Video: Liverpool v. Swansea City Highlights

Downing needs to be played on the right. I feel like Enrique and Downing on the left gets too crowded at times. Suarez also naturally moves to his left.

I can understand the Downing haters, but disagree with them. He has created more than his fair share of chances, it isn't his fault they haven't been finished. If 1/5 of his chances were put in the back of the net we would be praising him. His crosses are often head-scratchers, but he puts enough in the right spot to retain his place in the starting lineup. 

Most notably Kuyt against United and Carroll against Swansea. 

Ed. Please change your spell check to UK English so we don't get colored instead of coloured. We might be owned by Yanks but let's not speak like them.

This is a joke, right? If you're really concerned about a missing "u" here and there, we're failing you miserably.

As a Yank, that's the best response I can muster. But as I remember, you've got quite the thing for proper usage of words and verbage and like pointing out odd mistakes, so maybe this is just your thing. In that case, well done.

Don't take it personally. I mean I didn't know you were from the US of A. As a peace offering may I say that I do like the word fall which is a much more apt description than autumn. Maybe it's the depressing result that gets me to into "deflection" mode. But yes I am one for the proper use of English epscially on an English website. But then looking at some of the language used here as she is spoken by Brits, maybe it is a lost cause. So I will in future keep my comments (from one of your former colonies), strictly to football based issues.

Eh... Vic, I don't know how to break this to you chief... but, well, this is a football blog and generally grammar nazis are happier elsewhere..."epscially" when they undermine their own points with dubious spelling which even an illiterate Irish ignoramus like myself can spot. Just sayin'....

Trev, I gotta say, you have me laughing my ass off, pal. I'm happy to see you didn't call yourself a drunk illiterate Irish ignoramus. One of the funniest comments I've seen lately was a few days ago where some guy from Australia was so drunk he burned his hand with fireworks and wrote "I'm too "durnk" to watch the Swansea game. These grammar nazis are epscially rough. Happy to see you're paying attention. Even Ed has smoke coming out of his ears. Just sayin'......:)

That was one of my favorite comments of all time. 

At this stage of the season, I sincerely hoped we would be a lot higher up the table. Duh! Who wouldn't. But the consistent lack of converting scoring opportunities, the lack of composure in the middle of the park, the lack of tracking runners, keeping possession, and finally again being labelled a one man team with. No prizes for guessing who.

I remember when Mr Personality Roy Hodgson famously said judge me after 10 games. In the same vein, we have to judge this team after 10 games. At the moment we seem to be a team that is far too inconsistent and doesn't capitalize and mark their dominance in games with goals and the three points. Numerous examples in the games against Sunderland, Stoke, Norwich, and the old enemy in Man Utd! That is 12 points squandered, which just so happens would put us joint first with Man City people! Whether, it be down to luck, (hitting the woodwork ten times this season typifies that) personnel, tactics. Something has to change.

I for one am in agreement with Ed, I feel the likes of Maxi, Kuyt, and Bellamy should be given more minutes in the coming games after the international break. The likes of Henderson, Adam and especially Downing have been very poor additions to our squad. In some cases I feel sorry for Andy Carroll due to the £35 million, that is always shoe horned into any review of his performance. With regards to Andy Carroll, he thrives from service, and at the moment he is simply not receiving that. The £20 million wasted on Downing still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, Henderson for £16 million is still high, he, however, has youth on his side, as well as the 'one for the future tagline. Transfer fees should not dictate your inclusion in the first XI. Charlie Adam is a midfield liablity with the type of football LFC play, he never tracks back whereby leaving the team exposed defensively, consistently tires after 60 mins. And as for his Hollywood passes, I am sorry the 3/10 ratio that he currently supplies does not warrant a place in the starting lineup. He is not a Xabi Alonso, he will NEVER be a Xabi Alonso no matter which journalist attempts their fairly dubious comparisons. Hopefully Gerrard is fit soon, when that happens, here would my two teams;

                            Reina

Johnson     Carragher      Agger         Enrique

                 Lucas        Gerrard

           Kuyt                       Bellamy
 
                        Suarez

                        Carroll

                            OR

                            Reina

Johnson     Carragher      Agger         Enrique

                 Lucas        Gerrard

             Kuyt       Bellamy    Maxi

                        Suarez

Any thoughts?

