I know most are just used to getting a written summary of what happens on the field and then a long-winded illogical blaming of Rafa's rotation, so I thought I'd spend a few minutes and throw in my two cents.
First off, we're in the midst of an injury crisis. Six players are injured. I consider Agger the most devastating as it means Hyypia has to play more than his aged body can probably muster. Arbeloa is out for some reason and would be quite helpful in this regard. Xabi is the best passer on our side and he also allows Gerrard to play on the right, which I hope we see more of in the near future. Aurelio provides a cover on the left so Riise can have more fun playing left mid. If I have to tell you Torres' importance than you're an idiot. Finally we have Harry Kewell, who returned to action today for the Reserves and scored a goal. When Kewell is fit and at his top game, he's about as close to World Class as one can get. Hopefully he'll return to the first side soon, stay healthy, and help us in our quest for cups and trophies.
Second, there are certain players who have put themselves before the team. I know of at least three in the locker room who's grumblings have leaked out. The only one I will address is Peter Crouch. I could care less if I ever saw Crouch wear the kit again, I'm that upset with him. If anyone thinks he's an improvement over Kuyt, your sorely mistaken. The locker room rubbish has to stop or the players involved need to get a ticket out in January. It's that simple. If they're a distraction, they need to go.
Moving to the play on the pitch, certain players are nowhere near their form from last season. Jermaine Pennant, Javier Mascherano, and Momo Sissoko come to mind. All three need to elevate their game or get used to the bench. Of the three, Masche is the most crucial and most likely to regain the form that helped us get to the Champions League final last year. Pennant has showed flashes of what made him so valuable during last season's run, but overall his performances have been lackluster. I'm at my wit's end with Sissoko. If he's unhappy, he needs to go. I refuse to throw Hyypia under the bus, but it's obvious his age has prevented him of being effective as he has been in the past.
All right, the biggest obstacle I see preventing us from scoring goals is that we seem to get in each other's way. This has been quite prevalent in recent matches. It's bad enough that our opposition stuffs the box and puts eight to nine men behind the ball, so we don't need to congest the opponent's half any more. There are several ways to prevent this from stopping our own flow, but two stick out in my mind the most. The first option would be to send less people down field. We should be doing this anyhow with Hyypia in the back. If Sami's not going to stay back, we need to provide cover for him and the way to do that is to start two defensive-minded central midfielders, any combination of Mascherano, Alonso, and Sissoko, and start Gerrard on the right. The problem with that is of course, Stevie-G is not a true winger and so Finnan would have to come up, but that's okay since the Irishman seems comfortable playing from the far flank and drawing out defenders.
The other option is just be more disciplined in going forward. Kewell will be crucial in that regard as he seems fine at staying to the left, but Babel, Riise, and Benayoun seem to like to cut inside a bit and cause congestion issues for Gerrard. We must use more of the field to draw out more defenders and if they refuse to respect that, we must take advantage of their mistakes to do so. I know it's not that simple, but it's certainly makes sense.
Another issue I've been having with our side is that we don't even seem to want to score from outside of the box. I don't understand this whatsoever. We need to develop some sort of way to clear some room for Gerrard or whomever to get a decent try from right outside the area. Riise seems to try it a little too much, no matter the circumstance and that would be okay if actually converted once-in-a-while. I don't understand why we try to dribble it into the net so much, it's just baffling. Also, the extra passes need to stop, it's not a bad thing to be selfish at times, boys.
Then we have set pieces. Do we have any sort of plan when it comes to these? It seems like we just try to cross it over the middle every time and hope it connects with one of our players. We need more creativity, have some fun dammit. Lay it off, create room at the top and get the ball there. The more unpredictable we can become the more likely the other side will foul up. Overall I think our creativity level outside of Gerrard, Benayoun, and possibly Babel is severely lacking. What happened to the Dirk Kuyt who seemed so playful during the preseason? If the pressure is that extreme on our boys than fuck it, I'd rather have fun watching them play than win anything. I know it's near impossible with the atmosphere of top flight European football these days, but we need to let loose.
Ultimately, major injuries have been our biggest issue, but for some reason, the main stream press want everyone to point fingers at Rafa. That's fine, since it only makes them look like ignorant donkeys, but hopefully nobody on our side believes such rubbish. A side that plays together as whole, no matter which of their teammates is on the field, is going to be successful in the end, but expecting one to understand such a notion, seems to be asking the world of them. It is the pathetic English press after all, and by that I don't mean respectable journalists like Chris Bascombe.
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