| January 10th 2000 |
| Liverpool 0 Blackburn Rovers 1 - FA Cup 4th Rd. | ||
| Blunt Reds wave bye-bye to Wembley in the sunshine. Didi Hamman! Is that what you get for 8 million quid these days? JMac reports.
|
Perhaps the team were as guilty as we were of
treating this as a forgone conclusion. Certainly before the game talk centered around two
things: the likelihood of a poor attendance and the possibility - no, probability - of Sky
making the next round against Newcastle another live satellite game. At 5:30pm when Steve
Kelly picked up our tickets there were still plenty of Kop tickets available. There
weren't many Blackburn here either, around 2,000, so we guessed at a gate of around
25,000. It was a particularly poor showing from Rovers' fans. It was, after all, an FA Cup
tie against a Premiership team - and we're not exactly at the other end of the country are
we? Just a couple of months back Hull brought 6,000 to Anfield from all the way over the
Penines. Perhaps Blackburn fans were also feeling the economic strain of footy and Crimbo
combining so spectacularly at the end of the millenium? I'd certainly not given much thought to losing and thought that - at worst - I'd have to borrow the dosh for a replay which was scheduled for the day before I got paid. It wasn't the only thing I was wrong about. For one thing the attendance was better than anticipated at just over 32,000. The Kop, however, wasn't full and our last minute tickets placed us high up in the corner next to the Main Stand. I don't normally ever sit this far back (I think about 30 rows back is far enough) but row 58 certainly gives you a bird's eye view of events. Maybe Monsieur H. should give it a go because mid-way through this game it was plainly obvious to everyone up there that Stevie Gerrard was wasted at right back whilst Carragher, in the middle of midfield, was duplicating too much of Hamman's game and not contributing at all to the overall balance of the side. It seemed clear that these two should swap positions. We were woefully lacking in invention in midfield and on the few occasions Gerrard strode forward out of the back four he looked dangerous. His accurate passing caused problems everytime and he was the only one who could actually dribble (That's run AROUND defenders and not INTO them) in dangerous positions. Hamman on the other hand was as ineffectual as could be and was not an influence on the game in any way at all. "Is that what you get for 8 million quid these days?", a voice near me yelled out in frustration as Didi charged forward again straight into a line of Blackburn defenders only for the ball to be deflected away harmlessly. Up front Titi struggled to impose himself on Rovers' back 5 or 6. When his flicks and dummies did come off he found hismelf crowded out by a massed defence. Danny Murphy had one of his more ordinary games and failed to support Titi in a meaningful manner. With the midfield seemingly impotent as an attacking or creative force I was left to hope that one of Hamman's runs or shots might lead to a loose ball falling to Camara or Smicer or someone. But no, Blackburn looked solid and we never, ever looked like breaking them down. Then with ten minutes left I decided that I'd be happy with a draw. "Let's just get out of this one intact", I thought. But we couldn't do it and really didn't deserve to. With Camara being drowned in a sea of blue shirts why did Houllier wait until the 89th minute before bringing John Newby on? Why when it was obvious that Gerrard could do damage in midfield was he left at right back? Why did I stay in row 58 when there dozens of empty seats in front of me? No, we didn't deserve anything tonight. That's not to say Blackburn were better because they weren't but they defended well and took their only chance when it came, and that's what the FA Cup is all about I suppose. Overall: a very poor 3 out of 10. Star Player: Steve Gerrard.
|
|
||||||