You know what everyone else is saying about Liverpool - youve spunked all your money on 4 crap players. Blind faith in "king kenny " is just that. Good luck but you need bank rolling again to buy some decent players and replace the ageing crocks of carra and gerra. your as far away from the title as you were under hodgson - possibly further as youve now got no money...

Hmmmm! I respectively disagree with......... well every single comment you make! Anyway take care special friend and have a super day!

Well that doesn't sound like a friend at all, let alone a caps locked one.

um... what?

I think we just have to take our chances.  

More need to be on target.  the boys need a right rollocking in the dressing room, asking why they think they can play at the top level if they can't get shots on target.Downing has created excellent deliveries, you can argue not enough, or not enough going to the by line but they have been there.  

Doesn't matter who has played, the chances have been created.  TalkShite radio is going on about comparing Liverpool's play now to Hodgson but this is ridiculous.  

We never looked like we could win anything with Hodgson, lucky if we made a chance at all each half (one Spurs game and one Chelsea game aside where Torres was putting himself in the shop window).  

Now we could have won every game except against Spurs.

Changes in this situation typically need to be subtle, a bit more support here, an extra pass there.  I like your first setup but in reality it's not the personnel given the chances are there for the taking.  

Take the boys up to Scotland for a bad ass miserable outdoor pursuits exercise in the mountains, get them cold and wet and dealing with some character building nonsense.  They're just too molly coddled right now.

Hodgson nearly sunk the good ship Liverpool, he is nowhere near upto Kenny's standards. Hodgson was t worst manager in LFC history and I will be the first to admit that. My only qualms with the current first XI are down to personnel. If a player is not performing, he should be dropped, regardless of his transfer fee. I just think the introduction of Maxi, Bellamy and Kuyt into the team would be more in tune to the way Kenny wants Liverpool to play. It is just frustrating as a fan to see frustrating results, when you know your team could and should of won. But there are 83 points up for grabs until the end of the season. So I am not hitting the panic button just yet :S

while i disagree with your rating of the newbies, that 4-5-1-ish line up with suarez behind carroll is something like (obviously with gerrard out...) what i think will bring us back to the realm of efficiency, which is what's missing.  cant leave points on the board, u fuckin can leave poulsen points on the board, degen!!!

There are different variations to my formation using the various personnel in different positions. And you lost me after the word 'missing'...

In the realm of positivity at least we got a clean sheet.

anyone heard of this guy "steven gerrard"? supposedly he plays football.  with his feet.  there are whispers that on a full moon, if you light hog-lard candles in a counter-clockwise rotation around the perimeter of your favorite stadium, he can be coaxed into making an appearance.  personally i dont believe in ghosts, but i guess anything's worth a shot in preparation of the citeh, chelsea, chelsea adventure we're about to embark upon...

There is no doubt that Kenny’s rescue job last year was remarkable, but it is not without concern why and how he felt the need for such a change in personnel rather than a little adjustment here and there. Surely he must have realised that with such wholesale changes there was going to be a period of adjustment. Look at Sunderland, who brought in a similar amount of players – they’ve also really struggled this season despite seemingly improved their squad across all positions. This for me is the biggest factor influencing our results.
 
In saying that, we needed a left back and a left winger, so 2 transfers were definitely required and Enrique has been a solid deal and whilst he has not hit the heights expected, Downing has delivered historically in the EPL, so there’s no reason why he shouldn’t do it in the red shirt. These 2 additions were certainly needed, but should Maxi get a bit more game time based on last years performances – of course.
 
Bellamy gives us good options as a versatile attacking player but is not a regular starter.
 
Doni and Coates are not really worth discussing for different reasons.
 
So where are the problems?
 
I am still puzzled over the Meireles transfer. I can only assume that with Blackpool’s relegation, Kenny and Comolli wanted to act swiftly to ensure that the type of player they wanted could be captured and part of the fall out was Raul. Not one part of me considers Adam to be a better player than Raul. Whether that be as a more creative player in the double pivot, as one of two centre midfielders in 442/4222 or given a free attacking role in a 451/4231. By effectively replacing Meireles with Adam, Kenny has removed a cog that was working very well in the team; who had played a number of roles effectively and who’s adaptability was beneficial to the team as a whole. This was one transfer that was perhaps not needed and if we had persisted with Meireles, there may be a little more fluidity to the side right now.
 
Carroll was a buy borne out of a bizarre last minute transfer saga and time will tell whether it was the right thing to plunge into the market or whether we should have persisted with the personnel we had at the time. I repeat. Time will tell.
 
Henderson has just turned 20 and is currently being played in a different position to where he played himself into the Sunderland team and subsequently into a player who’s name was one of the first on the team sheet. He is now being asked to play a role as a right midfielder drifting inside. Again, time will tell whether he can adapt to this role, but by playing this system, Henderson is the better fit for the role rather than Kuyt. Kuyt certainly proved himself as a defensive winger in the 4231 where he was able to play to his strengths of supporting the striker from the forward right position, but to actually play as a midfielder, Kenny obviously thinks he’ll be found out.
 
My second concern is this; our culture is being defined by the Academy and The Academy is using 4-2-3-1, the reserves are using 4-2-3-1 yet the First Team is not. How much should the first team reflect the Academy and the developmental culture and how damaging is it to have such a difference?

mostly agreed.  that 4222 can look an awful lot like a 4231 depending on how deep suarez is dropping down for the ball.  i keep wondering why, if kenny is so dead set on picking adam (which im all for, but i dont think any player not named suarez should be getting picked every week in this squad) why not give him the 433 he so obviously needs to excel?  if we've established that he'll never be even serviceable on d, and he's only there for his offense, why not just give him that blackpool role for games when we can get away with it, and then wen we need the 2cdms play spearo or hendo next to lucas...  i just dont see a legitimate tactical reason why with the players we've got, a 433 wouldnt work, or at least have enough potential to give it a real try... even with carroll...

4231 with Suarez in the central atacking position behind the striker is miore like a 4411, and if that's the formation, then Carroll needs supply from the wings; not inverted wingers or midfielders that drfit inside.

433 needs possession based centre midfielders which Adam isn't. I personally think Hendo/Gerrard, Spearo and Lucas would be a better 3 man midfield than with Adam in it. You could have Suarez and Bellamy buzzing round Carroll or Kuyt in that formation.

haha, jus no quarter on adam from twentyman!  def tho re: the 433, i can easily see gerrard and hendo bombing forward from those central positions with suarez andkuyt making underlapping/overlapping runs and having andy just bludgeon around knocking chances down.

if only this was as easy as fifa...

Oh, and Howard Webb is an idiot. 

Well now you're just trolling for likes.

I'm sorry, I had just seen the call against Bolton and was on here also, and was reminded of horrible things. But that's not me. I'm not proud of that.

I'm proud of you.  Never before have I seen a top ref look so closely at penalty calls and then make the wrong shout.

What I love about here is we are entitled to our opinions, and what we come up with is considered an option. I read another comment saying Fabio could be placed in center mid. Other offsides would say "no that's not his position, he can't play there. NO! NEVER. I'm right your wrong."(chelski offside on David Luiz going from CB TO CM) Here we can discuss something.like that such as a good idea, provide facts, possibilities and what not. We are free here and it creates the wonderful environment of Liverpool. It's all very insightful on differing opinions, and I'm glad we accept and handle it here.

Evenin' all. Well that was disappointing, wasn't it? I haven't been in the form to revisit our latest performance since I slammed shut my laptop at ten to five on Saturday.

Some observations which bear in mind Ed's caveat re. being a real supporter.

1) NONE of the following have been as effective as we would like - Andy, Hendo, Stew-pot, Chaz. It is impossible to argue this point. ALL have shown glimpses. ALL have been underwhelming. ALL of them know this, as do Kenny and Comolli. NONE of them deserve the mindless, vitriolic bile being spat at them from various quarters. You cannot fault any of these guys for their application or effort but like so many of the people on here, I believe that at least SOME of them need to be taken out of the firing line.

2) Dirky, Maxi, Bellers and Spearo NEED to play in my opinion. Not because they are better than the 4 above but because they are better NOW.

