I take they were not too enamored by our display at the weekend then!
Liverpool harried into bad habits
By David Miller
Last Updated: 12:56am BST 09/04/2007
Match details
Reading (0) 1 Liverpool (1) 2
Four days can be a long time in football. Liverpool looked about as likely on Saturday to recapture the Champions League trophy as do Watford to escape relegation. Substitute Dirk Kuyt's late winner denied breezy Reading the Premiership point they deserved.
Rafael Benitez, who changes his selection as often as his socks, had omitted Xabi Alonso from the squad and retained Peter Crouch, who is never likely to surpass last week's display against Arsenal, up front. The outcome was initially as exciting as an Easter weekend catalogue from B&Q.
Analysis of Crouch's football talents are akin to Churchill's summary of the Russians: a mystery wrapped inside an enigma. His impact on Reading, who are as busy as a forest fire but technically ordinary, was now insignificant having been exceptional against Arsenal a week earlier.
In the 65 minutes he was on the field, before giving way to Jermaine Pennant, Crouch 17 times either had possession or the chance to put in a header.
Nine times he was found wanting on the ground and only once did he authoritatively win the ball in the air. On that occasion, two minutes before he was relieved of duty, he thundered the ball against the bar - his own.
No doubt that finally persuaded Benitez that something must be done, notwithstanding that, in his one seriously cerebral act, Crouch had made the through-pass that sent left-back Alvaro Arbeloa speeding down the wing to cut in and give Liverpool the lead, with an angled shot wide of Marcus Hahnemann.
Until Kuyt had replaced a dysfunctional, and evidently displeased, Craig Bellamy five minutes after half-time and had been joined on the pitch by Pennant, Liverpool seemed to be suffering a midweek hangover, disconcerted by Reading's eager challenges for every ball.
Reading's lack of finance, and therefore genuine class, prevents them being feared in central midfield where Steve Sidwell and James Harper are honest journeymen.
The key to their success lies on the flanks, where manager Steve Coppell here adroitly used the close control of John Oster and Stephen Hunt.
It was these two who throughout the first hour were a handful for full-backs Steve Finnan and Arbeloa, and sharper reaction from either Kevin Doyle or Dave Kitson around the penalty area might have brought reward before and after Arbeloa's opener. So full of enthusiasm are Reading that they even sprint to collect the ball for throw-ins, and it was much against the run of play when they went a goal behind.
Bellamy's mood was worsened when receiving a blatant elbow in the face by Brynjar Gunnarsson, which went unpunished. But within 90 seconds of the second half home side's spirits soared as Hunt's overhead kick was seized by the same Reading defender who had joined the attack and drove home from an angle via the far post.
Yet by now Liverpool were at last gaining some control, thanks to the accuracy and industry of Momo Sissoko and, after Ivar Ingimarsson had done well to block Steven Gerrard's shot eight yards out, Liverpool's winner came as Pennant cut inside. His cross to the far post reached Kuyt, whose close-range header punished able opponents.
Coppell was dismayed by conceding so late and admitted: "Our naivety in trying to win can undo us - sometimes we're over-committed." On a poor run of seven games without a win, he reflected that the opposition had included Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham. "Four of the big five puts it in perspective, and neutrals would say we push them to the limit," he said. Benitez claimed that the game against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday had taken a lot out of them. "Reading pressed us hard and we needed fresh legs," he said.
Match details
Reading (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Gunnarsson, Ingimarsson, Duberry (Bikey h-t), Shorey; Oster (Lita 82), Sidwell, Harper, Hunt; Doyle, Kitson.
Subs: Federici (g), Long, Halford.
Goal: Gunnarsson 47
Booked: Hahnemann, Kitson.
Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina; Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Arbeloa; Gerrard, Sissoko, Mascherano, Gonzalez (Riise 79); Crouch (Pennant 65), Bellamy (Kuyt 50).
Subs: Dudek (g), Agger.
Goals: Arbeola 15, Kuyt 86
Booked: Sissoko.
Referee: P Walton (Northants).
Man of the match: Momo Sissoko (Liverpool)
Coming next: PSV Eindhoven
PSV Eindhoven demolished by Liverpool last week, are now in full free-fall after stumbling to a 2-1 defeat at NEC Nijmegen on Saturday. The result means PSV go into Wednesday's second leg against Liverpool six games without a win. The only good news for the Dutch is that it looks like they will be able to field their first-choice striking line up. Jefferson Farfan, the Peruvian international who came off injured during the first leg, played at Nijmegen after shaking off a tight hamstring. He was partnered for the first time in a month by Arouna Konem after the Ivorian striker recovered from a knee injury. Whether they will have the firepower to haul in a three-goal deficit is another matter.
