Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid [UEFA Europa League SF 2nd Leg 2009-10]

After thumping Burnley 4-0 at Turf Moor, Liverpool turned back their attention to the return leg against Atletico, the biggest game of the season, where a win by a margin of two goals would see us go through to the final of the Europa League..But would have a more formidable opposition to face with Aguero back in their ranks..


The home team started with a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Kuyt leading the line upfront, and Gerrard for support, while Aquilani also started alongside Lucas as Benayoun and Babel played on the wings..I found the defensive line a little suspect, with Masch on the right and Johnson on the left, and Carra and Agger in the middle..


Liverpool showed their intentions very clearly from the start when a flick on from Kuyt resulted in Benayoun taking a shot across goal which was parried away by the young De Gea.. Liverpool won several corners to put Atletico on the back foot .. And created a glorious chance when Aquilani , Gerrard and Kuyt played in neat little triangles to put the ball wide to Masch, who put in an inviting cross which Kuyt somehow missed from 3 yards..
Then, at the end of the half came the breakthrough.. Benayoun ran to the byline and crossed the ball beautifully in the box, which was stabbed home by Aquilani with accuracy..The Italian showing his quality in the final third..
The second half though was a bit more subdued with neither side forcing the issue taking the match into extra time..By the start of ET, the influential Aquilani was substituted by El Zhar and Masch by Degen.. Liverpool got the all important breakthrough on the 95th min when Benayoun broke the offside trap to meet Lucas' pass and hit it across De Gea to give Liverpool the all important lead in the tie..But the Merseyside hearts were broken by an old foe..Reyes took advantage of Johnson's poor positioning and crossed into the box which was thumped by Forlan into the top corner to give Atletico the advantage on away goals.. Liverpool's vain attempt at goal after that beared no fruit as we went out of the Europa League on away goals..


Final Verdict - If Fulham could do it, so could we.. I feel the team is in a turmoil at the moment..


I don't even feel like rating the players  today as I am bitterly disappointed .. The only players worthwhile of wearing a Red shirt today were Aquilani, Benayoun and Reina.. Rest of them need to take a long , hard look at themselves to see if they should have the crest on their shirts..I do praise the team for working very hard and giving it their all, but too many individual performances cost us dearly..Kuyt might work hard but his glaring miss just reflects he's not good enough.. Ditto for Lucas .. I empathize with Johnson and Masch for playing in unfamiliar roles.. But the poorest was of the skipper..He was utterly anonymous...


And I feel that its time that Rafa stands up and takes the blame..Playing players out of position and favoritism are just two of his flaws.. He keeps cribbing about lack of funds when we have spent close to 38 m £ on Aqua and Johnson.. His biggest mistake is not being able to get the best out of his players and motivate them enough..He should take a leaf out of Hodgson's book.. I feel for the club to move forward, something's got to give , and fast..


YNWA 

Burnley vs Liverpool [BPL 2009-10]

http://www.footytube.com/video/burnley-vs-liverpool-1st-highlight-40785




After losing to Atletico in midweek, Liverpool returned to league action with an away game to relegation threatened Burnley.. With a see-saw of results for the other Champions League contenders, Liverpool had to make sure that they took maximum points to keep alive their faint hopes of finishing 4th ..


Starting with a 4-4-1-1 formation , Kuyt led the line upfront alongwith Gerrard in support, and Aquilani got a place in the midfield alongside Masch,Maxi and Babel..There was also the surprise inclusion of Daniel Ayala in defense..
This game was equally important for the Clarets in their bid to retain their Premier League status, so both the teams knew they had to win with their different priorities..


The home team started the game very brightly and created the lion share of the chances, with Steven Fletcher very lively upfront, and the service was also good with balls crossed into the box.. Liverpool finally started to come into the game with a quarter of an hour gone, and created a few decent openings with Babel running at Mears and hitting his shot wide and Gerrard bringing a save out of Jensen with his effort in the box..The problem they were having for the majority of the time was not being able to keep possession..The ref brought the 1st half to a close with neither side making any headway..


The second half though, was a different story altogether..with just a few minutes gone, Gerrard took control of the ball and took a shot at goal, and unluckily for Burnley, it took a massive deflection off Cork to give Liverpool the lead..
But if his first one was fortuitous , then his second was a belter.. Aquilani receives a lob pass from Maxi , but loses his footing.. which sets it up perfectly for the onrushing Gerrard, who curls an absolute beauty past Jensen to double the lead.. The third came shortly after.. Maxi latched onto a through ball from Aquilani and finishes expertly past Jensen to score his first goal for the club..And then Liverpool rubbed salt on Burnley's wounds when Babel stayed onside for a pass by Lucas and put it past Jensen rather unconvincingly..


