Neil, Rob, Jim and Nick were joined by Joel Richards, Paul Cope Silent Sleep’s Chris McIntosh and Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt as they revel in a HOME LEAGUE WIN
Blimey
Direct link to PODCAST: READING BETWEEN THE LINES
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Suarez’s finishing:
I think you all got there in the end. The problem is is that he does everything on instinct and nothing on thought and composure. His personality dictates it.
The best PL era finisher, imo, is Thierry Henry. Simply because his coolness, composure, awareness and intelligence in the area was perfect. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SiWnKPReKw. Way over 50% of his goals are scored with the side of his boot, not the laces. Placed where a keeper can’t get it. Rolled in.
Luis struggles with all these things. He rarely gets his head up and picks his spot. 80% of his shots are head down, tunnel-vision, instinctive strikes. This will only lead him to ever being a streaky goalscorer at best. He needs to develop a side foot finish. I’ve never seen him even attempt to pass the ball around the keeper with the inside of his foot.
I think this can be coached a little bit but I think there is an arrogance at top-level football that isn’t there in other sports in working on individual attributes like this. I can only theorise though. The coaches need to be talking through this with him every day. Showing him video of his misses from the previous match and suggesting a better decision he could make. Then mimicking the situations on the training pitch time after time after time.
I see it as a kind of addiction of his body instinctively wanting to strike the ball powerfully every time. But with lots of coaching he can be weaned off it.
I have commented on this before but will probably keep on doing so until something is done about it. I watched the game on LFCTV last night (from my living room on the other side of the world) and aside from all the players looking tired after the international break the thing that struck me the most was just how utterly pathetic the crowd were. I have heard libraries that were a lot louder than that (even rugby league games!). I don’t understand why either, I mean in the first 30 minutes we were pressing very well and winning the ball back quickly, pushing men forward and generally looking a threat. I mean if Sterling scoring his FIRST EVER premier league goal on the half hour mark doesn’t get the crowd going what will (nice finish and all)?
From that point we should have pushed on and killed the game off but the crowd weren’t baying for blood and willing the team onwards. Is it any wonder that after a big week of international games and travel the players kind of stopped playing and went “we’ll take 1-0”. Instead of posting “scoops” on player transfers and generally bitching about everything, the one actually constructive thing that fans and fan sites can do is work out how to bring back the noise at Anfield. During the telecast the commentators mentioned that the Bronx cheer after Suarez was awarded a free kick had been planned on the internet beforehand (which he made us look like tits by actually diving on this occasion), so why couldn’t the power of the interweb be used to keep that cheer going the whole game long?
As I said before, I live on the other side of the world so feel kind of powerless to do something about it, as no matter how loud I sing in my living room it is not going to have much effect on the players. You local lads though need to start focussing your creative talents on how to wake the once famous and feared Liverpool support. I don’t mean having a bitch about it but actually using your creativity and connections to make something happen (maybe some more foam fingers perhaps?)! Come on boys, there were no excuses on the weekend we as supporters need to lift our game otherwise our home record will stay abysmal, I am sure of it!
Foam fingers?
He was doing well ’til then ………
It was meant in jest, remembering how much you guys liked the ones at wembley. Actually I was thinking more along the lines of some vox pops to canvas why people think the crowd is so silent, and get a big discussion going about, and maybe if everyone is thinking about it in a positive way it will fix itself. There has to be some reason. Maybe people need to be reminded how it good it used to be, whether its the old codgers that need reminding of their youth or the new blood and inter-city recruits who need educating on how it should to be.
We could probably do a whole podcast on the atmosphere!
I reckon. Could be an idea to try to get some other fan sites involved as well, make it a broad-based campaign. I mean, things look like they are finally turning around for us on the pitch so we don’t have to sit there looking so glum!
The support/ atmosphere is probably down to the “snidieness” Culture you boys talked about a while back.
Rather than support the team the players while the playing regardless there is a entertainment class of I can voice my opinion as i gave paid my ticket money.
there has always been a minor element but is now a more popular view in society.
The biggest example of this is when England play, I went to the “wally with the brolly” game and have never been since.
booing your own team after 10 mins is disgraceful, where is the support in supporters?
Football is getting like new years eve, people who don’t normally go out, go out, everyone builds it up into the best night ever, try and force enjoyment, and ultimately its shite!
Sing, be funny, be passionate and support just go with it, you might then like it!
The place for critique and discussion is down the pub after or monday at work.
I agree that the atmosphere can be and has been alot better, as Jim has said there could be an entire podcast about the crowd alone.
I dont really think the atmosphere, or lack of, was a direct link to the players being happy to take a 1-0 win. I think it may have been more to do with a nervousness that seems to be around the team at the moment. Afterall we have hardly kept a clean sheet and up until Saturday had not recorded a home league win. We can only hope, but that tight 1-0 win could turn out to be really important if the team takes confidence from being able to grind out the result.
Entertaining as ever with some insightful psychological formulations of Suarez’s finishing (or lack thereof) – ie trust in others’ performance, sense of responsibility. Almost as if he’s in a self-fullfilling prophecy cycle. #notamodeoftransport
Many thanks for the Reds’ Rose Walk plug. We need the Anfield Faithful to help raise £96 for the 96 – for more info go to the website or find me, @Brianthecat on Twitter.
we need a liverpool band.. Gibbo on trumpet.
just dont sit behind me on the kop.
Another good podcast lads, its become part of my Monday evening routine now.
On the subject of the poor atmosphere at games, its a huge topic, Im sure it would make for a great spin off podcast just on that one subject. In a nutshell though I think it comes down to 3 main things:
1. Tickets prices are so disproportionate to the average fans salary that proper fans are priced out of games. Stadiums are full of corporates/daytrippers/rich old farts.
