Marseille vs Liverpool

Final Score : 1-2
Scorer : That guy whatever his name was (Mar), Gerrard x2 (Liv)
Man of the Match : Pepe Reina

Liverpool opened their Champions League campaign with a trip to Marseille and the match turned out to be a very pleasing one to me. It was pleasing but still had a few scary moments, especially in the second half and in the end we were lucky to get all the 3 points.

Gerrard and Torres were back to the starting line-up and while Torres was poor and showed signs of ‘rustiness’, Gerrard was immense and the decision to have that groin surgery really is paying off. Gerrard was by far the best player on the pitch in the first half. A fit Gerrard is vital for the team.

We played with the 4-2-3-1 formation which has served us well towards the end of last season, Gerrard played just behind Torres, with Keane on the bench. The formation worked for us in this match as we looked dangerous every time we went forward. Not good for Keane I reckon, unless Rafa revert to a flat 4-4-2 for the next game there won’t be a place for Keane in this team.

Again we won after going behind, and again we didn’t hide, sulk or panic after we conceded, instead we kept on playing to the plan. We should really have scored a lot more than just two goals, we missed amazing chances with Babel was guilty of wasting 3-4 of them. However, watching him and Kuyt supporting Torres upfront was great, the way they rotated their positions were superb. Kuyt was in particular played well and I think we should always play with the 4-3-2-1 formation as it brings the best out of the squad.

The most pleasing aspect of the game was how we played with confidence. The passing was good and the movements were swift. I hope we will continue to play with this newly found confidence because I truly believe that was the only thing that is missing from the squad, for both the players and the manager. We certainly have the ability in the squad and the know how in Rafa.

Man of the match went to Pepe Reina as he was the reason we got all the three points. During the first half I thought I was going to give it to Gerrard because like I said he was simply superb then, but as the game went on the players got tired, Gerrard was taken off and Marseille was really threatening and it was only Pepe who got in their way and amazingly managed to preserve our lead.

All in all a very entertaining match and I hope our good form will last a long time. Chelsea will play Man Utd on the weekend so this is a great chance for us to built a lead at the top.

Bring on Stoke!