STAR: Stewart Downing still not sure over Liverpool future

STEWART DOWNING is loving proving his boss wrong every time he plays.

A news article on 2013-02-11 09:15:00 from: The Daily Star

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GOAL – McAuley: West Brom can beat Liverpool at Anfield again

After resisting a dominant Reds side last April to claim a surprise 1-0 win, before triumphing 3-0 at the Hawthorns earlier his term, the defender is confident of a third success

A news article on 2013-02-10 20:49:00 from: Goal

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ECHO – Liverpool FC News: Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion Preview:

IT WAS the nightmare start to Brendan Rodgers’ Anfield reign. The bubble of pre-season optimism was burst on the Premier League’s opening day at The Hawthorns as West Brom inflicted a crushing 3-0 defeat.

A news article on 2013-02-09 03:00:00 from: Liverpool Echo

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GOAL – Liverpool – West Brom Preview: Suarez in red hot form ahead of Baggies visit

The Uruguayan has scored five and assisted seven in his last 10 Premier League games, while the Reds are enjoying a great run at home as their top-flight revival rolls on

A news article on 2013-02-08 09:56:00 from: Goal

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METRO – Glen Johnson spitting mad at ‘disgusting’ Goran Popov’s FA escape

Liverpool’s Glen Johnson has hit out at the news that West Brom’s Goran Popov will escape further punishment for spitting at Tottenham’s Kyle Walker. The Macedonian will only serve the standard three-match suspension after being shown the red card by referee Mark Clattenburg in West Brom’s 1-0 defeat to Spurs at The Hawthorns. The Football

A news article on 2013-02-04 16:08:00 from: The Metro

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TAO – West Brom 1-2 Liverpool: Sahin double defeats Baggies

By Michael Owen A double from Nuri Sahin saw a Liverpool team primarily made up of youngsters see off West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns to progress to the fourth round of the League Cup. West Brom took the lead early when Brad Jones fumbled a free-kick into the box, allowing Gabriel Tamas to slot home from close range before Ben Foster made an equally bad mistake, allowing Nuri Sahin to get the better of him from 25 yards out. It took until the final ten minutes of an impressive performance from Liverpool’s young starlets for the Reds to secure the win, with Sahin latching on to a ball from substitute Suso before tapping in from close range to take the Reds one step closer to retaining their title. Former Liverpool assistant manager met up with his old club for the second time at The Hawthorns this season, hoping he could replicate the Baggies three goal opening day win in the Capital Cup on Wednesday night. It was a much changed Liverpool side from the one which faced Manchester United at the weekend, with youngsters Dani Pacheco, Yesil, Assaidi, Wisdom, Robinson and Coates all starting for the Reds alongside the more experienced Jones, Carragher, Downing, Henderson and Sahin. The hosts fielded a very strong side featuring many of the players that got the best of Brendan Rodgers side in August, including captain Jonas Olsson, Liam Ridgewell and young starlet Romelu Lukaku. West Brom were the quickest off the mark, winning a free-kick in a dangerous position which Brad Jones fumbled in the area allowing Gabriel Tamas to fire in from close range and give the hosts the lead with just four minutes on the clock. Yesil had a chance to bring the Reds level within moments, with Assaidi breaking out wide and swinging a ball into the box, which the young striker managed to get his head to but couldn’t direct, seeing his effort fly wide of the far post. Ten minutes later Liverpool did manage to get an equaliser, with Andre Wisdom laying the ball off to Nuri Sahin, who took a few steps forward before firing a low, drilled, shot from distance which caught Ben Foster off guard and slid into the keepers left-hand corner. The Reds continued to look good going forward, with Assaidi breaking down the left-wing, doing well to skip past a number of West Brom players before looping in a ball to Downing, with his header down eventually finding Pacheco, who saw his first-time shot well saved by Foster. In the latter stages of the first-half Steve Clarke was forced to make his first substitution of the game, taking off the injured Ridgewell and replacing him with Dawson. Liverpool may have felt unfortunate not to see their opponents go down to ten men, with a rash challenge from Mulumbu on Henderson going unpunished. As the second-half began Liverpool once again looked lively, with Yesil, with his back to goal, turning his man and firing a shot which nearly caught Ben Foster off-guard. Moments later Dani Pacheco came close, with a well-placed effort nearly putting Brendan Rodgers side in the lead. Seventy minutes in Liverpool had another opportunity to double their lead, this time with Assaidi winning a free-kick from Dawson out on the left, which was swung in towards Coates who struck a powerful header, forcing a world-class save from Foster to keep the Baggies level. The Reds finally nudged themselves into the lead with just under ten minutes left, with Suso, who had come on the replace Dani Pacheco, taking on a number of West Brom defenders before playing it across to Sahin who tapped it into an open net to double his own and the Reds goal tally.

