Liverpool Four The Win!

Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth, a score that will satisfy fans and the performance to go with it. With goals from the ol' reliable Fernando Torres and two more from Babel and Aquilani, which should act as a confidence boost to them, and suck the last bit of life out of Pompey. (which I originally thought Avram Grant would do as his resembelance to Dracula is quite amazing).
Liverpools season so far seems to have been one disaster after another. But tonight Liverpool showed what they were really capable of, all beit against the wounded woodland critter that is Portsmouth F.C. (Although woodland critters are probably better off financially than Pompey).

It has been little under a week since the first post from 'What can be salvaged?' and it seems the audience is wider than I thought as Steven Gerrard seems to have been reborn since he was criticized here. (Not that it was the definate difference as I have no confirmation from Stevie himself, but thats probably because he's never heard of me or this blog).
Last week Steven Gerrard's performance was so poor it warrented a bit of criticism and a large image illustrating him hiding his face, which wasn't from the same game but frankly helped prove my point. His old lively performances had many suggesting he carried the team on his back but recently he looked sluggish and tired, which suggested he had literally carried the team on his back and was now burnt out from Lucas's daily piggyback ride. (Not a gay metaphor, more a Lucas has been poor and Gerrard would have to fill in metaphor). But this week there will be no criticism and the image is now a more happy, crest slapping Stevie G.

Despite all the work Stevie put in, such as forcing the error from Pompey keeper Jamie Ashdown that lead to the first goal, he was not the star of the show. Liverpool's £17 million summer signing Alberto Aquilani put in a master class performance and bagged his first Liverpool goal. Rafa disregarded his usual negative, boring tactics when he started the attack minded midfielder with Gerrard, Ryan Babel and Maxi Rodrigez all included. And yet it seems to have paid off. Once the shackles were released Aquilani popped up everywhere becoming consistantly involved in everything good Liverpool did. Honestly, 4-1 was a flattering scoreline for Pompey considering Torres and Babel's thunderous strikes both hit the post.

The only negative happenings of the night was the poorly defended goal converted by Belhadj ,who was a contendor for Pompeys best player despite having as much influence on the game as a beach ball at a Sunderland game. (Wait no, bad choice of comparison). And also the clash which saw Gerrard clatter Pompeys Michael Brown with his elbow. It is unclear whether the incident was deliberate, but Rafa seems pretty confident it was nothing and since we have no reason to doubt him ... dot dot dot etc. These incidents are just blips on an important win that will hopefully act as a springboard to Liverpool and help maintain the form in theweek ahead (Lille on Thursday and Man Utd on Sunday).

Well thanks again for reading this edition of What can be salvaged?. As usual, the next blog article will be posted after the game. Good luck against Lille lads!
And Liverpool fans, lets hold our heads high! We beat a lifeless, struggling debt ridden team! Oh yeah! It's like kicking an injured cat, well not quite as cruel but just about as easy.

Dec