Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson have all come under heavy criticism having struggled to find their feet after moving to the Merseyside with expensive price tags .However Liverpool vice captain Jamie Carragher insists that the club's new signings should not take the blame for the side's poor performances this season.

One of the arguments trotted out to defend the high transfer fees paid for some players last summer—right after the one about how British players with Premier League experience would take less time to settle and because of this pay back the higher fees with a better chance of returning to the Champions League—was that the players coming in would be on lower wages than the men they were replacing.

Steven Gerrard is set to return for Liverpool this weekend after missing our defeat to West Brom through injury.

Gerrard was left out of the squad for Sunday's home defeat to West Brom as a precaution in order to protect a minor hamstring niggle but Dalglish revealed this morning that the 31-year-old had been in training all week ahead of our trip to Norwich.

With former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett back in the news, now's as good a time as any to remember that as bad as this season has been, it could have always been worse. Plus Charlie Adam's expected season-long absence is finally confirmed, and with the pre-season tour fully set it's time to send Liverpool Football Club your money.

Liverpool: Did buying British cost Comolli his job? is a post from: Just Football

Since taking over at Liverpool Kenny Dalglish has spent almost £100 million on buying the 'best' of British players within the Premier League in a bid to instigate an overhaul of Liverpool and return them to their former glory.

It'd be grand if he could score on Sunday...Liverpool make their way to the North East on Sunday as Andy Carroll looks to make a good impression on his return to St James' Park. Newcastle are currently above the Reds and are doing extremely well in their league campaign. After some poor results for Liverpool though, can the lads get all three points?

Liverpool head to the Northeast hoping to duplicate their performance against Newcastle from earlier in the season, when they hit the European hopefuls for three at Anfield in Steven Gerrard's return to action. Alan Pardew's side sit eight points above Liverpool in the table, however, level on points with Chelsea and only five off Spurs in fourth.

After a few quiet days on the news front, we've got a veritable logjam of information to pass along today with confirmation that Liverpool will face Everton in the FA Cup, Jose Enrique's attempts to shoulder some of the blame, and bad news for Charlie Adam on the injury front...

* With the quarter-finals now out of the way, a pair of Wembley derbies have been set for the FA Cup semi-finals on April 14th and 15th.

Liverpool welcome Wigan to Anfield for their second match against a relegation-threatened side in four days after their late collapse at QPR on Wednesday. The Latics can't quite nudge their way out of the drop with a win, but they can at least draw level on points with the side that condemned Liverpool to their fourth league defeat in five matches.

With three games squeezed into seven days and Jamie Carragher having started on Sunday, it was surprising to see Sebastian Coates begin the game on the bench against QPR. After coming on late in the first half as a substitute and subsequently being the only Liverpool defender blameless in Rangers' three late goals, and with not even the most hopeful fan entertaining dreams of a push for the top four any longer, it would be rather more than surprising were he to find himself once again starting on the bench against Wigan on the weekend.

QPR 3 Derry 77, Cissé 86, Mackie 90+1
Liverpool 2 Coates 54, Kuyt 72

In the beginning it seemed as though today things might end differently for Liverpool. Against lower ranked opponents; against a side that started the day in the relegation zone. When Liverpool came out flying against a side low on confidence, a side that hadn't won a game in two months, it almost seemed as though they might be able to put a season filled with inconsistent performances against just such opposition behind them.

Quick turnaround for Liverpool after their Sunday victory as they head to Loftus Road to face Queens Park Rangers tomorrow night. After a difficult start to 2012, Liverpool finally look as though they're turning a corner with a convincing win over Everton in the Merseyside Derby and a grinding victory over Stoke on Sunday to advance to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Stoke visit Anfield for the second time this season, with the two clubs facing each other for the fourth time overall, this time for a chance to progress to a Wembley semi-final. While Liverpool's form in domestic cup competition has been sparkling the League Cup's already been secured and they've scored 13 goals in their three FA Cup wins Stoke hasn't hasn't been much worse, and given the narrow finishes in their three previous fixtures this season, there's no reason to think that tomorrow will be any different.

The rescheduled Merseyside Derby finally takes place at Anfield, with the two sides headed in different directions. David Moyes' Everton side are surging, with wins over Manchester City, Chelsea, and Spurs since the final day of January. Liverpool are in the midst of their worst league stretch in years and, if Saturday's any indication, they don't have any solutions at the ready.

There's not much to say after that abomination Liverpool embarrassed themselves today with a completely gutless performance. No sense in talking match action, since there was none for Liverpool, and there's no sense in talking individual performances, as everyone involved is complicit today's display.

Liverpool visit the Northeast in hopes of getting their Premier League campaign back on track after the loss to Arsenal last weekend, and while there's little hope of Champions League qualification left, a final push could see Kenny Dalglish's squad finish with silverware in more than one competition and, at minimum, more consistency.

So the top two Premier League teams lost to the 5th place and 4th place teams from Spain and Portugal this week. Best league in the world? Perhaps not... Meanwhile, Messi scored 5 goals in a single Champions League game. What ... Continue reading →

(Summary is not available.)

It wasn't all bad for Charlie Adam against Arsenal on Saturday—it was only almost all bad. He did, as usual, supply a handful of cutting cross-field passes that effectively switched play. He found Martin Kelly in space on a pair of occasions as Liverpool's fullback joined the attack late and unmarked.

Fantasy Premier League managers should be well aware that Liverpool have a "double gameweek," beginning this weekend with a trip to Sunderland followed by a clash with Everton. Not the most straightforward set of fixtures but not the trickiest easier. ... Continue reading →

There has been lots of talk around the internet and in the comments of yesterday's match review about this side regressing from last season's run-in. And Dalglish (and Comolli) is obviously at fault and I'm an idiot for holding fire on the manager. Instead of replying under the fold, I figured I'd ramble here on the front page.

One of the most predictable reactions to a poor Liverpool result is the rush to convince everyone around you that it wasn't really that bad. The silver linings outweigh any problems. It was just bad luck. Things aren't going their way. You're just being reactionary and short-sighted if you focus on what's tantamount to one crummy day at the office.

Arsenal head to Anfield as the fourth-place contenders square off in the opener of another pivotal month for Liverpool. The guests will be riding high on the heels of their 5-2 come-from-behind victory over Spurs at the Emirates, which wrapped up just before kickoff of Liverpool's League Cup triumph at Wembley.

Back in August we tipped Aston Villa's Gabby Agbonlahor as our Funny Feeling Friday and he didn't disappoint. It was the second game of the Premier League season, Aston Villa were held to a scoreless draw in their first ... Continue reading →

International friendlies: For when you're in the mood to nervously watch your club's players in meaningless games where the best prize to be won is not getting injured. If you're the sort to put national loyalties ahead of club, then a few of today's games arguably serve the purpose of keeping teammates familiar as the summer's European Championships approach—though even that seems a stretch when most on display won't be participating in that or any other summer tournament.

When Joe Mason slotted Cardiff's first goal of the night through Pepe Reina's legs, putting the underdog Championship side up 1-0, it may have in fact been the worst goal conceded by Liverpool this season. Past contenders for worst of the year have come when a series of individual mistakes over a fairly short period of time have conspired to hand an opponent a goal, and as bad as the markers given up against the likes of Stoke and Norwich may have seemed at the time, as with most any side will concede they came from a series of minor mistakes that slowly added up to the ball hitting the back of the net.

By Chris Wright

It was almost inevitable, but Charlie Adam's wayward (and that's being kind) penalty against Cardiff in the shoot-out has been given the GIF treatment...

Incidentally, this is the very GIF that sparked a 'Twitter war' between ruddy-faced chatwanker Piers Morgan and Adam himself last night but, quite frankly, it was so dull and tawdry that even we're not going to bother with it.

Liverpool 2: Skrtel 60′, Kuyt 108′
Cardiff 2: Mason 19′, Turner 118′ Penalties:
(-) S.Gerrard
Miller (-)
(-) Adam
Cowie (+)
(+) Kuyt
Gestede (-)
(+) Downing
Whittingham (+)
(+) Johnson
A.

Liverpool make their long-awaited Wembley return tomorrow, squaring off with Cardiff City in the final of the League Cup. It's Liverpool's first cup final in nearly five years, and their first chance at a League Cup trophy since 2005, when they fell to Chelsea 3-2 at the Millenium Stadium.

Liverpool 6: Skrtel 5′, Bridcutt og 44′ 71′, Carroll 57′, Dunk og 74′, Suarez 84′
Brighton 1: LuaLua 17′

Liverpool cruise to an easy victory at Anfield, forcing Brighton into three own goals and getting one apiece from Andy Carroll, Luis Suarez, and Martin Skrtel.

Back to action for Liverpool as they host Brighton in the 5th round of the FA Cup tomorrow at Anfield. It's a chance for the hosts to rebound after the disappointing display last Saturday at Old Trafford, as well as to continue their excellent form in domestic cup competition. Brighton come to town after narrowly progressing in each of the past two rounds, and just a few points away from playoff contention in the Championship after a terrific start to 2012.

Liverpool travel to Manchester and Old Trafford to face United for the second time in two weeks in a match that, depending on your resting heart rate, is either mildly exciting or something that's possibly life threatening. There's as much to cover off the pitch as there is on, but for everyone's sanity we'll try to just do the football.

For many, there has been a belief that in order to get the most out of Charlie Adam he must be played as part of a three-man midfield, alongside players who will be able to cover for his shortcomings and in doing so allow him to do what he does best—break down tough opponents and create scoring opportunities.

After nine matches away, El Pistolero was back in the Liverpool line up. The Uruguayan had been watching in the stands as the mighty Reds gained excellent results against Manchester City and Manchester United without him. Suarez came on as a substitute and could not inspire Liverpool against a weakened Spurs team.

Liverpool can't continue their hot streak and end up with their eighth home draw of the campaign, failing to take advantage of a Spurs side that were lacking in both personnel and intent. With the success of the past few weeks creating a healthy dose of optimism this one's got to be chalked up as a disappointment, and worrying in that Liverpool yet again failed to capitalize in a match that mostly looked like theirs for the taking.

February kicks off for Liverpool on Monday, with Spurs set to visit Anfield in the first match of another important month. Liverpool will look to carry their momentum from the domestic cup triumphs and a comfortable 3-0 win at Wolves into the match, which hopefully signals a turnaround from a disappointing league stretch to open 2012 that had seen them winless until the final day of January.

It's been awhile since I trawled through the Guardian chalkboards for interesting items. I know, we all missed it.
I remain convinced that Liverpool changed tact in midfield during the interval. The key seemed to be Spearing, more willing to stay in his own half and shield the defense rather than pressing higher up the pitch and leaving gaps.

Wolverhampton 0
Liverpool 3 Carroll 52′, Bellamy 61′, Kuyt 78′

It was another chance for a struggling club to inject some life into their season by facing a Liverpool side unable to find consistent results against opposition below them in the table. Unlike Liverpool's last opponents Bolton, however, Wolves never really threatened to take control of the match, though it nevertheless seemed to be going down a familiar path for Liverpool for the first fifty minutes as chances were wasted and midfield devolved into an indecisive muddle.

Back down to Earth for Liverpool, as they travel to the West Midlands to face 19th-place Wolverhampton. It's a stark contrast from the action of the past week, facing opposition at the bottom of the table, away from Anfield, and with nothing immediately at stake. And if you've paid attention to Liverpool at all this season, it's cause for concern, with form against the mid- and lower-table sides worlds apart from the displays we've seen the last two times out.

Liverpool 2: Agger 21′, Kuyt 88′
United 1: Park 40′

Liverpool progress past a Manchester side in a cup competition for the second time in four days, this time defeating United on the strength of a late Dirk Kuyt winner. After the nadir at Bolton, it's been a terrific week for Liverpool, first reaching the final of the League Cup with the aggregate win over City, and now fighting through a tense match that was dominated at times by the visitors to get the win in the dying moments.