Liverpool 3 Portsmouth 0 - Prem (Nov 19 2005)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 3 Portsmouth 0

Report by Peter Schulz at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Bolo Zenden, Djibril Cisse, Fernando Morientes Half Time - 2-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 20 Nov 2005 Star Man - Bolo Zenden

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, it was a couple of hours of fun rather than nail biting tension to go and see Liverpool at Anfield this season. Firstly, because Portsmouth are the worst side to have visited Anfield for a while, and secondly, because the reds are seemingly now gathering a bit of momentum.

This was the day when Crouch was going to score, a lot of people said. Against a former club, with 40,000 backers, most of them willing the lad to score that crucial first goal for the club. The main thing this game will be remembered for was neither Zenden’s great run and nutmeg in the box nor his nice follow-up from the goalkeeper’s save. It wasn’t the injuries to Garcia and fellow Spaniard Alonso or Cissé’s fluky cross. It wasn’t Morientes adding another goal to his tally this season.

It was Crouch.

As he went and picked the ball up to take the penalty I couldn’t help thinking that it was the wrong decision to let him take it. Not because I don’t want the lad to score a goal, but because it was basically a no win situation for the forward. Even if he’d scored people would still be going on about how it was “just a penalty” and that he still hadn’t scored a real goal for the club.

As it turned out, he missed (contrary to what Radio City were reporting, I’m told. “He didn’t miss, the goalkeeper saved it”, apparently) and how his confidence must have taken an even bigger blow. It seemed his team mates wanted him to take it and stepped back and fair play to the lads for the massive show of support.

My view of Steven Gerrard was certainly enhanced by his actions even though I felt it was the wrong decision. It was always a captain’s decision and he stepped up and was there to make it.

It is hard not to feel sorry for poor Crouch as it is obvious he is trying his very best to be a success for this football club. Therefore, it was great to hear most of Anfield back him continuously throughout the game. If he isn’t made to feel welcome here, then how can we ever expect him to get through this difficult period of his career?

Those inside Anfield who feel they must tell him and everyone else around them that they don’t rate him should try and look up the meaning of the word “support” and then shut up. By all means, express your opinion on team matters when you’re in the pub with your mates or on internet forums, but when at Anfield or with the player in private, we should all be supportive, especially of someone who is doing his best for us, the supporters and the football club we all profess to love.

How hard can it be?

In many ways the game turned out to be a complete non event and the atmosphere was completely relaxed almost straight from kick-off. It certainly was from the time of Zenden’s headed goal and onwards. Portsmouth were simply shockingly bad and the chants of the Pompey supporters seemed spot on. “You don’t know what you’re doing” they sang when LuaLua was hauled off for another complete unknown foreigner.

The reds went into half time two goals to the good courtesy of Cissé’s cross, and the talk at half time was about how many goals we would score in the second half. We seemed to take the foot off the pedal, however, and could and should have got more than the three we had to settle for after Morientes had finished off a good move on the right. Gerrard’s cross was met by Crouch at the far post and his header back to Morientes made it comfortable.

To their credit Portsmouth had tried to commit men forward up to that point but in the end they’d given up hope of salvaging anything from the game. The reds were far too good for them and Rafa even gave Josemi a run out perhaps to try and bring some drama into the game late on. He did the same last year against Portsmouth and then it cost us 2 points.

Gerrard and Crouch had further chances but the ball just won’t go in for Crouch at the moment.

The performance was solid all round and picking a star man was a bit tricky a no one stood out completely. The defence was its usual reliable self with Reina again having nothing to do most of the afternoon. Up front, as I’ve said, Crouch did his best and overall had a pretty good game, while his partners Cisse and then Morientes had mixed games. It was good to see both get on the scoresheet, however, more should be expected of the Frenchman as he continues to show the wrong kind of body language to team mates around him. He must sort it out and he could start off by looking at his strike partners for tips.

Gerrard and Hamann were as we’ve come to expect them. Gerrard roams around the pitch in a way that we never see him do for England, and perhaps Eriksson and the London press should try and realise that? My star man was Boudewijn Zenden who I think is looking more and more like the player we saw for Middlesbrough. He is willing to make runs and make space for team mates and things are finally starting to come off for him. It might not have been a penalty but the run and nutmeg to earn it was brilliant. The header perhaps even more impressive.

I think he is slowly developing in the right direction and at least he will give Harry Kewell a fight for the left wing berth. His performance was encouraging, I thought.


Team: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Warnock; Garcia (Morientes), Gerrard (Josemi), Hamann, Zenden; Cisse (Alonso), Crouch: