Liverpool 2 Maccabi Haifa 1 - CL QR3 1st leg (Aug 9 2006)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 2 Maccabi Haifa 1

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Craig Bellamy, Mark Gonzalez Half Time - 1-1 Venue - Anfield Date - Wed 9 Aug 2006 Star Man - Momo Sissoko

 

 

 

It was a good night for the new boys at Anfield, as Craig Bellamy and Mark Gonzalez bagged debut goals and Jermaine Pennant turned in a sparkling performance to spare Liverpool’s embarrassment after Maccabi Haifa had taken a shock early lead. The home leg of the 3rd Round Qualifiers is not usually a happy fixture for us, and for a long while this one looked like going the same way. Only Gonzalez’s late intervention ensured that the Israeli’s now have to win the 2nd leg to progress at our expense.

Benitez opted for a front pairing of Bellamy and Gerrard, and I have to admit that didn’t fill me with a great deal of confidence when I heard it. Away from home I could see it working, as Gerrard would have a bit more room to work in and Bellamy could utilise his pace on the break. In a game like this however, we would be doing the majority of the attacking and would have an awful lot of the ball. In those circumstances Crouch is essential to how we play, as he’s the focal point who allows everyone else to play off him.

I’d expected Pennant to start on the bench, with Gerrard on the right and Bellamy and Crouch up front. That would have been the obvious choice, but maybe the fitness of the players was behind Rafa’s decision? He obviously had his reasons, but it’s fair to say that the decision to play Gerrard as a second striker was about as unsuccessful as it usually is. He just can’t seem to get into the game when he plays there, despite his best efforts and willingness to try and get on the ball.

In the first half especially he was a peripheral figure, as the reds dominated possession but for the most part failed to create anything of note. Pennant was looking very lively on the right, and Alonso was providing him a regular supply of passes. JP and Finnan were working well together down that side, and Gerrard linked well with them too occasionally, but the problem was a lack of bodies in the centre.

Whenever Gerrard drifted out wide, that left only Bellamy in the centre, and Crouch’s presence was sorely missed. It wasn’t that our football was bad, far from it. We knocked the ball around well and worked some excellent positions, but the lack of a presence to aim at in the box was undoing most of that good work. We just looked a bit unbalanced.

Our most likely source of a goal seemed to be a shot from distance. Riise went very close with a low drive from 25 yards which fizzed inches wide, and Carragher also had a shot from just outside the box which was comfortably saved by their keeper.

Haifa on the other hand, weren’t having much of the ball, but there was still an underlying menace about them in the sense that when they tried to break they did it at great pace. Their goal was a fine example of that, although from our point of view it should have been prevented. The number seven played a one two with the centre forward, and both Sami and Riise were caught on their heels and Alonso hadn’t gone with the runner. As a result the lad had a clear run through to Pepe’s goal, and he finished very well.

The goal came out of the blue as they’d barely threatened, but I don’t think it was a complete surprise either as they looked to have some quick and skilful players in attack. The lad on the right wing had already skinned Riise in the opening couple of minutes, and he needed to be watched carefully, whilst the Argentinian lad who scored was useful too, even if he was a cheating little twat.

The goal spurred us into life, and four minutes later we were level and Bellamy was celebrating his first goal in front of the Kop. It was a really good team goal too. Alonso spread the ball wide to Pennant for the umpteenth time, and JP cleverly cut inside the full back before rolling the ball into Gerrard. The skipper had his back to goal and wouldn’t have been able to get a shot away, but he had the presence of mind to instantly lay it into the path of the marauding Sissoko who’s shot was parried by the keeper into Bellamy’s path, and the fiery little Welshman gleefully sidefooted the ball into the roof of the net.

The game was really crying out for Crouch, and I was hoping to see him brought on at half time in place of Zenden. Bolo had been pretty average, and when everyone is fit it’s difficult to see him getting anywhere near the side, be it on the left or in the centre. He’s a decent player and seems like a good lad, but if you look up ‘squad player’ in the dictionary, there’s a picture of Bolo and his beautifully maintained golden locks.

Rafa opted to leave things as they were at the start of the second half, but the extensive warm up routine Pako put Crouch, Gonzalez and Garcia through during the interval suggested it wouldn’t be long before at least one of them was called upon. Garcia was the first one to get his chance, not surprisingly replacing Zenden. That change saw Gerrard switching to the left with Garcia partnering Bellamy.

