Liverpool Vs WBA [BPL 2010-11]

After the midweek European exertions, the Reds returned to league action , with a double whammy which saw the unprofessional Mascherano depart to Barca and Liverpool swiftly securing the services of Portuguese international Raul Meireles from FC Porto for around £ 11.5m to fill the midfield void.

The setup was 4-4-1-1 with Gerrard supporting Torres upfront with Kuyt and Jovanovic on the either wings and Poulsen along with Lucas making up the midfield.Agger was recalled to play in the unfamiliar left back role.

Since WBA were promoted to the first division this year , it was upto us to put in a strong display with the key players being rested midweek. But it was the away side who started brightly, sticking to their footballing philosophy and switching the play nicely to retain the majority of the first half possession. The only notable effort from the Reds was when Torres made a curling effort in the opening minutes to be easily saved by Carson.
Seeing how ineffective we had been during the first period, the manager made a tactical switch of making Jovanovic play on the left with Kuyt moving to the right side of midfield.. The main problem we had was controlling the midfield, with Lucas and Poulsen being forced into hurried and sometimes slack passing. On the 60th minute mark, Jovanovic was replaced by Maxi Rodriguez. The Anfield crowd had been pretty quite this afternoon, and the team wasn't giving them any reason not to be. But on the 66th minute mark , the game suddenly came to life, when Reina made a quick clearance after saving from Jara, and Kuyt at the other end, clipped a delightful cross for Torres to volley it low past Carson. The Spaniard had held his run and met the ball perfectly for a stunning finish. With the goal ,came on a bit more purpose with Gerrard picking Torres beautifully with his cross only for Carson to deny the Spaniard a brace with a good save. But the visitors didn't panic and kept plugging away but ultimately came short in the end.

As far as the performance is concerned, it wasn't the best, giving yet more proof that Lucas should not be playing . Poulsen was a bit better. Another thing clearly visible is that we need a left back, because Jovanovic doesn't get enough support on the left as Dan Agger is naturally a center back. Even Nando and Stevie G were spectators for large part, till showing a little bit of class. I am happy that we came through with a positive result and things can only get better with the arrival of Raul Meireles, who alongside Poulsen, would hopefully make our midfield more dynamic again. YNWA