QPR 3-2 Liverpool: In game and Post Match Aggro

Falling apart? Liverpool have reasons to celebrate despite horrible collapse at QPR

Kenny Dalgish's team toyed with Rangers for 75 minutes and deserve credit for the general enterprise of their play despite difficulties in eking out results


By Wayne Veysey at Loftus Road

Win, lose or draw, Kenny Dalglish is not one for giving the gentlemen of the media what they want when it comes to analysing football matches.

If Harry Redknapp and Arsene Wenger are at one end of the scale, then the Liverpool manager is at the other, jostling for position with equally tetchy fellow Scot, Sir Alex Ferguson.

But when he said that he had no answers to the incredible chain of events at Loftus Road that took Liverpool, within minutes from returning to Merseyside with a comfortable three points to going home empty-handed, for once he was not being evasive.

“I don’t think anybody saw that coming,” he said of the result.
“There is not much more we can say.
I don’t have any answers as to what happened.”

No one did.

It was a spectacular comeback by QPR, as incredible as any of the other bonkers results of a Premier League season that has become defined by them – Manchester United’s 8-2 win over Arsenal, Manchester City’s 6-1 triumph at Old Trafford and Arsenal’s 5-3 victory at Chelsea.

Mark Hughes’ team had no right to beat Liverpool on Wednesday night.

When Dalglish observed that the League Cup winners could have been 4-0 up at half-time, he was not exaggerating.

Liverpool toyed with their opponents for 75 minutes.
The passing was imaginative, the movement sharp and the interchanging of positions slick.
Some of the link-up play between Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Stewart Downing in the opening 20 minutes was as good as anything Liverpool have produced all season.

It was dazzling stuff, delivered at breakneck speed.

The approach play, however, was not rewarded with the goals that it merited – it is a failing that has assumed chronic levels of ineptitude.

That it took a scissor kick of truly staggering quality by substitute centre-half Sebastian Coates to open the scoring in the 54th minute was indicative of the team’s scoring pains.

Dirk Kuyt doubled the lead 18 minutes later, but only after Luis Suarez did what he does better than anyone else in world football – wriggling away from confused defenders before sending a shot crashing against the post – and Stewart Downing had drawn an excellent reflex save from Rangers keeper Paddy Kenny ­­- all in the same phase of play.

Hughes admitted that he was surprised that, at this point, a team of Liverpool’s calibre did not put the game to bed.

Dalglish refuted the suggestion that his team dozed off. So, how did a team staring relegation back to the Championship in the face and who had not won for two months suddenly find the belief and know-how to come back from the dead?

Analysing the goals one by one, the defenders do not come out of the sudden implosion with much credit. Between them, Jamie Carragher and Jordan Henderson were unable to prevent Shaun Derry, perhaps the smallest man on the pitch, from stealing in between them and heading the opener. It was like a little boy running off with a bag of pick ‘n mix from a sweet shop while the shopkeeper stood chatting amicably to his colleague.

Djibril Cisse emphatically headed the second in the 86th minute after losing Martin Skrtel on the edge of the six-yard box. Jose Enrique’s botched clearance allowed Jamie Mackie to latch on to what was simply a long ball and slide in the winner. It was dreadful defending.

QPR deserve enormous credit for smelling blood, feeding off the fervour of their wonderfully tight-knit stadium and going in for the kill. The finishing, Hughes and his meticulous coaching staff will have noted, was composed and emphatic.

Despite the result, the desperate nature of the defeat and the meagre reward of 42 points from 29 league encounters, there is plenty of reason for cautious optimism in the red half of Merseyside.

Liverpool continue to play some of the most aesthetically pleasing football in the English top tier.
They dominate weaker teams and hold their own against the big ones.
They are generally fun to watch.

The team shape is also progressing, if a little slowly at times.
The back five, barring Wednesday’s collapse, is resilient and capable with strength in reserve.
Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez, the two star turns, are relocating their mojos.
The core of the team is young and will get better.

Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that Lucas Leiva, the outstanding midfield enforcer, has been unavailable since November 29 with a cruciate knee ligament injury. The Brazilian has been sorely missed. His team might well have won had he been relentlessly pressing QPR's exhausted players late on.

Liverpool are maddeningly wasteful in front of goal – and consistently inconsistent in terms of results.

But there is tangible proof that the methods of Dalglish and his No2 Steve Clarke – if not yet director of football Damien Comolli – are working. A glistening new trophy sits in the Anfield cabinet, the first for six years. A mouthwatering FA Cup semi-final tie against Everton or Sunderland has been scribbled in the diaries of supporters.

