Bellamy Leads Liverpool Through To Carling Semi-Final

Andres Villas-Boas post-match comments said it all, "I thought Liverpool were superior all the way through. They had a strong desire to kill the game off and we couldn't match it." The gloss was taken of the victory with sight of Lucas having to be stretchered off with a knee injury.

Craig Bellamy's quality shone through like a beacon in the night sky on both goals. He held his run to stay on side and presented Henderson with the angle to gloriously pass inside the full-back to which Bellamy sped forward providing a deliciously inviting cross for the stealth bomber Maxi to guide home. For the second goal, from the free kick which came from his own work on the left, he sent over a whipped cross with pace which Kelly nodded home. Bellamy has game intelligence in abundance in addition to the cut and thrust he provides which is why he is such an enabler, able to bring others in the game and sense when to deliver the killer pass/cross.

As Kop-Post blogger Livi so rightly says, Dalglish needs to take some of the plaudits for this run and the way he has set up the team. For Liverpool to go to Chelsea and beat them for the second time in nine days deservedly and up against a team containing a plethora of internationals was top class, especially starting without Suarez, Adam, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson and Downing. They managed not to miss a beat which says a lot in terms of the confidence throughout the squad and the belief Dalglish has instilled.

Hopefully, Lucas's injury is not as bad as first feared as he was playing at the peak of his powers especially within this formation. At the moment, he is the top Liverpool player in terms of pass completions and allied to his tackling and covering his importance to the team is inestimable. For a player who runs and covers as much as he, to play two games back to back says a lot about his character and appetite for the game.

If it is to be a long layoff, then Jordan Henderson and especially Jay Spearing may just see it as their time in the sun.

Kop-Post Man of the Match: Craig Bellamy, pure quality.

Liverpool Miss Bellamy’s Class As Old Problems Persist

By Kop-Post blogger dedlfc


We went into this game looking to continue our recent impressive form versus the top teams. Our preparation for the game at 4pm was marred by the tragic news of the death of the Wales manager Gary Speed early this morning. This sad news particularly affected our pacey striker Craig Bellamy who saw Speed as a mentor to his career, in addition to being a close friend - the decision whether to play or not was therefore taken out of his hands by our manager.

With Bellamy out we matched up City's five man midfield by including Henderson and Downing on the left with Kuyt dropping back when required and Adam and Lucas playing in the centre with Suarez working alone tirelessly up front.

With City coming off a demoralising Champions League defeat to Napoli in midweek this was seen as the perfect time to play them but for the first 25 mins they controlled the game by out-numbering us in midfield with only Suarez giving Fortune headaches to encourage us.

 The first goal of the game after 31 mins unfortunately went to City from a corner which was caused by Kuyt losing the player he was supposed to be marking Kompany who flicked the ball with his shoulder into the roof of our net. Going a goal down was a major test of character which our team passed with flying colours two minutes later due to a stroke of luck with Kuyt laying the ball on the edge of the City box back to Charlie Adam who drove the ball towards goal this inadvertently hit Lescott and beat a stranded Hart. 
The impetus now with us we pushed forward for a second and the excellent Adam nearly placed a fantastic shot which City keeper Hart diverted wide with his feet. Halftime came with us in the ascendancy but still level it was hoped the team talk would inspire the team onto a vital win.

In the second half with us having the majority of the possession and play in midfield due to the tenacity of Lucas- City decided to bring on loose cannon Ballotelli with his new blonde hairstyle he immediately set his stall out by pulling at Glen Johnson's shirt then 10 mins later was sent off for fouling Skrtel- with City down to 10 men with 7 mins left we brought on last season's hero 35m Andy Carroll who nearly won the game late on with a fantastic header which Hart tipped away acrobatically then quickly stood up to push away Suarez's rebound shot- Hart had a couple of minutes earlier pushed away another Suarez shot!

With us not getting the rub of the green again with chances being missed we had to settle for another home draw and see it as another opportunity to make a massive statement lost. On such a sad and sombre day we can again feel hard done by but also be proud of the performance against such a strong side.

KOP Post Man of the Match: Lucas – provided the defensive backbone to the midfield which enabled Charlie Adam to drive the team forward with vigour. The most improved player in the squad is now highly appreciated by the fans and is now one of the first names on the team sheet – Fantastic performance by our Brazilian dynamo.

Dalglish Giving Liverpool A Blueprint For The Future

The absence of Craig Bellamy was reminder us all that although football is a part of life, it not as important as life in the grand scheme of things. The sudden and untimely passing of Gary Speed was a shock to all football fans as he not just an excellent footballer, he was a great ambassador for the game, but more importantly as many have testified he was a good man who was well respected throughout the game and beyond. He will be sadly missed which could be gauged by the heart felt minutes silence for both he and Brad Jones's son Luca.

The quality of Manchester City was apparent from the kick-off controlling possession with the power and pace they exuded from front to back. But it was Liverpool that could have gone in at half-time 2-1 up having shown character to come back from a goal down. The hard work of the magnificent Lucas able assisted by Kuyt, Downing and Henderson allowed Adam once again to probe and control the tempo of the game in the second-half. Midfield maestro David Silva struggled to stamp his usual authority on the game with the increasing authority of the Liverpool midfield.

The back four are looking assured and unless injury intervenes Skrtel and the Rolls Royce like Agger may keep out the likes of Carragher and Coates for a while yet.

The second-half showed a level of increasing maturity by a Liverpool team who dominated a Manchester City side, by far and away the best we have played this season, with confidence and by the end a brand of the famous pass and move. But, the same old failings let us down at home once again, even if we take into account the brilliant performance of Joe Hart¸ chance upon chance went a begging and right now instead of being sixth and three points outside the top four, we could and should be comfortably sitting among the top four, but unlike Spurs and Man City the Liverpool goals are not shared around prolifically and it is that which is hindering our home form.

Henderson helped stem the flow to the creative elements of the Man City midfield, but in attack he was woeful and one wonders why Maxi who was dropped. After a promising start, Downing's confidence seems to have whittled way and the creative aspect of his game has fallen by the wayside. Dirk Kuyt has missed a few glorious chances in the last three games and is another who seems short on confidence in the final third, thus yesterday although we controlled and dominated the last third of the game Suarez seemed the only player capable of unlocking the door, until Carroll belatedly entered the fray.

We have to become more clinical in front of goal as games are being squandered. No coincidence that Bellamy and Maxi are already off the mark with very little playing time in comparison to many of their colleagues. That said if points were given for moral victories we would be among the leaders, but its real points we are aiming for.

Kop-Post Man of the Match: Luis Enrique managed the potent threats Milner and Richards which assuredness and as the game went on became an attacking threat often picking up the ball in his own half driving forward and committing defenders with superb close control. Could easily have been Lucas, Agger or Luis Suarez who was all excellent.

R.I.P. Gary Speed

Glen Johnson Rides The Magical Mystery Tour

In the week preceding the game Dalglish commented on that fact that Suarez needed support in the goal scoring department, namely from midfield colleagues. With Maxi, Kuyt, Bellamy recalled to the started line-up in place of Henderson, Downing and Carroll Liverpool's attacking potential was instantaneously bolstered, especially with Suarez coming off the back of a spectacular four goal performance against Chile in Uruguay's most recent World Cup qualifier. Intriguingly, Dalglish also refrained from recalling a fit again Carragher to combat the physical threat of Drogba with the Agger and Skretel combination again to the fore.

Steve Clarke's coaching presence may have instigated Liverpool's high-typo pressing game. From front to back Liverpool pressed and squeezed Chelsea not allowing the pivotal player Obi Mikel any chance at the bottom of the midfield to control the tempo of their play. The threat going forward didn't just come from Suarez, but from the ultra-composed Bellamy and Glen Johnson's incisive running given Ashley Cole a torrid time down the Liverpool right. The compact Liverpool midfield allowed more freedom for Adam to pick the ball up on occasions drive through the heart of the Chelsea midfield.

A part from a Drogba free-kick and a Mata shot Chelsea didn't really threaten in the first-half. It was no surprise when Liverpool went ahead after Adam exerted pressure on Mikel allowing the triumphant of Bellamy, Suarez and Maxi to link up superbly for the last named to coolly slot home. Time and time again in the final games of last season Maxi, one of the most understated squad members, showed his value to the team, by doing what good attacking midfielders are adept at doing, supporting the attacks with timely runs by stealth. In the Swansea game support from the midfield was not existent, but with the movement provided by Bellamy and Suarez, Kuyt and Maxi found it easier to provide and offer support given Terry and Luiz a torrid afternoon.

