Same Old Quarters, Same Old Pens, Same Old England

 So England have fallen at the quarter finals again, and again on penalties, and it’s all Liverpool’s fault because we had six players in the squad and we only finished 8^th last season……  Well Kelly and Downing didn’t play, Henderson had about half an hour, Gerrard was England’s best player, Johnson was our only real attacking threat and Carroll scored as many as Rooney and Welbeck despite playing less minutes. And by far the worst England player at the tournament finished 2nd in the league last season, though he may have been saving his energy for when he teams up with Tom Daley at this summer’s Olympics….

 No, I think the real reasons for England failure lie outside of Anfield.

 It’s hard to say exactly what went wrong and where improvements need to be made (apart from ‘everywhere’) but, of course, I have my own ideas. I think one of the main issues is the lack of English players willing to ply their trade abroad. Who scored against England in their first game? Nasri. The second? Mellberg. Who did Ukraine turn to in an attempt to save the match? Shevchenko. Who was Italy’s biggest threat? Balotelli. The common link? They’ve all played or still play in the Premier League. We may know them as individuals but they know us as a group, as a team. They know our culture and our football philosophy, our mentality. It’s difficult when every time we play our opposition knows us better than we know them and it will always be an uphill battle unless this changes.

 Wayne Rooney is a star in the English league, but he plays against the same defences year in year out, likewise Steven Gerrard in midfield and John Terry at the back. If Rooney had played for Real Madrid for a couple of years, Gerrard for Milan and Terry for PSG then the core of the England team would have much more idea how our opposition will work, how they will react to going ahead, or going behind. It’s a bit like having a spy in the opposing team’s camp and it can only benefit England. At the moment we’re importing the talent into our league on a regular basis and we’re teaching them about us without us learning about them. Unless this trend changes I don’t really see England’s fortunes improving for a long long time.

The Anfield Six

 So Roy Hodgson’s England have overcome their four obstacles and topped their group, qualifying for the quarter-finals against Italy on Sunday evening. Winning the group has been difficult considering England had to play against a France side full of quality attacking talent, a Swedish team we simply never beat in competitive football and the host nation Ukraine, and all of this done despite the biggest hurdle standing in our way, the almost insurmountable problem of having six Liverpool players in the squad of 23. To celebrate England’s safe passage to the knockout stages (where a disappointing penalty shoot out probably awaits) I thought I’d check on the progress and performances of our players in the squad, the Anfield Six.

 Andy Carroll – started one match, scored one goal. Carroll was one of England’s two or three best players against Sweden and deserved to keep his place for the game against Ukraine but Hodgson decided instead to recall Wayne Rooney, who is unarguably better than Carroll so it’s hard to disagree with the decision, even if there is a good argument Carroll should have retained his place in the starting eleven. He took his goal superbly from Steven Gerrard’s cross and let’s hope we see more of the same kind of aggressive heading in the penalty area for us next season. Also, crucial to his goal, the fact that he headed the ball downwards is a big step. He has been guilty of not doing this at Liverpool and has seen plenty of attempts go just over the bar when a downwards header would have resulted in a much better chance of scoring.

 Glen Johnson – started all three games. You know what you’re getting from Johnson, good going forwards, great recovery tackles and occasionally dodgy defensive positioning. And this sums up his tournament so far perfectly. I’ve long thought he’s a midfielder in a defender’s position but I have to say against Ukraine last night I thought his defensive performance was very solid. All round I’m impressed with him so far and it would be nice to see him add a goal or an assist to his attacking play before England board the plane home.

 Jordan Henderson – played fifteen minutes against France, replacing Scott Parker. Henderson was one of the selections met with almost universal disapproval but he looked composed and tidy in his short cameo against a French side with a talented and experienced midfield. The experience of being in and around the squad will do him a world of good and if he gets another opportunity to play I’m sure he won’t let anyone down. I was also impressed with him in the press conference at the beginning of the tournament, he spoke well about himself and others and he seems to have a good grasp of this aspect of his profession.

 Steven Gerrard – three games, three assists, countless passes and tackles. Gerrard has been England’s captain and best player, the hearbeat of the team and a leader in every way. His crosses in from the right have set up the opening goal in each of England’s three matches, you can’t ask for much more than that! It was assumed that Parker would hold and Gerrard would play further forward but the way it has worked out the two take turns switching between the two roles which reduces Stevie’s effectiveness going forward but makes more use of his excellent tackling ability. Also for two players who have had hard seasons it helps save their legs which could benefit England greatly should they reach the later stages of the tournament.

 Martin Kelly – no appearances. Kelly has been ill for some of the tournament and missed a bit of training, and he hasn’t yet had chance to contribute to the first team. In this respect all of the debate over Rio Ferdinand’s omission seems pretty redundant, he certainly wouldn’t have played this role any better than Kelly and wouldn’t get the benefit of the experience which the younger player will gain from being involved.

 Stuart Downing – no appearances. Of all 23 players in the squad Downing was probably given the most stick by supporters and media over his inclusion. So far he hasn’t yet made it onto the pitch, making his contribution only slightly more than that of Ashley Young……….

Liverpool 2012/13 Fixture List

 The 2012/2013 fixtures are out and we begin with a trip to West Brom in what will see Brendan Rodgers and Steve Clarke both take charge of their new clubs for the first time. Our home results last season weren’t good and that is the main area we need to improve on, and with that in mind we’ve been given Man City, Arsenal and Man Utd in our first three home games. They aren’t ideal fixtures in which to impose your own new playing style but over the season you play everyone twice so these games have to be played sometime, why not early? I think there is a danger if we win all three of these games expectation levels will go through the roof, the same way if we lose them all then we will be touted for a bottom half finish. It’s a matter of seeing through the sensationalised media coverage and looking at the performances themselves to look for signs of improvement and areas that still need to be looked at.

 I’m pretty sure that we’ll be on TV a lot early on in Rodger’s reign, something that Roy Hodgson wasn’t keen on, once saying that opposition didn’t need to send scouts to watch us as we were on TV twice a week anyway. That sort of spotlight is something our new manager will need to get to grips with and I think he will have the chance to do that almost from the beginning of his time at Anfield. I think he’s strong enough to handle it well and I haven’t felt this positive going into a season for a while. We have a young manager, a young squad, a Europa League place and the owners have cleared all outstanding debts from the previous custodians tenure so we’re essentially beginning the 2012/2013 season with a clean slate financially, a playing squad and a coaching staff all perfectly suited to growing together and European football to look forward to after a season without.

 The Liverpool fixture list for 2012/13 in full is:

August
18^th – West Brom (A)
25^th – Man City (H)

September
1^st – Arsenal (H)
15^th – Sunderland (A)
22^nd – Man Utd (H)
29^th – Norwich (A)

October
6^th – Stoke (H)
20^th – Reading (H)
27^th – Everton (A)

November
3^rd – Newcastle (H)
10^th – Chelsea (A)
17^th – Wigan (H)
24^th – Swansea (A)
27^th – Tottenham (A)

December
1^st – Southampton (H)
8^th – West Ham (A)
15^th – Aston Villa (H)
22^nd – Fulham (H)
26^th – Stoke (A)
29^th – QPR (A)

January
1^st – Sunderland (H)
12^th – Man Utd (A)
19^th – Norwich (H)
29^th – Arsenal (A)

February
2^nd – Man City (A)
9^th – West Brom (H)
23^rd – Swansea (H)

March
2^nd – Wigan (A)
9^th – Tottenham (H)
16^th – Southampton (A)
30^th – Aston Villa (A)

April
6^th – West Ham (H)
13^th – Reading (A)
20^th – Chelsea (H)
27^th – Newcastle (A)

May
4^th – Everton (H)
12^th – Fulham (A)
19^th – QPR (H)

Great Cross, Great Header / Be Brave Roy

 As I've probably mentioned previously I'm not really a massive England fan, pretty much the same as the majority of Liverpool fans I expect. But one thing I do enjoy is watching our players performing for their country and last night when Steven Gerrard crossed the ball for Andy Carroll to power in against Sweden I was as pleased as anybody. Average players just can't deliver a cross like that, and it takes someone special to head accurately with that power from fifteen yards, and it's good to know they both play for us. There have been rumours of a PSG bid of around £20 million for Carroll but I don't see it happening and I fully expect him to begin next season with us, and hopefully he and Gerrard can combine the same way for their club regularly for a few seasons to come.

