Liverpool FC

[The Baron]

PT:

A difficult week is over. However, it ended with the Reds getting the best result out of the four teams contesting a place in the top four.

 A few weeks back, Liverpool were eight points off 4th place. Now the gap is down to four. Lost in all the drama of an FA cup shock (which, let's face it, happened to Shankly, Paisley and Dalglish, and to Alex Ferguson as recently as this month) was that the Reds are closing in on the top four.

No team enjoys going to Stoke. They break up the game and play to their strength (and height). They make it scrappy, and a battle, and are well within their rights to do so. (Even if the player to get the most touches on Saturday was the little-known A Towel.)

If only games lasted 89 minutes instead of 90; so many late goals conceded by Liverpool. Then again, if they did, the Reds would have had a much worse season last year. Fine margins, and all that.

There aren't too many good things to say about this season, beyond the development of some of the younger players, the blooding of several teenagers, and a handful of standout results. It's been a struggle. But it happens.

If this season was indicative of Rafa Benítez's entire reign, then I'd understand the calls to replace him.

But clearly it isn't.

The Daily Mail recently ran a piece stating comparing the exact same point of the season in the final campaigns of Graeme Souness and Gérard Houllier.

Unfortunately, they omitted the vital point that in each case, the previous season had also been one of underachievement. By contrast, last season was the club's best in 19 years.

Is what Rafa Benítez is experiencing now akin to Arsene Wenger last season at Arsenal, or to the situations of Souness and Houllier?

I have my beliefs, but I don't know for certain; and I don't see how anyone, bar the truly clairvoyant, can. The fortunes of all teams ebb and flow. Managers turn things around all the time.

Of course, some don't. But equally, some managers don't even get the chance; Ferguson was perilously close to the sack after four years at United, before he'd won a single trophy. Had he been sacked in 1989/90, no-one would have said "but his guy can win ten league titles in the next two decades!". We'd now just laugh at his record.

Souness did not lose his job because of his poor final season. In 1992/93, his second full campaign, Liverpool were a staggering 16th in the table after no fewer than 30 games, and out of all cups by 13th January. That really is struggling.

That season the Reds recovered somewhat, and ended up finishing 6th, but it was 6th for the 2nd consecutive season. The next season was no better, and therefore Souness walked as, in the end, the team struggled to an 8th-placed finish. So to compare this season with the Souness era is highly egregious.

By contrast to Souness, the final two years under Houllier were not quite so bad. (Although, to me, they still felt pretty grim at the time.)

In the summer of 2003, before the never-before-seen investment at Chelsea and Manchester City, Liverpool, by finishing 5th, hadn't even qualified for the following season's Champions League.

It's only been a mainstay of Liverpool life under Benítez; not that his critics would dare admit it.

So, even though there's been increased competition, Benítez has apparently "not taken the club forward", despite having seen the Reds ranked #1 in Europe based on his first five years in charge, and last season winning 75% of all available points: the 2nd highest in the club's history.

That's not a stat about how many corners were won; it's a stat about winning a lot of football matches.

In three of Rafa's five full seasons his side have finished above Arsene Wenger's Arsenal in the league, and he's reached twice as many Champions League finals.

It's five years since Arsenal finished in the top two; Liverpool did so last year.

And yet Wenger clearly remains a great manager, even though his main achievements at Arsenal were prior to the new investment in English football at other clubs.

He turned around their poor season last time out, and they again look very good. I've been contacted by Arsenal fans pointing out that Benítez can do the same. (Last season I told them to stick with Wenger.)

How many times during the last 20 years have Liverpool still been in with the chance of the title in May? Excluding the last time the club were champions (1989/90), just twice. One of those times was last season, and the end of those particular hopes came a full ten days later than the other May finale, which was in 1997.

To reiterate a point I've made before, the earliest a season has been over under Benítez (and by 'over' I mean no chance of silverware, and only including a realistic hope of winning the title) is the very last day of April; the other four times, it was the 13th of May or later. Whether or not trophies were won, we've had full value in those campaigns.

By contrast, Souness' second and third seasons were over by January.

Roy Evans took two of his seasons to May (one lost FA Cup final, one good title challenge), one to late April and one to March.

Gérard Houllier took one to May (the excellent 2000/01, with two cup finals that month), one to late April (2001/02, when Arsenal won the league on the 29th), but of the other four, one was over by March 2nd (though that was when the League Cup was won), one was over in February and two were over in January.

In each of Houllier's final four seasons, the campaign 'ended' a month earlier than the previous year: May, then April, then March, then February.

So when I see this revisionist nonsense that things have been worse under Rafa, I despair. Managers should be judged on their overall record, not a one-season blip. (Only two poor seasons in a row is cause for really serious concern; I've said this for many, many years.)

This season the wheels have come off. But the engine hasn't blown, and a car than once ran well can do so again. (If the 'wheels coming off' is the absence of injured players, they can be reattached.)

Everyone has their opinion on what's gone wrong. For me, it's too many factors to pinpoint even in 1,500 words; instead, it's a collision of all sorts of things: the perfect storm.

Injuries have plagued all of the major sides to varying degrees this season, but the Reds suffered theirs earliest. That contributed to a bad start, and, just like going 2-0 down in the first ten minutes of a game, it becomes a little more desperate, as it did at Arsenal last season. Situations can snowball. And Liverpool's injuries have recurred, time and again.

There's been some nervous defending late in games, to lead to goals being conceded, and some chances missed by players who have been very reliable in previous seasons. Some players have fallen below their usual standards; that can happen, and does happen, to the best of them, but in Liverpool's case, these problems have coincided.

Liverpool's set-piece defending was poor in the first few months, and cost points, but this also coincided to injuries to several of the back line.

It's been far better in the last few months, and anyone who thinks it was poor at Stoke just because one goal was conceded needs their head examining. (The defending was excellent, especially from Kyrgiakos, as time and again the home side launched long throws, corners and free-kicks into the box; it just took one slight lapse, late on, to cost two points.)

It always sounds like whinging to point it out, but referees haven't helped. Despite one or two fortunate decisions, the vast majority seem to have been against Liverpool. Not all have cost points, but several came at the end of games, where the result could have been altered. Last year it seemed fairly even; this year, I feel that the Reds have been hard done by.

By my calculations (aided by subscribers to The Tomkins Times), Liverpool have been awarded just two penalties, but denied a further eleven clear-cut calls (therefore not including ball-to-hand penalty claims). The Reds have also conceded not one but two goals that actually contravene the laws of the game. I can't recall a season like it, and nor can most fans I speak to.

(What interests me is that all of these occurred in domestic matches; so this doesn't excuse the uncharacteristic European struggles, which was down to one very poor display in Italy and a couple of sloppy late goals against Lyon, but does make me wonder why English referees are making so many glaring errors; in two cases - at Sunderland and West Ham - not even knowing the rules to the game. That's shocking.)

Had Liverpool been awarded some of these clear penalties - dating back to the foul on Voronin in the opening game at Spurs - it would have helped relieve pressure and could have led to better performances.

But they weren't awarded, the pressure mounted, the injuries increased and the football just hasn't been good enough.

No manager in the world can wave a magic wand. The very least Benítez deserves is some respect for his achievements, and some patience and understanding for what has been a season beset with bad fortune.

If some of his decisions haven't been good enough, fair enough. No-one can get it right all the time. But clearly he's been working to rectify things: selling two players and bringing in Maxi is just one example.

And yet - to end on a note relating to the Reds' midweek opponents -many in the media seem to treat Benítez as another Christian Gross, rather than a man who has won two La Liga titles, a Uefa Cup, an FA Cup and taken the Reds to two Champions League Finals, winning one; not to mention masterminding the Reds best title challenge for almost 20 years, as recently as 2009.

Aside from that, and the fact that he's yet to have a non-event season, he's obviously fair game.

