Liverpool Hoping To Kick On This Season

By Liverpool supporter Jay Smith: https://twitter.com/jaysmith93

Being a Liverpool fan in the modern day is a hard, heartbreaking experience. Being a Stoke fan, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. Since returning to top flight football in 2008, Stoke have been a team that are unpredictable. 

Liverpool have struggled against Stoke in the league in recent years, losing one and drawing one last year. Despite knocking Stoke out of both the FA and League cup, their league form against them is outrageous.

After Thursday’s performance there are a few positives despite the loss to a team that Liverpool, at home, should be beating. The younger players in the team such as Jack Robinson, Jonjo Shelvey and Raheem Sterling, who was subbed on late in the game, showed much more fighting spirit. 

Once again Liverpool fans were left questioning the heart and desire of the once great, Pepe Reina. Since the beginning of last season, Reina’s form has been more than questionable. At times it seems as though he can’t even be bothered to play in a Liverpool shirt anymore and he’s just doing it for the money.

Hopefully we will see Suso again tomorrow against Stoke. The young Spaniard has been on the lips of Liverpool fans since around Christmas time and Brendan has come in and brought him into the first team picture along with Jonjo and Raheem. 

I believe Liverpool will take the 3 points tomorrow, if Suarez can find his shooting boots again, Sterling and Sahin start and we cut down the defensive mistakes that have cost us so dearly this season. 

Today Daniel Agger penned a new deal with the club. This is delightful news for all Liverpool fans that feared we were going to lose our best centre back. In such little time Brendan Rodgers already knows who his best players are. 

He stated his delight today: “He's one of the best centre-backs in world football. His balance, his reading of the game, his defensive qualities and his ability to bring it out from the back is outstanding.”

Another one of Liverpool’s young players Jordan Henderson has shared his desire to stay at the club for the remainder of his career: “When I put the shirt on it is a real honour to go out and play for Liverpool so I want to do that for the rest of my career. I will keep fighting and I have belief in my own ability that I can be a success here."

Captain Steven Gerrard believes he can still improve under Brendan Rodgers. “There are certainly things I can still improve on by working with him.” He said. “I'm enjoying working with him on a daily basis, and I think my form recently has been really good.

"I'm enjoying my football, and I'm really looking forward to the next two years I'm contracted for and hopefully more, to add some chapters to a career I'm really proud of."

Rodgers Let Down By Owners But Liverpool Should Not Be Written Off

There was plenty of optimism surrounding Anfield yesterday morning as manager Brendan Rodgers spoke of hopefully adding two new faces to his Liverpool squad. Eleven pm came and the Reds had loaned striker Andy Carroll to West Ham, 18 months after his predecessor Kenny Dalglish bought him for £35 million, and signed no one. Their clear weakness is their inability to consistently find the back of the net and it is clear that they need a proven goalscorer to boost their ranks. 

Rodgers was clearly confident of bringing in forward Clint Dempsey from Fulham but Fenway Sports Group failed to produce the £7 million needed to bring him to Merseyside. A figure like that is relatively measly in this day and age and Tottenham snapped him up with glee. Reds fans must be bewildered as to how FSG could spend a combined £57.7 million on Carroll and Luis Suarez in January 2011 but not fork out a figure over £50 million less to bring in Dempsey, a player who the manager obviously wanted. 

A new era has started at Anfield, people should not doubt that, but it is starting to dawn on the fans that it is going to take at least a few years before Liverpool can even dream of going to Champions League finals again. There is still plenty of world class talent at Rodgers's disposal in the form of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger. 

Suarez is a special talent that needs to be enhanced into a special, prolific goalscoring talent. The amount of chances he creates is second to none, but his chance conversion rate is nothing short of dismal. One of the Northern Irish manager's biggest tasks over the coming months is to find the deadly finisher inside the Uruguayan that scored 50 goals in one season for Ajax and three goals in South Africa in the 2010 World Cup. 

Rodgers also needs to get the best out of talismanic skipper Steven Gerrard, even if it is only for two or three more seasons. If he can score 10 to 15 goals this year it will make a huge difference to whether or not Liverpool can push for a top four spot. 

The five-time European champions can still push for a Champions League spot but injuries must be few and far between as they have a squad that now features only 17 senior players. For a good campaign in all four competitions to come to fruition the Reds will need to have a good start to the season, and then boost the side in January. Rodgers kept his side of the bargain by offloading players and slashing wage bills, but FSG failed to keep theirs. 

The Community Shield Gives Little Away About Oncoming Season

In the aftermath of the Olympic Games heads turned to Birmingham where the traditional starter for the footballing season was taking place. Football fans from across the country were hoping to be given some clues and insights into what might happen over the coming months in the Premier League. There were high hopes for the new campaign after Manchester City won the title in May with a dramatic come-back against QPR in stoppage-time, finishing ahead of neighbours Manchester United on goal-difference. 

Chelsea, their opponents today, ended up well off the pace last season in sixth position. However they did have an up-turn in fortunes towards the end of the campaign as new manager Roberto Di Matteo transformed the side and led them to their first ever Champions League victory thanks to a penalty shoot-out win over Bayern Munich. The Blues also defeated Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley in the FA Cup final to complete a cup double. 

Since then both sides have made changes, especially Chelsea. The West-London outfit have seen top goalscorer over the last ten years Didier Drogba leave for China shortly after scoring in both cup finals. The mantle of main striker has finally been passed onto Spanish forward Fernando Torres; over 18 months since his British record-breaking £50 million move from Liverpool. In that time he has flattered to deceive and has scored just seven goals in 46 league games compared to the 65 in 102 that he bagged at Anfield. He found some sort of form with Spain at Euro 2012 as he scored twice against the Republic of Ireland and then netted again in the final 4-0 drubbing of Italy. 

On the back of that many have tipped him to re-discover his old form and take the Premier League by storm, assisted by new arrival Eden Hazard. Today the 28-year-old started as he means to go on with the opening goal, taken expertly with a delicate left-footed dink over City goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon. El Nino looked in good form for the majority of the game as he ran the channels well. He sent out a firm message to football fans around the world that he is back and ready to be Chelsea's main man, just like he was for Liverpool. 

With the European champions seemingly in control the match was turned upside down when Branislav Ivanovic was sent off for a lunge on Aleksander Kolarov. Referee Kevin Friend lost plenty of admirers in the Chelsea camp when he produced the red card but after extensive replays it was clear why. Referees no longer tolerate studs-up tackles and the Serb's challenge was exactly that. What happened in the 30 minutes after that was predictable as the English champions took control.

Shortly after half-time Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure showed his attacking prowess with an excellent finish from the edge of the area. Goalkeeper Petr Cech will be disappointed with his efforts though as he failed to even get a touch on the ball as it flew inside his near post. It did not take long for the 11 men to take the lead for the first time and it was much-maligned striker Carlos Tevez who gave it to them. Like Torres, Tevez has been out of the Premier League picture for a while because of a row with manager Roberto Mancini. However, like his Spanish counter-part, he sent out a message today that he means business this year. 

Samir Nasri sealed the win with a cool volley as the three-time Premier League champions ran out of steam. Youngster Ryan Bertrand pulled one back late on courtesy of a Pantilimon error but Chelsea's late rally proved in vain. A good win for City will not quash doubts over their hopes of successfully defending their title as Ivanovic's dismissal played a vital part in their victory. Chelsea on the other hand showed signs of strength in the first half with good link-up play and strong team-work. Eden Hazard looked a danger going forward and with Marko Marin to come back from injury they will have plenty of fire-power with which to threaten teams. 

City have not made many significant signings although today did sign young midfielder Jack Rodwell from Everton. It is unlikely that he will make an immediate impact and it looks as though they will have a similar starting eleven to last season. There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Eastlands over Liverpool centre-back Daniel Agger who would greatly strengthen their back-line, especially after a typically unconvincing display by Serb Stefan Savic.

After watching the first game of the new season it is clear that City will be the team to beat, but everyone already knew that. What is also obvious is that Chelsea will be mounting a much bigger title challenge than last time around. There are plenty of positives for both managers to take into next week-ends opening Premiership fixtures from this feisty clash at Villa Park.

Group Of Death Nears Thrilling Conclusion

Four of Europe's biggest footballing nations meet again today, but for two of them it will be their last involvement at these championships. Portugal are the only side in Group B without a Euro title, although they have an array of footballing talent in their current squad. A win today against the Netherlands would seal qualification and eliminate their opponents. For the 1988 champions victory against Portugal, coupled with a Germany win over Denmark would see them progress despite losing their first two matches. All three-time winners Germany need is a point against their Scandinavian rivals, while a Danish win would see them go through. The only way the 2008 runners-up can be eliminated is if they lose to Denmark and Portugal beat the Netherlands. If this happens it would come down to goal difference in matches between these three teams. 

Germany have won a record three European Championships and reached a record six finals. Their last win was in England in 1996 when they beat the Czech Republic in the final, adding to previous wins in 1972 and 1980. As Europe's most successful team and in good recent form they are one of the favourites for this tournament. They have sealed two very good wins against Portugal and Holland so far with all three goals scored by striker Mario Gomez, underlying their status as one of the championships's biggest threats. However all their good work could be undone today with a shock defeat to Denmark, who have already sprung a surprise in beating 2010 World Cup runners-up The Netherlands. 

The Oranje were hoping to bring 'sexy' football and flair to this year's Championships and to evoke memories of Marco van Basten's famous strike that sealed Euro glory back in 1988. That year they beat West Germany to reach the final and the Soviet Union 2-0 in that famous encounter. This month they arrived in Ukraine with high hopes of repeating that success, ranked number four in the FIFA World rankings and with some of the world's most celebrated players. However they have struggled to find the goals required to win games and have looked shaky at the back. Despite this other results have worked in their favour and with nothing to lose they can go out tonight and really attack Portugal from the off in an attempt to save their campaign. Rafael van der Vaart could start as well as Eredivisie's top scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in an attempt to blow the Portuguese away. 

Although they are the only side in this group to have never won the European Championships, Portugal have one of the most feared sides in the world. Two-time World Player of the Year winner Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to set the tournament alight but everyone knows what he is capable of and could well be the man to make the difference when it matters most. Manchester United winger Nani always looks a threat and they have strength at the back in Pepe and Jose Bosingwa. After the dramatic 3-2 win over Denmark in their last game Portugal will be confident of qualification needing only a point providing Germany dispose of Denmark. 

However Denmark will have plenty to say about that. The shock 1992 winners are ranked at nine in the FIFA rankings and have a good squad that are always difficult to beat without lacking in quality. Striker Nicklas Bendtner scored twice as they came back from 2-0 down against Portugal and veteran winger Denis Rommedahl has always been capable of something out of the ordinary. Captain Daniel Agger is one of the world's top defenders and was immense in their opening 1-0 win over Holland. They will go all out to make life difficult for the Germans tonight as they need just a point to qualify if the Dutch beat Portugal. The Scandinavians should not be written off and could well go deep into the knock-out stages.

This evening should prove to be a footballing feast as all four teams hold realistic hopes of claiming a quarter-final spot. Last night's action could be tough to follow but this group's conclusion is sure to be a great spectacle with plenty of the world's best players going head-to-head.