Last minute winner. Back to back wins. Galvanise!
I had the Chemical Brothers ringing in my ears, with their fast beats drilling a hole in my eardrums in the build-up. For the aftermath though I had Noah and the Whale melancholically reminding me that it has to be restarted again. Confidence, or better the lack of it has been the main curse and the easiest scapegoat for the lack of cohesiveness and the disjointed performances of the season. Back in October, a superb victory and performance over the Mancs failed to inject any of it into the lads. Fernando Torres’s clinical finish at the very end at Villa Park seems to have only injected adrenaline into the fans rather than into his team mates. I am here thinking the materialistic Yanks at the helm are at this moment probably googling it as if it were a commodity but they’ve given up as it doesn’t guarantee an immediate dividend. Anyway the idea of a replay at Anfield and 40,000 filled seats is a much better business proposition.
The changes in the starting line-up were minimal. Daniel Agger, Alberto Aquilani and Yossi Benayoun were rested making way for Stephen Darby, Martin Skrtel and Fabio Aurelio. With Rafa’s standards of rotations the changes were slight and understandable. Skrtel though displayed not lack of confidence but lack of co-ordination of his whole body and alongside the no-nonsense Jamie Carragher the ball, when sometimes won could only be hoofed in the air. The omission of Aquilani in the midfield was rather understandable. Him, having only had maybe 200 minutes of football so far, such a tie was definitely not prescribed for his slow convalescence. But here lays the question, when an underdog is hassling you with some in-your-face football, do you get back to his face or belittle him by getting all smart and get him on the deck. At times, Liverpool failed to do either. The midfield was getting outrun, and the back four were replying with panicked hoofs. The ball seemed to hit the pitch only to bounce away.
Steven Gerrard’s reply to Simon Church’s 24th minute opener was a cross shot helped by a Dirk Kuyt futile attempt to connect that undone their keeper. The momentum was then with the reds and the half-time whistle was ill-timed from Liverpool’s perspective. The final whistle wasn’t as unwelcomed albeit few moments before Torres went agonisingly close to get another match-winner as his header ended on the roof of the net rather than under.
A replay at home when playing inferior opposition is akin to a suspended sentence. It is still a welcomed chance in the rehabilitation process that Liverpool are hopefully currently undergoing, and a stark reminder that saving a bit of the season can only be a slow process.
I had the Chemical Brothers ringing in my ears, with their fast beats drilling a hole in my eardrums in the build-up. For the aftermath though I had Noah and the Whale melancholically reminding me that it has to be restarted again. Confidence, or better the lack of it has been the main curse and the easiest scapegoat for the lack of cohesiveness and the disjointed performances of the season. Back in October, a superb victory and performance over the Mancs failed to inject any of it into the lads. Fernando Torres’s clinical finish at the very end at Villa Park seems to have only injected adrenaline into the fans rather than into his team mates. I am here thinking the materialistic Yanks at the helm are at this moment probably googling it as if it were a commodity but they’ve given up as it doesn’t guarantee an immediate dividend. Anyway the idea of a replay at Anfield and 40,000 filled seats is a much better business proposition.
The changes in the starting line-up were minimal. Daniel Agger, Alberto Aquilani and Yossi Benayoun were rested making way for Stephen Darby, Martin Skrtel and Fabio Aurelio. With Rafa’s standards of rotations the changes were slight and understandable. Skrtel though displayed not lack of confidence but lack of co-ordination of his whole body and alongside the no-nonsense Jamie Carragher the ball, when sometimes won could only be hoofed in the air. The omission of Aquilani in the midfield was rather understandable. Him, having only had maybe 200 minutes of football so far, such a tie was definitely not prescribed for his slow convalescence. But here lays the question, when an underdog is hassling you with some in-your-face football, do you get back to his face or belittle him by getting all smart and get him on the deck. At times, Liverpool failed to do either. The midfield was getting outrun, and the back four were replying with panicked hoofs. The ball seemed to hit the pitch only to bounce away.
Steven Gerrard’s reply to Simon Church’s 24th minute opener was a cross shot helped by a Dirk Kuyt futile attempt to connect that undone their keeper. The momentum was then with the reds and the half-time whistle was ill-timed from Liverpool’s perspective. The final whistle wasn’t as unwelcomed albeit few moments before Torres went agonisingly close to get another match-winner as his header ended on the roof of the net rather than under.
A replay at home when playing inferior opposition is akin to a suspended sentence. It is still a welcomed chance in the rehabilitation process that Liverpool are hopefully currently undergoing, and a stark reminder that saving a bit of the season can only be a slow process.
posted by jean paul at 8:26 am
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