 England's next game is against Ukraine and sees the return of Wayne Rooney from his self inflicted rest period and there will no doubt be much debate as to who should make way for him, will it be Andy Carroll or Danny Welbeck? Both strikers yesterday had one chance and scored one goal, can't ask for any more than that from them. England only need a draw against the co-hosts so surely Carroll's defensive strengths mean his inclusion is a must. And Welbeck's clever, improvised finish for England's winner means he certainly deserves to retain his position up front. No doubt defensive minded Roy Hodgson will drop one of them but I personally see two possible solutions he could use.

 Firstly he could say Carroll and Welbeck both deserve to retain their places and Rooney only has himself to blame for being out of the team, if others have come in and done well they should be rewarded and his stupidity and temperament has presented this opportunity to others who have not behaved with such little intelligence. I doubt Hodgson will leave Rooney out though as if he does and England lose he knows how much criticism he will face.

 The other option that presents itself is to change formation. For me the only poor performer for England over the two games so far has been Ashley Young and if anybody should miss out it should be the tumbling winger. Gerrard, Parker and Milner are more than capable of providing a solid base from the middle of midfield, Carroll could play as the focal point up front with Rooney coming in from the left and Welbeck on the right. It would be a good formation to play against a Ukraine side who almost certainly need a win and who will more than likely leave spaces at the back. A three man forward line would take advantage of this and I can see it bringing goals to the England team for this particular match. To do this would be a brave, positive move from the new England coach and would be a break from his table football style two banks of four so I don't really see it happening, but supporting England is all about dreaming anyway isn't it?

Good Timing And Bad Times

 In light of yesterday’s news about Harry Redknapp leaving Tottenham I think we have to say well done to our owners for the speed with which they dealt with our managerial change. There were precious few candidates out there when we were looking for a new boss and securing the most promising young manager around was important. I’ve no doubt we would have faced competition for his services from Spurs and while I’d like to think he would have chosen us over Tottenham it’s still good to have acquired the right man without complications.

 It will be very interesting to see who Spurs go for now to replace Redknapp, with the bookies instantly favouring David Moyes. I’m not sure on this one myself, I just have a feeling that he’s been at Everton so long he’s lost his ambition and is happy to stay where he is comfortable and not in danger of falling too low or rising too high. He also has previous experience of being at a club hovering around the 4^th/5^th places in the table at Everton and was unable to kick on from there so Spurs may look at that and go for someone else. But the bookies aren’t often wrong and there is a real possibility our neighbours may be looking for a new manager.

 I have to admit I’m not particularly keen for Moyes to move on from Everton. He’s a good rival, someone you dislike enough to make it pleasurable beating them but not hateable enough to make him losing more important than your own team winning. Also there are a few certainties when the season starts, Manchester clubs will be near the top, we won’t win the title, and Everton won’t win anything. And there’s only one of those I want to remain the same, and it’s well within Moyes’ power to make that happen.

 If Everton do lose their manager to Spurs it’s very hard to see who they would turn to as a replacement, there are no obvious candidates for the post. I think it wouldn’t be too long before a blue somewhere begins to suggest they should turn to their old enemy Rafa Benitez but I doubt he’d be up for it, especially if he’s not been interested in the Villa job. The only person I can think of who would maybe want the job is the departing Spurs man himself, Harry Redknapp. Before he took over at White Hart Lane he spent a career floating around clubs like West Ham, Portsmouth and Southampton so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him turn up at Goodison for a final payday before retirement.

 With a few key Everton players being strongly linked with moves away and now their manager being touted to abandon ship too it could be a long summer for our neighbours. After it started so well for them with the joy of seeing Kenny Dalglish losing his job it could now be time for them to begin focussing on their own club’s issues during a close season that could turn out to be far worse than they imagined.

Recent Inactivity

 Apologies for the lack of recent activity on here, there has been very little Liverpool related news of late but I will look to write something new in the next few days. Euro 2012 has been good so far and from what I've seen it's still anybody's to win, there are no clear favourites yet.

 Hope you're all enjoying the tournament as a filler until the proper stuff starts again in August (or July if you have Europe League qualifiers like us!!), new season's fixtures out on Monday!!

Sign On, Sign On..............

 Just a quick note to remind you if you want to receive an email each day that I post something new please sign up in the box on the right of the page, just below the picture of Dirk Kuyt. You will only receive an email if I post something on here, otherwise you'll be left alone. It's a good way to keep up with the website and it gives me a good idea of how many peope are reading so really it's win - win. Or alternatively you can find me on Twitter, @TheLiverpoolJay and follow me on there, I always send out a tweet when I've done a new post with a link to the website.


 Many thanks for your support, YNWA.

Thinking Of England

 With it being quiet at Liverpool this week I thought I’d share a couple of observations about Euro 2012 and the general reaction to some recent England events.

 I’ve just read on the BBC Sport website the views of sixteen pundits on who will win the tournament and how England will fare. Of the sixteen people asked ten of them said they thought Germany would win, and the reason they gave? Simple, the progression of the players from the under 21 set up into the full squad to give a mix of young, hungry players with the experienced core of the squad. Now I could be wrong but I believe that England recently drafted in a few players from the under 21 squad into their party of twenty three for the forthcoming tournament, those players being Jack Butland, Jordan Henderson and Martin Kelly. Was the reaction ‘well done Roy Hodgson, you’re incorporating youth into a fairly experienced squad and benefitting the future of the national team’ or was it ‘what are you doing, you should have included Scott Carson (rubbish), Michael Carrick (asked not to be included), Micah Richards (turned down the chance to be on standby) and Rio Ferdinand (33 and injury prone) instead’? It seems we praise other nations for being forward thinking and taking risks but we are the first to criticise our own when we don’t take the obvious, safe straightforward option.

 And the other thing I have noticed is that one person seems to have escaped criticism when he could have prevented a lot of the recent controversies. Roy Hodgson has had his judgement questioned over his standby call ups but in one case a replacement shouldn’t have needed to be called up. Frank Lampard has dropped out with injury but from what I understand it’s nothing serious but he would probably miss all three group games so it was decided to draft in someone else instead. Lampard is an experienced player who does well for England and could be useful if we progress into the knockout stages and he could have remained in the squad but for one reason, Wayne Rooney’s stupid red card in the final qualifying game. The fact that England are carrying one passenger through the group, effectively reducing the squad to 22 players, entirely through a problem of his own making, means that someone unfortunate such as Frank Lampard has to miss out. I feel with all of the blame and criticism for the make up of the final squad being thrown around Mr Rooney can count himself lucky to have escaped unscathed when a lot of the issues have arisen from his daft moment back in October.


 I also feel the need to add a quick comment on something I've heard on a radio phone in this afternoon. There is a certain host who has been saying for the last month that Liverpool fans need to get real, we haven't won the title in decades and we're not as successful as we were, we're not top level anymore and there are other teams above us. I'm not disagreeing with the bulk of what he's been saying, some of it is pretty harsh but nevertheless based in truth. But to hear the same host now saying he considers anything less than England winning Euro 2012 a failure is more than a little annoying. Statements like this are so inconsistent with what has gone before. I have no problem with being patriotic but you can't say Liverpool have to accept being below where we were and then say England should win the European Championships, doesn't make sense and undermines any credibility you have as a broadcaster.

Martin Kelly Of Liverpool & England, Dirk Kuyt Of Fenerbache

 Another injury for England, another obvious replacement not wanting to be on standby in case he was needed by his country, another Liverpool player drafted in. Congratulations to Martin Kelly on his call up to the England squad for Euro 2012, he has plenty of quality and potential and this experience will help him no end in improving as a top level player. To be honest I think he is going as third choice right back behind Johnson and Jones, and fifth choice centre back behind Terry, Lescott, Jagielka and Jones so his chances of actually playing are similar to those of Jordan Henderson but the fact that he is there will boost his confidence and training with senior England players day in day out will aid his development as a footballer. I think the situation is win-win for the player and for Liverpool.

 There already seems to be a bit of a backlash against Roy Hodgson's decision to bring in Kelly but unlike Henderson's call up, nobody is saying Kelly isn't up to it, they're just saying Micah Richards or Rio Ferdinand would be a better candidate. Richards decided himself to turn down the opportunity to be on the standby list so he has only himself to blame for not going. After finding himself out of the Man City team for the final few games of the season you would have expected him to be itching to play again and prove what he could do but I guess he just doesn't have that kind of attitude and maybe we now know why Mancini didn't pick him at the business end of the season. For the first time in my life I actually have some sympathy with Rio Ferdinand, the only reason he could have been overlooked has nothing to do with football and is a situation entirely not of his making so in my opinion he really should have gone once Gary Cahill was ruled out.