Haifa seemed content to try and keep what they had, and weren’t venturing forward too much. Even so, they came within a lick of paint of regaining the lead when a deep cross from the right saw the number nine outjump Finnan and head towards the far post. Reina was scrambling across but didn’t look like he would have got there as the ball went just wide. Bizarrely, a corner was awarded, but then the referee was awful in the second half and this was one of a number of baffling decisions he made.

Garcia made an instant impression and some of his close control and dribbling were fantastic. He had a shout for a penalty when he beat three players in a tight space in the box and took a tumble. From my seat in the Main Stand there’s no way I could tell if he was fouled or not, but his fall was somewhat theatrical which might have counted against him.

Pennant was continuing to beat his man and supply crosses, but we needed Crouch in there to get on the end of them. Eventually the big fella was summoned from the bench, and Bellamy made way for him. I’d have liked to have seen them both on the field together, but who else could have gone off? It was a tough decision for Rafa as Pennant and Sissoko were our two best players, Alonso was making sure the widemen were getting plenty of the ball and Gerrard is Gerrard, you don’t take him off with half an hour to go.

So Bellamy made way, and immediately Crouch began to profit from the delivery out wide. One header from a Finnan cross looked like it was a certain goal from where I was sat, but it bounced tamely into the keeper’s arms. Minutes later he produced a much better effort from an Alonso ball in, but his glancing header was just off target. Chances were starting to come thick and fast now as we piled on the pressure, but it looked like the goal was never going to come.

Gerrard was unhappy with Crouch when he did brilliantly to pull down Pennant’s deep cross and pick out the big striker, only for Crouch to take a touch and lose the ball instead of shooting first time. Crouch was then caught on his heels a little when Garcia showed brilliant footwork and dribbling ability to get to the line and drill a ball across the goalmouth. All it needed was a touch but Crouch couldn’t reach it.

Pennant thought he’d bagged the goal his display deserved when his free kick took a deflection and looked to have wrongfooted the keeper, but the man between the sticks recovered well and pushed the ball to safety. It was looking like being one of those nights at this point.

Benitez used his last throw of the dice to send on Gonzalez in place of Gerrard with six minutes to go, and the Chilean’s first official touch as a Liverpool player was to whip in a stunning cross, but once again nobody could get on the end of it. ‘Gonzo’ should now be in his second season at Anfield, but some jamooks on the work permit panel deemed him not worthy of a place in the Premiership. When you look at some of the shite that has been allowed in it’s extremely irritating that we’ve had to wait so long to see this lad in a red shirt.

He probably feels he has a point to prove to those morons who refused his application, and two minutes after coming on he did just that by hitting the winning goal. Alonso picked him out with a glorious chip to the far post, and even though the ball got stuck under his feet and the chance looked to have gone, he somehow dug out a dinked right foot shot which nestled in the top corner. It was a terrific finish, and just reward for a player who has had to wait much longer than he should have to run out at Anfield. There should be some very red faces in the Department of Employment this morning, but chances are they don’t even know he scored.

There was still time for a late scare when Haifa took advantage of Finnan getting caught upfield (he didn't look fully fit to me as he was labouring to get back a few times late on), and it needed a great save by Pepe to prevent them getting a draw, and a second away which would have made the return leg much more difficult.

A lot of people I've spoken to weren’t happy about the performance, but overall I thought we played ok. The problem was we didn’t have the penalty box presence to make the most of all the good approach play. Also, we’re basically still in pre-season and for some of our lads this was only their second game back. For me there was an awful lot to take heart from in this game, not least the performance of Pennant.

Bellamy is off the mark, so is Gonzalez and both of them will be high on confidence going into the new season. Sissoko and Alonso are a fantastic partnership, and Garcia is looking very bright at the moment. We’ve got Fowler to come back, Crouch’s confidence is high following his good international displays, we’ve got a great keeper and a solid back four, the best player in the league and and we’ve got the best manager around. What’s to be worried about? So we’ve had a few defeats in meaningless friendlies and we didn’t wipe the floor with Maccabi Haifa like some people may have expected. Big deal.

It may not have been a great performance against Haifa, but it wasn’t that bad either. The important thing is we’ve got our noses in front, and should be able to see the tie through by avoiding defeat in the second leg. We lost at home to someone shit the year we won the Champions League (I don’t even remember who it was, which shows how easily games like this are forgotten) in one of the worst display’s I have ever seen, so from that point of view this was actually pretty good!

Of course there were negative things about this performance, I’m not suggesting there weren’t. I don’t see them as being anything to worry about though. The lack of penetration was largely due to having Bellamy as a lone striker, and Bolo not being much of a left winger these days. Gerrard very rarely looks himself when he plays in that free role, and I’d hope he won’t be used there too often. We know Zenden isn’t the answer on the left, but we’ve got Aurelio and Kewell both to come back from injury and ‘Gonzo’ has got off to a good start. I honestly don’t see anything to be concerned about, even if we did make hard work of winning this game. The 'problems' are very easily rectified.

The good far outweighs the bad for me, as we will only get better as the players get sharper and the new lads have even more time to adjust to their new surroundings. So what if we struggled to beat Maccabi Haifa? You can’t win every game 5-0, and let’s not forget, we did win. I came away from Anfield pretty happy. Not because I thought we’d played really well, but because I saw a lot to take encouragement from and I’m excited about what we can achieve this season.

Picking a star man was pretty easy, as it was a straight choice between Momo and Pennant. Our midfield monster was at his energetic, imposing best, and he’s becoming one hell of a player. His use of the ball is getting better all the time, and he’s starting to show some really delicate footwork and close control too. The comparisons with Vieira may be a little tiresome, but at times he’s so much like the former Arsenal man was in his pomp it’s scary. The only thing lacking from his performance against Haifa was a goal, and he went close to getting one on two occasions. One resulted in Bellamy’s goal, and the other saw him denied by a flukey deflection after a powerful run past several challenges.

The word ‘awesome’ is over-used these days, but I can’t think of a word that better describes Sissoko when he’s on his game. I fucking love Momo I do, he’s boss. If he can add goals to his game then we'll have one of the greats on our hands in this lad.

I’m giving him the star man, but it was a close run thing and Pennant was very impressive. He’s going to give Rafa some real selection headaches this season if he keeps up this level of performance.

What he gives us is out and out width. I like the fact he’s an old school winger who wants to hug the touchline and get as many crosses in as possible. There aren’t many like him about, as most wingers these days want to cut inside all the time. It’s been well documented that Pennant made more crosses than anyone else in the country last season, and if this game is anything to go by, he will be up there again this year.

He doesn’t need to beat a man to get a cross in, but he can beat him if he has to. Haifa doubled up on him in the end, but he still kept getting balls into the box. I also like the maturity he has in his play, as he wasn’t just trying to cross it every time he had possession. If the cross wasn’t on he went back to Finnan, or Alonso or whoever was supporting him. He’s got good feet, and a good brain too (at least ON the field he has!).

If Gonzalez turns out to be a similar type of player on the other flank (by that I mean someone who stays wide and gets crosses in), then we’ll have better width than any side in the league in my opinion. Fowler and Crouch especially will both benefit from that, and the ‘possibilities’ we have in the squad right now are endless.

Pennant’s display highlighted a potential problem we may have with Gerrard though. Most assumed, well I did anyway, that Stevie would still be used mainly on the right like he was last season. Momo and Xabi are very well balanced as a pair, and by starting from the right Gerrard can get forward and do his damage without being bogged down with having to make the play in the middle of the park.

Pennant would be good back up whenever Stevie needed a rest, or if he was needed in the middle. But what if Pennant proves to be a real star? The balance of the side may be better with an out and out wideman like him, but obviously Gerrard has to play somewhere. That would mean him either being moved out to the left, or replacing Alonso or Sissoko. It’s unlikely he’ll play much on the left, so he’s either going to replace Pennant, Xabi or Momo.

It’s the kind of problem a manager likes to have, and it shows how strong our squad is now. I just hope we don’t see Gerrard pushed into that second striker role too often, as he just doesn’t look comfortable playing there and finds it too hard to get into the game. We might see Alonso and Gerrard getting plenty of rest this season as they may be rotated a lot and kept fresh for the big games.

It’s going to be interesting to see who lines up against Chelsea this weekend. A ‘friendly’ it may be on paper, but there’s nothing friendly between the two clubs these days, and both sides will desperately want to win to lay down a marker for the upcoming season. It will probably mean more to us to be fair, and I can’t wait.


Team: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise; Pennant, Alonso, Sissoko, Zenden (Garcia); Gerrard (Gonzalez), Bellamy (Crouch):

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