Sorry about the Villa report but due to time constraints i have been unable to compile it but suffice to say just read the reports of the Sunderland and Boro games in that we were poor and unable to pass the ball 5 yards it seemed.
Now to the good stuff and typing a report on a victory over Man United.
These victories for some unknown reason used to happen on a regular basis under Houllier but Rafa just seems to struggle against Manchester United and for me shows them too much respect.
With Torres and Gerrard looking like they were going to be injured for the game i was pondering what the team would be so when i heard that our two talisman players were fit to play i instantly thought Torres upfront with Keane and i would have been tempted to play Gerrard out on the right drifting inside but when i read the team sheet i will openly admit i feared the worst.
We lacked pace throughout the team and after only 3 minuted my fears seemed justified as Man United were passing the ball around with ease and scored through Tevez and at that point it looked like a case of how many as the team in white looked like they could hold onto the ball all game without little pressure.
Something happened though around 20 minutes. I don’t know if it was at that point when there was an injury so Rafa took the opportunity to talk to Reira but we then seemed to step up a gear and pressured every single ball and Man United suddenly could not cope with the intensity of the players and we came close to scoring from Kuyt who on reflection will know he should have scored.
We didn’t need to stay disappointed for long though as Van der Sar who had dropped an early clanger went one better when he pushed the ball onto Wes Brown and the rebound went straight into the net.
As you would expect Anfield erupted and once again it was set to be another one of those special games at Anfield where the fans were on top form and the players responded to it.
When the half time whistle went with the score at 1-1 it was pretty much a reflection on the game as although Man United had dominated for 20 minutes we had clawed our way back into the game and set ourselves up for a great second half.
What Rafa said to the players at half time i do not know but it must have been something along the lines of ‘do not let them have a second on the ball’ and ‘harrass every player and he will make a mistake’.
What we witnessed in the second half was by fair Liverpools best performance of the season and we would have beaten any team such was our intensity and work rate.
Players such Keane and Kuyt would not allow any of the Man United defenders a chance to clear the ball and Mascherano and Alonso controlled the middle of the park in a way that would be a sacrilege to drop either player to accommodate Gerrard so i think the captain may have to play on the right.
Alber Reira was making his debut for us yesterday and i think he surprised many supporters who were remembering him when he played for Man City but Rafa had said that the winger had matured a lot since then and had ‘bulked up’ so therefore could handle the physical side of the Premier League and i thought he was superb yesterday.
He went down looking for a free kick too often in the first 20 minutes but i don’t think it was any coincidence that once Rafa had had a word he stayed on his feet and gave us an outlet ball down the left and also combined superbly with Aurellio to allow the full back to overlap him whilst Reira cut inside causing problems for Wes Brown.
Talking of the Man United full back he must have thought it was going to get easier for him when Reira was finally subbed only to see his replacement was Ryan Babel who has pace to burn and as we saw yesterday he also has a few tricks up his sleeve as well.
The introduction of Babel gave us that much needed pace and for me it was only a matter of time before we would score and whilst i would have loved it to have been the impressive Keane in these kind of matches you dont care and once again Babel lived up to his billing as ’super sub’.
The goal itself was testament to just how hard we had worked as a team and when Mascherano went on an attacking run he refused to allow Giggs the opportunity to let the ball run out and managed to get the ball to Kuyt who had seen the chance that the ball may run free and as soon as Dirk received the ball Babel was in acres of space and whilst he scuffed the shot it was enough to go into the back of the net and the Kop erupted.
To be honest whilst there was a nervous attack by Man United just before the final whistle i actually thought a 2-1 win to Liverpool flattered the away team as Kuyt will be upset he never scored 2 goals and at the moment Keane just can not buy goal as on another day he would have scored at least one himself.
The performance and scoreline will hopefully now breed confidence throughout the team and with Stoke up next at Anfield there is no reason why we can not cement our place at the top of the league and hopefully take it from there.