Weekend Wrap

The winter sporting season is well under way and strangely there is little for me to write about.  Main reason is that when i am busy it means I don't get to see as much sport as usual. My wife will disagree though.  NRL has given me fuel for thought which will be covered in the Issues of Contention article to come, other than that though it is all bad news for the teams I support.

The Liverpool Fans are tearing their hair out

Liverpool, What is going wrong?

Again I frustrated myself by watching another display that sorts out the true fans from the fairweather ones.  I may coach an under 9 Small Sided Football team but even  can see what some of the problems are.  Whatever the tactics are for Dalglish, his roster are not the ones for it.  Yet again the petulant child that appears to be Andy Carroll, failed to show why anyone would pay even a dollar for his services. Constantly everyone is saying, give him time and he is still learning, but with a price tag of 25 million he is beyond the point where a return is required.  Overall the team as a whole is out of form and lacking confidence & belief. Nothing is working as it appears that they do not have the belief in themselves any more. There are elements in the team that need to be changed and only a few changes may be all that are needed.  Liverpool have the players but it is the few spread through the team that hold everyone back. For me the main problem is the midfield ever since the loss of Lucas Leiva through injury. No team will ever be successful if the midfield is short on ability and this is where Liverpool should be focusing their attention in the next transfer window.  That and a good swap for Carroll.

Vent is over, I will continue to support Liverpool FC with passion, but I will not hold back my frustration until things start changing for the better.

Queensland Firebirds


Sadly I missed this game, which is frustrating as I promised myself and told the Firebirds that I would watch the game and then do a write up.  For months I have been looking forward to the start of the season and getting prepared to cover the Firebirds and ANZ Chamionship and show that the football codes aren't the only ones that are strongly followed.  One only has to know how popular my articles on Chelsea Pittman were to realise this.  Even now I am still getting many visits to the site just to read the articles relating to Netball and the Queensland Firebirds.  With that I do hope to be able to watch the next game and give an analysis from a point of view that is not normally seen in the game.  That and my passion for Queensland teams guarantees I will be locking in to watch as often as possible.

AFL

For those that think this game is the only game, here are my thoughts.  Only game I cared about was the one that involved the team that no-one gave a chance. Melbourne Demons Vs Brisbane Lions.  regardless of how much the AFL ruins their game and spectacle I will always follow the Lions with the same passion as any other Queensland team.  Even without the events leading up the the game, no-one down south would have given the Lions a chance playing at the MCG in round 1.  Just shows how sheltered they are in their little goldfish bowl in Melbourne.  Hopefully this continues and the look of the table after round is similar at he end of the season.  If so then you would have only 2 Victorian teams and no Collingwood.  AFL and the Victorians need to accept that if they want their code to be truly National and popular across the country then they need to get familiar to this site.

Brisbane Roaring

I couldn't have a wrap where the one of the most clinical first halves of finals football was not mentioned.  Brisbane Roar easily accounted for Central Coast in the first leg of the A-League semi-final and showed why they are the best team in the competition. Brisbane completely smothered the mariners out of the game and allowed them no time with the ball if letting them have the ball at all. The complete defensive pressure from the defenders to the strikers is how football should be played.  The Mariners may have come back in the second half and played better but there was never any doubt on what the end result would be and going into the next leg  with a 2-0 advantage has Brisbane not only one step closer to another home final but also has the Mariners facing the prospect of topping the table and missing the final.

Also to come will be the next instalment in the "New Force" series about the St Luke's U9 Football side and their first game.  Due to the age of the children, all parents consent must be attained before I can go into detail.  With a 2 week break due to Easter, the delay might be a bit longer than expected and I do not want any child missing out unless otherwise indicated.  What I would like to see though is plenty of encouragement for the team words of wisdom from the elite sporting fraternity to help the team reach their goals.