Liverpool 1 Arsenal 3 - FA Cup 3rd Round (Jan 8 2006)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 1 Arsenal 3

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Dirk Kuyt Half Time - 0-2 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 8 Jan 2007 Star Man - Xabi Alonso

 

 

 

 

The FA Cup was lost, but the Kop was ‘Reclaimed’ as the reds’ fans put on a show that the players failed to match. On the balance of play, this was a harsh result, but if you make the kind of individual errors we did then you can’t expect to get away with them against the calibre of players that Arsenal have. All three goals could and should have been avoided, and probably would have been had Reina been between the sticks.

This defeat wasn’t solely Dudek’s fault, as others have to share the blame. However, the keeper’s rustiness was obvious and in hindsight the decision to play him was wrong. Presumably he was handed a start as a reward for staying here as back up and not demanding a move elsewhere. There has to be some incentive for Dudek to stay, as he’s not the type of guy who is ruled by money. He wants to play, and Benitez probably had to offer him the carrot of playing in cup games to keep him here.

He would presumably have started the Carling Cup tie next Tuesday, so it was something of a surprise that he got the nod for this game too. I can’t say I was unhappy about it before the game, so it would be a bit rich for me to moan about it now. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course, and looking back now you have to say Jerzy shouldn’t have played. I don’t know when his last game was, but it has to be a few months. He doesn’t even play reserve games now since his scandalous sending off in the mini derby. Maybe this was just too big a game to throw him into after so little match practice?

For me Dudek should have saved all three goals, but others also have to look at themselves for the part they played in this defeat. Riise was equally to blame for the first goal, several people could have prevented Rosicky’s second and Carra messed up for the third. Shit happens, and as disappointing as it is that we won’t be one of the first teams to play at the new Wembey (if it's ready in time), I’ve got to be honest and say that of the three games we have against the Gunners at Anfield, personally this would be lowest on my list of priorities.

That’s easy to say seeing as we’ve been beat, but it’s honestly how I feel. This was only the third round, so it’s not like we were close to the final. If we beat them in the League Cup, we’re into the semi’s and one step away from another final at Cardiff. So of the two, I’d rather win the quarter final. And beating them in the league is even more important because there’s so little between us in the table.

I’m not saying this defeat didn’t hurt, as it really did. When the third goal went in I was gutted, and I’m not proud of this but I took out my frustration on Jerzy, screaming ‘fuck off Dudek’. I wish I hadn’t done that, but it was done out of frustration. I was convinced we’d win this game, even at two down at half time I wasn’t unduly worried. I think it may have been the great atmosphere that fooled me into thinking this would be a great day. It had a European night feel to it, so maybe that’s why I was expecting some kind of ‘Olympiacos style’ second half comeback.

When we pulled one back with twenty minutes to go, the stage was set for what would have been another memorable comeback. It was only when we let in that stupid third goal it hit me that we were going out, and Dudek took the brunt of my temper. Unfair, and he deserves better. Sorry Jerzy.

That goal killed the game, and robbed us of what would have been a grandstand finish. I honestly think we’d have grabbed an equaliser had we not given away that terrible third goal. We had Arsenal pegged back for most of the second half, and even though we weren’t exactly peppering Almunia’s goal, we had so much of the ball in good areas that I really think we’d have forced an equaliser eventually.

I spoke to a few mates after the game, and I also had a quick look on the forum to see what people made of it, and I think some people have gone a bit overboard. One friend of mine even claimed we were given a 'footballing lesson' by Arsenal. I couldn’t disagree more.

Arsenal did their job well. They defended stoutly, and punished our mistakes. They didn’t do anything special, but then again they didn’t need to. A few years back Arsenal came to Anfield and absolutely annihilated us. We somehow escaped with a 2-2 draw, but we all knew we’d been completely played off the park. That was a footballing lesson, this wasn’t. They had four shots and scored from three of them. On another day we wouldn’t have made the stupid mistakes and we would have won. That’s football though.

