absence of Van Dijk and Gomez. That tightness across the back will be sorely tested if Henderson, absent today, does not return quickly to replace the cumbersome and sluggish makeshift-makeshift, Rhys Williams

The forwards, on the other hand, have been useless. The input coding seems to have gone wrong, leaving the front line to believe that it is their job to keep a clean sheet. Imagine a binman who week-in-week-out failed to pick up any bins on his run and demanded to be paid for not doing it. He would be told where to go and stick his pronounced sense of entitlement where the sun don’t shine. At the moment the sun is not shining inside the opposing team’s 18 yard line. It is so blacked out that the Liverpool forwards can’t see the posts. Or else it is shining so brightly in their eyes that it has damaged their vision. All that can be said is that at the moment  the front three are running around the park with white sticks with no sense of where the goal is. I half expect them to walk out next week led by a guide dog. 

The side are currently in the form that afflicted them two seasons ago, where a useless run damned their title chances. Seven points clear at Christmas and they managed to blow it. Four draws from games they should easily have won. But even then they could find the back of the net.

Against Manchester United last week they put on a lackluster performance. They look nothing like title contenders and more like strugglers. In some ways they mirror Leeds United – both have good managers, on paper a good squad, but on the pitch aimless and ineffective.  

Nor is it easy to watch. Even superlative goalkeeping loses its ability to excite after a while. It is not the main meal.  Looking at Liverpool go forward is like watching a car being pushed with a rope. It might be a great experience to play in a scoreless draw, the back line at least can come away feeling satisfied. But too many of them is not the purpose of the game. Think of watching a Brazilian national side that could defend well but not attack. 

The talent squander in front of goal is what has damned Liverpool this season, not the absence of the Flying Dutchman. 

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

49 comments:

  1. Neil Lennon is available. Just putting that out there to make you feel an awful lot better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Klopp is not the problem here - but he might become one if he fails to resolve the empty chamber men situation up front.

      Delete
  2. Firmino's ball through to Salah was reminiscent of what they can do, but overall, aye they are a shadow of their top form. Doing dry January myself, finding it surprisingly easy, don't get me wrong, looking forward to a week tomorrow when I will savour a few Scotch. As you said on another thread, it's not the same without the fans, imagine that game 3-2 with old Trafford bouncing, ten times better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they can but it comes in flashes.

      Definitely not the same minus fans.

      I don't know how long the dry will last - went to May a couple of years back. I don't miss it in the slightest.

      Delete
    2. Lockdown has forced dry January on me as I am a pub but very rarely (Bailey's Cream for Xmas and birthday) home drinker.

      Never mind, I am saving quite a bit as a result.

      Delete
  3. For a Liverpool fan you are without equal when it comes to putting the boot into your tean Mackers.

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    Replies
    1. I like to be able to state what is or at least how I see what is. Would you stay quiet if the binman walked by your house and never took away your rubbish?

      Delete
    2. As is your right, it's good to care about something other than family now and again.

      Delete
  4. No team has hit 90 points three seasons in a row. Mourinho, Pep, Klopp are the only ones who have done two. Buy two centre halves, win the title. Buy nobody, finish fifth. Team cursed with injuries. Fenway think it's job done having won the big trophies. Klopp will walk if he isn't backed in the transfer market. Get defenders on loan. Lots to choose from. Sell Keita and Ox. Always injured. Man utd have bridged a 33 points gap in 6 months. 😤

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    Replies
    1. Ronan - the defence is not the problem. They keep clean sheets. The forward line thinks it has to keep clean sheets as well. That is where the matter must be resolved. But they are are down to the last line of defence now. As Stalin said in relation to Operation Barbarossa soon there will be nowhere left to retreat to. You are right about Ox and the Keita. Not much use if they can't turn out. Pity as I like the Ox.

      Delete
  5. Lennon might become available but Frank lampard is....according to TalkSport Frank is getting the boot....

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  6. Anthony,
    Never thought about extending the dry period beyond January, might give that a go.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David - it is not that I plan to. January is a definite no breach. If I were to drink in January I would regard that as a having failed to meet the target. After that, I go with the flow. Last year it was mid March because that virus had started and I said "fuck it" after a two hour wait in a phone shop trying to sort out my teens' upgrades. Straight into Dunnes and bought two tins, which I drank walking home!!
      I got a bottle of Tequila at Xmas - the current favourite. Didn't even open it.

      Delete
  7. With De Bruyne out for city for 6 or so weeks I believe any 4/5teams still in with a big chance for EPL ,wouldn't write off Liverpool yet ,a little oiling a little extra stretch a more killer attitude can change any 90 minutes..I believe it's attitude attitude attitude that makes a team ,just look at Leicester they to will go close ..btw that's from a Celtic man what would I know..

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  8. Frankie... Lampard gone Lennon to follow they both as ineffective as covid19.. No one fixing the stats for those two... lol

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tottenham v Liverpool on Thursday night becoming the proverbial six-pointer.

    Steve R

    What is your reaction to Lampard's dismissal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barry,

      We knew something was wrong around Christmas, word around the place was that the job was too big for Lampard at this stage. He'd lost the dressing room and the matches I watched looked like the team was devoid of direction not effort. Great shame as he holds a special place in our hearts but hopefully he comes back in the future. This is the first time I can remember Roman personally sending out a message to the fans over a manger going that I can remember.

      He's utterly ruthless, but when you stick as much money as he has into something he demands success. Hopefully Tuchel uses the youth though, going forward.

      Delete
  10. My problem with Frank getting the boots is.....2/3 months ago everyone was calling for Ole to get the boot. Today he is being mentioned in the same sentence as Fergie (Fergie was nearly sacked)..and Bruno might be the new Cantona...

    Sacking Frank was wrong.

    Larry,

    Lennon isn't my problem but yours...

    I wouldn't worry about Liverpool. I'd fear them. A few months again both Pep and Artea had blips and now ...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lennon not so much the problem as too many players sold when they should have been adding to ensure the ten. That had to send the wrong signal to the other players.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Liverpool, they are like Ronnie 'the Irishman'O'Sullivan" ....He will lose 4 frames in a row and win the next ten...All depends if the board back Klopp...

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    Replies
    1. the board will back him - think that is guaranteed. And they should. He is a great manager. But what can he do when three world class strikers simply won't fire up front? Let's see if they can maintain their record and go for five clean sheets in a row at the wrong end of the pitch

      Delete
  13. Anthony,
    You weren't the only one to have a wee gargle when covid reared it's head. This tax year will be the poorest I've had since 2008. A wee Scotch now and then helps put things in perspective. I'm going to see how long I can go right enough.
    Larry,
    Lennon is just the public face, the problems go deeper. He is an idiot, though. Tactically inept, when things aren't going well, which is all the time, he just stands there, growling. His substitutions are baffling. His recruitment, Jesus wept, Duffy? Who thinks it is a good idea to sign a centre half that can't run and takes an hour to turn? Especially when our full backs play high up the pitch and you're left with just two at the back often, one ball over the top we're fucked. Bolingoli? Worst left back I've ever seen, tackles across his own body,worst positional sense I have seen. Taylor? Tries his best, hasn't the skills set. Ajeti? West ham didn't play him for a reason. Klimala? Not got the skills. Vargas, worst keeper I've seen. I'm saying this as someone who went week in week out in the nineties, when we had Muggleton, McNally, Gillespie, Hughes, O'Neill, Biggins etc we finished fourth twice in a row in the Scottish league and this current mob are worse at least then you had the maestro and Collins to cheer you up.

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  14. David 100 percent. I used to go in 90s Rangers doing 14 in a row wasn't beyond belief. And the stadium sweet Jesus... follow a river of urine at half time to the toilets no signs needed. May have new stadium but the appointment of Lennon was the typically cheap option.

    Banking on Rangers being still off the pace and selling key players was unforgivable. Never mind falling asleep at the wheel the board were munching sedatives.

    The Kelly and White attitude hasn't gone away you know.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Just wondering are Boris Johnson and Chris Witty on the board of directors at Celtic?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Rangers were hurt badly by the Tax bollocks and demotion/pheonixing. They'll never let it happen again hence the sensible recruitment and painfully slow but steady improvements on and off the park. Big surprise was Celtic being asleep at the wheel, how did they not see this coming?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Steve R they were on celebrating the ten in a row three years ago...if Rangers were on deludamol thinking their first title as a new club is actually 55 then Celtic have been on fukn opioids.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Larry,

      Or at least a cheeky bottle of bucky for breakfast!

      Delete
  18. Steve R I detest that stuff. Whatever they were on it did the job.

    ReplyDelete
  19. They ended that run last night - two of their forwards scored. Not before time. Klopp must have kicked them up the goolies and told them to do the business.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Definitely not the same minus fans.

    I never thought (until the lockdown) just how much fans influence matches. At times it is like watching FIFA 2021 on an xbox/playstation..

    ReplyDelete
  21. 0-1 to Brighton. Seriously?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anthony

      Both Liverpool and Leeds are being particularly badly affected by the absence of home fans as the results tonight showed; it has ,to all intents and purposes, cost you your title defence.

      We deserved a point against the blue half of Merseyside but playing eight attackers and the brilliance of their new goalie, Olson (whither Jordan Pickford) ensured we got nothing.

      Delete
    2. What the hell happened to you lot?

      Delete
    3. Barry - I don't know - it seems to me they are malfunctioning on so many levels. Last night TAA took serious online criticism for his defensive display. His match ratings this season are piss poor. But a defence that keeps it down to one goal conceded has done ok if the forward line is determined not to keep a clean sheet. This is Liverpool's problem. Upfront they are not firing with the consistency needed to win the championship. City will take it and they are worthy winners.
      Steve - the above is what happened! Might need to cover up my ring and earring in case people start laughing at me for being a LFC supporter!!

      Delete
  22. Steve,
    It wasn't a demotion, you were liquidated. There wasn't a club to demote. Sevco bought the assets and applied to trade as the Rangers football club. Let's not a pretend it was all a wee mix up. Cheeky bastards had the gall to petition to go straight into the top tier of Scottish football. Anyway congratulations, a club that's nine years old winning the league is a remarkable achievement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David,

      "Anyway congratulations, a club that's nine years old winning the league is a remarkable achievement."

      Yep, a team that came from nothing went straight to the top and kicked Septics arse within a decade of existing then. Shows how shite Septic really are then.

      Delete
  23. Davisd

    Totally bang on the nail. They were able to walk straight into a dead mans clothes and house. New entity first title.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Larry,

      Keep telling yourself that if it helps lol

      Delete
  24. Replies
    1. Anthony is that the Belfast Telegraph piece? Your link isn't working. All I done to read it was hi-lighted the link, right click and search web for...Then I read BT piece...(hope it makes sense)...

      Delete
  25. Today's performance has almost driven me to break the dry but I resisted. Hopeless again. Liverpool goalkeeper was City's best asset. But there we go.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anthony, you can always come over to the dark side and support Man Utd......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can forgive all the Provo stuff but never becoming a Manc fan!

      Delete
  27. Steve,
    Hahaha. It's does that

    ReplyDelete