Liverpool are in the midst of a mini-resurgence at the moment; the Carling Cup Final awaits; hated-rivals Man United were recently dispatched with ease in the FA Cup, and it was back to winning ways in the premier league against Wolves last week. Things are definitely looking bright, but the plain fact is Liverpool are still seventh in the league, five points behind fourth placed Chelsea in.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish publicly eviscerated his players after the wretched performance against Bolton at the weekend, and threatened to get rid of certain playres if they continued to perform in such a disappointing manner. Dalglish didn't name names, but Anfield legend Steve Nicol has given his thoughts about who might be on Kenny's sh1t-list.

Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing have struggled to make any consistent creative impact in the league this season, and against Stoke City yesterday, it was the same old story: lots of huffing and puffing, but no end product. After watching the game, former Liverpool defender Jason McAteer admitted that frustration over the pair's ineffective performances is growing.

With the Carling Cup semi-final first-leg fast approaching, Anfield legend Tommy Smith has urged Liverpool to learn from the mistakes that condemned the club to defeat against Man City last week. Smith pulled no punches as he outlined his 'frustration' over Liverpool's 'poor' performance in the 3-0 defeat, and gave his view on what the club needs to do to beat City on Wednesday.

Gerrard kisses the ball after netting his peno...Liverpool put five goals past an Oldham side that took the lead at Anfield on Friday night. A very different starting line up for Liverpool allowed Dalglish to try something new and for once Liverpool could be described as clinical rather than wasteful.

Former Liverpool defender Jason McAteer has jumped to the defence of Stewart Downing after the winger failed to score or create a goal in yet another game.Downing has not gone 19 games without hitting the back of the net or assisting; That's an incredible 28 hours of football without a specific creative contribution to the team.

Liverpool have scored only 20 goals in 17 league games so far this season, and Anfield legend Steve Nicol has urged Kenny Dalglish to sign a proven attacking midfielder in January to compensate for the poor goalscoring performance of certain members of the squad.Nicol, who won the PFA Player of the year award in 1989, argued:"For me, one of the biggest problems is the back-up to the centre

Defender beats defenders...
Liverpool scored two goals in the first fifteen minutes at Villa Park to secure a much needed three points. In the slot under the top four at the moment Liverpool are slowly but surely putting some pressure on and the win lifted them up to 6th. Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel were the goalscorers.

Downing returns to Villa...
Liverpool make their way down to the Midlands on Sunday for a game against Alex McLeish's Aston Villa. Villa at the moment appear to be struggling to score goals and with Liverpool creating chances but perhaps not converting as many as they should be, this could be an interesting fixture.

Stewart Downing recently admitted that he prefers playing on the right wing, and the former Aston Villa man put in a good performances against QPR in that position at the weekend. However, a goal or an assists still eludes him, something he's painfully aware. Downing, who has now gone 16 games without scoring or creating a goal, said:"Our performances have been very good this season, and we have

Liverpool legend John Aldridge has staunchly defended summer signing Stewart Downing all season, arguing that the former Villa winger will come good at some stage. However, after yet another game yesterday without a goal or assist, Aldo's confidence in Downing appears to be waning a little.

Suarez fires home his header...Luis Suarez grabbed the winner for Liverpool on Saturday in a 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers. The Reds had bags of chances whilst QPR barely troubled goalkeeper Pepe Reina. The away side however showed great courage in ensuring Liverpool didn't get anything else past Radek Cerny.

Former Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Robbie Savage has been sticking the knife into Liverpool again, this time claiming that Kenny Dalglish overspent on Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, and Jordan Henderson, players he feels are not good enough for a title-challenging team
Savage, who recently suggested that Liverpool were '200m off the pace' argued:
"If Liverpool don't finish in the Champions League places this season - and after draws to Norwich and Swansea, there's no guarantee they will - they won't even be in the market for the very best players.

After 16 hours without a goal or assist, Liverpool winger Stewart Downing was dropped for the Chelsea game last Sunday, which was his first taste of bench duty this season. Liverpool went on to win at Stamford Bridge, with Craig Bellamy - ostensibly Downing's replacement - having a excellent game, which doesn't bode well for Downing's first team chances over the next few games.

Kenny Dalglish has spent over £100m on new players since returning to Anfield, and he has repeatedly stated that the club's current squad is much stronger than it was last season. There may be some truth to that contention, but former Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Robbie Savage believes Liverpool still need to spend a huge amount of money to be in with a chance of winning the title.

Liverpool legend John Barnes is my favourite footballer of all time. No other player has given me as much joy and excitement over the years, and he always has compelling views on football. However, I have to disagree with Barnesy's recent assessment of Stewart Downing's impact for Liverpool.

Liverpool have scored a paltry 14 goals in 11 league games this season, with the team scoring 2 or more goals on only 5 occasions. On top of that, Charlie Adam, Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll are the only players who have score more than one league goal. Clearly, there are players in the team who are not pulling their weight, but the ironic thing is, the players they replaced are scoring and creating goals for fun at their new clubs.

Despite being the club's second-highest shot-creator, Liverpool left-winger Stewart Downing has failed create or score goal in over 15 hours of football this season. It's a concern, especially for an an International player in the prime of his career, but the former-Aston Villa midfielder is the first to admit that things need to improve.

Former Liverpool right-back Steve Nicol has called on Stewart Downing, Lucas Leiva, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam to raise their collective games over the next few weeks, arguing that their creative return so far this season has not been good enough.
Nicol acknowledged that Andy Carroll has flattered to deceive in front of goal, but he believes the profligacy of Liverpool's midfielders is a bigger problem:
"For me, the biggest problem is the midfield.

Liverpool winger Stewart Downing has revealed that he does not engage in one of the longest-running player traditions at Anfield.
Many of Liverpool's top players touch the sign before going on the pitch, including the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Pepe Reina. Fernando Torres always used to touch the sign, as did Rafa Benitez when he was manager; and it goes without saying that Kenny Dalglish always touches the sign.

According to OPTA stats, Stewart Downing is second only to Charlie Adam when it comes to setting up shots for his team-mates. Shot assists are great, but the fact remains that the England International has now gone 15 hours without scoring or creating a goal for Liverpool. Anfield legend John Aldridge has some sympathy for Downing's plight.

Liverpool winger Stewart Downing has struggled to make any significant impact at Anfield so far this season, and his outdated brand of 'kick and rush' football has proved to be consistently ineffective. Despite this, Liverpool legend Ray Houghton inexplicably believes that there's actually a lot more to Downing's game than meets the eye.

Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan has been running the rule over Liverpool's summer signings, and despite the massive amount of money spent, he believes that Jose Enrique is the only player who has really 'hit the ground running'.
Keegan believes that Kenny Dalglish 'still hasn't found his best combination yet', and the former Newcastle manager urges Carroll, Henderson, Adam and Downing to step it up a bit:
"Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam need to step up.

Liverpool legend David Johnson has admitted he was surprised that Kenny Dalglish did not bring Craig Bellamy on against Manchester United at Anfield last week.
With the game stuck at 1-1, and Man United arguably there for the taking, the introduction of Bellamy seemed like a no-brainer for many people, but for some reason, Dalglish kept him on the bench.

I don't know about anyone else, but it kinda frustrates me when I watch football matches in the Premier League and I hear commentators and the like praising a player or stating how important he is... yet in my opinion that said player is actually massively over-rated, and rarely contributes much to a game at all.

It was an exciting opening weekend of fixtures in the Fantasy Premier League, so let's take a brief look at some of the top performers and their prospects moving forward. Gary Cahill (5.5M) The Bolton man will be ... Continue reading →

Suarez nods home... First of all folks may i say how nice it is to be back blogging! If you didn't know i was in Majorca for 10 days hence the missing Valencia post, whilst i was out there i luckily managed to watch the Liverpool match in an Irish bar, it was bloody sweltering heat and i had to squint all the way through the match but I'm glad i got to watch it all instead of relying on

Steven Gerrard is injured again. Nothing new here as the Liverpool superstar is turning into Robin van Persie 2007-2009 edition. Gerrard is currently undergoing treatment for an ongoing groin problem and is set to miss the first few weeks ... Continue reading →

Aquilani sporting the new third strip... After goals galore in Asia it was a wake up call for the Liverpool lads this afternoon at the KC Stadium. On display for Liverpool were all three new signings, goalkeeper Doni and midfielders Downing and Henderson. Dalglish once again made the most he could out of his bolstered squad and 22 players featured within the 90 minutes.

Over the last week Liverpool FC revealed that new signings Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam would be wearing the No.14 and No.26 shirts respectively for 2011/12 campaign. They have added to that update by confirming that Stewart Downing will wear the No.19 shirt formerly held by Ryan Babel.

The 2010/11 season saw Liverpool's new boys Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam collectivley deliver 22 goals in the Premier League for their former sides but will the new season in a Reds shirt bring a higher collective total?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

As Stewart Downing arrives at Anfield in a £20m deal, the fourth major summer for the Reds in the present transfer window behind Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Alexander Doni, he has certainly made it clear he is keen to get on with things.

The former Villa man has featured on both the right and left flanks in his time at Villa, following his £10m move to them from Middlesborough in 2009 after he saw his boyhood team relegated to the Championship.

Done deal subject to a medical, announced on the official site last night.
Downing has been consistently good in the league for more than five years, whether as the big fish, small pond focal point of UEFA Cup runners-up Boro or outshining the more-hyped Ashley Young as Villa's Player of the Season last campaign.

Arsene Wenger promised Arsenal fans a "busy summer", but as the squad flies of for their pre-season tour there has just been one in (Carl Jenkinson) and one out (Gael Clichy) while Wenger talks of "playing cards close to his chest." But that hasn't stopped the papers being full of Arsenal transfer news, and the [.

It has been reported that one of Arsenal's chief scouts was at the Aston Villa v Liverpool game at Villa Park last week to have a last-minute check on Stewart Downing, who, according to today's Mail, Arsene Wenger has pinpointed as a possible replacement for Samir Nasri. Downing rose to the occasion and scored the [.

Gerrard watches on with the fans... Well, it wasn't the brilliant end we expected but nevertheless i think looking back to last August and our position in the league in December, all the ups and downs, we can't complain with our 6th place finish. Entering the game still with a possible chance of gaining that Europa League spot it was all to play for.