Showing posts with label Mascherano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mascherano. Show all posts

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Roy Hodgson: the worst Liverpool manager ever?

Seems to be the sexy thing these days to ridicule Ole Roy Boy, but is he really the worst Liverpool manager ever?  Worse than Don Welsh or George Patterson? I'm not so sure, but I will say he is the worst since I've followed the club.  Let's take a look at his transfers:

Players InClubFee
Joe ColeChelseaFree
Danny WilsonRangers£2m
Christian PoulsenJuventus£4.55m
Brad JonesMiddlesborough£2.3m
Raul MeirelesPorto£11.5m
Paul KoncheskyFulham£3.5m
Players Out
Albert RieraOlympiacos£3.3m
Diego CavalieriCesena£3m
Krisztian NemethOlympiacos£1m
Javier MascheranoBarcelona£17.25m
Lauri Dalla ValleFulham£750k
Alex KacaniklicFulham£750k
Damien PlesisPanathinaikosUndisclosed
Charles ItandjeAtromitosFree

He brought in Paul Konchesky for £3.5m and sent youngsters Dalla Valle and Kacaniklic the other way to Fulham.  Konchesky was 29-years-old at the time and Hodgson thought he could be the solution at left back? He's Paul Konchesky, he couldn't even find a place in any other Premier League side when he left. Hodgson should have been sacked for buying him alone.  The worse part is Kacaniklic turned out to be a pretty good player and Emiliano Insua, who plays for Atletico Madrid now I might add, was sent out on loan to make room.

Out of all his purchases, Brad Jones solely remains at the club and really only Raul Meireles was a good buy.  I like Joe Cole, but he was also 29-years-old and frankly past it, Danny Wilson never panned out and was sent back to Scotland where helped get Hearts relegated last season, and Poulsen was a knob.

In defense of Hodgson, which I can't believe I just wrote that, he did get rid of some dead weight.  Riera wasn't working out, there was no place for Cavalieri, Nemeth's and Plesis' potential never came to fruition, and Itandje became a pariah for his disrespectful Hillsborough display.  The loss of Mascherano was a crushing blow, but he wanted to leave and Hodgson didn't appear to care if he stayed or not.

Roy Hodgson's 41.94 winning percentage is the worst of any Liverpool manager in the last 23 years and the worst in the last 58 years save Ronnie Moran's 10 match stint as caretaker manager in 1991 and the brief Houllier/Evans joint reign in 1998. Under Hodgson, we lost to Blackpool and Wolverhampton at Anfield. Blackpool was relegated that season and the Wolves avoided the drop by just one point.  We sat in 19th place 8 matches into the season and were eliminated from the League Cup by League Two side, Northampton Town.

There's no doubt Hodgson's term was a disaster. He sums it up best when talking about our 'amazing' comeback draw with Sunderland on Semptember 25th at Anfield: "The way we came back from 2-1 down was very commendable and towards the end of the game we were creating a lot of chances. We deserved our point." It was not even a deserved draw, but Hodgson seems content with it. A good manager would have said how we played like shite, our first goal shouldn't have counted, and our performance unacceptable and didn't meet Liverpool standards, instead of 'oh well, jolly good match, we got a point.'

Hodgson is clearly past it.  His tactics that have worked for him for '35 years' don't work for big clubs.  He was a failure with Liverpool and should probably go manage in the Championship.  His beloved Fulham are right there waiting and Felix Magath would most likely be happy to step aside.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Top of the table... again... for now...

What a match, though for all intents and purposes, the theatrics I could do without. Our boys were clearly the better side from start to finish and for us to have to come back from a 1-0 deficit to begin with, was the biggest joke of all. If Nugent was onside, then so was Kuyt (on his called-back goal, of course)... EASILY. Nothing surprises me from an Evertonian though, as Nugent showed his true scum colors by trying every move in the book to cheat Liverpool of three points. Sorry, son, you lost.

Like it or not, Rafa's tactics worked. Ngog was effective as his speed kept the Pompey back four at bay, scared to leave the Frenchman unmarked for more than a few seconds. Benayoun continued his brilliant form, causing chaos throughout the pitch. The only real disappointment was Babel, who missed a mind-blowing sitter (who the hell uses their right foot on a right to left cross?) and still failed to find the pass when covered by multiple defenders. Somebody is open, somewhere, even if you have to pass it back, it's better than losing possession. In his defense though, he scared the living crap out of the defenders with his threatening pace.

