Liverpool vs. Burnley Post Match Rating

I mentioned in the earlier post but I want to mention it again, today’s formation of moving me back to Alonso’s position has been called out on this blog 10 days ago!  I have to admit that I was expecting to partner Mascherano, and not Lucas, but that’s totally fine.  I just came back from England duty; I scored 2 goals, and I’m red hot!  And before the game starts, I told Lucas that he better not disappoint me because I’m NOT going to sit back there, with him, to help defending.  He didn’t disappoint.  I have to assume that I brought out the best of Lucas today.

Reina – 7 – Hardly challenged all day.  I wanted to give a 6, but hey, a clean sheet is a clean sheet!

Skrtel – 7 – Just like Reina, he didn’t have much to do today either.  There were a few defending runs and he didn’t get caught out.  His jaw looks strong as usual!

Carragher – 7 – Again, rarely challenged.  Clean sheet!  That’s good!

Insua – 7 – On a day like today, playing against a weaker side, I was hoping to see more of the attacking side of him.  But with Glen Johnson bombing forward on any given chance all the day, we do need him to stay back to help out. 

Johnson – 7 – Should we ever need a defensive minded Winger, he’ll be playing in that spot.  Come on, Glen!  It’s time to improve your defensive skills further.  I’m afraid you’ll get targeted when we play against teams with a strong Left Winger.

Lucas – 7 – Just avoid the attacking!  Otherwise, you did a much better job today to provide the much needed coverage to the defensive line.

Riera – 5 – I’m not impressed my your performance today.  Babel should have played today, instead of you.  But he suffered a mouth and tongue injury!

Benayoun – 10 – Hat Trick!  Lots of dribbling!  Enough said.

Torres – 6 – It’s cool that you get tightly marked all day long.  Guess what!?  You’ve freed up Benayoun!

Kuyt – 7 – You did okay for trying to be me.  But you know you’re not me, right?  Congratulations on your goal!

Me – 7 – I think I did well.  It’s been a while since I played in Alonso’s position and I still prefer to go forward and attack. 

Degen – 6 – Premiership debut!  Congratulations!

Voronin – 5 – You still haven’t improved your shooting; nor did you improve on your runs.  You continued to run into positions where I would go. 

Ngog – 5 – He didn’t play long enough

Stoke City vs.. Liverpool Post Match Review

I knew I had a poor game!  I don’t know but during the first half, I just couldn’t stop worrying about the Court appearance that I have to make later this month.  I just disappeared from the field. 

It was not until late in the second half that I realized this season is not the same as the seasons.  We are actually leading the table this time in January.  I tried to pick-up myself from the mental crash, but it was tough.  Rafa later sent in Torres to help me out.  He did!  But the post didn’t!  I hit it twice today! 

It’s a miserable day for me, and probably for the team too.  There is a possibility that we have just lost the Premiership Title, TODAY! 

Now when I watch Chelsea hosting Man U tomorrow, I have to hope for a draw.  Either side win will be a disadvantage to us.

Reina – 5 – I’m sorry, I know you got a clean sheet, but that stupid pass that you made almost game me a heart-attack.

Hyypia – 7 – I think he did okay today. 

Skrtel – 7 – Welcome back!  And yes, you also did well.  Your partnership with Hyypia seemed to work well today.

Aurelio – 6 – A very quiet day.

Carragher – 6 – I don’t like seeing Carra playing as Right Back.  His crossing sucks, and he lacks pace.  And looking at how often Stoke came down their Left side, I don’t think I’m the only one who sees Carra that way.

Mascherano – 5 – I had a quick chat with Maradona after the game today, and I told him not to judge Mascherano based on his performance today.

Lucas – 4 – His passing was miserable today! 

Kuyt – 5 – We know his finishing sucks.  By the time Rafa moved him to Right Wing, I think he only had less than half a tank of gas left.

Myself – 6 – I didn’t show up in the First Half.  I only started playing after Torres was brought on.

Riera – 5 – He did a few good runs from the Left early-on.   But he disappeared in the Second Half, and subsequently being substituted. 

Benayoun – 5 – Always one dribble too many.  He was given quite some time on the ball and he failed to deliver.

Torres – 6 – Got about 30 minutes of play and that Header-pass to Gerrard was magnificent! (Almost gave him a ‘7’)

Babel – 6 – With only 10 minutes or so of playing time, I shouldn’t even be rating him.  But I do think that his Dribbling and Pace are both better than Benayoun.  He was/would-have-been my pick to start the match on the right.

In conclusion, WE MISSED ALONSO!  I don’t know how Rafa could entertain the thought of selling Alonso early this season.  His range of passing was clearly missed today!  And if we do end-up losing the Title, today’s match, in my opinion, is the final nail to the coffin. 

Preston vs. Liverpool Post Match Review

I told Rafa during our mid-week training that I want to play today because I want to thank my fans and supporters for their unconditional support during this tough period. 

Personally, I know that the only way to clear my mind these days is to score a hat-trick of goals and assists in an official game… preferably ManU or Everton.  But since Preston is our upcoming game, I knew they were the unfortunate ones.

When Rafa asked me to give him my line-up, I have to admit that my version of the team-sheet includes a few of our Reserve players.  But when I saw Rafa’s team-sheet, it tells me that he means business this time!  With our next game in a week’s time, I supposed we can afford to send out our full squad to ensure a passage to the next round of FA Cup. 

The game started off a bit rust for me, and the team.  I could clearly see that Bable, Mascherano, and Keane are a bit off with their passes in the beginning.  But as we settled down a bit, I began to find my rhythm and made a few killer-passes.  Unfortunately, Keane failed to convert those opportunities.  Riera’s shot was awesome!  The result came instantly after Sammy Lee told Babel and Riera to switch side after 20 minutes.  Sadly though, Alonso was injured right before half time.  It looked serious and only an x-ray can tell how serious was the injury.  

The second half was more or less the same.  It’s good to see Mellor did relatively well up-front.  I saw him made a few good looking passes in the second half.  Credit to Preston, they really tried to come-back but our defense line held up nicely! 

To compensate the sad news of Alonso’s injury, it’s good to see that Torres made a return to action.  Yeah, I know I could have scored that goal myself; I just want to give it to Torres to celebrate his return.