After twenty minutes it went through my mind and I'm sure all of you, that after yet another great start and a glut of missed chances, the possibility of throwing a way another winning opportunity was more than a possibility. Missed chances from our twin striking combo caused consternation as we all knew that Stoke would come back at some stage.
Coates made the mistake which led to the Stoke goal, but we saw enough of his ability on the ball to know that we may just have a rough diamond in our midst. We rode our luck with Stoke's disallowed goal and Pepe having a severe off night, but what was obvious from the moment Suarez pulled on the red number seven shirt for the first time, coincidentally against Stoke scoring on his debut in a 2-0 win, Liverpool possess a force of nature capable of deciding matches of his volition.
Stoke's luck may just have run out from our first meeting this season when a rear-guard action was just about all they had. We showed character and strength to come back from 1-0 against a team who are among the most difficult to beat at home despite Dalglish making eight changes from the team he fielded against Norwich.
Suarez equalizer was pure and simple world class. He turned on a six pence, nut-megged Shotton and curled the ball inside the far post. The great thing about Suarez is his ability to not become inhibited by missed chances. He still offers himself and is becoming a go to man in the Gerrard vain. Apart from his all-round football ability, he also scores great goals and scruffy goals which is a talent in itself.
Carroll's showed signs of picking up the pace, but with service lacking from both sides of the pitch with Henderson and Maxi starting wide and the lack of creativity in the middle with Lucas and Spearing, he faded somewhat in the second-half as Stoke dominated for long periods. It wasn't until Dalglish brought on Bellamy that Liverpool upped their threat levels with Bellamy hitting the post with a drive just outside the box after an interchange with Carroll.
The decisive moment came when Henderson delivered sumptuous volleyed cross from a defensive header to leave the unmarked Suarez to plant a header into the back of the net.
Kop Post Man of the Match: Luis Suarez. A simply stunning performance and the level of his performances this season have to place him alongside David Silva as the early front runners for Player of the Season.
Great win tonight, brilliant to come back from a losing position as we haven't done that for a while. Some real positives to take from it as well
ReplyDelete- thought carroll looked as sharp as he has aside from the city game and really hopeful that he'll get a start on saturday and the chance to build on it
- Another phenomenal performance from suarez and this time with the goals
- great performance from agger and hopefully he'll get back in for the WBA game
- despite shocker for the goal thought coates showed potential
really is difficult to pick our best 11 for each game these days but think i'd be tempted to go for the below
pepe
carra agger
kelly jose
lucas adam
stevie downing/bellamy
Luis
Carroll
Luke
Played a new look team last night and it worked, thanks to the Genius Luis Suarez. Much better Liverpool took another step on the road to Wembley.
ReplyDeleteComing back from a goal down against Stoke was not going to be easy but this time we played well to take our chances.
I spouse for our last few games this result has given us confidence to fans and the players indication we are heading in the right direction.
As the blog said, Bellamy upped the game when he came on and his great player when you want new fresh legs to come in and make an impact on the pitch, lets play him more.
I hope that from here we now continue consistency into our play, with a driven and ruthless streak to finish off games.
Hi Luke,
ReplyDeleteAs I said in the blog, Suarez was on a totally different plain. When we have been on top in the last three games some of the play has been on a par with anything in the Premiership and yesterday what was really gratifying was that we came back from 1-0 down to a team who are capable of beating any team at home even when they don't play well and done while making eight changes.
The downer is the over reliance on Suarez and I have banged on for weeks that I think Bellamy should start in most games because he is a quality footballer which we saw when he came on. He added a thrust that was lacking from the wider positions. As I said to you after the United game, a finisher in the squad wouldn't go amidst to add something different. No team can go around missing a legion of chances without paying the consequences, which have in our previous two games and almost did yesterday. Thought Agger had good game even if it was at left back and so did Kelly who is becoming the consummate professional at right-back. Does the simple thinks without fuss and adds an extra dimension going forward. Jay Spearing for me was the standout midfield player and it must be difficult for him as he appearances have been rather staccato with the lack games due to our lack of appearance in Europe which is another reason why it is important to go as far as possible in the Carling and FA Cups which King Kenny obviously appreciates.
Pepe performance was a tad worrying because he had been at his best so far this season and he was back to flapping at crosses yesterday and a tad fortunate with the goal.
Still think we are probably three top-class players short from challenging at the top end and the WBA takes on added significance because we are coming of the back of two draws in the league and with Spurs, Newcastle and Arsenal in good form.
Agree with nearly all of that, don't think I'd swap suarez for anyone in the league beacuse aside from what he does on his own he creates so much space for others as defences are absolutely run ragged and at the point of distraction. Hopefully carroll can become a finisher for us, I was pretty encourage by how much sharper he looked last night and think when him gerrard get on the same wave lenght we could have quite a partnership with him and suarez...
ReplyDeleteAgree on spearing too, thought he had a great game and is worthy of a start more often as he never really lets us down....
On bellamy, I have been massively impressed with him and think he deserves more starting chances as he hasn't really put a foot wrong and his directness really causes team problems. Think he may be suffering a bit from the fact that more than any other player in our squad (aside from if we left suarez on the bench) he can provide a real impetus coming off the bench if we need an extra boost in the last half an hour of a game....
Yeah a win is vital on saturday especially with chelsea away and city on the horizon. I'm fairly confident newcastle will fall away but agree spurs are grinding out results and have quite a lot of match winners so are definitely formidable challengers and also agree that arsenal are slowly regrouping although trip to the bridge at the weekend will tell a lot about whether they've turned the corner or not....
Luke