Tottenham 0, Liverpool 1: thoughts on the 'fast' break

It's been quite an entertaining half, at least between the boxes.  Both sides seem to have had great build-ups in possession, but in so, neither seem to be able to create solid chances in the opposition's box.  All the potential goals and the solo goal have come on the counter.

Spurs dominated possession the first third of the match, but then Liverpool started to take control.  During Tottenham's seeming domination, the only goal came about on a tremendous effort by Henderson, who intercepted the initial ball and passed to Sturridge.  Studge, who isn't having the best of afternoons, played the ball into a streaking Henderson, who found Sterling brilliantly on a cross box pass.  Sterling slotted it in, leaving Spurs defence wondering what had just happened.

The quickness of the scoring string was indicative of Liverpool's play so far.  They set a precedent on pace and Spurs are struggling to keep it up.  If they want to play our style, we should be able to add a couple of more goals in the second.  If they slow it down, well, as long they cover the counter, this match is probably over as they are having trouble breaking the box playing that way.

As for individual performance, Sterling and Henderson are the cream of a rather mediocre crop.  Balotelli has played well, but he really should have a goal with chances like his header gone wide on the Gerrard free kick and that open goal when Lloris straggled out of the box.  Speaking of Gerrard, he's had a very up-and-down match, more down though, if he can calm down it will greatly increase our chances of three points.  On ward and (hopefully) upward...

Fantasy picks for match day 3: Newcastle, Villa, Swansea, West Ham & City are the way to go

Keepers
This week: Tim Krul (Newcastle)

Alternates: Brad Guzan (Villa), Fabianski (Swansea), Hart (Man City), De Gea (Man U), Robert Green (QPR).

Long term: De Gea, Krul, Forster (Southampton), Mannone (Sunderland)

Defenders
This week: Alan Hutton (Aston Villa), Dummett (Newcastle), Kompany (Man City), Armat (Swansea)

Alternates: Vlaar (Villa), Coloccini, Williamson (Newcastle), Williams, Rangel (Swansea), Ferdinand (QPR)

Long term: Dummett, Coloccini (Newcastle), Fonte (Southampton), O'Shea (Sunderland), Blackett, Jones (Man U)

Midfielders
This week: Barton (QPR), Nasri (Man City), Sigurdsson (Swansea), Cabella (Newcastle)

Alternates: Delph, Westwood (Villa), Colback, Sissoko (Newcastle), Ki Sung-yeung (Swansea), Silva, Toure (Man City), Noble, Kouyate (West Ham)

Long term: Valencia (Man U), Larsson (Sunderland), Colback, Cabella, Sissoko (Newcastle), Schniederlin (Southampton), Gerrard, Sterling (Liverpool)

Forwards
This week: Bony (Swansea), Riviere (Newcastle)

Alternates: Dzeko, Jovetic, Aguero (Man City), Cole (Newcastle), Rooney, Van Persie (Man U)

Long term: Pelle, Long (Southampton), Wickham, Fletcher (Sunderland), Sturridge (Liverpool), Riviere, De Jong, Gouffran (Newcastle)

Pay close attention to transfer news as some may not be with their club come match time.

Obscured by Dowd: A history of the ref & LFC

Phil Dowd is the ref for this Sunday's match at White Hart Lane, here is a breakdown of his record with Liverpool.  He has refereed 57 matches featuring Liverpool Football Club in all competitions.  In those matches, LFC is 21-12-14 and have accumulated 61 cards, 57 yellows, 2 yellow-reds and 1 straight red.  Our opponents have received 88 yellows, 1 yellow-red, and 2 straight reds.

Dowd has awarded 5 penalties to Liverpool all-time, 4 at Anfield and 1 on the road (funny enough coming in a loss at White Hart Lane).  Three of those came against Crystal Palace in 2004 with Milan Baros converting two.  The Czech striker had the third waved off, but he still managed a hat-trick in the 3-2 win at Anfield.

Away from Anfield, LFC is 6-4-10 under the disciplinary guidance of Mr. Dowd in all competitions, receiving 37 yellows, 1 yellow-red, and 1 straight red.  Their opponents have accumulated 40 cards, all yellow.

In Premier League play, Liverpool is 17-12-10 with Dowd, but only 4-6-9 away from Anfield.  They have received 33 cards in visiting matches (31 y, 1 y-r, 1 r) while their home opponents have been booked 29 times, all yellow.

Twice Dowd has mediated matches between Spurs and LFC at White Hart Lane, both times Tottenham won.  The first time in January 2008, a heart-breaking affair that would wind up costing Liverpool a chance at the title that season.  Up 1-0 through two-thirds of the match, Jamie Carragher headed in an own goal against the run of play and in the 91st minute, a shambolic defensive display allowed Pavlyuchenko to score the winner.

The second match occurred November 2012, also resulting in a 2-1 Spurs win.  The north London club went up 2-0 in the opening 16 minutes with goals from Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale, never looking back.  The only 'goal' Liverpool could manage was a Bale own goal in the 72nd minute.

Dowd has over seen some other significant matches including Brendan Rodgers' EPL debut as LFC manager.  In a controversial affair at the Hawthorns, Dowd awarded West Brom two ridiculous penalties and handed five cards to Liverpool players including a laughable straight red to Daniel Agger.  Another match he refereed was our 1-2 FA Cup final loss to Chelsea in May 2012.

Sunday is looking very 'drawish' at Tottenham

Before last season's 5-0 drubbing at White Hart Lane, Liverpool had lost five straight matches there.  The Reds are 6-5-11 in 22 Premiership seasons at Tottenham.  Seven of those losses finished with a 1-2 scoreline.  Liverpool have scored 30 goals and allowed 32 at Spurs over that period.

In their 20 matches away from Anfield on match day 3, LFC is 6-5-9.  They are 1-1-0 at White Hart Lane during that time, a 0-0 draw in 2005-06 and 3-1 win in 1995-96.  In the latter match, John Barnes scored a brace to give him 100 career goals for Liverpool, while Robbie Fowler's lone goal gave him 50.

Liverpool is 6-8-5 at the previous season 6th place finisher, though that opponent has never been Spurs.

The previous season 2nd place finisher is 9-6-6 at the previous season 6th place side, though the former has only lost once in the previous 8 meetings when Liverpool beat Chelsea 4-1 in 2011-12.   Liverpool is 1-0-1 as the second place side in this situation, beating Villa 1-0 in 2009-10 and losing to Chelsea 2-1 in 02-03.

Everything points to a draw at the moment, but there's still plenty of research to be done.

Chelsea & Tottenham dominate most outstanding performances from Matchday Two

Most outstanding performances from matchday two:

Calum Chambers, Arsenal
47/49 passing, 95.9%, 1 cc, 2 tackles, 1 int, 10 clearances

Dean Marney, Burnley
62/67 passing, 92.5%, 6/7 long passes, 2 cc, 5 tackles, 4 ints, 2 clearances

Eden Hazard, Chelsea
1 goal, 48/54 passing, 88.9%, 7 cc, 6 successful take-ons, 2 sot

Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea
72/77 passes, 93.5%, 4 cc, 2 sot, 3 take-ons, 1 tackles

Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea
50/55 passes, 90.9%, 1 cc, 5 tackles, 2 ints, 6 clearances

Mile Jedinak, Crystal Palace
9/10 aerial duels, 1 cc, 6 tackles, 4 ints, 1 blocked shot

Antonio Valencia, Man United
54/59 passing, 91.5%, 1 cc, 7 tackles, 3 ints, 1 blocked shot

Joey Barton, QPR
42/50 passing, 84%, 9/13 long passes, 4 cc, 7 tackles, 2 ints

Ryan Shawcross, Stoke
1 goal, 2 sot, 1 take-on, 3 tackles, 1 int, 12 clearances, 1 blocked shot

Ashley Williams, Swansea
61/67 passes, 91%, 10/15 long passes, 2 tackles, 2 ints, 11 clearances

Emmanuel Adebayor, Tottenham
1 g, 1 ast, 38/42 passing, 90.5%, 4 cc, 2 sot, 1 take-on, 1 int, 1 clearance

Erik Lamela, Tottenham
2 assists, 43/48 passing, 89.6%, 3 cc, 5 take-ons, 3 tackles, 2 ints

Nacer Chadli, Tottenham
2 goals, 26/28 passing, 92.9%, 1 cc, 1 take-on, 2 ints, 1 clearances

Eric Dier, Tottenham
1 g, 42/48 passing, 87.5%, 1 cc, 1 take-on, 7 tackles, 1 clearance

Danny Rose, Tottenham
1 assist, 59/66 passing, 89.4%, 1 cc, 5/7 aerial duels, 2 tckls, 3 ints, 4 clrs

