The Right Reaction

I have not updated this blog after the previous 2 games mainly becos' I was too heart broken to write anything. In any case, the result last night was what I had expected. All week long, I talked about the likely result against an in-form Man U. I said we will not lose the game only becos' we can't afford to. Against a team in ascendency, it was normal for people to expect us to lose or maybe just draw. Well, again like I said, it is absolutely naive to think that the BPL is such a straight forward league. I also said before that it has shown so far this sason all top 4 teams are capable of dropping points anytime. The Arsenal and Man U games as the case in point for this weekend. Even Man City drew last night. No one is going to stroll away with the title this season. I still think Man U will not be a contender for the league title only becos' they don't need to. It will be a 3 horse fight between Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Back to the game. In a nutshell, we played with our heart and showed the world what Liverpool FC is all about. We may be taunted repeatedly by Man U fans over our title drought over the last 19 years but before any great comeback, one must experience a trough. We are in the tail end of the trough now. The reverse it true too. I can't wait for the post Ferguson days to arrive. Lucas, Aurelio, Carragher, Johnson, Kyut, Benayoun all played really well. We could see that Torres was not fully fit and he was given special treatment by Vidic all night long. When Vidic was red-carded (for the 3rd straight game against us!!!), we felt we were vindicated. On the contrary, the second yellow card on Mascherano was way too soft but, at 94mins, we are not complaining. Speaking about injury time, where did those 5 mins come from , one must ask?? Fergi had spoken about the Ref's handling of the game but he must be blind not to notice that we were the subject of a few dubious decisions from the Ref as well.

On a serious note, I hope we have just come through the lowest point in our season. Wins against big teams usually turn a season around. We will now need to consolidate and go on a winning streak. No more mucking around, Rafa! Best XI every game. The title is still up for grabs and we need to fight with our lives. The time is now......

Chelsea 2 Liverpool 0

It was a defeat that didn't hit me very hard. For some reason, I was prepard for that scoreline. I had a hunch that we would lose. Don't ask me why. I can't explain it here. I told my usual gang at Cavern before kickoff that we would most likely not win the game. It was not the most popular statement around but I had to say it.

That is the reason why Gerrad and Torres seemed "off-form" throughout the game. How can their form dip so drastically in a matter of days?? Uncharacteristically?? A term often used to explain the unexplainable in football. I shall not dwell further here...

In any case, looking purely at the game itself, we were not significantly poorer than Chelsea. In fact, I felt we played well and was equally as creative and imposing on the pitch throughout the first half. A single Mascherano mistake in the second half cost us the first goal. Benayoun's introduction did inject a different dimension into the game but it was not meant to be. The second goal was not unexpected especially when we were pushing so far up field in search of the equalising goal. Lucas did play well though......surprisingly.

On the whole, I dun think its the end of the world after 3 defeats. Manchester, Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal are all still capable of dropping points. Chelsea may look solid now but they are due to lose a few key players to the African Nations Cup soon. That would be significant.

Anyway, I expect a huge peformance from the Reds in our next game. Trust me....