 Six Liverpool players in the England squad has led to calls of favouritism but I fail to see why Hodgson would favour a club who sacked him after only six months in charge. More than anything I think it vindicates FSG's plan of recruiting promising English players and maybe as this group continues to play together and grow together the fortunes of England and of Liverpool will improve side by side. There aren't many Premier League sides with six players eligible for England so there should be no surprise Liverpool are the most represented club in the squad.

 Also today Liverpool have announced that Dirk Kuyt has agreed to join Fenerbache. Dirk is 31 years old and has penned a three year deal so I think it's certainly a good move for him, they are a big club with passionate fans and I'm sure he will enjoy Istanbul the way so many Reds have done before him. In his six seasons at Anfield you can probably count on the fingers of one hand how many games Kuyt has missed through injury or suspension, his attitude and fitness are second to none. When you watch Dirk Kuyt on the football field you see a man who simply doesn't stop running, I've always had a vision of him at the final whistle of the last game of the season just stopping, lying down on the pitch for three months resting and then standing up again in August and starting all over.

 Dirk the Turk as I will now call him has been involved in some very important moments for Liverpool, he has scored in two finals for the club, countless Merseyside derbies and been responsible for our last two victories over Man Utd. His last season at Liverpool wasn't his best, he was in and out of the team and when he played he struggled to find the net but he certainly wasn't our only player to have this problem, he was one of three(!) Liverpool players to manage to miss TWO penalties last season along with Adam and Suarez. Despite the lack of goals in his final season I think he will be remembered fondly by Liverpool fans as a man who scored important goals in big games and who never ever stopped running for the team. The fans loved him and he loved them and everybody connected with Liverpool will wish him every success in his new adventure, and hopefully he will be back at Anfield for a Champions League tie sooner rather than later.

Jordan Henderson Of Liverpool & England

 Congratulations to Jordan Henderson on his England call up for the European Championships this summer. For reasons I can’t quite figure out this call up has been met with a lot of criticism when it really isn’t deserved. Henderson is captain of the England under 21’s and therefore is a logical choice for the promotion to the senior squad. He is a player who would almost certainly have started for Team GB in the Olympics and in accepting his call up to the senior squad he has effectively ruled himself out of contention for a place in the Olympics, swapping a one off opportunity to play in a winnable tournament that comes along once in a career for the chance to be part of the England senior set up in a prestigious tournament where the likelihood is that he probably won’t play, and if he does it will only be for five minutes here and there.

 Roy Hodgson says discussions had already taken place with Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes who both chose to make themselves unavailable for selection for Euro 2012. Adding these two to the list of players selected I make Henderson to be Hodgson’s 9^th choice central midfielder behind Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Parker, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Scholes and Carrick. I don’t feel any criticism should be levelled at the England manager when he is selecting his 9^th choice player for a position. And I think Jordan Henderson should be praised for his attitude.

 Compare him to Michael Carrick, after losing the title in the last minute of the season Carrick should be desperate to get back on to the football field and chase success. He didn’t get selected as often as a player of his quality should have done under the previous manager and he now has a chance to impress a new boss and decided not to bother unless he was guaranteed a place in the starting eleven. Look at this in the context of club football and it is the equivalent of a player saying to his manager ‘either start me or leave me out of the squad completely, don’t even think about making me a sub’, and how long do you think any manager would tolerate that attitude for, especially Carrick’s manager at club level?

 Jordan Henderson has had a difficult season after a high profile move to Liverpool where he was frequently played out of position in wide areas rather than in his preferred central role. He has had criticism from the media and fans for showing potential but not being a world beater yet. He now has a new club manager who he needs to impress. Many people in his situation would want to stay out of the spotlight after some of the press reports on his form this season, others would prefer a summer resting and preparing for next season so he can be in the best shape possible for working with his new manager. Not Jordan Henderson, he wants to play football and if England want him he’ll be there, ready to enjoy the experience and give 100% for the cause. I’m not saying for a minute that Henderson is capable of winning Euro 2012 for England singlehandedly, or that he’s anywhere near the finished article, but he is a young English central midfielder with potential and an impressive attitude and the media should be getting behind his call up and not complaining without offering any names of who should have been chosen instead.