Liverpool fans, lets not panic just yet

It was 26th February 2012. The scene is set at Wembley. Liverpool FC just finished 120 minutes of football against Cardiff City in the league cup final and Anthony Gerrard steps forward to take the penalty that will either give Cardiff City a lifeline in the penalty shootout or hand Liverpool FC the Carling Cup. The moment is a long one for Liverpool FC fans, who haven’t tasted silverware for over five years.

A shot and a miss. We celebrated.

Players ran wild, fans went ballistic and Kenny Dalglish was ecstatic as Steven Gerrard lifted the Carling Cup trophy in jubilation. It had been a long time coming, and it was indeed the piece of silverware touted as the signal of intent from Kenny Dalglish and his players. A trophy that will spur Liverpool on to 4th place, and hopefully the FA Cup.

Fast forward a few weeks, and it’s a different story. Instead of the charge for fourth place and the Champions League places, the Reds have somewhat fallen flat. And it seems that the Carling Cup has struck once again. Liverpool FC are in absolute disarray. It’s hard to lie to ourselves anymore. Six defeats in seven league games is testament to the Liverpool collapse since our return to Wembley for the first time since it was renovated.

It’s a statistic that makes for very hard reading for even the most die-hard of Liverpool fans, as it is in fact the worst run of league form that Liverpool FC have suffered from over the last 59 years, and the chants from around Anfield aren’t as jolly as they once were anymore.

Kenny Dalglish hasn’t made the best calls over the past few months. His decision not to buy in the January transfer window, coupled by his inability to find his strongest Starting XI has meant that Liverpool FC have continued being inconsistent – to the extent that Kenny Dalglish’s last 20 games in charge is worse compared to Roy Hodgson’s last 20 in charge of Liverpool before he was sacked.

The alarm bells are ringing. Some fans are calling for his head and Dalglish now faces the toughest challenge of his second stint in charge of Liverpool FC. He’s got his tactics wrong over the past few games and his big money transfers from the summer transfer window aren’t performing well either. It all means that Liverpool fans don’t know where Liverpool stand at the moment.

Direction is what is missing at Anfield. One moment we were knocking Manchester United and Manchester City out of the FA Cup and the League Cup and the other we were dropping points against more lowly teams in Wigan Athletic and Queen’s Park Rangers. To me, league positioning for this year doesn’t even matter to me. It is hardly even relevant.

We lie in 8th place in the table, with UEFA Champions League football for next season nowhere in sight and Europa League football already secured with Carling Cup victory. Perhaps the only bonus that Liverpool can realistically get this season is the pride that comes with finishing above Merseyside rivals Everton come the end of the 2011/12 Barclays Premier League campaign, and that’s about it, really.

But there are positive signs. Kenny Dalglish has been experimenting, and they look positive for next season. For one, Raheem Sterling has been given his senior debut against Wigan Athletic, and in his short cameo, he impressed the Liverpool faithful. Kenny Dalglish should give the youngsters an opportunity as the Premier League reaches it’s final stretch, with an eye on next season.

Furthermore, our owners have expressed intent to wait and provide the funds for Kenny Dalglish to spend in the summer transfer window. With hope, our manager will be able to spend it wisely.

From an assessment of the Liverpool team, there’s nothing much that we’re actually missing. We have a rather solid defence, who have suffered during the last few games due to the absence of key defender Daniel Agger. It is a department which doesn’t require strengthening in all honest opinion. Our midfield is where I think we need to improve. We are too slow moving the ball up the field. There is no pace or acceleration when we are moving the ball forward.

Most passes are played backwards or are played square. We don’t gain much in that aspect. Andy Carroll still isn’t getting service from Stewart Downing and co. and Luis Suarez has had to take on four defenders on his own at times due to the lack of support. We need to get our wingers sorted, and an attacking midfielder as well. Lucas Leiva is an excellent central defensive midfielder who will marshall that Liverpool midfield once he returns from injury.