Tuesday, 1 December 2009

Now Liverpool need to make their own luck

AS cliches go, it's right up there with 'a game of two halves' - this baseless notion that luck evens itself out over the course of a season.

It's a shrug-of-the-shoulders soundbite delivered with monotonous regularity by lip-biting managers who can't say what they really think when a decison doesn't go their way. 

It's about as convincing as Mark Bright.

But let's just entertain the theory for a moment. Watching Liverpool this season, it's easy to get wrapped up in the balance of luck argument.

Beach balls, an injury list longer than Alex Ferguson's bar bill and a string of unrewarded penalty shouts suggest the Reds have been hard done to.

But that's now an argument to consign to the same dustbin as Everton's plans for a new stadium in Kirkby.

Because against David Moyes's Blues, Liverpool rode their luck.

Don't get me wrong, beating the Toffees is always sweet. How could it not be when so many of their fans seem to put Liverpool failure over Everton success?

But as for evidence that Rafa Benitez's side have turned the corner, it was far from convincing.

Yes, some players are still returning to fitness, Fernando Torres was still injured, and Alberto Aquilani was still not considered in the right condition to warrant an appearance.

But Everton were not at full strength either. And their league position - and form - tells its own story - even Hull scored three against them...

Yet we had to rely on a deflected speculative shot from Javier Mascherano and a world-class double save from Pepe Reina to make sure of a laboured victory at Goodison Park on Sunday.

Many are saying it's the result that matters, not the performance. In some respects that's true.

But if Liverpool are truly to turn around this substandard season displays like that need to be the exception rather than the rule, especially if this long unbeaten run people keep dreaming of is to become a reality.

The general play against the Blues was predictable, pedestrian and disjointed. Players looked short on confidence, unwilling to try and beat a man and David Ngog was left isolated.

Too many times the 20-year-old was called upon to fight for hopeful aerial balls that resulted in Liverpool conceding possession, something which happened too often on the day.

And to not pick Tim Cahill up from a set piece...surely simple on-field communication can sort that kind of issue out?

But while the play was far from what's required, at least the fight was back in the bucketload.

Jamie Carragher and Javier Mascherano looked like their old selves, while Lucas Leiva threw himself about and even spilt some claret for the cause. Of course that still won't be enough for some people...

But say what you want about Liverpool, there's certainly no lack of effort from the players to put things right.

Now let's have some finesse to add to the fight.

Comments (3)

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Sounds spot on to me. I think the confidence will be a lot higher now, and that will make it far easier for cut out the defensive mistakes and play with a bit more quality in attack. Plus, as Gerrard gets some training under his belt and Benayoun also gets fully over his muscle injury, and Aquilani can get going - having more creative players available should make the difference. I thought it was great for Rafa to be able to put some subs on that made a difference as well, adding some impetus that led to us getting that second goal. That must have been a nice "luxury" for him after recent games when a lot of these options were unfit or in the case of the City game - not having the possibility.

I thought Ngog was outstanding on Sunday as well. He did nothing spectacular, but for a 20 year inexperienced player to play lone striker in a competitive derby against an experienced defence, he deserves a lot of credit. He held it up, his movement was good, he occupied the defenders, and he looked a threat at times. That is not as easy as a lot of people would think.
Good points, I've been well impressed with Ngog, it would have been nice if he'd got a full connection on that chance he had in the first couple of minutes at Goodison.

But it's a big ask to expect him to lead the line on his todd for any length of time, we need some support for him desperately.

The Ruud Van Nistelrrooy rumour has taken hold again tonight...
3 wins in 15 with 8 losses. Why in the world is Rafa Benitez still in charge of Liverpool? On any other team, this manager would have been fired. Are Liverpool fans so stupid and blind (in allegiance to a sucky manager) to not see the writing on the wall (and it says 'How stupid is the team to still keep this loser of a manager)?

City and Villa fans love Benitez -- and not because of his good (not) looks. He is single-handedly bolstering their chances for next season's Champions League place. How sad is that.

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