Liverpool 2 Aston Villa 2 - Prem (Jan 21 2008)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 2 Aston Villa 2

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) – Yossi Benayoun, Peter Crouch Half Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Monday 21 January 2008 Star Man – Javier Mascherano

 

 

 

 

At least we didn’t lose. Small consolation I know, and hardly cause for celebration, but this was actually a very important point we picked up in the end. Another two points dropped at home is depressing, but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t actually that costly when you look at it.

If we were in a position where we were trying to keep pace with the top three, then a point would have been no good to us whatsoever. We aren’t competing with the top three though, we haven’t been for several weeks. There’s no point even worrying ourselves with what they are doing because it’s as relevant to us as it is to Derby County.

Painful as it is to accept, we’re competing with Everton, City and Villa now. Peter Crouch’s late equaliser prevented Villa from moving above us in the table, and also took us a point closer to the blues whilst we still have a game in hand. So disappointing as it undoubtedly was, this draw isn’t really damaging in terms of the league table.

It’s very damaging in terms of morale of course, and it’s difficult to see how morale could get any lower at the moment. Exits from the cup competitions would make it worse, obviously, as would the news that Gillett and Hicks are staying on. Hopefully neither of those scenarios will happen.

The best we can hope to get out of this season now is a cup success (or two), 4th place and new owners. Much as I’d love to win something, right now if I was offered 4th place and new owners Id snatch your hand off.

As expected, there were plenty of chants and banners condemning Gillett and Hicks, and whilst I thought it might have been a bit more hostile, overall I’d say it was a success. The constant chanting in the opening minutes was reminiscent of the ‘Justice’ demo last season, albeit on a lesser scale. At one point it reached a loud crescendo and that was very impressive.

There were some good chants, and none of the ‘we hate yanks’ stuff I was concerned about. The danger was that we could be seen to be blaming an entire nation for the antics of two bellwhiffs, but thankfully that didn’t happen and full marks to the Kop for the way they handled it. There were some excellent banners too, including ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t Hicks it’ and ‘One DIC is better than two’.

As for the chanting, ‘Tom Hicks has got a big fat head’ was amusing, and there was one chant that I can’t remember exactly, but the gist of it was ‘fuck off and take Parry with you’ also met with a favourable response around the ground.

The atmosphere overall was a bit up and down, but personally I blame the performance for that. The crowd were up for it early on, singing about the owners but also backing the team and making noise. In the second half though, it just tailed off, but it’s understandable when the team are just not making anything happen. This was like so many of our games this season. We ‘controlled’ things, but we didn’t go for the jugular and we paid the price.

Villa were rubbish, yet they’ll be getting all the praise today and we’ll be getting pilloried. It’s frustrating, because they didn’t have to really do anything to get something from the game. Reina had not had anything to do, then they get two set pieces and suddenly we’re 2-1 down.

It shouldn’t have been like that. We went in front early enough, so there’s no excuse about struggling to break down a defensive side. Villa didn’t come to defend, they had two up front and didn’t have a defensive looking midfield either. It was hardly eleven men behind the ball all out defence stuff, so we don’t even have that as an excuse. We just didn’t do enough, it’s that simple.

Why didn’t we do enough? Two factors for me. One, we didn’t show enough attacking intent, and two, we don’t have enough quality. Our widemen aren’t good enough, and Torres needs a top class partner. When that is addressed, teams like Villa, Wigan, Spurs and whoever else has taken points at Anfield this season will be seen off comfortably.

The likes of Benayoun, Pennant, Kewell etc just aren’t of the required standard. I’d be happy for any of them to be back up to some real genuine quality widemen, but none of them are good enough to be playing week in week out. I like Yossi, and he can do a job, but he wouldn’t have a sniff of getting a game for the top three. I like Pennant too, but it’s the same with him. He isn’t a goal threat, which in turn puts too much pressure on others such as Gerrard and Torres.

As for Kewell, well he’s finished. His pace has gone, and that is undermining everything else he tries to do. He can’t beat a man anymore, and that’s a pretty big drawback for a winger. Clearly that effects his confidence, and you look at him now and he’s a shadow of the player he was. It’s difficult to see that changing, as I can’t see him getting any quicker.

The lack of quality in creative positions is just putting too much pressure on Gerrard and Torres, the genuine world class attacking players we have. If they don’t deliver, we have problems. Kuyt actually played pretty well in the first half against Villa, but did he look even remotely like scoring? He played a lovely little ball to set up Yossi’s goal, and he was busy and got involved, but the first sight of goal he had in the second half saw him produce an embarrassingly wild slice into the Kop.

I just don’t get how he keeps his place. I want him to do well, but it isn’t happening and his confidence looks shot to pieces. Crouch hasn’t pulled up any trees this season either, but if Rafa is not going to use Babel alongside Torres (I’d certainly be looking at doing that now), then Crouch should be playing.

When we went in front, it should have been the catalyst for us to go and get more goals, but we didn’t. We just kept passing it around with no real cutting edge or urgency, and aside from a really good five minutes early in the second half when we went close three or four times, we just seemed to amble along.

That five minutes saw the crowd at it’s loudest, which suggests that if they give us something to shout about then we will do just that. Bore us into submission, and you’ll get the silence and apathy we’ve seen for most of the season.

Despite us not doing too much ourselves, we never looked in any danger as Hyypia was in imperious form, and Mascherano was everywhere winning back the ball. Those two were miles ahead of anyone else on the field, although Carra and Gerrard were decent enough too.

But then out of nothing, Villa drew level when we failed to deal with a set-piece. I blame myself more than anyone for that first goal though, and I knew when Harewood came on that it spelled trouble. You see, a few weeks ago I was on a ‘review of 2007’ show on Liverpool FC TV. One of the questions asked was ‘which opposition player impressed you most in 2007’. I went for Fabregas, but added ‘he just edged out big Marlon Harewood’. Obviously I was taking the piss, but who’s laughing now? ‘Marvellous Marlon’ that’s who. My bad.

Just prior to that goal, Rafa had been preparing to bring on Martin Skrtel for his debut. I though maybe he’d rethink that when Villa scored, but that was because I thought it was a tactical decision. It wasn’t, Arbeloa was injured, so Skrtel had to come on and Carra moved to right back.

Within minutes, things got worse. Again, we didn’t deal with a set piece, and Aurelio was unfortunate to see Mellberg’s shot deflect off him and leave Reina helpless. It was horrible, as the Villa fans were celebrating way before we could see the ball go into the net. From their angle, they could see that Reina wasn’t going to get there and they knew it was going in a good second before it actually did.

It was panic stations now, with the Villa fans gleefully taunting Rafa with ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’. I don’t think there’s any immediate danger of that happening, as the owners have enough on their plate without worrying about sacking the manager. The only reason they’d do that now is out of pure spite, which isn’t something I’d completely rule out with Tom Hicks.

Whatever the future holds for Rafa, he certainly deserves to outstay the two snakes who’ve made his life hell for the past year. Whether he would fare any better under new owners is a matter of opinion. I have serious doubts about him, but at the same time I’ve got enough respect for him to think he deserves more time, especially if new owners were to provide him the backing needed to mount a challenge. My gut feeling is that he still wouldn’t be able to do it, but I’d like him to be given the chance to prove me wrong.

With the game slipping away, Rafa threw on Babel. For me, he should have been on ages before that, as Kewell and Kuyt were contributing very little. Babel wasted no time getting involved, and he is exciting when he gets the ball around the box. He’s strong, quick, has two good feet, great close control and a shot like a mule. All that’s lacking is maturity and the decision making that will com with that. Given the paucity of alternatives, I say just stick him up front with Torres now until the end of the season.

Failing that, give him a run of games on the wing. He hasn’t convinced at all when he’s started, especially out wide, but when you look at how shit the alternatives have been, we may as well just play him as next season we’ll probably reap the benefits of it.

Crouch was thrown on with ten minutes or so left, which again was way too late, but it’s what I’ve come to expect now. We began hitting long balls up to him, and tried to get people around him. It was all a bit desperate, and we didn’t especially look like scoring. But with three minutes left, we got a break. Carra attacked the space at the back post, and although he appeared to lose sight of the ball as it dropped over the last defender, it hit him on the knee and bounced back to Crouch. His finish was brilliant to be fair, as it’s so easy to sky that kind of shot high over the bar.

There was still time for us to nick a winner, but Villa hung in there without too many problems and we had to settle for a point. We’ve played worse and won, and played better and lost this season. Were Villa worth a point? I don’t think so, but at the same time we didn’t show enough attacking intent to deserve to win, so we can have no complaints.

Things are really bad at the moment, but if we can just hang in there and not let Everton or City or whoever else get ahead of us, things will surely pick up, especially if the ownership issue is resolved soon.

I am worried about 4th place to be honest, simply because we still have to play all of the top three away from home, fixtures which generally see us lose and usually without even managing a goal. But then it’s been a strange old season and our home record is worse than our away one, so maybe we’ll buck the trend and pick up some points at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the Emirates? Stranger things have happened, such as Titus Bramble and Marlon Harewood scoring in consecutive games at Anfield.


Team: Reina; Arbeloa (Skrtel), Carragher, Hyypia, Aurelio; Benayoun (Crouch), Gerrard, Mascherano, Kewell (Babel); Torres, Kuyt: