EPL Week 5: Liverpool Stall Against Stoke City (0-0)
September 22nd 2008 15:11
After the Reds' historic victory against Manchester United last week, you could hear people whispering that this might be Rafa Benitez's year after all. Never mind the fact that United were horrible defensively, Liverpool had won, they now could take on anyone. Even recently promoted Stoke City, right? WRONG! On Saturday, Liverpool were held scoreless by Stoke who gave everything they got to preserve clean sheet.
Consistency. That seems to be the problem of Benitez's squad. Where they were focused, strong, and solid against the defending champions, they came out flat against Stoke. Riera, who was probably the best player last week, was a mess on the wing this week. Awful crosses, horrible shots, unreachable forwards - this was Liverpool this week. When they did get shots on target, Sorensen – the man of the match - was up to the task, stopping everything and encouraging his defense. Babel and Benayoun's entrance around the hour-mark didn't change anything for the Reds who couldn't break through an ironclad defense. In the end, I think Liverpool rely too much on Gerrard to be the savior. When he wasn't there against Manchester United, everyone put their shoulder to the wheel. When he is on the field, I get the feeling tht some players take this opportunity to slack off. Either that or they resent Gerrard for wanting the ball too much, I don't know. It's just a theory.
Liverpool's line-up: Pepe Reina; Andrea Dossena, Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher, Alvaro Arbeloa; Dirk Kuyt, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, Albert Riera (Ryan Babel, 64th); Robbie Keane (Yossi Benayoun, 72nd), Fernando Torres.
Consistency. That seems to be the problem of Benitez's squad. Where they were focused, strong, and solid against the defending champions, they came out flat against Stoke. Riera, who was probably the best player last week, was a mess on the wing this week. Awful crosses, horrible shots, unreachable forwards - this was Liverpool this week. When they did get shots on target, Sorensen – the man of the match - was up to the task, stopping everything and encouraging his defense. Babel and Benayoun's entrance around the hour-mark didn't change anything for the Reds who couldn't break through an ironclad defense. In the end, I think Liverpool rely too much on Gerrard to be the savior. When he wasn't there against Manchester United, everyone put their shoulder to the wheel. When he is on the field, I get the feeling tht some players take this opportunity to slack off. Either that or they resent Gerrard for wanting the ball too much, I don't know. It's just a theory.
Liverpool's line-up: Pepe Reina; Andrea Dossena, Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher, Alvaro Arbeloa; Dirk Kuyt, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, Albert Riera (Ryan Babel, 64th); Robbie Keane (Yossi Benayoun, 72nd), Fernando Torres.
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