‘Jesus, Rafa, don’t follow my advice. I thought Dossena would make a good left midfielder’. Come the final whistle I was taking as many plaudits as possible from my empty living room. For some reason, the phone failed to vibrate, Rafa didn’t email me his thanks and Allardyce wasn’t legging it to a journalist to have me fined.
Well, it wasn’t difficult. Babel’s finally woken up to that ‘tracking back’ thing that he’s heard about and Maxi’s quietly going about his business on the other wing. Both need to step up a bit more before comparisons to Barnes and Heighway can be made but it’s a start. Wingers who can cross, eh? Well, it’s novel.
Of course, Portsmouth have nothing to offer now and are only interested in the FA Cup (good luck to them too) but our form has been so bad that even the truest die hard wouldn’t have been too surprised at a Wigan repeat. It was a relief to all when they freed the midfield and let us dance like flickering flames through the centre of the park. Torres’ first was easy, his second audacious. Babel’s was well deserved and Aquilani’s was…
Oh, Alberto. Some may see you as nothing more than Tracey Ullman’s love child while others will see you as a Diet Alonso that’s gone off in the sun but you and I will always have Portsmouth. Every move was a positive one and no one, no one danced more gracefully. I’m not sure I’d pay £20m but he’s the first attacking central midfielder I’ve seen for a while and the fact that he’s not bad made me momentarily forget Wigan and Lille and embrace the possibility of more to come.
The only downside of this is the criticism that screams that it’s all Lucas’ fault. Lucas Leiva’s biggest fault is that he can’t pass like Alonso (neither can Alberto), is too defensive (as a defensive midfielder should be) and never sees a forward ball. I’d agree with the latter and add that his shooting is appalling but it’s hardly his fault if he’s been told to sit and act like a junior Mascherano. I’m up and down about Rafa every week tactically but his reliance on Lucas, still a perfectly good player who is possibly being groomed for the Masch role once the little fella gets tired of kicking Premiership players in the air, against sides that should be put away is my strongest bugbear. This does not mean that Lucas is a bad player, just a poor option. Are we going to play Aquilani against Lille? I hope so. Against United? Jesus, we’d be eaten alive. Horses for courses.
So, there’s a pro Lucas piece of heresy for you and I might as well add to it now my funeral pyre has been lit for somewhere. Whisper this but last night’s success may owe a small debt to the absence of the Trying Dutchman. Again, I like Dirk but he’s stunk lately and I’m tired of seeing the ball break to him and watching the other team’s back four walk into position by the time he’s got the bloody thing under control. Maxi isn’t the fastest but he knows how to run at a full back, usually with the ball, but he’s a wide player which Dirk, God love him, really isn’t. He still has a place here but, like the Roman and Lucas, he doesn’t have to start every game.
We still need more pace in the side and our defence is still poor (Didn’t their goal get lost in the result? What type of defence was that?) so let’s not start thinking about the Bernabeu next March just yet. There’s still a lot of work to be done but it would be churlish not to enjoy good, swift passing. Also, we were shooting a lot too. That helps.
For those who sat through ESPN’s footage you would have learned that the crowd was quiet. John Portsmouth Football Club Champion failed to point out that this could be due to their moving the match to a Monday when our opponents play as far away from Anfield as is possible. Also, we’ve got a European game and the Glaziers to pay this weekend. John Champion’s gleeful description of the Gerrard/Brown brawl failed to hide his disappointment.
Gerrard’s got away with it at the moment but now United have harrumphed he may get a ban. I’m not sure either way and as much as I’d like to see Brown smacked to the floor it was a silly thing to do. Let’s hope the Gods are kind. He’s not been great of late but I’d rather have him on the pitch than not at Old Trafford. I’d love to see him kissing the badge in front of their fan with their Norwich scarves.
We’ve been abominable this season and are culpable should the Mancs reach 19 so this is the last chance we have to do something about it. Every time Rooney bullies his way around and they moan at the ref I want Liverpool to look at that number on the back of Babel’s shirt and do something about it. This is your chance to save something from the season and, more importantly, we need you to defend what decades of Liverpool side’s have done for us. This is why you’re here. To add to the legacy.
It’s down to you now.