Manchester United 2-2 Rotor Volgograd (Agg: 2-2 RV win on away goals)

It probably made sense that goalkeeper-turned-goalscorer Peter Schmeichel found the net in this one; simply put, everything about this game felt out of place. Back then, in 1995, there was no shame in being in the UEFA Cup — you'd qualify by finishing runners-up in the League.

The 2011-12 season ended last night. Okay, there's still sixteen or so games left and a lot can happen.

But as a sporting competition, as a object of interest and fascination, last night's impotent display and crashing out of our 3rd cup competition in as many months has us begging for this once-promising season to just end.

Say, if I followed you home, would you keep me? Or at least not mace me? And would it make any difference if I could give you Tuesday's news and notes? You don't have to answer now. Just, you know, think about it. And at least give me a bit of warning on the mace front, if that's not too much to ask.

"Now is the winter of our discontent."
Yikes.
Liverpool have averaged 1.00 points per game or fewer in eight months over the last four-and-a-half seasons – eight of 46 months during this time frame. Three were in January, including this season, with one in December.

Goals:
M Davies 4'
Reo-Coker 29'
Bellamy 36'
Steinsson 50'
So is this what FSG feared when appointing Dalglish? A manager that should be, hopefully, exempt from criticism, but there has been so much to criticize in tactics, personnel, and transfer dealings lately.

• Kop That: Why Liverpool chiefs should forget about appealing the Suarez ruling http://t.co/Vv6yo8Ak 23:25:19, 2012-01-01
• Kop That: Liverpool target Bent is going nowhere, insists McLeish http://t.co/IoBMJs6u 22:54:48, 2012-01-01
• Kop That: Darren Bent wanted by Liverpool http://t.

Arsene Wenger and his merry band of Gunners were once the cream of the Premiership-coach-starring-in-a-gif-referencing-an-iconic-comedy crop. Aside from losing the whole front seat, he's also lost his mantle to Woy.

Zoolander just can't compete with Queen.

Something happened to Mr.

Joe Cole on Hodgson, Dalglish, Mourinho, Liverpool and life at Lille

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-12-29 13:54:46 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of Kop That.

Remember that perverse, pervasive sense of impending doom that followed the club around throughout 2009-10? Not the dreadful, soul-killing horribleness that was the Hodgson era, but the perpetual Sword of Damocles which hung over Benitez's final campaign, where we fearfully waited to see what could go wrong next.

Image Credit: Ian Hodgson.

"I am sorry but it is true. I like quiet music like that. All that loud music with all the volume gives me a pain in the head. Sometimes (my brother) Kolo tells me, 'Yaya, you're stupid. You are big and strong and when people see you on the field or on the street they will be scared of you, so why are you listening to this silly music?

-
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QPR Report Correspondent, Maudesfishnchips Q&A Offering a WBA Fan Perspective.

With Liverpool facing Chelsea in a week's time, I thought it interesting to look at the club's recent record against the best and worst of the Premier League. Long story short, Liverpool have a habit of playing up or down to the opposition's level under Dalglish.
Against top-five opponents:
• 1-0 Chelsea (a)
• 3-1 United (h)
• 3-0 City (h)
• 1-1 Arsenal (a)
• 0-2 Tottenham (h)
• 2-0 Arsenal (a)
• 0-4 Tottenham (a)
• 1-1 United (h)
Overall record: 4W-2D-2L
Points per game: 1.

One of the summer's main talking points was "chances created," a fairly new statistic meant to replace assists. Assists take two to tango, reliant on the goal scorer actually scoring the goal. LiverpoolFC.tv clarifies the stat by renaming it "shot assists," a name I actually prefer, although I'll stick with Opta's nomenclature since I'm using FourFourTwo's StatsZone stats throughout this piece.

After a period in the international wilderness, a consequence of indifferent form and bench duty at Liverpool, Ryan Babel is back in the Dutch national team, and he's determined to make it count.
In the latter stages of his Liverpool career, Babel spent a lot of time on the bench, and consequently lost his place in the Dutch team.

Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has attacked a small section of the club's fans fans for showing 'open dissent' towards manager Kenny Dalglish after the Swansea game at the weekend.
Fans were reportedly booing at Anfield on Saturday after Liverpool were played off the park, and during Collymore's radio show on that night, there were a few very irate fans (Liverpudlians, it should be added), who were vehemently castigating Dalglish for his perceived failings.

Remember how multiple home draws against inferior opposition ruined the '08-09 title chase? That was fun. Let's do that again.
Out of all four of Liverpool's disappointing home draws – and I include United in that – Swansea are most deserving of the point they leave Anfield with. Rodgers' tactics were excellent, soaking up Liverpool pressure for 60 minutes before pummeling the home side for 10, then settling back into their deep, resilient defense.

There is a mini-trend that Arsenal just have to curb. The Gunners have gone into the previous two international breaks on the back of defeats United and Spurs that have made the fortnight unbearable. It will be nice to have a positive feeling during the upcoming disruption. That means only a win will be the acceptable result at the Emirates against the Baggies.

Former Liverpool winger Ryan Babel has revealed that he regrets his 'dangerous' use of Twitter during the latter stages of his career at Anfield.
Babel, who now plys his trade in Holland with Hoffenheim, admits that he is 'addicted to Twitter', and warned that becoming 'too emotional', can be 'very dangerous'.

Goals:
Adam 9' (pen)
Carroll 45+1'
A thorough, comfortable win, never in doubt after notching a second on the stroke of halftime, a clean sheet easily kept away from Anfield.
Had Liverpool scored so early in their last league match, converting just one of the chances from their fast start, we could have seen a similar result.

Ray Houghton knows all about entertaining football; as part of Kenny Dalglish's lat 1980s Liverpool team, he was an integral part of one of the most skilful and entertaining Liverpool sides in history. To be a success at Anfield, the manager has to deliver attractive football, and according to Houghton, Roy Hodgson's inability to produce that meant he was always destined to fail.

Dalglish and Hodgson Liverpool stats compared: How surprising is this?

We take a look at how far Dalglish has pushed on since taking over in January 2011

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-10-29 10:05:00 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Hodgson: Buying Suarez? That was my idea

West Brom's ex-Liverpool boss tells how he scouted star striker

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-10-28 20:45:16 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Return of the Comeback Kings

It is rare in football that one result ever goes on to be defined as a turning point in the season of either team involved. While the concept is frequently discussed, the reality in terms of the performance of the team lies more firmly in their continued application and sustained confidence.

From the horrors of Hodgson to the delights of Dalglish How King Kenny and FSG got Liverpool back on track

The rejuvenated Reds travel to their former manager's new team West Brom on Saturday, safe in the knowledge that their club is finally in the right hands and firmly on the up

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-10-28 07:25:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Hodgson: Suarez has looked incredible this year

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-10-27 10:21:08 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of Kop That.

With Lucas suspended for Saturday, having already picked up five bookings (four in the league, one in the Carling Cup), I thought I'd take a look at how his defending has matured since becoming a regular starter in 2009-10.
Lucas appeared in 35 league matches (32 starts, three subs) in 2009-10, 33 (32 starts, one sub) in 2010-11, and in all eight so far this season.

For the most part, Roy Hodgson had a torrid time at Liverpool FC. The incessant personal and professional denigration he received from so-called 'fans' was a disgrace, and arguably brought shame on the club. An equally serious problem though was the palpable lack of responsibility taken by many of the players during Hodgson's tenure, something that club legend John Barnes believes undermined the

As usual, I'd recommend opening the main graphic in a new window. It's prettier that way, plus you can zoom in to see all those painstakingly placed bars. Also, as an FYI, when goals appear atop shots (circles on top of bars), it means the two incidents happened in the same minute, and it's usually for one of two reasons.

Six matches into the season, and the discussion about where things stand from a Liverpool perspective, both individually and collectively, is well underway. Noel's given us a couple of great pieces already, first looking at Andy Carroll on Monday and Charlie Adam today. While both have a titular (not like that, pervs) focus on specific individuals, both have also created excellent conversation about these individuals' impact on the team as a whole, which, given the changes in the side, is an interesting and, in some cases, divisive topic.

Below is a comparison of individual statistics from Henderson and Kuyt's last four league games when played on the right of a 4-2-2-2. Formation notation is subjective, especially with this season's group of players, but these are how I saw each formation at the start of matches. For Henderson, that's wins over Wolves and Bolton, the draw against Sunderland, and loss at Stoke.

Yesterday marked Dalglish's 30th game in charge since taking over last January. The side's record over that span is 15W-6D-9L. How does that compare with previous bosses?
Read the hexagonal diagrams from left to right, in rows of six. Just to make things confusing. Linearity isn't really the point anyway.

Despite playing a risky, aggressive game, Dempsey rarely gave the ball away against City, and had three good attempts at goal. Is this evidence of a distillation of the various Dempseys we've seen so far?

One of the interesting things about the Martin Jol era has been the play of Clint Dempsey.

Hodgson: Retrospective FA bans spell bleak future for refs

Officials' job will become harder if trial-by-video cases continue warns West Brom boss

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-09-15 23:00:48 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

International matches are proving a bona-fide bane to Liverpool. It has been so since the Benitez days. Charlie Adam came back from Scotland international duty with a slight injury concern. That clearly hampered his performance at the Britannia last weekend. Even the hardworking Dirk Kuyt looked very lethargic and contributed little at Stoke.

A season of two halves. The first half was relegation-threatened under Hodgson. The second half was brilliant under King Kenny. What a strange year!

In isolation that was the archetypal Premier League game: even steven, home team edges owing to a few things here and there. In the context of our season so far it's deflating. We never expect to win away, but Newcastle are a team going in the wrong direction, who played extra time in midweek, and who were there to be beaten.

Aquilani's departure epitomises Daglish's philosophy - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Alberto Aquilani's recent move to AC Milan stands as a visual representation of Kenny Daglish's football ideology. While Liverpool's recent treatment of Aquilani is at best confusing, and at worst troubling, it most likely typifies the philosophy of the pragmatic Scotsman who currently wears the crown at Anfield.

The following graphic shows games Liverpool won with goals after the 80th minute. This obviously does not count those where Liverpool equalized to pilfer a point – such as last spring's late late late penalty to draw at Arsenal – or games where they've piled on the misery – as against Birmingham under Dalglish, Steaua under Hodgson, etc.

When Paul Konchesky was sold to Leicester City earlier this summer, one of the strangest and most stressful periods of the past two decades in Liverpool's history came to a close. Seen as the embodiment of the mediocrity that had somehow become the norm at the club, Konchesky's departure was deemed as confirmation that the standards that had been allowed to drop were now being pushed upwards again.

When Paul Konchesky was sold to Leicester City earlier this summer, one of the strangest and most stressful periods of the past two decades in Liverpool's history came to a close. Seen as the embodiment of the mediocrity that had somehow become the norm at the club, Konchesky's departure was deemed as confirmation that the standards that had been allowed to drop were now being pushed upwards again.