Liverpool 2 Spurs 2 - Prem (Oct 7 2007)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 2 Spurs 2

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Andriy Voronin, Fernando Torres Half Time - 1-1 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 7 October 2007 Star Man - Steve Finnan

 

 

 

 

If we go on to achieve anything this season, we may well look back on Fernando Torres’ stoppage time equaliser against Spurs as a pivotal moment in our season. We’re in a real slump at the moment, and it was never going to end with a free flowing performance and a rush of goals. We will need to gradually play our way back into form and scrap for every point in the meantime. With that in mind, I don’t actually feel that bad about what happened against Spurs.

Taken in isolation, I don’t think this was that bad a performance. We played some good stuff in patches, but we’re undone by uncharacteristic defensive errors. The problem is that we’re in a bad run, and desperately needed a win and a performance. We got neither, but the performance was the best we’ve seen since we blitzed Derby.

Admittedly, if we’d not managed to rescue a point at the death I’d probably be a lot more downbeat, but I would also be saying that the result was incredibly harsh and we deserved more. We’ve still got problems, but they would have been a lot worse had Torres not popped up to save the day in stoppage time. The knives are out for Rafa in the press, and a growing number of fans are also beginning to express their doubts. Defeat here, coupled with the two week international break to follow, and it wouldn’t have been pleasant.

I’m not overly concerned about Benitez anyway, it’s the players that are worrying me as clearly there’s a confidence issue there. They started this game ok, and once the early goal came they actually played pretty well in the first half. Unfortunately, they squandered some good chances to go further ahead, and then conceded an equaliser at the worst possible time, just before the break. That shook them, and when they let another in immediately after the restart it really put them up against it.

After that the pressure began to show, and the crowd’s edginess got through to them as well. The 2nd half was not pretty, but they dug in and showed character, and their reward came in stoppage time when Torres nodded in Finnan’s beautifully flighted cross. It’s still two points lost, and hardly cause for celebration, but it could prove to be an important goal in the grand scheme of things. Of course, it might not, we’ll just have to see, but I prefer to try and look on the positive side because it’s going to be a miserable two weeks otherwise.


As usual, there was great interest in what starting line up Rafa would go with. I got nine of eleven on my ‘Fantasy Rafa’ side, but if Rafa was picking a ‘Fantasy Dave’ side, he’d have gotten ten of the eleven I would have gone with. I’d have gone with Yossi or even Babel on the left ahead of Riise, but otherwise that’s the team I’d have picked.

The one slight surprise I guess was Voronin ahead of Kuyt, but the Ukranian deserves his chance alongside El Nino. If everyone was at their best, then I still think Crouch is the best partner for Torres, but if you’re selecting a side based on what we’ve seen this season, then Voronin has the strongest claims for a place alongside Torres. After this performance, those claims just got stronger.

I thought he was excellent, and thoroughly deserved his goal. His work rate was admirable, and several times he chased back to cover for team-mates who had been caught upfield. There was one occasion when he lost the ball in the Spurs half, and by the time they had worked a shooting opening Voronin was actually stood in between his centre backs and the ball struck him in the chest. That’s the kind of attitude we need right now.

The one fault in his performance was his reluctance to shoot when Torres presented him with a glorious opportunity. Instead, he laid the ball back to Gerrard who was closed down and the chance was gone. You’d think that with a goal under his belt already Voronin would have been flying, but he seemed reluctant to take responsibility and definitely chose the wrong option.

Maybe he wanted to repay his captain for the assist on the opening goal? Gerrard won the free-kick himself, and when Robinson could only parry his shot Voronin was first to the loose ball to claim his 4th goal of the season. Two of those goals have been rebounds, which is encouraging as it shows he’s got that poachers instinct.


Torres had a couple of presentable chances to make it 2-0, but first he shot wide after an exciting run, and then he shot straight at Robinson after great play by Arbeloa down the left. Gerrard struck the post with a curling free-kick, and with each narrow escape Spurs had there came an increasing sense of inevitability that we’d pay the price.

Berbatov and Keane began to link up ominously, and we’d already had a couple of warning flashes from them before Berbatov won a flick on and Keane nipped in between Finnan and Carragher to slot the ball past Reina in front of the Kop. I’m not sure who is to blame for it, take your pick from Hyypia, Carragher and Finnan I guess, as all three could have done better.

It’s hard to have a go at the defence too much, because for most of the season they’ve been rock solid. They’ve been let down by the attacking side of our game more often than not, and this was the first real off day they’ve had all season. The equalising goal was bad, just route one stuff, but Keane’s second was even worse from our point of view.

Once more it was a straight ball up the centre, once more Hyypia was beaten in the air by Berbatov, and once again Keane got in between Carragher and the full back (this time Arbeloa) to beat Pepe with a smart finish. We never let goals in like that, and it’s sod’s law that it should happen twice in a game that we desperately needed to be tight in.

Spurs had a good spell after that, as we tried to clear the cobwebs. Eventually we began to get moving again, and Gerrard shot over the bar after a lovely attack involving Torres and Voronin. Benitez then made his first change, bringing on Babel for Arbeloa. The Spanish full back was unfortunate to get the hook, as he played ok and was certainly better than Riise was when he dropped back to replace him.

We huffed and puffed, but there was little inspiration and you could see the side were bereft of confidence. Kuyt came on for the injured Pennant, which surprised me a little as Benayoun was a more logical replacement.

Finnan had a shot saved by Robinson, and then Riise blazed a shot over when he simply had to at least hit the target. Kuyt began seeing a lot of the ball on the right, and it was from a low cross by him that Mascherano forced Robinson into another save. The little Argentine was everywhere in the 2nd half, and even though he occasionally gave the ball away with sloppy passing, he was an inspiration I thought, and it was the likes of him and Finnan that kept us going.

Just when it looked like we’d ran out of ideas, Finnan jinxed his way this way and that, and floated in a lovely ball to the back post where Torres rose highest and planted a downwards header into the bottom corner. Had there been another few minutes remaining, we may have grabbed a winner, but you have to say a draw was a fair result as Spurs played well.

We had some good performers, and some not so good. Voronin was good when he had the ball, and ran himself to a standstill. I thought Finnan was excellent again, the only blemish being his part in Spurs’ first goal. Mascherano was tireless and kept driving us forward, and Arbeloa was neat and tidy before he was replaced.

The negatives were the centre backs, who struggled with Keane and Berbatov, Riise who was poor again, and Gerrard who although not that bad, just isn’t playing the way we need him to at the moment.

The fans were another negative. Does anyone actually think the new singing section has made any difference? Doesn’t seem like it to me.

The international break had a terrible effect on us last time, and if the same happens again it doesn’t even bear thinking about. We’ve got Everton and Arsenal next, both must win games, and it’s a pivotal point in the season coming up. Rafa will be tempted to go with the players who are fresh and perhaps haven’t been away with their countries. I hope he doesn’t, because if he leaves out some of his big guns and it backfires some fans’ patience will snap.

We’re at a real crossroads in Rafa’s reign in my opinion. There are a lot of fans who are extremely disgruntled at the moment, and a defeat in the derby will be too much for them to take. Win the derby and beat Arsenal, and we’re back on track and the wolves will be banished from the door. Lose those games and it may be the beginning of the end, as once a slide starts it’s almost impossible to turn it around, just ask Souness, Evans and Gerard Houllier.


Team: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Arbeloa (Babel); Pennant (Kuyt), Gerrard, Mascherano, Riise; Voronin (Benayoun), Torres: