|
Ahead of Saturday's game against Liverpool at
Anfield, we caught up once more with Reds' fan Kirsty who runs the excellent blog
The Liver Bird.
She gives us her views on the
game, Liverpool's start to the season, the Baggies, and more. You can also find Kirsty
on Twitter @LFCKirstyLFC.
It's not been
the best of starts for Liverpool so far with the club perhaps surprisingly
sitting in 14th place with just seven points from six games. Why the
disappointing start and how have performances been?
Performances have been pretty darn dire to put it politely.
Aside from the Spurs game which we won 3-0 I've been extremely disappointed. The
missing Daniel Sturridge is obviously having a huge impact on the team but
defensive issues have also caused havoc.
What’s the
mood like amongst Liverpool fans at the moment, optimistic or concerned?
I doubt even the most optimistic fan is feeling positive at
the moment to be honest. I'm quite concerned, I knew that with the loss of
Suarez and so many new faces coming in that it would be a rebuilding process but
it looks like it's going to take a lot longer than first thought. The 2nd place
finish last year was utterly beyond our expectations and with the Champions
League to contend with it was always going to be a difficult season but I
thought we'd get off to a better start than this!
Luis Suarez is obviously going
to be a huge miss this season, how will he be remembered by Liverpool fans?
Despite his moments of madness I think Luis Suarez will be
fondly remembered by every
Liverpool fan. He's the best player I've ever seen at our club and I'm
almost certain he'll be the best one I will ever see here. It was evident he'd
leave a gap when he left but I think we're beginning to realise just how endless
that hole is...
Thoughts on
Mario Balotelli, can he realistically be the man to replace Suarez?
As somebody with an interest in Italian culture, food and
football I'm probably a tiny bit biased here. I absolutely love Balotelli and
also understand and accept the style of player he is. He was never going to
replace Suarez, nobody ever could but I think some fans were expecting Mario to
hit the ground running and get double figures every season. He's not that sort
of player and at the minute he's looking very average because he's having to
lead the line, to receive the full benefit from Mario, including all the work he
does gaining and retaining possession and creating chances we definitely need to
field somebody up top with him. Hurry up Daniel!!!
Fans'
expectations for the season, what would the Anfield faithful accept?
I can't speak for everybody but at the start of the season I
expected another top 4 finish. I knew we weren't going to be pushing for a title
again but I felt we had enough attacking prowess in the team to finish strongly
and just needed some defensive improvements. Having watched the season so far
unfold though I think I would happily accept a Europa League place at this
stage, perhaps even missing out on it so we can push for another title race???
(Wishful thinking haha)
A quick look
back at last season - Enjoyable or did how it end make it one to forget?
I thoroughly enjoyed last season, yes the ending was gutting
and now every ground in the country is singing about Steven Gerrard falling over
instead of singing about their own players but as a younger
Liverpool fan that's THE best
league season I have ever seen us play. To come so close when nobody gave us a
chance was brilliant, we scored goals for fun, yes again the defence was pretty
poor but it was exciting as a fan preparing to watch a game knowing that
Brendan's mantra was to simply “score more than you”.
Player of last
season?
Luis Suarez, no question.
Villain of
last season?
Glen Johnson, I tried endlessly to stick with him and support
him but as last season unfolded I began to realise that it's perhaps time Glen
moved on.
Prediction for Liverpool's
season?
As I said earlier, start of the season and I would have
predicted a top four finish, now however I'd say more like 7th.
Player to
watch this season?
Balotelli of course because you just never know what that man
is going to do and more importantly Raheem Sterling. He's so refreshing to
watch, full of confidence, skilful and completely unfazed by any calibre of
opposition. He's a real star.
Prediction for Albion's season?
I think you'll do ok though I'm not fully convinced with your
new boss, possibly around 12th -14th?
Premier League
Champions?
Start of the season I predicted City again but it's extremely
hard to see past Chelsea
now. Diego Costa is annoyingly brilliant.
Relegated?
Burnley, QPR and Hull. I'm
terrible at relegation predictions, don't think I've ever got one right.
Prediction and
thoughts on Saturday's game?
I'm really hoping that we can bounce back on Saturday and I'm
very thankful this fixture is at Anfield however I can see this being a score
draw so my prediction is 1-1.
|
