Boro Res 0 LIVERPOOL RES 1
Report by Dave Usher
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| Scorer(s) Jordy Brouwer
Half Time – 0-1
Venue – The Riverside Stadium
Date - Tue 2 Sep 2008
Star Man – Stephen Darby |
A first half poacher’s effort from Jordy Brouwer ensured Liverpool reserves got their title defence off to a winning start at the Riverside last night, as Philipp Degen made his return from injury as a half time substitute. It was a game of two halves for Gary Ablett’s side, who played some lovely stuff in the first period but struggled to regain their rhythm after the break.
Ablett had included Degen in his original starting line up, but the Swiss full back had a stomach upset and was left on the bench as a precautionary measure. That meant a slight reshuffle, with Martin Kelly moved to right back and Daniel Ayala brought in to the centre of the defence alongside Ronald Huth. Skipper Stephen Darby was moved to left back in the absence of Emiliano Insua.
The midfield had an unfamiliar look to it, with Jay Spearing the only regular from last season. With no Damien Plessis, Mikel San Jose moved forward from defence to partner Spearing in the middle, Gerardo Bruna was on the right and new boy Vincent Weijl on the left. Up front Ablett had to do without the injured Krizstian Nemeth, so Brouwer and Dani Pacheco were paired together in a little and large combo.
Boro fielded a young side, with Chris Riggott the only well known face. Riggott is the oldest player at Middlesbrough, and he’s only 28. Southgate has a very young squad, and relies heavily on Boro’s excellent youth system. Eight of their reserve line up were home grown players, and some of them have already featured in the first team.
One player who Liverpool will have been well aware of was striker Tom Craddock, who has scored a lot of goals against the reds at reserve level in the past, including a hat-trick a couple of years ago. Liverpool are a much different proposition these days however, and they now boast a defence that is the meanest in the league.
That’s probably the most impressive aspect of the job Ablett has done so far. The back four and keeper often changes, but regardless of who plays the reserves don’t seem to let in many goals. It helps that he has good players to choose from of course, but still, he must be coaching them well as it’s not as though any of them are superstars.
The second half of this game saw Liverpool come under a fair bit of pressure, but they never really looked like buckling and Boro only really had two opportunities in the entire ninety minutes. We saw both sides of Ablett’s team in this game. The first period saw some lovely football played, and the lads really should have had more than one goal to show for it.
Then after the break, when the flowing football dried up, they showed the can dig in and grind out a win. Dani Pacheco was the star of the first half, whilst after the break it was the likes of Darby and Kelly who came to the fore.
Pacheco is clearly brimming with confidence now having done so well in pre-season with the first team. He was only given that opportunity due to Torres coming back late to training, and Nemeth being away in international duty, but he did so well in the early games that he was kept in the squad even when those players returned. When Nemeth comes back, and new Brazilian kid we’ve just signed settles in, it’s going ot be difficult for Ablett deciding who to leave out.
Especially as for all his faults, Brouwer continues to bang the goals in. He seems to score every time he plays these days, even though he rarely catches the eye with anything else he does.
His goal in this game owed a lot to the brilliance of Pacheco. The little Spaniard dribbled into the box on the right hand side, and then cheekily dinked a little pass over the heads of two defenders perfectly into the stride of Brouwer. Jordy’s header goalwards was a good one, but came back off the crossbar. Fortunately it well perfectly for him to nod the ball back into the empty net.
Liverpool had been building up a head of steam prior to that moment, and after it they had a spell of about five minutes where they simply battered Boro and should have increased their lead. Within a minute of Brouwer’s opener, Pacheco sliced through the middle of Boro’s defence as a huge gap opened up for him (possibly thanks to a clever run by Browuer that took a defender away, I’d have to watch it again to be sure), and gave the keeper the eyes. The keeper dived to his left, Pacheco put the ball the other way but saw it bounce back off the post.
Seconds later the lively Weijl drilled a low shot just past the far post, and a minute or so after that Spearing should have done better with a shot from the edge of the box, but the ball got stuck under his feet with his first touh and he couldn’t set himself properly.
Liverpool continued to dominate, and skipper Darby was denied what would have been a sensational goal by a contentious offside decision. ‘Darbs’ surged down the left touchline and then laid the ball inside to Brouwer before continuing his run. He initially started to run offside as Brouwer held onto the ball a little too long, but he then celeverly bent his run to stay level with the last defender. Browuer released the pass and Darby went through and rounded the keeper before rolling the ball into the net. It deserved a goal, and he appeared to have been just onside, but the linesman felt otherwise.
It was a shame, as Darby was excellent once again. It doesn’t matter where he plays, he always puts in a performance. He was my star man, although that was only because Pacheco failed to build on a superb first half display.
Half time didn’t do the reds any favours, as it came at a time in which they were comfortably bossing the game. Ablett introduced Degen at right back in place of Ayala, who had not had the most impressive of games and had eventually been booked his third crude foul. The defender was a little fortunate to only collect one yellow card in fairness.
Degen’s arrival saw Kelly switch back to the centre, the position in which he is most comfortable. He was rock solid, and he’s a player I really like. He’s got something about him, and I’d like to see him get a run of games in the middle of the defence. Whether he will or not remains to be seen, as Ablett also has San Jose, Huth and Ayala to call on.
Boro came out for the second half with a renewed determination, and Liverpool’s passing ability just seemed to disappear. Pacheco couldn’t get into the game, and Bruna also faded.
The ball wasn’t sticking up front, and Ablett sensibly opted to introduce the powerful Andras Simon for Brouwer. The big Hungarian is especially adept at holding the ball, and he gave his team-mates something to look for up the field. It certainly helped, although Liverpool continued to struggle to get their passing going.
Boro were finding it just as hard to get anything of their own going though. Jonathon Franks had an opportunity with a diving header at the far post, but Peter Gulacsi made a comfortable stop. The Hungarian keeper showed good handling all evening, and performed very well aside from one late blemish when he flapped at a cross and needed San Jose to rescue him by clearing the ball off the line.
The reds had a great chance to make the game safe when Boro’s keeper scuffed a clearance straight to the feet of Simon. He had Pacheco available square for a tap in, but he went himself and shot straight at the keeper. In fairness, I think most strikers would have opted to have a go themselves as he was one on one with the keeper, but he really should have done better with the finish.
Simon and Weijl both sent shots over the bar from the edge of the box when well placed, whilst Boro forced a succession of corners and throw ins late on as they threw everything forward. Liverpool’s backline held firm though, with Huth and Kelly very strong in the centre and Degen and Darby solid out wide.
The stand out performers for me were Darby and Kelly, who were both excellent over the ninety minutes. Pacheco’s first half display was a joy to watch, but he couldn’t get involved as much after the break as the side as a whole struggled. I was quite impressed with Weijl too, who provided nice balance on the left and looks like he can cross a good ball.
Overall, a good start for the ressies and I’d say they will probably be the team to beat again this year.
Team: Gulacsi; Kelly, Ayala (Degen), Huth, Darby; Bruna, San Jose, Spearing, Weijl (Irwin); Pacheco, Brouwer (Simon):
