Rat-face Suarez opened the scoring on 21 minutes at the end of a nice move. Coutinho and José Enrique exchanged some deft passes before the latter fed a perfect little through ball to Suarez, and the little prick finished neatly with the outside of his right boot. We all knew Suarez was capable of hurting us, and it was the start we were dreading.
As Dembele and Bale grew into the game, we began to take control. We didn't have many clear-cut chances but Sigurdsson missed a great opportunity to equalise when Bale released him with a brilliant back-heel. We got back into the game just before half-time when Dembele managed to hold off a couple of players on the right-wing and pass to Bale who whipped in a stunning cross for the very in-form Vertonghen, who shrugged off Glen Johnson to head it into the bottom corner.
| SuperJan scores the first of his two goals! |
Soon after the break, we took a deserved lead. Bale whipped in another nice ball, this time from a free-kick, and it bounced in the area before none other than Mr. Jan Vertonghen stepped up to claim his second of the game and his third in two matches. And it was a great finish on the half-volley too!
We continued to dominate the play for the next 10 mins or so, before Kyle Walker decided to play a reckless pass back towards our goal from the half-way line. As usual, Lloris came flying off his line and attempted to clear it, but the ball fell straight to Stewart Downing who almost fluffed his lines, but managed to squeeze the ball through Vertonghen's legs and into the net.
At this point I was thinking about our next 9 matches and how useful 3 points would be today. I was still pretty confident we could get a winner, but a draw would be a decent result, despite the frustrating manner in which they equalised. But then..BUT THEN. 15 minutes later, another horrendous blunder gave Liverpool an undeserved lead. Well actually it was a couple of blunders. Firstly, Defoe prodded the ball aimlessly back into our box and straight to that bloody Suarez. And then BAE felt the need to barge him over and give away a blatant penalty. Our two full-backs make far too many mistakes, and it needs to be dealt with. In Walker's case I think he can learn, and we should keep hold of him because he is a superb talent, and apart from his mistake today, he played well and was a useful attacking threat. With BAE, unfortunately I think we need to start casting his replacement, and I certainly don't think it's Naughton.
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| Gerard's late penalty unfortunately proved to be the winner |
I didn't totally agree with AVB's team selection. I was particularly skeptical about starting Dembele on the right, but I think it worked okay. As I showed in yesterday's preview, I would have opted for Bale on the right and Holtby behind Defoe, keeping Dembele in his regular position in the middle. But Mousa still influenced play from the right, and neither system could be geared towards stopping our players making bizarre and unforced errors.
Anyway, as I said up top, hugely disappointing result. 9 big games left. Foolham next week is now must win.
Player Ratings
Lloris - 6 Has got to take some share of the blame for Downing's goal, although he was forced into making a quick decision by Walker's ridiculous pass-back. Still, it was a poor touch that from the 'keeper that left Downing with an easy finish. Couldn't do anything about the other goals.
Walker - 5 Thought he actually played quite well apart from his blatant fuck-up. Looked an attacking threat throughout and was quick to get back and make vital tackles, particularly in the opening stages when Liverpool were on top. Still can't give him more than a 5 as he gave them an equaliser from nothing.
Daws - 5 Has been brilliant for us lately but today wasn't his best showing. His lack of pace was very apparent at times, particularly for the first goal when Suarez got in behind him. Tried to play a bit too much football at times, and was guilty of giving away possession.
Verts - 8 Can't give him less than that as he scored goals either side of the break to turn the game on its head. Also made a number of key tackles and interceptions, but he did step up a bit recklessly once or twice and was lucky nothing came of it.
BAE - 3 Another 'mare from Benny. Aside from his giving away the penalty which led to Liverpool's winner, he also left the opposition with far too much space on the right-hand side, as he almost constantly gets dragged infield for reasons only known to himself.
Dembele - 8 I was shocked that AVB started him on the right of midfield but I thought he put in another great shift. He was still our most influential playmaker. Okay, he had to drift into the middle to be at his most effective, but this allowed Walker to bomb down the right wing and get in dangerous potentially dangerous positions.
Livermore - 5 Did well in patches. Very quick to close down players but didn't make much impact with his passing. Given the fact he was playing alongside Parker, who's already got that 'lots of effort but lacks dynamism' role nailed, he needed to be more creative. He also went missing towards the end.
Parker - 7 Played his game well for the first hour or so. He's never going to dictate a game for us, and he probably suffered a bit with Livermore beside him, but as usual he was quick to break up opposition attacks and find his teammates with short passes.
Siggy - 4 He had a poor game and doesn't seem to have the pace to be a permanent fixture on the left wing. He ran himself into to trouble a few times and lost possession. Also should have hit the target when Bale's backheel presented him with a great scoring chance.
Bale - 7 Liverpool fans will claim that Suarez out shone him today in terms of their scrap for Player of the Year, but the boy Bale still put in a very good performance. He created both of our goals and seemed to put the fear of G-d into their players every time he got the ball. However, he saw increasingly little of the ball as the game went on, when we needed him to produce something special.
Defoe - 4 Always looks lively, which instantly makes him our best option up front, but he's still not cut out for this level. He just shoots. Doesn't matter where he is, or who's in space, he just shoots. It's incredibly frustrating to watch, I can't imagine what it's like for the rest of the team. Also prodded the ball back into his own box which ultimately led to Liverpool's winner.
COYS!
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