Having finally seen the match, and still with many of the same feelings I elucidated earlier, I thought I would just add some thoughts that struck during the match.
• Benayoun was the only one who could be satisfied with his performance after the first half. He was pressing the opposition, moving about the pitch, and trying to create, while many of Liverpool’s players were walking about even after going a goal down. Yossi was even unlucky not to bag a fourth in the 62nd minute thanks to a fantastic save from Scriven before going off for Kuyt in the 72nd.
• Lucas’ equalizer in the 27th minute was a goal of utter class. Compared to many others in the side, he didn’t make many mistakes either, showed a nice range of passing, and an ability to play from box to box. As Liverpool improved as the game went on, Lucas grew more influential in the middle. He’s going to be a wonderful player.
• The defense was awful for both goals, with Finnan taking most of the blame for both, which is surprising given his usual consistency. He lost Paquette on the corner for the first and misplayed an easy ball that put Potter in for the second. I’m more forgiving of Skrtel’s role; it’s his debut, and it was just unlucky that Potter’s shot deflected off him for Havant’s second. The backpass that gave up the corner for Havant’s first was a bigger error, and he improved in the second half.
• Despite the clumsiness of the first half performance, I’m still glad that Benitez made no changes during the break. It was up to the starting XI to fix the trouble they’d gotten themselves into, which they did. Plus, bringing on either Gerrard or Torres would have fed into the narrative that Liverpool is a two-man team, and showing the need for one of those two could have hurt the morale more than it helped the play.
• I don’t know whether it was unfamiliarity with playing as a striker for Liverpool or something tactical, but Babel was often deeper or wider than I expected (almost as if he was playing in the role of Kuyt/Voronin). At times it looked as if Liverpool was playing a non-league side at home with one up top, although Babel, Benayoun, Pennant, Mascherano, and Lucas all supported the attack when Liverpool was pressing, and Liverpool was getting men forward, mainly in the second half. During the spell when he tallied his second and third goals Benayoun played more centrally with Babel moving out to the left, but Babel, Pennant, and Benayoun interchanged often.
• It didn’t help Babel that Crouch didn’t play well either. I can find fault with every player’s game today, but Crouch was one who stood out, and it was a game in which he needed to do well for confidence’s sake. The goal in the 90th, where he was offside, covers up the fact he rarely looked like scoring otherwise and was kept under wraps by the Havant defense throughout. The play of the strikers outside of Torres (Kuyt didn’t cover himself in glory after coming on either) is one of the few things that does have me worried.
• Itandje was another who had a forgettable game, not commanding his area or communicating with his defense at times, epitomized in the 22nd minute when Liverpool was lucky not to go two goals down as Itandje flapped thrice at the ball, Liverpool failed to clear, and center-back Neil Sharp narrowly shot over. He did come up with a marvelous reaction save in the 87th from Jordan’s header to keep it at 4-2, but it was still probably his worst outing in a Liverpool shirt.
• 19 year-old Alfie Potter was much of the reason Finnan had such a poor game. Out of anyone in the Havant side, he has to be the one to watch to move up a few divisions. The five goals given up by Kevin Scriven don’t do him justice either, as he made a number of very good saves and came out to patrol his area well.
• I feel like any time fans of one club praise the other after winning a match it comes off as patronizing, especially when it’s a big club vis-à-vis a smaller one, but I really do want to give credit to Havant and Waterlooville. They came to play football and have a go, and kept going forward after going two goals down in the second half. Ignoring my overwhelming bias for Liverpool and the need for them to play well today, Havant and Waterlooville were an absolute pleasure to watch.
• As said before, it’s the FA Cup. It’s always good for a surprise, but Liverpool’s talent won out in the end. I’ll be a lot less forgiving if performances repeat themselves in the match against West Ham on Wednesday.
Showing posts with label Havant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Havant. Show all posts
26 January 2008
Liverpool 5-2 Havant & Waterlooville
Itandje
Finnan Skrtel Hyypia Riise
Pennant Lucas Mascherano Benayoun
Crouch Babel
Goals:
Paquette 8’
Lucas 27’
Skrtel (og) 31’
Benayoun 44’ 56’ 60’
Crouch 90’
In a way I’m glad I wasn’t subjected to this thanks to the first 45 minutes, but of course I’m not. It’s likely I would have broken my TV or something near it during the first half, but I’d still have taken my chances.
Of course I’m disappointed in what I read about the first half performance and having seen about 6 minutes worth of highlights, but there was always a chance something like this could happen. Havant was up for the match, didn’t sit back, and were able to take advantage of two nervous mistakes by a makeshift defense (including the fifth own goal of the season). Seriously, well done by them; they did themselves and their supporters very proud. Most of the Premier League doesn’t show that much attacking threat at Anfield.
