Monday, October 31, 2011

LFC : WBA and Suarez and Carrol

Luis Suarez again turned on a splendid performance for the Reds. He was not on the score sheet but he definitely gave the opposition's defenders a torrid time. He was heavily involved with the penalty incident. Looking back at the replays, I would have agreed that it was not supposed to be a penalty. Yes, Suarez fell easily but he didn't reacted as though he was fouled heavily. He was actually on his way up to continue the play when the assistant referee flagged for a fouled. Being a brilliant player and aware of where he was, he just knew the referee blew the whistle to award a penalty kick. He wasn't even looking at the linesmen.

He was again involved with the 2nd goal. A first touch pass to his partner Carroll. The big lad might have touched the ball heavily but he somehow managed to use his left foot to poke the ball into the back of the net. It was game over!

A few talking points here. No Gerrard and no Carragher and we won 2-0. This shows how much have the team improved in terms of depth. We even had Kuyt on the bench and only used Bellamy. A season ago, could the team have done this well without the most influential figures in the starting 11? I doubt so.

After 10 league games, 10 points off Manchester City and sitting 6th on the table. Not bad at all. There is still room for improvements and I would say we will see different set of players will finish strong towards the end of the season. 

WBA might have done better, but the Reds just stuck to the task. Defensively, Agger and Skrtel had a good game. Pepe Reina was never really tested throughout the game which means the defensive duties were also carried out by the midfielders. Credit to Lucas for this. 

Besides Suarez, Carroll has been performing better off late. He is fitter and his understanding with Suarez also has improved. Which is a good sign to the team. Everyone is expecting Carroll to be a prolific striker for the Reds. Maybe he is just not that type of a player. The expectations are high, it comes together with the high price tag on his head. 

To me, it'll be good if Carroll can score in every game that he plays, this will also lessened the burden on Suarez. But as long as he works hard, keeping the oppositions defenders busy and making room for his mates to score that will be good enough. At the end of the day, it's the 3 points that matters. Just look at Shearer-Sutton combination during Blackburn's success. Shearer scores the goals but he had his partner in Sutton to make the job easier. I see that in Suarez-Carroll partnership. 

Being at the right place at the right time, Carroll can definitely be the main 'man' for Liverpool this season. Everybody is already talking about Suarez. Another brilliant player with amazing approach towards the game. Whether he scores or not, he will always amazes you with his deft touch, curling shots, mazzy dribbles and well, like the manager himself, I'm just lost of words to describe the Uruguayan. With all the attention towards Suarez, this is where Carroll can come in and do the most damage to the opponents. If this works, I don't see any reason for us to finish among the top 3 by the end of the season.

City have Silva, Spurs have Van Der Vaart, but they are just like Suarez for Liverpool. At the moment it's quite difficult City will struggle without Silva, but Spurs will definitely do if Van Der Vaart is injured or not playing. We don't want Liverpool to suffer if Suarez is injured or unavailable. We've been in this position in so many times with Gerrard. So if big Carroll can stamp his mark, he would be a 'force' to be reckon with.

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