EPL Talk » Pepe Reina

Liverpool Need to Relax if the Title Will Actually be Theirs

Sebastian Shepard — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:18:16 +0000

The first noises started when Real Madrid were humbled at Anfield. Then Liverpool managed to make up ground on United since what seems like the first time since the winter break with a thumping of the champions at Old Trafford. It got noisier still. Then, what seemed like an impossibility happened: Man U dropped three more points and Liverpool still managed take three points. The lead was reduced from an untouchable 7 points to one point.

After a ridiculous 13 goals in the past three games, the buzz surrounding Liverpool grew to an equally ridiculous pitch. First came the expected declarations from Gerrard, Riera, Carragher, and Skrtel that the Reds have what it takes to win the Premier League and end the title drought.

“The pressure is on United, we have conviction, form favors us, etc.”

We’ve heard it before, always at the end of a season when the front-runner stumbles and the doomed runners-up suddenly look lively. Chelsea last season actually were level with United on points but behind on goal difference at a later stage of the season, and players made similar statements but failed to edged out the Red Devils for the title.

The difference between this year and last year is that it ended with the title race, whereas in the past week or so Liverpool players have been earning huge acclaim.

The Steven Gerrard praise is acceptable. On form, he’s the best in England. He was recently declared better than Kaka, which has been true over the past few months, but if I had to choose between the two based on the performance of their careers, I’d choose the Brazilian.

Zidane disagrees and said Gerrard is the best in the world, ahead of Messi. I’d once again have to disagree, as I think the Argentine will absolutely cement his status as world’s best in the upcoming Champions League clash against Bayern, in the Copa del Rey final against Bilbao and when Barcelona secures La Liga. Thankfully, Gerrard recently agreed with me and has stated he doesn’t think he is the best footballer on the planet.

Some praise is totally out of control though, such as the idea that Pepe Reina might actually score someday because the Spaniard’s distribution from the box is excellent. Goalkeepers have scored before, but the idea that Pepe Reina will get within shooting range and beat a EPL or UCL class shot-stopper is a little insulting.

The point is that the people at and around the club need to stay calm.

Realities need to be faced, the most important being that Man U still have a game-in-hand, and Liverpool need them to have two more slip-ups in the remaining nine games. Given recent form this is possible, but given that five of the nine are at home, where United have dropped 5 points all season, and that the four away fixtures are against Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Hull, and Wigan, I can’t really see many problems for the Champions. Wigan can force a draw from the Red Devils, and Arsenal can surely beat them at Old Trafford, but even then Liverpool would have to be perfect for the rest of the season to win.

Liverpool can do it, and United can certainly fail. The key is not to get carried away. The Reds have a remaining eight games of similar caliber, and injuries aside, should be able to make the race tight till the final one or two games.

The international break is coming up, and I think it is a great time for both Sir Alex and Rafa to settle their squads before the final push. Whoever does it more effectively will probably end up champions.

Chelsea In Trouble

Christopher Walker — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:56:14 +0000

Late Liverpool Halt Chelsea’s Faltering Challenge

It’s a cold Sunday afternoon and I’ve parked my backside on the sofa to watch Liverpool vs Chelsea, a clash of the title contenders. Man United’s ominous form coupled with their rivals inability to keep pace means we all know that the team that loses Sunday’s game is well and truly out of the title race…in January.

The game itself is perhaps no thriller, Chelsea apparently toothless in attack registering a meagre 2 attempts on target to Liverpool’s 9. The first half was far from an enthralling affair but from the first whistle a hungrier, more dyanimic Liverpool were the only side who could have saved the game from being labelled a bore-draw.

The London side’s supporters were clearly never going to leave Anfield happy. An indifferent performance by goalkeeper Petr Cech, who was twice nearly caught in possession and Didier Drogba again left on the bench as Chelsea lined up 4-3-3 with Anelka, Malouda and Kalour preferred, no doubt to the Ivorian’s frustration to lead the attack. The Blues created nothing all afternoon, Pepe Reina a spectator in the Reds goalmouth for much of the game.