A news article on 2012-09-26 20:57:00 from: The Anfield Opinion

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GOAL – TEAM NEWS: Assaidi and Yesil handed League Cup starts for Liverpool against West Brom

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers names an intriguing side for his side’s trip to the Hawthorns as the Irishman searches for his first win and 16-year-old Jerome Sinclair makes the bench

A news article on 2012-09-26 18:05:00 from: Goal

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ECHO – Liverpool FC News: Liverpool FC to return to scene of Hawthorns horror show after drawing West Brom in Capital One Cup

LIVERPOOL FC will return to the scene of their opening day hiding by West Brom after being drawn away to the Baggies in the third round of the Capital One Cup.

A news article on 2012-08-30 20:30:00 from: Liverpool Echo

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Liverpool FC News: Pepe Reina hopes Liverpool FC can make Anfield a fortress again

PEPE REINA is hoping Liverpool FC can put their away day blues behind them by making Anfield a fortress again this season – starting with the visit of Premier League champions Manchester City this weekend.

A news article on 2012-08-21 06:00:00 from: Liverpool Echo

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TAO – Five things we’ve Learned: West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool

By Robert Nevitt 1. Defeat to Baggies puts new-look Reds under pressure already Optimism was high going into Saturday’s opening game of the season at West Bromwich Albion, but by the end of the 90 minutes, the scale of Brendan Rodgers’ task to turn Liverpool into Top four contenders was clear for all to see. The new Reds’ boss will take positives from the first hour of the game which, Zoltan Gera’s stunning drive apart, wasn’t that bad. The Reds new ‘Tika-Taka’ style saw a 89% successful pass rate, Liverpool’s highest for 10 seasons. But, as the diagram on the right shows, much of the passing was done in the middle third of the pitch, with a lack of quality in attacking areas, with most of the chances being created through the individual brilliance of Luis Suarez. At 1-0, the Reds were very much still in the game, but once Daniel Agger was dismissed, Rodgers will be extremely concerned at how the team visibly capitulated. To their credit, West Brom took full advantage, with the introduction of sub Lukaku stretching the ragged Liverpool defence. By the final whistle, the Reds were lucky to get away with only a 3-goal deficit. Though he publicly praised the players for their efforts and instead queried the referee’s controversial decisions, Rodgers will hopefully have noted the Reds all-too-familiar failings. Missed chances, a lack of creation on the wings, no real backup in full-back areas and a mental fragility all contributed to the defeat. With Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United all coming up in the next four games, it was important that Liverpool got off to a good start at West Brom. The fact that they didn’t now puts added pressure on Rodgers and his team. Whilst it is far too early to panic, the next few weeks, in terms of the aforementioned matches and the closing of the transfer window, could go along way to defining the Reds’ season. 2. Time for Suarez to move out wide It took less than 10 minutes for Luis Suarez to pull off his first customary nutmeg of the season. A little longer for him to twist, turn and leave the Baggies defence wondering where he had gone. But, disappointingly, it also didn’t take long for the Reds’ number seven to showcase his increasingly alarming profligacy in front of goal. There is no doubting the Uruguayan’s class. His workrate and trickery are both exceptional, but when it comes to putting the ball in the net, he has a poor conversion rate. On Saturday, he had eight efforts on goal, but only made the goalkeeper work twice. He headed one clear opportunity over from six yards, which would’ve put the Reds’ 1-0 up and subsequently changed the dynamics of the match, whilst he squandered two more opportunities in the second half, where on both occasions he should have at least hit the target. But, this