| January 22nd 2000 |
| Liverpool 0 Middlesbrough 0 - League. | ||
| Hamstrung! Ah Feck!!
JMac & JJP report.
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That the worst
team to come to Anfield all season (including Hull) took away a point is as galling as it
is expected these days. 'Blunt' was how I described the performance against Blackburn in
the Cup and this was just as bad an attacking display. As much as I 'love' Eric Meier -
I've said it before, if the other 10 had his passion and commitment we'd be ten points
clear at the top - he's not the type of player who's going to carve out chances against a
massed defence UNLESS he's picked out with pinpoint crosses where his aerial prowess and
physique would have any defence in tatters. But we were unable to supply him with any
decent service from the flanks, Carragher and Matteo being particlularly wasteful with
their crossing. In the second half big Eric himself was having to stray out onto the right
wing in an effort to get the ball and play in crosses. Which he did, but we never had
anyone in a dangerous position to take advantage. At one point in the first half, during a
prticularly sustained period of pressure, Sami Hyypia played on the right wing for five
minutes and was whipping in crosses like Johnny Barnes circa 1989: I kid you not! That also goes some way to illustrate how defensive 'Boro were - that the lynchpin of our defence could spend a considerable period in attack without compromising the integrity of the defensive. In this respect, Boro were a disgrace - stringing 6, 7 or 8 men across the edge of the area leaving no room for Owen (or Meier or Murphy) to get around the back. We were forced to play across the box and ended up lofting in inaccurate crosses or shots from distance. I don't think Pallister ever strayed more than 15 yards from the edge of his own area. It's a backward compliment is some respects - a sort of affirmation that Fortress Anfield has returned. Even without our three first choice strikers a team desperate for points couldn't commit themselves to attack us and defended stoically for 93 minutes. Having said that - if Murphy's last minute effort had gone in can you imagine how different these reports would be? Ah Feck! (JMac) (JJP continues ...) To say that this game never touched the heights would be an understatement whilst to say it never got off the ground would be just about right. With Robbie now sidelined until at least March and Titi suspended we were left with just Michael Owen up front.Now a fully fit Michael Owen might be able to take a team as poor as Middlesbrough apart but an unfit Michael Owen didn't really have much of a chance. When he departed the scene after a mere twenty-five minutes or so I think that we all knew the worst. Erik Meijer might have a heart as big as Liverpool and I know that he has thousands of admirers but a Premier League striker he isn't! The fact that our first real strike on goal came whilst some people were heading for the bus queues just about summed up our afternoon. We had nigh on all the possession, and apart from maybe twice Sander had been more or less a spectator all afternoon I think we all knew that this was going to be one of those afternoons. We've simply run out of options. The injury situation is as bad as some of us feared and far worse than the club would have us believe. It doesn't matter who you are playing against you can't play without forwards, certainly not at home you can't! 'Boro wBoro weren't bothered,all that they wanted to do was to get a point, take some of the heat off of Captain Cockout and head back home. That's why they looked so happy at the end whereas a team with genuine ambition would have been aware of our predicament and gone for the throat. Thankfully Middlesbrough are a team of cowards. It was frustrating to watch at times, seeing the likes of Hamann all gloved up [pathetic or what] trying to open things up. However, along with the rest of the midfield he must have known that as soon as the ball went forward it was going to have to come back simply because we had nobody left up front. Why the likes of Newby couldn't come on earlier I don't know, maybe it should have been him and not 'Meier the Trier'; when Michael went back on sick leave? My main worry now is where do we go from here? We've got to hang on in there but we've got those toughies coming up. Playing Owen who has obviously got a problem is a risk not worth taking because of the long-term situation. Although Robbie could be back by mid-March, but then again, who knows, there's no guarantee that he'll be 100% fit [they kept telling us he was "nearly there" back in November! As hard as Erik tries he's just simply not good enough. We need a bit of fortune to go our way, but in this game, as they say, you make your own luck. Although Ince got a bit of verbal I was glad to see that we kept it limited and concentrated on trying to back the team. Ince and his ilk aren't worth bothering about and if the papers do start bullshitting about moral victories I would suggest they look at the table and see which team is heading in the right direction. A team as gutless as Middlesbrough could still be heading further downwards than they are at the moment. Overall: 5 out of 10. Star players: Big Sami (fantastic), Meier (a hero) and Henchoz (quiet and solid) |
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