Youssouf Mulumbu, WBA
50/58 passing, 86.2%, 1 take-on, 9 tackles, 6 ints, 1 blocked shot

Cheikhou Kouyate, West Ham
1 assist, 1 cc, 2 sot, 5/10 aerial duels, 4 take-ons, 5 tckls, 2 ints, 2 clearances

Gerrard breaks into top ten of most efficient EPL players, Lovren falls and Yaya takes top

Top attacking efficient players in the Premiership 
(must have played at least 120 minutes thus far)

	ape
Y. Toure	0.878
S. Nasri	0.859
D. Fletcher	0.825
Cesc Fàbregas	0.822
F. Coloccini	0.817
N. Bentaleb	0.805
Eden Hazard	0.804
S. Gerrard	0.797
E. Adebayor	0.795
T. Blackett	0.795

Fletcher is a bit shocking, but he has posted a 87.3% pass rate and has only averaged 7 caused possession changes a match.  Blackett has managed an even better successful passing percentage at 88.4%.

If all players are included, despite the amount of minutes played, Sergio Aguero is king with a ridiculous 0.938 attacking efficiency.  That's what happens when you score 2 goals, post a 3/4 shot accuracy and are 10/10 on passing in 29 total minutes on the pitch.  Only a matter of time before they play the Argentine, Jovetic, and Dzeko up front at the same time and have the minnows of the Prem soiling their shorts.

Leicester's Andy King is a good example of 'levelling off''.  The Welsh midfielder dropped 22 places in rankings after facing Chelsea, the 2nd most efficient side in the EPL.  The Foxes next host Arsenal, which could go either way for King as he should have the amount of touches to show if he's as good as he was against Everton.

Top defensive efficient players
(must have played at least 120 minutes thus far)

	dpe
C. Chambers	0.914
R. Ferdinand	0.914
M. Skrtel	0.905
D. Lovren	0.896
F. Coloccini	0.894
Y. Toure	0.884
P. Jagielka	0.878
Fernando	0.877
V. Kompany	0.871
T. Blackett	0.865

Chambers continues to impress, but I did change up the formula to be more possession-friendly, meaning the 19-year-old right back benefits greatly from playing for Arsene Wenger.  That shouldn't help Rio though as QPR is the fifth-worst possession side.  Man United should have let him stayed another season.  Skrtel leap frogs Lovren and having both centre backs in the top for says a lot about Liverpool's somewhat deficient defence. Save Gerrard, only Jordan Henderson is  ranked in the top 75 at 74.

Top overall efficient players

(must have played at least 120 minutes thus far)

	ope
Y. Toure	0.881
F. Coloccini	0.856
C. Chambers	0.840
S. Nasri	0.835
T. Blackett	0.830
D. Fletcher	0.829
Fernando	0.825
G. Barry	0.821
S. Gerrard	0.820
N. Bentaleb	0.817

No Chelsea players? Fabregas is closest at 18th, but they are tied with City with a league best 8 players in the top 100.  It is a team sport after all.  Lovren dropped to 13th, one ahead of Skrtel.

Man United the third most efficient attacking side in the Premiership? Afraid so, but...

Most efficient attacking sides in the EPL:

	ape
Man City	0.700
Tottenham	0.698
Man U	0.690
Arsenal	0.674
Chelsea	0.669

City and Tottenham are not surprising here, but ManU at third? Really?  Well two things play into this, first the quality of their opponents.  Home against Swansea and at Sunderland are not very tough 'tests', the latter is eighth best in defensive efficiency so far, but they got a boost from playing West Brom.  The Cardiff club is second to last in defensive efficiency and will probably have to rely more and more on scoring goals to keep up with opponents.

Second, United are actually decent at passing and lead the league in completion percentage at 87.3%. They play at Burnley next week, so expect them to continue their competency, but once the meat of their schedule begins, their numbers should 'level out'.

Liverpool stand 6th, by the way.

Most efficient defensive sides in the EPL:

	dpe
Stoke	0.366
Chelsea	0.350
Arsenal	0.318
West Ham	0.310
Hull City	0.278

Stoke shouldn't be much of a surprise here considering their defence-oriented style of play and the fact that their first two opponents this season are currently the 17th (Hull) and 19th (Aston Villa) most efficient attacks.  Let's see how they fair at City this weekend before we pass judgement.

Liverpool currently sit 11th.

