Okay. Here goes. Rafa doesn't want us to be top. He wants us to take pressure off us by putting us on Chelsea's shoulder. It's like watching Ovett and Coe in their pomp. They never led until the bell went for the final lap and then they pulled away. Okay, the League isn't won like that but maybe it's something he's considering. What else could explain the Keane incident? His predecessor, maligned as he was, knew a fair bit about the game but still took half a season to realise that Gerrard wasn't a right back and Jamie wasn't a central midfielder. Now Rafa, a tactical genius seemingly before Saturday, makes up for the loss of his best striker by dropping his second best striker. Now, I like Dirk and I like Dirk a lot but it was obvious to Hull how to play him. Sit back and let him run at you. Ultimately he'll pass it back to the keeper or run into blind alleys. Give him time to pass and he'll hurt you but he's pretty ineffectual if you stand on his toes. Now, if we had a striker who has pace and runs into areas that you can't defend then you're getting somewhere. Someone like…
It's stubborn and it's expected these days. Rafa's improved this season. There has been little 'rotation' or 'resting' as it used to be called and the League position is a testament to that but this was the season's nadir. His Burnley, his Reading. Let's hope he learns from it. Being that the next game is against someone who he would love to score against he might have been a bit clever here. Clever and a bit unlucky.
There was a vast improvement in the stands too. Hull frustrated the hell out of us but there was no booing that I could hear. Good. Let's remember who we support. There's no harm in shouting at people (even Reina deserved a word or two) but to boo Liverpool players is ridiculous. I know it's panto season but…
Incidentally, what about Hull? They were great to watch, like a bunch of ten year olds who have to score eight in ten minutes on a park. Two up at Anfield and still breaking. If it wasn't against us I would have loved that first half as it had 8-6 written all over it. They're the only team I've seen this year who I've seen us struggle against in terms of passion and workrate. Only Standard Liege came close at Anfield. It's very strange but they're the type of sides we struggle against. No wonder we're confident about the possibility of the next round of the European Cup. Now that Cluj have been knocked out we can breathe easy. Cue Real Madrid in the next round and we'll rest Keane and play Kuyt up front.
Best not to even joke about that.
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