The most effective aspect of Rafa's gameplan? Resting Kuyt, Xabi, and Torres until later in the match. He used his younger and less worn players to wear down the opposition, which made them easy pickings when the more experienced came on.

One thing I found amusing, for two reasons actually, is how hard Crouch played. First, if he had played that hard for us, he'd probably still have a place on our squad and second, he was still pretty much ineffective.

My player of the match goes to Yossi Benayoun. He was effectively everywhere throughout and set-up the match winning goal. As for the rest of the squad, no one played particularly horrible, but I've seen better days from Babel and Mascherano. I would also like to add that Aurelio played particularly well for basically playing out-of-position at central midfield for a majority of the match.

I know I said in my pre-match blog that a goal against us would be embarrassing, but while watching the match I realized that a lot of our 'defensive-minded' players, saw this as more of an opportunity to show their attacking abilities and in that way, it sort of backfired. I wouldn't go as far as to call it 'delusions of grandeur' (except for in maybe Mascherano's case) though. Agger and Aurelio were far from incompetent in what they offered on attack.

Well, two weeks and a day until Man City. Let's hope for a healthy return for all our internationals. Cheers.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Liverpool at Beşiktaş: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Riise
Hyypia
Carragher
Finnan
Babel
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Kuyt
Voronin

Subs:
Itandje
Hobbs
Alonso
Sissoko
Lucas
Benayoun
Crouch

No big surprises except maybe Crouch not starting. I could care less, after his Marseilles performance he can rot on the bench until January and then sold. We need Agger back soon as I don't feel comfortable with Hyypia playing this often. Also, what's up with Arbeloa? Is he injured? He's not even on the bench. Weird. Anyhow, boys, let's get this done.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Liverpool at Everton: What will Rafa do?

I look forward to this match about as much as I look forward to getting regular colonoscopies when I get older. If last year is any indication of what is in store for tomorrow, Everton will be playing like it's the Champions League Final. Too bad they'll probably never know what that's like.

We have more question marks with our roster than the Riddler had on his body suit. We have injured players that may or may not play in Kuyt, Alonso, and Torres, and we have an obscene amount of players coming off international duty on two days rest with Gerrard, Voronin, Finnan, Babel, Riise, Benayoun, Mascherano, Hyypia, and Pepe Reina.

The league did us no favors either with a 12:45 pm local start time.

Basically what I'm saying is Rafa has two options here. He can go with his best players and risk them being fatigued or he can fill in the gaps with rested yet less experienced players. Option A would look something like this:

Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Arbeloa
Darby
Leto
Sissoko
Lucas
Pennant
Kuyt
Torres

Option B:

Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Babel
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Kuyt
Torres

Not much difference, I know, the biggest being Darby whom I doubt Benitez would put in such situation. If Hobbs starts, we lose, it's that simple. Anyone who's actually watched him extensively knows he just not ready. The latter line-up is the most likely, but either way, Rafa will get the blame if we don't get a positive result.

Anyhow, here's my final guess:

Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Babel
Alonso
Sissoko
Pennant
Kuyt
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Gerrard
Crouch
Riise
Benayoun

If Kuyt is not ready to go, I think we'll see Crouch start unfortunately. Like I said, I'm not looking forward to this one at all, especially if Cahill is back. A win here would do us wonders.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Liverpool 2, Tottenham 2: the 'game-winner'?

Well, before I get to the actual match, once again Fox Soccer makes themselves look like a bunch of donkeys. Apparently Torres' extra-time header was the 'game-winner'. I wish, but at least it gave me a little chuckle, something I need after that pathetic display.

I don't know where to start. Our whole side played pretty poor and the worse part is if we hadn't been distracted by the stadium intercom announcer, (btw, what was that about?) we would have probably won.

Who played well? No one. Well, maybe Stevie Finnan, but that's it. It was a poor display all-round. Now teams know how to beat us, just keep trying the long ball.

I feel sorry for Reina, without Agger we look pretty pathetic at the back. We need the Dane back as soon as possible and Rafa needs to buy the best centre back as possible in the January transfer window.

