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Archive for October, 2009

The defeat at Fulham was farcical but, with so many players unavailable, should we lay off their beleaguered manager?

Last season the champions were beaten at Fulham while having two men sent off, but that will be of little comfort to Liverpool fans after their shambolic defeat at Craven Cottage today.

It was their sixth defeat in seven games, and has placed an incredible importance on their mustn’t-lose Champions League match in Lyon on Wednesday. The farcical nature of the match at Fulham will inevitably lead to criticism of Rafael Benítez, but for once they may have been mitigating circumstances.

A number of players were unavailable through injury or a virus, so the only decisions that deserve much scrutiny are the substitutions of Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt at different stages of the second half.

Whether they were pragmatic reactions to the realisation that the game was unravelling and that the Champions League is more important this season – as much financially as in terms of potential glory – or an inexplicable decision to prioritise one competition over the other so early in the season is open to debate.

What do you think? Have your say on Liverpool’s woes and the rest of the day’s action below.

Premier LeagueLiverpoolRafael BenítezFulhamguardian.co.uk

Rafael Benítez grimaced on the touchline as nine-man Liverpool were given a mauling in a humiliating defeat at Craven Cottage.

Liverpool defenders Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher were sent off for reckless fouls and by the end the Fulham crowd were chanting “Easy, easy” as Liverpool resembled a shambles.

Goals from Bobby Zamora, Erik Nevland and Clint Dempsey gave Roy Hodgson’s side a deserved victory, with Fernando Torres grabbing the one consolation for Liverpool.

But this was a match which demonstrated that Torres cannot do it all by himself. He cannot keep producing the only quality in a Liverpool team who, without the injured Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson, look bereft of ideas and creativity.

We had wondered what the significance was of that stirring victory over Manchester United last weekend. Well, now it looks a one-off. A lone bright spot in a season which could get even darker on Wednesday when Liverpool travel to Lyon for a match that could see them effectively knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages.

After this result, they might just be out of the Premier League race, too. The pressure is building on Benítez. And with the Reds faithful once more booing his substitution of Yossi Benayoun, the steam is hissing all around him.

Bizarrely, it was a match in which Liverpool enjoyed the majority of the possession. A match in which they pressed forward with lots of effort, often against a wall of white shirts. But a match in which for vast swathes they struggled to supply the quality to go with their industry.

They must have wondered, however, quite how they found themselves behind after 24 minutes. Fulham had not had a single shot on Jose Reina’s goal. Let’s be honest, they had barely crossed the half-way line.

But shortly after Benayoun had produced an acrobatic volley that fairly rattled the Fulham crossbar, the home side broke away. The ball came to Damien Duff on the left and he curled in a raking cross that bisected the Liverpool defence and allowed Zamora to tap home from close range.

Benítez, however, must have been scratching his head, such was Liverpool’s dominance. The problem was that while Liverpool continued to press forward they struggled to produce the high tempo and urgency they had demonstrated against Manchester United.

And when the equaliser came, they could hardly put it down to rhythm and style. Instead, it was fashioned out of nothing, but by the predator supreme. There appeared to be little danger for the Fulham defence when the ball came to Andriy Voronin. His header was weak and misdirected, but it cannoned off a Fulham defender and arced towards Torres.

He needed no more invitation. The Spaniard simply swivelled and swung his right boot and a fabulous volley from the edge of the area fairly scorched past Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. It was Torres’s 10th league goal of the season and demonstrated once more his value to Liverpool.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson made a double substitution at half-time, bringing on Zoltan Gera for Diomansy Kamara, and Nevland for Duff.

It was an attempt to push Liverpool back and stem the pounding, and it had some success. In fact, Fulham might have re-taken the lead on the hour when Zamora fired over a cross, and Gera swivelled and shot straight at goalkeeper Reina.

They did take the lead, however, after 74 minutes and once more it was against the run of play. This time Paul Konchesky surged down the left and Reina could only parry his cross. The ball was headed back across goal by Gera and there was Nevland to slide the ball into the net.

It got worse for Liverpool four minutes later when Swiss defender Degen was sent off for a reckless lunge on Dempsey, and even worse still when, three minutes later, Liverpool were down to nine men when Carragher brought down Zamora and also received a red card.

And to wrap up an afternoon to forget for Benítez, Dempsey rolled in the third for Fulham as Liverpool disintegrated.

Premier LeagueFulhamLiverpoolguardian.co.uk

• Gerrard to miss Liverpool’s trip to Fulham with groin injury
• Aquilani’s much anticipated Premier League debut must wait

Liverpool have been forced to delay Alberto Aquilani’s eagerly anticipated Premier League debut and may send Steven Gerrard for surgery next week should he fail to make their critical Champions League tie in Lyon.

Gerrard will be absent for the third time in four matches due to a persistent groin problem when Rafael Benítez’s side face Fulham. The Liverpool manager remains hopeful his captain can avoid an operation and has not ruled the midfielder out of Wednesday’s European tie when qualification for the knockout phase will be under serious threat. Benítez conceded, however, that Gerrard may be left no option but to go under the knife should he miss the trip to Stade de Gerland.

“I’m not sure if he will need surgery,” said the Spaniard. “The physios are working very hard with him. He came from the international duty with the problem. We were working with him, we put him on the pitch, but still he felt something. Now we have to be careful because we don’t want to take any risks.

“If he cannot improve in a few days we will analyse again the situation. It’s a difficult situation and I don’t know exactly what it is. He has a pain in his groin. We are working with him and he has no power. It’s not because of the muscle, it’s because of the pain in the muscle so they are working there. Next week we have to decide. If he’s not doing well, we have to decide.”

Benítez admitted his captain was “a little bit low because he thought he could be better but he still has the same problem” but refused to discount Gerrard’s availability for France. “You never know. In one or two days he can improve,” the manager added.

With Fernando Torres not fully recovered from a groin injury, and Glen Johnson also ruled out of the Fulham trip with a calf problem, Benítez’s selection problems have not eased since the invaluable defeat of Manchester United last Sunday. Plans to give Aquilani, signed for £20m from Roma in August, another chance to improve match fitness and build on Wednesday’s impressive cameo against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, though only as a substitute at Craven Cottage, have also been postponed due to a virus.

“Alberto was training yesterday, but we had to take him out,” said Benítez, who confirmed that the Italy international, yet to start a game for Liverpool as a result of ankle surgery, does not have swine flu.

Johnson is an added problem for the Liverpool manager but is expected to be fit to face Lyon. Benítez added: “We are really disappointed because he was training and the day before the Arsenal game he felt something and he couldn’t play. Maybe he will be out for four or five days.”

LiverpoolSteven GerrardRafael BenítezFulhamPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk