Liverpool FC Forum

FRfanatic wrote:you also have to give Crouch a 7 for getting the ball to Torres that lead to his goal.

Owzat wrote:

FRfanatic wrote:you also have to give Crouch a 7 for getting the ball to Torres that lead to his goal.

I've yet to see a reply that convinces me he actually touched the ball. And to call that an assist would be a joke, any (more) contact and it would have taken it away from Torres, besides which Torres made the goal.

I feel a lot of the bad start was down to the change of formation to accommodate Crouch, players took quite some time to adapt to the formation change and we lost our shape too much. We also had Crouch drifting about in midfield as we struggled to get any attacks going and both strikers might as well not have been on the pitch.

Reina is to blame for their goal, no question. He was badly positioned and should have got something behind the ball to stop it going in. Our defence had numbers back covering a relatively small area, but their players found space and then created space cleverly. I wasn't that worried at that stage other than thinking it would be a big move to take Crouch off and bring Babel on. Drastic as that thinking was, I think we might have been more comfortable in every sense including the scoreline. Crouch might as well not have been on the pitch first half, had one shot second half and is typically getting ridiculous credit for a flick on he might not even have touched.

Hyypia's equaliser was a fantastic header, while I have reservations about him these days I don't deny he is probably the best header in the squad. Senderos made a bad mistake in turning before Hyypia had committed to a direction and Hyypia directed it right into the corner taking out the keeper and man on the line. We looked a lot better after that, Arsenal more subdued. Our strikers were still not really in the game but the balance was shifting.

I feel if anything Torres' wonder SOLO goal might have done us a disfavour coming when it did, he turned and netted brilliantly, but up to that point Arsenal weren't unhappy with the situation. That goal meant they had to score, not that I didn't want us to score, but in retrospect it could have come a little later. We probably overcommitted going forward and Walcott hit us on the counter. A very big sucker punch, one or two of the players had a chance to foul Walcott and Hyypia didn't even make a challenge which left Skrtel and Reina no chance when it was crossed and tucked away. I thought we'd blown it, too many forward when 2-2 wasn't good enough.

Fortunately, and maybe some emphasis on fortune, Babel had come on when perhaps he should have started and caused them immediate problems from the restart. It was a dubious penalty, but despite Wenger's bitterness over the two they didn't get in the previous meetings, those are given. I thought it was harsh, maybe Toure should have boxed clever and done it outside the box. You have to be careful bumping into attackers, especially from the wrong side. There was no chance the ref was going to be exceptionally well placed to see clearly so the defender took a risk and paid the price.

Gerrard's spot kick was cool under pressure, I nearly couldn't watch. Weren't we debating who should take the spot kicks not so many seasons ago when Gerrard missed two in a row? The icing on the cake was the fourth, as Arsenal piled forward it was always a possibility. Good finish nonetheless.



I'm sure people will decry the win citing penalty decisions and the way Arsenal outplayed us at times, but it's goals that count and decisions don't always go a side's way. We fought hard, never gave up and got the result that could have gone either way. Kuyt had a good game, worked very hard, ran the flank and tackled back a lot. He did everything Pennant doesn't, he probably deserved a goal himself. I was worried the midfield gave possession away far too easily, and Reina arguably had a stinker. Did he actually save any shots? He touched their first goal, had no chance with the second, but the only other things I remember him doing are coming for crosses and fielding the ball. He did those well enough, but his error gave them their first away goal and thankfully it didn't cost. No wonder he celebrated the most every time the score changed in our favour. Carra ran the flanks well, didn't always get the ball as we conceded possession too often - as did Reina with his poor distribution. Macherano tackled hard and was lucky not to get booked, I felt one of the main problems with the change of formation to accommodate Crouch was it left Gerrard on the left and he had to come infield to get in the game. We looked much better when he was relieved of that left wing duty.

I said before the game that "if it ain't broke don't fix it", Rafa succumbed to temptation and putting Gerrard on the left and Crouch up front nearly cost us. And pushing forward when we didn't need to almost cost us too, I think Rafa is getting a little too much credit for this result which nearly went pear shaped.