Sunday, October 28, 2007

Gerrard Rescues Liverpool

On a night when the last 2 remaining unbeaten records in the English Premier League locked horns, it was the Anfield side Liverpool which came away slightly fortunate with a share of the spoils with Arsenal.

The home side's captain Steven Gerrard put them ahead with a thundering free kick in the 7th minute, and then suffered several scares before finally conceding a late equaliser when Arsenal's Spanish wunderkind Cesc Fabregas sneaked in. While the draw reflected a generally fair result, I would say that Liverpool should count their blessings to come away with a point.

Arsenal exposed all the weaknesses in the home team. The most glaring was the terrible lack of pace in the whole Liverpool side. Arsene Wenger has always stuck with his successful blueprint of using fast, athletic players with a generous sprinkling of skill and talent. At Anfield, these players tore into the Merseyside team time and again, often catching the midfield and defence back-pedalling in desperate attempts to cut out the danger. Sami Hyypia was an obvious target, while Jamie Carragher has looked worryingly out of his depth this season. Make no mistake about it, Carragher is still a key player in Liverpool's defence, and has continued rescuing the team with many last ditch tackles. But to be a real contender, you do not wish to see yourself being in those situations at all. Daniel Agger has better pace, but again, he also suffers from the same malaise that Liverpool defenders seem to have in abundance - the lack of pace.

While the Reds created their fair share of chances and came close on a number of occasions, they never looked like the home team. Javier Mascherano is starting to revert to his West Ham form - again he seems to look slow against other teams. Perhaps this is the result of playing in a team full of joggers and having to cope with cleaning up after them. Xabi Alonso certainly has the touch of class so often lacking in Liverpool's midfield in present times, and suffering the recurrence of his metatarsal injury definitely did not help the cause. Steven Gerrard prompted and ran his heart out as usual - but despite his constant urging, his team often lack the mental aptitude for a fight. Sure, they try, but always with a distinct lack of conviction.

Voronin appears to have lost any early promise he showed and Dirk Kuyt, for all his enthusiasm and hard work, is just another forward water carrier, no matter how much quality he might have over the average Joe. The strange thing was if Rafael Benitez intended to play with wide players, why did he not start Ryan Babel? If the strategy was to pump continuous long balls into the opponent's penalty area, why not put Peter Crouch into the fray earlier? Dirk Kuyt would never be favourite aerially against someone like Kolo Toure. Then again, he is getting paid bucketloads to make the decisions, not us.

Arsenal on the other hand, continues to show promise. I have certainly grown to enjoy watching this young side play, no matter how much I might diss them. They are tough, and add to that quicksilver attacking verve, I would love to see them grab the English Premier League title race by the scruff of its neck and pummel Manchester United into oblivion. I never expected them to leave Anfield with anything less than a point - it was a question of when before the equaliser would come. In fact, I was about to say they shaded the contest, but looking at it again, I would have to admit they came to a formidable football fortress and bossed the proceedings on more than one occasion.

That is why to say Steven Gerrard rescued a point for Liverpool would be the truer reflection of an exciting and often edgy game that hovered on the brink of explosive action.

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