Results tagged “carragher” from Liverpool Echo - Another Red Letter Day

FIGHT, passion and commitment.
That's the first way to battle out of a crisis of confidence that is seeping through Anfield at present.
When signs of footballing quality are in short supply, one of the initial things fans demand from their players is effort.
And to be fair to the Reds, last night, they gave us that in spades.

LAST night, Liverpool FC surrendered limply to a side struggling at the wrong end of the Championship.
Not only we beaten, at supposed fortress Anfield, but we were outplayed.
The Reds were palpably second best in terms of fight, commitment, ideas, creativity and skill.
Now is not the time for delusional hopes, skewed statements of how we just need our luck to change, but for cold, hard, plain facts.
It's only facing up to the reality that will possibly drag us out of this sorry, sorry mess.

AND so the gloom deepens.
We traditionally have too much for The Arsenal at Anfield, our power, physicality and high octane tempo often winning out over pretty passing patterns.
But the way we surrendered in the second half, limping through the last 25 minutes without so much as a whimper, was truly alarming.

A LITTLE late this, I know, but reporting duties have kept me chocca of late.
Still, a retrospective look at the Derby, with more time to ponder, is sometimes preferrable to kneejerk reactions to performances, n'est pas?
Or, 'No?'as Rafa would put it.
I digress.
First off, isn't that winning feeling great?
I'd forgotten what three points was...

First off, apologies for the silence of late. I've been away for two weeks, so I missed the reverses against Fulham and Arsenal and the frustrating draw at Lyon.
Back to last night's events, it seems the Reds can't buy a win at the moment, even when they put in a fairly good shift.

I ALWAYS have a sense of gloom when we get ready to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It's never been a happy hunting round for us, and Liverpool performances at their place often follow that samey path of lots of endeavour, but ultimately, a lack of real class that is necessary to topple the strongest squad in the Premiership.

BECOMING easy this playing at home lark isn't it?
Aston Villa aside, our three Premiership games at Anfield have so far finished 4-0, 4-0 and 6-1.
It's widely acknowledged that drawing games at home to mediocre mid-table sides cost us the title last year.
Now, on current evidence, that troublesome Achilles Heel seems to have been well and truly addressed.

SOMETIMES you feel a blog posted after one Liverpool match, could easily be copied and pasted for an entirely different Reds game and it would still be applicable.
Sloppy defenders being saved their blushes by Liverpool's two talismanic frontmen.
Question is, when are we going to learn from all of this?

So, another mediocre Premiership side put to the sword at Anfield.
It was these sorts of games that Liverpool struggled with last season, and which ultimately, cost us the title.

IN THE last 12 months, any criticism of Liverpool has been along the lines of questioning us as a real attacking force.
But with seven goals conceded in our first four league games, is it time for questions marks to hover over our leaky defence?

IT'S A long time since Liverpool last lost their first two out of three league games.
But is talk of a 'mini-crisis' at Anfield an accurate reflection of the state of the club, or an overreation, just a mere heartbeat into the new season?

PLAYING away at a rejuvenated Tottenham side on the first day of the season was never the ideal start.
But the way Liverpool limply surrendered to a 2-1 defeat, raising a miriad of questions just 90 minutes into the new campaign, has left question marks aplenty about the nine months ahead.

A SLIGHT despondency seems to have set in amongst the Reds ranks in the last couple of weeks.
Fans who were generally positive in Jun and July now have a sombre look about them and there is the odd muttering about difficult times ahead.
Not that pre-season form is much of an indicator, but there has been a lack of cohesive form in most of Liverpool's friendlies in recent months.
Most worryingly for me, all thoughts of signing one more top class attacking player seems to have gone out the window as attentions have suddenly turned to finding a fourth-in-line centre half.

FINALLY, one of the most protracted transfer sagas that Liverpool have been involved in comes to an end.
Alonso is on the verge of a Madrid for a reported fee of £30. But are Reds fans going to be happy with him departing and the probable arrival of Mr Aquilani?

SO, it looks like our Spanish right back is on his way.
Does £3.5-£4 seem like a paltry sum to anyone else?

IN A BIZARRE kind of way, Liverpool losing their player of the year might easily end up benefiting the Reds in the long run.

SO, £17m for a full back?
And one from Portsmouth who is hardly a regular full international with 30+ international caps under his belt?
It seems a hell of a lot of money to pay.

ALL IN ALL, it was a hugely productive season for Liverpool, but one which ultimately ended in frustration.
So near yet so far to that first title in 19 years.
Still, there are many reasons for optimism that will mean we march into the next campaign with hope in our hearts.
Here, Another Red Letter Day presents its End of Season awards.

I THOUGHT we would have a disinterested air for this game, the league title having been sown up the previous day by United drawing with Arsenal.
But all thoughts of any Liverpool apathy was dispelled by the sight of Carragher and Arbeloa coming to blows in front of baying Albion fans.

I HAD this game down as a tricky one in the title challenge run-in.
As it transpired, this was as pleasant a stroll as we've had in many a season down in East London.