[Colchester Kev]

Been far too long since you copy-pasted a tl:dr mate ..... glad to see normal service resumed

[George2Loose]

PT:

I love Rafa

FYP

[The Baron]

Been far too long since you copy-pasted a tl:dr mate ..... glad to see normal service resumed

LOL! I figured there wasn't enough sledging on this thread so.....

Nah he hasn't posted in a while (he's not very well generally, combined with our recent form) but back to his usual best.

"Your clubs needs YOU!"

[The Baron]

Dear Kiv,

Whisper it quietly, but Liverpool could be six games into a very important run of form.

VIDEO: Insua v Bolton>>" />
VIDEO: Insua v Bolton>>Related Links
 An eight point deficit to fourth place is now down to one, and it's another week closer to the major attacking threats of Torres, Benayoun and Johnson returning.

With every passing month, another top-four challenger falls away; as happens every year. People worrying about the threat of Birmingham has been made to look premature.

After the draw at Wolves, I had to check if Liverpool had dropped into the relegation zone, such was the overreaction from some quarters.

While it was one of the least enjoyable games I can recall - rubbish pitch, ball in the air (much like at Stoke) - I never, ever see a draw away from home as a disaster. It was a battling performance, and in order to maintain momentum, defeat had to be avoided.

Another clean sheet helped build some confidence ahead of the Bolton game. And it's a truism of the sport that anyone building a team, or rebuilding confidence, starts from the back.

It's a football basic.

Liverpool's problems this season, injuries aside, stemmed from some uncharacteristically lapse defending. The Reds actually started the campaign with the club's highest number of goals in the opening seven games for 114 years. The problem was conceding them. Even in winning, the back-line never looked confident.

Of course, a large reason for that is because defending is based on understanding; and with Benítez forced, due to injuries and suspensions, to use a dozen different defenders by the autumn, including four players making their first starts in the shirt (Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ayala, Kelly) and two others yet to really feature (Degen, Darby), plus another youngster in 20-year-old Insua, it was a horribly disjointed time, not to mention a steep learning curve for many of these individuals.

That set the tone, and once you develop problems, they can, for a time at least, become habits.

And on occasion Liverpool, if anything, were too positive in the first months of the season, leaving central defenders exposed. The main problems were a) marking at set-pieces, which I've always argued is tougher with new faces in the side, and b) getting caught on the counter attack with not enough cover.

Once you start conceding goals you stand a greater chance of losing games; lose games, and you lose confidence, at the back but also at the front. Pressure mounts, and it gets harder to play good football. And start conceding late goals, and it will play on the mind. Only now do Liverpool appear to be breaking this cycle.

The Reds may not be playing their best football of the season, but with five clean sheets in six unbeaten games, four of which were won, form is returning.

While it's too late this season, this (admittedly small) run of games equates to title-winning form; over 38 games it scales up to almost 90 points. But of course it's just a six-game run, and I present it as nothing greater; my aim is not to predict that it will continue, merely to show that the Wolves result was disappointing rather than disastrous.

Add that this run of points has been based mostly on clean sheets, and you can see how confidence breeds from the back forward. After all, United won the league last year based on a record-breaking defence; Liverpool were the Premiership's top scorers.

The past six games have not pitted the Reds against the very best sides, but Villa away and Spurs at home were big games. And anyone who thinks going to Stoke is a doddle is seriously deluded. It's like trench warfare.

If anything, the most pleasing facet of the recent defending has been the opposition faced. Stoke, Wolves and Bolton may be capable of some good football on the ground, but each encounter centred around big battles and an aerial bombardment. And lest we forget about how tall forwards like Carew and Crouch are.

These were not Benítez's supposed stock-in-trade 'European' style matches against teams that let you play, but about as British as football gets: in your face, and for much of the time, over your head.

Much of the success has to go down to the inspired form of Kyrgiakos; a low-key signing, but an absolute rock when called upon.

The highest compliment I can pay him is that he's looked like Sami Hyypia at his very best. Of course, Sami is a legend because of ten years of brilliance, not four or five games - but my point is that you could not have asked for any more from the giant Greek, now that he has settled in.

A Word of Praise

Statistics are a strange thing. I never use them to provide the be-all-and-end-all to an argument, but I do like to use them as one part of my evaluation methods. Providing they are not abused, they present handy evidence.

As someone said to me this week, "Digging for facts is a better mental exercise than jumping to conclusions".

Take these figures. Based on the latest available data (up to 25th January), Lucas Leiva has made the most successful passes in the entire Premiership: 1,200. This is achieved at an 85% success rate (higher than anyone else in the top five). He has also made the 3rd-highest number of successful tackles.

So, he's in the top three in both categories.

Now, this doesn't mean that they were all extravagant or incisive passes; however, a quick look at The Guardian's 'Chalkboards', which illustrate the direction and distance of his passes, will show that there is a huge variety to how he plays the ball. And as we've seen in recent weeks, he's less the "defensive" player as which he's portrayed, and is clearly becoming ever more box-to-box (even if his finishing is yet to match his bright ideas).

Lucas isn't one for frequent killer passes, although the ball to Benayoun in extra-time against Reading was one of the best of the season; the sort he supposedly can't play.

Indeed, even Xabi Alonso rarely had direct assists from open play; my analysis of last season showed that he was involved in a lot of goals, but much earlier in moves, often with simple passes. Lucas' goal 'involvement' figures have increased this season, and unlike Alonso, he's also been frequently getting into the opposition box.

However, he's a very different player to Alonso, and it's a shame that anything good he does is obscured by the fact that he's not Alonso.

Now, I'm not using these figures to say that Lucas is therefore the best central midfielder around, and that the sublime Cesc Fabregas, for example, is a lesser player. Lucas has played a lot of minutes this season, and that will help boost his figures.

But as some deluded soul told me earlier in the season, 'Lucas can't even play a simple five-yard pass, and doesn't even win 50% of his 50-50s'. Now, those statistics suggest otherwise. He's made 1,200 successful passes and won seven out of every ten tackles.

Indeed, in this context, they are facts, not statistics. They prove otherwise.

Javier Mascherano is also in the top five for both successful passes and tackles won.

This backs up my assertion earlier in the season that the problems with the team mostly lay elsewhere. If you have two overlapping full-backs, and an adventurous centre-back (Agger) you need a solid centre to the side.

After months out with injury, Alberto Aquilani has come in and done well, although the Bolton game seemed to pass him by at times; which, of course, is to be thoroughly expected. Arsene Wenger often states that any import should be allowed a season of adjustment.

Unfortunately for Aquilani, there was a ludicrous amount of pressure and expectation surrounding him, at a time when he had to find fitness in the first team spotlight, when that team was struggling.

But even though Bolton wasn't one of his better games, he did brilliantly to set up Dirk Kuyt, and got another 65 minutes under his belt. The Reds have won all four league games that he's started, and that bodes well; but at times, such as against Spurs, he's been deployed ahead of the midfield, and, of course, better defending as a whole has given the team the platform to go on and win these matches.

The next three games, two of which are away, are all big encounters against in-form sides. After their own injury-ravaged start to the season, which saw them languishing near the bottom of the table, Everton have hit their stride.

If Liverpool can remain undefeated and gain five points, that would satisfy me; any less could leave a gap, and any more would be a wonderful bonus, particularly as one game is the Mersey derby, and the other two are trips to Arsenal and Man City.

But in many ways these games could be what the Reds need; there's less overpowering expectation to win, and 'big game' atmospheres - which help all players - will be guaranteed.


Love, Paul Tomkins

[The Baron]

I cannot believe Liverpool have sold Buchtmann for 100k when he's rated so highly. (In Fifa's top 10 stars of the future to boot!)

There must be a non footballing reason for this. Everytime I've seen him he looks excellent and at only 17 we surely had time on our side to judge him further.

[kinboshi]

I cannot believe Liverpool have sold Buchtmann for 100k when he's rated so highly. (In Fifa's top 10 stars of the future to boot!)

There must be a non footballing reason for this. Everytime I've seen him he looks excellent and at only 17 we surely had time on our side to judge him further.

Yes, looks like an amazing talent.  Don't understand this one unless, like you said, there are non-football reasons.

