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

AFTER many of our dismal draws or defeats this season, some fans have been quick to chirp up and say: "What do you expect, when the owners won't financially back the manager?"

A fair point, some would offer.

But dropping points at well-baked Spurs and being held at home to money-bags Man City is one thing. Being outperformed by a side five places from the foot of the Championship is quite another.

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.

ANOTHER game, another lot of huff and puff from Liverpool, but not enough craft to open up a mediocre defence.
The task of grabbing that Champions League spot seemd achievable a couple of weeks ago, but it now seems an increasingly arduous one with every passing fixture.

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...

ANOTHER game, another absence of a win....it seems that we're in for a long hard season boys.

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.

AS IF it wasn't hard enough to play a rejuvenated Sunderland side without our two best players.
Minus Torres and Gerrard, even random beach balls are conspiring to work against us now.

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.

PHRASES like 'a bad day at the office' were meant for games like this.
In truth, Liverpool never looked like having a real prayer in any stage of this match.
Right from the start we weren't at the same tempo as the Italians and they thoroughly deserved their 2-0 win.

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.

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.

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

All kinds of flaky rumours sprouting up today about Frenchman Frank Ribery possibly moving to Anfield.
Does, an article posted by www.goal.com add weight to a speculative story? It seems to have been generated by a welter of people lumping a tenner on the winger joining Liverpool, prompting Skybet to slash the odds on Frank playing in front of the Kop.

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 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.