Caught in Chelsea’s Webb- Liverpool Slip to Second Consecutive Defeat

Liverpool went into the game at Stamford Bridge with a relatively high level of confidence- despite coming into the game on the back of a defeat against City, we had performed well in that game and felt that we had the ability to beat Chelsea. History was also in our favour; previous to this fixture Liverpool had never lost two consecutive games under Brendan Rodgers, and Chelsea had not defeated us in the league since 2009/10. Unfortunately it just wasn’t our day- both of these runs were broken as Liverpool ended up losing 2-1.

It all started so well. Martin Skrtel, who has come under fire a lot recently for his error-prone nature (and all-round inability to function particularly effectively as a centre-back) opened the scoring after just three minutes, poking the ball, for once, into the correct goal! Sadly, that was pretty much it in terms of Liverpool attacks in the first half. From then on it was all Chelsea; the reds didn’t look their usual selves at all, getting completely dominated. Chelsea pressed well and got their reward on 17 minutes- Hazard equalising with a lovely curled effort after the ball fell kindly for him. Despite my hopes this did not provoke a reaction from Liverpool. We continued to sit back, and on 34 minutes were punished again, Eto’o firing home after a catalogue of defensive errors (as well as a weak attempt at a save from Mignolet). For the last 10 minutes of the half Liverpool seemed fractionally improved, but still lacked any sort of attacking potency.

A lot of the game was sadly much more focused on the officiating than the football being played. I thought we’d been very hard done by at City- this was even worse! The referee, Howard Webb, didn’t exactly cover himself in glory in the first half, not even showing a card to Samuel Eto’o after he tackled Henderson, studs showing, inside the first minute. He should have been off, but nobody thought too much of it at the time as Skrtel scored from the subsequent free kick.

Things only got worse in the second period, with Webb seemingly determined not to give Luis Suarez a penalty. Personally I think Suarez has cleaned up his act a lot lately; he seems to go down much less easily than he used to, and in general seems to have a more relaxed, civil demeanour about him. Officials don’t seem to have picked up on this, and consequently his reputation as a diver still goes before him. The first incident was from a corner- John Terry (incidentally playing his 600^th game for Chelsea) jumped on top of him, completely preventing Suarez from jumping for the ball and bundling him to the ground in the process. Webb was placed well to see the incident but gave nothing- a blatantly unjust decision. The second was even worse: Suarez was involved again, this time getting fouled by the man who should already have been off, Eto’o. Cesar Azpilicueta had just done well to dispossess Suarez, then Eto’o came across and knocked Suarez to the ground right in front of Webb’s nose. Unbelievably he gave nothing, and Chelsea went on to retain their 1 goal lead and win the game.

These weren’t the only two refereeing decisions I was aggrieved at. Oscar dived multiple times during the match, and was never once punished for it. He later committed a clearly bookable offence on Lucas, so he should have been off the pitch. Willian also totted up about 6 fouls early in the game without any reprimand. That said, Liverpool were by no means at their best. Though the referee has to shoulder a large portion of the blame for the result, we could have played much better, and at the end of the day the two penalty shouts would have been inconsequential if we could have scored more from open play.

To sum up, I’m very frustrated about the defeat and am angry at Howard Webb for his awful decision-making, but I don’t think we can complain too much seeing as the players were also at great fault. Fortunately this is only one game, and this defeat is by no means, as some reactionaries are dubbing it, ‘the end of our season’. The next game is against Hull on New Years Day- onwards and upwards.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Spurs 0 -5 Liverpool: Post-Match Thoughts

Yesterday (Sunday 15^th December), Liverpool travelled to White Hart Lane to face a team who have been widely tipped as their rivals for a Champions League spot, Tottenham Hotspur. If Liverpool were at all concerned about the potential season-long ramifications of the game then they did not show it- despite (or perhaps in part thanks to- I’ll get to this later) the absence of the skipper Liverpool put in arguably their best performance of the season to come out, astonishingly, 5-0 victors.

For the first five minutes it looked as if the game would pan out as widely predicted. Both sides were piling on the pressure, trying to get in the faces of the opposition. If anything, Tottenham had the better of the early exchanges. However, they were quickly overwhelmed by the rapid passing and movement of the Liverpool attack- Sterling in particular wreaked havoc. The reds deservedly broke the deadlock after 18 minutes, with Henderson and Coutinho combining nicely before Suarez exquisitely beat his man in the box and curled the ball into the corner. Spurs had no answer to the Liverpool pressure, and consequently Liverpool were able to add a second before half time- Suarez this time turning provider for Jordan Henderson.

