So, Whose Fault is it, really?

Sorry folks if I've been blogging too much about football these days, but my beloved football club seems to be falling apart, and I just want to share some of my thoughts (and frustration). Here goes:

Nothing seems to be happening right at the red half of Merseyside at the moment. In fact, nothing IS happening right at Merseyside (Everton only recently picked up their 1st win). However, Liverpool seems to be getting most of the limelight, as their troubles are more... significant, than Everton, and just today (4th October 2010), Liverpool lost to a newly promoted team - Blackpool.

The game didn't start off well - Torres was injured, immediately replaced by David N'gog, and since then Liverpool's afternoon went downhill. Call for patience have been requested, but many fans ain't going to wait till Liverpool drop further down the table. So much for Reina saying "The transition period might take up to 6 months." Sorry Reina, we don't even have 6 games now.

Let's look at what is actually wrong. Firstly, defence. I'm not too sure who to blame for this, but Liverpool has certainly leaked a LOT of goals this season - unnecessary goals. They play the ball poorly, misplace passes, misjudge timings, and wa la - you have your opponents attacking you out of absolutely NOTHING. Take the Utrecth game for example. The host had plenty of scoring opportunities. Why? 'Cause Liverpool gave it to them. Literally.

And take this. I've been reading comments from fans who watched the game, and this is what they say:

"We are defending 10-20 yards further back. This means that the defence is sitting too far from the midfield and for the first time i can remember, teams (even Northampton & Blackpool) are able to play football against us getting men in between the midfield and defence.

The midfield is all over the place. With no natural width the wide players are cutting into the centre and when we have posession there is nowhere to go with the ball – movement is shocking from the players and we haven’t stretched the play once this season. It seems as though we are playing with 10 men all the time."

That's saying something.

Secondly, and I've emphasized this many times: There's NOTHING happening up front. The only bright player is (probably) Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard. Other than that, not even Torres can do anything. Poulsen looks out of his league; Lucas has been relegated back to the bench; Babel and Pacheco are not given enough chances; Kuyt looks lost. In conclusion, Liverpool have simply no direction.

Hogdson picks the team; Hogdson decides the play. Hogdson decides who goes; Hogdson decides who to substitute. So whose fault can it be really?

And here's the best part: The Merseyside derby takes place in two weeks time. All football leagues are currently on an international break, which means Hogdson has only two weeks to fix whatever mess he has made. If he loses the derby, he might literally lose his head.

And I mean literally.

~eNd~