Liverpool's inconsistency explained

It appears to be a pattern with Liverpool this year. As a major fan I have watched every game this season and have noticed Liverpool play down to their opponents. A loss to Southampton and Hull City and a draw versus Aston Villa and West Brom; all teams the reds should have beaten. Losses to Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal earlier in the season were of course not what Liverpool wanted, but you can't win em all. Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal are top quality teams making it understandable why Liverpool couldn't gain three points.

I do notice however, Liverpool tend to come out every once in a while and just absolutely play their hearts out and abolish their opponent: Everton (4-0), Spurs (5-0), and of course Arsenal this past weekend (5-1). These were major blowouts versus major teams. Why can't Liverpool play like this every game? I have no idea, but for sure Brendan Rodgers is not to blame for our occasional top quality play. We have the star power up top of course with the Golden Boot leader Luis Suarez and the very much in form Daniel Sturridge, with Phillipe Coutinho and speedy Raheem Sterling behind them. The Liverpool midfield is fairly solid with the very reliable and consistent Steven Gerrard and the very surprising Jordan Henderson who I feel has had a great season thus far.

Here is what I believe to be the reason for Liverpool's inconsistency, INJURIES! Injuries are something you just can't always control. Liverpool's entire starting back four is out due to injury. This includes Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger, Mamadou Sakho, and Jose Enrique. Thanks to Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool at least have a rotation. Kolo Toure was brought in for his experience in times like this. Obviously he has made mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes and he has shown he can produce great balls over top to Liverpool's attack. Skrtel, who started off the year as a substitute has shown an unbelievable amount of passion and desire for Liverpool as he has produced 4 goals this season. His marking and defense still needs work, but I feel he has done a good enough job to help Liverpool earn three points. Glen Johnson who has been having a very poor season due to his injury has been replaced by the young John Flanagan. I must say I have become a huge Flanagan fan over the past few weeks as he has shown great potential, effort, and improved defensive skills. Not to mention the real cracker of a goal he had versus Spurs. Last but not least, Aly Cissoko. Jose Enrique was major blow earlier this season due to injury and unfortunately had to go through a major surgery leaving him out for most of the season. once again thanks to Brendan Rodgers, we have an experienced back up in Cissoko. Cissoko is of course not the best, but he has certainly shown he wants to win and help the team. He has produced enough solid games to keep up the reds in the top 4. Other than the back four we have also seen our very consistent, defensive midfielder go out due to injury, Lucas Leiva. He is basically an extra center back building a brick wall for Simon Mignolet, the Liverpool keeper. We have seen the likes of Joe Allen fill in for him especially when Gerrard was out.

I believe the occasional inconsistency of the club is due to the immense amount of injuries. Rodgers, Mignolet, Kolo, and anyone on the team are not blame for a game in which Liverpool have dropped points. With all of Liverpool's starters healthy, I believe Liverpool could easily contend for the title. You have to say compared to last year, this new highly attacking goal scoring Liverpool may very well lead us back to Champions League glory.

I leave you with this, that thrashing 5-1 victory over Arsenal has most certainly given the reds a boost of confidence and shows that we can beat the big named teams. Lets keep the momentum going and get this top four spot! YNWA