When the first half ended it was a disappointment- we had the upper hand, and I was worried the break would kill our momentum. It wasn’t to be- Liverpool came out very strongly. In all fairness Spurs made a half-decent attempt to rally- they had a few decent attacks, but in truth never really looked like scoring. Any distant hope of a comeback was quashed on 63 minutes when midfielder Paulinho was sent off. There has been a fair bit of debate surrounding the red card, but I definitely think it was the right decision. Accidental or not the fact is Paulinho caught Suarez in the chest with his ridiculously high boot, a dangerous ‘challenge’ (in inverted commas as it was never really a contest for the ball- Suarez was always getting there first) worthy of a sending off.

12 minutes later Liverpool took advantage- Suarez played a nice cross into the middle, where Jon Flanagan of all people hit the bouncing ball expertly into the very top corner. This crumpled the last of Tottenham’s resistance; the floodgates opened and Liverpool slammed two more past Spurs in the latter stages, Suarez scoring the 4^th with an excellent lob and Sterling rounding things off in the 89^th minute.

Although Tottenham were not at their best, it cannot be argued that Liverpool weren't deserving of the win. They played some sumptuous football, moving the ball round expertly in midfield then making a slick, smooth transition into attack. This may well have been partially down to the absence of Steven Gerrard- though his long balls are exceptional when they come off, he does have a tendency to be wasteful. His age also means he isn’t quite as mobile as he once was- the role of technician that Allen played in his place was a breath of fresh air for the team. 

To sum up, Liverpool put in one of the performances of the season to thrash Tottenham away from home. Suarez was excellent as usual, involved in all 5 goals, but the emphasis was more on the team than the individual. If we can keep up this standard of play we will certainly be in with a very real chance at the title come the end of the season. A lot of people are still dubious, but if a 5-0 win away from home against the team that finished just a point off 4^th last season isn’t enough to make people reassess just what we’re capable of, I don’t know what is. The future is bright.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

A Tale of Two Articles- Language Analysis!

Note: This piece has been uploaded for a bit of fun! I did it as my English homework- it isn't an actual article, it is merely a comparison of my previous piece on the Norwich game and an article on the same game from the official Norwich website.
See the two articles here: http://www.canaries.co.uk/fixtures-results/match-report/index.aspx?MatchId=3661274&tcmuri=974294

http://www.liverpoolfcfanscorner.com/1/post/2013/12/suarez-crushes-norwich-with-four-goals-post-match-thoughts.html

The first text is an article written about Liverpool vs Norwich, from the perspective of a Liverpool fan. The other is a match report on the same game that was published on the official Norwich City website.

Though both texts are about the same event, the tones created by the respective authors are very different. On the Norwich website, phrases such as ‘on the wrong end’ are used, which imply that Norwich were not particularly at fault, and they were simply unlucky. In contrast, the article on LFC Fans Corner focuses mostly on the good play of Liverpool rather than the bad luck of Norwich. Emotive words such as ‘spectacular’ and ‘phenomenal’ are used to express the level of play that Liverpool were attaining.

Another technique used in the article on LFC Fans Corner is alliteration. Phillippe Coutinho is described as ‘creating chances’ and ‘dribbling round defenders’; the flowing nature of the language mirrors the fluid play that Liverpool were producing. Alliteration is also used in the article from the Norwich site, but to create a different effect. It describes Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers as ‘applauding in admiration’-in this instance, the use of alliteration alludes to the repetitive nature of the action. It suggests that applause were drawn a lot from Rodgers due to the extremely good performance of his team; this in turn makes Norwich look better as it further emphasises their helplessness in preventing the landslide victory.

Finally, the Norwich article uses litotes to try and portray Liverpool’s victory as somewhat fortuitous, again to show Norwich City as unlucky rather than merely outplayed. It describes the move that led to the second Liverpool goal as ‘nothing special’, suggesting Liverpool were lucky to get a goal from it. The piece on LFC Fans Corner, on the other hand, uses hyperbole to make Liverpool seem even better than they actually were. When describing the same goal, the author of this article said ‘it required a large amount of skill’. This serves to dispel any nagging thoughts the reader might be having that the goal was lucky. 

Canaries Creamed

On Wednesday, Liverpool hosted Norwich City. A win in their previous game had seen Norwich climb out of the bottom 3, and Liverpool came into the fixture on the back of a shock 3-1 defeat to Hull City. This did not seem to knock their confidence too much, as they eventually came out 5-1 winners in a victory inspired by Luis Suarez.

Norwich started the game brightly, and at first there were worrying sings that the absence of Sturridge could once again lead to a failure to create and convert chances. However, as it turned out, we don’t need chances to score! After 15 minutes, Suarez conjured a spectacular goal out of nothing. Ruddy hit his goal kick long, which, after an aerial duel, broke to Suarez. The Uruguayan took the ball on the half-volley, despite being 40 yards out. It shot through the air, with power, curve and deadly accuracy. Ruddy was helpless as the ball flew perfectly into the top corner of his net. It was a phenomenal goal, but Suarez was by no means finished.

14 minutes later, he netted again. This time it came from a corner- Gerrard looked as if he was going to header, but pulled away at the last second. This caused confusion in the Norwich defence, and Suarez was on hand to slam the ball emphatically into the roof of the net. Though not in the same league as his first, this goal required a large amount of skill, as it was tough to keep the bouncing ball down. It would have been easy to completely sky it (just ask Torres), but Suarez made it look easy.

Just 6 minutes later, he was at it again! On 35 minutes he completed his hat-trick, and completed it in style. Having flicked the ball brilliantly over a defender, he then shaped to shoot. Instead of hitting it straight away he delayed it slightly, creating more space. Once he’d got the space he was after, he cannoned it home into the corner, leaving poor Ruddy helpless once more. It was arguably even better than the first goal, and that’s really saying something.

Liverpool could have had another couple before half time, but the teams went in at 3-0. When the match got underway again, Norwich showed little sign of making any sort of comeback, and Suarez continued to wreak havoc with their defence. On 74 minutes he unbelievably added a 4^th, and it required just as much talent as the rest. Gerrard won a free kick, and Suarez stepped up. Sublimely, he curled it round the wall and into the corner. On any other day it would have been goal of the match! Suarez nearly got one or two more to his name, but it was actually Norwich who scored next. A nice cross, put in by youngster Nathan Redmond, was excellently headed in by Bradley Johnson. This didn’t change the flow of the game though, and Liverpool got their reward for continuing to press in the 88^th minute, when Suarez (who else?) set up Sterling to score the 5^th and final goal.

Contrary to what the article may have had you believe so far, Suarez was not the only Liverpool player to make a contribution. Coutinho was fantastic, creating a lot of chances and dribbling round defenders with ease at times. Johnson also had a good first half, though he faded off as the game went on. Sterling was very lively, and consistently made extremely selfless runs and passes. His reward was a goal and assist. That said, Suarez will rightly take all of the plaudits, because he was just sensational. It was quite possibly the best individual performance I have ever witnessed, and if we can hold on to him in January it should be regarded as the biggest achievement of our season to date.

Obviously it would be unreasonable to expect such stellar performances from Suarez every week, but the fact that he was able to so emphatically step up to fill the void left by Daniel Sturridge is promising. It shows that we can win, and win well, without him- hopefully we’ll be able to retain our place in the top 4 during the time he is sidelined.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Everton 3-3 Liverpool: Post-Match Analysis

I’m still in shock. Yesterday (Saturday 23^rd November), Liverpool and Everton played out one of the best, most dramatic Merseyside derbies to date. Many predicted it would be a good game, with both sides having good seasons, but nobody could have foreseen that it would turn into a six goal thriller, filled with all the ingredients to make a great game of football- controversy, exceptional play, drama and action right to the final whistle.

In their usual fashion, Liverpool started quickly. They won a corner inside 4 minutes, and subsequently scored from it- Coutinho smashing the ball emphatically into the net after Suarez had his shot blocked. Everton would have been disappointed to concede in such a manner- the marking was questionable, and James McCarthy, who was meant to be on the line to clear the ball, was standing in the goal! Consequently, his attempted clearance was ineffective, and Liverpool took the lead. However, it didn’t last long. 8 minutes into the game Leighton Baines delivered a very nice free kick, which, after a bit of a scramble, was turned home skilfully by Kevin Mirallas.

A few minutes later, Mirallas was involved again, but not in the right way. He tried to rob the ball from Suarez by sliding in, but his tackle was late and high, and his studs were up. It clearly should have been a red card (I may be biased, but I’m sure anyone would agree it was a horrendous challenge), but referee Phil Dowd only deemed it worthy of a yellow. This was not an isolated incident. The Everton game plan essentially seemed to be ‘try and get Suarez stretchered off the pitch’, and Mirallas in particular was guilty of multiple fouls. How he didn’t get sent off is beyond me.

Unfortunately for them, even dirty tactics could not contain the Uruguayan. 19 minutes in, he won a free kick in a promising position. Agger, Gerrard and Suarez all looked interested in taking it, but in the end it was Suarez who took on the responsibility. He certainly delivered- his glorious, curling effort got through the (admittedly somewhat scrappy) wall and past the outstretched glove of Tim Howard.  The game then died down a little, although both sides were still creating chances. Mignolet pulled off a couple of great saves to keep Liverpool in front going into the break.

After half time, it carried on in much the same way. With Baines off for Deulofeu, Everton became slightly more attacking, and Liverpool were forced into defending quite a lot. Mignolet made some astounding saves to retain the reds lead. With 30 minutes to go, Joe Allen was presented with a glorious chance to reward Mignolet’s hard work by all but sinking Everton. Suarez dances exceptionally through 3 Everton defenders, and the ball broke for the Welshman. He was clean through on Howard, with Suarez to his left. He opted to shoot, and understandably so, for it was a very easy chance. However, he somehow put the ball wide of the target, letting Everton off the hook. It was extremely frustrating; even if he wasn’t confident taking on the simple shooting chance, why not just square it to Suarez for a tap-in? Suarez seemed to be thinking along the same lines- he was visibly furious with Allen.

This was arguably the catalyst that Everton required. They redoubled their efforts, and with 20 minutes to go levelled the game through Romelu Lukaku. The chance came after Mignolet made yet another sublime stop (he made 9 in total throughout the game), but could not gather the ball. The Liverpool box was crowded with blue shirts, and when the ball got driven it and fell to Lukaku, the outcome was inevitable. At this point Rodgers took off Lucas for Sturridge, a real sign of intent. Unfortunately, it did not immediately pay off. Everton won a corner in the 82^nd minute, which Lukaku headed powerfully home for his 2^nd and Everton’s 3^rd, putting them in front for the first time. Sturridge was on the line, but could not prevent the ball sailing over his head and in.

Despite the fact that there was so little time left, it didn’t really feel like the scoring was over, and so proved. With just a minute left of the ninety, substitute Daniel Sturridge headed home after a great free kick from the captain, Steven Gerrard. This brought things level, but Liverpool were not done. They kept piling on the pressure deep into added time, resulting in what was very nearly the winning goal. Suarez was denied by a good save from Howard, and Sturridge actually put the ball into the net, but from an offside position. Eventually the final whistle blew, bringing the rollercoaster of a match to an end.

Mignolet gets my man of the match award, as without him we would have ended up with a result a lot worse than a draw. Jon Flanagan, who was filling in at left-back for Enrique and Cissokho, also deserves a mention. He made some good tackles, and though he didn’t provide much attacking impetus he was solid at the back. All in all, although it was disappointing not to win against our fierce rivals, a draw was probably a fair result. It was an excellent, hard-fought game of football, and a pleasure (albeit a stressful pleasure) to watch. It should be remembered that an away draw against e team sitting 6^th in the table is nothing to be ashamed of, and with three very winnable games coming up the overriding feeling at Anfield should be optimism.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Preview and Predictions: Merseyside Derby

The day is almost upon us. The first derby of the season against our fierce rivals, Everton, is just around the corner. Other than perhaps Manchester United clashes, this fixture has no equal. Unlike in recent years, this derby is a very important match in terms of league positioning. Everton will move up to join 2^nd with a win, and a victory for Liverpool will put them top. If possible then, the stakes have been raised even higher. Who will get the all-important victory?

Somewhat predictably, I’m going to say Liverpool. Of course I’m biased (I’m the first to admit that), but when you look at the two squads Liverpool’s is clearly superior. Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge will surely wreak havoc in the Everton defence, as they are simply a class above the likes of Distin and Jagielka. Also, in midfield, Everton are likely to be overwhelmed by Philippe Coutinho’s technical ability, as well as the sheer passion and determination of Gerrard and Henderson. As long as we are able to put in the type of performance that we did against Fulham, we shouldn’t have too much trouble.

That said, Everton is by no means to be written off. They have a very solid goalkeeper in Tim Howard, and Suarez and Sturridge will have to be on their game to beat him. Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku also has the potential to cause our defence some trouble. Also, with the game likely to be somewhat highly charged, the physicality of Gareth Barry could come in useful. However, as they are coming into this game on the back of a 0-0 draw with bottom-placed club Crystal Palace, I think Liverpool fans are justified in feeling quietly confident.

There is also the issue of fatigue from international games. The majority of the Everton squad have enjoyed a week’s break from football, and will go into the derby refreshed. In contrast, many of the Liverpool players are coming into the game battered and bruised from international duty, including the talismanic duo dubbed ‘SAS’- Suarez and Sturridge. Sturridge was forced to play the full 90 minutes against Germany despite carrying an injury, whilst Suarez played against Jordan on Wednesday and had to borrow Liverpool owner John Henry’s private jet in order to get back to England more quickly! It isn’t what you’d call ideal preparation for such a big game, and it may prove costly.

The thing I’m most looking forward to about the game is the battle between Leighton Baines and Glen Johnson. They are both classy full-backs, and I’m sure they will look to get at each other throughout the game; this will almost certainly prove to be a good watch. I’m also interested to see how our centre-backs (whoever they might be) manage Lukaku. Sakho has looked great for the last few games, in particular against Arsenal, but he hasn’t come up against anyone as physical as Lukaku thus far. Hopefully he will be able to handle him, but, quality player that he is, I’m sure Lukaku will cause him some problems.

Finally, to the prediction. On paper, I think that Liverpool have the much better team. However, with a lot of the players tired from international duty, combined with the fact that Everton, specifically Lukaku, poses such a physical threat going forward, I think it will be a close game. I reckon it will finish 2-1 to Liverpool, with Suarez scoring a brace and Lukaku getting one for Everton. However, seeing as I’ve only predicted the outcome of a Liverpool game correctly about 4 times, I wouldn’t set much store by that! At the end of the day I’m just hoping for a good game, and, of course, a win for the reds.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool 4-0 Fulham: The Reds Bounce Back in Style

After a poor game against Arsenal last week, Liverpool hosted a weak Fulham side with only one thing in their mind- getting back on the right track. They certainly achieved this, dominating from the outset and eventually coming out 4-0 victors. Thanks to this, as well as losses for Manchester City and Arsenal (and a draw against West Brom for Chelsea), we are now looking very strong indeed, sitting in 2^nd place- just two points off first.

The game was the perfect response to the lacklustre performance against Arsenal. Straight away the team looked a lot sharper, showing great willingness to press the opposition high up the pitch. Admittedly Fulham and Arsenal cannot reasonably be compared, but it was our style of play that was so encouraging. Against the Gunners, Liverpool sat back somewhat, inviting pressure. They were like a different team against Fulham, and their determination to put pressure on the opposition meant that they never had much time on the ball. This led to Liverpool dominating the early exchanges. They finally got the breakthrough on 22 minutes, when Amorebieta turned the ball into his own net after a brilliant free kick from Steven Gerrard. After this, the floodgates opened. Just three minutes later Skrtel doubled Liverpool’s advantage, heading home from another Gerrard delivery- this time from a corner.

Suarez looked dangerous throughout the game, and he finally got his first goal on 35 minutes. Jordan Henderson played a glorious through-ball into the path of the Uruguayan, who made the tough task of beating the on-rushing Stekelenburg look exceptionally easy. Henderson’s performance throughput the game was outstanding- though many have openly voiced doubts about his quality (and, in the case of Alex Ferguson, his running style!), he demonstrated just how good he is in this game. His combination with Glen Johnson (who also had a great game) down the right hand side was a joy to watch at times.

Fulham managed to keep the score at 3-0 until half-time, but it was clear that they didn’t stand any real chance of getting back into the game. Somewhat predictably, Liverpool were able to effortlessly pick up where they had left off in the second half. Daniel Sturridge was denied a goal by a great save from Stekelenburg, and Suarez uncharacteristically fluffed the follow-up shot, blazing over from about 6 yards out. However, he made amends minutes later, latching on to a nice ball from Gerrard and, once again, finishing extremely coolly. Despite piling on the pressure for the majority of the rest of the game, we couldn’t add another goal, and it finished 4-0.

Philippe Coutinho, who looked understandably rusty against Arsenal, played very well. Admittedly he is not yet back to his sparkling best, and some of his long shots were frankly absurd, but he showed glimpses of the brilliance he demonstrated during the second half of last season. The only real negative thing to take from the game was the once-again useless performance of Aly Cissokho. Despite the weakness of Fulham, Cissokho was unable to provide any attacking impetus When Enrique was brought on to replace him things got better, but was still nowhere near up to the standard of play Johnson and Henderson were producing on the right. It highlighted the need to strengthen in this area come January.

On the whole though, the win was very encouraging. We finally returned to playing pressing, attacking football (something we have strayed away from doing in recent games), and it paid dividends. In a season as tight as this one is panning out to be, beating teams that ‘should’ be beaten is even more crucial than ever before, so the excellent performances we have been pumping out against teams such as Fulham and West Brom bode very well indeed. Hopefully the convincing victory will give the team confidence to go on and win the Merseyside derby, which is coming up after the international break.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013