Liverpool 1 Everton 0

February 6, 2010 2 Comments

There’s always an extra edge when you play in a derby match, but the crucial thing today was for Liverpool to try and pick up all three points.  Yes, I know it’s a cliché, but it also happens to be true.

Like all true derbies, there wasn’t a great deal of football played, but the Reds were certainly up for the fight.  They were almost up for it too much when Kyrgiakos was sent off for a two-footed challenge after 34 minutes.  There was no doubt that he deserved to receive the red card, but Pienaar should have probably been sent off a few minutes earlier for a reckless tackle on Mascherano.  Liverpool managed to get to half-time without conceding and so were able to re-group.

The second half wasn’t as much of a challenge as you might have expected – Everton were toothless in attack.  The Reds were able to take the lead on 55 minutes with a Dirk Kuyt header, from a set piece.  This was quite staggering as Liverpool are woeful at set pieces.  The fact that Kuyt was a yard from the line, in the middle of the goal, was surrounded by Howard and Neville, and didn’t jump, all just made the goal more unlikely.

From that point on, the result looked fairly comfortable – far more comfortable than Everton should have made it.  Pienaar was eventually sent off, for a second booking, in injury time, and that was about it.

As I said at the start of the post, the three points were crucial, especially as Liverpool play Arsenal and Man City away in the next week.  Fingers crossed for those matches, I suspect that they’re going to be a lot tougher than today.

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Liverpool 2 Spurs 0

January 21, 2010 Leave a Comment

It was a crucial win for Liverpool last night, both in terms of league position and for the players’ fragile confidence.  The match was bookended by two Dirk Kuyt goals.  The first was a classy strike on 6 minutes, the second was a cooly struck, re-taken penalty, in injury time.

The result may well have been different had Jermaine Defoe’s strike not been incorrectly ruled offside.  This decision says more about the current muddle over the offside rule than any incompetence on the part of the officials.  You can’t have such an important rule be so open to interpretation.

The Reds deserved the win, though, and it certainly made a pleasant change.  It was a battling rather than classy performance, but that was what was needed at this point.  The players looked up for the fight (especially Carragher) and the crowd really got behind the team.  Hopefully this will be the start of something of a revival, but I’m not convinced just yet.

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Stoke City 1 Liverpool 1

January 16, 2010 Leave a Comment

After Wednesday’s humiliating defeat to Reading, and with Gerrard, Torres and Benayoun out injured, would any of Liverpool’s squad be able to step up and show a bit of commitment?  One things for certain, if you’re playing away at Stoke then you’re definitely going to need to be committed.

It was something of a change of formation for the Reds, with Aurelio and Degen playing as ‘wingers’ and Ngog and Kuyt up front.  Lucas and Mascherano started in the centre of midfield, Carragher was at right-back and there was a rare start for Kyrgiakos in the centre of defence.

Stoke made a good start and really got into the Liverpool player’s faces.  The Reds struggled to string two passes together, initally, but gradually grew into the game, without looking overly convincing.

Rory Delap went off injured after 23 minutes, which could only be a relief to Liverpool’s fragile defence.

On 24 minutes, Lucas was scythed down in the penalty box – he was given a yellow card for diving.  A ridiculous decision.  Stoke lost a second player through injury a minute later, as Abdoulaye Faye left the pitch.

The first half ended goalless.  It was a spirited performance from Liverpool even if the quality of play and goals were lacking.

The second half started as the first ended.  Liverpool were finally able to take the lead on 56 minutes when the Stoke goalie flapped at a low free-kick from Aurelio and Kyrgiakos was able to bundle it in.

On 77 minutes, new signing, Maxi Rodriguez, came on for Degen, to make his debut.   He didn’t get chance to show us what he could do as Stoke pinned the Reds back for the remainder of the match.  This pressure finally paid off when they got an equaliser on 89 minutes.  I don’t even know who scored as I was too depressed to notice.

On 95 minutes, Aurelio whipped in a excellent cross and Kuyt headed it onto the post.  He should have scored.  It ended 1-1.

I should probably tidy this post up a little and try and do a bit of analysis, but I really can’t be bothered.

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Liverpool 1 Arsenal 2

December 13, 2009 3 Comments

It seems ages since I last watched a Liverpool match properly, so I decided to sit back and enjoy it, this afternoon.  As events transpired, there was no enjoyment whatsoever.

The Reds played well in the first half.  There were some grumblings, beforehand, that Aquilani didn’t start, but Mascherano and Lucas showed why they were picked as they completely bossed the midfield.  It was also a huge relief to see Gerrard and Torres reunited, and they looked dangerous whenever they linked up.  You couldn’t fault the whole team’s energetic performance and Arsenal weren’t given a kick.

The deadlock was broken on 40 minutes when Dirk Kuyt slotted home, after Almunia fumbled a free kick.  Liverpool thoroughly deserved the lead, but the big question was if they could they keep it going in the second half.  You can never discount Arsenal, as they can create a chance out of nothing, and surely they couldn’t be as bad as they were in the first half.

Well, inevitably, things didn’t go the same in the second half.  An own goal from Johnson and a wonder strike from Arshavin were enough to seal all three points for the Gunners.  It was a complete turnaround from Liverpool, and any confidence completely drained from the players, following the equaliser.  They seemed totally lacking of ideas and I don’t think that they had a shot in the second period.

Is there a solution to Liverpool’s woes?  I don’t really see one.  Under other circumstances, I might be asking for a change of manager.  But, who would they bring in to replace Benitez?  Given the current squad and the financial restraints, what could another manager do differently?  It seems like a problem without an answer.

Oh well, Christmas is a time for miracles, so fingers crossed.

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Blackburn Rovers 0 Liverpool 0

December 5, 2009 Leave a Comment

Ah, a Saturday afternoon kick-off, and the joys of trying to get an internet stream.

I didn’t manage to get anything for the first 15 minutes, but then I finally connected.  For about 5 seconds.  Then it went off again.  It doesn’t appear that I missed much as it was 0-0.

Over on Sky’s Soccer Saturday and Liverpool are getting their usual slating.  Yes, it’s quite possible that we were playing badly, but you never know when it’s Le Tissier commenting (at least he’s not as bad as Merson).

Half time and it remained goalless.   To be honest, I’d pretty much given up on trying to get a stream at the stage.

On 57 minutes a miracle happened – I got a stream to work.  At this stage, I realised that I didn’t even know who was playing for the Reds, and so I checked.  Still no Torres, but Kuyt started up front.   Ngog replaced Riera on 51 minutes, which seems a bit too early for a Benitez substitution.  I can only assume that Riera was injured (it doesn’t say on my Sky Sports iPhone app).

Liverpool probably had the better of the final 30 minutes, but it was all very laboured and Blackburn had their own dangerous moments.  Almost inevitably, it ended goalless.  It was another desperately disappointing result.

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Everton 0 Liverpool 2

November 29, 2009 Leave a Comment

Derbies are weird, and both teams have been awful recently, so I had absolutely no idea how this was going to go, beforehand.  There was still no Torres or Aquilani in the starting line-up for Liverpool, but, to be fair, Everton had a whole bunch of their own injury problems.

The opening ten minutes were typically manic, and not a lot of football was played.  Fittingly, for such a scrappy game, Liverpool took the lead, on 11 minutes, from a wildly deflected Mascherano shot.  It didn’t look like it was on target, so it will probably go down as an own goal from Joseph Yobo.

On 17 minutes, Bilyaletdinov missed an open goal and should really have put the Toffees level.  The chance came from a throw-in in to the box, Liverpool’s defence still looks suspect from set pieces.  Everton were looking quite dangerous and were definitely getting the better of the chances.

On 32 minutes, Jo was caught marginally offside after slotting home from a clever turn.  It would have been what Everton deserved as they continued to press the Reds back.  On 42 minutes, Jo put the ball in the back of the net again, but this time he was ridiculously offside.

The half ended 0-1 to Liverpool, despite them being pretty woeful.  Surely they couldn’t be as bad in the second half.

Well, they weren’t quite as bad, but the pattern of the game continued.  The second half was relatively event free until, on 70 minutes, Reina made a excellent double save from Cahill and Fellaini; I really thought that Everton had scored.

On 79 minutes, Kuyt made it 0-2, following up after Howard parried an Albert Riera shot.  It certainly gave an extremely flattering look to the scoreline.  Thankfully, the game became quite comfortable from that point onwards,  and Liverpool were able to see out the end of the game.

The blue half of the city must have come away baffled as to how they lost, but the Reds did just about enough.  Regardless of the local rivalry, it was a crunch game for Liverpool and it was all about the 3 points.  They didn’t play well, but sometimes you have to get a few scrappy wins to get your form going.  Hopefully this is a fresh start for Liverpool.

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Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0

October 25, 2009 4 Comments

Thank god for that.

I’ve complained that I’ve been nervous before every game this season, so I don’t really need to tell you how I was feeling before this one.  Last night, I had a dream in which Rafa had picked a completely new starting 11 from the reserves, and knowing Mr Benitez, there was always a remote chance that this might happen.  Luckily it didn’t, and the return of Torres and Johnson made up slightly for the loss of Gerrard.

I’m not going to be able to give you a blow-by-blow account of the game, not because I didn’t watch it, but because I was far too nervous.  Suffice to say, it was all as frantic as you would imagine.  The first half ended goalless and fairly evenly, with Liverpool possibly having the better chances.  The Manchester United players remonstrated with the referee on the stroke of half time as they felt that some decisions hadn’t gone their way.  No further comment necessary.

Things really heated up in the second half and the breakthrough for Liverpool came on 64 minutes; an exquisite through ball from Yossi Benayoun was threaded to Torres who smashed it home.  From that point on, I felt totally sick with nerves.

United managed to create some pressure towards the end of the match and Jamie Carragher could have been sent off for a professional foul on Michael Owen.  It wasn’t entirely clear cut as Owen was headed away from goal and there were other players present, but you wouldn’t have been shocked if he has received a red card instead of yellow.  A few minutes later, Vidic received a second yellow card for bringing down a quickly breaking Kuyt, and, incredibly, it was the third league game in a row against Liverpool in which he’s been dismissed.  Mascherano also saw red after a second booking for a sliding tackle on Van Der Sar.  The game was settled five and a half minutes in to injury time when Kuyt and Lucas broke and slid Ngog in for a good goal.

I feel like I’ve just gone twelve rounds with Mike Tyson, so I’m not going to make any in depth judgements about what this result meant.  The main thing, other than the result, was that the team put in a performance and every man played his part.

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West Ham 2 Liverpool 3

September 19, 2009 3 Comments

This is yet another strange match report and is as much a description of my attempts to watch the match as it is about the match itself.  With no ESPN, I’d be relying on internet streams and, as I decided to start typing this while the match was in progress, you’ll have to forgive me if I get the tense wrong from time to time.

Twenty minutes in to the match, I missed Torres’ opener.  I was struggling to get a working stream despite trying a recommendation from a mate which was working fine for him.  On the plus side, I also missed the stress of West Ham hitting the post early in the match.   I was still relatively calm at this point as at least things were going to plan.   Then, just to annoy me, my laptop started making a plonking noise while it tried to connect to a stream.  Fortunately, it didn’t last long.  Unfortunately, the stream didn’t connect either, and West Ham equalised from a penalty, scored by Alessandro Diamanti, on 29 minutes.  I don’t know what was making me angrier at this point, the fact that they conceded a goal or that I couldn’t watch them concede it.

Liverpool re-took the lead on 41 minutes with a goal from Kuyt, turning in a Gerrard header.  At least that’s what Sky Sports News said, I still couldn’t see the game.  Then, just to make the first half utterly miserable, Carlton Cole made it 2-2 on 45 minutes.  It was a struggle not to smash my laptop to bits and go to bed in a huff.

Still struggling during half time, I thought I’d have a quick look at what was going on in some internet forums.  Jamie Carragher was getting a shocking amount of abuse, and, while he might be having a few off games as he gets older, some people have very short memories.

By quarter to seven I’d given up on the streams and decided to listen to it on Five Live.  Listening on the radio keeps you up to date with the facts, but it’s hard to get a feeling for the game.  From what I could tell, it was a fairly balanced match at that point.

In an unusual move, Kuyt came off, on the hour, to be replaced by Ryan Babel, presumably to add a bit of pace to the attack.  It’s not very often that Dirk is substituted and it’s less often that Babel plays well.

Having been lulled close to sleep by the relaxing commentary, I barely realised that Torres had scored on 75 minutes.  Could the Reds do enough to stay in front this time?  The answer was almost immediately no, as Cole forced a save from Reina straight from the kick off.

Something shocking happens on 84 minutes when a pundit talked sense.  Mark Bright said that ANY team would struggle if they lost their best two players.  This is something that people with brains have been saying for years, but many pundits believe it only applies to Liverpool.

Then, before I knew it, the match was over and Liverpool had picked up the win.  From what I could tell, West Ham were excellent in the first half but faded a little in the second.  From a Liverpool point of view, it’s another three points in the bag.  Now I just need to watch the highlights later to see if anything that I have written makes sense.

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Liverpool 1 Debrecen 0

September 16, 2009 2 Comments

The Champion’s League is back and Liverpool start with a win, and, while I seem to say this after every game these days, getting the result was the important thing.

Thanks to British Rail, and a broken train, I missed the first twenty minutes of the match, but I get the impression that I didn’t miss much. We gradually started to build some pressure and Kuyt’s goal, on the stroke of half time, was enough to seal the victory. Debrecen made a fist of it towards the end of the game, and, despite a few hairy moments, the Reds just about did enough. Job done.

I listened to a bit of the Five Live phone in on the way home and, again, almost smashed up the radio in anger. Things were kicked off by a Liverpool fan so negative that I can only assume that he will be on suicide watch tonight. His views were surely unrepresentative of the majority and yet the presenter took this as an opportunity to put the boot in. Apparently, Benitez doesn’t understand that Liverpool fans want to win the league. And what is the evidence for this statement? Well, he hasn’t won the league yet, has he? Absolutely watertight. The presenter, whoever it was, seemed to think that the only reason that they haven’t won the league is because Rafa doesn’t want to, and has nothing to do with the fact that there have been better teams. I don’t like anyone criticising my team, but I’ll accept it if it has any basis in reality.

Anyway, the important question for the evening is this: is it just me that’s never heard of Debrecen before?

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Liverpool 4 Burnley 0

September 13, 2009 Leave a Comment

Well, the stinky international break is finally over and we can get back to some real football. Under normal circumstances I’d go in to a game against Burnley feeling pretty confident, but, given the start to the season, I didn’t have that luxury and was very anxious pre-match. With the emergence of Man City and Spurs in the early part of the season it seems like there is huge pressure on every game, if Liverpool are going to maintain Champion’s League status.

As I mentioned yesterday, I wasn’t able to fully follow the match live, catching chunks of the match on the radio, and keeping up to date with the Sky Sports iPhone app. My impressions were that for the first twenty minutes it was a bit of a chore, but, after the first goal went in, Liverpool eventually took control.

With Match of the Day showing only brief highlights (little more than the goals and a few chances), it was difficult to get a feel for the game. It’s pretty safe to say that Benayoun had a good game as he scored a hat trick. Dirk Kuyt scored the other goal, just in case you were wondering.

As always, the main thing was picking up the three points. Bring on the Champions League.

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