Most efficient overall:

	per
Chelsea	1.019
Arsenal	0.992
Stoke	0.974
Man U	0.943
Tottenham	0.936
Man City	0.933
Liverpool	0.897

Before anyone loses the plot, this measures 'efficiency', there is no 'extra' value given to goals nor to defensive errors that lead to goals.  It will even out as the season continues and opponents become more common.  The fact that Man U isn't at or near the top of the table after two matches against less-than-mediocre opposition says plenty.

Team stat stand-outs

- West Ham are the king of the crosses with a by far league best 19 successful at an also impressive 39.6% rate.  West Brom has completed the second most with 12 and Sunderland is the second most efficient at 29.0%.

- Stoke have been dominant in the air.  The Potters have won the most duels (59) at the highest success rate (65.6%).

- West Brom has been 'dispossessed' 44 times, 15 more than the next nearest club, which is surprisingly Man City.

- Aston Villa has one shot on goal in 15 attempts, it also resulted in their only goal by Andreas Weimann.

- Chelsea lead the league in goals scored, chances created, shots-on-goal, and successful dribbles.

- Stoke and Hull lead the league with 94 clearances a piece, 20 more than any other club.

Man City 1, Liverpool 0: Thoughts at the break

Until about five minutes to go, Liverpool were by far the better side.  One error then the walls come crumbling down and that was our problem last season.  We must maintain composure and regain the form we had in the first half when we were in control of the match.

I thought Coutinho looked better, but what do I know? Glen Johnson is still passing to ghosts, Joe Allen has been impressive for Joe Allen, but would like to see what Can can do.

There were some interesting calls though, the 'foul' on Henderson instead of a corner being the most obvious.

Blaming Moreno for that goal is just stupid, Jovetic sneaked up on him and knocked the ball his way.  It was a great goal from the player I actually picked to score first.

Will we be able to get back into this? Capability is without question, but unfortunately we can't take risks or City will make us pay.  Maybe it's Markovic time.  Let's see what our 'Zlatan' can do.

Impressive stats so far:
Gerrard       96% passing
Man City     1/20 on long balls

Dejan Lovren is the most efficient player in the EPL thus far

Individual Stats Leaders after Week One

Top ten most efficient in possession players:

S. Nasri	0.889
Y. Toure	0.868
T. Blackett	0.866
Andy King	0.852
M. Arteta	0.850
G. Barry	0.839
N. Bentaleb	0.828
V. Kompany	0.816
J. Olsson	0.813
G. Obertan	0.800

Leicester's Andy King is a surprising one here.  Gerrard came 11th with a ppe of 0.797.

Top ten most efficient defensive players:

Liam Moore	0.405
S. Dann	0.400
Curtis Davies	0.380
J. Chester	0.344
M. Jedinak	0.339
P. van Aanholt	0.339
B. Hangeland	0.333
Wes Morgan	0.319
P. Senderos	0.297
M. Kelly	0.295

Some solid players (Dann, Davies, Jedinak, & Hangeland) mixed in with some surprises who will probably play their way out of the this category.  Former LFC boy Kelly comes in tenth.

The ten most efficient overall:

D. Lovren	0.953
L. Koscielny	0.950
M. Arteta	0.925
P. Jagielka	0.922
M. Skrtel	0.919
V. Kompany	0.918
J. Chester	0.918
T. Blackett	0.918
J. Collins	0.911
W. Reid	0.911

I was shocked to see Lovren on top here.  Skrtel at fifth, not so much, with all the defensive numbers he racked up.

The top ten in effieciency over team average:

S. Dann	0.271
J. Chester	0.254
Ron Vlaar	0.253
R. Ferdinand	0.249
David Jones	0.238
J. Olsson	0.237
L. Cattermole	0.232
B. Hangeland	0.221
D. Lovren	0.208
J. Collins	0.207

This stat measures a players performance compared to his team's average, for instance, Scott Dann and Brede Hangeland's were the stars on a less than stellar Crystal Palace versus Arsenal.

- Joey Barton lead all players with 6 chances created.
- Mikel Arteta lead all players with 100 completed passes on 105 attempts (95.2%), Aaron Ramsey was the only other player to break the century mark in pass attempts with 106.
- Asmir Begovic was the only player to play a full match and complete all his pass attempts (23 for 23).
- West Ham's Cheikhou Kouyate lead all outfield players, who played 60 minutes or more, with a 96.9% pass completion rate.
- Mark Noble and Stewart Downing lead all players in successful crosses with 4 each, but Noble took just 6 attempts while Downing needed 10.
- Eden Hazard lead the league in take-ons with 9, Sterling and Cazorla tied for second with 5 apiece.
- Former Arsenal and current QPR left back, Armand Traore, was a very impressive 11 for 11 on aerial duels, making him tops in most won and best success percentage (100%).  Southampton's Graziano Pelle won the second most, going 10 for 23 while United's Chris Smalling and Erik Pieters of Stoke were 2nd in efficiency going 7 for 7 each.
- Jack Wilshere won the most fouls with 6.
- England and West Brom's Saido Berahino was the only player to score a penalty and/or a brace, but he also lead in times dispossessed at 7.  Raheem Sterling was runner-up with 6 times dispossessed and Daniel Sturridge tied with Aaron Ramsey at four times apiece.
- Adnan Januzaj lead all players with 6 direct turnovers, 2 more than any other player.
- Victor Wanyama and Mile Jedinak had the most successful tackles with 9 each.
- Sunderland's new left-back, Patrick van Aanholt is the league leader in interceptions with 8.
- Martin Skrtel's 19 clearances were enough to edge out Ryan Shawcross by one to lead all players.
- Marouane Chamakh committed 11 fouls, more than twice as many than any other player.

Mental Team Stats from Matchday One

Most efficient in possession

Man City	0.695
Arsenal	0.690
Man U	0.681
Everton	0.676
Chelsea	0.673
Liverpool	0.645

Keeping the ball away from City would be ideal.  And Jesus Navas didn't even play.

Defensive efficiency

C Palace	0.212
Sunderland	0.172
Hull City	0.150
Leicester	0.136
Swansea	0.130

Crystal Palace continues their dominating defensive form from last season, meanwhile City is 11th (0.102), Liverpool is 12th (0.100), and Man United are dead last (0.057).

Overall Efficiency

Man City	0.798
Arsenal	0.766
Chelsea	0.749
Everton	0.746
Liverpool	0.746

The most important of these three numbers taking into account all favorable actions of players (i.e. keeping possession and preventing the other side from scoring).  Arsenal is only ranked high here because of their passing, I expect them to fall rapidly as they play sides that focus more on possession-based defence instead of Palace's somewhat suicidal 'mighty fortress' stance.

Chance created value

Swansea	0.400
Crystal Palace	0.333
Chelsea	0.222
Liverpool	0.200
Everton	0.167

United is in a ton of trouble if they don't get some help on defence, Swansea has a decent attack but it's no where near the abilities of the top clubs.

Tidbits

- West Ham created the most chances of any side with 13, but failed to score.  They also connected on the most crosses with 11, while Tottenham was the only club that was unsuccessful on all their cross attempts, going 0 for 13.

- Arsenal completed the most passes with 640, 89 more than 2nd-most Chelsea, but they attempted the least amount of long balls in 34.

- QPR took the most shots (19) and tied for the most on goal (6) with Arsenal and Southampton, but failed to score.

- Liverpool lead all sides in take-ons with 15.

- Not surprising, even though Howard Webb retired, Man United 'won' the most fouls with 20.

- Only three clubs had multiple assists: Chelsea, Liverpool, and Swansea, all three sides won.

The return of Robo-Skrtel

Liverpool 2, Southampton 1: The match in stats
- Martin Skrtel had 20 clearances.  He led Liverpool and the league last season with 11.5 per 90 minutes and is well on his way to doing so again this season.  Lovren was second with 11 and Manquillo was third with 5.

- Skrtel also led the side in touches with 111, Manquillo was second with 109, and Lovren third with 86.

- Skrtel won the most aerial duels as well with 7 while Lovren was second with 6.

- Lovren led all players with an absolutely ridiculous passing rate of 96%, Skrtel was 2nd at 91%, and Gerrard third at 89%.

- Manquillo led the side with 6 tackles, Jordan Henderson was 2nd with 3.

- Gerrard completed 10 of 13 of long balls.  He lead all outfield Prem players last year with 257.

- Daniel Sturridge attempted 20 passes the entire match, Joe Allen attempted that many in 31 minutes.  Sturridge, a career 80% passer, completed 17 while Allen, a career 90% passer, completed 16.

- Raheem Sterling dribbled past 5 opponents, but was dispossessed 6 times.

-Rickie Lambert had more tackles, one, than Glen Johnson and Lucas Leiva combined.

- Every starter had at least one interception except Sturridge.  Lovren and Manquillo led the team with 4 a piece.

- No Liverpool player committed more than a single foul.  Thank you, Clattenburger.

- One of Glenn Johnson's shots landed in a rubbish bin, the other knocked an ice cream cone out of a six-year-old girl's hand.

- Lucas had a shot on target, created a chance, and dribbled past an opponent.  Either he passed a few bills to the statistician before the match or it's his Uncle Joenihno recording the numbers.

- The only other player to do as Lucas did above was Raheem Sterling, he had 3 shots on target and 2 key passes though.

Liverpool 1, Southampton 0: thoughts at the break

I don't think Koeman is 'parking the bus', but playing three defensive-minded midfielders and Southampton's overall 'conservative' approach is awfully close.  The goal, a brilliant pass by Hendo followed by a non-chalant tap through by Sterling, failed to open things up, the Saints remained disciplined, have not panicked, and have created chances to equalize.  Fortunately for Liverpool, though he has been shaky, Mignolet has come through on those occasions.

If this is the last chance for Lucas and Glen Johnson to prove their value to Rodgers, they've failed so far, Johnson especially.  The right back, playing left back, has gifted possession at least a third of the time he touches the ball.  I used to defend him, but he's clearly well past it.  I don't think he could get a match for, well, Southampton.  Unfortunately he's not doing much good for his value, it'll probably take a million pounds and a pizza for anyone to take him now.  Lucas has been much less dreadful, but at the same time, utterly useless.  Gerrard seems to be playing holding/defensive midfielder, so I don't see the point in having the Brazilian out there, Can offers much more going forward.

Speaking of poor performances, Coutinho is not in the midst of his best match by an ostrich mile.  In his defense though, he's been circled like sharks on a bloodied sea lion.  He's got to find some space out there if he's to be a factor in the second half.

Practically everyone else has played well, some great passing especially from Gerrard.  Manquillo has been all over the place and that card was complete rubbish.  If that was a card-worthy foul, half the Southampton side should be booked already, Bertrand especially.  And since we are talking about fouls, Sturridge should have gotten a free kick at the top of the box when Yoshida deliberately left his foot out to trip him.  That was just ridiculous.  Anyhow, second half about to start...

WWKD: What would Klopp do? The Luis Suarez replacement edition

It is no secret that Borussia Dortmund manager, Jürgen Klopp, is a mad genius when it comes to signing players.  He created his two-time Bundesliga-winning side by throwing together a motley crew of after-thoughts, 'big' club rejects, and lower-tier league stars.  It made me wonder whom he would go after to replace Suarez.

He was actually in a somewhat similar situation having lost Robert Lewandowski to Bayern Munich this summer.  Klopp replaced the 25-year-old Polish striker with Capocannoniere winner, Cirro Immobile of Torino.  Bit of an odd choice for Klopp, but unlike Rodgers, the German no longer has the luxury to develop players.  That's what two titles and a trip the Champions League finals does to supporter's expectations, but what if it was 2010?

That's when Klopp bought Lewandowski, a little known striker who was coming off a stellar season with Lech Poznán, when he lead the Ekstraklasa in goals scored.  He wasn't really replacing anyone, even though Nelson Valdez left the club that summer, but Klopp knew that the 54 goals his club scored the season before would never be enough to win the league.  Lucas Barrios, the team's leading scorer with 19 goals in his first season, stayed on, while Shinji Kagawa was also added.

So basically Klopp would be looking for a star player in a league that has similar style of play.  Call me cray, but the player that probably fits the bill best is Stevie May of St. Johstone in the SPL.  The 21-year-old striker has produced at every level he has played.   In 2011-12, he was loaned out to Alloa Athletic of the Scottish Third Division, where he scored 22 goals in 19 matches.  The season before last, he spent loaned at Hamilton Academical, where he found the net 25 times in 33 matches.  Last year he was one of the leading scorers in the SPL with 20 goals for the Saints.

May has an uncanny style of play, he doesn't possess great pace, but he's quick and tricky on the ball.  He also has a keen sense when to let loose, scoring goals by catching opposition defence and keepers off guard with swift and odd-angled shots.  He is also a decent passer of the ball, tying for his club lead with 5 assists.

Unfortunately, Sheffield Wednesday got to him first, but that could be a good thing.  If he continues to perform in the Championship as he has in every league he's played, Rodgers would be mental not to snatch him up.  I honestly would go ahead and buy the 21-year-old Scot and then loan him back to Wednesday.  He just seems to be one of those players who's style baffles not only opponents, but supporters as well.

Here's a video of all his goals from last season:

The Spanish-Senegalese 'Raheem Sterling' is there for the picking

Keita Baldé Diao is a 19-year-old Spanish forward of Senegalese descent, who is currently plying his trade at Italian club, SS Lazio.  He was brought up through the Barcelona youth system, but was loaned out to Cornellá after the 2009-10 season due to disciplinary reasons.  Unfortunately it worked against Barça as Keita refused to return and was sold to Lazio.

Keita finally broke through to the first team last season and did not disappoint.  In limited action, he scored 5 goals and posted 3 assists, but he impressed most in his decisiveness.  For a 19-year-old and a forward in general, he posted a fairly low true turnover index per 90 minutes of 9.93, a decent 82.5% successful pass rate, and a 54% shot accuracy percentage, which would have been tops on Liverpool last season.

Here is a stat comparison from last season of Sterling and him:

	npg90	ap90	gc90	cc90	ccv	pass%	tti90	gopd
Keita	0.33	0.20	0.52	1.63	0.120	0.825	9.93	0.07
Sterling	0.36	0.20	0.57	2.06	0.097	0.817	12.1	0.22

Their numbers are eerily similar save chances created 90 (cc90), chance created value (ccv), and true turnover index 90 (tti90).  A tti90 below 10 at his age and position is simply unheard of and a ccv a full 20 points above what is considered the average shows he is efficient and unselfish.

Should we buy him though? Well, word is Lazio want £24m for him, that seems a bit high, but he does have the potential to make that price still seem like a bargain years from now.  To add a player of his pace and skill doesn't come around that often.  Here's a video with horrible music to judge for yourself:

Liverpool 2, Dortmund 0: Thoughts at the break, panic on the streets of Merseyside

Victor Moses, Abel Xavier, Gabby Paletta, and Mark Gonalez, what do all these Liverpool legends have in common?  They scored on their LFC debut and their goals actually counted.  Iago Aspas scored in his first pre-season match and we all know where it went from there.  It was nice for Lovren to be gifted a set-piece goal on his debut, but at the end of the day, meaningless.  He has been impressive though.

When it's your first match for your new club, regardless if it's preseason or not, and you are shouting 'orders' at your new teammates, that's impressive.  Lovren brings a much-needed presence to the club, someone who is not afraid to take command and responsibility for his side's result.  Carragher had that fire as did Reina in his first few years at the club, last season it was only Gerrard and even he wavered from even a few seasons ago.

Coutinho has been our best player so far, that assist was class and Gerrard-esque.  It's good to see the Brazilian is paying attention to his captain's endless talents.  I can't really say the same for Sterling who has been wasteful to say the least.  He has to do better when he's one-on-one on the box.  Studge is being Studge, as long as he's healthy, he's a threat to score every match.

This is about as close to European football that a friendly can get.  I'm relatively confident this isn't Dortmund's best eleven, but they have been 'spritely'.  Their pace, quickness, and passing has been trying, but our defence, save Glen Johnson on two legs and not his ass, has shut down their every opportunity.  I'm hoping Kelly or me Uncle Joe comes on in the second half for our challenged fullback.

The rest of the side has been 'adequate' but going up 2-0 in the first fifteen minutes seemed to take a little off from both sides.  Since then, Dortmund seems less driven to score and Liverpool more content to take the result.  Hopefully it'll open up in the second half and we'll see another goal or two from Liverpool.  It would be especially nice to see Lambert find the back of the net.

Balotelli is an over-rated narcissistic cancer

By no means should Liverpool waste their time with Mario Balotelli.  The Italian striker may be one of the most talented in Europe, but he is all about one thing, himself.  Before being sold in the January 2013 window, he had basically already cost Man City a chance of repeating as Premier league champions.  If his lackluster, half-assed efforts on the pitch weren't enough, it paled in comparison to his whiny, childish, and distracting behavior off.

