Archive for Game Reviews
Michael Owen given a pretty warm reception
 | By Antoine Zammit · Comments |
Although reported otherwise by a hate-mongering Manc website (they obviously didn’t see the game), Michael Owen was given a pretty good reception today for Jamie Carragher’s Testimonial at Anfield. Yes there were a few boos but overall the Anfield faithful appreciated the fact that Owen was doing this for his former team-mate and for charity. Luis Garcia opened the score and right before half time Michael’s shot was handled by Duffy, a penalty was given and Michael sportingly allowed Carra to take.
Owen played the first 45 minutes for the Liverpool XI who trashed the Everton counterparts 4-1, he seemed very comfortable wearing the Liverpool shirt again. Michael was joined by former Reds who included Luis Garcia, Dudek, Gary Mac, McAteer, Michael Thomas, Finnan, Heskey & Warnock. Most of the Reds who were not on International duty also featured in the game. Stevie G even flew in from London to play for 10 minutes, while 15 year old Sterling got to play with the big boys for the first time.
The scoring continued in the second half with Joe Cole scoring his first Liverpool goal. Everton did get a penalty but Carra denied them the satisfaction as he took it himself not allowing Yakubu to take. Nathan Ecceleson scored the 4th and final goal and the game ended 4-1.
I must say Owen had a pretty good game and quite honesty it was his best performance since he left Liverpool. Ever since Michael left Liverpool he has been plagued with Injuries and endless time on the benches of Real Madrid, Newcastle & Manchester United. That magical Liverpool red on his chest brought the wonderkid back to life.
Keep that Liverpool shirt Michael maybe they will let you wear it at Old Trafford, it will bring you luck.
Y.N.W.A.
-Antoine
A Dutch-Spanisch connection
 | By Amanda Musch · Comments |
It took some time, but finally we gained the first 3 points in the PL under Roy Hodgson. Yesterday’s encounter with West Bromwich Albion ended 1:0, thanks to Fernando Torres’ beauty of a goal (66 min.), but the performance of the whole team was far from convincing.
We started as poorly as we did in Turkey, and the first half made me shudder. We played comatose, were losing the ball, the passes were wrong, the mistakes agglomerated … It was woeful. We played poorly, and considering which team we played, makes the performance even more woeful. I really had to fight against myself to stay positive. I tried to concentrate on the tiny good things. Well, if you are trying hard … Jovanovic and Gerrard were working hard; Poulsen wasn’t nearly outstanding, but for me, he looked quite solid in the midfield. I do want to rate him by now, I’ll give him some time. Alberto Aquilani was given so much time, why not give some to Christian? Maxi looked solid as well.
The second half (at least a part of it) was slightly better: more dynamic, more aggressive and we could have scored more often, but the WBA defense was too good for us. We have to give credit to Albion, as they played very intelligent, covering and defending well, without fear, and a couple of dangerous goal chances. Thanks to our Pepe … He stood there as a one.
The 66` minute was a soupcon of Torres brilliance we all know, and miss, so much. Dirk Kuyt led the break, exchanged passes with Torres, and surged onwards down the left before picking out the unmarked Spaniard on the edge of the area with a perfectly weighted chip. Torres connected cleanly on the volley and found the bottom corner of Scott Carson’s goal.
“These kind of players only need half a chance,”said the WBA manager Roberto Di Matteo, after yesterday’s match at Anfield. “That piece of magic made all the difference,”concurred Hodgson, and there surely were some sparks of the old Torres magic we got used to.
As Antoine tweeted, and broke his personal being-retweeted-record, “That was our 2000th League Victory or 350th EPL Victory and Torres’ 50th Anfield goal.”
A sweet record, nothing to sneeze at! And a couple of minutes later this record could have been made even sweeter, as Steven Gerrard superbly passed to Torres, but this time with less luck.
The final stage of the match became a bit lethargic again, but we secured the victory, the three points, and well … I’ll take that. We didn’t do that much, so the result is completely justified.
As for me, this match was far from satisfying. The new signings still need to settle into the team, the “old” players aren’t fully fit yet, and the team as a whole still needs to wake up, and try to avoid making stupid mistakes.
