. never in my wildest dreams have i thought that traore will be ahead of henchoz
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Liverpool warmed up for their Champions League date in Athens on Tuesday with a 3-0 home victory over Norwich, who were led a merry dance by in-form Spanish star Xabi Alonso. Goals from Milan Baros, Luis Garcia and Djibril Cisse fired the Reds to a comfortable three points yesterday.
Jerzy Dudek
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Clean sheet for the Pole who was rarely troubled by Norwich. The supposed threat of Huckerby and Bentley never materialised and credit have to be given not only to his defence but to the rest of the team. The defenders were solid but because the Reds were attacking most of the time, the Canaries struggled to string more than a few passes together, let alone make efforts on the Liverpool goal.
Steve Finnan
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After playing at right-mid for the last few matches, Steve returned to a more familiar role for this match. Like Riise, there were occasions when he looked more like a winger rather than a defender. That was how dominant Liverpool was in this match.
Jamie Carragher
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Nothing went past Sami and the scouser in the heart of the Reds' defence and the Canaries hardly had a sniff at the Liverpool goal. Yet another solid performance by Carra who is earning his spurs as a central defender.
Sami Hyypia
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The vice-skipper - the captain during Gerrard's absence, had a rather easy game. There were even times that he turned up as a winger! (Of course that was after a corner had been taken and cleared.) The Finn's understanding with Carra is improving and as they play more and more matches together, there will certainly be more clean sheets for Liverpool.
John Arne-Riise
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Riise has been in a rich vein of form this season and it continued yesterday. Darren Huckerby was a frustrated man after the match after trying many times but failing to beat the Norwegian. Riise's long passing was top-class and his switching of positions with Stephen Warnock down the left created confusion for Norwich and with a bit more luck, he could have scored too.
Luis Garcia
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The home crowd were delighted to see the nippy Spaniard's simple but sensational lay-offs, vision and off-the-ball running. This time starting on the right flank, Luis was superb. Liverpool have lacked this kind of player in recent times and Garcia despite his size has shown that he is not afraid of the bigger buggers in the Premiership. He was unlucky when his first effort hit the post. He became more quiet though after switching to a forward position following Cisse's withdrawal from the match.
Didi Hamann
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The calming influence of Didi Hamann was what allowed Xabi Alonso to dictate the play from central midfield without worrying about his defensive side of the game. Steven Gerrard (watching in the stands) must have been delighted that Didi and Xabi are linking up well and making sure that Liverpool did not miss him. More of that please...
Xabi Alonso
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The star of the show. The man of the moment. Xabi sprayed passes to every corner of the pitch with ease and assuredness of a veteran. He has settled into the Liverpool team like a fish to water and his distribution was what I would call world-class. There was an uproar in Sociedad because their fans felt they were shortchanged. They felt that Xabi was worth at least twice the 11M Liverpool splashed on him. And you could see why from this match. Xabi Alonso - a legend in the making.
Stephen Warnock
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Warnock has done well whenever his services has been called for this season. Harry Kewell has been criticised by some for not willing to get stuck in and avoiding challenges. Stephen would not have any of that. The Academy graduate went in hard whenever he could and he had an effective game on the left flank. Like any youngster just getting into a team, his enthusiasm was a joy to watch. And he linked up very well with Johnny Riise.
Djibril Cisse
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'Djib' was more quiet than in recent matches. But he worked hard, closed down on the Norwich defenders and never gave up. It was a very good pass to pick out Garcia for the second goal of the match. And when he was limping with a hamstring injury, the fans thought that was the end of Djibril's match but he wanted to sign off with a goal. And he did. He scored a goal in front of the delighted Kop, celebrated with a trademark somersault before coming off for Djimi Traore.
Milan Baros
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Milan was lively as usual. He always wanted the ball and always wanted to take on the defenders down the right. But the difference this time round was that the infamous 'look down on the floor' technique that he always uses was lacking. Milan tried to play in Djibril when he could and the link-up play between him, Garcia and Cisse tormented the Norwich defence. His goal was reminiscent of the one he scored against Leeds last season. Milann~~~ Milan~~~~ Milan~~~~~~
Salif Diao
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The Senegalese international midfielder came on to give Xabi Alonso a well-deserved breather in the 65th minute. He then switched to centre-back after Igor Biscan's introduction into the game. Norwich's best spell in the game coincided with his time on the pitch but he made sure there was no way back for them in the game with some precise tackling.
Djimi Traore
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The lanky defender played at left back after Stephen Warnock's substitution but Norwich did not try to invade his territory. Djimi is definitely now ahead of Stephane Henchoz in the pecking order at Anfield.
Igor Biscan
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It was heartening to see the crowd encouraging Igor. They cheered him on and started chanting his name just after he did well to keep the possession of the ball. Igor looks a much happier and more confident player under Rafa Benitez and the fans are hoping that he can prove his critics wrong.
Man of the match:- Xabi Alonso