[gatso]

In Fifa's top 10 stars of the future to boot!

what is this? do fifa actually publish a list?

[The Baron]

In Fifa's top 10 stars of the future to boot!

what is this? do fifa actually publish a list?

Apparently so. If you Wikipedia the player I think it says it on there.

[Newportlad]

I've been lucky enough to get hold of a ticket for the Liverpool vs Everton game this Saturday.

Where is the best place to park nr Anfield?  I've heard that it can be difficult.

Advice most welcome.

[kinboshi]

Best advice is to get there early. There are manned car parks for £10 a shot, and they aren't a bad choice.  Some cram so many cars in that if you're at the back (as in early) you have to wait for everyone else to leave before you can get out.  Others don't let anyone get blocked in.  Last game I went to see I parked at a school near Goodison, but as this is Liverpool v Everton, and an early game, I'm not sure how quickly these will fill up but I bet it won't be easy to get a spot in one unless you're there very early.

Your best bet might be to park a distance away and get a cab to Anfield. 



(By the way, not jealous at all....)

[Colchester Kev]

Dear Kiv,

Whisper it quietly, but Liverpool could be six games into a very important run of form.

VIDEO: Insua v Bolton>>" />
VIDEO: Insua v Bolton>>Related Links
 An eight point deficit to fourth place is now down to one, and it's another week closer to the major attacking threats of Torres, Benayoun and Johnson returning.

With every passing month, another top-four challenger falls away; as happens every year. People worrying about the threat of Birmingham has been made to look premature.

After the draw at Wolves, I had to check if Liverpool had dropped into the relegation zone, such was the overreaction from some quarters.

While it was one of the least enjoyable games I can recall - rubbish pitch, ball in the air (much like at Stoke) - I never, ever see a draw away from home as a disaster. It was a battling performance, and in order to maintain momentum, defeat had to be avoided.

Another clean sheet helped build some confidence ahead of the Bolton game. And it's a truism of the sport that anyone building a team, or rebuilding confidence, starts from the back.

It's a football basic.

Liverpool's problems this season, injuries aside, stemmed from some uncharacteristically lapse defending. The Reds actually started the campaign with the club's highest number of goals in the opening seven games for 114 years. The problem was conceding them. Even in winning, the back-line never looked confident.

Of course, a large reason for that is because defending is based on understanding; and with Benítez forced, due to injuries and suspensions, to use a dozen different defenders by the autumn, including four players making their first starts in the shirt (Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ayala, Kelly) and two others yet to really feature (Degen, Darby), plus another youngster in 20-year-old Insua, it was a horribly disjointed time, not to mention a steep learning curve for many of these individuals.

That set the tone, and once you develop problems, they can, for a time at least, become habits.

And on occasion Liverpool, if anything, were too positive in the first months of the season, leaving central defenders exposed. The main problems were a) marking at set-pieces, which I've always argued is tougher with new faces in the side, and b) getting caught on the counter attack with not enough cover.

Once you start conceding goals you stand a greater chance of losing games; lose games, and you lose confidence, at the back but also at the front. Pressure mounts, and it gets harder to play good football. And start conceding late goals, and it will play on the mind. Only now do Liverpool appear to be breaking this cycle.

The Reds may not be playing their best football of the season, but with five clean sheets in six unbeaten games, four of which were won, form is returning.

While it's too late this season, this (admittedly small) run of games equates to title-winning form; over 38 games it scales up to almost 90 points. But of course it's just a six-game run, and I present it as nothing greater; my aim is not to predict that it will continue, merely to show that the Wolves result was disappointing rather than disastrous.

Add that this run of points has been based mostly on clean sheets, and you can see how confidence breeds from the back forward. After all, United won the league last year based on a record-breaking defence; Liverpool were the Premiership's top scorers.

The past six games have not pitted the Reds against the very best sides, but Villa away and Spurs at home were big games. And anyone who thinks going to Stoke is a doddle is seriously deluded. It's like trench warfare.