wasn’t a case of one of those days though. Last season the Reds amassed a paltry 47 league goals, with Suarez netting only 11 times from a total of ?? efforts on goal. As we try to become more potent in attack, I think it’s time we looked at how we are utilising our number seven. With Rodgers favouring a 4-3-3, Suarez’ looks well suited to occupy a starting berth on the left of the front three, with a licence to roam, a position from which a lot of his best work is done anyway and one in which he excelled at previous club Ajax. Not only would the new position give the Reds some much needed creativity on the flanks, but it would also allow the introduction of a more natural goalscorer, whether it be Borini or A.N. other, to play as the middle striker and help take the goalscoring burden off the Uruguayan’s shoulders. 3. Joe Allen looks a player One bright spot for the Reds on Saturday was the performance of new signing Joe Allen. After completing his £15m move from Swansea last week, this was Allen’s first start in a Reds’ shirt and the young Welshman took no time in showcasing just why Brendan Rodgers was so keen to bring him to Anfield. Confident, always available for the ball and with a 95% completion rate from 68 passes, Allen was Liverpool’s standout performer. 4. Time for duo to be shown the Anfield exit Saturday’s match at the Hawthorns surely helped hammer the final nails into the coffins of two the Liverpool careers of Joe Cole and Andy Carroll Cole’s time at Anfield has been littered by set-backs; a sending off on his debut v Arsenal, a missed spot-kick against Trabzonspor, a combination of poor form and injuries and a season-long loan to Lille. But with new boss Rodgers at the Anfield helm, Cole sensed a new beginning. A good US Tour saw him named in the European tie with Gomel, but before he’d even had time to do his trademark bent over hands on hips routine, ping went his hamstring. On Saturday, with the Reds 2-0 down at the Hawthorns, a fit again Cole replaced Lucas on 68. But, a short sprint later, he suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury and was subbed. Surely now Rodgers must realise that it just isn’t going to happen for ex-England international at Anfield, though his latest injury could scupper any late August transfer. Up until Cole clutched his hamstring, his replacement Carroll, had remained seated on the bench, despite the fact that Liverpool found themselves three-nil down. Throughout the summer, the press have made it common knowledge that Liverpool are looking to sell their £35m man, but Saturday’s decision to leave him on the bench when the team were crying out for a Plan B, is the biggest public indication that he has no future at Anfield. It is debatable as to whether or not this is the correct decision, but with Rodgers seemingly having made his mind up, it is in the interests of both the club and player that Carroll is moved on before September 1st. 5. Sometimes you’ve just got to hand it to your opposition Sometimes, no matter what tactics, philosophy or personnel you have on display, you simply can’t account for everything that happens on a football pitch. On Saturday, referee Phil Dowd’s decision to award West Brom their first penalty was controversial, whilst his dismissal of Daniel Agger left many mystified. Less than five minutes later, he incensed the travelling Kop as he pointed to the spot again. But it wasn’t just Dowd’s performance which was uncontrollable as the manner of West Brom’s opening goal was simply unstoppable. From a James Morrison corner, Liverpool seemingly did what was required with Martin Skrtel rising above the attackers to powerfully head away, whilst Glen Johnson followed the ball out. But, as Zoltan Gera chested the ball down 25 yards from goal, the ball sat up perfectly for the Hungarian to hit a half-volley which flew into the top corner. If we’d have had Pepe Reina, Brad Jones and Alexander Doni all in goal at the same time, I doubt we’d have been able to keep the effort out such was its power and precision. So as Andy Gray would say; Take a Bow Zoltan Son!

A news article on 2012-08-20 21:38:00 from: The Anfield Opinion

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