Anfield Index

Stewart Downing came to Liverpool with many fans feeling that we had settled for second best after United had signed Ashley Young. Some even intimated that, in replacing Downing with N’Zogbia, Villa had improved their first team for a fraction of the price. Dalglish has always insisted that Downing was his first choice, and...

Liverpool are set to entertain Wolverhampton on the back of progressing to the fourth round of the Carling cup, but with two disappointing league performances at Stoke and Spurs. Mick McCarthy's Wolves side have made an impressive start to their season taking seven points from their first five games, but sit two places lower than Liverpool...

At the age of 33, time is against Jamie Carragher. This season more than ever, his status as a first choice starter is under intense scrutiny. Big questions are starting to be asked openly by Liverpool fans about whether Carragher still warrants a place in Liverpool’s First XI. So, why are the murmurings of...

It was not a good day for Liverpool FC on Saturday, 10th September. A loss to Stoke at the Britannia Stadium for the second consecutive season does not make for good reading. However we're going to try and present a few statistics together to show a few of the factors we believe contributed to...

This is Part III of my Transfer Window review, and a follow up to my original articles for “What our Team Needs” which I wrote back in April. Part I (Defenders) can be found here, and Part II (Midfielders) here.  When I wrote the original article, "What our Team Needs - A Winger", it was probably...

Steven Gerrard has been a stalwart and inspiration for our club for a long time, and on many occasion he had to carry the club on his shoulders alone. There hasn’t been a better ambassador for this club for a very long time, maybe not since King Kenny left the first time.

This is Part II of my Transfer Window review, and a follow up to my original articles for "What our Team Needs" which I wrote back in April. Part I (Defenders) can be found here.  As with Part I, if you haven't read the series of "What our Team Needs" then I recommend you do...

It doesn't seem so long ago, that I was writing the "What our team needs" series. That was back in April, and I identified 4 key areas that we needed to add some quality to the side. Those were Left Back , Centre Back, a Centre Midfielder, and a Winger. It may take some reading...

I recently read an article by a fellow Liverpool fan, BassTunedToRed , which went into how many points per game (PPG) Dalglish has achieved in his second stint with Liverpool. Have a read of it here. As you can see, the form that Kenny is showing to date, would have us finish in the top 4...

The left-wing has been an area of weakness for many years at Liverpool. But that problem looks to be resolved with Jose Enrique at left-back and Stewart Downing playing ahead of him in midfield. The pair link-up very well with each other and have settled into the starting line-up extremely well. In three league games,...

In June, not long after we secured our first signing Jordan Henderson, I read a very interesting article on this site by Omar Chaudhuri. It explained how "chance creation"  and creativity can have a big effect on the number of points a team can achieve, and in the end, where they finish up come...

For the first time in eleven years Liverpool FC recorded a victory away at Arsenal, whether that be at the Emirates or Highbury. It was the first time ever that Liverpool had won at the Emirates so it was a very sweet moment regardless of quality of side that they were pitted against. It was...

As Jordan Henderson left the field in the 61st minute against Sunderland, Lucas Leiva would have been excused for breathing a sigh of relief. The heat is off, a new whipping boy is in town. Henderson has received some harsh treatment on radio phone-ins, message boards and on Twitter since his first competitive hour in...

There was so much optimism, so much positivity preceding the  2011/2012 season opener at Anfield. Everyone was expecting a good performance and because it was an opening game at Anfield, everyone expected a win. Well we didn't get it, although it wasn't all bad, there was some superb pass and move football in the first half...

The Liverpool fans will be expecting a good start to the season after such a huge turnaround under Kenny Dalglish last season and the new signings have added a new level of optimism. Andy Carroll is now fully-fit and has enjoyed a successful pre-season, scoring three goals in six games. Opening...

When Carroll was signed earlier this year, it is fair to say it was a "big" signing, for many reasons. Firstly, Carroll himself. 6ft 3, and 80kg. You only have to look at him to see his one big lad. Then there was his transfer fee. A record fee for us at £35million. Eclipsing the transfer...