3) 11 connections with the woodwork, various unawarded pens and assorted injuries to Stevie, Jonno and Kells all add to my general impression that Dalglish has had NO luck since his return.

4) That's 8 points left on the Anfield turf and 3 more inexplicably lost at the home of Anti-Football. All of those points leaves us top now, just 5 of that 11 leaves us safely in the top 4.

5) It is NOT sacrilege or heresy to express your indignance or disbelief with the selection or tactics employed by Kenny. Fuck knows I have and I am an unapologetic supporter of our greatest player leading us to a new era. It is, however, nothing short of idiotic to be calling for his head or questioning the ability of a guy who's won 4 top-flight titles as a coach and bleeds liverbird crests. These people make me simultaneously nauseous and livid and should have a bit of fucking respect or just piss off and get the instant gratification they crave by 'supporting' Chavski or some such.

HOWEVER...

1) We remain unbeaten in 8 and only 3 points off the afore-mentioned King's Road divas in 3rd.

2) By taking in Spearo for the struggling Adam and Dirky for Hendo, we can make instant changes to the team dynamic, instantly increasing our solidity and ball-retention whilst sacrificing only the dead-ball stylings and Hollywood diagonal passes of Chaz.

3) Enrique.

4) Suarez.

5) Lucas.

6) D'Agger.

It may offend some and it may simply irk others but there is a lot to love about LFC at the moment and if you allow yourself to stop EXPECTING top 4 as a minimum (this is not something I've managed to do myself, you understand), you might be less inclined towards self-harm and knee-jerkery. I'm not guaranteeing anything mind...I know what a simmering morass of frustration and indignance my tiny mind was when the final whistle blew on Saturday.

The personnel mistakes are worrying. Henderson has certainly had his moments, but as you said, Dirk is the better option at the moment. Downing up until this recent spell was solid, but the marginalization of Maxi so he can play seems unnecessary. Adam's lock on a spot in the center is the most puzzling. Perhaps it is more his less than ideal partnership with Lucas, but he doesn't seem to fit. Spearing would be better now, but I want to see Gerrard and Lucas in that position, provided the former is ever again healthy.

That said, much of this discussion would be likely be academic if we actually managed to convert some of these chances. I've watched both Carroll's shot of the bar in the opening minutes and Johnson's blocked attempt at the end five times each now and still feel like they are going to go in.

The sad thing is, those players you mention aren't better NOW. Dirkey has been ineffective at best when he has actually come on the field, and Maxi has only looked solid against low-division teams. The truth is, when players do not get game time, they get rusty.

Bellers provides a great burst of acceleration late in the game against tired legs, but can he sustain that through a whole game? His knees were suspect the past few seasons, and he really cannot keep up for 90 minutes.

Spearo is the only one you mention that has no argument from me. He's young, British, and he fits into the Liverpool system well. He also seems to be disciplined on defense and incredibly tenacious...did I mention he has released some cannon balls of shots that have almost gone in? If he can develop a larger range of passing then he can be of real value to the team. He might be at the level that it will take one full season loan in the EPL for him to be a first team regular.

Btw Ed or Noel, check the LFCoffside gmail account!

I agree that with the way we are setting up, I wouldn't pick Kuyt over Henderson, personally, I would rotate Kuyt with Carroll and Bellamy with Suarez.

Maxi would certainly provide a possession based influence on the game, but if Adam is looking for a 'killer ball' then he doesn't have the pace to get on the end of some of those types of ball in to space.

I certainly agree that the fewer games these guys get, they'll only get more and more out of sharpness.

Spearing must be wondering what he needs to do to get a game, cause if Adam is the benchmark then it must be soul destroying for Wii-J.

Will check right after this.

All I'd say is that the Maxi argument doesn't hold any water, given that he's only featured against lower-league sides this year. Fourteen whole league minutes doesn't provide much of a litmus test. Same for Bellamy--one league start doesn't give us a very large sample size. And not sure about Kuyt, but I'd guess featuring off-and-on doesn't do him any favors. I think he's been mostly good when we've seen him, but we know that when he's off, it stands out.

