We have been asking for fans opinions on the 2009-10 season and will be publishing a selection of the best articles every day this week. In our fourth fans review, Kenny gives his verdict on Liverpool FC this past season.
I reckon the vast majority of reds couldn’t wait for this season to be well and truly over.
There’s not much for me to assess rather than knowing it’s been a terrible one. All the hope of winning the league this season yet the signs were there in pre season that we could possibly be in store for a hard opening. I think it was clear that we needed good additions to the firing squad on the back of last seasons push for the title, yet it didn’t come.
Then defensive errors were creeping in more and more and everyone knows when you lose confidence at the back – especially the strong confidence we had at the back finishing last season – the team as a whole starts losing that edge and then the ball becomes a hot brick.
Injuries have also helped in holding us back, but that’s part and parcel of football so you have to get on with it.
Rafa’s decision making has in my opinion also hindered us this season, too. Playing both Lucas and Mascherano in the middle for large parts of the season has made us one dimensional, isolated what little attacking options we’ve had up front and invited pressure on an unsure defence. Why he persisted with it for so long, I don’t know. And I think that’s what has lost him some decent support from reds this season.
Bringing in Kyrgiakos turned out to be a godsend. If it weren’t for him, I honestly think we would have finished a lot more mid table. He steadied the back line and injected some much needed leadership into the team – something that has been lacked by the usual leaders of the past. Kuyt, for all my opinion on him not being good enough for us and my misunderstanding of the amount of faith Rafa has in him, he does deserve credit for knocking in a few ugly goals around winter time.
Our all round play hasn’t been up to scratch for this club. I’m really struggling to amount the games that afterwards have left me feeling really proud and pleased. Obviously the ones we won against the blues and the mancs, but after that, there isn’t enough. And this lark of only having one or two shots on target after a full 90 minutes is something that has had me heartbroken. Maybe it’s not all that many games it’s happened, I’m not looking at any stats. But I think you’ll know what I mean when I say we haven’t tested keepers enough this season. It has to change.
Talking of keepers, the one true thing I think we can all be proud of this season is having Pepe Reina in goal for us. It’s a real pleasure to watch him play for us. and if it weren’t for him being on his game so much this season, well, I don’t want to think about it. I’ll just finish on a high!
…direction and looking at expanding ‘Liverpool Football Club’ as a Global Brand.
It’s taken over 20 years to start to take all the hard work, the innovation and commitment of the likes of Bill Shankly, Bob Paysley, Joe Fegan & Kenny Dalglish and expand on the dynasty they created.
I am not talking about selling out but rather putting the club where every other BIG club is now. It’s just a fact of modern day football that it isn’t just about trophy’s anymore; Its about money , global standing , expanding fan-base , mega corporate sponsorship deals, Commercial innovation, Sports innovation and being involved in every facet of industry .
A change is coming for this club and we have no choice but to accept, otherwise we get left behind.
…. getting 100 million to invest in players will make everything alright again because our club needs MASSIVE CHANGE, not just in the way we play or who we have in the squad but the way we think both on and off the pitch. We are 10 years behind the likes of Man u when we could easily be far superior to them by now. If Rick Parry and David Moores hadn’t buried their heads in the sand for over 20 years we would be a force to compare to Barcelona and boast a trophy cabinet to rival Real Madrid. The problem is that we could and should have done deals like the ‘Standard Chartered’ deal years ago , implemented a commercial impetus that drives economic success and utilise our global brand to it’s maximum but only now is the club moving in that..
…….all the inn fighting at the club ! So many players bitching about whats happening / whats not happening , ‘im not getting enough games’ and ‘ I want more money’ . If you ask me everyone at the club needs to stop and take account of who they are and what they’ve become because non of this is the LIverpool way, not by a long mile .
You can say that the Americans are the cause of all this and you’d be rite, however this season the team and Rafa have played rite to their level and let themselves down. Shifting blame, looking for excuses and just not trying hard enough they have let every little problem become a catastrophe and have seemed happy to allow it to continue only trying when its too late.
Lets not kid ourselves that Rafa …
Ye it’s a rite mess and having just watched the FA Cup final it feels horrible not to be involved in anything this season.
Iv been really disappointed with the bigger names at the club this season as i feel they’ve let the club down . The likes of Carra, Masch, Babel & Yossi all started the season poorly but managed to pull things around at varying stages but the likes of Gerrard, Insua, Johnson & Kuyt (in patches) haven’t done enough all season !!! Thats not me being cruel or over judgemental but simply stating that over the entire season players have not justified their wage bill . In reality i would be hard pushed to argue anyones case other than Reina , Carra or Masch.
But as well as this the most annoying thing for me has been…….
Well said its great to have that season over with,
I think our future completely depends on who buys the club. It will affect everything from who is managing the club, who is being signed and who is leaving the club. No point on predicting next season until we see who buys the club.
Fingers crossed but were fcuked if we dont get some generous new owners in!