Through to Semi's after emphatic victory

Liverpool progress through to the semi-finals of the Europa League after thrashing Benfica 4-1 at home. A satisfying result and performance ensured the victory, even though it seemed a replica of Manchester Utd's result against Munich was on the cards. Thankfuly Liverpool showed enough quality to kill the game off and are now two victories away from their first piece of silverware since the Fa cup in 2006.

Liverpool were without the suspended Ryan Babel and Emilano Insua, not that many people were worried as the two have been poor lately with all the panicking and face touching they have been doing. What did worry fans was the sight of Fernando Torres limping early on. However he shook off the injury and played on. After a slow start to the game it was Benfica who started the better, passing extremely well and putting pressure on Liverpool's make shift back four. Yet half chances were as far as either team were getting, with Torres's glancing header floating wide and Di Maria being unable to find the net with his effort. The deadline was broken in the 27th minute when Dirk Kuyt beat Benfica keeper Julio Cesar from a corner. Despite the linesman raising his flag to dissallow goal, the referee decided it was legite and the goal stood. Rightfuly so, considering it would be very difficult to get yourself in an offside position from a corner, although I'm sure Filipo Inzaghi would find a way. He loves his offsides. Liverpool then took the initiative again after a superb move, Gerrards excellent through ball found Lucas who beat the keeper and slotted the ball into the empty net. Liverpool fans were equally shocked by the excellent performance and the fact Lucas had scored. Benfica began getting frustrated as Liverpool crowded them out and got back in numbers. The Portugese club nearly leveled the tie just before half time when Ramires's shot deflected off Lucas and Benayoun and went narrowly wide. In the second half the scruffy stage began, as Benfica played sloppy football and Liverpool applied further pressure. Benfica were punished again after a few panicky incidents, Liverpool caught them on the break and Fernando Torres finished a fantastic move. Everything seemed perfect for Liverpool but an Oscar Cardozo free kick seemed to have dented that. The Paraguayan smashed the ball through the wall as Gerrard turned his back and beat Pepe Reina.This meant that Benfica needed just one goal to go through on away goals, as Munich had done the nght before. And what followed was a few nervy moments for Liverpool until the increased their lead again and ended the game. Fernando Torres's excellent finish beat Benfica's sub keeper after Julio Cesar left the pitch with a bizarre injury. At 4-1, the game was over. Benfica stopped playing their excellent pass and move football. The result was exactly what Liverpool deserved as the performance was one to be proud of.

At the beginning of the game it seemed the teams were playing contrasting football as Benfica used short passing and lots of movements, where as Liverpool seemed to have started with a direct manor, hitting long balls up to Torres. The goals Liverpool scored were excellent examples of how to play football. Fast and concise passing and excellent movement in to space. The Liverpool players also showed how to play when your tea doesn't have the ball as they hounded the Benfica players constantly. Benfica's Torres bashing tactic was undone and they struggled to create ay clear cut chances. Kyrgiakos was excellent, marking Cardozo out of the game and Dan Agger had an excellent game at left back as it allowed him to push forward a lot. Players such as Cardozo and Di Maria who were so effective in the first leg failed to make an impact this time. Overall the class difference in Leagues was exposed as Benfica, top of the Portugese league were hammered by a Liverpool team strugglin in the english league. (See i didn't even mention our position). The game wasn't really a thriller because apart from the goals there was few chances but any game with 5 goals entertains the winning side. But what was different about Liverpool in this game? They were more positive. Not to mention solid at the back. It seemed every player was really up for the game. Torres's finishing was top notch once again and the service to him was of high order again rather than the ball launched upfield. Perhaps also the fact that Torres remained on the pitch past the 60th minute. Not to be critical but had Ngog been in the same positions I'm not so sure he would have finished it. But Rafa will have to encourage that sort of football and hope the players form continues into the last five Premier League games and the semi final tie. All games are must wins at this stage!

So Rafa moves closer to getting his third Liverpool trophy and if he does so the season won't be seen as a total disaster. Since Liverpool have drawn Atheletico Madrid in the semis there is still a job to do before the fans can start getting excited about the silverware. An all English final is till on the cards after Fulham also progressed to the semis. So when watching Liverpool versus Fulham his weekend keep in mind it could be a Europa League final rehearsal. Not something either of the fans would have expected going into this season.But overall a good week for Liverpool. So heres hoping they continue and get a fairytale ending by getting 4th and the cup.Thanks for reading this weeks 'What can be salvaged?' . Next game is Fulham, and should make for some good 'This could be a Europa League final paractice' talk.
Yours,
living in hope, Dec

Champions League hopes dented again!