If anything, the most pleasing facet of the recent defending has been the opposition faced. Stoke, Wolves and Bolton may be capable of some good football on the ground, but each encounter centred around big battles and an aerial bombardment. And lest we forget about how tall forwards like Carew and Crouch are.

These were not Benítez's supposed stock-in-trade 'European' style matches against teams that let you play, but about as British as football gets: in your face, and for much of the time, over your head.

Much of the success has to go down to the inspired form of Kyrgiakos; a low-key signing, but an absolute rock when called upon.

The highest compliment I can pay him is that he's looked like Sami Hyypia at his very best. Of course, Sami is a legend because of ten years of brilliance, not four or five games - but my point is that you could not have asked for any more from the giant Greek, now that he has settled in.

A Word of Praise

Statistics are a strange thing. I never use them to provide the be-all-and-end-all to an argument, but I do like to use them as one part of my evaluation methods. Providing they are not abused, they present handy evidence.

As someone said to me this week, "Digging for facts is a better mental exercise than jumping to conclusions".

Take these figures. Based on the latest available data (up to 25th January), Lucas Leiva has made the most successful passes in the entire Premiership: 1,200. This is achieved at an 85% success rate (higher than anyone else in the top five). He has also made the 3rd-highest number of successful tackles.

So, he's in the top three in both categories.

Now, this doesn't mean that they were all extravagant or incisive passes; however, a quick look at The Guardian's 'Chalkboards', which illustrate the direction and distance of his passes, will show that there is a huge variety to how he plays the ball. And as we've seen in recent weeks, he's less the "defensive" player as which he's portrayed, and is clearly becoming ever more box-to-box (even if his finishing is yet to match his bright ideas).

Lucas isn't one for frequent killer passes, although the ball to Benayoun in extra-time against Reading was one of the best of the season; the sort he supposedly can't play.

Indeed, even Xabi Alonso rarely had direct assists from open play; my analysis of last season showed that he was involved in a lot of goals, but much earlier in moves, often with simple passes. Lucas' goal 'involvement' figures have increased this season, and unlike Alonso, he's also been frequently getting into the opposition box.

However, he's a very different player to Alonso, and it's a shame that anything good he does is obscured by the fact that he's not Alonso.

Now, I'm not using these figures to say that Lucas is therefore the best central midfielder around, and that the sublime Cesc Fabregas, for example, is a lesser player. Lucas has played a lot of minutes this season, and that will help boost his figures.

But as some deluded soul told me earlier in the season, 'Lucas can't even play a simple five-yard pass, and doesn't even win 50% of his 50-50s'. Now, those statistics suggest otherwise. He's made 1,200 successful passes and won seven out of every ten tackles.

Indeed, in this context, they are facts, not statistics. They prove otherwise.

Javier Mascherano is also in the top five for both successful passes and tackles won.

This backs up my assertion earlier in the season that the problems with the team mostly lay elsewhere. If you have two overlapping full-backs, and an adventurous centre-back (Agger) you need a solid centre to the side.

After months out with injury, Alberto Aquilani has come in and done well, although the Bolton game seemed to pass him by at times; which, of course, is to be thoroughly expected. Arsene Wenger often states that any import should be allowed a season of adjustment.

Unfortunately for Aquilani, there was a ludicrous amount of pressure and expectation surrounding him, at a time when he had to find fitness in the first team spotlight, when that team was struggling.

But even though Bolton wasn't one of his better games, he did brilliantly to set up Dirk Kuyt, and got another 65 minutes under his belt. The Reds have won all four league games that he's started, and that bodes well; but at times, such as against Spurs, he's been deployed ahead of the midfield, and, of course, better defending as a whole has given the team the platform to go on and win these matches.

The next three games, two of which are away, are all big encounters against in-form sides. After their own injury-ravaged start to the season, which saw them languishing near the bottom of the table, Everton have hit their stride.

If Liverpool can remain undefeated and gain five points, that would satisfy me; any less could leave a gap, and any more would be a wonderful bonus, particularly as one game is the Mersey derby, and the other two are trips to Arsenal and Man City.

