Good game and I was throwing jumping and shouting when I saw 4 minutes of added time!! A truly wtf moment then.
I was expecting Aurelio to come in for Maxi but did not expect to see Poulsen! I must admit, was concerned when I saw Poulsen getting ready to come on - but I was a foolish man to doubt the King's actions - and there was that added defensive solidity we needed for the last 10 minutes or so.
Our three centrebacks did great, and Carra (whom I confess to having slated at times here) played superbly (loved that last ditch block on Torres) and Dagger was magnificent at times (that blow to the throat alone was almost enough to get him the MOTM!). Anelka was nowhere to be seen in the first half.
Kelly was Kelly, did well again (and he really has Chelsea to thank for that big break earlier in the season) and Johnson, though a tad uncertain at times, did good.
Lucas for me was the man of the match. Sure there were a couple of misplaced passes, an almost handball incident (you make a mistake lad, don't turn and look at the ref! That's a giveaway, pretend nothing's happened and keep playing!) but he was immense. This kid left Brazil at 20, spoke little or no English, away from family, a foreign country, learning English only to find he still doesnt understand Scouse, started playing for the greatest of teams in Europe, only for fans to boo him and celebrate whenever he was subbed, yet kept his head down, didn't throw a hissy fit like almost every other prima donnas do nowadays, kept improving, and now is our midfield generalissimo! Was Lampard even playing last night? This kid is still only 24, still to learn and improve under the King's tutelage, and I sincerely hope he goes on become a legend for us over time.
Gerrard was the quintesessential captain today, quiet authority marked by some dogged determination (leading to the goal too!). Meireles - put in a good shift today, and he's got fantastic positioning and great goal! I am happy that he's playing where he should be played and doing the business for us. However, I still am hoping that he gets stuck in tackles a bit more and sometimes does seem to shirk out of the 50-50 challenges, which then puts pressures on us as we are defending. But, this is not the moment for complaints and I am not going to be an ungrateful git, and so a big thank you to Raul!
Kuyt - 'literally' three lungs as Redknapp would say, did well, confused the defenders as Gerrard's cross was coming in and allowed Raul to smash the ball in! However, he lost the ball too many times, no aerial presence and his control let him down a number of times, but he would be a perfect foil for a big old fashioned centre forward like Carroll.
Great win - still buzzing - life's beautiful!
And on a side note, I saw Ngog sitting on the bench - poor lad - the first team opportunity just seems that much further away now for him. I do feel sorry for him.
In any event, great result for us and 12 more to go, 36 points to be won, plus a Europa, and we'll be sorted!
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