Saturday 24 November 2012

Liverpool: The View From The Liberty - Vitalfootball

As part of Vital Liverpool's buildup to the Premier League clash with Swansea City we've interviewed a Swans fan for their thoughts ahead of the game...

Sunday afternoon's match between Swansea and Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium sees the teams in 10th and 11th place in the Premier League meet.

The fixture also sees Reds manager Brendan Rodgers and big summer signing Joe Allen both return to their former club after leaving in the summer.

New Swansea boss Michael Laudrup has continued the good work of his predecessor and the Welsh side are again impressing this term.

A big thank you to Vital Swansea editor Kevin Elphick for agreeing to answer the following questions for us...

Q. How has your season gone so far and where do you expect to finish?
Michael Laudrup has made a very promising start to the season at Swansea City. He had a big challenge ahead of him following the departure of Brendan Rodgers, but he has come in and done a remarkable job so far. Rodgers was clearly a big influence on the players at the club, and many people believed that Laudrup would fail in his attempts to 'steady the ship'. However, the fans have been delighted to see him give us more of an attacking edge and we're on course for a similar mid-table finish to what Rodgers guided us to last year.

Q. Who are the Swansea player(s) we should look out for?
Michu is our main man. Our top goalscorer and after a 4-match goalless run when played as a lone striker, he was back on the scoresheet last Saturday having returned to his preferred attacking midfield role. He was disappointed with only a 1 in 3 goal ratio in that game too and he'll be looking to improve on that this weekend!

Q. What have you made of Liverpool so far this season?
The start you've had was to be expected really. Brendan Rodgers was always going to look to change the style of play at Liverpool and that's not an overnight job for him or anyone. Some of your performances have been promising but you're looking for that extra edge and quality to get wins instead of all those draws.

Q. Do you believe Brendan Rodgers was the right man for the job and will prove a success long-term?
I don't think there was too many people saying that he was the right man for the job. I expect Liverpool fans thought you could and should have been getting a much bigger name - someone who has maybe won a Premier League title or a Champions League possibly. Not many of us Swans fans thought it was a good move for him either. A lot of us expected it was a move too big for him and that he could experience what he did at Reading, the sack by Christmas after taking too long to change things and get results.

Q. Which Liverpool player(s) do you rate the most and why?
Steven Gerrard goes without saying really. Don't need to give many reasons why as he's a consistent, top class midfielder. I'd also say Luis Suarez who has carried you so far, scoring most of your goals, but I and many others I'm sure would have more respect for him if he didn't dive like he does.

Q. What is your probable line up for the game and how do you think you can be successful against Liverpool?
Our previous line-up was as follows and I don't expect there'll be many changes this weekend. Tremmel, Rangel, Williams, Monk, Davies, Dyer, Britton, Michu, de Guzman, Hernandez, Shechter.

I doubt it will be a similar game to the 3-1 Cup win at Anfield although I'd like it to be. Hopefully we can again be far quicker and slicker in possession as it'll be a big test for both sides who play a very similar style. The key for us will be keeping Suarez out of the game and being clinical at the other end.

Q. What's your prediction for the result?
Something tells me we won't get the better of Rodgers again, but he won't get his revenge on us, so I expect a good, entertaining draw 1-1.

Click here for our full Premier Preview of the game
Click here to read former Red Mark Lawrenson's prediction

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