Shooting Practice + Liverpool = League Challengers

[doctor_mac]

That's my reading of this article:


Liverpool count the cost of slack shooting


It is a little early in the season for "what-ifs" but Liverpool fans can already imagine quite a different campaign.

Lying sixth in the table, they could be Manchester City's closest challengers at the top of the table, if they had kept a tighter grip on the leads they have established at Anfield.

On Saturday the Reds peppered the Norwich goal with 25 shots, but found the net with just one before being pegged back by the Canaries.

A week before a subdued Manchester United had departed Merseyside with a point despite falling behind while Sunderland emerged from under the cosh to take a draw on the opening day of the season.

Victories in those three matches would have carried Liverpool to second.
POINTS LOST FROM WINNING POSITIONS
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16. Blackburn -5
17. WBA - 5
18. Wigan - 5
19. Liverpool - 6
20. Villa - 7

If the Reds had taken something from their trip to Stoke, where they had 11 shots on target compared to the host's solitary, successful, strike, that position would be even more comfortable.

Instead the Merseysiders are second only to Aston Villa in the number of points surrendered from winning positions this season.

Manager Kenny Dalglish invested heavily in midfielders over the summer, but his side have struggled to find the punch up front to floor reeling opponents.

While they have taken 116 shots, equivalent to an effort every seven minutes, only one in 10 has found the back of the net.
Liverpool's minutes per shot and shots per goal ratios Liverpool have the quantity, if not the quality, of shots

By contrast and Manchester United and Manchester City have scored with 23.6% and 22.1% of their shots respectively.

"If we don't convert our chances we're always going to give the opposition a chance," admitted Dalglish after the draw with Norwich.

John Aldridge, a former team-mate of Dalglish, converted 63 chances in 104 Liverpool appearances between 1987 and 1989.

"It has cost us," he told BBC Sport of the Reds' current run of wastefulness.

"At least the creativity has been there to create chances, but we need to be leaner and meaner in front of goal.

"The trouble is that if you are missing you can find yourself snatching at chances."

Luis Suarez was front and centre in the shooting gallery against Norwich, firing on goal 11 times - more than any other player in a single Premier League game this season - but failing to make an impression on the scoresheet.

Since his arrival in January, the Uruguayan's smooth transition to life on Merseyside has eased the pain of Fernando Torres' departure to Chelsea.

But Suarez's dazzling skills may have blinded fans to his relative wastefulness in front of goal.

Of the players to have scored four or more goals in the Premier League this season, Suarez is the least efficient, with his shots-to-goals ratio lagging well behind the main marksmen at Liverpool's rivals for a top-four spot.
Premier League players goals to shots ratios Luis Suarez has taken 33 shots this season - the same as Wayne Rooney - but scored less than half the number of goals

It may be that as his club's main attacking force Suarez feels he has to take on responsibility for shooting more often.

Nine of his 33 shots on goal have come from outside the area which hardly suggests a personal shoot-on-sight policy however.

"He scored two fabulous goals against Stoke in the Carling Cup on Wednesday, so hopefully that will give him confidence," added Aldridge.

"Steven Gerrard will help take the pressure off Suarez. He has only played one game so far since returning from injury and will score goals from midfield, as will Charlie Adam. You need goals from all over the pitch."

Craig Bellamy and record signing Andy Carroll are also at Dalglish's disposal.

Liverpool do not lack for firepower, but their big guns' sights need tuning if they are to keep Champions League qualification in focus.

 

[Judge Jules]

Yep. Agree with both him and you.

 

[keniget]

Every year it's something else though, isn't it?

Shooting practice, a decent winger, not replacing a key position adequately, an injury here or there etc.

Ultimately, it's just Liverpool + not being good enough = current position

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=keniget link=topic=47335.msg1418643#msg1418643 date=1319884376]
Every year it's something else though, isn't it?

Shooting practice, a decent winger, not replacing a key position adequately, an injury here or there etc.

Ultimately, it's just Liverpool + not being good enough = current position
[/quote]

somebody needs a hug :-*

 

[Sunny]

Yep, been saying this for a while now - we're not playing too badly at all overall but areas for improvement are finishing (most obviously), fitness and tightening up a bit overall defensively. Playing Adam in a midfield two doesn't work either. Huge improvement from 12 months ago regardless of those who frequently enjoy lambasting certain players and signings but much more to go yet.

 

[spider-Neil]

the way I see it, we have been wasteful but we need to carry on the way we are going and the goals will come, even if it is in the next league campaign. Attacking football is not without risk and the temptation is to give up your attacking instincts if you start shipping goals/lose points but you have to continue attacking so attacking becomes part of your mentaility.

too often in the past with our ex managers when we shipped goals we put more emphasis on defense which gained us clean sheets but the goals dried up. I really like the way we are playing football since the return of kenny, yes it's frustrating we aren't taking our chances but it's important we are making chances, continue creating chances and we WILL score goals. we're a work in progress (especially with all the new players through the door since last jan) so let's not get scared and disappear into our shell (become more defensive) because we've lost points.

 

[doctor_mac]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=47335.msg1418649#msg1418649 date=1319885064]
the way I see it, we have been wasteful but we need to carry on the way we are going and the goals will come, even if it is in the next league campaign. Attacking football is not without risk and the temptation is to give up your attacking instincts if you start shipping goals/lose points but you have to continue attacking so attacking becomes part of your mentaility.

too often in the past with our ex managers when we shipped goals we put more emphasis on defense which gained us clean sheets but the goals dried up. I really like the way we are playing football since the return of kenny, yes it's frustrating we aren't taking our chances but it's important we are making chances, continue creating chances and we WILL score goals. we're a work in progress (especially with all the new players through the door since last jan) so let's not get scared and disappear into our shell (become more defensive) because we've lost points.
[/quote]

I agree Spidey. I'm less depressed this year because there were times under Rafa and Hodgson where I just couldn't see where the goals would come from. This year we look more creative and dangerous- we just need to hit the onion bag more regularly. We've also come up against keepers having a blinder too.

 

[Rosco]

I don't think we're close enough to being title challengers yet, shooting practice + Liverpool = 4th.

We're still too flaky in central midfield and defence for me

 

[mark1975]

Two great posts from Neil and Keni there. I think the truth is somewhere in between. I think we can and will get better, but ultimately, if something doesn't come natural, then you just don't have it. I said in the Summer, we need another striker, maybe Bellamy can provide the shortfall, but we definitely lack a 'proper' finisher and no amount of shooting practice can remedy that.

 

[Molbystwin]

I work with a FA liscenced fitness coach, who used to be a goaly for Roma many moons ago and we were chatting about all things LFC and i said to him that we seem to fade to much in matches at the minute and that we are not looking fit enough... interesting responses...

So my mate seemed to suggest that as we are not in Europe the training, especially the fitness training, will have been completely ri-jigged along the lines of the players will be being "beasted" a lot, he called it double loading, with the intention of leaving the team super fit later in the season and the run in. It struck me as odd that you would plan for season long fitness but apparently they do nowadays! This is obviously pure guess work on his behalf but he does have more insight into current fitness training practice than myself and might well ring true. To my eyes we havent been playing at full tilt and this may well be in part an explanation.

I think we are trying to hang in there and stay close and punch on later.... at least however wishful thinking that may well be.... I think we will come good i really do.

3 points today would be just what the doctor ordered, we need to get a good run going.

I think we probably do need a bit more firepower, in light of how awesome city look at the moment, but i'm not overly concerned because you'd have to say that our midfielders have all got goals in them and as yet they havent been chipping in as much as they possibly can IMO.

A few poxy draws aside I'm optimistic, to wax slightly more poetic i'm hoping our season is going to be like Station to Station by David bowie.... creeping around for a bit followed by a magnificent arrival.

Either way to my mind i think we do have plenty left in the tank

 

[mark1975]

Rafa put that in place Molby, he put alot of emphasis on being fit for the run in, which is why he used to rest players so much before Xmas, and probably why we often didn't get it together as a team until it was too late.

 

[Molbystwin]

[quote author=mark1975 link=topic=47335.msg1418687#msg1418687 date=1319890061]
Rafa put that in place Molby, he put alot of emphasis on being fit for the run in, which is why he used to rest players so much before Xmas, and probably why we often didn't get it together as a team until it was too late.
[/quote]

I take your point Mark, we may well be out of it if we leave it too late but there are a few key differences between now and our "peak" under Rafa, mainly that IMO still Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal are not as good as they were then... man city is the fly in the ointment*

Just to give some counterpoint to it so many pundits and observers were creaming their loads over this new young United as they flew out the gates and yet just looking at the teamsheet would show you that their is still a Cristiano Ronaldo sized hole and no dominant midfielder

We havent been playing as well as we did at the end of last season so far this season but at the same time, finishing aside, we are getting chances by the hatful its far from the doom and gloom which some posters are going in for at the moment. Maybe we can still allow ourselves to hope that as United Chelsea Arsenal and City get the fatigue they deserves from their fancy CL exploits we can be comparatively fresh and pick up points when they drop them....

well... fingers crossed anyway!

*nearly typed nigger in the woodpile... this racism virus stuff must be spreading!!

 

[Frogfish]

City are not going to become fatigued when they can put together two teams capable of challenging for the league !


Also I don't really think you are on the right path there either, yesterday at WBA we had the top four places in the ground covered stakes and Adam topped it with 11,500 metres with (I think it was) Lucas second but a full 800M behind him. That is fitness and telling that WBA couldn't get a single player in the top four.


No it's not fitness that is our problem, it is accuracy and a bit of luck (hitting the woodwork 10 times FFS). Cooler heads, less blasting and more placement SVP. Had we bought Dzeko instead of Carroll I'm convinced we would be up there in that 2nd place. A fox in the box, notice him at City, he is always in there sniffing around to pick up the pieces ... we don't have that type of player in our armoury.