Memories From The Past and Memories That The Future Will Hopefully Forget

"Please Kenny Can We Remove the Crossbar"

Are the words that Andy Carroll would like to utter when he next speaks to Kenny.  Yet again during our match this afternoon against Swansea, he miss-timed his contact with the ball and did not get the desired result.

Why is this, a lot of supporters are asking this evening after witnessing a game that according to the media throughout the previous six days we should have won quite easily.  We were of course playing Swansea who had been promoted in the summer and who were having a mixed season.  They had beaten several of the major teams already and Liverpool should have been on their guard to ensure that this time, we could indeed beat one of the minnow's of the league.  They were not of course and the questions and doubts have begun to rear their ugly head once more.

The game itself started with the same eleven players that were on the pitch last week.  Eleven players, who should have been able to put in the same kind of performance, and indeed get the same result.  It became evident very quickly that if this was happen it was not going to be an easy task.

Both teams were determined to show who was the better team and the pace from the moment Phil Dowd blew the whistle to start the game was fairly fast.  Liverpool for several minutes appeared to have the upper hand, which culminated with Andy Carroll picking up a pass from Stewart Downing that hit his favourite spot - the crossbar. Now last week I said that Andy had indeed shown some improvement. That of course is true, but he desperately needs to be more clinical in front of goal.

His miss seemed add to the growing confidence within the Swansea team and they more than matched any of the Liverpool players, in both the defence and the midfield areas.  Yes we were without Jamie and Stevie, but with the calibre of players that we have, it should not have made any difference.  Unfortunately though, throughout the half it appeared that Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and to a certain degree Stewart Downing appeared to be out of their depth.  Jordan seemed totally lost and was kicking balls to nowhere, Stewart also mis-timed his kicks and Charlie could quite easily have been issued with his second red card of the season.  I know a lot of you may disagree with me here, but as I have said before a period in the reserves where they would get used to the Liverpool way of doing things would help them all immensely.

The game continued with both Luis Suarez and Stewart Downing unable to convert several chances and it looked as though it would take something special to change the 0-0 score line.  Unfortunately for those at Anfield, it looked as though, it would be Swansea who would break the deadlock first.  Half time was approaching when Pepe Reina was forced into an urgent save by Danny Graham, who after picking up a ball from Wayne Routledge.  Joe Allen also called his services into action but thankfully with the score still level, Andy Carroll had another chance of goal.  This time, he miss kicked the ball enough to ensure it went wide of the post.

Now to the relief of most Liverpool supporters Dirk Kuyt spent most of the half time break warming up, thus signalling that he would be introduced at the beginning of the second half.  The player coming off was who I expected it to be.  Kenny had realised of course that Jordan Henderson was out of his depth.  The impact of this of course was immediate and Dirk proved yet again that he is our very own Duracell Bunny.  The pace of the game picked up once more and the pass and move method of play that had been missing from most of the first half was beginning to happen. 

Swansea though had other ideas and a counter attack began.  An attack that ensured Pepe Reina was kept busy by Danny Graham and Nathan Dyer who both sent good shots towards the goal.  At the other end, the story was totally different with Liverpool not creating any chances.  So much so, that Kenny decided it was finally time to introduce Craig Bellamy.  To do this he took off Andy Carroll, whose expression was one of displeasure.  Why I don't know because if anyone can score a goal out of nowhere it is Craig and it had reached the point in the game where this was needed.

Or is it?  As the game continued Dirk was making his mark as usual, weaving in and out of the opposition to try and pick up stray balls and aim for the goal.  He did this during the final ten minutes when he picked up a ball from Suarez and Daniel Agger and due to a challenge from Neil Taylor, the ball ended up in the roof of the net.  Dirk did not give up and during what appeared to be the usual sustained challenge by Liverpool as the clock ticked down, he picked up another ball and it went into the back of the net.  Unfortunately lineswoman Sian Massey ruled that it was offside due to Daniel Agger being out of position.  There was one final chance when Glen Johnson sent a wonderful ball towards the Swansea goalie, who like Pepe Reina did what he does best, he saved it.

It turned out to be another one of those days at the office. Liverpool was again held to a draw by a team that on paper they should have beaten.  Why? is a question that needs to be answered and answered quickly.  It should not matter who you play, you have to go into each game determined to win that game.  There appears to be a terrible, I don't want to do my best attitude amongst some of the players and they need to be removed from the team.  I have my own opinion as to whom they are and I suspect you all do too.  It will be interesting to see how Kenny, who admitted afterwards in his post-match press conference that the team played badly, remedies the situation. Will he make wholesale changes in his team selection or will indeed wait until the January window opens to ring the changes in his personnel once more.

What we must not do of course, is take anything away from Swansea's game today. They played extremely well and deserve all the praise they will so rightly receive.