Imperious Gerrard proves rumours of his footballing demise have been greatly exaggerated

Not for the first time in his Liverpool career Steven Gerrard was the premier performer with three assists and a delightful nutmeg and pass to change the direction of the attack which led to Luis Suarez first and our third goal.  Coming on the back of his lack lustre performance against Arsenal, the Liverpool captain proved the old maxim of form is temporary and class is permanent is just that.

It cannot be understated just how disappointing Fulham were, that being said Liverpool were impressive. Bouncing back from the disappointing loss, Rodgers’ side were determined from the onset based largely on a high pressing game.

Cheered on by the Anfield faithful which included actor Mike Myers of Austin Powers fame, Liverpool with the returning Daniel Agger paired together again with Martin Skrtel for first time since the victory over Man United, started brightly without threatening Maarten Stekelenburg’s goal in the first 20 minutes. 

After last week’s blind criticism it was no surprise to Steven Gerrard instigate the opening goal with his trade mark whipped in free-kick, which although glanced on by Suarez took more of a definitive deflection of Amborebieta to put us one-nil to the good.  Suarez like the goal scorer he his looked to claim the goal.

If he wasn’t disappointed with the first goal, Martin Jol would have been frustrated with the second.  Three minutes later from a corner delivered with pinpoint accuracy by the England captain, Martin Skrtel arrived unchallenged to flash home his header for his first goal since his scored against the same opponents last December.

The game was as good as killed off 10 minutes from half-time when Liverpool produced a captivating move involving 15 passes and rounded off with Gerrard’s flicked nutmeg through Berbatov, before reverse passing across to Henderson, who in turn produced a Gerrard type ball to put in Suarez to clinically shoot home.

 

Suarez does it again!

It could have been so much worse by half-time with the lively Coutinho seeing a fierce drive tipped over by Stekelenburg.

The second-half started much like the first with Liverpool completely dominant and it was only the Fulham keeper’s brilliance that kept Liverpool at bay in the opening minutes.  Fastening on to a Sturridge pass, Suarez shot was superbly blocked low down by Stekelenburg who was up smartly to save brilliantly from Sturridge close range after the England striker picked up Gerrard’s.

As the pressure mounted it was only a matter time and when the goal came it was typical in terms of the way the game had been played up until that point.  Kieran Richardson trying to work the ball out from left-back position was pressed by Henderson and then mugged by Gerrard who threaded through a pass to Suarez to unerringly drill home inside the near post, his eighth goal in 6 league games since his return from suspension.

Man of the Match:  Steven Gerrard – Proved that his reported demise was somewhat overstated.  He had a hand all 4 goals showing his superb delivery for the first two; his intricate skill and ability to change the whole direction of the attack following his pass and his perception in nipping in to deprive Kieran Richardson before delivering an inch perfect pass for Suarez to shoot home before.

Critical Eye:  Taking into account Fulham were not Arsenal and have something of a ‘soft underbelly’ away from home, we can only beat what was in front of us and was professional from first to last and it was good to see someone other than S.A.S. get on the score sheet.

The move back to four at the back, allowed Rodgers to facilitate the inclusion of Philippe Coutinho who had an excellent game following his cameo performance against Arsenal.  He brought a different dynamic and dimension to the attack with Henderson, Gerrard and Lucas working hard to allow the young Brazilian to flourish in his role in behind the front two.  His link up play with the front-two is a delight and he showed an eye for goal.  In addition, the return of Glen Johnson showed just how much Liverpool missed his runs and cover play against Arsenal.   It was also good to see late on the return of Jose Enrique who provides an added element to the attack.

Luis Suarez proved that what we all know that he is as clinical finisher as there is in the game.  But showed  just how much of a team player he is in the first half, when having lost the ball just outside the Fulham area to Scott Parker, chased back and when the Fulham midfielder’s loose pass failed to find is destination, it was Suarez who picked the ball up on the edge of his own area.

El Pistolero also showed his conviction to the cause by asking Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez to join up with the squad after the Fulham game.  Fortunately, the Uruguayan FA agreed to the request as they could have insisted he join the pre-requisite five days before under FIFA rules, particularly as they face a two-leg play-off against Jordan over the next week to qualify for the World Cup.

Given the amount of minutes Gerrard has played this season with his club as well as with England, it’s good to see that common sense prevailed, in Rodgers not just giving his captain a rest, but giving Joe Allen a decent run out.

This is a season when the predicted big three of the Manchester clubs and Chelsea are not light years ahead as in bygone seasons and Liverpool must capitalise and look to get themselves in a position to strengthen in January by making ourselves a viable option for any player of quality who becomes available during the window.

Team:  22 Mignolet, 2 Johnson, Cissokho (Jose Enrique – 61 mins), 8 Gerrard (Allen – 67 mins), 37 Skrtel, 5 Agger, 14 Henderson, 21 Lucas, 7 Suarez, 15 Sturridge (Moses – 76 mins), 10 Coutinho

Substitutes: 1, Jones, 3 Jose Enrique, 5 Luis Alberto, 12 Moses, 17 Sakho, 24 Allen, 31 Sterling

Referee: Michael Jones

Attendance: 44,768