Liverpool FC Forum

[Benny The Noon]

Tomkins latest

It wasn't the prettiest of displays, but it was up there with the grittiest.

Both Merseyside clubs have been experiencing a lot of injuries this term, and a difficult run of form as a result. And yet only one manager seemed to be under pressure.

David Moyes is granted all kinds of pardons for his own terrible injury problems (pardons he merits, incidentally), but Benítez is told to get on with it, such is the blatant hostility dished out by certain quarters of the media. Just compare and contrast the sympathy.

We have a situation where Charlie Nicholas says on TV that Liverpool have only had one injured player lately (Torres). I kid you not! If this is “opinion”, then I might as well say that Nicholas only has one finger, without bothering to check either of his hands for the remaining nine digits.

Nicholas is right, only if you ignore the scores of others Reds who've been crocked, and focus on the phoney notion that Liverpool only have two players anyway.

It's not just been the quantity of injuries, but the constant switching of the team because of them.

Nine different defenders had to be used in the first ten league games; Gerrard and Torres rarely paired together, and never fully fit; all of the wide midfielders out for a few games, at least; Aquilani injured for longer than had been expected (which also complicates putting him into the side).

I can almost get into double figures with those who have been either injured or struggling for match fitness in the past fortnight alone. (I'm even looking into horse placenta treatment for myself, in the hope that it cures baldness.)

Every fan wants to see Aquilani, and I'm no different. However, a boggy pitch in Hungary and a Mersey derby are not ideal introductions.

And with the Reds winning those two games, what's the problem? Now Benítez is being criticised for keeping an unchanged team.

Getting Aquilani match-fit is important, but victories right now are absolutely crucial. It's also fairer on the player to not be expected to produce the magic wand.

Let's also examine the tactical slaughtering Benítez took before the match.

There was this pearler from the ubiquitous Anon on the BBC, which was picked out for their score update page, but also sums up the kind of thing actual pundits were suggesting:

“I don't know what is wrong with Benitez, his team selection is mad. Leaving Benayoun and Riera on the bench is crazy and we have two left backs on the field - and we have a striker/winger that can't cross or score.”

This is the kind of lack of insight that shows how empty vessels make the most noise; and how the mass media are happy to facilitate them by adding a voluminous echo.

For starters, both Riera and Benayoun were recovering from recent hamstring problems. How can a fan not understand that? That's basic knowledge.

Next, Aurelio is no simple left-back shoved into midfield, but a cultured footballer with a great left foot. And Insua is an incredibly attack-minded full-back who came closest to adding a second for the Reds (from the the right-back's cross) before Kuyt duly obliged.

Yes, the great Anon is also suggesting that Kuyt can't cross (go and watch last season's DVD and see what rubbish that is) or score; yet has now got 20 goals in one-and-a-third seasons, without penalties. He'd not been at his best in recent weeks, after a bright start to the campaign, but was back on song at Goodison.

So much for a negative central midfield, too. Mascherano, with a shot out of the Frank Lampard playbook, scored (or “created”) the opening goal, and in the second half, Lucas was absolutely mowed down for a penalty as he got ahead of the strikers. (I'm losing count of the stone-wall penalties waved away this season.)

I'm not going to pretend that the duo are in the side for their attacking flair, but they do allow the full-backs more licence to get forward, with each player possessing a tactical maturity beyond their years, if not the full gamut of skills.

The team needs to be looked at as a whole, and that's the balance they provide. Both have been outstanding in the past month.

And let's face it, for the most part, scoring goals hasn't been the Reds' problem this season (or last), especially in the league. But with two long-overdue clean sheets, maybe that particular corner was the crucial one to turn.

And much of that improvement is down to the return of the Agger/Carragher partnership, with the former back to full fitness, and the latter back to his commanding best.

I really didn't understand Alan Hansen's logic when he recently said that Rafa hadn't bought any great players in the sub-£10m bracket. For me, Reina – whose outstanding double save secured the draw – and Agger, each around £6m, are world-class, before even getting onto bargains like Benayoun, Insua, et al.

Agger's return to the side has been crucial. He is the most underrated central defender around; but only underrated because injuries have curtailed his progress in the past couple of years.

Yet he's still only 24, and not yet quite in a central defender's prime years (usually 25-32, given that they mature later, due to the value of experience when reading the game).

When he's fit, he has it all.

Indeed, with Johnson and Insua so strong going forward, the inclusion of Agger in the side means yet more progressive movement from the back; which again adds context to why Mascherano and Lucas have played.

But often, the psychological side of a slump is the hardest thing to counter. Look at Manchester City, with their hugely expensive squad, including enough strikers for half the division. Their fear is that they will concede late goals and draw games they were winning.

With it playing on their mind, they concede late goals and draw games they were winning.

That's why a couple of victories on the spin, complete with clean sheets, is so important.

The upside of all of Liverpool's injuries is that it should mean extra freshness in the remaining two-thirds of the season – providing that everyone is over their existing problems and only a ‘normal' amount of niggles occur from now on.

It's also helped provide the emergence of David N'Gog as a rapidly improving understudy to Fernando Torres. It might not be the ideal way to blood the young Frenchman, but his progression has definitely been a bonus.

It might need a fully fit and sharp Gerrard, Torres, Aquilani and Benayoun – or even just three of that quartet – for the Reds to be at their exciting best, but the important aspect of this week has been winning games and keeping it tight at the back.