The 203rd Merseyside Derby

rondeco

county wrote:

lot of money but it was probably worth it in the end?

SO worth it!

redspider

This game was, like many of the merseyside derby's, a stop start game with less time for football and a host of fouls, some 40 in total in the game, 28 from Everton and 12 from Liverpool. I thought the ref was a bit petulent. Instead of blowing up and warning players and trying to encourage the game to be played, he was picking up on everything. Gerrard got a yellow very easily for kickin the ball away when a "telling off" would have sufficed. He went overboard for the tackel against Kilbane, definitely deserving of a yellow but between the two incidents a sending off was very harsh.

Liverpool played in their more effective 4-4-2 (with Garcia off Crouch) and they controlled the game. Even with a man down they were making most of the chances. The goal came from fortune though with Neville's og. Garcia deserves praise for his approach during the game and for his goal. It was very well finished.

Everton did come back into the game, using their 1 man advantage well and got a goal. But when van der Meyde was sent off, the game looked more and more like heading Liverpool's way. Kewell's strike was a sweet one and finished the points decision on 84 mins. Van der Meyde definitely deserved a yellow, and given the Ref's performance in this match, a red was not far away. I dont subscribe to the theory that because he wasnt looking at Alonso that the foul was not intended. There is such a thing as peripheral vision, and vd Meyde could sense the other player was there and lashed out to protect himself, but over-zealously. On another day, he wouldnt have got sent off, and a yellow would have been fair.

Kewell is doing better, but there is still room for improvement. His defensive play is weak and at times he stays out too far wide whilst getting no posession and not making himself available enough. He has improved though and he has scored a few goals, and since we have few options, he is good enough for a left wing place. Have we not tried Gerrard on the left recently? I would likle to see him linking up with Riise on that side.

Pigman II wrote:

Just saw a snippet of the game. Why did Gerrard have "08" on his shirt instead of just "8"?

Yeah, I spotted that too but dont know why. Does anyone have any idea?

A nice 3 pts, and another bit of progress on the march to guaranteeing a top 4 place.

redspider

zAbbo

It was mentioned earlier, the specially commission '08' jerseys were promoting the European City of Culture 2008, and there were to be auctioned off for Charity after the game. You'd get a good deal on Gerrards, it was barely used

Vokes

Liverpool is the European Capital of Culture for 2008.

redspider wrote:

Have we not tried Gerrard on the left recently? I would likle to see him linking up with Riise on that side.

Can't say i agree with that, playing our best player out on the wrong side of the pitch. Kewell is doing fine there, all he needs to do is, like you say, come centre more and add a lot more goals to his game (he only has 3/4, i think)

redspider

zabbo wrote:

the specially commission '08' jerseys were promoting the European City of Culture 2008

Thanks for the 08 info. Lets hope we can increase the culture on the football field as well over the next couple of years.

SofaKing wrote:

Liverpool is the European Capital of Culture for 2008.
Can't say i agree with that, playing our best player out on the wrong side of the pitch. Kewell is doing fine there, all he needs to do is, like you say, come centre more and add a lot more goals to his game (he only has 3/4, i think)

I guess I should have added the words "as an experiement" after. Currently Gerrard is playing out right more often than not, Everton being an example. He has a stronger right foot compared with his left, true, its not his ideal position, but his pace along with Riise would be good to see together or at least try, with Gerrard cutting inside at times and Riise staying out left.

Kewell is doing better, I think we can all recognise that, but we also can all recognise that he is not yet at the level that we aspire to. He's been given a good chance by Rafa and he has partially delivered. Lets hope he continues to improve. He is making small steps in improvement so everything is going te right way.

redspider

Dr Galen

Kewell is doing better, I think we can all recognise that, but we also can all recognise that he is not yet at the level that we aspire to. He's been given a good chance by Rafa and he has partially delivered. Lets hope he continues to improve. He is making small steps in improvement so everything is going te right way.

would you keep him for next season?

personally i would, give him a shot to improve. might be a risk though, as we'd get more cash for him this season than we would if he has a horror season next year? anyone know what his wages are like?

~Rebel~

With the way he's playing at the moment, def keep him on. Even if Gonzalez does take his place, it defniately helps to have competition to keep him on his toes. Kewell also provides good cover for whoever we get on the right as well.

Anybody else think maybe we should just play Luis garcia as an out and out striker with Crouch? Cause he always looks the most likely to score of our strikers (along with robbie) and it also means it doesnt matter when he does his stupid stuff on the ball, not like when important not to lose posession on the wing. Sur how many other strikers contribute little to overall play but are still valued as they pop up with the goals.

redspider

nurse_baz wrote:

would you keep him (Kewell) for next season? personally i would, give him a shot to improve. might be a risk though, as we'd get more cash for him this season than we would if he has a horror season next year? anyone know what his wages are like?

I dont know his wages, no doubt some of the tabloids have made a guess at it. Last season and early this I would have been in the camp "lets get rid of Kewell". However, at the moment from his recent displays he deserves to be kept on, and I think Benitez will do that. I dont think anyone would buy him for a lot of money. I hope he doesnt have a horror season next though or our "benefit of the doubt" stance will come back to haunt us all!

~Rebel~ wrote:

Anybody else think maybe we should just play Luis garcia as an out and out striker with Crouch? Cause he always looks the most likely to score of our strikers (along with robbie) and it also means it doesnt matter when he does his stupid stuff on the ball, not like when important not to lose posession on the wing. Sur how many other strikers contribute little to overall play but are still valued as they pop up with the goals.

Yes, there is a valid case for it. He is still lightweight at times and he is a strange type of player. He sort of moves around in the box with pace and feeds off half chances. I think he benefits strongly from having a Gerrard in an advanced role though. But your point is very valid, his weakness of giving the ball away cheaply is not so dangerous when up front than if he is wide right or when on the half-way line.

He is an unusual type of player, but given our lack of firepower up front at the moment, playing him as the 2nd striker off Crouch is a good choice. I think we should also give Robbie playing time to come on for him in that position, 20-30 mins per match.

redspider