liverpool | Wait until next year

November 4, 2009

Late, late shows in Champions League

This blog seems to have had a certain bee in its bonnet about stoppage time, with one post, on Manchester United, injury time and the need for reform, proving a popular one.

So, it was interesting to look through last night’s Champions League results and see so many late goals.

In eight games, there were four goals in injury time. Those for Atletico Madrid and Manchester United (them again!) were game-changing.

In total, 12 goals out of the 26 scored in those games took place after the 80th minute. By my rudimentary calculations, that’s over 46 per cent of goals scored in the final stages.

So what does this mean? Without any statistics for games generally as a ‘control’, it’s hard to say for sure. But why let that stop us speculating? Tiredness must be a factor. Games will often open up as they reach their conclusion. A losing side, such as Atletico or United, will push more in the final moments. A side doing particularly well, like Marseille last night, might knock in a few more goals. Maybe this happens more in the Champions League, as qualification is in sight?

Either way, this tiny sample of games shows how important fitness and concentration is, right up to the final whistle. It also shows how important injury time can be to the result of a game, or even to a team’s goal difference. Too important to just leave to the referee, I’d suggest.

There may well be more late, late shows tonight.

Liverpool are one particular exponent of pulling something out of the fire late on. I do, however, wonder if this is one ‘must win’ game too far? I’m not sure pinning your hopes on an injured Torres is the best idea, but then again, even an injured Torres is better than 95 per cent of strikers in the world. If he plays, that is. Here’s hoping…

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October 30, 2009

Man Crush Friday – Liverpool Edition

Apologies to all my avid readers for the lack of new posts this week – I had a brief holiday, with no access to the internet. But here I am, back with a vengeance, with another one of those annoying filler posts!

This week, following Liverpool’s big win against Manchester United last Sunday, here’s a classic goal from that fixture in 1985, this week’s Man Crush – Jan Molby…look at him move!

And while we’re raiding YouTube for clips, here’s regular commenter Steven Harris‘ crush from last week, King Kenny himself…

I’ll be back into the swing of proper posts sooner rather than later, but hopefully this should keep you all going for now!

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October 18, 2009

Beachball 1 Liverpool 0

A beachball. A bloody beachball. In October.

Liverpool’s loss to a freak goal – in off a beachball – is pretty hard to take. Obviously, teams have spells of good and bad luck over the course of a season, but how do you legislate for something like that? To add insult to injury, the goal should not have stood. Rafa Benítez suggesting, “these things happen”, is admirable. It also seems a little unlikely, unless there are far more beachball-assisted goals in Spain.

However, Liverpool did have another 85 minutes, plus a whopping seven minutes injury time, to score a goal and right the wrong. Yet, they failed to score. As easy as it would be to blame inflatable balls and poor officiating for derailing the season, Liverpool need to look a little closer to home. And I’m sure they will.

With Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City dropping points this weekend, it’s becoming more and more likely that Manchester United are going to win the Premiership. Again. And essentially by default. They are not playing particularly well, look shaky in defence, yet their rivals are unable to capitalise.

This is shaping up to be a livelier season, though. It has to be good for the league that every side is capable of dropping points. Let’s hope it stays that competitive until May.

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September 29, 2009

Bill Shankly

“Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.”

Bill Shankly died 28 years ago today.

Photograph by J. Clark via Flickr

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September 28, 2009

Fernando Torres and the stolen moment

Ha. I realise that the title sounds a little like some sort of twisted Mills & Boon novel. But then, this is something of a love letter to ‘El Nino’. His performance on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick against the hapless Hull, was a thing of beauty. While he can score scrappy goals, that wasn’t his method on this occasion. Each goal was taken with phenomenal grace, poise and thought.

And that’s what makes Torres such a fascinating player to watch. He is not purely instinctive. He doesn’t such prod at the ball, or find himself in the right place at the right time. On Saturday, each time he got the ball before scoring he still had plenty of work to do. And each time, he seemed to have just that little bit more time than anyone else on the pitch.

Like all truly great players, he seems able to ‘steal’ a moment in order to make the right decision. With a single touch, shimmy or pause he puts himself in control. Slow-motion replays show him at his best. He has that ‘stolen moment’, that split-second pause, where he can process all the information before him and plot his course. And then with absolute calm, execute it. No panic, no unnecessary rush.

The perfect moment to illustrate this was when Torres rounded the Hull ‘keeper Myhill. A lesser player would have snatched at the chance. Torres’ thought and skill made the likely outcome, of a goal, a certainty.

The confidence and presence of mind it takes to do this is almost unfathomable, and as Hull found out to their cost, almost impossible to defend against.

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