With Joe Cole returning to the squad after his ban it all should change. With our new boy from Portugal, Raul Meireles, we got a important addiction to the squad, and I can’t wait to see him playing. He was one of the most important players for Portugal in South Africa, and I hope, he will show that class for Liverpool too.
In my opinion, Roy’s signings are good, they just need some time to work out. The fans are very inpatient, but let’s give the new boys some time. It doesn’t hurt.
Liverpool:Jose Manuel Reina,Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, Leiva Lucas, Christian Poulsen, Fernando Torres (Ryan Babel, 89), Milan Jovanovic (Maximiliano Maxi Rodriguez, 60)
-Amanda
My fellow REDS..
I’m just grateful for the 3 points.. :-)
http://www.lscm.com.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=47&Itemid=41
It was a case of chasing after the wind.. chasing shadows really.. as a determined West Brom side were not in the mood to go for a draw.
In the end the wind that mattered delivered.. our very own El Nino with another winning goal that sealed a hard-fought and 3 precious points to go with it.
We looked to this game as the catalyst to galvanize our league campaign after just claiming 1 point from our earlier 2 encounters. A well-rested Gerrard and Torres were expected to spearhead the attack and Roy did not disappoint us with our dynamic duo in the starting eleven. And so was a fresh Jovanovic but with a possibly tired Kuyt who endured the torrid pitch midweek in Turkey.
In fact, our central pairing of Lucas & Poulsen had worked their socks off in the heavy conditions in Trabzon and the effects revealed itself when they were second best to the West Brom midfield who worked so very hard to close us down.
Not only were the Baggies adept at cutting off our attacks, they were equally adventurous going forward and had a couple of sniffs at our goal. Reina had to stay alert to make some smart saves & catches.
Torres had the early shot which was calmly caught by Scott Carson. But we were soon to endure a torrid time as West Brom attacked wave after wave. We even survived penalty appeals when Skrtel was thought to have bundled over the West Brom player in the penalty box. But the referee, Mr Lee Probert, seemed intent on enforcing “English-style” interpretation of the law… allowing lots of these challenges even in the box. It was soon to even out when we were denied later in the game a second goal when a raised arm blocked Nando’s goal-bound shot.
It was only at the half-hour mark when we really threatened Carson’s goal when Kuyt latched onto a quick freekick only to see a defender block his shot. This was also when Torres seemed to be pulled down in the box but the ref shook his head in disagreement.
There was even time for a last-minute scare at Reina’s goal but the stalemate remained to our exasperation and relief !!
Flashes of brilliance was offered by Jovanovic, even some timely tackles by Lucas. But with Poulsen still getting to know his teammates, you could see why Roy preferred to add another defensive midfielder to our ranks with the swift transfer and unveiling of Raul Meireles.
And with Paul Konchesky expected to sign within the next 48 hours before the transfer deadline, you can see the need to have a flying leftback, rather than the improvised one in Agger.. though the Dane did play his part to neutralize the physical presence of the West Brom players during set-pieces.
Out into the second half, the pace was getting better in our favour. There was more spark especially with Maxi in the fray. Skrtel came close from a corner, volleying a shot just over the bar. Yet, West Brom were still dangerous on the counter. It was from such a move that we had our goal at their mercy only to happily see Reina collect the shot cleanly.
Then with a swing of his arm, Reina had Kuyt running with the ball, advancing into the West Brom half. A quick one-two with Torres meant Kuyt was in the clear with Gerrard screaming for the ball in the box, drawing some defenders alongside. All this time, Torres positioned himself away from the crowded six-yard box. And with a delicate chip by Kuyt into Nando’s path, our Super Striker took one look and planted his shot away from the keeper into the net to the rapturous joy of the Kop End and REDS worldwide !!
Finally a goal !! But what was to follow looked like a disaster waiting to happen. Our 2 holding midfielders sat deep in our own half. This meant any break in our attacks were easily picked up by the West Brom players to launch their counter-attacks. We were to endure anxious moments and we were also to endure a penalty denied for a so-called “not deliberate” hand-ball as called by Mr Probert.
Then came a moment where maybe the ref wanted to atone for his strange decisions the whole afternoon. A swing at the leg of Torres provoked a reaction from the Reds, but Morrison probably didn’t expect a straight Red Card to come out of Mr Probert’s pocket.
So 1 man down into the last few minutes of the game and the Baggies still looked threatening. In came Babel for Torres who went off to a standing ovation. No more goals till the full time whistle but it was really a relief for all REDS.. no goal glut, but just thankful for the win against a very brave West Brom who has shown that the drubbings they received in the opening game will be a thing of the past
Liverpool 1 WBA 0
 | By Adam Stone · Comments |
Liverpool 1 WBA 0 Sunday August 29 2010
This was another one of those matches which we won by the skin of our teeth and were hanging on by a thread during the added on minutes after the 90 had finished. We probably could have, and should have done so much better in this game, but, as is becoming increasingly common lately, we had a dire first half and only started playing properly during the second half.
It was a good job that West Brom had not capitalised on any of their chances in the first half, as we would have been looking at only a point from this game, or even worse no points at all. All credit to West Brom though, who played some good stuff, and could very easily have been in the lead before the break.
It took one moment of class from Fernando Torres deep in the second half for us to take the lead in this rather tepid match, which didn’t look it was going to go anywhere, as neither side seemed likely to capitalise on their chances (not that we had many chances up to that point) but luckily we managed to scrape through and get our first three points of the season on the board, which is the minimum that was required for the match.
It was a shame that we couldn’t have got more goals, but we never looked likely to get many more goals after Torres got his first of the season in the second half.
Still a one nill win is just as good as a six nill win at the end of the day (as long as the league doesn’t come down to goal difference that is! It still hurts the way Arsenal won the league with that last gasp Michael Thomas goal all those years ago) and we now have 4 points out of a possible 9.
It is not the best of starts, but with a few new additions to the team in the next couple of days, and hopefully one or two more before the transfer window closes on Tuesday, we are going to be looking at a team that can at least challenge for something this season.
It may not be the league at this point, but the Europa League is a possibility, as are both the League and the FA Cup.
Come on lads, let’s do it for the fans, and for Uncle Roy!
LFC v WBrom Stream of Consciousness
 | By Braedyn · Comments |
- Lord, the first half was dire for us. We were hassled at every turn, mostly bossed, and left chasing shadows for a large part of it. I nearly spent the first 45 minutes fashioning a noose (fortunately I still had the one I started last season).
- A similar performance gets us thwacked 3-0 at Manchester City; such is the gulf between the haves and the have-nots in the Premier League. The longer the clubs goes without proper investment the further down we’ll slide. Right now, we’re in a kind of financial purgatory. We must be saved soon, lest our expectations be cast into the flames of eternal damnation (dramatic verbiage, I know).
- Absolutely shocked that Morrison was sent off. Not because of the severity of the offense, but I could have sworn that Lee Probert left his cards and whistle at home.
- What a class finish from Torres, and quite an energetic shift from him. So poor was our ball retention, that he spent much of the match charging backwards and putting tackles in. Not sure if that came from Roy, or frustration.
- Poulsen is all destruction and no creation. A midfield consisting of he and Lucas offers little in the way of creativity, and today at least, inept ball retention. We were overrun on Monday, and never truly took charge today. Joe Cole’s return should see Gerrard drop back alongside the DM du jour; hopefully giving us more performances like the one against Arsenal, and fewer like the ones from this week.
- Welcome Raul Meireles, you’ll be a cracking addition to our tattoo collection.
- Did anyone else watch the last 7 minutes like you were strapped in to Alex DeLarge’s “rehabilitation” chair? If not, welcome back from your year-long coma, you didn’t miss much.
- All whining aside, that’s 3 points in the bag. There will be plenty of time for hand-wringing when we actually drop points, so I’ll go right ahead and enjoy this.
VIDEO : Liverpool 1 – WBA 0 (Torres’ Goal)
| By Antoine Zammit · Comments |
Liverpool 1-0 West Brom
Ricardo | MySpace Video
