At a Breaking Point: Peter Crouch of Liverpool FC?
At a Breaking Point
I don’t know what the headline makers are saying this morning about Crystal Palace dumping the European champions out of the cup this morning. I don’t think it will make good reading for Rafa.
I focused on Liverpool’s lack of fire power upfront in my previous article and this was evident last night. As I predicted, Liverpool fielded a strong side, at least on paper anyway.
Peter Crouch was devoid of any ideas last night, he looked like he was at a breaking point. Every ball he tried to control went astray, every ball he headed went in the wrong direction. When he tried to run on to his own flick the ball run away because he was too slow to catch up. His display was not helped with the crescendo of constant booing ringing around his ears.
I really felt sorry for Crouch last night, playing for Liverpool is not doing him any favour whatsoever. He is simly not good enough for Liverpool FC, I hope I am wrong.
T raised the question about Kirkland, Chris is a great goalkeeper, and if it wasn’t for his injuries, Rafa would not have purchased Jose. Now that Jose is here, Rafa cannot justify not selecting him, especially given how much he cost.
Danny Murphy or Garcia?
Heskey or Crouch ?
Owen or Morientes ?
Kirkland or Reina
I know that if I was the Liverpool coach, I would be looking carefully at my transfer policy.
posted by Anonymous at 10/26/2005 11:35:00 am
EFT match of the season for 2008/2009: Barcelona construct a masterclass footballing performance to defeat the reigning Champions League holders and current English champions, Manchester United, by a scoreline of 2-0 in the 2009 Champions League final in Rome
EFT player of the season for 2008/2009: Chelsea central midfielder, Frank Lampard
EFT player of the month for May 2009: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for April 2009: Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for March 2009: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for February 2009: Phil Jagielka (Everton)
EFT player of the month for January 2009: Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd)
EFT player of the month for December 2008: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for November 2008: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for October 2008: Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for September 2008: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for August 2008: Amr Zaki (Wigan Athletic)
EFT match of Euro 2008: Turkey's amazing comeback from two goals down to beat Czech Republic 3-2 as captain Nihat Kahveci's two goals in the last three minutes sensationally put his country through to the quarter finals at the expense of their beaten opponents
EFT player of Euro 2008: Spain (anchor) central midfielder, Marcos Senna
EFT match of the season for 2007/2008: Liverpool win titanic Champions League quarter-final second leg 4-2 against Arsenal that also saw two of the best football moments of the season - Fernando Torres' top corner strike and Theo Walcott's thrilling run across the whole of Anfield.
EFT player of the season for 2007/2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for May 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for April 2008: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
EFT player of the month for March 2008: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for February 2008: David James (Portsmouth)
EFT player of the month for January 2008: Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for December 2007: Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers)
EFT player of the month for November 2007: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for October 2007: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for September 2007: Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for August 2007: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for May 2007: Carlos Tevez (West Ham Utd)
EFT player of the month for April 2007: Wayne Rooney (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for March 2007: Carlos Tevez (West Ham Utd)
EFT player of the month for February 2007: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for January 2007: Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for December 2006: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for November 2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for October 2006: Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton Wanderers)
EFT player of the month for September 2006: Andrew Johnson (Everton)
EFT player of the month for August 2006: Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth)
EFT match of World Cup 2006: Italy win a thrilling 'end-to-end' World Cup semi-final 2-0 against Germany courtesy of two late extra time goals from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero 
EFT player of World Cup 2006: Italy captain and centre-back, Fabio Cannavaro
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EFT player of the month for May 2006: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for April 2006: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for March 2006: Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur)
EFT player of the month for February 2006: Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Middlesbrough)
EFT player of the month for January 2006: Jason Roberts (Wigan Athletic)
EFT player of the month for December 2005: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for November 2005: Robin van Persie (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for October 2005: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for September 2005: Danny Murphy (Charlton Athletic)
EFT player of the month for August 2005: Wayne Rooney (Manchester Utd)
EFT match of the season for 2004-2005: Liverpool win Champions League final 3-2 on penalties against AC Milan after sensationally recovering from 3-0 down to level the match in normal time
10 Comments:
The problem, as far as I can see is Crouch's transfer fee.
If Liverpool had been firmer, and not allowed a recently relegated side to inflate the price, there would be no problem.
Peter Crouch would not have had such expectancy thrust upon him, Benitez would have been able to drop him more often (rather than having to justify the tag by playing him) and more importantly Owen would have been affordable.
But no!
We are Liverpool FC and we are famous for paying over inflated prices under the current regime.
Its time to either sack Benitez or the Chief Exec/Owner, and I for one would go for the latter!
Anyone know the phone number for Robert Kraft (maybe we could get him back on-board again)?
