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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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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Liverpool 2 Wolves 0

December 26, 2009 Leave a comment

My excuse for not watching the match today is a family party – it’s my gran’s 87th birthday (happy birthday, Gran).

Anyway, Liverpool won, which was nice. It’s not good when getting a win against a newly promoted side feels like a special christmas treat.

Fingers crossed for a dramatic upturn in form in the new year.

UPDATE: Well, I’ve just watched Match of the Day. It took a sending off and a heavily deflected goal for the Reds to seal the win. Sometimes it can take a scruffy win to get your confidence and momentum going.

I’ve still got my fingers crossed.

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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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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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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 Birmingham City 2

November 10, 2009 Leave a comment

At least it wasn’t a loss?

I promised myself that I was going to be a ‘bad fan’ tonight and avoid the match at all costs.  But, with the kick-off rapidly approaching, I found myself looking for an internet stream.   Sadly, I easily found one.

The first half sums up Liverpool’s season in a nutshell – they completely outplayed Birmingham but, inexplicably, came in behind.  Ngog scored first (13 minutes), for the Reds, and everything was looking good.   Then I lost the stream for a few minutes and when I got it back the score was 1-1 (Benitez, 26 minutes).  Brilliant.  Liverpool then battered Birmingham until the 47th minute of the half when Cameron Jerome lashed in a long range effort to put the Blues ahead.  How very depressing.

The second half continued the Liverpool barrage, but it was only with a dodgy penalty in the 70th minute that they were able to draw level.  Ngog made a great run in to the box but then went down with no contact made on him, and a penalty was incorrectly given.  Gerrard stepped up and coolly slotted it home.  It’s worth noting that Gerrard started the game on the bench and came on, for an injured Riera, in the first half.  He could be considered half-fit, at best.

It was all Liverpool for the next 20 minutes but a winner looked increasingly unlikely and the match finished 2-2.

I don’t really know how I’m supposed to feel about the match.  It was a game completely dominated by the Reds, but in the end we were only able to scrape a draw by means of a dive and a wrongly given penalty.  On 76 minutes, the TV coverage gave the incredible statistic of the number of completed passes for each team: Birmingham 92 – Liverpool 421.  This can often be misleading as a team can have lots of possession but not look dangerous, but Liverpool had plenty of good attacking play.  To be honest, I feel a bit baffled.

Where do Liverpool go from here?  I’m honestly not sure.

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