Am I A Loser?

Unequivocally no!!

A supporter is a supporter is a supporter, regardless of how well their team is doing.

Liverpool Football Club is a great club, that currently does not have a great team. It has some great players (Gerrard, Saurez, Agger), some formerly great players (Carragher), and some players on their way up (Sterling, Morgan, Coates).

As fans, we are suffering. Every defeat, every missed win, every missed shot, every sending off, we are suffering. We have suffered for two whole seasons, and I have no reason to suspect that we are going to suffer this season and one or two more to follow.

But at this very dark time, this is when we  can find and know the true fans. The ones who support the Club, and what it means, and what it will be again.

This is the best time to be a supporter, to be there when it is bleakest and to experience the inevitable climb back to the top, and with time patience and prudent investment, the Club will return to the top.
As supporters we need to recognize we are at the beginning of a brand new era. We have the opportunity to support our Club at the ground floor of a new dynasty. But if we insist on immediate and overnight results and dismiss managers and impulse buy players then we will not succeed .Fenway Sports Group, be patient. Let the new manager and style develop. The new era is upon us.

WE ARE LIVERPOOL.


Hal White

Of what worth are convictions that bring not suffering?
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

For God's Sake Hit The Net!!!!

Liverpool's attacking troubles

Shot conversion rate

·       2011-2012: 9.13%

·       2010-2011: 13.59%

·       2009-2010: 13.32%

·       2008-2009: 13.46%

·       2007-2008: 12.52%

·       2006-2007: 10.56%

·       2005-2006: 10.59%

·       2004-2005: 11.61%

Suarez's conversion rate at Liverpool: 9.26%

Av conversion rate in PL 2011/12: 13.30%

Quite frankly what you see above, sucks. If you want to win, you have to put the ball behind the keeper and in the net. Liverpool, in all their wisdom and "money ball" calculations, do not have a true finisher since "El Nino" left. They loaned out Carroll this year, got rid of Kuyt, sold Peter Crouch three years ago etc etc. They were all finishers (Carroll is in my opinion getting back to form, my opinion remember ). For heaven's sake they could have signed Berbatov, a true goal poacher if there ever was one.

Now I suspect John Henry and Fenway Sports Group won't listen to me, or read this Blog, but if they would this is what I would tell them:

1. Be patient and learn the game.Just as Kenny Dalglish couldn't manage the Red Sox, you can't expect to understand the nuances of a completely foreign sport in two years.

2. Keep the manager. Someone has to have a plan, and Brendan Rodgers has a few clues.

3. Buy low, sell high. Remember how money is made. Nothing worthwhile is quick.

4. Find Steven Gerrard's replacement. Not now, YESTERDAY!!! For this you will have to spend $$$$$$ I like Iniesta.

5. Invest at the grass roots. Make Liverpool a destination of choice for youth and academy aged players.

6. Sell Anfield and buy Messi.

Match Winning Goal!!!!

TRAINING STUFF

Over the last season my youth squad moved from a strong defensive side to a more balanced attacking side. The big reason was more emphasis on shooting and encouraging players to shoot. Every practice contained a component that encouraged the players to take chances and to shoot. As the season progressed every other training session had a penalty shoot out, which allowed players to experience the pressure of a shoot out and allowed the coaches to observe shooting technique of all the players.


One game that we used frequently was "King Louis".  This game requires two full sized goals, and a keeper in each. Mark out a 25x35 field with a half line. Place an attacker in the offensive half. In the defensive end place three defenders. In effect it is 1 v. 3 in each attacking zone. the game is designed  for the three players in the defending half to move the ball and either thread a pass to the striker to poach a goal, or ideally, have the defenders shoot and the striker pick up any rebounds. 

This game allows for lots of shots, passing and shot stopping. I usually play to five goals and switch the teams or keepers. The coaches should be on the sideline and feed balls in if they go out of bounds, and to encourage  passing and taking chances to shoot.

Why is it called King Louis, I have no idea.

Hey Brendan, you may want to use this.

YNWA

Hal White

The Worst Start in Fifty Years

How could it get any worse? How could this all come undone so soon? Why oh why oh why must we suffer?

Who was this manager who guided Liverpool to this same woeful start as the financially emasculated Brendan Rodgers?

It was that scatter brain, Bill Shankly. And we all know what a disaster he was. He was, for the non- Liverpool reader,  perhaps the greatest manager of the 1960's and 1970's, as well as the greatest manager of Liverpool ever.

So what is wrong with us? Like the rest of the world we are too impatient. We want instant gratification. We want the destination and no journey. We want to be like Manchester City, a squad of great players, but with no real depth of character.

As fans of Liverpool, and of the game, we need to remember that true success is not an overnight event. It takes time, guidance and nurturing. The Club barely escaped administration, and barely avoided being in the same situation as Glasgow Rangers, or Leeds United. The Club and manager have to be prudent with their investments, their players and their transfers, and not just in the short term, but for a very long time. If they do this, and we as supporters drop our rabid desire for instant success, we will get what we really want, a Club that will have the foundation to succeed over a number of years like it did with Bill Shankly.

Brendan Rodgers, stand fast, have a long term plan and stick to it.

We are Liverpool

YNWA

Hal White