Sitting 28 points in the table behind Manchester United after throwing away a game that, with just minutes left on the clock, no punter in the land would have bet them to lose can hardly be said to be the best of times.
But they are not the worst, either.

The glory days are coming back.
But they are still being interspersed with some wretched ones, too.

Follow Wayne Veysey on twitter

Ok. Although I thought it ....it is NOT the end of the world.

Tragedies happen all the time ...look what happened in France this week .
Three children and a father dead ............we just lost a football match.

We didn't like it and we can't understand it but these things happen and always do for a reason.
It was all the more infuriating because that has put the C.L .well beyond reach barring a miracle.

This reporter Veysey has looked for the positives and he has found some.
He has gone into the "OK Journo File" with Henry Winter.

FFS  There are enough Murdoch Manc loving mini men out there to shoot us down.

It is defeats like this we can learn from.
If we don't we need relegating.


Whats the next game then ? Wigan ?

Oooops. Wouldn't want to be them.






http://bleacherreport.com/tb/bfFsb?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=liverpool

Falling apart? Liverpool have reasons to celebrate despite horrible collapse at QPR

Kenny Dalgish's team toyed with Rangers for 75 minutes and deserve credit for the general enterprise of their play despite difficulties in eking out results


By Wayne Veysey at Loftus Road

Win, lose or draw, Kenny Dalglish is not one for giving the gentlemen of the media what they want when it comes to analysing football matches.

If Harry Redknapp and Arsene Wenger are at one end of the scale, then the Liverpool manager is at the other, jostling for position with equally tetchy fellow Scot, Sir Alex Ferguson.

But when he said that he had no answers to the incredible chain of events at Loftus Road that took Liverpool, within minutes from returning to Merseyside with a comfortable three points to going home empty-handed, for once he was not being evasive.

“I don’t think anybody saw that coming,” he said of the result.
“There is not much more we can say.
I don’t have any answers as to what happened.”

No one did.

It was a spectacular comeback by QPR, as incredible as any of the other bonkers results of a Premier League season that has become defined by them – Manchester United’s 8-2 win over Arsenal, Manchester City’s 6-1 triumph at Old Trafford and Arsenal’s 5-3 victory at Chelsea.

Mark Hughes’ team had no right to beat Liverpool on Wednesday night.

When Dalglish observed that the League Cup winners could have been 4-0 up at half-time, he was not exaggerating.

Liverpool toyed with their opponents for 75 minutes.
The passing was imaginative, the movement sharp and the interchanging of positions slick.
Some of the link-up play between Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Stewart Downing in the opening 20 minutes was as good as anything Liverpool have produced all season.

It was dazzling stuff, delivered at breakneck speed.

The approach play, however, was not rewarded with the goals that it merited – it is a failing that has assumed chronic levels of ineptitude.

That it took a scissor kick of truly staggering quality by substitute centre-half Sebastian Coates to open the scoring in the 54th minute was indicative of the team’s scoring pains.

Dirk Kuyt doubled the lead 18 minutes later, but only after Luis Suarez did what he does better than anyone else in world football – wriggling away from confused defenders before sending a shot crashing against the post – and Stewart Downing had drawn an excellent reflex save from Rangers keeper Paddy Kenny ­­- all in the same phase of play.

Hughes admitted that he was surprised that, at this point, a team of Liverpool’s calibre did not put the game to bed.

Dalglish refuted the suggestion that his team dozed off. So, how did a team staring relegation back to the Championship in the face and who had not won for two months suddenly find the belief and know-how to come back from the dead?

Analysing the goals one by one, the defenders do not come out of the sudden implosion with much credit. Between them, Jamie Carragher and Jordan Henderson were unable to prevent Shaun Derry, perhaps the smallest man on the pitch, from stealing in between them and heading the opener. It was like a little boy running off with a bag of pick ‘n mix from a sweet shop while the shopkeeper stood chatting amicably to his colleague.

Djibril Cisse emphatically headed the second in the 86th minute after losing Martin Skrtel on the edge of the six-yard box. Jose Enrique’s botched clearance allowed Jamie Mackie to latch on to what was simply a long ball and slide in the winner. It was dreadful defending.

QPR deserve enormous credit for smelling blood, feeding off the fervour of their wonderfully tight-knit stadium and going in for the kill. The finishing, Hughes and his meticulous coaching staff will have noted, was composed and emphatic.

Despite the result, the desperate nature of the defeat and the meagre reward of 42 points from 29 league encounters, there is plenty of reason for cautious optimism in the red half of Merseyside.

Liverpool continue to play some of the most aesthetically pleasing football in the English top tier.
They dominate weaker teams and hold their own against the big ones.
They are generally fun to watch.

The team shape is also progressing, if a little slowly at times.
The back five, barring Wednesday’s collapse, is resilient and capable with strength in reserve.
Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez, the two star turns, are relocating their mojos.
The core of the team is young and will get better.

Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that Lucas Leiva, the outstanding midfield enforcer, has been unavailable since November 29 with a cruciate knee ligament injury. The Brazilian has been sorely missed. His team might well have won had he been relentlessly pressing QPR's exhausted players late on.

Liverpool are maddeningly wasteful in front of goal – and consistently inconsistent in terms of results.

But there is tangible proof that the methods of Dalglish and his No2 Steve Clarke – if not yet director of football Damien Comolli – are working. A glistening new trophy sits in the Anfield cabinet, the first for six years. A mouthwatering FA Cup semi-final tie against Everton or Sunderland has been scribbled in the diaries of supporters.

Sitting 28 points in the table behind Manchester United after throwing away a game that, with just minutes left on the clock, no punter in the land would have bet them to lose can hardly be said to be the best of times.
But they are not the worst, either.

The glory days are coming back.
But they are still being interspersed with some wretched ones, too.

Follow Wayne Veysey on twitter

Ok. Although I thought it ....it is NOT the end of the world.

Tragedies happen all the time ...look what happened in France this week .
Three children and a father dead ............we just lost a football match.

We didn't like it and we can't understand it but these things happen and always do for a reason.
It was all the more infuriating because that has put the C.L .well beyond reach barring a miracle.

This reporter Veysey has looked for the positives and he has found some.
He has gone into the "OK Journo File" with Henry Winter.

FFS  There are enough Murdoch Manc loving mini men out there to shoot us down.

It is defeats like this we can learn from.
If we don't we need relegating.


Whats the next game then ? Wigan ?

Oooops. Wouldn't want to be them.






http://bleacherreport.com/tb/bfFsb?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=liverpool

That's a very honest article.

And I agree with you, all is not lost even though last night's loss is still painful.

Bring on Wigan! What better way to respond than win the next game and restore some confidence.

This sort of result and performance hurts like hell! 2-0 up and we lose 3-2 ! Shabs made one point that we miss LUCAS , I totally agree we do miss him ,even more so when we have bought crap players that belong in the lower leagues ,Adam,Henderson just are not good enough ! Anyone know why we don,t play Shelvey more ? We need players who can kill a team off and be feared again ,Time to ditch the deadwood and bring players in who give a sh*te ! ....I vote we kidnap Messi and his mates !

 Firstly bringing Carroll on in place of Suarez was a really bad decision I thought.
Anyway I'm really happy with the performance in overall till 75th minute. The attacking movement was brilliant. Carroll destroyed it I think. The interchange between Gerrard and Suarez is fantastic to watch. I'm between them for my MOTM.

Kenny will go f**king ballistic - game in the bag at half time and the lack of commitment and work ethic ensured we end the night with sweet f**k all. The aforementioned qualities were a natural part of the Dalglish game plan and it must be entirely foreign to him that any footballer can fall short in that sense.
To talk about missing Lucas, Agger or whatever is fine but entirely pointless - the deadwood is sinking the ship and we need quality back up now.

Thats the point i was making we are still lightwegith as a squad. Look at City they have been without Teves since Sept and bring him back in we just dont have that depth and taking out Agger and Lucas from the spine has exposed our frailties.
When we go to Wembley and beat whoever in the semi's will people still be complaining.
We need this league season to end Kenny will be fully aware of who will stay and who will go.

Very dissappointed not to get the 3 pts after being 2-0 up with 15 to go.
But that's the way the season has been, ups then downs. No consistency whatsoever.
Saw most of the 2nd half on MOTD (tho forgot to record it )  and guess the only thing that was different this time was that defensively we collapsed. Hear we missed a pile in the first half - big surprise. We do miss the back4 lads that are out injured. And Agger for me is a worry - a great defender but is he fit enough for long enough each season? Would we be better selling and investing the cash trying to get someone with fewer injury problems? I love Dagger, super player, but christ would really like to see more of him. Kelly is a big loss too, Carra should never really be put in at fullback though we were stuck.
On the positive side, what a goal by Coates Brilliant technique for a big centerback. Haven't seen enough of him yet though as a defender to be able to say much there. And has he put on a few pound? Pies, eh And seems we created enough chances to win 2 games.
Anyway, deja vu is decending. Not surprised by the reaction given the collapse but won't be getting worried about it. There are things we need to do in the summer, we know that. We've a semi-final comin up. And I'm optimistic still
Btw, Hansen really spat out the words 'cup side' last night. It's on the league those boys were raised... completely agreed.

