Liverpool FC v Aston Villa FC, Anfield, Liverpool

15th December 2012

Liverpool FC 1 � 3 Aston Villa FC
How Liverpool lost this was amazing. The whole match Villa soaked up the pressure of a dominant Liverpool side and hit on the break. When the teams were announced I said to the guy next to me from their team I only fear Benteke, how that came back to haunt me�

A few things�

Brendan Rodgers: Before the match came out and said we can finish 2nd. Are you living in a fantasy world? Get the basics right first and start thinking about the next match first. I�m still not sold on him, during the whole TV documentary Being Liverpool I thought he was creepy. He didn�t seem right, too touchy feely for my liking. I get what he is trying to do which is make Liverpool into this attractive side to watch who can move the ball around but right now that�s not what we need. We need to win games and you win games in football by scoring more than your opponent does. The game against Villa we had something like 26 shots and 61% possession. However no one up front seemed to know what the other forwards were doing this needs to be worked on as a priority. Make us pretty after!

Raheem Sterling: I�ve said this to a couple of people over a drink and now I�m putting it in writing. I�ve a few issues with this guy.

His first touch is nonexistent
He thinks he�s the next Ronaldo / He�s lost once he gets the ball / No off the ball movement
He dives, loads
Don�t get me wrong he has been a bright spark this season and is exciting to watch when he gets the better of a player but he�s easy to stop. If a player nicks the ball of him he pretty much shy�s away from trying to get past him next time and cuts inside in the same way Ryan Babel would. His first touch is the worst aspect of his game. I�m pretty sure anyone reading this with an hour or two practice would have better control than Sterling.

Next his movement� Stewart Downing could have played the ball to him loads but didn�t and I don�t think it�s because he has nicked his position. (Downing had a decent game I though) I believe its because he doesn�t move! Just stands there and waits to get the ball before trying to run Ronaldo style, realises he can�t beat the guy so starts cutting inside. he needs to start running into positions to give players around him options.

My final complain is that he loves taking a dive, saw the same thing in the Reading match a few weeks back.

I�m sure this looks like a massive Raheem rant (which it kinda is) but I just don�t buy the argument that he is young and still learning the game. He plays football almost every day of his life, fans don�t but can see what is wrong, they can see that he has no first touch, they can see he hasn�t moved when he should have and so on. This is basic football which Raheem doesn�t seem to do for vast periods of a match. This is something that you just don�t notice when watching a game on TV. I also didn�t notice this at the West Ham game so it could just be from my vantage point in the Anfield Road stand that you see it more.

Joe Allen: What has happened to this guys range of passing? When he joined his passing was pretty decent and I could see why he was signed up. His passing at the weekend was bad, most of his balls went behind the player he was passing too. He should have departed rather than Lucas, but that�s never going to happen as Rodgers loves Allen way too much.

Shopping list:

1 x keeper � needs to be someone who can really put pressure on Reinna, Brad Jones would be a great championship keeper I think. An Al-Habsi or someone potentially could be the answer.
2 x defenders (left back and center half)
1 x strong mid-fielder � not essential but someone bigger than Allan
2 x strikers � PRIORITY and decent Premier League ones as well.
Goal Scorers:

Liverpool FC Gerrard [87]
Aston Villa FC Benteke [29, 51] Weimann [40]
Match Report: BBC