When 'Super' Mario desires to make a difference on the pitch, he can be, at times, unstoppable, but when he could care less, he's not very good at hiding it.  At the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Man City fined him for his less than stellar disciplinary record from the previous year, which Balotelli refuted and threatened to take to a PL tribunal.  He eventually paid the fine, but it looks as if he got his revenge in the most classless manner.  Before his transfer to A.C. Milan, he had scored one goal in 14 appearances for City, let's look at his stats from then, the previous year, and the rest of his season in Serie A:

year	club	npg90	gc90	sacc%	shot%	gopd
2012-13	AC Milan	0.47	0.94	51.9	15.6	0.36
2012-13	Man City	0.15	0.15	17.6	2.9	-0.38
2011-12	Man City	0.68	0.95	39.0	15.9	-0.33

Looks like all of sudden Balotelli found his goal-scoring touch again.  In fact, in the first half of the season at City, less than one out of five of his shots were toward goal, but once he got to magical Milan land, half his shots became on-target.  He also had nearly a full goal swing with his goals-on-pitch difference.  I can't say I'm surprised considering his character.

Balotelli turns it on when he wants to and that's just unacceptable.  He doesn't care about the badge on his chest, all he wants is to be exalted and praised.  He has had problems with every club he has played for and now apparently is upset with Inzaghi and the Milan manager's training tactics. He is not a team player by any means, in fact, in the past five seasons he has received 39 cards and dished out just 12 assists.  Even if he averaged a non-penalty goal per match, which he doesn't, he's not worth the trouble.  We'd be replacing Suarez with a player of half the ability and ten times the trouble.

For those who think he would help us win the Premiership, you're wrong.  City would have won with or without him in 2011-12.  When he was on the pitch, they were a third of the team when he wasn't, hence the -0.33 goals on pitch difference that season.  They certainly didn't need him last season either.

Shameful Prem erases all Suarez history

The pathetic Premier League thinks they can re-write history.  I didn't realize they did this until I was perusing around their site and was looking for Suarez on the goal-scoring table (click on pics to enlarge),...

..the leading assists table,...

...and apparently didn't play for Liverpool last season....

...nor the season before.

You also get nothing when you search.

What's the point?  Are football fans in general going to just forget Suarez played in the Prem?

Mile Jedinak: A defensive solution on the cheap

With the Lovren deal apparently on the rocks, Caulker off the table, and little other prospects in the wind, how about an inexpensive, Premiership-proven alternative, albeit temporary? What about Mile Jedinak?  Yes, I'm aware he is a defensive midfielder, but versatility only adds to his intrigue.

The soon-to-be-30-year-old Australian international had quite an impressive season last year for Crystal Palace.  One could write a book about the Eagles' wild ride of a 2013-14 campaign, from dead last on 7 points in week 13 to finishing 11th on 45, and we don't have to mention the 9 minutes of chaos at Selhurst Park that all but ended Liverpool's title hopes.  How Palace easily survived by scoring a mere 33 goals is a minor miracle to say the least and a massive tribute to a defence lead by Jedinak.

Crystal Palace didn't play 'smart' defence, they played a brutal-style that relied on individual effort.  Unfortunately that will never win you a league title since it is too draining on the players, a possession and passing-based defence will always win there, but it's admirable to say the least.  Per league ranking last season, the London club was first in the Prem in clearances, interceptions, and least costly defensive errors, second in tackles and least overall defensive errors, fifth in successful tackle percentage, and 8th in blocked shots. Their average ranking in those categories was 2.86, the next closest was Hull at 6.86.

Jedinak was a beast, posting impressive numbers in defensive areas as well as in aerial duels (league averages in blue below):

adw90	adw%	t90	tk%	int90	clr90	bs90
4.49	70.8	3.57	53.4	3.73	3.76	0.46
1.61	50	1.75	46.9	1.25	3.04	0.30

His biggest weakness is his passing, but in his defence, he did play for the worst passing side in the EPL last season.  His 71.9% passing rate was still slightly better than his team's 71.1% and he did complete 121 of 206 long balls for a 58.7% rate.  As is the norm, his passing would improve with more skilled teammates. He also doesn't have blinding pace, which is why his future is better suited at centre back.

A lot comes in to play when considering Jedinak: age, fee, and would he want to come?  He would be losing playing time, but he would get a chance at Champions League football.  Also he would have the opportunity to play for one of the bigger clubs on Merseyside (that's called sarcasm).  If Pulis would regretfully let him go for £5m, Rodgers would be crazy not to jump at it.  Jedinak is an excellent defender, which will translate well at either defensive midfielder or centre back for at least 3-4 seasons.