A good cup team can be turned into a good league side. We have to give Kenny time to sort out the wheat from the chaff.Our squad is light weight compared to those above us.

Not only our team is lighweight, but some of the players as well. Honestly, do we really think that Henderson and Adam will be the ones that constantly be a threat to other teams in midfield and that they will win say 75% of the tackles or out run an opposing player. They just don't have the mobility and toughness (physically and mentally) in them to play in midfield. Ok, Adam has that Hollywood past once or twice in a game, that's all to it and he spent most of the time knocking the ball around without being a threat to the other side. Henderson is, as someone said before a running machine, that's all. He keeps tracking back with his rabbit runs that's all, he doesn't put in a meaningful tackle or harass the opposing players, just cover grounds and holes and going forward he offers next to nothing.

As for Andy, we simply did not utilise him properly. We could see that he was running all over the pitch wasted much of his energy trying to get possession of the ball and at times it looked as if the rest did not realise that he's on the pitch, that's how isolated he has been from the rest of the players. We just don;t have a game plan for him when he comes onto the pitch. He should be around the box and make space for himself to be seen by others and he can harass defenders inside the box and can shoot properly. Why can't we make use of him more with his feet than his head I just don't understand.  All those crosses into the box is meaningless, he's most dangerous just outside the box as what we saw when he was at newcastle but we did not build on that.

In all fairness, in this game the defence let us down big time and Skrtel should have jumped for the ball while Pepe could do much better and he's not himself of late. If both had prevented the goals the game would have ended 2-1 in our favour.

I have calmed down slightly, but i still feel heart broken, disappointed and angry at some of our players.

The first 25 minutes, we dominated them excessively. We passed like they weren't there, we were pressuring them on the edge of their box, forcing them into mistakes, we outran them and we created two massive chances. I love Suarez, he is a fantastic player, undoubtably, but he really should have scored from that chance where he was 1 V 1 against the keeper, and many other chances this season. Downing had another chance soon after which he should have done a lot better with.

We just simply have to be scoring when we're in such control in the match. Because that sort of domination won't last 90 minutes. If were clinical, we would have been 1 up and that would have gave us the momentum to push on and really dominate this match, hopefully.

Unfortunately, after that, the game sort of evened out, with QPR having the better of the latter stages of the first half. After half time we started to play better, gaining possession and trying to crave some chances.

After about our 15th corner, Coates finally gets on the end of one and unlashes a goal of the season finish. A scissor overhead kick with some much top spin it dips into the net. Amazing finish and should definitely be a major contender for goal of the season. Shame that it won't get the praise that it deserves.

Then after Coates' wonder strike we started to control the game, and we managed to crave open a second goal. After brilliant dribbling from Suarez, and unfortunately, his shot smacks the post, only for Downing to get on the end, dummy past two players then shoot, but for Paddy Kenny to save and the ball to land to Kuyt for him to nod in our second.

We had a couple more half chances after that which we could have put away, to put QPR fully to the sword.

After that we got complacent, we let QPR have possession and we defended way too deep. We let them have possession, and they sent in two crosses, and created two key chances from crosses and they took them all away. Our entire defence was poor for that last 15 minutes, no one looked secure, no one looked in control and a couple of horrendous defensive mistakes cost us, dearly. 

For the third goal, Jose Enrique, who has been brilliant this season, made a vital mistake which let the sub score.

Awful defending, and an awful attitude from the players in the latter stages of the match. Everyone thought we were guaranteed the win, and everyone relaxed, and they punished us.

I don't think we can blame this defeat on one particular aspect, the whole team contributed to the loss:

I thought Pepe was very poor. He didn't even make much of an effort to stop the cross, or try to make an attempt to save the header. For the third, his legs was open way to much, and it really invited the attacker to shoot in the space he left open.

The defence was abysmal for the last 15 minutes of the match, where we needed our defence to remain resolute. Skrtel, who is our best defender this season, far and away, lost a couple of key header which cost us. I can't blame him because he has been immense for us this season.

Carragher at right back was a poor decision in my opinion. He has not got the legs to be a proper right back and i felt it disrupted the balance of our defence when we had to put a new centre back in, who can sometimes take a few minutes to adjust to games.

Hindsight is a brilliant thing, but at the time, i felt that bringing on Flanagan should have been the wise choice. Because it would have kept the Carragher & Skrtel. But who knows, Coates came on and scored a beautiful goal. 

Our midfield was decent. Spearing and Gerrard were brilliant. Gerrard and Suarez are on a completely different wavelength to anyone else and some of their play was majestic. Spearing just sat back, and won everything in midfield, then played a simple pass to spring an attack.

Although i love Spearing's attitude, and this is a very harsh criticism, to say the least, but i sometimes feel he can keep the ball for too long. I notice him, and he takes 2-3 touches with the ball, then delivers the pass which can give opponents that little extra time to get back into position. Most times he could and perhaps should pass with his first touch, or take one touch and pass it on again on quickly. Apart from that, Spearing is quality. Defensively he is one of the best, and works his arse off every single match; which should be the minimum expected from a Liverpool player. He is a very tidy passer too, hardly ever see him make a poor pass.

Adam was fairly poor, once again. He made one or two decent passes, but he made many fouls, gave the ball away regularly and i struggle to see why he was brought into this team after we beat Stoke in the FA cup.

Henderson was missing for me. I never saw him do anything of any real effectiveness. He should have done better for one of the goals too. Should have been stronger and headed the ball.

Offensively we were great creativity, and poor clinically. Yes, we scored 2 goals, but it should have been 4 at least. Missing big, and important chances are becoming way too regular to just be suggested as a blip and i don't think that many Liverpool fans would disagree with me there. I believe a goal scoring forward is needed. Not just wanted, but needed, badly.

I thought Downing did well for once, he grabbed a couple of assists, he looked dangerous and that was one of his better games i thought. But Downing is so lazy at the other end. The minimum i expect from Liverpool players is graft, and commitment. Downing shows neither. Disagree if you want, but i like seeing players run 20 yards just to make a tackle. That is what fans love. We can take the mistakes, the poor form, but we cannot see players not trying.

Suarez was great once again. I still don't believe he should be a lone striker, he always seems to play his best when in behind the striker, and that also reduces the pressure and expectation of needing to score.

He missed a very important chance early on, through his amazing dedication and skill which sees him dribble past players and create good goal scoring chances. But he really should be putting more goals away though.

I also feel when played behind the striker, which i feel is his best position, gives him room and time to dribble and link up play.

I also feel King Kenny has to take some blame too. I don't understand why we changed the team from Stoke. I felt we played great against Stoke, and i don't see any purpose in his decision. Especially to bring in Adam, who i like, but shouldn't have played, in my opinion. Gerrard & Spearing were forming an awesome partnership together, and i felt Adam's inclusion, didn't help their flow.

I believe that taking Suarez off was a poor decision too. If Suarez had played for the entire game, i felt that we probably would have got a draw, minimum. Simply because Andy was very poor when it came on, and i feel he can be slow at adapting to the pace of the match when coming on as a sub sometimes.

I also don't like how Dalglish consistently blames "luck" for the defeat. He said something along the lines that QPR got the luck from their earlier match against Bolton.

Luck is definitely a huge factor in many of our poor results, but it simply isn't always due to luck. For us to be dropping so many points, in many games where we've been by far the better side, means that their has to be a fundamental problem within our team. Mainly, our goal scoring.

Overall I'm very disappointed, because we're 7th in the league. That isn't acceptable. Even if we won both domestic cups. I've been thrilled by the cups campaigns so far, but we shouldn't accept having a shockingly poor premier league season, just to be competitive in the cups.

Anyway, lets just assume top 4 is gone, play without any pressure, give 100% out in the next match and take it one game at a time and see where we end up at the end of the season.

We're crying out for an assassin like Huntelaar. Put in a bid of £23 - 25m for him in the summer and he's ours. One prolific striker won't be enough to get top 3, but as Arsenal are showing, it should be enough to get top 4.

We're a better squad than Arsenal, IMO. We just don't have an assassin. Then again, who else will Arsenal and Chelsea buy this summer to make top 4 even harder next year.

Defensively, we fell away in a manner, that should never happen ! Defence is our weakness, and Reina is one of the weaker links in the side.

Are you ligit.

We're crying out for an assassin like Huntelaar. Put in a bid of £23 - 25m for him in the summer and he's ours.

Not at 28 years of age and turning 29 in August he won't be.

Not at 28 years of age and turning 29 in August he won't be.

Robben is no spring chicken but Huntelaar (my no.1 choice) and he are both doing the business.

I think they will be relegated along with Wolves and possibly Wigan

Yet they still beat us. What a joke!