Liverpool's Champions League hopes were dented once again today following some slack defending and finishing in the 1-1 draw with Birmingham. They now trail Tottenham by three points and Man City by four points and have played a game more than the two. This is yet another poor result in
a season that has most people acting in a Roy Hodgson manorism, leaving chairs worldwide dented (I just saw Roy kicking a chair after conceding a goal so I thought I'd toss that in).

Liverpool seemed to have started the stronger, limiting Birmingham to half chances and creating one or two goal scoring oppertunities. The highlight of this being Maxi Rodriguez's cracking shot that was pushed on to the bar wonderfuly by should-be England goal keeper, Joe Hart. The football leading to this effort was arguably the best of the game and dissapointingly almost a highlight of the season. . .its been a pretty bad season. Liverpool could not find a way through Birmingham's back line and the poor free kicks and cornes were'nt helping. They seemed to have had a bad of Nani-itus with the quality of set pieces on display. It's a genuine condition, consult your local doctor if you cant lift the ball over the first man on the near post. Birmingham nearly went ahead when Pepe Reina failed to deal with a deep cross by James McFadden and Roger Johnson rose above the Liverpool defence but the center back could only head the ball wide.Birmingham then took advantage of Lucas's inability to find a forward pass and created a few half chances before half time. It was Liverpool who struck first however, just two minutes into the second half. Glen Johnson's mishit shot found Gerrard who turned Lee Bowyer and curled his shot into the far corner. Birmingham fought back however and leveled just under ten minutes later. Some terrible marking allowed Liam Ridgewell to sneak in at the back post and tap in McFadden's excellent cross. If Liverpool fans were upset by the goal, then the substitution of Fernando Torres in the 65th minute didn't to much to ease their nerves. The Spaniard was replaced by David Ngog much to the disgust to Liverpool and Birmingham fans as David Ngog isnt exactly the Fonz in the eyes of Birmingham supporters. The Liverpool fans weren't alone in their confusion of Torres sub, as the look on Steven Gerrard's face gave off a sort of WTF look as scratched his head. Liverpool pressed for a second goal for the remainder of the game and but for an accidental goal line clearence by Liverpool sub Aquilani, Maxi would have bagged his first and Liverpools second. A number of chances from Maxi,Ngog, Babel and an excellent oppertuniy for Birmingham's Lee Bowyer but he wasted from about 6 yards. The following was what will be remembered ,if Liverpool fail to achieve 4th spot this season, as the defining moment (not that it perticularly was, but when people think back to where the points were dropped that chance will be number one in the flashback library). David Ngog was presented with a golden chance from Dirk Kuyt, but Ngog could only scuff his shot and cause football fans worldwide to sigh. I'm sure even the David Ngog bebo fan club must have been somewhat upset. (Don't believe me? Go check! Theres at least 4 for him!) This game will be seen as two points lost rather than one gained and many Liverpool fans and players alike will surely begin questioning Benitez's decisions and future.

So at the moment it seems Liverpool will actually struggle to salvage anything which will lead to people logging on to see what has been written on 'What can be salvaged?' and to find the words ''Nothing. THE END'' written. So what went wrong today? Well basically Torres looked isolated because of the excellent defensive work from Birmingham's two center backs, so instead of sending an extra body up to support him, Rafa replaced him with a lesser striker (not that i dislike Ngog, but I'd prefer a tired and off form Torres with one leg, to him). But Rafa claims Torres was exhausted and that he wished he could have had Ngog's movement and Torres's finishing. Unfortunately Liverpool's scientists have not yet discovered how to morph players together leaving our hopes of Torgog(Torres and Ngog) a distant prospect. Yet Rafa did make the right decision by dropping Gerrard back to center midfield as Liverpool had more creativity since sliced bread was invented (seems like that long since Alonso left). The problem is that Stevie should be playing in there with Mascherano, because this allows Stevie to drive further forward rather than worry who the man next to him will drag down next. So now with five games left its even to Rafa that five wins out of five is needed. And he is right in the fact that there are still a lot of points to gain. This would be perfect if the other teams did not have this oppertunity, or if they were all Portsmouth and could only field 13 players.

Thanks for reading this weeks post. Next game will be Benfica, a vital part of the season and this blog. Will Liverpool trow away their last chance for silverware this season? Will this blog be very critical of Lucas because I'm fed up with the defensive approach? And what can be salvaged? (I know thats kind of corny, but I ran out of questions and then remembered that the title was also a question). So Liverpool fans, be sure from now on to say a quick prayer to the Liverpool God, not Robbie Fowler, the other guy!
Yours,
Dec

Javier is man of the Masch, but is Ryan B-able?

