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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Aston Villa 0 Liverpool 1

December 29, 2009 Leave a Comment

Liverpool have been waiting for a slice of luck for a while.  Tonight, they got the whole pie.

I was all prepared for a frustrating evening looking for an internet stream, when I turned on the telly to see Villa Park in a snowstorm.  I’d missed the first twenty minutes, but at least it was 0-0 and I hadn’t missed anything.

The remainder of the first half was pretty even and very scrappy.  On 30 minutes, Pepe Reina produced a staggering, instinctive save to stop a certain goal.  Andy Gray said that he thinks Reina is the best goalie in the league, which seems to be the best kept secret in English football.

The second half was pretty dour.  The Reds controlled large passages of play but looked toothless in attack.  Villa had periods of pressure and looked much more likely to score.  A draw was looking like a good result and I could feel another loss on the cards via an impending sucker punch.

Remarkably, the sucker punch was landed by Liverpool.  It was a couple of minutes in to injury time when a ridiculous string of mistakes (from both sides) resulted in a perfect ball (from a Villa player) for Fernando Torres.  He slotted home with a trademark finish.

Bizarrely, Benitez brought on Aurelio when injury time was up, which only prolonged the final whistle.  It made no sense for him to do it.

Anyway, the result was harsh on Villa, but it was a crucial 3 points for Liverpool.

Phew.

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Portsmouth 2 Liverpool 0

December 19, 2009 1 Comment

Torres and Johnson were back in the starting line-up for this match, which was a good thing.  Andreas Dossena was also in the starting line-up, which wan’t so much a bad thing as it was baffling.  Could Liverpool do the seemingly impossible and string together back-to-back wins?  Don’t be silly.

The pitch at Fratton Park looked awful – like a ploughed field that had been frozen solid.  Suprisingly, given the conditions, the Reds actually started the match OK and passed the ball around quite nicely.  For all their possession, though, they didn’t look in the least bit dangerous.  Very worrying.

I was right to be worried – Portsmouth took the lead on 33 minutes.  Nadir Belhadj struck an unstoppable shot from an extremely acute angle.  If you’re going to be beaten, then you’d want it to be like that.  Things went from bad to worse for Liverpool on 44 minutes when Mascherano was sent off for a reckless challenge.  It was one of those fouls where you couldn’t argue that he was sent off, but also you wouldn’t have been that surprised if he had stayed on.  Either way, it was an absolute disaster.

Liverpool’s recent form suggested that they wouldn’t be able to get anything out the game – even if they had 11 men on the pitch.  After the break, it could be argued that Liverpool were slightly more dangerous than they were in the first half, but only because they actually forced a save from the Pompey keeper.  It’s no exaggeration to say that Portsmouth were in complete control of the match.

Their dominance was made even more emphatic on 82 minutes, when Frédéric Piquionne steered home another terrific strike.  If Liverpool looked dead and buried at 1-0, they certainly did at 2-0.  That’s how the humiliation ended.

This was a sadly ignominious way to mark Jamie Carragher’s 600th match for the club.  Where next for Rafa Benitez?  I’m too pissed off at the minute to be able to make a sensible comment.

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Liverpool 2 Wigan Athletic 1

December 16, 2009 2 Comments

Ah. Football.

So, the ‘mighty’ Reds managed to get a win. I can’t complain too much, it makes quite a pleasant change.

I didn’t watch any of the match, I couldn’t face the trauma of trying to find an internet stream. If I was a more superstitious man then I’d avoid all future matches.

Anyway, Ngog and Torres scored, Wigan pulled one back in injury time, just to take the shine of it.

This may be my most half hearted match report yet.

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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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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 City 2

November 21, 2009 2 Comments

I’m sure that there used to be a time when I looked forward to watching Liverpool’s matches – but that seems like a distant memory now.  Anyway, the good news was that Steven Gerrard was back in the starting line up.  The bad news is that Fernando Torres was still missing.  Some might argue that, since Manchester City are the team most likely to push Liverpool for a top-four finish, this was a crunch game.  Given the Reds recent run of form, I’d say that every game is a crunch game.  I wish I was only being hyperbolic about it.

In the opening few minutes, Liverpool looked quite bright, but the game was disrupted by a head injury to Daniel Agger, who had to go off.  A few minutes later Ryan Babel went off with an injury, despite the efforts of Gerrard to get him to run it off, and the Reds had suffered two enforced changes in the first 20 minutes.  The first half never recovered from the two disruptions, despite Liverpool dominating the possession.

The opening minutes of the second half continued to be a dour affair until Martin Skrtel turned in a free kick, on 49 minutes, to score his first ever Liverpool goal.  Sadly, this only seemed to spark City in to life and they inevitably equalised, on 68 minutes, through an Adebayor header.  It was a dismal goal to concede from the Reds point of view; the former Arsenal striker was completely unmarked at a corner – it was worse than schoolboy defending.

Things went from bad to worse when City took the lead with a goal from a possibly offside Stephen Ireland, on 75 minutes.  To be fair, it was an excellent move and good goal.  Just as I was about to hold my head in my hands, Liverpool went straight down the other end and equalised – a sloppy goal scored by Benayoun.  Despite some late pressure from the home side, it ended 2-2.

Another desperately disappointing day for Liverpool.  I feel like I’ll never see them win ever again.  I was going to write a bit more, but the will has left me.

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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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Sunderland 1 Liverpool 0

October 17, 2009 4 Comments

I was only thinking last week how much I was enjoying the international break. Not because I have any interest in international football (I don’t), but because it gave me a couple of weeks in which I didn’t have to worry about Liverpool’s (mis)fortunes. So it was with a heavy heart that I approached today’s match against Sunderland.

The pre-match build up was all about the absence of Gerrard and Torres, but these weren’t the only significant changes to the line up. Mascherano only started on the bench, which meant a first Premier League start for Jay Spearing. Daniel Agger made his first appearance of the season and promptly found himself in an unfamiliar three-at-the-back formation. All in all, the omens were not good.

I listened to the first half on the radio, and the play was clearly all Sunderland’s, so it wasn’t a surprise when they took the lead after 5 minutes, with a goal from Darren Bent. What was surprising was that the goal came from a seemingly impossible deflection off a balloon. Yes, a balloon. I’ve not seen it, and rest assured I will do my very best to never see it, so I can’t really explain how it happened. It does somehow seem metaphorically very fitting with what is happening to the Reds’ season.

I vowed not to listen to any of the second half and to just read my book instead, but I, of course, couldn’t stay away completely. Every time I flicked the radio on Liverpool seemed no closer to equalising and Sunderland had quite a few more chances. Liverpool couldn’t even take advantage of a ridiculous seven minutes of injury time to scrape a lucky draw.

I honestly don’t know where Liverpool’s season goes from here, but even the most optimistic part of me now concedes that any chance of winning the league has gone. Just remember, it’s only a game.

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Liverpool 6 Hull City 1

September 26, 2009 7 Comments

Another Saturday 3pm kick off for Liverpool, another battle with internet streams for me.  There is some improvement over last week when I couldn’t watch any of the West Ham match.  This week I just have to suffer really patchy coverage.  I spent the hour or so leading up to kick making sure I had as many options to watch as possible and come three o’clock I was watching a rock solid stream.  Which lasted for 3 minutes.  I managed to get another stream going until 8 minutes in, and then that packed in too.  Another frustrating afternoon was on the cards.

When I got the stream back, around 14 minutes in, I had missed Liverpool’s opener, and I didn’t know who had scored (Torres, of course).  I then promptly lost the stream again and desperately spent my time getting one back.  After a gap of more than five minutes, I switch on the TV to get an update from Soccer Saturday.  Hull have now equalised, a goal by Geovanni on 15 minutes.  To make matters worse, Paul Merson is doing the game summarising.  Merson is a Liverpool anti-fan.

Miraculously, I got the stream back on 25 minutes and so was able to see Torres’ second goal, two minutes later.  Fernando showed great control as he took the ball around a defender and then round the goalie before casually slotting the ball home (I did think he was going to cock it up for a minute).  30 seconds after the goal and the stream went again.  After that, the stream was intermittant until half time; one minute on, 3 minutes off.

It was a relief to get to half time without wanting to put my head in the oven, but it still wasn’t great.  At least they were winning.

Torres made it 3-1 a few minutes after the break, I didn’t see it, but I was happy.  Missed the first 15 minutes of the half and then got the stream back working.  Amazingly, this was just in time to see Steven Gerrard make the score 4-1, with a cross-shot from near the touchline.  Actually, as it’s Gerrard, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was a shot.

Torres was replaced on 67 minutes by Ryan Babel; he wouldn’t have wanted to come off, but it’s best to keep him fresh for Fiorentina on Tuesday.  Gerrard also got subbed on 73 minutes for Mascherano, who seems to have fallen from favour.  The stream has been quite reliable at this point and the Reds have been in total control of the match, although, that’s easy when you have a three goal cushion.

Typically, as soon as I type that the stream freezes.  I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.  Technically, I should have kept my fingers idle, since I typed it.

Quite incredibly, the coverage returns just seconds before Ryan Babel scores a good striker’s goal on 88 minutes.  I think I’ll be watching Match of the Day tonight!  A couple of minutes later, an Albert Riera shot deflects wickedly off Babel and loops over the goalie, it made the final score 6-1 and sealed a cracking win for the Reds.

It would be nice to be able to write all my match reports on games that I had actually seen, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers.  After being on the Liverpool season ticket waiting list for 10 years, I’ve still got another 10 years to go (barring them suddenly building the new stadium), so I guess that the internet streams are better than nothing.  It has to be said though, you wouldn’t persist with such sporadic coverage for anything other than football.

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