Liverpool 1 Wigan 1 - Prem (Jan 2 2008)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 1 Wigan 1

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) – Fernando Torres Half Time - 0-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Wednesday 2 January 2008 Star Man – Steve Finnan

 

 

 

 

Titus Bramble scoring at the right end at Anfield to condemn Liverpool to a desperately disappointing draw at home to relegation strugglers Wigan Athletic? As far as starts to the new year go, this is almost as bad as it gets. Watching us toil away with one man up front against a packed defence was excrutiating, and you have to say that what we have seen this season simply isn’t anywhere near good enough.

The finger will be pointed at the manager, and it’s difficult to put up too much of a case in support of Rafa. He isn’t helping himself, and it really does look like things are getting away from him. We lack quality in certain areas, and it’s obvious that there won’t be any money made available to strengthen those areas. So a title challenge won’t be on the cards any time soon.

Personally, I can live with that. I wouldn’t sack Rafa, because in my opinion he isn’t the biggest problem at the club. He’s not perfect by any means, but the situation above him is more pressing as far as I’m concerned. Get rid of Rafa under the current financial climate and replace him with an inferior manager, and we could be in serious, serious trouble.

So as frustrated as I am with him right now, the idea of Butch and Sundance replacing him with Jurgen Klinsmann brings me out in a cold sweat. If there was a change in ownership however, I might feel differently, particularly if there’s a repeat of this one up front at home shite.

I didn’t have any real problem with the line up itself, mainly as I expected Kewell and Pennant to operate as wide strikers, and Gerrard to play just off Torres. That’s how this formation is supposed to work in theory, but in reality we ended up playing 4-1-4-1 for the most part.

Gerrard didn’t play any further forward than Alonso, and occasionally even Mascherano found himself the furthest forward of the three central midfielders. A few times I looked at how we were lining up when Wigan had a goal kick, and it was definitely 4-1-4-1. When we had a goal kick it was more like 4-5-1.

Whatever it was, Torres was often fighting a one man fight. It’s a shame, as even on his own he was a massive threat and I thought he played really well. Who knows how good he’d be with the right partner to share the load and provide some service.

The first half was disappointing, as both wingers struggled to get into the game and Wigan defended stoutly. Steve Bruce must love playing us in the league, as more often than not he gets a result. He doesn’t do anything too clever, he just makes sure he defends deep and in numbers because he knows that we often struggle against sides who do that. He’s had plenty of luck as well it has to be said, especially in his Birmingham days.

We did create some decent openings, but I don’t think we put them under anywhere near enough pressure, and Kirkland didn’t have anything especially difficult to do in the opening 45 minutes. Gerrard had a couple of efforts, and Mascherano had a shot saved after a great run and exchange of passes with Torres. Torres himself saw a header just clear the bar, but overall we didn’t do enough and it was apparent that Gerrard was playing much deeper than expected.

Whether that was his own doing or his manager’s instructions I don’t know, but in the skipper’s defence I didn’t see Benitez on the line urging him to go forward.

The second half started a bit better, mainly due to Steve Finnan getting forward as much as possible. Most of our best moves had Finnan involved, and the opening goal was a thing of beauty. Finnan laid the ball inside to Gerrard and then continued his run. He was superbly found by his captain, and cleverly cut the ball back to the waiting Torres who finished well at the Kop end.

There was a huge sense of relief around the stadium, and it wasn’t just confined to the stands. The players seemed to relax too, and they didn’t show any real urgency after that to get a second goal. Gerrard saw a powerful free kick beaten away by Kirkland, and Benayoun was close to turning in the rebound but it was smuggled away by Bramble. It was a rare moment of excitement though, as we were far too casual. They probably felt they didn’t need another, as Wigan offered no attacking threat whatsoever.

I didn’t think there was any chance of us conceding, but the problem is you never know. It only takes a bit of a scramble or a set piece, and even the shittest of teams are capable of getting a goal. That’s what happened, we didn’t deal with a free kick and Bramble produced a blistering finish that gave Reina no chance.

You can’t begrudge big Titus his moment, as he’s had some terrible experiences at Anfield in the past. He’ll have enjoyed this, and fair play to him he took it very well. We should have dealt with it better, Gerrard’s clearance was poor, but these things can happen which is why you have to make sure to score enough goals that it doesn’t matter when you let one in at the other end.

Of course, when they scored suddenly we began to show urgency. Crouch was thrown on belatedly, but all we did was his long balls up to him and it was all pretty desperate. We almost snatched it, when Gerrard went close to producing one of his usual ‘superman’ rescue acts. His shot from 25 yards was well saved by Kirkland, but when the ball came loose who was there to pounce on the rebound? You’ve guessed it, Gerrard. He made up so much ground to get there, but once again Kirkland managed to keep it out.

That was that. We never looked like scoring after that, as a series of free-kicks awarded by the infuriating Steve Bennett disrupted the flow of the game and Wigan held out easily. There were boos at the final whistle, and there’s no escaping from the fact that a lot of people are not happy.

We’re too far behind to mount a challenge, and once again we will be looking to the Champions League or FA Cup to save our season. It’s not good enough, and the worrying thing is that it doesn’t look like it will get any better any time soon. Whether that is because of the manager, or because of a lack of investment in the team is a matter of opinion.

For me, it’s both. I don’t think a new manager would make us any stronger unless he was given the funds to compete with the teams above us, and equally I don’t think the current manager can do it even if he was given the funds.

In short, we’re in a mess.

I still wouldn’t rule out number six though….

Team: Reina; Finnan, Arbeloa, Carragher, Aurelio; Pennant (Kuyt), Mascherano (Crouch), Alonso, Gerrard, Kewell (Benayoun); Torres:


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