Sunshine Spring and Old Trafford
Liverpool Football Club have reached that time in the season where all the big clubs start to play each other again. This afternoon, the journey down the M52 took Rafa Benitez and the team to Old Trafford. How the afternoon was going to turn out was anyone's guess. Apart from an article in a couple of this morning's newspaper's both manager's had remained rather quiet. Both knew that they had to win the game, Manchester United to ensure that they remained at the top of the premiership and Liverpool to stake a claim on fourth place.
Sir Alex Ferguson would as always put out a team suited to the occasion, with Rafa Benitez, it is unfortunately always a guessing game. We had already been informed that Riera was suspended due to his badly timed comments and good guess work had already told most of us that Aquilani would not be starting. For the some reason he is not being allowed to adjust to the English Premiership. The team though, was one that should have seen us win the game. It was Reina, Insua, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Mascherano, Lucas, Gerrard, Rodrigeux, Kuyt and Torres. Referee for the afternoon was Howard Webb, who had been bought in at the last moment due to the enormity of the game.
As the teams were led out onto the Old Trafford turf, the sun was shining and the temperature was the best it had been in several months. Both teams were aware of what they had to do and as Liverpool kicked off, the result was anyone's guess. I was pretty sure that was going to be draw, with both teams playing safe, but that was changed in just under five minutes when Fernando Torres found his way through an open defense and Liverpool were already 1-0 up. The game restarted and both teams began to attack each other very quickly, with good tackles from either side , although Mascherano did what only Mascherano does well and earned himself a yellow card along with giving Manchester United a penalty. The penalty taker was going to be Wayne Rooney who at the moment is on fire and having the game of his life. As he was going up to take the kick, Ferando Torres pointed out that the penalty spot appeared to be rather deep into the earth, but Howard Webb told Rooney to get on with it, which he did. Reina anticipated his move very well and saved the ball, only to miss it again as Rooney kicked the rebound straight into the back of the net.
At this point the camera then switched to the bench and it appeared that Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez were having a go at each other which resulted in Andre Mariner have to separate them.
Stevie G still did not seem to be at his best and although taking part in some good passes, the end product was not arriving in the goal mouth. At the other end of the pitch though things were beginning to happen with Ji Song Park, beginning to cause problems and having his first shot at the goal, this one though Reina saved. Torres, whose temper of late, seems to be short, got caught in a tackle and earned Liverpool's second yellow card of the afternoon.
Up until this point in the game, Liverpool's defense was having a good day, in particular Jamie Carragher who was playing extremely well. But the inevitable happened and our defense was slowly beginning to fall away and it became increasing obvious that at some point Manchester United would score again
The second half started with Manchester United kicking off and getting very quickly into their stride with a lot of good passing play. Torres was brought down by Michael Carrick but at this point in time Howard Webb decided to ignore it. Johnson tripped up nani and Manchester United was awarded a free kick which thankfully they wasted. Liverpool had by now picked up the ball and had a small period of good passing play, but again the much needed second goal was eluding them.
Liverpool's defense had by now begun to show signs of tiredness and if it had not been for the hardworking Jamie Carragher, I dread to think what the score line might have been. Ji Sung Park, who along with Rooney appeared to be having the game of his life was making things very difficult for Liverpool but finding his way through several times before finally having one shot saved by Reina and a further shot reach the back of the net.
Panic had by now set in amongst the Liverpool players which resulted in an argument between Fletcher and Kuyt. With all the players beginning to circle the pair, Howard Webb waded in and pulled them apart. This is I guess proved that for once the FA were right in changing the referee.
With the game now being run by Manchester United, Vidic went for Torres and everyone waited to see if yet again he would be sent off, this time though he was awarded with only a yellow card. But the clock was now ticking on and both managers decided it was time for a change. Aquilani was bought on for Kuyt, Babel for Rodrigeux and Ryan Giggs for Nani. As always though, with Benitez, these changes were too little, too late. The game continued with Manchester United surging forward all the time, with the threat of a third goal. Then the final two changes of the game happened with Benayoun coming on for Lucas and Paul Scholes coming on for Park. This though did not make any difference and the match ended after five minutes extra play with Manchester United winning 2-1.
The question of whether we will reach fourth place still remains though and to be honest I believe we will be lucky to reach sixth. It has not been a very good season and a one hundred per cent improvement is needed come August. If that means a change of Manager then so be it. One thing for sure is, whoever our owners will be at the point in time, they are going to have spend money to bring the team up to standard (we can all dream).
Older/Newer
« Latest Liverpool FC news from the Liverpool ECHO | Once again Howard Webb gets it wrong and makes a critical ruling against Liverpool »
3 Comments
Latest Premier League video
Solid 1st hast half but has the candle burnt out for Rafa.
This week has seen an improved level of performance for Liverpool and I think it will be close for the 4th place.
I donâÂÂt see Liverpool winning all of their remaining fixtures. At best 4 wins, two draws and a probable loss to CFC will be the final results for us this season. I have a strong feeling Liverpool will also finish a min total of 21pts+ behind the league winners. Yes 21pts behind the league winners. For this statistic alone is a bad pill to swallow and is enough to see him handed his P45.
Even if we scrape through and take the 4th place and win the EUROPA league we still need to play a qualifier for the Champions league and with our level of inconsistency there is no guarantee we would even win this. Should a club of LiverpoolâÂÂs pedigree accept that fighting for 4th place be enough. It was a bad decision to give Benitez the 5 year deal in the results based business of football.
The min requirement for Benitez this season should have been 3rd place in the league + a cup. Given he has had 5+ years I donâÂÂt accept his excuses or some of the fans blind loyalty.àFor Liverpool to get back to winning a change of mentality and expectation and desire levels needs to change.
I donâÂÂt think he had done enough to gain such a contract and control of the club. A tough business decision will need to be made as to whatâÂÂs in the best interest of the club. If we take the line that it will cost us ã15 million pounds to replace him so letâÂÂs not replace him. àWe have to face facts that itâÂÂs probably 70% likely right now that we will not finish 4th. I think a brutal decision should have been made a Christmas time. Liverpool now face losing out on Champions league revenue next season and also a massive reduction on our 20 million a season sponsorship deal with standard charter next season.
I have to be honest I have not seen any major progression points this season. Our football has been dour. Low progress has been made with youth players coming through and there has been no progression with the development of the 2nd tier players to suggest that he has the ability to get these to put enough pressure on our first 11.
This is what pushes the team to win titles when you have two players fighting for each place pushing each other to levels which are beyond the playerâÂÂs standard performance levels. ÃÂ
Liverpool have to face the fact that our level of performances this season barely rank us in overall top 30 teams in Europe. Manchester United are in the top four bracket in the world. For this reason we should not feel disgraced or bad about the game today. ItâÂÂs the other 30 games this season against the teams the bread and butter which are the most important.
When you see the success of the Premier league in the champions league it makes you realise how difficult it is to win or make a challenge in the premiership. We have possibly 3 to 4 teams that have the budgets and squads to rank in the worldâÂÂs top 15 teams. I have to be brutally honest based on our performances this season we have no right to consider ourselves worthy of a top 4 place. We have lost 10 times in the EPL this season and this really hurts us.
Despite all of the challenges that Rafa has faced with the boards uncertainty and changing the bar regarding transfer funds. I feel he as the manager has to take the ultimate responsibility and with the team and the resources he had over the summer we had enough in the tank to finish (3rd to 4th) comfortably. I think that Rafa has done a solid job however has taken the club as far as we can go. àWe will always be a good cup team able to keep it tight and contain the opposition over two legs. But he doesnâÂÂt have the players or the mentality to consistently get the team playing to a high level and get the team to win 4 to 5 wins on the trot regularly enough. ÃÂ
I heard a stat of SKY which also indicates how the poor level of our performances this season that we have scored only 50 goals this season compared to ManchesterâÂÂs 70+. ItâÂÂs clear that we have missed Torres and Gerrard but any great manager always has a (plan a) and (plan b) or develops a system to still gain positive results. ItâÂÂs for this reason that Rafa has really suffered. I canâÂÂt understand how has he let arise that we only have one true striker, any sensible manager ensures he has a decent second option with the ability to score one goal every three games.
Any Fan or Pundit could have told you last season that Kuyt and NGOG are not of the standard to lead the forward line.
I have to really take my hat off to Arsenal this season as the squad has really worked hard together to compensate for the loss of Van Persie. It makes me wonder how much more points they would of acquired if they had him in the team.
Liverpool need to drastically look at this situation because we have to face facts that Spurs and Aston Villa and Mancity are all on the fringes of catching us up. So to win the league next season will be even more difficult. We will need to play at a far higher level from the start of the season. So I feel we are faced with a situation where we have no option but to replace Benitez. I donâÂÂt think if he stayed next season that he would have enough to inspire this squad to win the Champions League or League.
Despite Benitez doing well last season we have to consider how bad CFC were for long periods. If they had Gus or Jose I would go as far as saying they probably would have won the league last season or at the very least finished 2nd. àLast season will be remembered as RafaâÂÂs best chance to ever win the league and will be his only chance.
I have really enjoyed the great moments that he has given us but as I have been saying for a while he lacks the X-Factor that little something which get the extra 10% out of average players which the best man managers such as Ferguson, Capello or Gus and Jose are able to get out of players. ÃÂ
We need a change of mentality based on winning and not one based on lets contain teams and try not to concede and win by one goal. This mentality is correct against the BarcelonaâÂÂs one of the world or if you are playing two legged cup ties. This is not the attitude or mentality of a team with aspirations of being the best particularly when we play team in the bottom half. I have never seen Manu have this attitude. The problem with a team that has this mentality is that when they go one behind or have to chase a result itâÂÂs very difficult to turn games around because they have set their stall to play in a defensive manner.
Some fans would suggest giving Rafa more time if we finish 4th and giving him more money but I take the view he is likely to squander this money again like he did with our summer transfer budget.
Thanks and Adios Benitez.
With LFC 'supporters' like these two(Fulcher,Eldon)who needs rival fans!Looks like you've made a friend Faith....birds of a feather and all that.Eldon,like you, also seems to think that the contents of his head somehow represent reality.Luckily reality is a little more complex than that.Torres scuffed two chances that he would normally bury...a fairer scoreline would of been 2-1 Liverpool,or at the very least 2-2.In todays climate where every single LFC game is a 'must win'--a phenomena that started in August and which has been cultivated in the media and then parroted by idiot journalists ever since--I long for the days of a more accepting,'you win some, you lose some' supportive mentality;especially when playing Manchester United at home.Liverpool fans who want an objective analysis of their club read the tomkins times http://tomkinstimes.com
You're on top of the game. Thanks for shriang.