Typically insightful read, Trev.

I think the "better NOW" part is what resonates the most for me. Frustrating as it might be,  I'm impressed by the commitment to trying to integrate/develop/settle the summer's additions. It's got to make them feel valued, which probably isn't the easiest task for players coming in. But yesterday, on the heels of more choppy displays than effective ones, it just feels so square peg/round hole.

We'll see what happens, but with a couple of weeks between now and the visit to Chelsea, I'm hopeful that either changes will be made or there's a more effective implementation of the style of football they're hoping to play with Dalglish's preferred eleven. 

That, or I'll just keep drinking more.

Spot on Trev.  I love your outlook on this club--sane and reasonable.

Appreciate it Galahad. There are times when I genuinely doubt that sanity but seeing a Kenny presser or realising there are folks like the LiverpoolOffside crew causes a cessation in the twitching and gibbering.... Also, I drink...a lot.

We are Liverpool. We don't expect Top 4. Top 4 is just Champions League qualification. Liverpool is all about winning. Nobody knows that more than King Kenny.

I perhaps fall some where in the middle in that I have faith in King Kenny but at the same time i'm sure that Carroll, Adam, Henderson and especially Downing are not good enough to wear the shirt.

Hey LSD...listen man, you're preaching to the converted re. what we SHOULD expect at LFC. Only problem is that since that May of 1990 when the 16 yr old version of me watched Kenny lift the title, we've spent 22 long-ass years in the wilderness. Our sense of entitlement is killing us older LFC fans. If it takes two or three seasons for us to really challenge for the title under Kenny, well... all I'm saying is that only newbie, instant gratification 'fans' would argue with that.
 
The 4 guys you mention are struggling now but it's a big statement to write them off as LFC players. I would bet on 3 out 4 eventually proving their worth. Far from ideal, I'll grant you...

same things were said about kuyt, lucas and maxi not so long ago (not fit to wear blah blah blah).  i assume trev's thinking of downing, carroll and adam as the ones that will eventually prove their worth, in which case i totally agree. all three have demonstrated enough in the first 10 to suggest they'll be lfc players for several years.  and actually, 3 out of 4 hits in the transfer market is a really good success rate id imagine...

for me, adam still has enough in his game and has demonstrated enough to imagine he'll be around for a while.  but either a lights gotta come on positionally for him, or the king's gotta start using him in a way that plays to his strengths.  put some runners around him and let him focus on making the type of passes that put stuey through on the 'how the fuck does that not go in' chance for andy.  that pass is worth having him in the side, because no one else in the side even sees that pass much less makes it.  but after 10 games, one thing is for certain, adam as part of a 2man mid is just too soft of an underbelly for this league.  maybe in spain that shit works, not in the prem.

lol, i meant downing, carroll and HENDO btw...

Well, those were rubbish highlights!  Swansea played lots more good footy than that.  that's the real problem with MOTD, they really butcher the games.  

I shall rely on footballtreat dot blogspot dot com and watch the full game again.  However painful.

Anyone mind if I tw5t Carroll next time I see him?

              Reina
Kelly Carragher Agger Enrique
      Lucas     Spearing
           Adam/Henderson
Kuyt                 Maxi
            Suarez

Bold prediction.

Downing, Adam and Carroll to leave by this time next season. They are simply not good enough.

how are you not seeing some of the good things downing and carroll have done so far and taken at least some modicum of confidence that they're good players...

                Reina
Johnson Skrtyl Agger Enrique
              Spearing
         Lucas    Adam
  Kuyt                   Bellamy  
             Suarez

Gerrard on for spearing when (if?) alls well, with lucas dropping to the deeper mid slot.
No, I don't know where henderson would fit in to this, ideally he wouldn't. I see a possible midfield future for him in the middle somewhere with Jonjo (!) someday, but with commoli well, he seems to eat his butter without bothering with that 'bread' malarky.

on a more cheerful yet only slightly related note, everybody see Ryan Taylors wonder hit against everton, followed by his after match blah - "yeah, and im a red, so yeah, yknow, that was well good and that." ??at least somewhere in the prem the reds are still scoring eh

There is a perceived wisdom that you can bring in too many players at once.  

