Everytime it is mentioned or written that Liverpool hit the woodwork the worms come out of that woodwork and chirp ''it wasn't unlucky it was poor finishing''  (do worms chirp? they do in my story so shut up and read!).  So what is it really: Is it down to luck or to inaccuracy?

The answer lies somewhere between psychology and philosophy. It largely depends on how you interpret it. In other words are you a glass half empty or glass half full kind of guy? Tony Robbins the motivational speaker made a great analogy in one of his seminars. He said that in Golf when you hit the ball you have to strike the ball with the club at an exact angle to get the kind of shot you want. One millimetre off and it changes the flight of the ball. Two millimetres off and it changes it even more, three millimetres....well, you get the idea. He applied that principle to everything you do or want in life. Only a few millimetres off and it can make a huge difference to the outcome. So no matter what position you are in its all because of a few millimetres. Thats all it takes. And you're only a few millimetres off fixing it! 

Liverpool have hit the bar or post 30 times this season and its all down to a few millimetres. Head the ball slightly off and you miss, misjudge your jump by a split second, the timing of your shot by a split second, the pass of a ball by a split second, the angle of you foot by a millimetre and you miss. Can you see how a few millimetres or a few split seconds in time can make the difference between a goal and hitting the post. 

Now I am not saying that every one of those post hitters were due to factors entirely outside of the players' control but you must certainly be able to see how low confidence, memory of defeat, self-doubt and negativity can influence those few millimetres. How they can influence every decision is made on the pitch. Now what if the team and individuals within the team were playing with absolute confidence? Those few millemetres become even less and the chance of conversion increases.

Of course sometimes its just bad finishing and, while confidence and other mental factors contribute to that, sometimes players do everything right and still get it wrong. Thats just the way the world works.

The last factor I wanted to mention was luck. Now we could debate all day about the philosophy and science of luck but simply I wanted to say that luck is still about those few millimetres. The slight angle of the ball, the spin of the ball, the trajectory and speed of the ball. They all influence the flight of the ball and where it goes when it hits the woodwork. Those factors will determine if the ball bounces back over the line into the net, whether it hits the keeper and goes in or out, whether it falls to our player or their player. Can you see how we might say we are unlucky?

To sum up... Hitting the post 30 times this season is a subtle combination of luck, finishing, and psychology. Its not a simple case of being bad or being unlucky. 

Rememeber here (or in life) whether you are looking at a glass half full or a glass half empty there is still the same amount of water in the glass. You have a choice as to whether you see it positively or negatively. Personally I prefer the positive approach...you know it doesn't make you feel so bad ;)