LIVERPOOL 3 Bolton 0
Report by Dave Usher at Anfield
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| Scorer(s) – Albert Riera, Robbie Keane (2)
Half Time - 1-0
Venue - Anfield
Date - Fri 26 December 2008
Star Man – Robbie Keane
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So this is what a home win feels like! I could get used to this, hopefully we won’t have to wait so long for our next one. This was perhaps our best performance at home since we beat the mancs way back in September. It wasn’t just the scoreline that was convincing, it was just a completely dominant performance in every area of the pitch, and we looked an extremely well balanced side. Something I haven’t felt about us at home for a good while.
So what was the big difference between this game and the disappointing draws with Fulham, West Ham and Hull? Well for me there are three things that immediately leapt out when I saw how the team lined up, and they are things that many fans, pundits, ex players etc have been calling for Rafa to do for a while.
Firstly, he ditched the one up front system that quite frankly should never be used at home unless Torres is ‘the one’. It doesn’t work, it’s too negative, we don’t have anyone other than Torres who can play the role, and it’s something that most people agree on.
Secondly, a lot of people have been making the point that we don’t need Mascherano in games at home against the lesser sides, as Alonso and Gerrard are best equipped to break down sides who come to defend.
And finally, we have Robbie Keane. Despite his goal and fine performance at Arsenal last week, Keane is not comfortable playing as a lone striker. He’s also not suited to being the furthest forward in a 4-4-2 as he was against West Ham when Kuyt was so far behind him for most of the game it’s stretching things to even say we played two up front that night.
Robbie Keane needs to play off another striker, and he needs license to roam about and get involved in the game. Against West Ham he barely touched the ball, and was then predictably subbed for not being involved enough. He then spent the entire ninety minutes against Hull on the bench, when we desperately needed someone to get a goal. How can you spend £20m on someone who scores goals, and then leave him kicking his heels on the sidelines when you need to score? It was baffling at the time, and even more so after seeing what he’s done at the Emirates and against Bolton.
Keane’s performance in this game, in his preferred role it needs to be pointed out, made a mockery of the decision not to bring him on against Hull. But that’s gone now, and there’s no point crying over spilt milk. Robbie has made his point, and hopefully Rafa has gotten rid of whatever bee he had in his bonnet about the Irishman. Certainly any plans he may have had to offload Keane in January will surely now have to be shelved.
We’re fortunate that our rivals were unable to capitalise on the stupid points we’ve let slip, and if we can keep performing as we did against Bolton – and more importantly keep the same positive approach we showed – then hopefully we’ve seen the last of the disappointing home performances.
I’m really encouraged by what I saw against Bolton. Not only did Keane play very well and score two cracking goals, but Riera showed signs that he’s coming back to his best form and Benayoun was outstanding on the other flank. This was the kind of performance I want to see. We were positive right from the start, we knocked the ball about very well and we stretched the play by using both wings to good effect.
Most importantly, we had options when we attacked. We didn’t even need Gerrard to be at his swashbuckling best either, as he played a disciplined role and sat in midfield alongside Alonso dictating the play. Usually he’d be breaking ahead of the strikers and getting in the box, but he didn’t do much of that. He didn’t need to, and with another game just two days later it was sensible for him not be charging about all over the place. He’ll be fresh for the trip to St James, especially as we had the luxury of bringing him off early.
Bolton were really poor it has to be said, but I think we deserve credit for that. They’ve been in good form lately, but Megson abandoned the strategy that has served them so well of late and went for a defensive approach, no doubt encouraged by our recent failure to break down Fulham and West Ham. It didn’t work though, and when he abandoned the plan at half time and introduced Kevin Davies, they got even more of a chasing.
If we’d played West Ham, Hull or Fulham yesterday, we’d have beaten them too, as there was a balance and purpose about our play that hasn’t been there for some time. You can argue it’s because of how poor Bolton were on the day, but for me it was more to do with how we approached the game.
From the early stages of this I felt confident. Riera and Benayoun were lively from the outset, and Keane had more touches in the opening minutes of this game than he did in the whole time he was on the field in his last game at Anfield. Their keeper wasn’t being called into action much, but our approach play was promising and we were knocking the ball about very well.
Bolton’s intentions were made clear with just a minute on the clock, when the keeper (I’m not even going to mention the scruffy non-applauding the crowd piece of shit by name) took an age taking a goal kick.
The game was played almost entirely in the Bolton half, as Alonso and Gerrard tok control of the game and were picking and probing at the defence and looking to get the ball wide as early as possible. A series of corners were forced, most of which went to the far post looking for Hyypia or Agger.
One was pulled back to the edge of the box where Insua met it with a sweet volley that was parried by the tramp in the Bolton goal, but mostly the corners went deep. Bolton were maybe expecting another one of those when Gerrard shaped to take another one at the Kop end, as they didn’t react quick enough to Riera’s near post run. Gerrad’s delivery was perfect, Riera poked it in with his studs and we were off and running.
In truth we should have been in front even earlier than that. Kuyt had a great headed chance that he put over the bar, when maybe he could have left it for Riera who was in an even better position. Benayoun shot wide when he should have at least hit the target, and Carragher saw a dipping left footer from 25 yards go just over.
But once we got our noses in front there was no looking back. The second half was very good, as Keane came to the fore with two excellently taken goals following superb build up play. The first came about when Alonso won a tackle in the centre circle and the ball broke to Gerrard. Keane made a run and pointed where he wanted the ball played (he does that a lot doesn’t he?), and Gerrard delivered it inch and weight perfect.
The pass was so good that Keane didn’t have to break stride and just smashed it in with his left foot. That goal made the points safe, as although Bolton didn’t even look like they had one goal in them, you never know what can happen at 1-0. No way where they going to get two, so when this went in I think everybody relaxed a little.
The third goal was the icing on the cake, and was brilliantly executed. Reina caught the ball on his goal-line, and spotted the run of Alonso through the centre. He raced out and threw it into the path of his compatriot, who carried the ball forward into Bolton territory. Keane and Benayoun both ran flat out to get up in support, and Keane’s run across the defence created room for the Israeli. Alonso played him in, Yossi crossed it first time to where Keane had pointed to, and our number seven finished neatly to put the seal on a good individual and team performance.
It was a great day for Robbie, as he even managed to survive three substitutions and was still on the field at full time. Riera made way for El Zhar, Lucas replaced Gerrard and amazingly Kuyt was actually subbed for N’Gog. It turns out that the Dutchman is carrying a knock, which explains why he was brought off as he never gets subbed unless it’s in stoppage time.
We could have had more goals, Benayoun and N’Gog both went close, and Keane was within a whisker of going clean through again after some brilliant play by Carragher again. But three is more than enough, I’m well happy with this result and more importantly, the performance. We needed to win, obviously, but we also needed to win well to restore some confidence and we did just that.
You could sense the fans regaining some belief the longer it went on too. The chants of ‘We Shall Not be Moved’ were not exactly full of conviction, not like they are when the knock out stages of the CL come round for instance’, but as the game wore on there was noticeably more belief in the chants.
The humour was back too, as the Kop began chanting the names of each player during a lengthy stoppage. ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Nabil El Zhar’ was a bit weird, and I’m not sure what to make of the ‘He sticks his cock into his sock’ N’Gog song! It was nice to see people relaxed and having a laugh though, as too often this season it’s been really tense and nervy.
It’s easy to have a go at the fans, but I’ve always felt that if the team give them something to get behind then they will do. Yes, the crowd have to back the players, but it’s a two way street and Rafa has to loosen up a bit and let the players off the leash a bit. If the fans see that the side are having a go, they will respond to it. It’s when we see one up front at home, lots of sideways passes and not enough people getting into the box, that’s when the atmosphere goes flat and people get anxious. Sometimes it looks like we’re more concerned about not losing than we are about winning, and that’s when the atmosphere gets a bit ropey.
Against Bolton that clearly wasn’t the case, and the longer it went on the more into it the fans got.
If I have any criticism of the performance, it would be that our good approach play didn’t always lead to a meaningful attempt at goal. The keeper was busy, but not exactly overworked. I’m not complaining though, we did more than enough and if we play like this every home game from now until May I’ll be overjoyed. It was a good performance, not a great one, but certainly our best in a while.
There were some very good individual displays within the good team performance too. Carragher was exceptional at right back, Sami was faultless again and Agger loked very comfortable too. Insua gave another very promising performance and deserves to keep his place for now, regardless of whether Aurelio is fit or not. He’s a similar sort of player to the Brazilian in that he doesn’t panic and always looks to play his way out of trouble. There was one little drop of the shoulder and slide rule pass down the line to Riera that reminded me a lot of Aurelio.
In midfield Alonso was imperious again, and Riera looked more like the player he was when he first arrived here. He’s gone off the boil a bit of late, but this was better from him. Yossi was very good, and he linked up very well with Carragher down the right.
Star man though is Keane, who has come through a very difficult time and hit back in the perfect manner, but scoring goals and making it impossible for the manager to leave him out. If he can maintain this kind of performance, and we can get Torres fit and playing in front of him, that will be mouth watering. There’s no guarantee’s it will of course, but if it does then we might actually be able to stay at the top of the table.
I mean, we’ve gotten there without producing anything like the kind of form we did in the second half of last season, so if Torres comes back and shows his best form then you have to be hopeful. With exactly half the season gone and us still in pole position, it’s ours to lose now. If we see more displays like the ones against West Ham and Fulham then we will lose it. More of what we saw against Bolton though, and who knows….
Team: Reina; Carragher, Hyypia, Agger, Insua; Benayoun, Alonso, Gerrard (Lucas), Riera (El Zhar); Keane, Kuyt (N’Gog):
