Finally just got a chance to watch the match, listened to it at school and had it recording at home.
Lovely stuff most of the time, thoroughly good performance. We were tight at the back, hardly allowing a chance. When a teams best chance comes after you are 2-0 up, i feel thats a good day out. Besides that, only Carew's strike from a decent angle was anything to write home about for Stoke. Completely shut down as an attacking force by the defense just constantly on top of them. Helps Pennant is F***ing sh*t as well
Love how our team has just completely reformed under Kenny. Pass and move, pass and move - it's F***ing brilliant! Just watching our players ping passes between each other and then move into space to try and split the defense just makes me as happy as a pig in sh*t to watch. It's been a long time since i watched Liverpool with a big smile on my face as i had in the past, but Kenny and this teams play under him have done just that. Rather than sit there bored as F**k while shitty teams make our world class players look like championship opposition (at best) as was the case under Hodgy McDodgy, our players are rediscovering the Liverpool way of taking the game like any top team should. Yes, there is still work to do - but considering our team just lost one of the greatest strikers to grace the Anfield pitch (great purely by skill, not by personality) we played a better game than we did in many with Torres in the team in the last year or so. The lads looked hungry, they looked like their confidence was growing, and they really are starting to look like a team who wants great things rather than to scrape into the top half of the table. There were some quality individual performances as well.
Kuyt - the lad is much maligned of the last 12-18 months, and justly so (I'm a big fan regardless, but i acknowledge as much as any how crap he has been a lot) but he did a great job today. You sometimes forget he was first and foremost a striker with his usual position these days, but today he led the line quite brilliantly. He was eager, always moving, and always looking for space in the back line. unlike our selfish he-who-shall-not-be-named former number 9, Kuyt was constantly looking to either set himself up for a chance or play a teammate in, and he created quite a hassle for the Stoke defensive line. Could have had a couple goals had a couple chances broken better, but thats football. One of his best games in a long time, probably the best since he last led the line last season!
Johnson and Kelly were great again today, and i really think kenny has played a masterstroke in rejigging their positions. Johnson seems more and more confident on the left, and i feel a lot more confident in the defense than i have in a while. Agger was great again, and just put another exclamation mark on how sh*t Hodgson was as manager with his performance. When you can't utilize a talent like Agger in your side (not to mention others) then that highlights how inept your skills as manager are. The way he brought the ball forward, as well as his defensive work, was great to watch. Glad he is still a red after all this, and hope he stays a while yet. Sotis as well was solid, and is proving always to be a great solid backup, masterstroke of a signing.
And of course, Suarez - grew into the game really quickly, and showed a few brilliant pieces of skill before that great run in which he capped it off with a goal. Not the purest of strikes, but it went in and thats all that matters. I said before the game that it would be great just to see him score no matter how scrappy it was, just so he had that feeling of scoring in a red shirt in his mind, and he did just that. Not scrappy by any means either - may have been as it went over the line, but the lead up was pure class in his run and rounding of the keeper, and showed exactly why we wanted him. Heard a lot about his lack of pace from some, and he may not be the fastest out there but he certianly aint no chump either. Will be great for us i think!
Oh, and i almost forgot in all this - Meireles! What a goal again, powered that thing in! Sotis did well to leave that for him, and Raul did the rest. Three goals for Kenny already - again, another sign we really were not using our players well under Hodgy. Loved it.
Only gripe about the game? Stupid commentator with his 'You have to feel sorry for Hodgson..' - seriously, go F**k yourself you dumb tw*t.
The Kennylution continues! YNWA.