FINAL VERDICT - A very good , morale boosting win ahead of the crunch European tie at Anfield in midweek..


PLAYER RATINGS-


Reina - Made a few errors, but was still very solid..7


Johnson - No individual contribution, but played well at the back..6 


Ayala - The Spanish youngster,apart from a fluffed clearance in the 1st period, was solid alongside     
           Carra..7


Carragher - Gave his usual , top notch performance. 8


Agger- Played ok but doesn't look very comfortable in the Left Back position .. 6


Babel - Very lively during the opening exchanges, played well up top in the second period..7


Masch - 7


Aquilani - Showed some good touches, lovely through ball for Maxi's goal.. 7


Maxi - The Argentine finally got on the score sheet .. 7


Gerrard - MOTM.. Brilliant second goal..Just what we needed from our captain..8


Kuyt- Very disappointing..5


Benayoun- Aided play well after coming on.. 6


Lucas - Just for his cheeky lob for Babel's goal..5


Pacheco - Did little after coming on..4






A word of appreciation for the Clarets fans.. Their defiance in going down cheering for their team was admirable..


YNWA

Atletico Madrid vs Liverpool [Europa League Semi Final 1st Leg 2009-10]

A part of me had lost faith in the fact that anything good would happen for us this year.. So I stopped writing..With Torres ruled out for the rest of the season, everything looked bleak..But then I remembered that this is Liverpool FC , not Torres FC ... Which brings me back to the match at Vicente Calderon..

After making an epic 26 hour journey to Madrid (I hate the volcanic ash that broke out from Iceland, stopping all air travel), exhaustion was inevitable.. Mascherano and Benitez both looked enervated at the press conference..Because such things are never suitable before playing a match of such magnitude at the top level...

However, in absence of Nando, Ngog was given the responsibility of leading the line upfront,with Stevie Gerrard playing behind him, midfield of Lucas and Mascherano with Kuyt and Benayoun on the wings..and Johnson,Carra,Soto and Agger alongwith Reina making up the backline in a 4-4-1-1 formation..the game started at a languid pace, and considering what was at stake, it was pretty much expected.. The first real action came in the 9th minute, with Jurado crossing the ball to Forlan, who scuffed his header into his own feet, and on the second chance, bundled the ball into the back of the net.. a poor start for us, and with that goal, Atletico came all out attacking.. with Reyes at the heart of it..Then Liverpool had a goal disallowed when Benayoun latched on to Kuyt's scuffed effort to expertly put it past De Gea..We can feel deprived as Benayoun was clearly onside but refereeing is appalling these days , so no criticism..

Forlan wasted another chance for Atletico when he found himself onside for a hopeful pass, only to show cheekiness by trying to loop it over Reina with his weaker foot, which resulted in him passing the ball back to Reina... The best chance for Liverpool fell to Gerrard, who made a darting run past the Atletico to meet a pass by Lucas, only to hit the side netting ...During the second half , Atletico, made a couple of decent chances, with Reina denying Simao from point blank range and saving another powerful effort from Ujfalusi which Carra cleared..Apart from that, there was hardly any meaningful action throughout the course of the match, with both the teams huffing and puffing without any end result..

FINAL VERDICT - Even though the performance wasn't good, its only half time, so we're still in with a chance..

PLAYER RATINGS -

Reina - My MOTM.. Made a couple of brilliant saves to keep us alive in the tie..8

Johnson - At fault for the first goal, and didn't offer much in the attacking third..5

Kyrgiakos - Unfortunate slip during the first goal, but much better after that..6

Carra - Best of the defensive lot, making crucial clearances..7

Agger- Like Johnson, failed to contain the threat of Reyes on the left..5

Kuyt- Mediocre , to say the least..5

Masch - Did his defensive work, but passing was poor at times..5

Lucas - Apart from the Gerrard pass, utterly anonymous.. 4

Benayoun- One of the better players..Provided the creative spark for the Reds going forward..7