But in many ways these games could be what the Reds need; there's less overpowering expectation to win, and 'big game' atmospheres - which help all players - will be guaranteed.


Love, Paul Tomkins

Dear Paul Tomkins ... I have a sneaky suspicion that you are paid by the word.

Here's 4 you can have on the house "Shut the fuck up"

Kind regards

Kev

xxx

[jizzemm]

I've been lucky enough to get hold of a ticket for the Liverpool vs Everton game this Saturday.

Where is the best place to park nr Anfield?  I've heard that it can be difficult.

Advice most welcome.

id tell you where I park, but im going so no chance...

[The Baron]

Dear Kiv,

Whisper it quietly, but Liverpool could be six games into a very important run of form.

VIDEO: Insua v Bolton>>" />
VIDEO: Insua v Bolton>>Related Links
 An eight point deficit to fourth place is now down to one, and it's another week closer to the major attacking threats of Torres, Benayoun and Johnson returning.

With every passing month, another top-four challenger falls away; as happens every year. People worrying about the threat of Birmingham has been made to look premature.

After the draw at Wolves, I had to check if Liverpool had dropped into the relegation zone, such was the overreaction from some quarters.

While it was one of the least enjoyable games I can recall - rubbish pitch, ball in the air (much like at Stoke) - I never, ever see a draw away from home as a disaster. It was a battling performance, and in order to maintain momentum, defeat had to be avoided.

Another clean sheet helped build some confidence ahead of the Bolton game. And it's a truism of the sport that anyone building a team, or rebuilding confidence, starts from the back.

It's a football basic.

Liverpool's problems this season, injuries aside, stemmed from some uncharacteristically lapse defending. The Reds actually started the campaign with the club's highest number of goals in the opening seven games for 114 years. The problem was conceding them. Even in winning, the back-line never looked confident.

Of course, a large reason for that is because defending is based on understanding; and with Benítez forced, due to injuries and suspensions, to use a dozen different defenders by the autumn, including four players making their first starts in the shirt (Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ayala, Kelly) and two others yet to really feature (Degen, Darby), plus another youngster in 20-year-old Insua, it was a horribly disjointed time, not to mention a steep learning curve for many of these individuals.

That set the tone, and once you develop problems, they can, for a time at least, become habits.

And on occasion Liverpool, if anything, were too positive in the first months of the season, leaving central defenders exposed. The main problems were a) marking at set-pieces, which I've always argued is tougher with new faces in the side, and b) getting caught on the counter attack with not enough cover.

Once you start conceding goals you stand a greater chance of losing games; lose games, and you lose confidence, at the back but also at the front. Pressure mounts, and it gets harder to play good football. And start conceding late goals, and it will play on the mind. Only now do Liverpool appear to be breaking this cycle.

The Reds may not be playing their best football of the season, but with five clean sheets in six unbeaten games, four of which were won, form is returning.

While it's too late this season, this (admittedly small) run of games equates to title-winning form; over 38 games it scales up to almost 90 points. But of course it's just a six-game run, and I present it as nothing greater; my aim is not to predict that it will continue, merely to show that the Wolves result was disappointing rather than disastrous.

Add that this run of points has been based mostly on clean sheets, and you can see how confidence breeds from the back forward. After all, United won the league last year based on a record-breaking defence; Liverpool were the Premiership's top scorers.

The past six games have not pitted the Reds against the very best sides, but Villa away and Spurs at home were big games. And anyone who thinks going to Stoke is a doddle is seriously deluded. It's like trench warfare.

If anything, the most pleasing facet of the recent defending has been the opposition faced. Stoke, Wolves and Bolton may be capable of some good football on the ground, but each encounter centred around big battles and an aerial bombardment. And lest we forget about how tall forwards like Carew and Crouch are.

These were not Benítez's supposed stock-in-trade 'European' style matches against teams that let you play, but about as British as football gets: in your face, and for much of the time, over your head.

Much of the success has to go down to the inspired form of Kyrgiakos; a low-key signing, but an absolute rock when called upon.

The highest compliment I can pay him is that he's looked like Sami Hyypia at his very best. Of course, Sami is a legend because of ten years of brilliance, not four or five games - but my point is that you could not have asked for any more from the giant Greek, now that he has settled in.

A Word of Praise

Statistics are a strange thing. I never use them to provide the be-all-and-end-all to an argument, but I do like to use them as one part of my evaluation methods. Providing they are not abused, they present handy evidence.

As someone said to me this week, "Digging for facts is a better mental exercise than jumping to conclusions".

Take these figures. Based on the latest available data (up to 25th January), Lucas Leiva has made the most successful passes in the entire Premiership: 1,200. This is achieved at an 85% success rate (higher than anyone else in the top five). He has also made the 3rd-highest number of successful tackles.

So, he's in the top three in both categories.

Now, this doesn't mean that they were all extravagant or incisive passes; however, a quick look at The Guardian's 'Chalkboards', which illustrate the direction and distance of his passes, will show that there is a huge variety to how he plays the ball. And as we've seen in recent weeks, he's less the "defensive" player as which he's portrayed, and is clearly becoming ever more box-to-box (even if his finishing is yet to match his bright ideas).

Lucas isn't one for frequent killer passes, although the ball to Benayoun in extra-time against Reading was one of the best of the season; the sort he supposedly can't play.

Indeed, even Xabi Alonso rarely had direct assists from open play; my analysis of last season showed that he was involved in a lot of goals, but much earlier in moves, often with simple passes. Lucas' goal 'involvement' figures have increased this season, and unlike Alonso, he's also been frequently getting into the opposition box.

However, he's a very different player to Alonso, and it's a shame that anything good he does is obscured by the fact that he's not Alonso.

Now, I'm not using these figures to say that Lucas is therefore the best central midfielder around, and that the sublime Cesc Fabregas, for example, is a lesser player. Lucas has played a lot of minutes this season, and that will help boost his figures.

But as some deluded soul told me earlier in the season, 'Lucas can't even play a simple five-yard pass, and doesn't even win 50% of his 50-50s'. Now, those statistics suggest otherwise. He's made 1,200 successful passes and won seven out of every ten tackles.

Indeed, in this context, they are facts, not statistics. They prove otherwise.

Javier Mascherano is also in the top five for both successful passes and tackles won.

This backs up my assertion earlier in the season that the problems with the team mostly lay elsewhere. If you have two overlapping full-backs, and an adventurous centre-back (Agger) you need a solid centre to the side.

After months out with injury, Alberto Aquilani has come in and done well, although the Bolton game seemed to pass him by at times; which, of course, is to be thoroughly expected. Arsene Wenger often states that any import should be allowed a season of adjustment.

Unfortunately for Aquilani, there was a ludicrous amount of pressure and expectation surrounding him, at a time when he had to find fitness in the first team spotlight, when that team was struggling.

But even though Bolton wasn't one of his better games, he did brilliantly to set up Dirk Kuyt, and got another 65 minutes under his belt. The Reds have won all four league games that he's started, and that bodes well; but at times, such as against Spurs, he's been deployed ahead of the midfield, and, of course, better defending as a whole has given the team the platform to go on and win these matches.

The next three games, two of which are away, are all big encounters against in-form sides. After their own injury-ravaged start to the season, which saw them languishing near the bottom of the table, Everton have hit their stride.

If Liverpool can remain undefeated and gain five points, that would satisfy me; any less could leave a gap, and any more would be a wonderful bonus, particularly as one game is the Mersey derby, and the other two are trips to Arsenal and Man City.

But in many ways these games could be what the Reds need; there's less overpowering expectation to win, and 'big game' atmospheres - which help all players - will be guaranteed.


Love, Paul Tomkins

Dear Paul Tomkins ... I have a sneaky suspicion that you are paid by the word.

Here's 4 you can have on the house "Shut the fuck up"

Kind regards

Kev

xxx

Actually made me laugh out loud.

[TheChipPrince]

Maxi is absolutely gash, but Kuyt is immense so we're ok...  Thanks Rafa, but bye bye please...