Anyhow, I'm pretty disgusted by the whole affair and don't really want to get into it, but our ball movement is shoddy at best. We don't look like a team out there at all. There's no flow whatsoever, it's very disheartening. Maybe it's time Rafa brings in some kids, at least then we have an excuse for being poor.

Liverpool 2, Tottenham 2: the goals

Voronin's put-back.


Torres' 'game-winner'. ha.

Liverpool vs Tottenham: the line-up

And the envelop reads...

Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Riise
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Voronin
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Kuyt
Benayoun
Babel
Lucas

Still no Babel starting and Lucas on the bench. Interesting. As long as there's no Crouch.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Liverpool 0, Marseilles 1

Ha ha ha, what a joke. Somebody got their fix on. Not to take anything away from Marseilles, but it took a wonder goal, three non-called handballs, and two very questionable yellow cards to beat us. Not to mention Crouch might as well have been wearing blue.

As a team we made some vast improvements in the second half and were really unlucky not to score. Well, I take that back, we were unlucky that Marseilles was allowed to use their hands in the box. Ridiculous, but oh well, we expect others to cheat against us, it's usually the only way we get beat in Champions League play.

The yellow cards on Carra and Gerrard were just ridiculous. Gerrard clearly got to the ball prior to contact and if it was for the viciousness of the tackle, I'm so sorry that he couldn't stop himself from sliding on the wet pitch. As for Carra, he was turning to go for the ball and obstructed the path of the Marseilles player. Foul? Yes. Yellow card? Not even close. Those cards took Stevie-G and Carragher off their game because now they had to be cautious just in case the official wanted to give them a second yellow for another minor infraction. Money well spent.

Crouch was horrid. He knows that he's a forward and not a midfielder, so why was he sitting out of position for most of the match? He knows he can't outrun anyone and isn't quick-footed, so why is he holding on to the ball? He's no candidate for Mensa, but he's not that dumb. Put him in the reserves, Rafa. The only thing he was working hard to do was throw the match.

Sissoko put on a baffling display as well. It seems he's returned to his make a great stop or tackle and then throw the ball away routine. Mascherano should have been brought in for him, but maybe in the end it will be better for Momo's confidence.

As for the rest of the team, like I said, we played much better in the second half, almost on cue. We used more of the field, we stopped trying the long ball to Torres so much, our passing overall got better, and we actually tried to make things happen. We were just unlucky not to put the ball in the net.

In the end, I'm sort of glad we lost. Maybe now we'll get off our asses early in matches and try to score instead of waiting around for something to happen. We need to take more risks. We have the talent to score, so why not risk a quick counter goal. They way we played today is not going to scare anyone, all their going to do is sit ten men behind the ball and dare us to do something different.

Liverpool 0, Marseilles 0: halftime thoughts

Blah, blah, blah, same old crap. We look unmotivated, disorganized, are failing to use the flanks, and our spacing is horrid (especially Torres and Crouch).

First things first, someone needs to tell Crouch he's not a midfielder. If anyone should be playing that role, it's Torres. El Nino is much better on the ball and doesn't throw it away as much as Crouchy. El Girafe needs to get his ass as forward as possible where he isn't in other people's way and he can use his height more effectively. Other than that, he is a waste.

Second, Gerrard and Sissoko need to figure who's going to play what? Is Gerrard the attacking midfielder or is Momo? Is Momo the holding/defensive midfielder or is Gerrard? Sort it out boys because you're making yourselves look stupid. Switching up is obviously not working.

Finally, when our backs go forward it seems to confuse our midfielders. They look as if they don't know what they want to do. None of them have really played all that bad, they just don't seem as if they are communicating with one another.

It sort of looks like we expected to come out and just walk over them without trying and our boys should know much better than that. Stop trying the bloody long ball to Torres, that only works if the other side has pushed forward when they need a goal.

This lackadaisical approach is getting old, we don't even have a decent shot on goal. Patience is one thing, laziness is another.

If I were Benitez, I'd take out Sissoko for Mascherano and tell Crouch to either stop trying to throw the match or be permanantly out of the rotation loop. At this point, he's liability to the team.

EDIT: The Gerrard card was bullocks, btw.

Liverpool vs Marseille: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Leto (--------->)
Sissoko
Gerrard
Benayoun
Torres
Crouch

Bench:
Itandje
Arbeloa
Riise
Babel
Voronin
Kuyt
Mascherano

Leto to start! Can't wait. Babel must be in the dawg house with Benitez. I'm really surprised to see Sissoko start over Mascherano, it must mean that Rafa wants our attacking shoes on. This one should be fun. Cheers.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Liverpool 1, Wigan 0: Yossi plays, we win

I wonder if we'll hear any nonsense about Yossi not starting today as to why we barely pulled this one off. Probably not, I figure the memory vacuum will take care of all the Rafa rotation bashing. Anyhow, on to the match.

Wigan should be commended for a well-played, well-executed game plan. We were really lucky to come away with three points as they were the better side and missed a couple of relatively easy opportunities in front of the net.

Overall, we were not a top side. We seemed to lack motivation as a whole and were timid about scoring. Wigan stuffed the box when we had the best chances to score and our attempts to do so were characteristic of keystone cops. Our lack of ability to be creative, utilize the whole field, and movement off the ball was quite evident in these cases.

Individually, Yossi stole the show with an absolute class strike. I posted a video of it in an earlier post, but I'm not sure if it's working or not. The Israeli seemed to revitalize our side the minute he stepped onto the pitch, especially Gerrard.

Our defense was surprisingly appalling at times, particularly Hyypia. He talked about how he's never had pace earlier this week, but it's never really hurt his performance. Today it seemed to as Wigan quickly countered set plays which left the heavy-footed Finn well out of position. It forced Carra to make some tackles that frankly could have been called penalties, but were not.

We grinded out the win and I'm happy about that, but better sides would have at least drew us. I know I complained about Pennant not cutting inside enough, but he did it a little too much here and as a team, we failed miserably at using the entire pitch, especially the deep flanks.

Kuyt was simply not fit to wear the shirt. He really needs to dig deep and get more creative. I'm not sure what his issue was today, but he was our worse player by far. Anyhow, I gotta go. Cheers.

Liverpool 1, Wigan 0: the goal

Here's Yossi's phenomenal goal from earlier today. The Israeli saved us from another embarassing draw. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Wigan 0:halftime thoughts

Well, I missed the first ten minutes of the match, but from what I've seen we're dangerous to score, well, at least Torres is. If he doesn't score in the second half or at least set up a goal, I'll be surprised.

As a team we seem to play well in brief stretches, but for the most part look like a bunch of unfocused eight-year-olds waiting for ice cream. Pennant has been the most baffling, at times he looks fantastic, while other times he looks like he's never played the sport. At one point, he had the ball at the top of the box and should have blasted it, instead he laid it off to Riise, who was far over on the left and had defenders in front of him.

Speaking of Pennant, when did he become Wigan's punching bag? Koumas could have probably got a straight red for trying to break his leg on a blatant attempt to do so and towards the end of the half one of the loser Wigan thugs threw a punch at him. It's ridiculous not to expect JP to retaliate when the ref is letting the Lactics get away with assault.

As for the rest of the side, Kuyt and Gerrard are invisible, though no one has played bad. I don't think Stevie-G is fully fit yet, but with Xabi out and the inexperienced Lucas as the only real option, there's little choice. I guess we could play Sissoko, but that would almost guarantee a draw.

Anyhow, second half is about to start. I think we can win this, but I won't get my hopes up. We really need a Riise belter.

Liverpool vs Wigan: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Aurelio
Hyypia
Carragher
Arbeloa
Riise
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Kuyt
Torres

Subs:
Itandje
Benayoun
Sissoko
Finnan
Voronin

Once again, Rafa isn't messing around. I wonder how Voronin feels about the rotation now and really don't care how Crouch feels. I'm thinking Rafa is taking the Ukrainian's age in perspective and since he played well against Toulouse, maybe the gaffer is thinking of holding him for Marseilles. Babel's also getting an extending vacation, I hope he's okay. I do recall him limping off in the last match. I'm just glad I dropped him from my fantasy team. Anyhow, I doubt I'm going to get to see this match, I have company coming into town, but I'll definitely watch it tomorrow and have a report by Monday plus (hopefully) lots of goal clips. Cheers.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Liverpool 0, Birmingham 0: final thoughts

After viewing this match for the second time, with much less emotion involved since I knew the outcome, I have to say that the reason Liverpool did not get the three points is because most of the team, particularly up front, were mentally unprepared for this match while Birmingham seemed quite the opposite.

Kuyt was appalling and Voronin wasn't much better. In fact, I would have to say this is the worse match I have ever seen Kuyt play. He seemed to turn the ball over nearly every time he got possession or he took a bad shot when there was a smarter pass. Voronin appeared to just be waiting for the ball to come to him instead of going after it.

Overall we lacked intensity as a side, save Carra and Mascherano, who more than made up for his poor performance in Portugal last week. You can blame Rafa for not starting Torres all you want, but Kuyt should have been more than capable of getting the job done. If Dirk played for Birmingham he would easily be their best player.

I do have a problem with Rafa's subbing though. I feel as if Torres should have been brought on for Kuyt and if Babel needed to come off for one reason or another, then Finnan could have been brought in, Arbeloa pushed over to the left and Riise pushed up to midfield. Kuyt should have been taken off at the half in my opinion as he had no business wearing the shirt that day.

You can say that Birmingham played solid defense, but the truth is, Kuyt had plenty of opportunity to at least be the catalyst in scoring a goal and he messed up time and time again. His head clearly wasn't in the match.

The funny thing is, if we were Man United, we would have won this by at least a goal. Case in point, as the first half was coming to a close, Carra made a brilliant pass to Kuyt in the box who controlled and turned to shoot. Just as he was about to do so though, the ref blew the whistle to end the half. Apparently only Man U gets extra time to score the goal they need.

Also, Torres should have had a penalty late in the game. After being set-up by a nice pass from Pennant, he faked out Queudrue in the box and the Frenchman not only clearly obstructs El Nino's forward movement, but also grabs his shirt to prevent him from continuing play. If Saha's dive was a penalty, then there's no question that that was one as well.

Some other points, Babel wasn't at his best, but he by no means cost us the match. He needs to work on his corners a little bit though. Speaking of set plays, the few we got, we were abominable, except for maybe the last corner where Gerrard found Crouch's head with a perfect pass, though the latter couldn't finish the job.

Defensively, Arbeloa had his second lackluster performance in a row and I think it's time he get a game off. If he starts against Reading tomorrow, I'll be surprised. Riise seemed to lose steam as the match wore on, but I wouldn't characterize his performance as anything less than average. Carra and Hyypia were adequate if anything.

As for our skipper, I've seen him play better, but for the most part he just faded in and out of the match. I'm hoping the week off gets him back into preseason form. If he was so fatigued though, I wonder why Rafa just didn't let him and Mascherano switch up and make Stevie-G the holding midfielder?

Birmingham said they were going to focus on Pennant and most the first half they did. It allowed Babel more space, but the Dutchman still preferred to go inside instead of out, which sort of took away the space he would have provided had he gone wide. I can't really complain about Pennant's performance as he was hounded throughout the day and when they finally let up, he became more of a threat and created a few chances for us.

My man of the match is Mascherano, though I've seen him play much better. In fact, with Hyypia and Carra sitting so far back the entire match, Masche certainly could have gotten more involved on the attack. He did towards the end, but it was too little too late. He was tackling was on point per usual and he was without a doubt a menace to the Blues the entirety of the match.

I guess Birmingham does deserve some credit for executing their game plan, but in truth, it was just a poor, insipid performance by Kuyt and Voronin that cost us. Maybe if Babel stayed to the left more, Dirk and Andriy would have had more room to operate, but what's done is done and all we can hope is that he learns from it.

Reading next and I'm think why Carra and Hyypia were basically planters was because we'll probably need them to do the same tomorrow at the Mad Stad. I'll have my 'What will Rafa do?' up soon. Cheers.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Liverpool 0, Birmingham 0: embarassing

Well, it looks like our old haunt of not being able to finish has returned. Kuyt couldn't kick the ball into the stands if he wanted to. All his tireless effort seem to just get him tired and I hate dogging on the kid, but gees, I feel like I'm watching Toronto FC out there at times.

This is the third straight match that I've disagreed with Rafa's selection. Torres should have started. What? Is he saving him for Reading and the Carling Cup? Rubbish. I have no problems with his tinkering, but for Christ sake, if you're going to do it have the guts to do something different.

Do you want to know why we are such a dreary side? It's because Rafa is afraid to really mix things up. Play a different formation, play Babel up front, put Voronin on the left, do something. The only critics who would be against it are old men living in an old world and they can go piss off.

Nobody is buying that we are any different from last year nor the year before because we aren't. We've reverted back to the old ways despite the new faces. Nobody eats stale bread because they know it's stale. They just leave it on the table to be thrown away.

I'm fully convinced we lost the league today and the only bright spot was we didn't give away a penalty. Ugh. Okay, let me calm down. I'll be back later.

Liverpool vs Birmingham: the line-up

Here it be:
Reina
Riise
Carra
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Babel
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Voronin
Kuyt

Subs:
Itandje
Finnan
Crouch
Torres
Sissoko

Interesting having Mascherano in there. I thought for sure he'd be given the day off to think about his performance against Porto. I guess Sissoko will play Tuesday. Kuyt and Voronin is interesting as well. I know they've played together, but I believe this is the first time they've started alongside one another in a match that counts. Rafa means business today. Here's to Pennant wreaking havoc. Cheers.

Oh, yeah, also Robbie Fowler has a brace so far for Cardiff today.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Liverpool vs Birmingham: What will Rafa do?

Well, we went from arguably the easiest match to predict so far this season, to quite possibly the hardest league fixture so far. Wait until our Cup ties start, then it gets next to impossible to guess what Rafa the Mad Tinkerer will come up with.

There are a lot of outside factors to consider this week, especially at right midfield. It's Yom Kippur so that may rule out Benayoun. Jermaine Pennant's reckless performance at Porto may also see him starting from the bench. Also, with the Carling Cup tie coming up against Reading next Tuesday and Rafa apparently taking it more seriously this time around, you wonder who he'll reserve. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gerrard start on the right with Sissoko and Mascherano in the middle. It also wouldn't shock me to see Riise or Aurelio start on the left and Babel start on the right.

In other words, I have no clue what Rafa is going to do. Since it is a 'lesser' side, I hope he goes balls out and that doesn't mean bringing in any Reserves, but I don't really consider Sebastian Leto nor Lucas as full-time Reserves like I do say Robbie Threlfall or Ray Putterill. No offense to those two as they have both showed promise when given the opportunity, they just aren't as ready as the aforementioned pair. Once again, I would love to know what is up with Harry Kewell, having him fit for this match would be a huge boost. Ultimately, I'm looking for Rafa to take some risks here. As his squads have gotten deeper, he's gotten more predictable and I believe that's taken off some of the edge.

GK - Reina
If he's fit, he plays, and as far as I know, he's fine.

LB - Riise
He's back and he could start at left-mid with Aurelio here, but I think Rafa will want him to take it easy after coming back from a groin pull.

CB - Carragher
We need him to stay as healthy as possible.

CB - Arbeloa
Younger than Hyypia and though he could use a day off, I just don't see it happening here.

RB - Finnan
When's he fit, he'll play.

LM - Aurelio
I think Rafa goes defensive here, but that's using logic.

CM - Sissoko
Is back and after Masche's performance at Porto, the Argentine needs a day off.

CM - Gerrard
When he's fit and rested, he'll play.

RM - Benayoun or Babel
I don't see Pennant starting here only because his recent rash play and the fact that he used to play for Birmingham. I can see him making some bad decisions on and off the ball. Benayoun will start if Yom Kippur doesn't conflict, if not it will probably be Babel.

F - Voronin
I think Rafa will look to allow the Ukrainian to redeem himself for Portsmouth.

F - Torres
Torres will stay on until the three points are secured and then look for Crouch to get some pitch time

Bench:
Itandje
Mascherano
Hyypia
Babel or Leto (it depends whether or not Benayoun is available to play)
Crouch

I have no confidence that Rafa's selection will be the same, but that's pretty much who I would play. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Birmingham fears Pennant, Carra calls an end to penalties, Anderson may start, & more

- Birmingham boss Steve Bruce has singled out Jermaine Pennant as the player his side is worried most about come Saturday. Pennant though, who played two seasons for the Blues, isn't sure he'll even get to play after being sent off in the Porto match. I'm not sure he'll start, but would be a bit surprised if he didn't get to play at all. Rafa may save him for our Carling Cup match at Reading next week.

- Jamie Carragher has vowed to stop the giving away of penalties. Well, Carra, if you can somehow manage to get the league to hire better quality referees, you might have a shot at doing so, but don't hold your breathe. What sucks is that Pepe has yet to concede a goal from play this season.

- Paul Anderson may get his first league start for Swansea when they face League One side Leeds tomorrow, who has won all six of it's previous matches yet stand bottom to last on the table because of a 15 point penalty deduction for failure to comply with rules on insolvency. The 19-year-old on-loan winger already has two goals for his temporary club, one in Leaugue play and the other in League Cup.

- UEFA spokesman William Gaillard is running his mouth again. This time he accused our new owners of having ulterior motives when they took over the club. He claims they are in it for the 'quick buck'. Rick Parry has responded, calling the obligations 'absurd'. I'm not even going to bother to address this, if Platini and UEFA are so stupid that they don't see the true negative influences in the sport, than maybe they are collecting a few bucks on the side from that influence.

- Rafa is worried about the effect the loss of Agger is going to have on the squad. I think it was made worse with Xabi going down as well since the Spaniard showed he was capable of playing centre back if needed, but it's far too soon to panic. We have ample coverage at the moment and I truly believe that Mascherano is fully capable of covering there if needed. Hell, Gerrard could too. One of the pluses is that Carra has just come off a vacation, so as long as he can remain healthy, we'll be fine. The thing that I'm worried about is bringing up Jack Hobbs from the Reserves as a needs be basis. I say give him the start against Reading and if he does well, go from there. The couple of times I've seen the lad play I've been wholly unimpressed, but am more than willing to give him another shot.

- Finally, Michael Shields is set to spend his 21st birthday in prison. He was convicted of attacking a Bulgarian barman just after the 2005 Champions League final. If you want to read more about his situation, go here.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Liverpool 1, Porto 1: Man of the Match

Whoa, were my fellow Liverpool fans watching the same match I was? I just checked out the Fan's Man of the Match over at the official site and it had Dirk Kuyt voted first by the fans followed by Sami Hyypia and Mascherano?! Holy shit on a stick! Are you serious? Do I have unrealistic expectations of our Argentine midfielder or were you all drunk? Masche was appalling. I will admit that Hyypia started out just as unimpressive, but got better as the match progressed.

The site's picks were Jamie Carragher first followed by Hyypia and then Kuyt. There's just no way I put Kuyt behind Hyypia since it was mostly the latter's fault that they got the penalty. And what about Finney? Kudos for giving credit to one of our unsunge heroes in Carra, but I'd put Finnan above Hyypia as well.

In fact, if I had to rate our players in order from best to worst it would go something like this:

1. Kuyt
1. Carra

Kuyt is my Man of the Match, but I can't put Carragher very far behind him as he was in his inspirational form. The never-say-die Dutchman was relentless and per usual did what ever he was asked when he moved over to the right after Pennant was sent off. Carra was tremendous in keeping Porto and the ball away from the box.

3. Finnan

Another quiet, flawless performance. I'm going to start calling him the ghost because not only does he haunt our opponents, but no one ever seems to notice him.

4. Torres

El Nino did what El Nino was brought on to do, create space for Gerrard and worry the hell out of our opponent's defenses. He sent them scrambling mad on a couple of occasions.

5. Babel

It would have been nice if someone would have gotten open when he had the ball deep down in Porto territory.

6. Reina

Made a great save, but made questionable decisions in the box and on the ball, especially early on.

6. Hyypia

Almost made up for the penalty with his clearance and got better as the match wore on.

8. Gerrard

Was apparently hanging out with Harry Kewell.

9. Arbeloa

Looked tired and made some poor decisions after he was beat. His positioning was questionable as well.

10. Mascherano

His legal issues must be affecting him or he was having flashbacks of the Copa final when he heard the Porto players speaking in Portuguese.

11. Pennant

Thought his name was Ashley Cole again.

I'm not going to bother with the subs. Saturday can't come soon enough. Cheers.

Popular Posts