A Return To The Good Old Days
Or Was It?
Yesterday was one of those days that had become all too familiar with supporters towards the end of last season. The game against Blackburn had become a one of those must win games due to the poor performance of the team and the fact that Liverpool were lying in 18th position in the premiership. This is a situation that is unheard in Liverpool's history and one that has to be remedied as quickly as possible.
Would Liverpool Football Club respond to the criticism they have found themselves enveloped in over the last few months. There were rumours going around that the players had fallen out with the manager as well as arguing amongst themselves. We also had websites full of when and if Roy Hodgson was going to be sacked, but the bare truth was, the team were not simply good enough and were not winning matches that two seasons ago would have been a walkover. Also of course there was the familiar rant from big Sam and how his team would pull Liverpool apart.
Yesterday though was a major day at Anfield with the news owners in attendance so everyone had a point to prove. This included the supporters, who joined Gerry Marsden in the singing of You'll Never Walk Alone with the players still warming up on the pitch. To top it all the cameras spanned across to Martin Broughton, who was singing his heart out - have we started to put doubts into a Chelsea supporters mind, as to whom he should really support? That on its own indicated that yes, it was going to be a great afternoon.
The match started and it immediately became evident that Liverpool was out for the win. Rather than playing in the defeatist and defensive style of football that they had been, Liverpool came out with all guns blazing. This was a pleasure to see as Liverpool took control of the game from very early on. Their passing was immaculate and the defence was a credit too itself. Poulsen, a player who is very slow and is still getting used to the Premier League was not playing, so we had Maxi and Lucas playing together. Both of which have been berated over this season, but yesterday proved how good they can be, once the right mind-set is in place. Jamie of course, very rarely puts a foot wrong but when he does it normally surrounds the goal mouth.
The first half was full of incident which, with El-Haj Diouf on the pitch, is to be expected and Liverpool were denied two clear penalties. One of which was for a clear infringement in the goal area which was ignored by Phil Dowd. This though did not put the Liverpool players off and they continued to outclass Blackburn, who were doing their best to retrieve the ball and to get some movement set up. This though ended goal less and again Liverpool supporters began to wonder where the first goal was going to come from. Torres still had not put his scoring boots on and although he had several chances at the goal, the ball simply had not gone in.
But within ten minutes of the second half this was to change. Kyriakos, a player that had been brought by Rafa for ã1.5 mill set Anfield alight with a wonderful header and we were 1-0 up. Before the shouting and the screaming had stopped, Jamie being Jamie did what has become a big of a trademark and let the ball touch his head before Diouf . The score was now level and Reina sent a long ball up to the other end which was picked up by Torres. Seconds later the ground erupted, Torres had ended his drought and Liverpool was 2-1 in the lead. Would they hold on to this though as Blackburn suddenly appeared to wake up and began an onslaught on the pitch?
Thankfully, even though the Liverpool team did appear to lose their composure around the 70 minute mark, they saw it through to the end and we had our first win since August in the bag.
This gave us three very welcome points, although we are still anchored in the relegation zone of the table and need to continue the ascent to the top very quickly. This can be done of course providing the confidence that now appears to be running through the team continues. What we don't want to see, is a repeat of last season where we had a good game and then several bad ones, because the team had lost interest or were playing the wrong system, with several players out of position.
The club now having been sold of course takes away the uncertainty of the will they won't they culture that was part of the Hicks and Gillett reign, but there are still doubts surrounding the role of Roy Hodgson as manager. Many people in the media and on several websites, along with I suspect 99% of the supporter base believe he is not the right man to manage Liverpool and it will be interesting to see if he continues to take the same direction as yesterday.
If this happens and again like yesterday, Roy actually conducts an interview without putting his foot in it, then yes the team may well be on its road to recovery.
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The passion is clearly evident from the writing and that for is a massive plus.
What an afternoon. I regrettably only caught the final ten minutes of the first half, before being treated to three LFC goals - yes, we scored all of them including Blackburn's!
Our old swagger was there, bar the last, nerve wracking, 20 minutes when we lifted our foot off the gas and retreated to playing deep. When will we learn?
Our pressing was spot on and both Konchesky and Skrtel solid. Other than the own goal, Carra was playing with vim in his legs, like a young man possessed. His runs upfront weren't unwelcome.
What can one say about Soto? He's an absolute beast and a living legend. And for only 1.5 mil!
Meireles is improving with every game and his instincts are forward. Highly welcome. Captain Magnificent was back, full of hustle, and his contribution to the two goals was there for all to see.
I loved Torres's goal, in front of the Kop, from a tri-move that featured Stevie G, Cole then FT9.
Reina, Reina, Reina. Awesome. I still don't support Hodgson but we can lift ourselves from 18th.
One stat that wasn't lost on me is despite our 18th position, we're only a point behind ninth-placed Everton, and 13 behind Chelsea in first. I won't ever lose hope and this second wind is just what the doc ordered. The Reds are back. Eat that!
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Do you need to sing YNWA for every match just to pump up the team spirit ??
Not the right thing to do....
Players should know their responsabilities.