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

Babel Sucked, But He Must Stay!

I was extremely pissed off when I read about what Babel’s whining on the Internet this morning.  First of all, he needs to just shut his mouth!  Second, he needs to start using his brain more, and start using his footballing skills even more.

Look, Babel, you sucked!  I asked Rafa to give you another chance to prove to the world your talents.  But all you got to show, when I passed you the ball, was with your head down and dribble unsuccessfully.  How many times have I told you that you are NOT Stevie G!  You’re not me in terms of 1) skills, 2) the captain of this Liverpool team, and 3) born and raise by Liverpool.  When you have the ball outside of the box, pass the fucking ball after 2 dribbles, would you?  You know what you remind me of?  Milan Baros!  And you know very well how his career ended up! 

Also, when I said you don’t have a brain, you really didn’t make it difficult for me to prove it.  Look at our squad!  Let me make it a bit easier, just look at the 3 + 1 positions in Rafa’s 4-2-3-1 formation.  You will never ever replace Torres as the first choice in that ‘1’ up front.  Rafa has been assigning you to play on the left side in those ‘3’ Attacking Midfielder positions.  Also playing in that position could be Riera and Benayoun.  If you look to the right side, there’s Kuyt, and usually Benayoun is his backup if needed.  (We all know El Zhar is not ready yet!)  So including yourself, we are looking at 4 players fighting for 2 outside positions.  Was it that bad for such a World Class football club, with so many games to play in a season?  (I hope you have enough of a brain to figure out that the central Attacking Midfielder role is forever mine, but more on that later.)  I know this is a ‘World Cup season’, and you want to be certain that you’ll get picked for the World Cup.  But had you keep your mouth shut, I would have fought for you for at least some Carling Cup games, if not FA Cup’s too!  But no, you want to open your big mouth to ‘tell Ajax to come bail you out!’ 

Now, back to my central Attacking Midfielder position.  Please take a good look at Lucas’ recent criticism!  Rafa has been begging me to play in the ‘Alonso role!’  I didn’t play in that position during our last game against Bolton because Rafa thought Lucas could handle Bolton’s midfield.  Should I have to play in Lucas’ position, I see either moving Kuyt to partner Torres in a 4-4-2, or to have Benayoun trying to be me and remain in 4-2-3-1.  If this is the case, we are now suddenly looking at the same 4 players fighting for 3 positions.  Was it that tough? 

This team need creative attacking players… like me.  Although there’s only 1 me, we still need all the talents available to last an entire ‘title challenging’ season.  Normally, I would just ask Rafa to send you back to Ajax.  Instead, I’m demanding you to make a public apology to Rafa, and to the team, and to tough it out for the rest of this season.  We need you! 

Now go shut the hell up and honor your contract!

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. 

Rafa: My Stoke City vs. Liverpool Team Sheet

			Reina
Carragher		Hyypia		Agger		Aurelio
		Mascherano		Lucas
Babel			Myself			Riera
			Kuyt

• Not much changes in the back.  It turned out that putting Carragher in the Full-Back position has been working out, so I’ll just stick with it.
• Insua is not available so I put Aurelio on the other side of the defense.  I’ll let him take a few free kicks if/when I choose to.
• Alonso is injured so Lucas will take his spot
• I chose to put Babel on the right because, 1)  Riera has been doing well on the left, and 2) Babel can play the Striker position while (the alternate) Benayoun cannot.  I would like some options here.
• Kuyt over Torres even though Torres is available.  I’ll put Torres on some time in the second half.  I just don’t want him to get injured by doing a full-game so soon, and Away.

My prediction:  Stoke City 0-4 Liverpool