Time To Hit The Panic Button?

It’s a strange place to be. Liverpool have now lost their past two pre-season games to that same 3-0 scoreline. What’s happening?

They lost to that scoreline albeit playing pretty much their reserves/fringe players, but I’m very sure that the side should be strong enough to at least topple the likes of Hull City and Galatasaray. Players supposed to be fighting for their place in the first team should be putting in far better displays.

True, Suarez and Lucas are still out on holiday. True, Pepe Reina isn’t between the sticks. And true, Steven Gerrard is not ready to play games yet, but still, Kenny Dalglish needs to seriously work at lifting both the morale and the standard that Liverpool have to offer.

What was offered at the KC Stadium wasn’t appealing at all. The fact that we only managed to get one shot on goal against a Championship side in the first half is absolutely disappointing to watch. Doni, to be honest wasn’t at fault for both goals he conceded in the first half, both were superb strikes and they got lucky with one, coming off the defender.

Against Galatasaray, I can safely say that it was a team that is very youthful, very eager to make an impression, perhaps the fact that it the game came in Istanbul took the pressure up a notch, because of the strong bond we have to that city (3-3 Milan, Champions League Final). But they could have done better to show what they were capable of, they could have really made an impression and begin to solidify their way into the first team.

One more thing, Christian Poulsen’s defending in the match was simply dreadful. One of the goals conceded by Liverpool against Galatasaray was pretty much his doing. Players are often accused of ball watching, and allowing opponents to get behind you. He was player watching, simply watching he player he was supposed to mark and having no sight of the ball. You need to get in a position to see both, otherwise you won’t know how the attacker is going to attack the corner. It was ridiculous stuff.

This is a reality check for the Reds, following rather easy victories in their Asia tour against Malaysia and a Chinese club side. But we have to remember a few things. First of all, it’s pre-season, and as Dalglish has mentioned it’s time for fixing the mistakes and to make sure that they don’t happen again.

Second of all, it is really difficult to realistically judge how good our side is without the likes of Lucas, Suarez, Gerrard, Reina and Henderson at full fitness. The fact that the players have just returned to training and then come out losing two games simply suggests that they require more time to regain that fitness.

But looking at the performances, Kenny Dalglish certainly needs to trim his wage bill by selling some of the unwanted players on Merseyside.

Watch goals from the Galatasaray game here, and Hull game here.

 

Submitted by Two Liverpool Fans