Wigan 1 - 0 Liverpool: Match Review

I spent a bit of time after the game trying to find a word which sums up my feelings. I thought of bleak, gutted, angry, sad, depressed, even catatonic came to mind. But the best word I found was RAWRAGGGGHARAHRWAAAARRGH!!!

So, with that said, it’s pretty clear that my review is not going to be full of positives so I hope you weren’t expecting any.

Starters

Reina – Not much to do really. No chance for the goal. All other saves were pretty simple.

Mascherano – Not a fullback and proved it. Doesn’t usually have to mark in midfield which allowed Rodellega to break free for the goal. Made a better show of it once he was moved into midfield. Certainly killed off their attacking fluidity.

Carra – Caught out by pace and movement a lot. Made a few telling tackles but didn’t impress.

Kyrgiakos – More composed than Carra, but was caught out just as much. Fortunately he was good in the air.

Insua – Defensively pretty suspect at best. Offensively typically good, just no one was ever open to receive his crosses.

Lucas – Ye Gods. Completely forgot how to pass. Everything fell apart in the midfield and with Gerrard marked out the game, he had to step up. He didn’t.

Gerrard – As I said, marked out the game whenever he tried to step forward.Had almost no involvement all game really.

Kuyt – Bad. Just bad. Probably his worst ever game in a red shirt. Don’t think he ever got two passes right in a row. Provided nothing going forward. Should have been subbed at half time.

Maxi – Well. Maybe it wasn’t all bad. Maxi put in a good shift which stood out like a butterfly in a morgue. Good incisive passing and got into good areas more than once. Tie Man of the Match (which is kind of like choosing your favorite flavour of mud).

Yossi – Typical Yossi on the ball, but lacked his usual penetration. When he ran he seemed aimless. Not suprised he was subbed, but there were worse out there.

Torres – Had he been fully sharp, we could have won it. But it’s not fair to put all of your expectations on the fitness of one player. Did well.

Subs

Johnson – Thank the gods that Johnson is fit. Probably should have started whether match fit or not. Not great, but that’s to be expected. At least he knows the position.

Aquilani – Looked keen to get stuck in, which is more than I can say for most of the team. He certainly taught the rest of the boys how to pass. Don’t think he missed more than 3 passes the whole time he was on. And some of them were quality. Most importantly he looked to get it forward. Everything began to tick once he came on. Tie Man of the Match.

Babel – Surprised myself when I was calling for him to come on at half time. Didn’t get enough time to make the impact, but did well nonetheless.

So, what more can be said. I’m bleak (or rawraggggharahrwaaaarrgh, as I said earlier) so I’d rather not dwell on this too much. Our passing let us down, and we were completely outplayed in the first half. Pitiful. Second half was brighter but definitely not good enough.

If Aquilani doesn’t start for Lucas against Lille in midweek then I think I may have a severe medical condition all over my floor.

Credit has to be given to Wigan for playing like possessed demons (if that’s even possible). At times I wondered if the ref had got the count right, because there seemed to be 15 Wigan players on the field. They chewed up all of the space and pulled away from their markers with energy and desire and I think they deserved the win. Certainly compared to how flat and lifeless we were.

So well done Wigan, you bastards.