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LIVERPOOL 3 Bolton 1 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Jordan Henderson, Martin Skrtel, Charlie AdamHalf Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 27 Aug 2011 Star Man – Lucas Looks like we learned from the Sunderland game then. Just like on opening day, we produced a wonderful first half performance but had just a one goal lead to show for it. Thankfully there was no second half horror show this time though as we stepped it up even more and made the game safe with plenty to spare, ensuring that when a defensive lapse occurred this time the only damage it caused was to the pride of the captain. It's difficult not to get carried away after this, as it was really, really good. Bolton are one of those middle of the road sides who can cause you problems if you aren't on top of your game. A bit like Sunderland really. If a top six side plays well, they'll always beat a Bolton, Stoke or a Sunderland etc, but if they aren't at it then it's very easy to drop points against them. Owen Coyle's men were completely out-matched at Anfield though, as every one of our players hit form and some of the football produced was scintillating. They didn't stand a chance, and unlike Sunderland they didn't have Phil Dowd to bail them out. Having said that, this ref was shite too and we're fortunate that his errors didn't cost us. There was one surprise when Kenny's team was named, only a mild one, but I'm sure there will have been the odd Ancelotti style eyebrow raised when Andy Carroll's name was omitted from the starting XI. I don't think it's unfair to say that Carroll's absence from the side and the wonderful football we produced on the day are not entirely unrelated. As I've said before I'm an Andy Carroll guy, but since he's been here we've played most of our best football with him on the bench or in the stands and Kuyt in tandem with Suarez. I don't think it's Carroll's fault as such, but it is a fact. Ideally I want to see Carroll in the side, but I can't really put up any kind of argument with anyone who says it should be Kuyt alongside Suarez. It's up to Andy to do enough to prove he's got more of a claim to the shirt than Dirk, and right now he hasn't done it. It's that simple. I think he will eventually do that, but the great thing for us is that we can wait because we aren't reliant on him as we can cope just fine without him. At the back end of last season when we had Kuyt and Suarez paired up top we began to look really good. When Carroll came back in, we didn't look quite as free flowing (the one notable exception being the Man City game). Since then we've added people like Downing, Henderson and Adam to the mix, and whilst it's going to take time for that to gel properly it's impossible not to be excited by how all of those players performed against Bolton. Two of them scored, and Downing has done just about everything but get on the scoresheet so far. Every game he's gone close and he's slotted into the side seamlessly, forming an exciting combination down the left with the mightily impressive Enrique. That left hand side was just too much for Bolton to deal with, especially when Suarez joined the party with his regular forays out there. He and Downing linked up very well on a number of occasions, and it's very encouraging to see those two starting to strike up such an early understanding. Gerrard is really going to love playing with them when he gets back too. The opening goal was a thing of beauty and originated down that left flank. Downing moved inside taking the full back with him whilst Suarez ran into the space down the channel dragging Cahill out of the centre. Suarez received the ball from Enrique and then played possibly the pass of the season so far in to Downing with the outside of his right boot. Downing's first time volley was top drawer and deserved a goal but that tramp Jaaskelainen made a fine save. Kuyt picked up the loose ball and fed Henderson and although his first shot was blocked he then curled one into the top corner with his left foot. Great finish. Henderson has improved with each game so far. This was easily his best performance, and it appears that Kenny is going to keep playing him even though a lot of us would still have Meireles or Maxi (who'd be my personal preference) in the side over him. His technique is sound, his touch and control are generally excellent and he showed good crossing ability at times too. My Mackem brother in law text me after the goal saying 'enjoy it, he doesn't get many'. That's the challenge facing him though, he needs to find the net regularly because both Maxi and Raul have shown they can do that. I still think he has been playing things safe a bit too much when he has time to try and do something more positive (understandable for a young lad in a new team), but there were definite signs of that changing in this game. He was demanding the ball much more than he has previously and he clearly enjoyed himself. If he plays like this every week then he'll more than justify his place in the side. It's only one game though so let's see, but it's great for him to break his duck so quickly. Henderson was involved in most good moves in the first half, including the first real opportunity of the game that started when a Bolton corner was cleared to Suarez in the centre circle. He wriggled away from his marker and was cynically taken out of the game but play was correctly waved on as Henderson seized on the loose ball and released Downing. Unfortunately the winger's touch was too heavy and a defender got back to clear. No yellow card for the defender who took Suarez out though. Great to see us hitting teams like that though, and it's a direct result of a change that Kenny has made that I've been calling for since the days of Evans. Evans, Houllier, Benitez and Hodgson all brought everybody back for corners, and it did my fucking head in. If you leave one up, not only do they have to keep two - sometimes three - back, but you also have someone to hit when you clear the ball which means it doesn't always come straight back. Kenny leaves Suarez up, and we're much better for it. Henderson created another opportunity for Kuyt with an absolute peach of a cross that the Dutchman just couldn't get anything on. A corner was awarded so perhaps a defender got a slight nick on it to take it away from him. It was great to watch though, fast, incisive attacking football and we were coming at them from all angles. Adam was heavily involved too, and he picked out Suarez with the kind of pass that helped persuade Kenny to sign him, but Luis couldn't quite gather it when any touch would almost certainly have led to a goal either for him or the supporting Kuyt who was all alone in the centre. Suarez then should have done better when he was put through by the influential Henderson, but his audacious chip landed on the roof of the net. The only criticism that can be levelled at Suarez - and I hate levelling any criticism at him at all as he's rapidly becoming one of my all time favourite players - is that he isn't always as clinical as he should be. Having said that, if he was then he'd be in the top three players in the world as everything else is ridiculously good. We had strong appeals for a penalty when Downing collected another brilliant Adam pass and knocked the ball past Steinsson who deliberately handled. The ref gave a free kick right on the edge of the box and booked the Bolton full back. I couldn't tell if it was inside from where I was sat, but turns out the ref got it right. Probably more through luck than good judgement based on his second half display. Kuyt then blasted a shot just over following another good build up. Bolton's only effort of the first half was a stinging volley by the lively Petrov that was punched clear by Reina. The only negative of the opening 45 minutes was another injury to Martin Kelly. It didn't look too serious, but it's a further indication that the lad has a touch of the 'Daniel Aggers' about him. Thankfully he's not quite a 'Fabio Aurelio' (not yet anyway), but he does tend to pick up a lot of injuries and it's the only knock on him as otherwise he's a top, top prospect. With Glen Johnson still not fit and Jack Robinson preferred to John Flanagan on the bench, Kenny had no other right back to call on. When Skrtel was brought on I imagine that like me most people assumed that Carragher would be moved to full back. That's what would have always happened in the past so it was therefore surprising to see Skrtel go to full back, especially given what happened the last time he played there when he was given a chasing by Downing at the Riverside. It proved to be an inspired move as Skrtel was outstanding. Carragher and Agger are playing well as a pair and keeping them together meant that there was very little disruption to the backline, especially given how well Skrtel slotted into right back. With the impending arrival of the highly rated Sebastian Coates (who was watching from the stands), Skrtel has done himself no harm here by showing another string to his bow. The first half had been brilliant and the crowd were well into it. I've just realised that I haven't even mentioned the best player on the pitch yet either. Whilst Suarez, Kuyt, Adam, Downing and Henderson were posing Bolton all manner of problems, Lucas was earning most of the plaudits from the crowd as his constant pressurising and strong tackling set the tone for our dominance. Whether he was winning headers against Kevin Davies, or snapping into challenges against Re-Coker, Lucas seemed to be everywhere in the first half. He wasn't as dominant after the break but he didn't need to be as we put the game to bed fairly early on. This kind of display is becoming the norm for Lucas under Kenny's management. He'd been playing well for a while before Kenny took over but he's gone up quite a few notches since. He's probably now not far off the standards Mascherano set when he was here. With Spearing also coming on in leaps and bounds we're in good shape in that position. For all our dominance and flowing football though, there was only one goal in it and I couldn't help but think back to that Sunderland game a couple of weeks ago. Would Kenny be telling them not to make the same mistakes as last time, where we came out flat after the break and just got flatter? How would we approach the second half? And would Scruffy Jaaskelainen snub the applause of the Kop like he usually does? Well yes, he did, the fucking skidmark. Can't stand him. Him and that Dean Kiely gobshite who used to play for Charlton. Ungrateful turds. Whatever Kenny said in the dressing room worked, as if anything we raised the tempo even more from that impressive first half. Bolton just got blown away as wave after wave of attacks descended on the Kop end goal. Adam had a shot deflected just wide, Downing cut inside but shot well over and there was a real momentum building. Bolton couldn't get out of their own half, and the crowd were right into it too. It was great stuff. Suarez continued to torment poor old Zat Knight and should have had a penalty when he went past him on the right flank as he entered the penalty area. He looked to have ridden Knight's attempted tackle but then crumpled in a heap after he'd seemingly gotten away. My first reaction was it had to be a penalty as why would Suarez have gone down when he was in the clear? My second was that I didn't really see much contact and it looked like he'd gone down a bit easy. From my seat in the Main Stand my view of what happened was obscured by the large frame of the prone Bolton defender, and it was only after the game I heard that Knight had grabbed Luis' foot and pulled him down. Given that the linesman had a similar view to me I can't blame him for not seeing it, but the ref needs to be in position to give that. He got it wrong, but if he thought it was a dive then why didn't he book Suarez? Thankfully we didn't have much time to dwell on that injustice as Adam whipped in a delicious corner that Skrtel gleefully powered into the net. He's usually got a head like a 50p coin but he met this one perfectly and it was a cracking goal, the kind of which we rarely seem to score. Adam's delivery was so good though it was just begging to be finished off. We were on a roll now and Anfield was rocking. Within no time it was 3-0, as Kuyt fed Adam and he fooled everyone by not cutting back onto his left foot, instead rolling a shot into the bottom corner with his right peg. That's what he brings to the side, goals and assists from midfield. We haven't had enough of that down the years, and if Adam could notch double figures from the middle of midfield that would be massive for us. He's started his Liverpool career quite well without being especially spectacular, and like Henderson this was his best game so far. It's really exciting to see the new players all settling in and making their mark so quickly. It's even more exciting to think how good we'll be when they've had more time to bed in properly and when we have Gerrard and Johnson back on the pitch. Mind you, could Enrique 'bed in' any more than he already has? He looks like he's been here for years. He's been flawless so far, at both ends of the pitch too. Often full backs are either good going forward and suspect at the back, or good defenders who offer little going forward. On the evidence so far, Enrique is one of the few that is equally good at both. It's still early days and it's probably best to wait a dozen games or so (I still remember being fooled by Josemi), but he really looks the part doesn't he? Defensively he's been impeccable, he's good in possession and he showed in this game that he can get down the line and whip quality crosses in. He's strong as an ox and I didn't realise how fast he was until the second half of this game, when twice he turned on the afterburners and blew by Bolton players who had several yards start on him. Given the fee we paid, he might be the best bit of business we did this summer, and he's probably the one I had the least expectations of too. He looks way better than I thought he'd be, I just hope he keeps it up. At 3-0 Bolton were all over the place, and Suarez was causing mayhem. He was desperate to score and started getting really pissed off with himself and his team-mates. He went mad at Henderson when the midfielder broke clear but didn't play the pass early enough. Suarez had pulled off into space and had been screaming for a pass that didn't come, and he was livid. If he was angry then, I thought he was going to assault someone when Jaaskelainen picked up a backpass from Robinson and wasn't penalised for it. Suarez had been chasing it down and almost got there too, but the keeper just bent down and picked it up. It was the most clear cut decision of the game, yet the ref and liner both let it go. I was dumbfounded by it, and still am now. Even if they thought that Suarez possibly got the first touch on it before the keeper handled, there's no way they could have been sure of that and given that the keeper made no attempt to go for it with anything other than his hands, why would you give him the benefit of the doubt there? Replays confirmed Suarez didn't touch it, and this might be the worst decision we'll see at Anfield all season. Thankfully it didn't matter. The linesman also showed he wasn't paying proper attention to what was going on when Henderson and Adam worked a clever corner only to have it pulled back. Henderson went over to take the kick, but then made out he was leaving it to Adam who was walking over. Henderson had actually taken it though as he nudged the ball out of the corner box, and Adam collected it and ran towards goal before being pulled back because of the linesman's flag. Adam and Henderson weren't impressed, as it was clearly a training ground move. Good to see us trying that