Gerrard - Made a couple of decent runs in the box, but finishing was dismal..5

Ngog - The less said , the better.. Gave away possession far too many times..4

Babel - no rating

Now, what aggravates me the most about this team is that even before Torres, Liverpool used to be a team to be reckoned with, but with the gaffer building the team around his skills and superior finishing, Liverpool's dependence on Torres has increased to such an extent that his absence means a paucity of goals, and that's embarrassing..Moreover, the lad is very injury prone, so it has backfired spectacularly.. And I don't understand why Benitez has made Aquilani an outcast, the man's clearly got talent and the creativity alongwith guile, and was the best player against Fulham..So Benitez's preference of playing the below par Lucas, who consistently under performs, is absolutely baffling.. And I feel bad for David Ngog .. The young lad has to bear the brunt of the fans, when he's clearly not ready to lead the line on his own..And the most worrying of the lot is Gerrard..He's been playing regularly for quite sometime now, but hasn't got his goalscoring touch back..

Come the second leg, I hope Benitez plays with a more positive attacking line up, with Kuyt preferably leading the line upfront..With the roar of the KOP, i hope its another trademark European night at Anfield, and I expect Gerrard to return to his talismanic best..

[Anyone else thinks that this season as one of the poorest in our history coincides with Lucas playing regularly..]

YNWA

Liverpool vs Benfica [Europa League 2009-10 QF 2nd Leg]

With the Portuguese side having a goal advantage from the 1st Leg, the only way forward for the Reds was to win without conceding, and the thought of an away goal for Benfica would virtually end the tie, we started as the underdogs in front of our own fans at Anfield..

Starting with the favored 4-4-1-1 formation, with Benayoun and Kuyt on the wings, Masch and Lucas in the centre of the park..and Gerrard supporting Torres upfront.. the onus was on Liverpool to grab this match by the scruff of the neck.. and the Reds started very brightly indeed.. Gerrard falling back in the midfield creating various chances for the attacking players.. And the home side struck on the 28th minute mark.. Steven Gerrard whipped in a lovely ball in the Benfica box, which Dirk Kuyt, standing just in front of the keeper , headed home to give Liverpool the lead on the night..But there was a moment of controversy when the linesman raised the flag for a foul by Kuyt on the goalie which the referee overruled.. The goal was a reminiscent of the one he scored in the Merseyside derby....

and just six minutes later, Liverpool were at it again, the home side won the ball in midfield , and Gerrard threaded a lovely through ball for Lucas , who rounded off the keeper and calmly slotted it home to double the advantage for the Reds.. A well taken goal by the young lad, very striker like..

Even though Liverpool were 2-0 up, we didn't actually dominate the game, as Benfica kept possession well without really threatening..

The 2nd half started much the same way, with Liverpool playing often on the counter attack .. and it proved fruitful as on the 58th minute mark, with Benfica committing too many men forward for the corner, the Reds broke into a swift counter, Mascherano passing the ball to Benayoun, and the Israeli had the vision to pick out Kuyt, who put in a delightful ball in the box, which Torres, who had made a lung bursting run from his own box, met with aplomb to give us a 3-0 advantage on the night.. Benfica were outplayed by a lovely sweeping Reds move, and as a Liverpool fan, that was brilliant to watch..

And with the goal , Torres suddenly burst into life, running at defenders and chasing all lost causes.. THE Spaniard might have had a shout for a penalty, when he cut past Luisao in the box only for the Big Brazilian to check his run with an elbow, but escaped without any punishment..

On the other side, Ramires won a free kick for Benfica just outside the Liverpool box, and Cardozo, the big forward, thumped the ball with his left foot , and a wicked deflection off the Liverpool skipper took it past Reina... A glimmer of hope for the Portuguese champions and the home crowd which was singing out aloud , became a little nervy and anxious..Conceding another goal would have given the advantage back to the Eagles, and considering what happened to Manchester United a fortnight ago, a seed of doubt had been planted. But all doubts and anxiety were put to rest when Torres timed his run perfectly to meet a lob pass by Masch, and dinked it expertly past substitute goalie Moreira to bring joy to the KOP again...

Both Torres and Gerrard were substituted in the closing stages with Ngog and Aquilani....and both left the field with well deserved cheers from the home crowd..

FINAL VERDICT - Hammering the Portuguese champions on route to the semis..

Player Ratings -

Reina - A more consistent performance, and with him signing a new 6-year deal , its an obvious delight to us .. 8

Johnson - Didn't contribute much going forward, but defended very well, keeping Di Maria quite .. 7

Carragher - Had Cardozo in his pocket for large parts of the game.. 8

Kyrgiakos - The big Greek was an absolute rock in defence , dealing with crosses and corners very effectively.. 8

Agger - Was exposed a few times as he was playing in an unfamiliar fullback role .. Nevertheless, put in a good shift.. 7

Kuyt - Credit to the Dutchman today.. Opened the scoring and set up a goal for Torres .. Also doubled up with Johnson to keep a check on Di Maria.. 9

Lucas - Very effective.. The young lad was excellent today, scoring a goal and never afraid to go into a tackle.. 8

Mascherano - Did what he does best.. 8

Benayoun - Looked more like himself , excellent vision to set up Liverpool's third goal.. 8

Gerrard - Fabulous set piece delivery.. And a lovely through ball for the second.. The captain back to his best.. 8

Torres - I would have slated him for his first half display.. But El Nino burst into life In the second period.. scoring two excellent goals.. 9

Ngog and Aquilani - Not enough gametime to be given a rating..

Hoping that the team maintains this momentum so that this season can finish with a silverware..Next Stop, Athletico Madrid..

YNWA

Birmingham vs Liverpool [BPL 09-10]

Liverpool returned to league action after an exasperating European night in Portugal during midweek... With Spurs having lost 3-1 to Sunderland and Manchester City having thumped Burnley 6-1 at Turf Moor , this was a must win fixture for the Reds to keep in touch with the contenders for the final Champions League spot.. But it was easier said than done , with none of the top three teams having been able to garnish a win at St. Andrews, it was always going to be a difficult task for Liverpool..

Liverpool started with a 4-4-1-1 with Kuyt playing behind Torres, and Gerrard playing alongside Lucas in the midfield , Benayoun and Maxi on the wings, and Agger being rested with Kyrgiakos getting a start..

The 1st half was played at a leisurely pace with both the teams creating few openings here and there , and the tempo that is expected from a Premier League game was completely missing.. the best chance of the half fell to Maxi Rodriguez , who attacked a cross from Torres on the right which thudded against Joe Hart's crossbar for a goal kick....

The second half though was much better with Liverpool attacking with intent and getting their reward.. The Birmingham defenders clear a ball which falls to Johnson, who mis hits it back to Gerrard, and the skipper showed great composure, cutting on his favored right foot and picking out the far corner.. Advantage to the Merseysiders ... But the Blues responded very well and McFadden showed great skill to pick out the onrushing Ridgewell , and with the Liverpool defense totally missing, he equalized for Birmingham ...

The onus was on Liverpool to get back in the game, but on the 65th minute , all the fans , including me , sat gap mouthed as Torres was replaced by Ngog.. I, for one, was absolutely livid at Rafa Benitez... And soon along came Babel for Benayoun... Liverpool started to dominate the game with Johnson creating a host of chances for his team mates , none of which were taken.. And in the dying seconds of the game, Gerrard produced the ball of the match when he picked Ngog's run, who just scuffed his shot back to the goalkeeper's grateful hand..

FINAL VERDICT - Decent game, but we should have won knowing that we are lagging behind in the race for the 4th spot..

PLAYER RATINGS -

Reina - Wasn't his solid usual self, fumbling here and there .. 6

Kyrgiakos - Had a solid game at the back, keeping Jerome quite for large parts of it.. 7

Carragher - Ditto for Carra .. 7

Insua - one of his average games.. 6

Johnson- One of the two players who did everything for the cause... created numerous openings from the right.. 8

Maxi - Missed glorious chances on either side of the break, not good enough .. 5

Lucas - Very poor in possession , giving the ball away far too cheaply, ineffective in his defensive role.. 4

Gerrard - Probably my MOTM.. Brilliant skill for the first goal, lovely pass for Ngog which the striker wasted.. 8

Benayoun - Largely ineffective .. 5

Kuyt - Worked hard to link up play , but should be working more on adding to his goal tally .. 6

Torres - Anonymous for large parts of the game , due to a combination of poor passing by Liverpool and some good defending by Birmingham.. 6

Babel - Didn't do much in his cameo role.. 6

Aquilani - same for this lad.. 6

Ngog - Got into decent positions but very wasteful.. Should have won the game for Liverpool right at the end.. 4

My concern is that why Rafa took Torres off in the first place.. He clearly wasn't injured, and the reluctant shake of his head while coming off showed that .. Even Gerrard looked bemused at the decision.. Rafa could have talked about it being a tactical genius if Liverpool would have come away with all three points.. But with the Reds now four points adrift off the 4th spot having played a game more , even the excuse of a mystical injury to Torres isn't going to save Rafa from any grilling from the footballing world .....

[God I wish Torres hadn't come off ....]

YNWA

Benfica vs Liverpool (Europa League 09-10 QF 1st Leg)

Liverpool returned to "Estadio Da Luz" in Portugal looking to avenge the 1-0 defeat which stopped them from retaining their Champion's League crown in 2006-07..

The Reds were coming off a moral boosting home win against Sunderland on Sunday, and were aware off the threat that Benfica posed, as the Portuguese side had a phenomenal home record, having lost just once in 24 games..

The Reds started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, which Benitez prefers in European games, against a side who had their own star in the young Argentine 'Angel Di Maria' , with Mascherano and Lucas lining in as the defensive cover to the back four...

The match started very well for the Reds, as Gerrard won a free kick just outside the Benfica box, after Maxi Pereira had tripped him.. The Reds skipper passes it incisively to Daniel Agger who puts the ball in the back of the net with a cheeky flick...

But the side from Liverpool were not having it all their own way.. Di Maria was proving to be constant menace on the right providing numerous opportunities to Cardozo who couldn't capitalize.. But the game as a whole started to heat up around the half hour mark.. Torres , who had been singled out for rough treatment by the Benfica backline got a whack in his leg from Luisao , who had no intent of winning the ball, and got booked for it.. The big Brazilian got into an argument with Ryan Babel and the Dutchman was foolish enough to put his hand on the centreback infront of the official, resulting in him getting sent off.. Benitez wouldn't have relished the prospect of his side having to play an hour of the match down to 10 men.. But Torres almost put them ahead after putting the ball into the back of the net from a corner , but the linesman ruled it offside , sparing the Benfica goalie his blushes..

The second half though didn't go very well for the Merseysiders , with Benfica having a man advantage , came out all guns blazing to get back in the tie.. And they got their reward on the 58th minute mark, with Cardozo's free kick rebounding and falling to Aimar, who goes down under a challenge from Insua.. The Argentine's needless stamp on his fellow countryman giving the home side a way back into the game..Cardozo stepped up and lashed the ball into the right hand corner to make it all square... But Liverpool were not going down without a fight, and a quick counter almost resulted in them regaining the lead when Dirk Kuyt threaded a lovely pass to Torres who didn't even test the keeper.. Playing all alone upfront without any support was always going to be difficult..And the home side won their second spot kick when Jamie Carragher was rightly adjudged to handling the ball from a Di Maria cross by the linesman.. Cardozo converted the spot kick with a more composed finish this time giving Benfica the 2-1 advantage on the night and in the tie.. The night ended with Torres and Gerrard being replaced by Ngog and Benayoun respectively in the closing stages , and the revenge still unfulfilled...

FINAL VERDICT - Even though the result was a 2-1 loss, we can take heart from the battling performance the team put in, and we have the away goal which can be very crucial come the second leg.... On a personal note, some of the decisions by the referee were pretty bizarre..

PLAYER RATINGS -

Reina - Could not do much about the two penalties, and had a few doubtful moments, but still had a decent game.. 7

Carragher - Apart from his handball in the box, had a pretty solid game.. 8

Agger - Brilliant flick for the goal.. Sound at the back .. 8

Insua - Made a few mistakes , especially in the box when he stamped Aimar leading to a Benfica spot kick.. 5

Johnson - put in a good defensive shift to keep Di Maria at bay.. 8

Kuyt - A very good performance by the Dutchman, creating a few decent openings and helping the team out at the back.. 8

Mascherano - Broke up play very well, and did his job efficiently.. 8

Lucas - Even though he tries to slow down the opposition from playing, he gives the ball away far too often with his slack passing.. An area for major improvement.. 6

Babel - Immaturity on his part to be raising his hands at opponent's faces .. Put his team under unnecessary pressure for major part of the game and gives the manager a selection problem with the return leg in a week's time.. 3

Gerrard - The captain led the way very well in a hostile atmosphere, one of the few players who didn't make any mistakes.. 8

Torres- Missed a glorious opportunity in the 2nd half to give Liverpool the lead , but the rough treatment he got from the Benfica defense didn't do him any favors.. David Luiz should have been sent off for his incessant unfair tackling on the Spaniard.. 7

Ngog - The young Frenchman did a good job for the last 10 minutes for which he came on.. holding the ball very well to keep his side in the opposition's half .. 6

YNWA