Time to unleash the Gerrard?

Fabio Borini’s injury could not have come at a worse time for Liverpool. Out with a metatarsal fracture, the typical healing time is 6 – 8 weeks which means he will miss 15 – 20 games, out of which potentially, 11 Premier League games. This would not have been catastrophic under normal circumstances, given his indifferent start to the season with only 1 goal in the Europa League so far, but it leaves Liverpool with only Suarez as the senior striker. The backups are a bunch of 18 year olds, who might be talented, but cannot be depended on the goals Liverpool need for a decent season.

So let’s examine the options for Liverpool, given Borini’s injury.

Rodgers looks like he is going to play 2 different sides this season. The main first team in the EPL and reserves / fringe players in Europa League and Capital One Cup.

The Main Team:                                                          
Reina                                                                          
Wisdom / Enrique, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson             
Lucas / Sahin, Allen, Gerrard                                     
Sterling, Suarez, Suso / Assaidi                               

The Reserves
Jones / Reina
Wisdom, Carra, Coates, Robinson
Henderson, Sahin, Shelvey
Cole/ Downing, Yesil / Ngoo, Assaidi / Suso  

When Enrique is fit again, I would expect him to play in the first team and replace Wisdom. Johnson will, of course, move back to RB.

It's a no brainer that Lucas will be back in the first team when he's fit again, but Rodgers has a responsibility to ensure he has fully recovered before playing him again and not rush him like what might have happened during pre-season.

I think the only player who could be replaced by Lucas is Sahin although that is harsh on him given his excellent last 2 performances.

So this team is not too bad. Solid defense. Creativity covered with Suso and Suarez. Pace covered with Sterling / Assaidi. Solid midfield. Only one problem. Finishing.  

Below illustrates my main issue with this lineup. 

As we have seen in many games, Suarez receives the ball deep in the opponent’s half, and he likes to dribble off towards the right wing. The onus is on Sterling, Gerrard and Suso to get into the box for the cross / pass. What is happening though, is that Suarez ends up attempting extremely low percentage shots and getting frustrated, because of lack of options in the box.  Looking at Suso and Sterling’s physique, it’s highly unlikely that they will ever be the regular goal scorers and that is not their main role in the team. They are meant to be the providers. However, given Suarez’s ability and fondness to dribble, they will see less of the ball in the attacking third.

There is another possible first team that I would like to see which is below:

Reina
Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique
Lucas, Allen, Sahin
Sterling, Gerrard, Suarez

I remember in an interview while Rafa Benitez was Liverpool's manager, he said that he will convert Gerrard to a striker, instead of a defender when his midfield playing days are over.

“He is a great finisher and can score goals – so maybe he can play as a striker. “When he is older he might not have the same pace but he will have the same accuracy and still be a great finisher. He is still young, 28 for a player is the best age and I think that he will not lose his power and he will not lose his quality. As a player in terms of his physical condition and technical ability he will not lose these things, so he can only improve because he can read the game better every year. I don’t know how long he will be as strong as he is now. But if he can stay with the same energy and same power a few more years he will be better and better.” – Rafa Benitez, Dec 1^st 2008.

Taken from:  http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/sport/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/12/01/rafa-benitez-sees-striker-s-role-for-steven-gerrard-99623-22375129/#ixzz299Y7CZuR

I found that fascinating, and highly plausible. He is one of the top scoring midfielders, Liverpool desperately needs a striker and Gerrard could be the answer, playing out of position, as he has done so often for England & Liverpool. 

This is probably what Rafa would do, with the current resources. Let’s push our best finisher upfront, our best dribbler and creative guys to the wings and in Sahin, we have a guy who can ably deputize Gerrard’s midfield role. With this lineup, we will have a much more lethal player in the box that can finish with left foot, right foot or his head and the timing of his runs are impeccable. He is no longer restricted to reduce those surges into the box as Allen, Sahin and Lucas have the midfield sorted and he can terrorize the defenders in the penalty box alongside Sterling’s pace and Suarez’s trickery.

As anyone who has been watching the Being Liverpool series, Rodgers might see more of a striker in Shelvey as he's constantly telling him to get in the box. I would, however, resist that temptation. Shelvey has the potential to be the box to box midfielder to replace Gerrard and I think it could be backwards towards his development as a midfielder by playing him as a forward. Of course, he should continue to play as an attacking midfielder who always tries to get in the box but also has to play with his off the ball defensive responsibilities in mind.   

Of course, all this may only be till Borini's fit again and after that, I would like to see him take over the CF role, instead of being pushed wide. Also, apparently Liverpool have the option to recall Carroll back in January. I think this is a tough decision for Liverpool and Rodgers. If West Ham stay in the Premier League at the end of the season, they will have to buy Carroll for 16 - 18 million. Although this is nowhere close to the 35 mil (Thanks for that one, Damien) that was paid for him, it represents a fair value for a young English forward. And if that money can be spent on a Poacher Forward more inline with Rodger's style of play, would that not be better? 

'U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A'

You heard this at the Ryder Cup this past weekend. First by annoying American fans, and then by the largely British contingent mocking them. You've heard it at NBA games. You've heard it at NFL games. You've heard it at US Soccer games. I'm pretty sure it's also heard at Hot Dog and Beer contests nationally.

Stop it! It's boring, immature, embarrassing and unoriginal. It's f*cking annoying, to put it kindly.

But it touches a more important topic, that of the lack of original and mature chants in American sports. Go to any College Football game, or NBA game, or NFL game, or NHL game. And I guarantee that you will hear the following chants:

'D-Fence, D-Fence, D-Fence' in what I suspect is a bid to encourage the home team's defense. But I could be wrong.

'Lets go, hometeam, lets go' *clap* *clap*

There is another variation of this - 'Here we go, hometeam, here we go' *clap* *clap*. One has to sit back and appreciate the ingenuity which resulted in this chant.

And finally. 'BULL-SHIT, BULL-SHIT, BULL-SHIT' aimed at referees when they forget that they have to help the home team and not follow the rules of the game.

That's about it. I have summarized all the chants heard at sporting venues across the United States.

American sports* are plagued with a lack of original sport chants and it annoys me greatly. I watch a lot of European football and this perhaps clouds my judgment but the point still stands.

The faster US sports get rid of clichéd chants and the idiots below, the more respect I will have for them.

*MLS is somewhat of an exception and a lot of teams have their own chants. Inspired by Europe, but way more original than what their NFL counterparts sing.

- El P.

FIFA13

This is the first ever blog post that I am writing. So please bear with my stupidity and immaturity. Not saying that I won't be stupid and immature later on, it's just that I won't apologize for it again.

So it's been a couple of days since the launch of FIFA 13, which happened to conveniently coincide with us starting this blog. Having owned every single edition since the 2001 edition, I figured what better way to start? FIFA also happens to be the favorite game of us four bloggers. Up until 2 years ago, before the 4 of us started living in 3 different time zones spread over 2 different continents, when we were not "studying", watching football or getting drunk at our local having football discussions, we were involved in intense FIFA sessions. I feel very confident in admitting that our level is pretty hight. Legendary, in FIFA terms. It is a well known fact amongst our friends that I am the grand master (comments not welcome). For second place, it's a coin toss between AB and el P. In at no. 4 would be that arsenal fan, happy to be 4th as long as he plays tiki-taka and no crosses/long balls. Now don't get me wrong here, our slowest zebra is faster than most of you lions out there. My ps3 id is TEEJAYPEE. Prove me wrong.

Now I'm not gonna compare every single edition of FIFA because we all know how far the game has come since the days of choosing Barcelona, cutting in on Rivaldo's magical left foot, shooting from the top of the box and thrashing madrid's galactiicos 12-0. There are a lot of changes from the previous edition itself. FIFA 12 changed the gameplay a little bit, but in this version the change is a little more exponential. You can no longer receive the ball while pressing the sprint button. That is a change I have found to be very hard to adapt. My first touch is worse than Dirk Kuyt at the moment. Passing an crossing has to be much more calculated. Lot more factors involved now like power, direction has to be more accurate, body position, etc. My tiki-taka friend is not gonna be very amused with it. They even made shooting a little different/difficult. I was the master of the finesse shot. I could bend it (R1 + shoot) in the far corner with a blindfold on. Let's just put it this way, if david beckham was doing that in reality, he would have had 4 kids with kate moss instead of posh spice. Unfortunately, I have to start from scratch to perfect that art in FIFA 13. And all that is just the attacking part. Defending is a different ball game. Yesterday my defending was, as ray Hudson would put it, stretched like spandex on Miami beach. I loved the new tactical defending in FIFA 12 but never got a hang of it. You see I have the Real Madrid (pre mourinho) mentality, if they score 2, I'll score 6. But I really am gonna try and get a hang of tactical defending this time around. The best defensive addition is the pulling and tugging of shirts. Absolutely love it. Reminds me of my childhood days as a left winger. I would virtually have my opposite fullback's jersey in my hand by the end of the match. I was like a cosmin contra or a Freddie ljungberg. A real thorn in the side with a few moments of flair and skill. The third and final part of gameplay, the set pieces, are like my kriptonite. After all, even superman had his kriptonite. I have always found it hard to score from corners and I am even worse at defending them. In the past 2 days I have scored a total of zero corners and have conceded a couple. I was pretty decent at direct free-kicks on FIFA 12 but I am still getting the hang of this one. Just need to find that G-spot, if you know what I mean.

Apart from the gameplay, FIFA 13 has a lot of new stuff. The concept of ea football club was brilliant. It has even more stuff now. The interactive World Cup is also great. It's just like the head-to-head league, but a real thing. I'm pretty confident I'm gonna make it far. Hopefully the finals. There's a lot more stuff and honestly I haven't even gone thorough most of it. The arena feature is pretty cool b You can challenge other people. I hope to get at least a few beers out of it from el P. The new skill training before kickoff is great. I was kind of getting annoyed with that one on one thing with the keeper. This is something new and different every time. My other reason for liking this change is a secret I have shared with nobody before. So here it goes. I am not a superstitious person except when it comes to football. Don't ask me why because I don't have that answer myself. I actually even have a routine for man united game. I don't shave on the day before a united game is one of the many stupid things I do. It gives me a peace of mind before kick-off. Some just smoke a cigarette, some do this kind of crazy stuff, and then you have the 3rd kind. The kind that do both. So coming back to that one on one, I had this thing where If I didn't score in the first two tries, I felt like I'd lose. And I'd lose pretty often. Confidence was shot right from the start. But then again, I rarely missed those and hence, rarely lost.

Well, I guess that is enough showboating for my 1st blog post. The thumbs have been warmed up for another long FIFA session. Again my psn id is TEEJAYPEE. Buy the game, add me and enjoy getting schooled.

Happy FIFA!!!

Injustice on a day about justice

For my first blog entry, I want to share a few thoughts on the recent Liverpool – Manchester United game. As any educated football fan would know, this game was much bigger than just another EPL game. Firstly, it’s the first home game for Liverpool after the Hillsborough Independent Panel exonerated the Liverpool fans of any blame for the disaster that lead to 96 lives being perished, all Liverpool fans. Secondly, it’s a game against Liverpool and Manchester United, by far the 2 most successful clubs in England and among the biggest clubs in the world. So no, it was not just another game.

The one theme that I want to touch on for this post is: injustice.

As I mentioned earlier, Liverpool fans were finally exonerated of any blame after 23 long years. Finally, justice in some form, though the real justice will come when the perpetrators are criminally prosecuted.

So onto the match. It was obvious from the word go that Liverpool players wanted it far more than the Manchester United players. Gerrard was on song, Joe Allen as impressive as ever and Sterling proving he is the jewel in the crown again. Liverpool were passing the ball better, controlling the midfield and even the defensive errors had been cut down. And then it happened.