kind of innovative stuff. Suarez was becoming increasingly agitated as he tried to maintain his record of having scored in every game. He overhit the ball as he tried to go past a defender and then berated himself even more than he'd done Henderson. It was funny watching him. Funny and endearing. He's just so desperate to do well, and Kenny must have been tempted to leave him on so he could get his goal. Zat Knight will have been desperate to see Suarez depart, the poor fella was run ragged all afternoon, to the point where he almost tied himself in knots as he controlled the ball by the Main Stand touchline simply because he knew Suarez was in the vicinity. Much as I'm sure we all wanted him to stay on, the prudent thing to do was to bring him off. The game was won, and although we don't have another game for a fortnight, Suarez has been called up by his country I believe so any rest we can give him will hopefully see us rewarded later in the season. He was replaced by Carroll and once again we didn't look as good with Suarez off the field. Of course in the interests of fairness you have to factor in that the team eased off a bit at 3-0 up, but still, it would have been nice to see us knock in a couple of goals with Luis on the bench. In truth we probably should have. Downing put a sensational cross in that flew across the goalmouth just begging to be finished off, and then Enrique produced two more similar efforts. All three came to nothing as Carroll - and to a lesser extent Kuyt - failed to get in there to finish them off. I've regularly defended Carroll due to the lack of service he's had, but I can't complain about service this time as he could have had a couple of tap ins today if he'd gone into the areas a centre forward is supposed to go into. John Aldridge made a career out of getting on the end of the kind of crosses that Carroll stood and watched yesterday. Kenny could do worse than put on a DVD of all Aldo's goals and show Carroll how it's done. Aldo is the player Carroll should be looking to emulate. Comparisons between Carroll and Drogba are unfounded, as Drogba has much more pace than Carroll. Aldridge was a different type of player to Carroll too, he wasn't as physically imposing or technically adept as Carroll, but the big man could learn a lot from the positions Aldo would take up and how he led the line in a side containing the likes of Barnes, Beardsley and Houghton. Comparison's between Suarez and Beardsley are obvious, whilst Henderson's current role isn't too dissimilar to that of Houghton in that he doesn't have to stick to the touchline and has freedom to play further infield and get into the box. Downing is no John Barnes (who is?), but against Bolton he was playing the same role that 'Digger' excelled in and that ball he whipped across the face of goal late on was vintage Barnes to Aldridge, except 'Aldridge' was caught on his heels and didn't anticipate it. I'm not suggesting Kenny is trying to replicate that side, but there are certainly some comparisons that can be made in how the team is set up and the style of football they are trying to play. Carroll can be a big part of it, but he has to do better and he also looks like he needs a confidence boost too. He's about the only one you can say that about, as the rest of the side look very assured and confident in what they are doing. The goal at the end was frustrating, and only happened because we were 3-0 up and cruising. 99 times out of 100 Carragher clears that ball with his right foot into the back row of the Main Stand. With a comfortable lead he decided to try and bring it down with his left foot and let Petrov in. Carra did remarkably well to get back at Petrov and nick the ball off him, but could only divert it into the path of the clinical Klasnic who buried it past a furious Reina, who you can hear yelling when you watch it on TV! I don't think I've ever heard a goal at Anfield greeted by complete silence before. Even when we're playing some tinpot Eastern European side who only have 20 fans in the upper Centenary, you still hear SOMETHING. Bolton's fans are a joke. They took a pitifully low allocation anyway for a fixture that's only 45 minutes up the road, and they didn't even sell that. Their corner looked about half full, and those that had bothered to stay til the end couldn't even muster an ironic half arsed cheer. Awful fans. As for us, we've started the season well and given the complete mess both North London clubs seem to be in, a top four spot looks to be there for the taking. We look like a good side now, and there's every reason to think we will improve further when everybody gets to know eachother better through playing together more often. Unfortunately we've now got to wait two weeks to play again because of yet another shitty international break. At least we're going into that break on a high, imagine how long these next couple of weeks are going to seem to Spurs and Arsenal fans. *sniggers* Star man could have been any one of about six or seven, but I'll go for Lucas based on his phenomenal efforts in the first half. Could just as easily have been Suarez. Or Downing. Or Enrique. Or Skrtel. Or Adam. You get the picture. Team: Reina; Kelly (Skrtel), Carragher, Agger, Enrique; Henderson (Maxi), Lucas, Adam, Downing; Suarez (Carroll), Kuyt: