LFC2007 wrote:It's Rafa's fault we won![]()
In all seriousness, I thought resting Keane wasn't the best idea, but equally I didn't think the change in formation was responsible for us being 2-0 down. Aurelio couldn't prevent SWP getting the cross in for the first, and Arbeloa dallied on the ball for too long when it eventually arrived, add to that Mascherano was nowhere to be seen when he should've been tracking Ireland who eventually scored. The second came about as a result of a clumsy foul by Riera, but the free-kick by Garrido was superb (Sabre jinxed us), although the wall had Mascherano in it who's one of our smallest players, which I thought was odd.
I thought first half was fairly equal - they simply took the only two chances which came their way, but they certainly didn't play us off the park. Riera (one of our brightest players first half) was at the forefront of at least 3 dangerous openings for us, in which one was very dangerous. Kuyt completely mishit the first, and couldn't quite reach the second, but at least he was following up in the box - and that was part of the reason he managed to get the winner. Some of our general play was sloppy though, Mascherano's passing in particular was poor, Kuyt's too. Arbeloa had a bit of a mare first half but more than made up for it in the second.
Gerrard drifted throughout the half, taking up positions on the left and right, with Riera and Kuyt both moving infield at times, but he didn't look particularly comfortable when moving into centre in a supporting capacity for Torres and that was partly down to City's effective marking, but partly because he's not as effective in those positions. I didn't see the need for a second defensive midfielder at all throughout the first half, Gerrard and one of Alonso/Mascherano (though preferrably Alonso) could've handled the load. Overall, I didn't think the formation cost us the 2 goals, but I felt we could've got more out of the team going forward with Keane in the side, replacing Kuyt and moving Gerrard to the right, or keeping the same formation and selection as previous games.
Second half, Kuyt drifted inside again and almost won us a penalty, and our attitude and general play improved. Still with the same formation we scored a brilliant team goal. Gerrard was in one of his wide positions on the right when he received the ball to play to Arbeloa - whose run was excellent because they hadn't anticipated it and he saw the opening. Then Torres used his body to screen the ball from the FB and slot in.
They had a chance to kill the game at 2-1, but Robinho missed and was offside anyway. Zabaleta was sent off, then, Dossena and Keane arrived and helped change the game. Aurelio had a poor game I thought so was justifiably removed, and the same applied to Mascherano. Only then did we revert back to the formation of previous matches. The equaliser came about because Dossena was willing to get forward and at least try and put the cross in - which is something Aurelio hadn't attempted. The corner was excellent, the header equal to it, but the defending was very poor. Richards was initially marking Torres and got blocked off by Kompany who then couldn't see Torres because he was coming from behind him, and Keane took Gelson away from the front post.
Then Benayoun came on and set up Dossena for the cross to Keane with some clever link up play. Keane did brilliantly to set up Torres for that great chance he missed late on, then Benayoun's movement for the third was top notch. Dossena's pass was weighted perfectly and Benayoun held his run, then moved and took it into the box, showed good awareness to cut it back for Torres and Kuyt was there again following up.
I wouldn't say Rafa's selection policy cost us the game, poor errors nearly cost us the game, but I would say his substitutions (all had a big impact) in tandom with the sending off won us the game.
but the free-kick by Garrido was superb (Sabre jinxed us)
Gerrard, on the other hand, seems to be much more comfortable in the center of a midfield four instead of the second striker/ attacking center mid role he was in for the city game. For me his movement is not good enough there as he seems to want the ball while he is standing still instead of moving and therefore moving the defense around as well. Also, Gerrard's passing from midfield asks many more questions of the defense than that of Masch. Too many times Masch is too happy to play the ball square or back and our build up takes far too long. Gerrard is much more direct from midfield, slotting direct, penetrating balls to the feet of Keane and Torres, moving our attack further up the pitch behind the oppositions midfield and defense.
Igor Zidane wrote:Lets just try and give oureslves the chance of enjoying it this season , if it happens were gonna be so worked up by all the negativity ,we will miss the lot . Lets go on a roller coaster ride this season and enjoy every minute , lets see what happens and be grateful that we will be able to witness it again . .
Bad Bob wrote:Igor Zidane wrote:Lets just try and give oureslves the chance of enjoying it this season , if it happens were gonna be so worked up by all the negativity ,we will miss the lot . Lets go on a roller coaster ride this season and enjoy every minute , lets see what happens and be grateful that we will be able to witness it again . .
Spot on, mate. I was told to get a grip yesterday for actually expressing excitement about our comeback and about the way things are developing so far this season. F.uck that. We secured three hard-fought points against a spirited opponent on their patch and no one's going to convince me that that's not worth celebrating!
s@int wrote:Bad Bob wrote:Igor Zidane wrote:Lets just try and give oureslves the chance of enjoying it this season , if it happens were gonna be so worked up by all the negativity ,we will miss the lot . Lets go on a roller coaster ride this season and enjoy every minute , lets see what happens and be grateful that we will be able to witness it again . .
Spot on, mate. I was told to get a grip yesterday for actually expressing excitement about our comeback and about the way things are developing so far this season. F.uck that. We secured three hard-fought points against a spirited opponent on their patch and no one's going to convince me that that's not worth celebrating!
I agree mate, celebrate every win and enjoy it as much as you can........we may start losing soon![]()
Sorry
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