Items in you Rear View mirror
Not only did we win, I successfully predicted the correct score and one of the scorers. Shame I didn't put a bet on really as I'd have done rather well out of it.
If there is one thing that Rafa has done over the last 2 seasons, he's given us a mental strength which was probably missing under Gerard Houllier. Previously, when a mid-table team such as Villa scored against us, it would almost have been the affect of someone dying on the pitch, as was the Ultra-defensive football we played under him.
Rafa though has got the team playing with such confidence that it almost doesn't matter if we concede; the way the team plays, chances are never far to follow. I've no idea of the statistics of how many shots we've had this season (something that I will hunt down in the next week or so) but surely we have to up there. Though is was always high under Houllier, so something clearly has changed under Rafa's stewardship.
Mentioning that, In The Times the other day, I saw a table listing the teams that offered the most entertainment, with points being awarded for goals, shots on target and so on. And guess who was top? For anyone who's watched Liverpool a bit this season (hi there), this shouldn't come as any great shock. True, in some respects we've gone backwards (something else I'll get to in the near future) but in terms of style and quality of football, this season has been a massive step forward for us.
Particularly against sides like Villa has this been most true. We may have relied on Stevie again to get us out of a sticky situation (which of course means we have to put up with the "Liverpool are a one man team" headlines for at least this weekend) but by and large, we've looked far more like a team this season. Mainly due to the fact that we've managed to keep the squad standing for an entire season, something that we could only wish for last time out. But there's more to it than that.
The strikers, despite not scoring massively, has been more settled; Momo Sissoko (New Player Of The Season, without question) has given us more stability in midfield and more importantly allowed Stevie to maraud forward even more; and Pepe "The Hood" Reina has been the safe pair of hands that Jerzy never really had been.
And all of this stability played a part against Villa, a side that has almost Newcastle-esque delusions of Grandeur, the main difference of course being that they've actually won something meaningful in the last 30 years. However, they now look like another stable, mediocre mid-table side; again, the sort of team we should, and now are, beating. Though it needed a good kick up the backside from Gareth Barry to remind us of this.
With Shrek now likely to miss the World Cup, the chances of Stevie being allowed to go forward and play the way he does for us have increased alot. Whether of course it's alongside Crouch or Mickey "Judas" Owen remains to be seen but he deserves to be allowed the sort of freedom for England that he's given for us. I don't want to get to massively into the whole England thing now (I'll save that for a few weeks time) but I don't think I'm rocking the boat by saying that Sven wastes Stevie's talent when he plays for England.
Getting back to the matter at hand, Stevie did prove again just what a talent he is. I don't want to go too far down the "we're a one man team" road but it is incredible how he manages to find that something special when it's needed. Perhaps once we've got the right-wing situation sorted, he can play more centrally again and be an even bigger influence. Now there's a thought....
Of course, there are still problems which any Liverpool fan can recite at any a seconds notice. But with two talented South Americans headed to Anfield over the summer and with more talent likely to arrive over the summer (perhaps maybe even a Brazilian) I like to think that the Premiership trophy isn't more than two seasons away now, regardless of what The Pouting Portuguese Waiter says.
Still, if you want to win the league you've got to put sides like Villa away regularly, something we're now doing. Next target is to get a result against the sides around us. If we'd turned the six points we'd lost against Chelsea in our favour, then we might have had a shot at the title. Having said that, you could say the same about our games against Charlton....
Whatever Moureen says though, we're improving fast and as the saying goes "Items in your rear view mirror may appear closer than they appear."
If there is one thing that Rafa has done over the last 2 seasons, he's given us a mental strength which was probably missing under Gerard Houllier. Previously, when a mid-table team such as Villa scored against us, it would almost have been the affect of someone dying on the pitch, as was the Ultra-defensive football we played under him.
Rafa though has got the team playing with such confidence that it almost doesn't matter if we concede; the way the team plays, chances are never far to follow. I've no idea of the statistics of how many shots we've had this season (something that I will hunt down in the next week or so) but surely we have to up there. Though is was always high under Houllier, so something clearly has changed under Rafa's stewardship.
Mentioning that, In The Times the other day, I saw a table listing the teams that offered the most entertainment, with points being awarded for goals, shots on target and so on. And guess who was top? For anyone who's watched Liverpool a bit this season (hi there), this shouldn't come as any great shock. True, in some respects we've gone backwards (something else I'll get to in the near future) but in terms of style and quality of football, this season has been a massive step forward for us.
Particularly against sides like Villa has this been most true. We may have relied on Stevie again to get us out of a sticky situation (which of course means we have to put up with the "Liverpool are a one man team" headlines for at least this weekend) but by and large, we've looked far more like a team this season. Mainly due to the fact that we've managed to keep the squad standing for an entire season, something that we could only wish for last time out. But there's more to it than that.
The strikers, despite not scoring massively, has been more settled; Momo Sissoko (New Player Of The Season, without question) has given us more stability in midfield and more importantly allowed Stevie to maraud forward even more; and Pepe "The Hood" Reina has been the safe pair of hands that Jerzy never really had been.
And all of this stability played a part against Villa, a side that has almost Newcastle-esque delusions of Grandeur, the main difference of course being that they've actually won something meaningful in the last 30 years. However, they now look like another stable, mediocre mid-table side; again, the sort of team we should, and now are, beating. Though it needed a good kick up the backside from Gareth Barry to remind us of this.
With Shrek now likely to miss the World Cup, the chances of Stevie being allowed to go forward and play the way he does for us have increased alot. Whether of course it's alongside Crouch or Mickey "Judas" Owen remains to be seen but he deserves to be allowed the sort of freedom for England that he's given for us. I don't want to get to massively into the whole England thing now (I'll save that for a few weeks time) but I don't think I'm rocking the boat by saying that Sven wastes Stevie's talent when he plays for England.
Getting back to the matter at hand, Stevie did prove again just what a talent he is. I don't want to go too far down the "we're a one man team" road but it is incredible how he manages to find that something special when it's needed. Perhaps once we've got the right-wing situation sorted, he can play more centrally again and be an even bigger influence. Now there's a thought....
Of course, there are still problems which any Liverpool fan can recite at any a seconds notice. But with two talented South Americans headed to Anfield over the summer and with more talent likely to arrive over the summer (perhaps maybe even a Brazilian) I like to think that the Premiership trophy isn't more than two seasons away now, regardless of what The Pouting Portuguese Waiter says.
Still, if you want to win the league you've got to put sides like Villa away regularly, something we're now doing. Next target is to get a result against the sides around us. If we'd turned the six points we'd lost against Chelsea in our favour, then we might have had a shot at the title. Having said that, you could say the same about our games against Charlton....
Whatever Moureen says though, we're improving fast and as the saying goes "Items in your rear view mirror may appear closer than they appear."
posted by The Smiling Assassin at
10:51 pm
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