2. Its the downside of being a world famous global sporting team. Demand for tickets are high, anfield is full of irish/scandanavian/american/chinese/indian supporters who come to witness the atmosphere but dont realise there are so many of them there that they ARE the atmosphere.
3. It works both ways, the players need to inspire the fans as well as the fans inspiring the players. We havent had much to shout about down at Anfield for a number of years now. Atmosphere in the 70s and 80s was no doubt brilliant because some of you were lucky enough to watch the great teams of those decades play the best football in the land. My generation (Im 29) has grown watching some great individuals such as Fowler,McManaman,Owen,Torres and Suarez. Sadly though that has been diluted with a heavy portion of Ruddock/Kvarme/Traore/Poulsen/Downing and Charlie Adam.
You guys make some very valid points (although I thought the nerves only kicked in in the last 20 mins). However, I only see problems here, not solutions. Maybe the local fans need to reach out and welcome the irish/scandanavian/american/chinese/indians/daytripppers into the fold (maybe even the rich old farts and the dreaded corporates, how many are there anyway?). This is probably a shit idea, but how about a prematch gig to welcome the travellers and get people in the mood for a good game? Doesn’t have to be anything like this, but I reckon there is scope to think outside the box a little, because if we all put our heads together someone will come up with a good idea or two.
I would also like to know the actual percentages of “other” fan groups, can someone organise a bit of a pre/post-match poll? Because I would be surprised if the numbers of Irish/Scandanavian/American/Indian/rich-old-farts/daytrippers/corporates are anywhere as near much as people give them discredit. In any case, most Irish and Scandinavians I have met have been very sound, even those “annoying” Americans are good value if you give them a chance (tounge-in-cheek), and Indians are probably the most passionate people on the planet. If they, and the daytrippers, need to be educated on how support the team properly, surely this is possible because after all they must have Liverpool in their hearts to make the effort to get to Anfield?
In fact, I reckon that most of the problem is actually all the finger pointing that is going on. I mean, even if only half the ground is made up of sound “proper” Liverpool supporters (something I highly doubt), that should be plenty if everyone is doing their job properly. The analogy I am thinking of is when you go to see a mate’s band who are just starting out. Maybe everyone is there to see the headline act and the room is dead flat, this then effects your mates confidence and he/she is stumbling over every chord and the guy next to you is making comments on how shit these guys are. Do you then focus on the guy next to you and think about what a tool he is for not giving them a chance, or do you clap/shout louder and sing along in the chorus, not caring that you look a bit of a goose, until the slightly tanked guy a bit closer to the stage joins in and before you know it the whole crowd is clapping along, your mate responds by playing his/her heart out and suddenly everyone has forgotten about the headline act and is raving about how good your mate’s band is.
I understand why, given everything we have been through in recent years, there is a cloud of negativity still hovering over the club. But the one positive is that you can be pretty sure that all the glory hunters packed up left and that everyone still part of the Liverpool family is willing to bleed for the club (God knows how painful it has been!). Come on guys, justice for the 96 is hopefully on its way, I can see a bit of a golden sky forming, it’s time to sing our lungs out, who’s with me?
You’ll never walk alone.
Hi guys
I was very interested in your discussion on tiered pricing. I’m a maths teacher and after some basic calculations I came up with the following.
I took the current average ticket price to be £45 and the stadium capacity to be 42,500. Therefore currently a revenue for a full house is £1,912,500.
After some working out I increased full capacity revenue to £1,975,000. Have a look at the following simple calculations
2500 * $15 = $37500 (Student)
5000 * £25 = £125,000
5000 * £32.5 = £162,500
5000 * £40 = £200,000
5000 * £47.50 = £237500
5000 * £55 = £275,000
5000 * £60 = £300,000
5000 * £62.5 = £312,500
5000 * £65 = £325,000
This way 12500 fans are getting in for less than they are now, with 5000 paying pound extra. That leaves 25000 paying more. However these will have much better seats and also the higher priced tickets could be allocated to overseas fans like myself who only get to go once a season if lucky and are therfore willing to pay extra.
I did all this with a simple calculator and some patience, surely a club of Liverpools stature has someone employed who can come up with an even better solution.
Cheers
Thanks for the amazing work
Ronan
Hey, I’m a Singaporean guy who just 2 weeks ago got to go to Anfield for the very first time in my life. I had a friend in Liverpool who gave up two of his season tickets on the Kop for me, and I went mental when I found out I would be sitting on the Kop. Being there took my breath away, but honestly the atmosphere was kind of a let-down. Granted, it was a nil-nil dreary draw with stoke, but even when I was there singing my lungs out no one in my field of vision was singing along to the songs. I felt kinda awkward there to be honest. Cause here I was, some Asian dude singing on the Kop of all places, and I could hear my own voice so clearly. That made me kinda wanna tone it down abit.
Well Red Magazine had an interesting view on this talking about arrogance and people who think they’re too cool to sing and shout for their team, but I thought this might be another reason. Cause if you’re there and you wanna sing, but the people around you aren’t doing it, it kinda makes you feel awkward, you know, social conformity and all.
Another thing was that I felt, and please this is merely opinion, not fact, that it meant a lot more to me to be in Anfield than alot of people there, maybe cause it’s so common. Once you’ve been to Anfield enough times maybe it stops being special. But for people like me, who travel halfway round the world and pay exorbitant amounts of money to get there, just being there is a privilege, which regular worshippers at Anfield may not feel as much, you know? Maybe we need to be reminded how much it means to actually be in that holy place. I don’t know what can be done though:/ sorry, more problems, still no solutions. But again, these are just my thoughts, please don’t feel a need to murder me.
Love the podcast btw, wish you had one everyday.