So after six losses in seven games all the excuses and reasons come out. There is one I read that I like the most, it goes something like this: We lost at Fulham because we had 11, yes eleven, first team players out! I like this one because I do not believe it to be true, but just another bad excuse. Lets take a look, the starting line up at Fulham was: Reina, Insua, Degen, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Benayoun, Mascherano, Lucas, Voronin, Torres.
So now lets break it down:
Reina- first choice, yes
Insua, started just about every game this season, if not all, so far-ahead of the Italian international. Maybe Aurelio would get in ahead but we all know e is injury prone and does not play more than a game a week. So Insua must be seen as the best and adequate replacement.
Degen, only their to make up the numbers. This is one of the non starters when all are fit. He got praise form allot of supporters after the arsenal game, but he had no end product. It does not take a magician to run in a straight line and give the ball away.
Carragher, a regular starter. No questions asked even with his bad form this season.
Kyrgiakos, another who would not be a regular starter. Brought in to replace Hyypia, lets be honest it is very hard to live up to those standards. He is not really good enough but probably all we could get with that kind of money. But it is not his fault he was in the game.
Kuyt, another regular starter and called by many as a Benitez favourite. To be fair last season he was very good. He is not a right winger even though that is where he is playing. Point is whether he is good enough or not he is first choice!
Benayoun, probably one of our best players over the last 18 months or so. Again he is one of our most important players and certainly not our weak link. He was also on the day looking like the only one who could actually do anything for us. That is other than pass back or sideways.
Mascherano, one of the best player you can find as a defensive midfield player. He had a fantastic season last time round and after a shaky start seemed to find that fantastic form again.
Lucas, another first team regular. He has come in for allot of criticism an I feel allot of it unfair. I don't believe he should be playing next to a player like Mascherano. He needs to play with someone more creative to allow him to be effective. I'm not saying he is great or the answer, but he is a first choice player! The argument that Aquilani will play ahead of him and that does not make him a first choice player, is not an argument that will hold. Aquilani was bought as an injured player. Every one knew that, every fan knew that! Now what happens when he comes back is irrelevant, because until he can establish himself Lucas is a first choice player. Like it or not is not the point!
Voronin, should not be playing for this club at this point in time. He was free and I do see the argument that at the time he was the best we could get. That does not mean I agree with it just because I can see the point of view. Nor does it mean he should have played in this game. Yes you got it right, he is another who is not a first choice player.
Torres, probably the best striker in the world and having a fantastic scoring season again! Of course he is a first choice player even if only half fit.
So if my math is correct and I do believe it is then their are only three, yes 3 non first choice players in that starting line up. So I thought it was rather funny how 11 first choice players were out.
So if you put in Agger, Johnson and Gerrard for Kyrgiakos, Degen and Voronin, you would probably have our strongest team. Maybe bring in Aurelio, but again he would not have played anyway, because he can not play 2 games in a week and would most likely be kept for the Lyon game, if you think he is the stronger of the 2. Maybe Riera, but I think Benayoun is a better player and certainly on the performance of this season.
So maybe Skrtel would be better than Kyrgiakos, but Kyrgiakos was bought to play in these situations.
What is a bigger worry for me is that N'Gog is our best replacement for Torres. Now don't get me wrong I am a fam of N'Gog. I think he has huge potential and a big future, hopefully with this club. But it is hard for an experienced player to replace the best striker in the world and it is allot to ask of a kid, as good as he is.
Torres i playing through pain and having injections to do so, this also tells you that the manager does not have an answer. He should not have played until he was fit to do so. I don't mean half a game here or their, what happens if his injury gets worse because he is playing through it instead of recovering? What happens if he misses the second half of the season because he played when he should not have? What happens if he misses the world cup because of it? I would have serious resentment toward the manger if the happened to me, wouldn't you?
What we really needed was another top striker to come in and take some of the load off Torres. Now you going to cry we don't have money, right? Come on be honest? I'm not saying it is easy to get one or that we could get one cheep. Nor am I going to say if we didn't buy Aquilani and sold Babel we could buy Villa, that does not work as we do not know personal circumstances. What if Villa said he does not want to come here and wants to stay in Spain? I'm not saying he did, but what if? That is all we could do, is say what if. I would have taken Owen back, yes he get injured but if he used to a minimum, IE when Torres is out he might be ok. I would have him over Voronin, would you? By the way both would have cost us nothing for a transfer, so there goes one theory.
Six Losses in seven games, that sounds like Hull City not a Liverpool Team that is going to be competing for the title, does it? It is not easy to loose, but when you play badly you can say we deserved to loose, when you play well and loose you feel grieved and hard done by. But when you get beaten by a beach ball and the manager says we didn't deserve to win and that it was not the reason we lost but that we played badly....that tells a story. If we out played Sunderland and lost to the beach ball we would be pissed off, but the truth is the most we could have hope for the way we played was a draw and we would have been lucky top get that!
I'm not saying Get rid of Benitez nor am I saying he should stay. I do have my issues with him but am yet to decide. One thing is clear, the owners should leave!
But there is something very very wrong inside our team. I do know if it is the manager or the players or the staff or what it is, but something is wrong. I have said it before and I will say it again, until this gets sorted out we are in trouble!
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