So the start of the new season has come around (super fast for us as we've been so busy) and as is usual at this time of year everyone is having their say for the predictions. Thanks to Paul Boyham we have decided to write this article for anfieldindex.com and the writers. So we've...

Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz, you may know him as just Luis Suarez or El Pistolero (for the way he celebrates his goals). It seems that as Liverpool fans we just can’t get enough of our £22.8 million playmaker.

On Friday 15th of July 2011 it was announced that Stewart Downing had completed his long awaited move to Liverpool Football Club. It has to be said that this signing has been somewhat underwhelming for most Liverpool fans, especially with the suggested price tag of £20 million. Although Stewart Downing may not be player that will set the world alight, he still has a lot to offer Liverpool. Also being a left-footed wide player he is something Liverpool have been missing for a long, long time.

2010/11 was a season of two halves for Liverpool FC. From the mediocrity of Roy Hodgson to the success of Kenny Dalglish - there were many ups and downs. In part 1 of my season analysis, I gave a detailed report of the season from start to finish. Part 2 is where I select the...

Last month’s piece on the value of chance creation over the course of a season showed that there is some logic behind Liverpool’s decision to respectively sign and target Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing. Does the rationale extend to Charlie Adam, the Reds’ latest purchase? Although creating a healthy 64 chances in the league last season...

There seems to be a large number of supporters who simply do not like Insua, and they will all tell you he simply isn't good enough. But is this actually true? or a very misinformed judgement? Most who criticise Insua, don't seem to take note that he is only 22 years old, and played most...

Liverpool FC announced today that they had, finally, agreed a few with Blackpool FC for the services of Charlie Adam. If Adam passes his medical, the six month long saga will draw to a close with Kenny finally getting his man.

Much has been made of the apparent inflated price Liverpool have paid for Jordan Henderson, believed to be in the region of £16m. Let us step away from the price tag for a moment, particularly as he has yet to kick a ball for his new club club, and consider the most telling statistic about...

Kenny Dalglish is confident of landing two more players in the coming days as he hopes to secure the signatures of Charlie Adam and then Stewart Downing. Jordan Henderson, who was signed earlier this month is said to be one of many new faces at Anfield this summer as Kenny Dalglish builds a squad...

Liverpool Football Club is known for having some legendary central midfielders with names like Ian Callaghan, Graeme Souness, Jan Molby, Xabi Alonso and of course Steven Gerrard. So it goes without saying that anyone coming into the Liverpool midfield has some big shoes to fill.

The summer of 2010 brought about change at Liverpool FC. Rafael Benitez had been relieved of his duties as manager of the club and Roy Hodgson left Fulham to take the reigns at Anfield. Players were coming into the club and some were leaving - most notably Javier Mascherano who left for Barcelona in a deal worth £22 million. Joe Cole, Raul Meireles, Christian Poulsen and Paul Konchesky all arrived at Anfield in what was billed as the 'rebuilding season'.

Another week, another edition of Scouting Stats! The last two editions were very successful with some great feedback for the Premier League Winger Comparison and then last week’s Premier League Centre Back Comparison article. This week we are going to concentrate on the top Premier League left back. We were going to only look at those that were linked with Liverpool FC recently: Jose Enrique, Leighton Baines and Gael Clichy. However my arm was twisted and I’ve added, arguably, two of the best left sided fullbacks in the league at the moment: Patrice Evra and Ashley Cole.

Width has long been a problem for Liverpool and a winger has been near the top of all fans wish lists pretty much since John Barnes was in his prime. Despite more signings likely to come this summer, it surprised a lot of people that Jordan Henderson, the young Sunderland midfielder, was the first to be brought in.

The man between the sticks is forgotten about far too often in football. Just look at Barcelona, the best team in the world right now. Victor Valdes may be a quality goalkeeper, but he is very rarely given the chance to prove that due to the nature of Barcelona’s football. As Ian Rush famously said, “It’s best being a striker. If you miss five then score the winner, you’re a hero. The goalkeeper can play a blinder, then let one in… and he’s a villain.”