Just after the hour mark Chelsea’s midfield finally featured in one of the games major talking points but not in the way that manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari would have wanted. Frank Lampard lunging for 50/50 with Xabi Alonso catching his opponent in the follow through was bizarrely adjudged by trigger-happy official Mike Riley to be worthy of a red card, Lampard and Chelsea justifiably furious.

Enter the 88th minute and it’s still Liverpool on top as it had been from the first whistle and Liverpool finally deliver a telling blow in the shape of a Fernando Torres’ late double. First a fantastic glancing header at the near post from Riera’s cross, minutes before Ashley Cole’s poor judgement not to clear first time let the ball fall to Yossi Benayoun to nip in behind and although Cole did well to get a foot in the way the ball fell into the path of the £20 million Spaniard to slot in his second.

Moments later and cue the final whistle, Anfield in raptures and Rafa Benitez delighted with the pressure momentarily eased on their own faltering title challenge. Scolari and Chelsea fans have to wonder why they have only taken one point in any of the games against the so-called ‘big four’ in five games so far this season.

Scolari though in his first season in charge (with glistening C.V in his defence) can be the only man to rationalise why Anelka and Drogba have never been paired together for any significant amount of time as a traditional front two and the lack of starting opportunities for the effervescent Joe Cole. The board at Stamford Bridge have certainly tightened the purse strings after previous years of free-flowing spending and this is no major surprise, no club could ever sustain this (I’m sure Man City fans may not agree for now!) but the budget transfer budget needs to be at least £30-£40 million in the current climate to stay with the pace. The Portuguese duo of Deco signed (free) and Bosingwa (16 Million) the only Major arrivals at the bridge this summer.

My personal opinion of why Chelsea don’t score enough goals, is the absence of Essien in the engine room coupled with a three -prong attack that often resembles a negative looking 4-5-1 leaving Anelka isolated. Kalou and Malouda simply do not look like players who belong in a title winning team.

Should Scolari still be at The Bridge this summer in what is current an uncomfortable climate to be a manager at a top club, then a major rebuilding job is needed to make the Blues currently feeble title ambitions realistic.

Warning Signs For Liverpool Despite Injury Time Winner Against Boro

The Gaffer — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:39:08 +0000

If Liverpool fans have dreams of winning the Premier League this season, they can kiss them goodbye. Today at Anfield, Liverpool escaped with a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough with a woeful performance that was rescued by an own goal and then an injury time goal by Steven Gerrard.

This was a cruel blow to Middlesbrough who played a strong defensive game for most of the match under a 4-5-1 formation. Despite creating far fewer chances in front of goal, Boro looked more dangerous after Tuncay spun around a Liverpool defender and his shot was saved by Reina. Then in the 70th minute, Middlesbrough took the lead after Mido struck the ball into the corner of the net.

Liverpool’s equalizer came later when Jamie Carragher’s shot took a wicked deflection off Pogatetz and into the Middlesbrough goal. Then, with the last strike of the ball, Gerrard popped up to rescue Liverpool by striking the ball into the back of the net to send the fans in The Kop into ecstasy.

While the result will go down as three points won for Liverpool, there were several major concerns about Liverpool’s performance today. After they were outplayed for portions of last week’s match against Sunderland, you would expect Liverpool to raise their standard of play for their first home league match of the new season. That was entirely not the case. Liverpool did create plenty of chances, but they were as wasteful as Arsenal are renowned for. Gerrard and Benayoun were practically invisible for most of the match, while Torres and Robbie Keane have still yet to strike up a good partnership.

But most of all, what was missing from Liverpool’s performance is their ability to strike the killer blow. For large portions of the match, especially in the first half, Liverpool almost put Anfield to sleep by playing at a slow tempo that was easy for Middlesbrough to defend against.

To me, that’s one of the major differences between Liverpool and Manchester United. With Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, you can often sense a goal when a goal is coming when they start their blistering attacks. With Liverpool, so far, they’re too predictable and will find it very difficult to outperform Man United, Chelsea or Arsenal this season.

Liverpool needs to improve considerably if they’re serious about trying to stay a top four club this season. Defensively they look strong as long as Hyypia stays on the bench, but they have issues in midfield and up front. The team is relying too much on Fernando Torres just as they did last season when they seemed to be waiting for Gerrard to create something magical.

This is going to be a long season for Liverpool based on their last two poor performances.