Liverpool 3 Aston Villa 1 - Prem (Oct 28 2006)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 3 Aston Villa 1

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Dirk Kuyt, Peter Crouch, Luis Garcia Half Time - 3-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 28 Oct 2006 Star Man - Xabi Alonso

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been perhaps the most difficult week of Rafa Benitez’s time at Anfield. An abject performance from his team at Old Trafford more or less ended any hopes of a title challenge, his side then almost threw away a three goal lead against Reading Reserves in the League Cup, and then he sees an attack on his management by an unnamed club director in a national newspaper.

He desperately needed a performance from his side against Villa, as the hacks in the national press have started to smell blood and were circling like sharks. His players responded, and produced some of their best football of the season so far to see off previously unbeaten Villa. The first half was exceptional, the second not so great, but overall this was much more like we’ve come to expect from Rafa’s Liverpool.

One of the main criticisms of the manager is that he doesn’t know his strongest side. That may or may not be true, depending on how you look at it. My own view is that Rafa doesn’t actually have a ‘best XI’ simply because there are so many factors taken into account when selecting one. If a player has been awful in training that week, would he be in Rafa’s strongest side ahead of someone who has been flying? Doubtful. The opposition would also be a factor, Hyypia being selected over Agger for the trip to Bolton being a prime example.

In a perfect world where players’ form and fitness never fluctuates, I’m sure Rafa would know just what his best XI is, but at the moment this is far from being a perfect world. How many players have performed consistently well enough to be able to stake a claim for being ‘first choice’? Not too many if we’re honest. I don't see how we casn have a 'best XI' right now.

All that being said, the line up selected to face Villa was on paper the best available to Benitez (although a case can certainly be made for Agger to be in at the expense of Hyypia), and it would be a surprise if he changed it too much over the next few games.

Crouch and Kuyt looks to be our best front two right now, three of the midfield four pick themselves and Carragher and Finnan are automatic selections too. The left of midfield is the main area of uncertainty, largely due to the infuriating inconsistencies of Luis Garcia.

He was as brilliant against Villa as he was diabolical against the mancs last week. When he’s in this kind of form he’d get into any side in the country, it’s just a shame that you never know which Garcia is going to turn up. Maybe Rafa should only pick him for home games, and use Riise in midfield away from Anfield. Just a thought.

Villa came to Anfield as the only Premiership side yet to taste defeat this season, but you’d never have known that from watching the opening 45 minutes. The reds blew them away, with some fantastic one touch football and three clinical finishes.

Straight from the opening kick off Liverpool were well up for this game. Garcia was a menace on the left, Alonso and Sissoko were bossing the midfield and the back four were not giving Villa an inch. I honestly can’t even remember my boy Meeeeelan even touching the ball. He and Angel got no service as Liverpool suddenly remembered the art of working hard and closing down the opposition. That is something that Rafa’s sides are always good at, but this season we’ve not been as effective at that as we usually are.

Villa didn’t play well in the first half at all, but a lot of that is down to the way we didn’t let them settle on the ball and forced them into mistakes. Gerrard was everywhere, and performed with an energy that has been missing in recent weeks. Momo chased and harried and Xabi was anticipating well and making interceptions. As a result, Villa were swamped and couldn't get any balls up to the forwards.

The energy we showed when they had the ball was matched by that we displayed when we had it. The movement was terrific, and Villa couldn’t cope with it. Very few teams would have, and when we play like this it only makes it even more baffling that we’ve been so poor at times this season.

Kuyt should have scored early on following some tenacious play by Garcia on the left, but the Dutchman couldn’t keep his shot down. Crouch headed into the ground and straight at Sorenson when he should have done better, and was close to turning in low crosses on a couple of occasions.

The reds had been superb for the opening twenty minutes, but when the goal didn’t come it was starting to look like we might just be beginning to lose our way a little. It was during this quiet spell that we took the lead. Sami had stayed forward following a set-piece, and when Carra picked him out with a diagonal ball he nodded it into the path of Kuyt, who chested the ball down before gleefully ramming the ball into the corner of the net.

Dirk’s dad was at Anfield for the first time, so this was a very special moment for both of them. Hopefully Kuyt Snr will see his son score plenty of goals for the reds. The Kop would also air a new song in his honour shortly after, so this was a great day for Kuyt. The song, for those of you who don’t know, is an adaptation of the old Emlyn Hughes song. “Come on within, come on without, you’ve not seen nothing like our mighty Dirk Kuyt”

On the subject of the Kop, they let Rafa know in no uncertain terms that the fans are still totally behind him. I don’t know if the shithouse director who stabbed him in the back was actually inside Anfield, but if he was I hope he was ashamed of himself as he heard the Kop belot out Rafa’s name at the start of the game, and then sing the ‘La Bamba’ song for a good 15 minutes or so during the first half. Excellent stuff that.