That Chelsea came back into the game was obvious, that they scored was disappointing as up to that point their attack hadn't looked even remotely threatening with Lampard a peripheral figure throughout As Bellamy left the game, I cursed. Not because of the substitution because we had to stop Mata, but Maxi seemed to be a better candidate as he seemed to be running on fumes, but credit where credit is due the substitution allowed Liverpool to regain possession and lead to the devastating goal by Johnson from the glorious cross-field ball by Adam.

Glenn Johnson, if ever a game showed the contrast in his play it was this one. He was beaten outside or in the wrong place defensively time and again. But, when he comes forward and he is in this form, he is as good as any wide man in the country and it is one of the reasons why many believe this to be his best position with Kelly in behind.

Maybe, just maybe we ought to just take Glenn Johnson as he is and ride the magical mystery tour he presents us with.

Kop Post Man Of Match: Glen Johnson. Quite simply a stunning goal from time the ball left the boot of Adam arching its way to Johnson and he was composure personified in front of goal almost reminding one of Torres… in his Liverpool days…

Quite Simply Second Best And Second Class

 

It would be easy to come on here and say we lost because of missed chances. Yes Carroll missed a glorious chance in the opening few minutes which could have put us on our way and the fact we cannot score goals especially when we are top to close out games shows the deficiencies in our squad which we may come to rue at the end of the season. Three consecutive home draws has placed on the back foot and again as in his previous seasons we have failed to capitalise when teams around us have floundered and we already paying the price and with Chelsea and Man City on the horizon the season could unravel before the end of the year and Tottenham and Newcastle showing ominous form.

Liverpool as has become our signature, starting brightly and could have had the game wrapped up in the first twenty minutes, but failure after failure in front of goal only lead to increased confidence levels from Swansea.

While chances were missed, in great parts of the game we were handed a football lesson by Swansea in terms of ball retention and what was worse that both on the field and off we had nothing to remedy the situation. The central duo of Adam and Lucas could not compete with the swift interplay and pace of Swansea which left the defence under constant threat from Routledge and Dyer. In fact Enrique had his most difficult game of the season faced with pacey and tricky Dyer.

Adam plays the diagonal long ball as well as anybody in the country, but what he doesn't possess is the thrust from midfield or the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck and set the tempo. Alongside Lucas, who breaks up play, but tends to play the ball sideways Swansea dominated all, but the final ten or so minutes of the second half. After his miss Carroll knock down ball after ball, but with no onrushing midfielder the second phase ball fell to the defenders.The decision to select Henderson on the right side is beginning to look very negative and stubborn. He got in to some excellent positions but failed to supply one decent cross through his tenure on the pitch.

The bad decisions didn't end there. Having failed to create anything on the right Henderson was switched to the left where he offered next to nothing which was no surprise. The impotency on the field was matched by the decisions taken by Dalglish. The opportunity was there to either move Henderson or Spearing in to central midfield to bolster the yawning gap and competitive edge, or bring on the potency of Bellamy. Of the players left on the bench Maxi has a goal scoring record and yet wasn't used.

 If Liverpool qualify for the Champions League there will be many highlighting the fact that not being in the Europa League allowed Kenny Dalglish to concentrate on all the home competitions by fielding his strongest team. While that might be true, an equally strong argument can be made that young squad members have missed out on access to top class football because of our non-qualification to the much maligned European tournament. Thus to augment the current squad, players like Adam Morgan and even young Raheem Stirling may have gained crucial minutes with the first team. Funnily enough, a right winger and poacher are the type of players we don't have in the squad. In a perfect world it be great to bring a Hernadez or Wellbeck of the bench…

Without Suarez Liverpool appeared one-dimensional team and in a sign of things to come the lack of leadership without Gerrard and Carragher was there for all to see.
Man of the Match: Suarez, quite simply head and shoulders above and on this day the only Liverpool player with Enrique good enough to get into a joint team.