Thats right, Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Benfica today warrents a double pun headline. Despite taking an early lead Liverpool were second best throughout the hugely dramatic game. Javier Mascherano, whos hard work led to much post match praise, was the star of the night. Where as Ryan Babel's idiotic dismissal made him the villain, or at least the village idiot, and it may cost him dearly.

All work and no class, make Liverpool the losing team, a sentence that sums up the match. Liverpool started well and were ahead within the first ten minutes. Steven Gerrard was brought down just outside the box after driving towards the Benfica goal. Th resulting free kick was one to remember as Gerrard played a low pass to the feet of Dan Agger, who dispatched a cheeky flick towards goal. Liverpool's defence looked creaky as Benfica's Angel Di Maria and Oscar Cardozo began to find space and create chances. On the 30th minute drama struck when Fernando Torres was smashed down by Benfica captain Luisao. Luisao was not at all happy with being booked for this and made his feelings clear. Ryan Babel then reacted angrily and twice raised his hand to Luisao's face. The referee had no other choice but to send the winger off and upon seeing this Rafa Benitez looked infuriated. I imagine at Ryan Babel for leaving the team to play the remaining game with 10 men, rather than at the decision. The drama was not finished there however as just five minutes later Fernando Torres scored what seemed a perfectly acceptable goal, but it was ruled out because Dirk Kuyt was apparently offside. Benfica were incredibly lucky not to be two goals behind but at the same time were very wastful. At one stage Benfica's Ramires was outside the box with at least three options but instead chose to chip it straight to the edge of Reina's box, maybe he thought Liverpool were impervious to defending lobs. In the second half Cardozo had excellent chances to level the scored but had to wait until the 59th minute to get off the mark. Goal scorer Dan Agger brought Cardozo down on the edge of the box and the resulting free kick led to Insua conceding a penalty. Benfica's Aimar looked set to bury the rebounded free kick when Insua , who had a horrendus game, kicked through his legs. Cardozo dispatched the penalty passed the helpless Reina. Benfica started to domnate but Liverpool had an excellent chance to go ahead when Fernando Torres was one on one with the Benfica keeper but dragged his shot wide. Shorty after Benfica were awarded another penalty after an accidental handball, which Cardozo cooly converted. The game ended dissapointingly after that, but does make for an intresting second leg at Anfield, where there will be no Ryan Babel.... oh no . . .

So Benfica's Torres bashing tactic seems to have worked and Liverpool's negative one seems to have failed once again. Maybe its just me but after an impressive performance and 3 goals against Sunderland, I was hoping for more of the same. And after the dismissal of Ryan Babel, the midfield seemed to scream out for Gerrard to be moved to the middle and a winger to be put out on the left. But putting Gerrard out on the left seemed to take him out on the game and made him babysit Insua. That left Torres totally isolated and alone. Liverpool did however contiuely battle and refused to be walked all over. Actually they were the complete opposite, especially Jamie Carragher, who took the saying so literally that he attempted to walk on Oscar Cardozo at one stage (possibly mistaking him for a stairs. . . Jamie is getting older!). Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt in particular were the hardest workers amongst the group, constantly chasing and hounding the opposition. But unfortunately Liverpool still lack that cutting edge most other top sides have. Overall this result is not a bad one. It could have been better but the officials seemed to be slightly biased towards the home side. I don't blame them though. They were obviously intimidated by the rough crowd throughing missles (small balls of paper) on to the pitch! They must have been reliving their school days (which are hard for junior referees, living in the shaddows of the actual footballers), as they were almost hit with these scary paper balls! Although the 'Ming The Merciless' official (pictured right) didn't seem too scared. Liverpool need to more adventurous in the return leg and might go down slight favourites because of the away goal. But Benfica will surely make it a difficult tie and Liverpool fans can only hope there will be no repeat of 2006 when Benfica beat them 2-0 at home.

So Liverpool results are becoming as random as Sven Goran Eriksson's jobs (so from Notts County football director of football to Ivory Coast boss. . . oooooh! I see the link now). But its time to bounce back from another defeat and beat Birmingham in the next Premier League game. The fact that many managers and critics have made the run in a three horse race and that Martin O Neill has hinted he might no be at Villa net year, seems to have eliminated one oponent. So one down, two to go, which is kind of the case in the relegation battele. (Portsmouth mourning). Once again though 'What can be salvaged?' will end with a plea to Rafa to finish the season in a more attacking style. Take the game to the opposition. Finish them off. And sell Ryan Babel to anyone who will take him at the end of the season!

Thanks for reading this weeks post. Next one against Birmingham should be a hum-dinger (first time I've ever used that word) and we'll get to hear the bad commentators make that oh-so hilarious connection between Benitez the Liverpool manager and Benitez the Birminham striker. Yup, we never get sick of that one.
Yours, angry at Ryan Babel-fuly
Dec