Blackburn - Liverpool prematch/match [R]

[RedKnight]

I’m disappointed, but not overly so.

Sure, Xavier was exposed by Duff—but Xavier is behind both Babbel and Carragher in the squad when all three are fully fit. Duff is a great player (that’s why we wanted him), and Rovers went at our weakness (Xavier). For most of the match we were able to compensate, with Murphy and Henchoz. But we made a few mistakes, and paid twice.

H & H were their usual solid selves; Henchoz’ second-half tackle on Duff probably saved a goal (bailing out Xavier). Traore gets better with every game, IMHO.

Murphy had a great goal (which he practically created himself), and a great work rate, helping out against Duff. Riise played decently overall, and his goal was terrific. Except for about ten terrifyingly bad minutes in the second half Stevie G. was solid (though not brilliant). Hamann was far and away our best player tonight.

I think that our strikers flat-out floundered. Owen is just not back to form—the old Owen would have finished the opportunity he had in the first half. Diouf, without Heskey, seemed lost. I know Owens’s history against Newcastle, but maybe we go without him in the starting lineup next match (or go back to that 4-3-3).

Hindsight is 20/20 but I would really have liked to see Baros out there tonight.

An away draw to a (probably) mid-table side. It’s a shame we didn’t get more—but there were moments when I didn’t even think we’d get this.

[LiverpoolFanatic]

Abel is a good option for matches against teams like Soton, but good left sided attacking players are going to eat him alive. Hurry back Jamie and Markus.

[655321]

The whole match was played sub-par by both teams, but it was still entertaining. Xavier had a pretty miserable time I thought, as did Diouf. Actually, no real player completely stood out for having a GREAT match, although Murphy did do pretty well, as did Hamann. The two man sub was a ballsy move that proved, almost immediately, to be of little consequence (and here I was bitching about our lack of striker rotation!!). Smicer added almost nothing, and Heskey was just, er, okay. I was waiting for Gerrard to bust out, and he almost did on occasion, but overall was pretty dissapointing.

Riise's header was fantastic.

Man of the match has to be Murphy. Or maybe Henchoz, if for nothing else, his goal box tackle of Duff near the 65th minute.

[Matt Clark]

Good game. I thought both teams played some good stuff. Certainly, our display last night was better than the one that got us 3 goals and the points to match at home to Southampton on Saturday.

It was a shame to lose the goal so late - and to a player with just one previous Premiership strike to his name and the last season spent in Serie B - but all in all it was little more than what Blackburn deserved for an energetic, enterprising display. That's the thing, I think - someone called them "a mid-table side" earlier and I disagree. They're a mid-table squad, but that side, were it able to play throughout the season without any major alterations, would be pushing for the Champions League, I'm telling you. They are every bit as good as the Newcastle first XI, for instance. That's what I meant yesterday when I said it was always nice to play teams like that during the winter, when respective squad depths start to have an impact on the course of the season.

Xavier was rubbish for the first 20 minutes. Never mind the cover from midfield, we all knew that he would get roasted by Duff and that's exactly what happened. I'm not one to rag on a player in the red, but sorry - the bloke just isn't good enough to play for LFC. The problem is, I'm not sure it is just because Carra and Babbel are still recovering from injury that he is in the team. But more of that another time.

Murphy was excellent, I thought. He's always out there playing the ambitious pass, looking for the killer ball (a courageous style that gets him many an unjust browbeating from the fans) but last night was one of those days where it mostly came off.

Our play is evolving - some of the possession stuff midway through the first half and early in the second was nice, fluid play.I think the greater mobility that Traore brings to the side, along with the more adventurous positioning of Henchoz is starting to loosen the ties of the rigid defensive formation we have played for so long. Nice to see.

Ah well ... bring on the Toon.

[YanksFC]

All in all, a fair result.

I agree that Santa has to go. While it could be debated whether he was at fault for the second goal, he surely was a primary reason for the first one. While Murphy had a nice game, I think his game could have been nothing short of spectacular had he not been required to come back numerous times to help Xavier cover Duff.

Hamman was peerless last night. I think he's one of the most underrated players in the world. He's not fancy, but he does all the dirty work and gets the job done just about every single match.

I agree that Traore has done well on the left. I don't think I've seen him make a serious gaffe in the games he's played this season, and he was certainly on his game last night.

I thought Diouf was really off last night, especially his passing. And while he stayed on his feet most of the time, he still dove (in the first half, IIRC). That needs to stop. I agree that he's more effective as part of a three-striker approach. Still, I'd like to see GH continue to pair him with Owen for a few more games to see if the two will build some chemistry. In all fairness to Diouf, I believe that Heskey has played better so far this season and might deserve to be in the starting XI in the next couple of games if Diouf doesn't mesh with Owen.

Give Michael some time -- He'll be back on his game soon.

Why wasn't Bruno on the subs bench last night?