Mickey Mouse does Liverpool favour

Last updated : 28 October 2011 By Kieran Davies

A tough test in the much maligned tournament. Win it, it feels like a guilty pleasure, lose in it, condemn it as a ‘Mickey Mouse cup’ that you’re side aren’t interested in. Whichever camp you sit in as you read this, one thing that cannot be denied is an additional midweek fixture can be used to right wrongs from team performances.

Against Norwich, the Anfield outfit showed dominance, flair but with no clinical finishing showed their biggest Achilles heel presently. They are letting teams stay in games that they should be dead and buried in through poor finishing. This coupled with a lack of confidence at the back, sometimes showing nervousness when games haven’t been killed off, has not inspired fans of a side that are looking to return to Champion’s League football.

King Kenny made eight changes from the side that played Norwich, giving fringe players and squad players, the chance to stake a claim for a starting berth in the Premier League. Liverpool started brightly from the first whistle creating lots of chances but unfortunately finding Thomas Sorensen in the sort of form that still makes him the Denmark number 1. It looked only a matter of time before Liverpool broke through or so it seemed. Cue Sebastian Coates and a moment of indecision that would cost us dear. His dwelling on a ball on the touchline that should have been dealt with, allowed Stoke to dispossess him, get to the by-line to cross, finding Kenwyne Jones whose directed header nestled in the bottom corner. De ja vous? Going in at the Britannia 1-0 down after dominating the half.

The second half started for Liverpool as the first half ended, with them creating chances and openings regularly. Some fans would be forgiven for wondering if this lack of ability to convert chances could haunt their side, time and time again this season.

A searching ball out wide found the livewire that is Luis Suarez who took the ball down well, confronted by two defenders, sold one with a drop of the shoulder and then with a moment of inspiration, knocked the ball through the legs of the other striking the ball first time and curling it from two foot outside of the post past the sprawling dive of Sorensen. Pure genius. This seemed to wind Stoke and Liverpool continued to create chances. With the game seemingly heading for extra time a cross from the right hand side into the box found the little Uruguayan whose pinpoint header again beat a helpless Stoke keeper. With little time left on the clock this was definitely game, set and match.

With Tony Pullis admitting in a post match press conference that his side were beaten by a better team, the honesty of the Stoke manager commendable before then going on to question some of the referee’s decisions including his disallowing of a Stoke goal. Replays showing that Reina was clearly obstructed by a Stoke player in the build up. Irrelevant to what people say about this competition, I for one think that if it allows us to get wins against opposition such as Stoke away from home, it can only benefit our season as a whole. In this game Daniel Agger shone at left back both defensively and in an attacking sense thus staking a claim for a starting place on the weekend. Jordan Henderson showed willing and offered good attacking options, whilst Maxi Rodriguez got back and supported the defence on numerous occasions. Despite not scoring Andy Carroll also had a good game with plenty of other facets of his play. It is a great position for Kenny to be in to have such selection problems for the weekend.

Don’t get me wrong this result against Stoke still hasn’t addressed the problems long term, but a win away to West Brom would go some way to correcting this. Over the last ten years these are the sort of fixtures we slip in far too often. This will not get you Champions League football now in the Premier League. The players need to realise the fans need to see consistency. The same consistency the players see in their wages week to week. On paper this current squad is good enough but they have to show this on the pitch and not just look good on paper. We can only win three potential trophies this season but a fourth is realistically that coveted top 4 finish. Every game is a cup final, 3 points is the trophy and like any final it needs us to be on top of our game.