The first moment on injustice. What was Halsey thinking? An absolutely fucking ridiculous decision. Bollocks. I am getting ahead of myself. The blood has started boiling. So.. Shelvey gets a great tackle in on Ryan Giggs and recovers instantly to go for the loose ball. Now Johnny Evans and Shelvey are both in for the ball and both lunge for it. Both made reckless tackles and possibly dangerous. But Johnny Evans has something that Shelvey doesn’t. Acting skills. Johnny Evans rolls on the ground afterwards, only to recover after the red has been shown to be fighting fit again. The fact is that only Shelvey was punished when both players should have been treated equally. Both should have been given a yellow in my opinion. Shelvey is rightly pissed and has a few words for Fergie on his way to the tunnel. What a legend.

So fuck it. Whatever. Let’s go on. End of the half. Goalless and Liverpool still the better team after the sending off. And they start the second half with a bang. Goal in the first minute and it had to be the skipper. Captain fantastic. Steven Gerrard. Fantastic work by Suso too for the buildup.

And of course, Manchester United equalize within 5 minutes through a fantastic strike by Rafael. What a player he’s going to be. A sure shot for the best right back in the world in a couple of years if he can get over the injury and indiscipline issues.

The second moment of injustice happens after this. Valencia gets a penalty without any contact. This was just, frankly, embarrassing for Halsey, the referee. Suarez, before that, had a legit penalty appeal turned down dispite there being contact by Evans but Halsey turns it down. So of course, when Valencia dives, it should have been turned down. But here comes the Fergie effect. A day before the match, Fergie says that they never get decisions going their way at Anfield. It was an absolutely pathetic decision that the referee should be ashamed of and when you make a decision like this at 1 – 1, you have to make sure that you are spot on about it. You could tell by his arms waving after awarding the penalty that he wasn’t sure about it but gave it anyways which RVP converts to give United the lead at 1 – 2.

The third moment of injustice to Liverpool happens after this. RVP makes a ridiculous tackle on Suso which was very similar to the one that Shelvey gets a red card for. But in this case RVP only gets a yellow. I think a yellow was fair enough, but given that Shelvey got a red, RVP should have gotten a red too.

So that is the story of the match. The injustice thrown on Liverpool players and fans by Halsey on a day that was about Justice for the 96. So of course, Liverpool fans are pissed. Some of them are really pissed like below.

In my opinion, it is an over-reaction. But as anyone of us who has gone through some form of injustice at some point of time in our lives will know: it fucking hurts. And sometimes, people over react. But there is no need for Halsey and FA to involve police into this. The insult above, though not justified, should be written off. These guys will feel like idiots afterwards anyways. Anyways, regarding those who like to insult others on twitter: Everyone is a lion in their own house. They should not be taken seriously. Like those ITK agents on twitter.

For me, the ‘fans’ who should be criminally prosecuted are the ones who made the airplanes gesture to the travelling Manchester United fans at Anfield. It is absolutely disgraceful and there should be no place for something like this on a football field. Similarly, Manchester United should open criminal prosecution against the fans who chanted against Hillsborough / Heysel.

Finally, I want to spare a couple of sentences about Brendan Rodgers. I have become a big fan of him, despite our start of the season. He’s fearless. Not afraid of telling underperforming senior players like Enrique and Downing to improve or be out of the team and neither is he afraid of playing youngsters in huge games like Sterling against Manchester City and in subsequent matchers and Suso against Manchester United. I also think the fans at Anfield deserve a huge round of applause for raising Rodgers spirits by chanting “Only one Bendan Rodgers” as a reply to “You are getting sacked in the morning” by the travelling Manchester United supporters. That would have raised his spirits. Brilliant touch by the Liverpool fans.

So what next for Liverpool? Is this season a write off? Absolutely not. I feel that the target for Liverpool from this point onwards for this season should be between 60 – 70 points for the season.  

 This might or might not put Liverpool in contention for a CL position, but by achieving this points tally, the youngsters would have proven that they have not only the skill but the mentality to play for Liverpool at the top level. As Paul Tomkins rightly put it, the season starts now for Liverpool. It’s not off to a good start in terms of injuries and lack of personnel, but the true test of character is when your backs are up against the wall. 

Footy Humor

Everton fans made an addition to the sign at Liverpool airport..

testing 1 2 3

testing 1 2 4.. where the f**k did 3 go?!