I’d still say this day was a success even though we lost, and the reason I say that is because of the fantastic atmosphere and the magnificently executed tribute to the 96. I’ll admit I had some serious reservations about this beforehand. The whole ‘Reclaim the Kop’ thing makes me a bit uncomfortable. I agree with more or less everything they are saying and what they are trying to achieve, but there is a risk that it can come across as being patronising, arrogant and sanctimonious.

Something had to be done about the deteriorating atmosphere at Anfield, I just wasn’t sure this was the way to go. Throw in the fact that Kelvin McKenzie was going to be the focus of a lot of what was planned, and I was very uneasy about it. That fucking pondlife does not deserve such publicity, it’s what he thrives on. The idea of the Kop chanting about him for six minutes in some sort of misguided tribute to the 96 filled me with dread, and I wasn’t looking forward to the start of this game at all.

The other thing that concerned me was that you could have half the Kop joining in, and the other half watching the game. And what if we scored in that first six minutes? I was really worried that this would fall flat on its face and we’d look stupid in front of a national tv audience.

I have to say though, all my fears were unfounded and the only thing I can say about what happened in the first six minutes of this game is that it was fucking awesome. Spine tingling in fact. I congratulate those who organised this, and also everyone who took part. It was an honour to be a part of that, and I don’t think it could possibly have gone any better than that.

At various points of those six minutes, the entire stadium was on its feet joining in with the ‘Justice for the 96’ chant, and the huge roar at the end of the six minutes was amazing. That’s the loudest I’ve heard Anfield since the Chelsea semi, and the crowd were fantastic all game. Henry was applauded off the field, YNWA was sung loud and proud, both when the lads came out for the start of the 2nd half at 2-0 down and also at the end when the game was lost. There was no getting on the players’ backs, Arsenal were applauded off and even the completely hopeless Steve Bennett didn’t get booed off the field.

The spirit of the old Kop was definitely alive and kicking for this game, so on that score this was a huge success for the ‘RTK’ campaign. Hopefully it will be the start of an improvement in the atmosphere, but there’s a big difference between an evening kick off in the FA Cup against a big team like Arsenal, and a midweek home game against Watford or Fulham. Still, every journey starts with a small step, and this was one giant step in the right direction for me.

One moron on the forum actually blamed the RTK six minute protest for ‘ruining the atmosphere’. Presumably he feels that long periods of silence interspersed with random abuse of players is what the Anfield atmpshere is about these days, so from that point of view he’s right, it was ruined. Singing loudly and getting behind the team, whilst also showing sportsmanship to the opposition? What the hell is that all about eh? Damn ‘RTK’ ruining the atmosphere, shame on them.

As for the game itself, I thought we started very well. We were first to every ball early on, and it was us who were making the play. The final ball wasn’t there and we didn’t test Almunia anywhere near enough, but for twenty minutes or so virtually all the play was in their half. I was really happy with the start we made, but then we made a stupid mistake and fell behind.

Riise had beaten his man, but then decided to try and get back onto his left foot and was robbed of possession and stranded out of position. Arsenal are masters at exploiting that kind of situation, and within seconds they were attacking the space that Riise had left. To be fair to the Norwegian, he did get back into position, but was on the back foot as Hleb found Rosicky on the edge of the box. The second the ball left his foot I could see it was in, as Dudek was too far off his line and couldn’t get back. You have to praise the technique of the Czech, but from our point of view it was avoidable.

The second goal was even more so. At least three players could have tackled Rosicky before he got his shot away. Alonso pulled out of the tackle, no doubt because he was on a booking (more on that in a sec), whilst Finnan didn’t get close enough to him and Gerrard seemed to hesitate as well. The shot was weak and I was actually relieved when I saw it. I feared he’d blast it into the top corner, so when I saw it bobbling along the ground I wasn’t worried. Next thing it was in the net, as Jerzy made a right meal of getting down to it.