Kuyt’s finish was good, but it was eclipsed by one from Crouch shortly after. A brilliant passing move ended with Alonso finding Finnan with an inch perfect ball, and although his cross was slightly behind Crouchy, the big fella hooked his foot around it and volleyed it into the far corner.

It was a weird goal, as it didn’t even look like it was a chance when Crouch stretched out a leg. The next thing the ball was in the net. Peter Crouch is just a goal machine these days, and he is perhaps the only player in the squad who can have a legitimate grievance at Rafa’s rotation policy. When he plays, he scores, so surely he should play more often than not. The partnership with Kuyt is very promising, and at Anfield very few sides will be able to cope with them. Away from home we may need the pace of Bellamy a bit more, but at home it’s difficult to look past Kuyt and Crouch right now.

Garcia made it 3-0 not long before the break, when another great passing move saw Crouch slip the ball into his path and the little fella slotted the ball under Sorenson before producing his trademark celebration. It was no more than he deserved, as he was irresistible in that first half.

At half time I was absolutely made up, we’d played some great stuff and I was really hoping we’d carry it into the second half and wipe the floor with Villa. A six or seven goal hammering would have really boosted the confidence of the squad and maybe gone a long way towards shutting up the vultures in the media (and the boardroom). At the back of my mind though, I was thinking about Galatasaray and Reading, and just hoping we would avoid the nervy finish we had to endure on those nights.

Martin O’Neill’s Anfield record is second to none, so this was an unusual situation for him to find himself in. He took decisive action at the break, subbing both his frontment and introducing Celtic old boys Sutton and Agathe. That meant young Agbonlahor going up front with Sutton, and those two caused us a lot of problems. Sutton is a handful, and is very tough to play against, whilst Agbonlahor is very quick and looks an excellent player.

Those two combined to get Villa back into the game, when Agbonlahor got the better of Carragher to flick the ball onto Sutton, and then outpaced the reds defender to take the return pass from Sutton and finish well past Reina. It was well worked from Villa’s point of view, but it was all a bit too easy from our perspective. It’s never nice seeing teams slice through the middle of your defence.

The goal came not long after Garcia had missed a glorious chance to make it 4-0. Gerrard picked him out with a ball over the top of the full back, and Luis took it perfectly on the chest before poking the ball wide with the outside of his left foot. It was unlucky, but Crouch wasn’t impressed as he was unmarked in the centre.

Villa’s goal meant it was brown trousers time, as the crowd started to get edgy and the players did too. Villa sensed this, and began trying to apply the pressure. Hyypia gave away a needless free kick on the left, and when the ball was whipped in Sutton glanced a header goalwards that Reina did very well to keep out.

A goal at the time, and who knows what would have happened. It was a vital save from Pepe, and hopefully it will boost his confidence.

Going forward we were still posing a big threat ourselves, and Gerrard almost got the goal his performance deserved but was denied by the post. It was a great move too, the skipper made a run across the back four and was found by Alonso, Garcia took over and clipped the ball into Kuyt who nodded it down for Crouch. Crouchy’s magic feet took him away from Sorenson, but his shot was hacked off the line and fell to Gerrard at the back post. The angle was tight, and there were three men on the line as Stevie struck his shot onto the post. I’ve now lost count of how many times we’ve hit the woodwork this season, but it’s got to be well over 20 now.

It was really starting to get a bit edgy, and Rafa was obviously becoming concerned at what was going on. He took off Crouch to get Pennant on to sure up the right hand side, as Gerrard was playing everywhere except the right wing. The skipper’s free role was working well in an attacking sense, but it was leaving a big gap on the right flank. Pennant’s arrival gave us better shape, but reduced our goal threat as Crouch had been superb.

Crouch was even applauded off the field by the Villa fans, who still have a soft spot for him from his time there.

Garcia was next to go, as the more disciplined Zenden was brought on to sure up the other flank. It was a bit disheartening seeing two attacking players go off because we were worried about what Villa were going to do, but it was also understandable given the wat things have gone for us this season. We needed the three points above all else, so if that meant defending a 3-1 lead then so be it.

Fowler came on for Gerrard with ten minutes to go, and he should have got on the scoresheet in stoppage time when Sissoko’s run caused havoc in the Villa box, Kuyt miskicked and the ball fell nicely to Robbie six yards out on the back post, but he screwed his shot into the side netting.

In the end, we held out fairly comfortably. As pleased as I was with the win, and especially the football played in the first half, I couldn’t help feeling a bit frustrated at the 2nd half. We’ve played well for spells in most games this season, but we can’t do it for a full ninety minutes.

Still, overall there was a lot more good than bad in this game, and it’s something to build on. We need to beat reading at Anfield next week, but the real test is going to be the trip to Arsenal in a couple of weeks time.

It was tough selecting a star man, as I thought everybody played very well with the exception of Riise who was no more than average. Gerrard looked more like his old self, the front two were excellent, Momo was very good, but I’m going for Alonso as he made us tick and rarely wasted a pass all game.

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