So a fairly comprehensive victory sees us progress to the quarter finals of the FA Cup where we will have another home tie, this time against Stoke. Quirky draws this season have seen us drawn away in every round of the League Cup and at home each time in the FA Cup. Stoke will provide a far tougher challenge than Brighton and we will have to be at our best to get through to the semi final but with Spurs and Chelsea still in the competition it could’ve been worse. I didn’t like knowing who our next opponents would be before we’d played our game as it felt a bit like tempting fate but it worked out well in the end.
Brighton more than held their own in the first half and their supporters made a lot of noise, especially after their very well hit equaliser, but an FA Cup record three own goals in one match will have left them feeling bummed. Liverpool started well and Skrtel’s early headed goal gave the game an air of formality but when we were pegged back to 1-1 this all but disappeared. Good footwork by Suarez in the area created one or two chances for us and when we got the second, an own goal after a bit of pinball in the area just before half time, it was deserved. A good Andy Carroll strike, two more own goals and a late close range header from Suarez completed the rout. There was even time for Suarez to miss a penalty, possibly the last time he is allowed to take one for us, all credit to him for wanting it, he was clearly desperate to score in front of a Kop that had supported him all game, but the kick itself was tame and easily saved. We’ve now missed at least one penalty in every competition we’ve played in this season…
An interesting side note to the actual football was the reaction of the away fans to our two strikers and the way they both dealt with it. Luis Suarez was booed for most of the game and this is something he’ll have to get used to. While the Brighton fans certainly didn’t cross any boundaries with their reaction to the Uruguayan it was certainly noticeable. Suarez kept his head down and didn’t react to the fans, even when the odd piece of poor control lead to cheers he just kept playing and didn’t rise to anything and at no point looked in any danger of losing his discipline. The support from the Liverpool fans for him throughout the game was loud and clear and obviously helped him. I think ultimately with Suarez what happens inside football stadiums will not be the deciding factor in whether or not he chooses to leave English football, I think he will only make up his mind to go if people on the street give him problems when he is out with his wife and child. He clearly loves and appreciates the Liverpool supporters and they feel the same about him.
Andy Carroll was also on the Brighton fans radar and hopefully he will learn from his afternoon and it will help him improve as a player and emphasise to him the importance of having the right attitude. When he missed a chance he was on the end of ‘what a waste of money’ chants. He was then nudged easily off the ball and was subjected to donkey noise chants. A bad first touch led to ‘you’re getting sold in the summer’ taunts. Another occasion when he failed to make clean contact with the ball under pressure brought more donkey noises. Emphatically slamming the ball into the Brighton net from Downing’s pull back and the Brighton fans had nothing, no taunts, no jeers, nothing. The lesson? If you don’t want thousands of people making fun of you put the ball in the back of the net and they won’t have reason to. Carroll has shown in small doses that he can be a force at Liverpool, learning lessons and striving to improve could help him turn into an important player for us for years to come.
Onwards to the quarter finals…………….
There were a couple of things that I was pleased with about this game (despite the obvious comfort of the win). Firstly I was engouraged by Carroll's performance in the game. I always feel that a striker goes through 3 stages; get in to position and miss badly, get in to position and go close to scoring, get in to position and score. For me, Carroll is now looking a lot more dangerous than he was a few weeks ago and I hope his goal will give him the confidence to move on through the rest of the season and become more clinical in his finishing which I feel has been a struggle for him. Hopefully he will start on Sunday, particularly as he has a good amount of experience in playing against lower league sides from his time in the Championship.
ReplyDeleteSecondly I was impressed by the attidude of Suarez. He had a great game and terrorised their defense a number of times (as we are used to) but he didnt ever react negatively to either the way that the Brighton fans goaded him or the way he was played by the Brighton players. A couple of times early in the game he was treated fairly physically and never really complained to a great extent. I hope that the furore that recently surrounded him has matured him as a player without taking any of his confidence, passion or indeed skill. Time will tell on this one but it could have been all to easy for him to get wound up and react badly to the crowd and opposition.
Roll on Sunday.....
Carroll is without doubt improving and your three stages of progression is bang on, not sure he will ever be truly clinical but he's powerful and could make a real name for himself as an Alan Shearer style striker if he wants it badly enough.
ReplyDeleteSuarez is a one off and kept his cool really well, he will at some stage have a bit of a strop but that is just his personality and won't be a reaction to the crowd, shouldn't be allowed near any pens though, even though it was on target it was somehow worse than the one he blazed miles over against Sunderland. Good to see Kenny publicly back him though after last week, I suspect a few hard words have been exchanged behind closed doors this week and it looks like things are working well for all parties.