More Goals Please

A late Fernando Torres goal was the only difference on Saturday evening, and makes me think if the Spaniard was wearing the colours of Sunderland instead, we'd have possibly taken all three points. Our need for a proven goalscorer gets more desperate by the game, meaning Keane needs to recruit someone quickly unless every other player he's bought this summer will be endanger of being a worthless addition to an improving squad.

The press continue to link us with Blackburn's Benni McCarthy, if there is any truth is this speculation fingers crossed the deal will be completed sooner rather than later because the players at our club with the current responsibility of getting us goals, are frankly not capable of such a task and will ultimately stifle our progression under Keane.

Our performance on Saturday, especially in the first half should give the fans a lot of positives and reasons to be happy, but at the same time it re-enforces the widely held belief that our blunt strike force is in need of some sharpening. Our midfield quartet of Richardson, Reid, Tainio and Malbranque were irresistible and actually unstoppable at times, carving through a dis-orientated Liverpool midfield at will, until Benitez finally replaced the disappointing Plessis with Alonso, meaning both midfielders could properly assert themselves in the middle of the park and cause us problems.

The quality of Malbranque especially was for all to see, his performance on the right of midfield highlights the complete upgrade of quality our team has received through out the summer months. Five of our seven substitutes started the first game of the season against Tottenham last year, which implies that Keane is thinking ahead and realises he may have to leave some players behind.

For once our play didn't seem a struggle, we made the ball do the work and through constant movement and understanding, managed to create some decent chances and with the help of a quality striker we would have no doubt converted. Players like Dean Whitehead and Grant Leadbitter done exceptionally well for the club last season but after watching Tainio and Reid conduct the midfield proceedings so effortlessly at times it became apparent just how much we needed improvement. Granted as the game wore on Gerrard took full control of the midfield but without making excuses this would have been made easier by the fact a number of our players were tiring as the second half progressed.

Prior to the match the media focused on the new strike partnership of Torres and Keane, and ultimately what they would do to a Sunderland defence, minus Jonny Evans. However I think most people would agree that the performance of our back four was superb in handling the threat of two of English football's greatest strikers. Apart from the goal both Torres and Keane received limited service and time on the ball, however as Keane stated after the match this is something that has to be maintained for the full ninety minutes unless you get punished, like we did unfortunately. Liverpool were pretty poor but possessed the necessary quality to separate themselves from us at crucial times, which is why we are desperate for a striker.

The result is definitely disappointing and hard to take but it was reassuring to see us put in a performance that on another day was more than capable of taking something off a team like Liverpool. Also the fact that Keane started the game 4-4-2 shows another step in the right direction because that is the first time he has done that against a top four side, mind you he was probably going to play the typical 4-5-1 formation until he seen Liverpool's performance in Belgium on Wednesday night.

We should go to White Hart Lane on Saturday in a positive mood because it is important to remember we won't have to play against teams as good as Liverpool every week, and Tottenham are certainly a team who can be beat. My only concern is that if we haven't recruited a striker by then, I could be writing another similar article come five o'clock Saturday evening.

James Henderson
www.a-love-supreme.com