Is it goalkeeping . . .

[Dirty Sanchez]

. . . Or is it poor finishing that has kept us from currently residing second in the league?

Vorm, Ruddy, Hart, and De Gea all gave world class performances to deny us the win.

I'm inclined to believe that a dominant striker would guarantee us a top four finish based on the way we have played 95% of this season.

 

[Fabio]

Its an annoying bit of both

We're shit at being clinical, but when we are on target it tends to be against good keepers

I hate GKs form at anfield this season

its upsetting

 

[RedStar]

Its pretty obviously finishing, we are creating the chances week after week but still struggling for goals, the goalkeepers are all coming away looking like super heroes but thats not really the case. Problem is we dont really have a finisher in the team, Suarez is a fantastic player but hes not clinical at all, Carroll is neither a finisher or a creator, our midfield is lacking in goals without Gerrard and Kuyt is going through a pretty prolonged slump. Last season we had Meireles and Maxi weighing in with a fair few from midfield to help keep things ticking over, one has left and the other has been bizarrely frozen out

Bellamy should have started today but for obvious reasons that didnt happen, hes probably the best finisher we have in the squad right now, until our attacking line up changes we will continue to struggle for goals, we have too many players in the team who offer close to zero goal threat

 

[kingjulian]

Yep Torres of 08-09 vintage would have us firing on all cylinders.

With hindsight....i think Darren Bent would have been a better purchase for us in place of Andy Carroll, if we were bent on buying an English player.

We behaved like scorned lovers when the Spaniard left us, and i think that clouded proper judgement. Although, at that time, i must admit to thinking Carroll was the best of the poor bunch of English signings we could have made.

 

[Y1]

Sure world class strikers like Aquero, Silva, Dzeko, Bartolleli would have finished off all those chances? Oh!

 

[RolandG]

[quote author=Fabio link=topic=47697.msg1433466#msg1433466 date=1322427862]
Its an annoying bit of both

We're shit at being clinical, but when we are on target it tends to be against good keepers

I hate GKs form at anfield this season

its upsetting
[/quote]
^^^
This


Keepers have been consistently good against us but our finishing has been poor. I dont think that there's a team out there creating the volume of opportunities for goals and not converting them.

That has been hampering our progress up the table and denting our confidence. I have never seen us boss games the way we do for a long while without actually getting the wins. A young Michael Owen/Darren Bent type striker is exactly what we need. A finisher!

 

[Judge Jules]

I'd be a lot more worried if we weren't creating those chances in the first place. The goals will come, though whether or not they come via Andy Carroll remains to be seen.

 

[RolandG]

We gotta keep working at it, our luck will change and someone will get a horrible hiding.

 

[King Binny]

Before the Chelsea and Man City games:

Here’s a look at which keepers have been tested the most by Liverpool this season, when compared to their other appearances:

No surprise to see a general correlation between the number of shots on target the Reds have had and the number of points won in the match. Credit therefore goes to Ruddy and Begovic for bucking this trend. Interesting to note that only six of the eleven goalies faced more on-target shots from Liverpool than from their average for other teams; more evidence that a lot of the shots the Reds have been taking have been largely wasted.

Based on the percentage of the shots on target that they saved, which ‘keepers appear to have excelled against the Reds this season?

Unlike with the ‘shots faced’ statistics, there is a slightly more decisive seven/four split in favour of ‘keepers who have made a higher percentage of saves against Liverpool than against their other opponents.

As Brad Friedel only had one shot on target to save against Liverpool, he doesn’t deserve too much credit for his 100% record. John Ruddy of Norwich, however, saved eight of the nine shots on target that he faced, and went a long way to earning his side a point. In fact, he has only made 25 saves in his other nine league games in total, so he clearly passed a stern test at Anfield.

If we take a closer look at the figures of Vorm, Begovic and Ruddy, we can see what difference their performances against Liverpool may well have made to the results.

Hypothetically, if they had only saved their average figures from the other matches they have played, then Liverpool would have won all three games: Swansea 1-0, Stoke 2-1, and Norwich 3-1. Those seven points would have put Liverpool level with Manchester United; title challenge anyone?

Doesn’t help the Reds now of course, and I hope this doesn’t come across as making excuses on behalf of the strikers, as they do have to take some responsibility for the team’s poor shot conversion figures. But those three ‘keepers in particular performed above their average against Liverpool and denied them points in the process.

After yesterday's game:

Liverpool’s conversion rate stands at just 7.7%, and opposing goalkeepers have to take a lot of credit for that. If the Reds had matched their 10% conversion average from the previous three seasons, then they’d have scored five more goals; one of those in each of the five draws at Anfield this season would’ve been most welcome, and would see Liverpool sat second in the league.

So the wait for a goalkeeping howler in favour of the Reds continues. With Fulham at Craven Cottage up next in the league, where Liverpool won 5-2 last season, I wonder how Mark Schwarzer is feeling right now?

 

[King Binny]

Ali Al-Habsi made 9 saves vs LFC; he's averaged 3.4 per game otherwise this season.