Written by kelsey

So we are about to kick off yet another season and on paper not an easy start at Anfield, yet we haven’t lost to pool in the league since 2007. In a way it is good for us to have this as our opening match for several reasons. It will show us that despite our manager being tight lipped about possible signings before the end of the month, the pressure is very much on Liverpool.

By their standards they had a disastrous season last term and Hodgson will have had little time to access the strengths and weaknesses of his own side, and the daily takeover talk will have surely been disturbing him, together with the want-away Mascherano most probably playing and the uncertainty over Torres’ fitness.

Make no mistake, Liverpool rely heavily on Gerrard and Torres. Whilst we start the campaign with several injuries, we appear to have more options, especially in attack and I would say on paper a better team than the opposition.

As with every season, injuries will be a major factor in our quest for the title. We will have a more potent attack now with the introduction of Chamakh , who judging by pre season, is a very versatile and hard working centre forward. Nasri could be our star man. He impressed me tremendously in our warm up games, and if need be will be an able substitute for Fabregas in this opening game. And then of course there is Arshavin, who on his day is a match winner, and has a habit of scoring against the scousers. My gut feeling is that RVP will start and that can only be a good thing, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see Eboue “our super sub” instead of Walcott lining up as he is full of confidence after his brace in Poland and to me it makes sense to keep him in the side.
The defence more or less picks itself and to say our cover is paper thin would be an understatement. Almunia will be back in goal and the fans will be watching his every move. We can only hope that he has an assured game and has finally developed an understanding with the defence.

There are doubts about Denilson,Song and Diaby and Djourou is definitely out. So the intriguing poser is, will Wilshere and Frimpong be thrown into the deep end?
Regardless of the result, we have the makings of a good season ahead. The Premier League will be even more competitive than last, providing our manager adds strength to the squad in the two positions that have been mentioned by armchair experts for months. Remember, the ‘experts’ said no team could afford to lose more than 3 games last season to bag the title –  Chelsea lost six!

As is the norm, there will be much nail biting as the whistle blows to start this campaign, but I remain positive.

COYRRG

We have many who blog on this site who feel that we will still sign a goalkeeper and another centre-back. I’m not saying we won’t I just don’t see why we’ve left it so late if that is our intention.

It became apparent to most supporters last season that our first and second choice keepers were not good enough. In the last few games when we were without Gallas and Vermaelen we could also see that our back-up defenders weren’t strong enough either. Arsène himself stated that he would address the defensive frailties with re-inforcements so he let four centre-backs go and bought one. Great! Koscienly may turn out to be a fantastic buy, but at the moment our defense looks paper thin.

Our defending has got worse over the past two seasons – I’m sure someone will come up with some stats to show that I’m talking rubbish but what I do know is that the tension at the Emirates is palpable when we are defending set pieces. It seems the crowd and the players share that insecurity. Most teams know we are weak in that area and seek to take full advantage. It is a crude strategy, but it works. When Sol ‘Lazarus’ Campbell reappeared in January, the confidence grew and we were noticeably stronger at the back – but what now?

We are a short team. Short in stature, and mostly light in build. Arsène prefers ‘athletes’ rather than cloggers and I can appreciate his preference if we want to play the beautiful football. Sadly, the tall players we do have are not good enough to be effective when defending corners or free kicks into our box. Instead of  having just two on the posts maybe we should have four on the line plus a flapper.

Of our taller players, I would say that only Robin van Persie is a reliable force – he’ll get a header away or clear the ball out of the danger zone but how many times have we watched tippy-tappy football going on in or around the box instead of getting the ball out. Clichy has been guilty of it and Djourou is the latest one to choose to show off his footballing skills at a time when a solid clearance is the better option. I’m not saying we should ‘kick and hope’, that just gives the ball straight back to the opposition and then we’re under pressure from a new wave of attacks, but just keeping it simple and solid at the back.

I’m no fan of Allardyce-style hoofing, but the time spent keeping the ball around our area allows the oppostion to press high up the pitch and if we lose possession, we are in trouble. We just don’t know how to defend anymore and Arsène led us to believe that he realised that too and he was going to bring in new blood. I thought he promised Cesc and van Persie that that was what he was going to be doing – he was going to make us stronger, no wonder Cesc thought it was time to move on.

The hot news this week is that we’re in for Shay Given again and that the Spahic deal wasn’t a hoax. I heard weeks ago that Anton Ferdinand was a target – how ambitious is that!!!!!!! and he’s only 6′. If we want to challenge for honours this season and for seasons in the future we need to be able to match our opposition in some of their strengths – we need a bit more height and strength when defending.

It doesn’t matter how many goals we’re able to score, if we can’t hold on to a lead and see out a game, sadly,  we’re going to fail again.