Liverpool Lose At Emotion Filled Anfield

At an emotionally filled Anfield, the families of the ‘96 looked on.  The atmosphere heightened since The  Hillsborough Independent Panel’s published report dispelled the accusations hanging over the heads of the reputations of the 96, their families and the city of Liverpool.

One after another touching mosaic’s were held up.  One which had the names of all the 96 printed on it said 96 Brothers and Sisters, Never Forgotten.  RIP.  Another followed the same theme, ‘96 Candles Burn Bright’.  The Kop help up cards spelling the word The Truth and the Centenary stand’s showing Justice.

The great Sir Bobby Charlton came and was given a resounding reception before presenting Ian Rush, Liverpool’s Ambassador red roses.  Steven Gerrard and Ryan Giggs, United captain for the day, released 96 balloons, which was followed by a resounding rendition of YNWA, which both sets of fans gave the ultimate respect too by singing together.
 
Liverpool fans shouted long and hard during the first minute of the game ‘Justice For The 96’.  If anyone was in any doubt, the 96 will never be forgotten whether in the Red or Blue half of the city as Everton continue to show that ‘Unity Is Strength’.  Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra shook hands for the greater good.

Liverpool’s started the game as they finished against Sunderland, dominating possession and cuttng swaves through the opposition midfield with Gerrard at the fore prompting and creating.  In only the 6th minute Sterling put Suarez through and his low cross, which was palmed out by Lindegaard, almost fell into the path of the on rushing Gerrard.

Within a minute Liverpool were close to taking the lead when from a brilliantly worked Shelvey short corner , Gerrard shot low just on the worng side of the near post.  The achilles heel that is the lack of a striker is beginning to bite.  Suarez slide-rule pass through to Borini, who sprung the off-side trap, put the young striker through, but with his heavy touch the chance for a shot on goal was lost.

With Dalglish and Rush looking on what would we give for striker with half their goal instincts.  At the time of Shelvey’s sending off, which he can count himself very unlucky, Liverpool had over 60 per cent possession, but not for the first time the lack of a goalscorer came back to haunt us. Instead of being in a position of control, we went in at half-time 0-0 with ten men.

Suso coming on for the ineffectual Borini at half-time, was involved in the move which led to Liverpool taking the lead, dancing past Rafael and crossing.  The ball broke to Gerrard from a Johnson challenge which as he had so often in the past expertly took down on his chest and expertly volleyed home left-footed. The ground errupted and Gerrard motored to the corner looking skyward probably to his young cousin Jon Paul Gilhooley one of the 96.

United were level within minutes when Rafael coming in from left curled a superb shot past the despairing reach of Reina.  With Scholes on to give United some control, Liverpool were still on the front foot.  Twice within a few minutes, Lindegaard saved drives from Suarez and the elusive Suso. 
Suso’s.then played a cross field pass which fell between Agger and Johnson.  Valencia nipped and accelerated in to the area, before being brought down by Johnson’s desperate lunge.  The resultant penalty was held up by an injury to Agger.  Reina may feel he should’ve done better having got both hands to Van Persie’s penalty.  To rub salt into the wounds, Kelly who had erstwhile had a strong game was injured leaving Liverpool to finish with 9 men.

Man of The Match:  Steven Gerrard – Head and shoulders above any player on the pitch.  Tracked back and covered Man United breaks and was the chief creator going forward.  His delivery was excellent and passing incisive with his goal from the Gerrard book of great goals.

Point of Interest: Liverpool desperately need a striker and one wonders why Adam Morgan and Danny Pacheco are at least not fixtures on the Liverpool bench. There must be an experience striker out there whose contract has run down? One can only see Liverpool scoring from dead ball situations or a sublime piece of ingenuity.  With a striker in toe the game could and should have been put to bed by half time, but unless something is not down to remedy the situation of no end product on the end of excellent build-up play, we may find ourselves languishing in the never regions of the Premiership by the opening of the next transfer window.

Comment: While it is good to see the undeniable talents of Sterling and Suso come through the ranks, for a club like ours to have to rely on youngsters shows the lack of depth at the club.  It’s to easy to blame the manager when he has very little leeway in terms of the flexibility in his squad.
Jose Mourinho in an interview to Sky Sports, "I think Brendan, he can't be champion with that team." .

"He can't make miracles with that team. It's not an easy job. Liverpool expectations are very high. "The reality is that Liverpool, at this moment, they're not the best team in the Premiership. Not even close. The squad is not at that point." He added: "Other squads are investing much more than Liverpool are doing. "So I hope [Rodgers] has time to build because if you don't have the top players in your hands, it takes more time to build. I think he deserves that and I think, with time, he can do the job for them." Bugbear: Referee Mark Halsey was poor in the extreme.  His was in the perfect position to give Suarez penalty claim after Evans’ mistimed tackle and Evans could have just easily seen red with Shelvey.