Everton vs Liverpool

Result : 0 – 2
Scorer : Torres (2)
Red card : Tim Cahil
Man of the match : Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is a Superman. He is the only player in the world who can be the hard man, as well as the heart of the team. No one works harder than him and at the same time supply the creative spark. He is good with the ball at his feet, pass really well, good dribbler, the best tackler around, got brilliant football brain, explosive shot, very good header, has perfect technique, good pace, amazing energy and stamina, good strength, moves well off the ball; HE CAN DO ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!

Why oh why am I drooling over Gerrard tonight? He played better at Marsille and I didn’t even pick him as the man of the match for that game! Well tonight he gave the perfect captain performance. It was a derby game and for a local lad like him it was very easy to lose his head but he didn’t. If anyone remembered last season in this fixture he was subbed off by Rafa because according to Rafa, he played too much with his heart. That didn’t happen tonight. It was more amazing when you consider that he was looking for his 100th goal for Liverpool. To reach that landmark in the most famous of derby would be one great story to tell his grandchildren, but he didn’t go for that glory. Instead he absolutely played for the team and gave a real captain performance. Well done Stevie!

Obviously I picked Gerrard as the man of the match. He was just superb. One particular incident in the game that explains why I liken him to Superman was when he ran forward with the ball skipping past a few players. He was then tripped and lost his balance but seeing he wasn’t getting the foul, as he was falling over he tried to thread the ball to Torres I think it was. But the pass got cut off and Everton broke forward quickly with their danger man Cahil on the ball. This was where Gerrard showed his Superman effort. Most players would have had their hands in the air, staying on the ground complaining to the referee about not getting the foul. Not him. He got up from just a few yards away from Everton’s penalty box, out-ran everyone to get to a few yards away from Liverpool’s penalty box, got the tackle in on Cahil, won the ball and ultimately stopped a very promising break for Everton. Amazing!

Ok enough about him, I’m not gay enough to dedicate the whole match report to him.

I’m not sure in what formation we played in. Was it 4-2-3-1? What made me confused was the absence of The Chief. Playing that formation without him, and then pairing Gerrard and Alonso in the middle was very unlike Rafa. I didn’t watch the pre-show so I’m not sure what happened. Was he injured? Or did Rafa really choose not to play him? Kuyt and Riera played way too forward for the formation to be a flat 4-4-2. If it was indeed a 4-2-3-1, Rafa deserved a big pat on his back because it was a very big and brave decision and he got it spot on. We controlled the match form the word go.

Though we had all the possession in the first half, the game remained scoreless at halftime. I was worried because noticeably there was a shade of the Stoke game in the first half; lion share of possession with no real meaningful chance created.

But it all changed soon enough in the second half and the man responsible for it was no other than Torres. He is back. It hasn’t been the best of times for Liverpool’s strikers, Torres included. We wasted a lot of chances this season and the strikers were to blame. But he scored, finishing off a great move with a well-taken volley. The relief on his face was clear for everyone to see, big pressure of his shoulder, and from that moment on, the old Torres was back. Suddenly he looked comfortable on the ball, running at defenders, with good close control. Confidence is key to every player in particular young player like him and that goal gave him his confidence back. Sure enough few minutes after scoring the first, he scored another one. Then he scored his third only for the goal to be disallowed by the referee for a non-existing foul. It was a bad call and Torres was denied a hattrick by that bad call. But the important thing is he got his confidence back and we will see the best of him from now on, I’m sure of it.

Another important thing to note is how good our central defense is this season. Carra and Skrtle hardly put a foot wrong since the start of the season. One look at the bench and we can see the imperious Hyypia and the excellent Agger just waiting to be given the chance to play. Carra, Skrtle, Hyypia and Agger; how many teams can boast talents like that in their squad?

We have been picking up points without the strikers playing well, but now with Torres and Keane look to have developed better understanding, exciting times are just around the corner. It is a good season so far, and we have a really good squad right now. I don’t think we are good enough to win the league yet but we should certainly put up a better challenge for the league with the players that we have.

I think the next league game is Chelsea and we will see just how good the team actually is in that game.