Liverpool still equalized twice despite not having much rhythm about them, and got their act together in the second half, putting the game out of reach within 15 minutes of the restart through Benayoun’s second cup hat-trick. Crouch added more gloss in the 90th minute (and was offside), but I’m sure many aren’t satisfied with the result, which is fair after shipping two goals to non-league opposition in the first half.
Maybe because I didn’t see the match, (believe me, I was still furious going off of various text commentaries and delayed highlights), but in the end, I’m not that bothered. I’m worried about the defensive errors, as it’s not as if it was the first time they’ve appeared, but there was always the possibly Havant could spring a surprise with nothing to lose, and Liverpool had the class to come from behind twice and win by 3 in the end. It’s the magic of the FA Cup; I’ll be worried if trends continue in the Premiership or when it happens to a stronger XI.
As usual, I’ll have more to say if I see the full match, and in lieu of a full report, here’s a load of links:
• Liverpoolfc.tv match review
• Liverpoolfc.tv with Rafa
• 101 Great Goals: FA Cup 4th round
• BBC match review
• Sky Sports match review
• Eurosport match review
• RAWK post-match thread
Finnan Skrtel Hyypia Riise
Pennant Lucas Mascherano Benayoun
Crouch Babel
Goals:
Paquette 8’
Lucas 27’
Skrtel (og) 31’
Benayoun 44’ 56’ 60’
Crouch 90’
In a way I’m glad I wasn’t subjected to this thanks to the first 45 minutes, but of course I’m not. It’s likely I would have broken my TV or something near it during the first half, but I’d still have taken my chances.
Of course I’m disappointed in what I read about the first half performance and having seen about 6 minutes worth of highlights, but there was always a chance something like this could happen. Havant was up for the match, didn’t sit back, and were able to take advantage of two nervous mistakes by a makeshift defense (including the fifth own goal of the season). Seriously, well done by them; they did themselves and their supporters very proud. Most of the Premier League doesn’t show that much attacking threat at Anfield.
Liverpool still equalized twice despite not having much rhythm about them, and got their act together in the second half, putting the game out of reach within 15 minutes of the restart through Benayoun’s second cup hat-trick. Crouch added more gloss in the 90th minute (and was offside), but I’m sure many aren’t satisfied with the result, which is fair after shipping two goals to non-league opposition in the first half.
Maybe because I didn’t see the match, (believe me, I was still furious going off of various text commentaries and delayed highlights), but in the end, I’m not that bothered. I’m worried about the defensive errors, as it’s not as if it was the first time they’ve appeared, but there was always the possibly Havant could spring a surprise with nothing to lose, and Liverpool had the class to come from behind twice and win by 3 in the end. It’s the magic of the FA Cup; I’ll be worried if trends continue in the Premiership or when it happens to a stronger XI.
As usual, I’ll have more to say if I see the full match, and in lieu of a full report, here’s a load of links:
• Liverpoolfc.tv match review
• Liverpoolfc.tv with Rafa
• 101 Great Goals: FA Cup 4th round
• BBC match review
• Sky Sports match review
• Eurosport match review
• RAWK post-match thread
25 January 2008
Liverpool v Havant and Waterlooville 01.26.08
4th Round. 10am EST, not on in the US. With no televised coverage in the UK either, there probably won’t be any streams either. So much for the magic of the FA Cup.
FA Cup run:
Liverpool: 5-0 Luton (h); 1-1 Luton (a)
Havant: 4-2 Swansea (h); 1-1 Swansea (a); 1-0 Notts County (a); 1-0 York City (a); 3-0 Leighton Town (h); 2-1 Fleet Town (a); 2-1 Bognor Regis Town (a)
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 2-2 Villa (h); 5-0 Luton (h); 1-1 Boro (a)
Havant: 4-2 Swansea (h); 3-1 St Albans City (h); 1-4 Bishop Stortford (a)
Referee: Phil Dowd
Guess at a line-up:
Itandje
Finnan Skrtel Hyypia Aurelio
Pennant Gerrard Alonso Babel
Crouch Kuyt
A week ago I would have argued that playing Torres or Gerrard would be sheer lunacy. No offense to Havant -- I’m not suggesting Liverpool trot out the under-18s or reserves -- but those two are far too important to Liverpool’s season, and I fear the kicking the players will get.
But after another disappointing draw in the league, and all the continuing off-field "news," I’m not so sure.
At the least, I reckon Gerrard will start. He is the captain, after all, and if Carragher gets the rest he so deserves (with Skrtel hopefully coming in), Gerrard has to be on the field as the team’s leader. As much as I wouldn’t mind seeing Lucas in the center with Alonso, I fear the reaction should Liverpool under-perform without Gerrard or Torres in the team.
And I still think, despite the 17 goals, Torres will start on the bench. He’s someone who would assuredly be in for a kicking, and although he’s been Liverpool main (and at times only) goal threat, Crouch and Kuyt, the first-choice pairing last season, should be strong enough to get goals. Kuyt especially needs to have a good game and hopefully get on the scoresheet to reclaim some of the confidence he’s clearly lost recently.
But then again, Benitez has fielded a stronger team than I’ve expected in pretty much every cup game, both FA and Carling, so far this season.
Arbeloa and Voronin are assuredly out, and in Voronin’s case, that’s not necessarily a bad thing with the form he’s been in. His injury should force Benitez to play Crouch more often, which many have been clamoring for. We may even see Babel play some as a striker (please!) but I imagine he’ll be on the left here, as he was against Luton, because of Liverpool’s limited options on that flank.
The BBC’s piece featuring the Havant team is worth a look to see who’ll be coming up against Liverpool on Saturday.
I’ve said enough, probably more than I wanted, about off-field matters of late, and hopefully they’ll have little impact on the field tomorrow. And it’s not as if Liverpool doesn’t have to focus on the match ahead.
We’ve seen all the talk of the importance of the cups because of disappointing league form; a second FA Cup under Benitez, or at the least a good run, would be small consolation, but consolation nonetheless.
But Liverpool must still get past Havant, and will still have to fight for it every step of the way. This won’t be an easier match because of Havant’s non-league status; if anything, there’s that much more pressure because of the gulf between the sides. Plus, players may not be as focused because of their opponents (see the Luton away leg), and, with no offense meant, this will be the biggest match in many of the opposition players' lives. They will leave everything on the Anfield pitch, and it’s imperative that whoever is in the starting XI for Liverpool do the same.
FA Cup run:
Liverpool: 5-0 Luton (h); 1-1 Luton (a)
Havant: 4-2 Swansea (h); 1-1 Swansea (a); 1-0 Notts County (a); 1-0 York City (a); 3-0 Leighton Town (h); 2-1 Fleet Town (a); 2-1 Bognor Regis Town (a)
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 2-2 Villa (h); 5-0 Luton (h); 1-1 Boro (a)
Havant: 4-2 Swansea (h); 3-1 St Albans City (h); 1-4 Bishop Stortford (a)
Referee: Phil Dowd
Guess at a line-up:
Itandje
Finnan Skrtel Hyypia Aurelio
Pennant Gerrard Alonso Babel
Crouch Kuyt
A week ago I would have argued that playing Torres or Gerrard would be sheer lunacy. No offense to Havant -- I’m not suggesting Liverpool trot out the under-18s or reserves -- but those two are far too important to Liverpool’s season, and I fear the kicking the players will get.
But after another disappointing draw in the league, and all the continuing off-field "news," I’m not so sure.
At the least, I reckon Gerrard will start. He is the captain, after all, and if Carragher gets the rest he so deserves (with Skrtel hopefully coming in), Gerrard has to be on the field as the team’s leader. As much as I wouldn’t mind seeing Lucas in the center with Alonso, I fear the reaction should Liverpool under-perform without Gerrard or Torres in the team.
And I still think, despite the 17 goals, Torres will start on the bench. He’s someone who would assuredly be in for a kicking, and although he’s been Liverpool main (and at times only) goal threat, Crouch and Kuyt, the first-choice pairing last season, should be strong enough to get goals. Kuyt especially needs to have a good game and hopefully get on the scoresheet to reclaim some of the confidence he’s clearly lost recently.
But then again, Benitez has fielded a stronger team than I’ve expected in pretty much every cup game, both FA and Carling, so far this season.
Arbeloa and Voronin are assuredly out, and in Voronin’s case, that’s not necessarily a bad thing with the form he’s been in. His injury should force Benitez to play Crouch more often, which many have been clamoring for. We may even see Babel play some as a striker (please!) but I imagine he’ll be on the left here, as he was against Luton, because of Liverpool’s limited options on that flank.
The BBC’s piece featuring the Havant team is worth a look to see who’ll be coming up against Liverpool on Saturday.
I’ve said enough, probably more than I wanted, about off-field matters of late, and hopefully they’ll have little impact on the field tomorrow. And it’s not as if Liverpool doesn’t have to focus on the match ahead.
We’ve seen all the talk of the importance of the cups because of disappointing league form; a second FA Cup under Benitez, or at the least a good run, would be small consolation, but consolation nonetheless.
But Liverpool must still get past Havant, and will still have to fight for it every step of the way. This won’t be an easier match because of Havant’s non-league status; if anything, there’s that much more pressure because of the gulf between the sides. Plus, players may not be as focused because of their opponents (see the Luton away leg), and, with no offense meant, this will be the biggest match in many of the opposition players' lives. They will leave everything on the Anfield pitch, and it’s imperative that whoever is in the starting XI for Liverpool do the same.
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