That's certainly giving us a headache at the moment, whereas most of the latter half of last season, we didn't really have much of a personnel choice, but balance was seemingly not a problem.

Having had some time to reflect, what stands out most for me in that match is how Swansea looked technically better than us and kept the ball a lot better. I cant really remember a sustained period of passing in that game. 

What really frustrates me is that I think we have the nucleus of a good team; but the line-up and personnel is all wrong. Remember the Man U home game last year? Remember the link-up play and one -touch passing shown between Suarez. Kuyt, Meireles (dont get me started on Kenny selling him - a stupid decision) and Maxi? The 4-5-1 formation? We need to revert to that formation and play Kuyt/Suarez/Bellamy or Downing - the amount of pressing that front 3 could do...

4-4-2 with Charlie in the middle is not working. He is not mobile enough and cannot tackle - as as a result, we get swamped in midfield. This also happened against a poor Wolves team. At Blackpool he played in a 3 man midfield, which allows him to spray passes without the defensive responsibilities. He is brutally exposed at the moment. 

Id like to see Henderson given a chance there - he is quite clearly not a right midfielder and I dont understand this persistence with him there. Despite that his ability to retain possession has been impressive and he has shown some positive signs to suggest he could be a good player for us (the United cameo).

Downing for me seems to get too much stick - he is the one player who can run at players and has put in some decent crosses. Its not his fault no-one is in the box.

I feel sorry for Carroll - when he plays, the default option for the rest of the team (Skertel, Im looking at you here) is to hit in the air to him. I dont think he wants it in the air (Crouch) but its the easy option. I still wonder if hes match fit - he seemed to have lost weight so maybe he will improve. I hope.

My team would be in a 4-5-1

Reina

Kelly
Agger
Skertel/Carra
Enrique

Lucas
Two of Henderson/Spearing/Adam

Kuyt
Suarez
Downing/Bellamy

I actually thought Liverpool played a good first half and I was quietly optimistic that we'd score in the second but that kinda fell apart. We were pressing really hard and stopping Swansea from entering the Liverpool half and creating some chances. I don't really know what went wrong but I'm guessing everyone started freaking out that nothing was going in so was pushing forward too much and creating all these holes that Swansea could slip in.

i dig it.  i wud sign williams and dyer today after seing them perform.  the pressing was non-existent which played right into their hands.  throw in the gap's torrero impersonation in the second half, and we're lucky they didnt pop one in.

carroll's looked fitter the last 2-3 weeks, i think that may have been an issue in the first month or so...

Hendo playing right side/kuyt understudy will be very good for his education no doubt, but it's not so good for us right now. If that is a role for him to be acclimatised to it should be done via the subs bench.  

He's no Stevie G unfortunately, so there is a lot of learning to do.As you say, let him be the forward midfielder and do Adam's job with Lucas and Spearmint behind him.  Adam and he can be subs for each other.

Very astute analysis and smart lineup. Is that you, Steve Clarke?? lol

Given the form and players we have now:

---------------Reina---------------
Johno---Skrtel---Agger---Enrique
--------Lucas------Spearo---------
Downing------Hendo--------Maxi
--------------Suarez---------------

This is in hopes that Hendo's quick passing can go along with Maxi's and Suarez's with Downing making good runs.  

Dammit.

Thx for posting -- unfortunately not of much use to use, since all the highlights were Swansea between the first 10 mins and the last 10. How did we turn all that possession into so few chances for 70 mins?

That was one of the big takeaways for me as well---last few minutes all Liverpool, but before that Swansea put on a show.

And it's funny how we can always muster up better chances just before the final whistle - why not earlier?  

I find myself just wanting to scream "DO ALL THAT STUFF SOONER FOR CHRISSAKES." 

But it's not that simple. Right? RIGHT?

Well Shankly said : 'Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple
 
and Paisley said : 'If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options later'

If we could just do that from the whistle, we'd be ok!

I'm going to try to get together some more highlights from this game. May take a little while due to the video format I've got, but we've got a lot of time before the next match...

That'd be awesome--get in touch if you're able to, and we'll work something out. Or at least get you in touch with a Swansea blog so it can be highlighted there.