Belief is back

If you're a Liverpool supporter like myself, your nerves are still probably tingling from last nights result against Dortmund in the Europa League. The famed "European Nights at Anfield" were back and even though it wasn't in the continents premier competition, it still provided probably one of the most memorable matches in recent times and will surely go down as one of the greats. Jurgen Klopp's Red Army set their sights on reaching the semi-finals of the competition after securing a 1 all draw in Germany the week before, having the comfort of an away goal, it seemed like the match at Anfield was set to be a tight one for the home team to scruff out a tame result that would see them progress but as history would tell you, Liverpool never do things the easy way and so ensued one of the greatest comebacks seen this decade in Europe. 

Now being a Liverpool supporter of recent, you not sure what team is going to show up on the pitch that day and last night was more of the same. Dortmund came out firing, and after 8 minutes, they put 2 goals past our lackluster defence and they were looking set to progress but there was something about last night, there was this feeling of confidence around, not just at Anfield but in the streets of Liverpool , also with the commemoration of the Hillsborough disaster which occurred today 27 years ago, and the crowds filling the cities streets with red before the game. Origi slotted in a goal shortly after the half time break and it was game on! With our tails up we began to attack again, only for us to be caught out on a counter and Marco Reus slotting in Dortmund's 3rd to silence Anfield once again. 

Now on must occasions I would concede defeat, but I didn't, neither did the crowd and neither did the team and one has got to hail the difference that the German manager has made to the team and the players, instilling them with confidence and making it known that the game isn't over until the final whistle. We saw the heroics that transpired at Carrow Road where Adam Lallana scored a dramatic winner in the last minute of the game so with that, the team kept on going, even though we needed to score 3 more goals to ensure the result in our favour. Coutinho who was struggling for most of the game struck and from then on, you just knew you were about to witness something special. 

The fight from then on must have felt like an eternity for the Dortmund players as Liverpool were relentless. The all round belief that the team could get 2 more goals were achievable and that's the kind of belief we had 10 years ago with Benitez, Klopp had manged to bring that back and for me that's one of the greatest feelings ever. Knowing that no matter what the scoreline, the team won't give up and do their level best to get a result. As a supporter there's nothing more you can ask for from your team than that. What transpired there-of will be noted in the history of the Europa League as once of the greatest come backs in a knock-out stage but the work isn't done yet. We still have the semi-finals and possibly the finals to come and we going to need a lot more of that belief to get us through. 

Rodger that

With 5 games played in the English Premiership so far, some might say that I'm panicking over nothing as a team takes time to regroup after the long summer break. Yes Liverpool's start to the season hasn't been disastrous like some other top team *cough* Chelsea *cough* but the thing is, Chelsea have the players and management to steer them back to the top, meanwhile at Liverpool, the management still seem to be like scientists experimenting on various theories. The trouble is, doing that every weekend might just end up blowing ourselves up. 

There's been one major problem at Liverpool FC for the past 3 seasons, that no one can seem to find a solution to, our defence. Even when we had the lethal SAS partnership upfront that helped us score over 100 goals in one season, we still conceded over 50 goals which ultimately cost us the title. Last season nothing really was done to mend it, we did purchase Lovren for a massive fee. Did the acquisition make sense? Yes, he was a top rated footballer with knowledge of the league so he should know what he's in for from day one but to date he looks like a horse on roller skates. 

Skrtel, our once Slovakian warrior, everyone feared him, he ate nails for breakfast! Skrtel Smash! Seems like someone swapped the nails for Fruit Loops because he's been anything but terrifying of late! This past weekend, he gave Athony Martial the headlines as he just stood and watched him run through to the box and slot it past a helpless Mignolet. Everyone (Man United fans) hailed the brilliance of their highly priced winger but in actual fact, Skrtel should have down what even a league 3 defender could have done and attacked the ball and clear it. 

I'm not entirely sure if Sakho is 100% match fit and I'm guessing that is why he hasn't been starting but I feel he and Sktel would be the preferred starting centre backs. Sakho for me is the better of the two and deserves a sport in the 11, he's a hard worker and no nonsense defender. Our surplace being Kolo seems to just be there for moral support and in case of emergency, break glass, hopefully no shards of said glass hits Sturridge as he just resumed training so we can't afford having him out for another year. 

The two new signings of Clyne and Gomez as our wing backs have proved to be a good move but with Gomez being so young and its his first Premiership season, this past weekend showed why he could be vulnerable as he gave away a penalty out of nothing really. All he had to do was press the player to the line but he chose to dive in and give away the foul. Clyne seems sharp, solid at the back, loves to go forward and take a crack at goal but at the same time tracks back quickly. 

Brendan and his crew need to go back to the drawing board because whatever they're think they doing isn't working. We've had a mixed bag of results and in certain periods we played some damn good football. I still think our best game so far was the match at the Emirates against Arsenal, we could have won that one but a point was adequate at the time. Maybe it's time the team went back to basics, start with the back and then work their way forward. I know our attack hasn't been all that great, with the key move being "give the ball to Coutinho and let him do something" but now that he's injured we showed we can muster up some decent moves going forward. If it were not for the super human acrobatics by DeGea on Saturday we could have easily been level. 

Like I said, it's a bit early to be complaining but if anyone can't see we have a serious problem in defence, then they need to start reading braille. Teams will pick up on this flaw and take advantage of it like Crystal Palace did before the international break. If we start to remedy the situation now, maybe a top 4 finish is possible for us come May.

Let the games begin

This weekend marks the start of the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season, like every year everyone, many fans go into the season with high hopes for their team but like always, we want to win the race before it has even begun. The first two months of the season are important but in no way decides how the season will go on. We've seen it many a year where teams who peak too early fall hard towards the end, last season saw Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal fail at the final hurdle and Manchester City walking away as champions. 

This years season will be an interesting one, apart from the top four from the last campaign wanting to prove a point, the Premier Leagues most successful club Manchester United will have something to say. After a dismal season which I'm sure most fans of theirs wanting to forget, they come this season with a new manager, some new players and a fresh outlook. As far as whether they will challenge for the league title, it remains to be seen but they wont be pushovers like they were last season. 

Manchester City have made some smart buys during during the transfer window, the most surprising signing from them has to be ex Chelsea legend Frank Lampard. With City already having such a commanding midfield it will be interesting to see what Pellegrini has lined up for the England midfielder. Their squad is a pretty strong one and they have plenty of depth to see them through till may next year. With captain Toure leading them, they will be a force to reckon with, just as long as the club remember to wish Kolo a happy birthday. 

Chelsea, always the dark horses and with the Special One at the helm you know its going to be hard to get a result against them. Unless the premier league ban parking the bus, sides are going to find it tough to break down the double decker that Jose has employed last season. It's been an interesting preseason for them, they let go of two long serving players in Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard , then sold striker Lukaku and opted to keep two left feet Torres, I suppose they realised their error, hence they then re-signed ex striker Drogba. We know he knows where to find the net. Another note worthy buy for them was Cesc Fabragas, that won't go down well with half London but see if he cares. 

Liverpool, or should I call my team Liverhampton/ Southpool? Yes we've been the butt of many jokes seeing that Brendan Rodgers practically raided Southampton for our first 3 signings in Lallana, Lambert and Lovren. Like always Brendan has a plan though, the money from the Suarez deal is being used wisely to strengthen our squad and also provide depth. With Champions League now on the offering the team doesn't have the luxury like last season to just focus on one competition. Other signings of Can, Markovic,Manquillo and Moreno are exciting as they bring fresh new qualities that our side lacked, especially in defence. 

Our preseason tour to the USA provided a mixed bunch of results but we rounded off the last of our friendlies quite nicely on the weekend with an empathic win over German side Dortmund at Anfield. The player that's stood out by far the entire preseason was Coutinho, the kid just keeps on getting better. maybe being left out of the Brazilian world cup squad was a blessing for Liverpool. Rahim Sterling was also running circles around defenders and it was good to see Sturridge get a goal. With Suarez gone, we need all the goals we can get from all areas of the field. My aspirations for Liverpool? Many already writing off their top 4 chance but I reckon we'll be in the mix for the title again, we may not have signed big name players but Rodgers instills the right mentality in the players to make them winners.

There are many other clubs with points to prove this season and it could be very open for a long time which makes for a very tantalizing prospect. We all can't wait for kick off on Saturday as the banter has already begun between the supporters and its good to have that back. May the best team win!