10/26/2005 1:12 pm
to the anon above...you are an idiot
10/26/2005 1:33 pm
'Morientes is a bit like bird flu. He's been lethal in other countries
and we keep getting told it's only a matter of time before he makes his
mark here, but there's no sign of it yet'
I am Liverpool fan i think this sums up most Liverpool fans feelings about Nando
10/26/2005 1:53 pm
Now is not the time for sackings at LFC. Now is the time for the players to get assertive, they deliver the performances, they are being paid for delivering performances for good results, they should be weary of being sacked, not Rick Parry nor Rafael. Last night we had a side that could equally rival Crystal Palace's first team, let alone second string, and we have currently a low form of self-belief, or the players have individual feelings that need to be addressed. It is OK or brilliant when things are going fine or very good, but when they do not it's easy to sink into doldrums, and we shouldn't be doing that at all.
The desire to win. With this desire you are focused on the need to score to sustain any belief of winning, no goals will not win games, straight forward. The likes of the top three aim to equalise immediately when they conceded, Chelsea showed this on Sunday. It works more times than not but the effort is needed and is severely missing from our players at the moment.
The general pace of our team is lacklustre. Gerrard comes back after missing three games and scores, if that is not an understatement of the squad then our management are not paying attention. I sense the belief within the squad is low because there are a few who have little confidence in the selection of others. Rafa has to work on our shooting and scoring under pressure or our goal drought will continue to despair.
Why is it that usually lower teams have stepped up, including Charlton, Spurs, Man City, WIGAN and WEST HAM, and Liverpool are currently languishing in the bottom half, Cisse and Gerrard our only potential scorers, others not performing better than they are? We have been hearing it and I feel inclined to turn to the possible fact that Rafa's dip into the player market has not brought the strength needed to supplement the squad:
Traore should have not been offered a new contract;
A centre-back rather than Crouch should have been a priority;
Though Crouch would not have been a buy for me, I appreciate the vision Rafa had in signing him;
Dudek was becoming a liability and Kirkland was practically injured for his time at the club, so we needed another keeper who was reputed to be one of the best in La Liga;
If Rafa wants to find a good enough player, he must look elsewhere aside from the Spanish league.
Patience is a virtue. But it shouldn't alternatively be a burden because players are not putting enough effort into the cause. All we can do is wait for them to eventually soul-search and get a grip with themselves and then the Premiership.
RedsMan.
10/26/2005 2:06 pm
Anon (1.53PM), that's a good one.
Berry, I noticed that too, after the whistle, looking at or playing with the watch. But he has no answer again for why the team played so low.
To go back to Skippy:
"Danny Murphy or Garcia?
Heskey or Crouch ?
Owen or Morientes ?
Kirkland or Reina"
Right now, it's easy to make choices. The above Liverpool players could turn round later on and set the league alight.
RedsMan.
10/26/2005 2:25 pm
And there I thought I was the only one fascinated by Benitez' world record attempt stare at his watch- which included a half second break in stare to congratulate Dowie!
Liverpool are up against West Ham at home this Saturday. No less than a win will do to appease the fans and instill confidence in the players. I back them to achieve it.
10/26/2005 5:26 pm
Would like to add that my prior stated admiration for Iain Dowie continues to grow and was vindicated again yesterday.
He is an English (or is he Irish!??) coach with big potential-and I consider him worthy as a potential future Arsenal coach (I think I've told you this before and was met with derision!).
He can organise teams, motivate teams (he motivates me with his obvious analytical passion for football), and can improve talented young players like Johnson, Soares, Watson, and Hudson. I respect these qualities in a coach.
10/26/2005 6:23 pm
Fair enough, T, Dowie is a keen manager with passion and grit, an Englishman with an Irish father, has a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and puts his analytical and logical approach to his managing down to the academic achievement.
Potentially, being a Londoner, born in Hatfield, he could fit a more capital profile for a shortlist were Wenger to vacate his position. I'm not sure he could motivate Arsenal as well as Wenger has, though when he joined Crystal Palace as manager, the team were struggling near the bottom of the table and gained promotion by being West Ham in the play-off finals.
But their goals came from mistakes yet again, and both were from Zak Whitbread's position.
RedsMan.
10/26/2005 7:06 pm
liverpool will come good. there's too much quality there for us to be struggling as we are. its down to the players tho - the big stars have to start performing. there's only so much rafa can do.
10/26/2005 8:57 pm
At the start of the season I always felt that Liverpool's problems would be in the goalscoring department. Crouch is not a clinical striker, but I do not think Benitez expected him to be. The key is finding the right players to supplement Crouch's strengths - flick ons and support play.
I still believe Liverpool really missed out when they didnt re-sign Owen. His two goals on sunday really showed what Liverpool have been missing.
11/01/2005 9:49 am
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