Watch Liverpool

Posts Tagged ‘michael-carrick’

Kenny Dalglish’s containment and counterattack philosophy works to perfection to land a knockout blow

Charles Reep, Charles Hughes and Graham Taylor, advocates of the more direct route, using fewer passes to reach the opposition’s goal, would have allowed themselves a wry smile at Liverpool’s winner: Pepe Reina, Andy Carroll, Dirk Kuyt, goal. Manchester United dominated possession but Liverpool cleverly dropped off and protected the width of their penalty area more than adequately.

Often the statement is trotted out that the better team lost. But what is the better team? And is it of any consequence? This game was a perfect illustration that controlled possession is not necessarily a recipe for success, unless that superiority is translated into chances and goals. Liverpool deserve credit for a clear plan and philosophy and making substitutions at the right time.

Jamie Carragher, Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard backed off Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who bossed the midfield area. With their sharp touches and movement, they enjoyed much more of the ball. Liverpool’s midfield dropped off, avoiding the trap of playing too high and allowing Scholes and Giggs to play around and beyond them.

Liverpool did not overly attempt to destroy their passing rhythm, their discipline ensuring they defended solidly and played on the break. When Daniel Agger leapt highest to give Liverpool the lead in the first half with David de

Kenny Dalglish should be appointed permanently, Michael Carrick disappointed and Luis Suárez is no Dutch flop

1) Kenny Dalglish has to be appointed as full-time manager now

What’s the delay? Liverpool, once again, is a happy place to be. The change in atmosphere is quite remarkable, both in the stands and out on the pitch. The players’ body language has changed, as if they have been reminded about what it actually means to play for this club. On 29 December, Liverpool lost here, 1-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Roy Hodgson’s players left the pitch to a mixture of disbelief and voluble anger. It feels like a trick of the mind now. Two months on, Kenny Dalglish has reinvigorated the place. We know he is the man for the job. The fans who serenaded him with a chorus of “Happy birthday” know it makes sense. Over to you, John W Henry.

2) Luis Suárez is more Dennis Bergkamp than Alfonso Alves

When a striker joins English football from the Dutch league there is a natural tendency to reserve judgment. Blame Alfonso Alves, the scorer of 45 goals in one Eredivisie season for Heerenveen who could not tell the difference between a goal and a barn door at Middlesbrough. Or Mateja Kezman, who scored 105 goals in 122 games for PSV Eindhoven but was hopeless for Chelsea. Luis Suárez, however, had already shown in these embryonic stages of his Liverpool career that he could prove to have been an astute piece of transfer business. His vision and awareness of space was a feature of Liverpool’s domination; the slalom past four players for the first goal was the game’s outstanding moment.

3) Gary Neville might not be around, but the spite is still there

And probably always will be when these two sides lock horns. That little period at the end of the first half, when the tackles started flying and tempers became frayed, reminded us how much it matters for both clubs not to give an inch to their rivals. The referee, Phil Dowd, did a reasonably good job of maintaining a sense of control but he also got the key decisions wrong. Jamie Carragher deserved to be sent off and Rafael da Silva, if to a slightly lesser extent, was also fortunate he did not get a red card for the immature way in which he dived in on Lucas Leiva.

4) Nani is still the kid in the playground

Maybe that’s a little harsh and to give him his due Nani, who was taken off on a stretcher at the end of the first half, was entitled to be upset by Jamie Carragher’s tackle. And the impact of football studs on flesh – at speed – can be painful in the extreme. And maybe Nani’s head was still a little blurred by his accidental contribution to Liverpool’s second goal. But crying? Bryan Robson never cried. Roy Keane never cried. Heck, we never even saw tears from Cristiano Ronaldo, the man who wrote the book on football prima donnas. Sorry to sound unsympathetic, but this is not a fixture in which to start blubbing. Don’t think for one second that Sir Alex Ferguson was giving Nani a cuddle and passing him chocolate drops in the dressing room. As Tommy Smith growled in the pressbox: “It’s Liverpool against Manchester United, for Christ’s sake.”

5) Michael Carrick is no Xabi Alonso

It would be unfair to make Carrick the only scapegoat for United when the truth is that so many of Ferguson’s players could have done better. Wes Brown demonstrated at times why Ferguson has not started him in the Premier League for over a year; Wayne Rooney was on the edges; the usually unflappable Edwin ver dar Sar had a bad afternoon; and we have dealt with Nani above. Yet Carrick leaves you wanting so much more. This is a man who could be United’s Xabi Alonso but who never steps forward, as though he does not have it in his personality to decide it is going to be his moment. Is it a question of self belief? Carrick is 30 this year and at that age it is fair to say we will probably never see the player he really could be. He signed a new contract at Old Trafford last week and the reaction among the supporters was underwhelming, to say the least.

Premier LeagueLiverpoolManchester UnitedDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk

Today’s fluff has that tired taste in its mouth

Another day, another reason for members of the Terry family to walk hurriedly past the newsagents looking in the other direction, as the Mirror splash on claims that Lindsey Cowan, fiancee of the Rushden and Diamonds goalkeeper Dale Roberts, had an affair with one of his team-mates — none other than Paul Terry, brother of erstwhile England captain and team-mate’s-partner-befriender John. Furious players at the club are allegedly now campaigning for Paul, who appears to be intent on doing absolutely everything that his brother does, except playing football particularly well, to be sacked. As the spurned stickman’s father George, 62, says: “They say every family has a black sheep – the Terrys must have a flock.”

In other big news, photographs taken at England’s World Cup preparation camp in Austria yesterday clearly show the astonishing sight of Ledley King training. The Mill thought the entire point of King was that he didn’t train, that his remarkable performances were conjured, fully formed, from the depths of his tortured soul, extracted from the deep like so much oil barfing from the sea bed. But if he’s the tortured genius of the England side, the Ludwig van Beethoven of the Premier League, nobody told the chap apparently jogging merrily with the rest of the squad in Irdning, the Styrian hilltown whose name sounds like a verb the players have invented to describe the latest depraved act they have taken to inflicting on starstruck womenfolk.

Talking of England, Sol Campbell has suggested, with a certain amount of logic you must admit, that the only reason Fabio Capello didn’t pick him was that he doesn’t think he’s good enough. “You get the sense he’s never liked me as a player,” he raged. If he stays at Arsenal next season, Sol could be joined by Roma’s Philippe Mexes, Arsène Wenger’s £10m defensive target. Another possible arrival is Marseille winger Hatem Ben Arfa, who has declared his desire to move to England this summer, and is French. He, too, is rated at £10m.

Manchester United and Manchester City are to battle it out like drunk teenagers on a Saturday night on Watford High Street, the object of their affections being Aston Villa’s demure James Milner, rated at £25m. City have already had a £20m bid turned down, but a part-exchange deal may prove acceptable — Stephen Ireland and Shaun Wright-Phillips could be offered by City, while United are considering a deal involving Michael Carrick. Neither club plans to stop spending there – City want £21m Bordeaux forward Yoann Gourcuff and will offer Patrick Vieira a new one-year contract, while United are putting together a £15m bid for Everton’s Jack Rodwell, despite David Moyes telling them they will have to “come with a very big cheque”.

Strap up tight and buckle your braces, it’s day two of the Cesc Fábregas transfer saga! Arsenal are demanding £80m (The Mail) or £45m (The Telegraph) or £40m (The Guardian) while Barcelona have made a £30m take-it-or-leave-it offer (The Star). The good news for those who get rapidly fed up of transfer sagas: Barça hope to have the deal done by Monday. The bad news: they’ll then go for £70m Fernando Torres. Also on his way out of Anfield is Alberto Aquilani, who will move to Juventus in a straightforward swap deal with Felipe Melo heading the other way.

Stoke hitman Ricardo Fuller is a big-money target for a string of giant clubs. “Right now a lot of clubs are interested and are knocking on the door,” says, er, Ricardo Fuller. Employing someone else to talk him up ridiculously is Valencia-departing former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi, who is wanted by Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool, according to his agent. “He’s on the notebooks of those four clubs,” Andrea Pastorello said.

Wayne Rooney, who revealed four years ago that he likes to sleep with the vacuum cleaner on and has “ruined so many hairdryers by letting them burn out” in the name of a good night’s rest, tells the Sun that he’s still torturing hairdryers, and lies on the floor of aeroplanes to allow the hellish incessant roar of the massive engines to gently transport him to the land of nod. “I don’t know what it is, but the noise helps me to sleep,” the total loon says.

Portsmouth will let Avram Grant join West Ham for nothing, but only if he promises to take Tal Ben Haim with him. The Israeli could decide to join Twente instead, though where that would leave the much-travelled Israeli centre-back is anyone’s guess.

Finally, to Birmingham — the two words that Burnley’s Steven Fletcher will be telling his chauffeur this morning when Blues’ £6m Wolves-gazumping offer for the Scottish striker is accepted. Also on his way to the Midlands is Hull’s Stephen Hunt, who will join West Bromwich Albion for £4m – rising to £5.5m if the Baggies avoid relegation – but on his way out is Marlon Harewood, whose Villa Park hell will be ended by a lucrative deal with Turkish champions Bursaspor.

Transfer windowFernando TorresBarcelonaLiverpoolEuropean footballSimon Burntonguardian.co.uk