Liverpool 1 Barnsley 2 - FA Cup 5th Round (Feb 16 2008)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 1 Barnsley 2

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) – Dirk Kuyt Half Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Saturday 16 February 2008 Star Man – Ryan Babel

 

 

 

 

Well at least we don’t have to endure a replay at that shithole. Not really much consolation, but given that the last time we went to Oakwell our fans were ambushed by an angry mob of pumped up yokels, it’s the only positive thing I can come up with. The FA Cup draw has been extremely kind to us on three occasions this season, yet we made ridiculously hard work out of the first two ties and we got beat in the third. Not good enough. Not by a long shot.

There’s a number of reasons why we lost this game, but bad luck isn’t one of them. Yes, we were denied by the woodwork a couple of times, yes their keeper had a blinder, and yes they only had three chances and scored from two of them. The bottom line is though, it’s completely our own fucking fault.

When things go as badly wrong as they are for us at the moment, people look for scapegoats and no doubt there’ll be several individuals copping the flak after this. Straight after the game I met a couple of mates and spoke to a couple of others on the phone, and they were all blaming differnt people. One blamed Crouch for fluffing three good headed chances. Another blamed Kuyt for wanting too many touches whenever he got a shooting chance, another blamed Rafa for his team selection and the other one said it was the owners’ fault for the whole mess they’ve created.

Who’s fault do I think it is? Personally, I think they’re all at fault. Owners, players and manager. We didn’t lose this game because of one factor, it was down to several things. The biggest thing for me was the attitude of the team. Not that they didn’t want to win, or they didn’t work hard, thats not what I’m saying. The problem I had was that when we were 1-0 up, we just cruised along thinking the game was won, and showed no urgency whatsoever to try and increase the lead.

The game was dead, nothing was happening at either end and we were just sauntering along into the next round happy with a 1-0. If we got another, great, if not, so what 1-0 will do. Then they equalised, and it all went to shit.

We suddenly realised we needed to actually break sweat and try to attack, and we did do. We piled on the pressure, created stacks of chances, but couldn’t find the net due to a combination of poor finishing and heroic defending. That, and the keeper having the game of his life. That happens sometimes, and you have to just get on with it. It doesn’t excuse some of the woeful finishing we saw, or the amount of times players wanted to walk the ball in.

Had we shown that kind of urgency before they scored, we wouldn’t have been in that situation. The goal at the end was a kick in the bollocks, and you could say it was harsh on us, but I just think we bring this upon ourselves with the lack of attacking intent we show. Why can’t we just go out and try to fucking obliterate teams, instead of ‘controlling the game’ and doing just enough? I’m sick of it. He who dares wins, he who doesn’t... doesn’t.

Ultimately, Rafa has to carry the can. He picks the team, he bought most of the players, they’re playing to his tactics, he makes the substitutions etc When we win, he gets the praise, so even though I feel the players have let him down (again), I can’t make excuses for him as he doesn’t help himself at times.

Let’s look at the goalkeeping situation for a start. I’m sick of this stupid fucking policy of giving the second choice keeper the cup games. Last year we got knocked out of two cups in a week simply because Rafa had made a promise to the hopelessly out of form Dudek. We’ve seen already in the limited appearances he’s made that Charles Itandje is dodgy as fuck, and although I don’t specifically blame him for the goals he conceded, there’s no doubt in my mind he could have done better on both of them, and I can’t remember him taking anything cleanly all game. He needed two or three attempts to gather even the most simple of shots. He doesn’t inspire confidence, and as usual, when Reina doesn’t play we let in goals.

But then how much of that is down to the lack of match practice Itandje gets? The season is into its seventh month, and I reckon Itandje has played less than ten games all season. Fair enough, he’s not going to get many first team games, so he should be playing for the reserves to keep his match sharpness up. He's played one reserve game I think.

The reserve keeper needs to be playing for the reserves, it’s not rocket science. If Itandje is to be back up to Reina, then it should be him playing. Equally, if Dave Martin is playing for the ressies, then he should be Reina's back up as he's the one with the match sharpness. I don’t see why we even signed Itandje, as Martin is a much steadier (if unspectacular) keeper and would be a better back up to Reina (who should never be rested anyway).

It’s not just about the keeper though. The rest of the team need to take a look at themselves too. We didn’t play that badly, and on any other day we’d have gone through easily. It was a bit of a freak result in terms of how the game went, but the fact remains we showed no urgency or desire to get goals until they had equalised.

The first half was dull, but we probably did enough to deserve the lead as we were in total command, aside from one glorious chance presented to them by Hyypia that produced a good save from Itandje. For all our control, chances weren’t exactly flowing for us though. We did score an excellently worked goal however.

I was pleased for Dirk, because watching him prior to the goal it was blatantly obvious that he had no confidence. He was playing ok, and working hard as he always does, but in front of goal he was hesitant and unwilling to shoot. There was one occasion when he spurned a great shooting opportunity and opted to play a near impossible pass to Crouch. It sums up his state of mind this season I think.

But when Babel got to the line and cut the ball back to him six yards out, Kuyt controlled the ball and then rammed it in at the Kop end for what should have been the start of a goalfest. Unfortunately the team seemed to think that it was job done, and simply sauntered along at their own leisure until Barnsley produced a shock equaliser.

I say ‘shock’, but to be fair I’d started to get a little concerned a few minutes before they scored. They forced a few corners, and we’ve found out several times to our cost this season already that all it takes is one set piece or freak goal to drop you in the shit in even the most comfortable looking of games.

Their goal was brilliant from their point of view, and terrible from ours. The lad had no business getting that ball in from the right wing. I sit right by where he crossed it from, and Riise appeared to have the angle cut off, but he whipped in a stunning cross that straight away looked like causing a big problem. Itandje’s first movement was to come out for the cross. He then realised he was never going to get it, so started to edge backwards. When the forward sent the ball goalwards, Itandje was caught flat footed and couldn’t get high enough off the ground to make the save.

The goal gave our players the kick up the arse they needed, and they almost regained the lead instantly when Yossi went through but was denied by the keeper. Crouch looked favourite to get the rebound, but his shot was blocked by a defender. Their player wanted it more than ours, and it was a pattern that was repeated all over the pitch.

We had loads of other chances, too many to mention (and I’ve forgotten most of them anyway) but we couldn’t find a way through. Lucas and Kewell both hit the bar, Yossi was denied by a brilliant save and Kuyt and Crouch contrived to fluff a host of good openings that came their way, usually because they wanted too many touches.

Rafa made changes to try and win the game. Gerrard for Lucas was an obvious one, but bringing on Kewell for Babel did not sit well with the crowd, some of whom booed the decision. I didn’t boo, but I was perplexed and disappointed by it. Babel wasn’t great, but he was probably our most dangerous player and at least he didn’t look like he was scared to shoot. And why Kewell? What kind of form has he shown in recent months to deserve to get on ahead of Pennant?

Predictably, Kewell’s first involvement saw him get the ball and run at the defender, only to be dispossessed easily. It happens every time these days, it’s embarrassing. He may as well not even try and take anybody on. He did have a good shot that clipped the bar, but otherwise his contribution was very disappointing.

As for Gerrard, well it’s ridiculous that we needed to summon him to try and get us out of the shit again. Some will argue that he should have been on from the start, but if we can’t beat Barnsley without him then what does that say about the rest of the squad?

He threatened to do something, but it never really happened for him and it was looking like we’d have to go through the inconvenience of a replay at a ground where no-one really wants to go to. Mind you, in the last few minutes they began to look dangerous themselves as we threw everybody forward and left gaps at the back. The big lad they brought on up front may have lacked guile, but he was a handful and he put himself about. He gave us problems.

I thought he should have had either a pen or a free-kick when he beat Itandje to the ball and was clattered. It looked a foul to me, but it was difficult to see if it was in the box. Itandje could have been red carded too with a different referee, which may have actually helped us when I look at it now.

With only seconds remaining, Barnsley launched an attack and should have had a penalty when Hyypia blatantly fouled the number ten as he shaped to shoot. The ref was right on the spot, but bottled it completely and waved play on. I couldn’t believe it, as to me it looked like the clearest pen I’d seen all season. “We got out of jail there, no doubt there’ll be murder about that decision” I thought.

As it turned out, no-one will even be mentioning it because seconds later the same lad who was fouled collected the ball in a similar position, and this time he made space and drilled a low shot that beat Itandje at his near post. It was almost the last kick of the game and we had no time to come back. I didn’t stay to see anything else, I was out of there like shit off a stick. I felt sick.

We’ve still got the Champions League of course, but to be honest I’m more concerned with our league position now. If we win number six I couldn’t care less where we finish in the league, but that’s a big ‘IF’. Finishing below Everton (or City, Villa, Blackburn etc) is simply not acceptable and cannot be tolerated. We have to finish in the top four, because the financial implications don’t even bear thinking about. Of course, a takeover would soften the blow and lessen the seriousness of the situation, but no Champions League football coupled with Hicks still in charge is simply to scary to contemplate.

And what of Rafa? Should he stay or go? Well it’s a pointless question right now as there is simply no option but to allow him to carry on. He’s lost the players, and it’s difficult to see a way back for him now. It’s surely a matter of when not if he goes, but it’s not going to happen whilst the ownership issue is still up in the air. It’s just so sad that things have come to this so quickly. It’s difficult to believe, but the club is fucked up in a big way.

The first thing we need is new owners, and then everything else can be dealt with from there. For now though, we just have to hope there’s a swift conclusion to the much talked about takeover, and that we can upset the formbook by beating Inter on tuesday.

Let’s hope at the end of the storm there’s a golden sky...


Team: Itandje; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise; Benayoun, Lucas (Gerrard), Alonso, Babel (Kewell): Crouch, Kuyt: