Saturday, February 21, 2015

Shaping Up



More to the point, it's been a while since Ed has written anything
It’s been a while since I’ve written on Spurs, and a lot has happened.  First and foremost, Harry Kane put us past Arsenal with two magnificent goals.  Kane continues to play at a high level and pundits are wondering if this run is real or if he’s doomed to return to the norm or something below that.  We shall see.  Regardless, he seems to look like he knows how to play even if he’s not scoring, and Kane and Eriksen have become a terrific punch for Spurs.

The following week despite some good play int he first half, Spurs lost on a Mario Balotelli goal in the final minutes.  What are the odds of that happening?  Well, prior to his snatching the penalty kick ball out of the hands of his captain this week, Balotelli had about one goal for Liverpool, so I’d say the odds were pretty low.  But to be fair, this shot was really just a tap in for Super Mario, so it would have been hard to mess it up.  But what I liked most about this game was that Spurs seemed extremely annoyed and frustrated at the end of the game — as if they felt they should’ve won the game.  I can’t recall seeing a Spurs team react like that to a loss against a big Club.  Interesting, and I think a good sign.  (On an unrelated note, I’m still not sure why Brendan Rodgers thought bringing this guy in was a good idea; clearly a desperate move by a desperate manager.  But while Rodgers has Liverpool playing well with the return of Daniel Sturridge, it seems that the number of players he brought in that didn’t work out seems a luxury that only could be afforded the bigger clubs.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Stoking a Blazing Hearth: Scott on Liverpool



Scott is admiring Liverpool's form of late:

With that nail-biter of a victory over Spurs on Tuesday, I'm ready to say that Liverpool are firmly back on track and the team is starting to gel and acclimate to this season's formation and personnel changes. Yes, it all started happening far too late for a shot at the title (which was probably never a real possibility anyway) but a top 4 finish and another go in the Champions League is well within reach, present form continuing.

That Tuesday's victory was achieved without the services of Raheem Sterling is another plus. And that super-sub Mario Balotelli provided the tap-in winner is the icing on the cake, post-goal scowl notwithstanding.