Back to Alonso’s booking though. When it happened I’m sure virtually the entire stadium thought we’d been given a pen. I’m not sure it was a penalty or not, but one thing is for sure, it was more a pen than a dive. There is no more honest player in the league than Xabi Alonso, and I actually felt insulted at that booking. It was questioning his integrity, and it’s just fucking wrong. Steve Bennett is a tit, who clearly does not know the game. I see players diving every week, without being punished. So to see an honest pro like Xabi treated like that is really galling.

Gilberto went flying in with his studs raised trying to block Xabi’s shot. Xabi got there first, got his shot away and then tried to escape the raised studs that were heading for his knee. What the fuck did Bennett want him to do, stand there take the impact of a fully committed Gilberto? The booking cost us, because Xabi couldn’t go in for tackles after that. Bennett was just shite all game. He wasn’t the reason we lost, but he was crap.

I really thought we’d turn it around in the second half, and I expected Bellamy to be brought on early. Garcia didn’t do much, and I’d have took him off and used Bellamy out wide. I’m sure I’m not the only one who was totally mystified by Rafa’s decision not to introduce Bellamy. He would have given the Arsenal defence something different to deal with, and it makes no sense that he wasn’t brought on, especially as Garcia wasn’t making much impact.

Riise was the first to get the hook though, and I can’t say I was disappointed. He’s been really poor for a few months now, and now that Aurelio is fully fit he deserves a run at left back. The worry we’ve had about Aurelio was that he might not be up to it defensively. Well neither is Riise, so what do we have to lose.

The Brazilian’s distribution is much better than Riise’s, and he made a difference when he came on. He’s got something about him has Aurelio. I don’t know if he’s going to be the answer at left back, but he’s shown enough to at least deserve the opportunity to prove himself there.

We huffed and puffed a lot in the second half, but Almunia had not had to make a save as Toure and Senderos defended superbly in front of him. We’d had plenty of corners but not made anything of them, until Crouch rose to meet Pennant’s kick and Kuyt diverted it into the net. With twenty minutes to go there was plenty of time for us to at least draw level, and perhaps even win.

Arsenal were not offering much in attack, but with Henry around you always have to be careful. Twice he linked with Van Persie on the break, the first time Dudek saved at his near post and the second time Carra made a great block. Apart from that though Arsenal were just getting behind the ball and defending.

Their third goal came out of nothing. Henry just knocked the ball into the space that had been left by Finnan who had pushed forward, but Carragher had a ten yard start on him and there seemed no danger. Even though Henry closed the gap at a frightening rate, Carra got there first and should have just put the ball into touch. Instead he seemed to try and play it back to Dudek (or maybe try and turn on the ball, I really don’t know what he was doing), and Henry robbed him.

As the Frenchman bore down on goal, I feared the worst. We had players back, but no-one was going to stop him getting onto his right foot and getting his shot away. Sure enough, he created the space and shaped to shoot. We’ve seen him do this so often, and the ball is nearly always curled into the far corner. This time though, he scuffed his shot, and just like for Rosicky’s second, I felt a quick tinge of relief. It was short lived though, as Dudek once again went down like a roll of lino and the ball squirmed underneath him.

We all knew that was game over, and the next few minutes were really tough as the realisation that we were effectively relinquishing a trophy hit home. Henry was subbed and was given a warm round of applause by the whole stadium which he reciprocated. He’s the second opposing player in consecutive home games to get that, following in the footsteps of Kevin Nolan last week.

This was our first home defeat in ages, but it had to come sooner or later. Hopefully we can gain revenge on the Gunners by knocking them out of the League Cup this week. We won’t be winning the FA Cup this season, but there’s still a hell of a lot to play for. And at least the Kop was back to it’s old self, for one game at least. Fingers crossed that will continue.

Star man was difficult, but I’m going to give it to Alonso. I thought he was excellent, especially as he had the handicap of that unjust early booking to contend with.


Team: Dudek; Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Riise (Aurelio); Pennant, Gerrard, Alonso, Garcia; Kuyt, Crouch: