The Anfield Injury Jinx Strikes Again

The game now continued and amazingly our defence seemed to be on top of their performance for a change. If only I had known at the point, how wrong I was. After his near miss, Skrtel seemed to be having a good game although Manchester City did finally get their chance on goal with Gareth Barry having a good try saved by Riera. Liverpool now had the ball again and suddenly there was a mix up between Stevie G and Ryan Babel. Both went down onto the pitch with Stevie brushing himself down and getting up first. Babel waited for the trainer to come onto the pitch and seemed extremely concerned about his ankle. After treatment he was again on the pitch but seemed to be reluctant to become involved in the play. Here we have a player that apparently is anxious to play so that he can impress his country and yet in my mind he was at this point in time being a bit of a prima donna. I watched as play resumed, although the ball was in the goal area and the defence appeared to need help, he had little intention of joining in. This led to Jamie making a rather sharp tackle which resulted in him getting a yellow card. Oh no, I thought, please be careful Jamie - I honestly did not want him to eventually be sent off. The camera then switched to the middle line where Stevie G as captain was telling Babel to get himself together and get on with it. The old Shankly spirit appeared to be alive and well, or was it? Several minutes later, he was off and Benayoun had come on - I said a very quiet prayer and hoped that the controversial treatment with Horse placenta had worked.

Benayoun immediately made his mark on the game and joined in as Liverpool continued to attack eventually losing the ball to Manchester City who then had two goes at the goal with the final going way over. The ball was now back amongst the Liverpool players and eventually landed at Dirk Kuyt feet to enable him to take a chance. This was unfortunately deflected by Wayne Bridge and led to a corner that was taken by Stevie G. This was then picked up by Benayoun who unfortunately missed. Up to this point in the game Kyriakos seemed to be playing okay on what was his full debut at Anfield. It was at this point in the game that Liverpool had their first fright from Manchester City. They had gained the ball which led to Shaun Wright Phillips having a go at the goal with Steven Ireland doing the same. Mascherano who appeared to be having a quiet game suddenly emerged from the shadows and shot a long ball at the goal which unfortunately went over. We were now approaching half time and the fourth official said that 6 minutes were to be added on. Play continued but neither team showed any sign of scoring in this time. The first half finished with the score at nil-nil.

The second half began with Manchester City making a substitution before kicking off. Toure was off with a hamstring problem with Onuoha coming on in his place. Manchester City started the half well and seemed to have control of the game for a short time. The camera then switched to the touchline where Aquilani was warming up. - Would we see his magic this afternoon I wondered? Then it happened, Liverpool was awarded a free kick after a foul on Ngog by Wright Phillips. It was in an area that Stevie G was able to score from. I sat fingers crossed and watched. It was a wonderful kick towards the goal mouth, picked up by Skrtel and the back of the net was found. After missing his first chance he had scored his first goal for the club. We were now one up and it was looking good - Perhaps Rafa was right, but then again I thought the Manchester United game was the benchmark to follow. This seemed to fire the team up and the play became urgent for a short time. Kyriakos gave away a free kick but thankfully no damage was done and we were still leading. This led to the point that was to in my mind change the game. Mark Hughes decided to make a further change. Tevez was now on the pitch and the alarm bells began to ring.

Suddenly Manchester City appeared to be a different team and began to search for the goal that would bring them back into the game. Liverpool though at this point still had the upper hand which ended with Lucas being booked for a professional foul. The game had at long lasted speeded up and things began to happen quickly. Liverpool had a throw in but this led to Stevie G making a mistake and Wright Phillips picking up the ball. Manchester City was now in control with Bellamy having a shot saved by Reina. Then the usual happened,

Our defence and that so called zonal marking let us down again. The score was now 1-1. Liverpool were now shell shocked and could not find their feet quick enough. You guessed it - Liverpool were now on the losing end yet again. Mark Hughes had a smile on his face for the first time during the game - 2 -1

I was by now fuming and sitting on the sofa texting the Radio City phone in - then the man with the miracle cure behind him scored a goal to make us level.

The score was now 2-2 and this seemed to ignite a fire in the Liverpool side. The urgency had returned and the team was doing its best to keep the ball in their half. It was shortly after this point that Rafa used his last substitution, Aquilani had been told to sit down and Aurelio was bought on for Benayoun. The fourth official then announced a further 4 minutes of play. You could feel the urgency now within the team but nothing happened and Liverpool lost yet another two points.

This has taken me ages to type for the simple reason I am still fuming and have been answering emails and queries from other Liverpool fans asking me what I thought of the game and what as supporters we can do to help improve the results.

My first answer was that I was annoyed yet again at the team performance. The team must by now how important it for our results to improve. To have any hope of being in the top four at the end of the season, we must find that winning mentality. Sadly with the current squad, I honestly don't think it is going to happen. I will be surprised if we are any higher than seventh in May. I also know in my heart that changes now need to be made from the top down. It has now got to the point where something radical needs to be done and if that brings Rafa Benitez into the equation then so be it.

What can we do as supporters? I noticed again today that the atmosphere inside Anfield was very quiet. We must become the twelfth man, week in and week out especially when the team are not doing well. Encouragement always works and believe me if I could be on the Kop every other week singing my heart out I would be. We as supporters must try and stop the negativity that surrounds the manager and team. This I am sure feeds back to team and must affect them in an adverse way.
What else can we do? I guess the only other answer is pray that our season turns itself around. That our injury curse disappears and that the players realise they are playing for a major club and need to put their heart into every game they play.