Reading 1 Liverpool 2: Reds profit after Shorey gifts Kuyt winner
By Mike Rowbottom
Published: 09 April 2007
You can lead a manager to a suggestion, but you cannot make him assent. After a match where one moment of overreaching ambition and consequent failure of concentration lost Reading a match they should have at least drawn, the first assertion was put to Rafael Benitez, who was invited to offer his support in principle for Chelsea in their forthcoming Champions League quarter-final second leg against Valencia. With a grin, the Liverpool manager produced a swerve of which Cristiano Ronaldo would have been proud, commenting only that he hoped the better team would win.
The home manager Steve Coppell was brought face to face with the notion that he might have mixed feelings about defeating Charlton today, given that their manager Alan Pardew, who has just managed to haul his team out of the relegation area after three months of effort, was signed by him from non-League football when he was in charge at Crystal Palace in the 1980s.
"It's a selfish game," Coppell said. "We managers are paid for winning games, not for being nice blokes." Coppell does not need to be paid to be a nice bloke, but he needed to be extra nice on Saturday not to have a pop at his left back, Nicky Shorey, whose misjudgement four minutes from time, when he attempted to trick his way past not one but two Liverpool players on a foray down the wing, opened his side up to a brutally swift counter-attack into the gap he had left. Substitute Jermaine Pennant did what he was brought on to do in making ground and crossing, and Dirk Kuyt, Liverpool's other substitute, did what he had been brought on to do by evading a disorganised defence and heading home the winner.
No doubt the cries of "Shorey for England" will continue to ring around the Madejski this season, and the full back's enterprise gives the notion some credibility - but until his last hurrah the home side looked fully entitled to the point which full-back Brynjar Gunnarsson's thunderous in-off-the-post cross shot two minutes into the second half appeared to have earned them.
That equaliser was created through a characteristically enterprising reverse pass from Stephen Hunt. The Irishman's glorious unpredictability unsettled the mighty Liverpool defence throughout.
Just after the hour, Reading all but went ahead as a cross from the accomplished John Oster tempted Peter Crouch into a horrendous intervention that saw the ball crash against his own crossbar.
It was Crouch's only telling moment in the game, save for the smart exchange of passes he made with Alvaro Arbeloa that sent the Spanish full-back through for the opening goal in the 15th minute.
With third place in the Premiership all but consolidated thanks to Arsenal's home defeat at the hands of West Ham, Liverpool can afford to concentrate on finishing PSV Eindhoven off on Wednesday to earn a Champions League semi-final place - and they should have Xabi Alonso back.
As for Reading, Coppell hinted that his mind is already turning to difficult decisions to be made before next season, citing Bolton as his model for progress. "If you want a template, a blueprint, look no further than them," he said. It could be that Reading will not lose too many more games through quixotic late charges for glory. Which would be a pity.
Goals: Arbeloa (15) 0-1; Gunnarsson (47) 1-1; Kuyt (86) 1-2.
Reading (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Gunnarsson, Duberry (Bikey, h-t), Ingimarsson, Shorey; Oster (Lita, 82), Sidwell, Harper, Hunt; Kitson, Doyle. Substitutes not used: Federici (gk), Long, Halford.
Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina; Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Arbeloa; Sissoko, Mascherano, Gerrard, Gonzalez (Riise, 79); Crouch (Pennant, 65), Bellamy (Kuyt, 50). Substitutes not used: Dudek (gk), Agger.
Referee: P Walton (Northamptonshire).
Booked: Reading Kitson, Hahnemann; Liverpool Sissoko.
Man of the match: Hunt.
Attendance: 24,121.
Benítez tells players to expect the unexpected
Reading 1 Liverpool 2
Alyson Rudd
Rafael Benítez refuses to praise Steven Gerrard, so it should come as no surprise to learn that Javier Mascherano had no idea that his manager had called him the best midfield player in the world for his age. The Liverpool manager wants to keep his players hungry, but for Mascherano, 22, there is no shortage of incentive. He has arguably experienced the biggest turnaround in fortunes of any player in the Barclays Premiership this season.
The Argentina player could have been stuck at West Ham United, contemplating relegation and wondering why he had joined a club who did not seem to want him and did not appear to know what his position was. Instead, Mascherano has a Champions League final in his sights and is playing in what English fans now call the “Makelele role”.
“I have always played that way, it is the role I play for the national team,” Mascherano said. “I know what my job is out on the pitch. It is much easier to play alongside great players like the ones here at Liverpool. I like him [Claude Makelele, of Chelsea] very much. I watched him play in Spain [for Real Madrid]. He is one of the best in the world.”
Benítez not only got a disciplined holding midfield player when he signed Mascherano, he also acquired a player who had had little first-team action and so brings energy to his squad as he attempts to seal third place in the Premiership and secure Liverpool’s sixth European Cup.
PSV Eindhoven, who are 3-0 down after the first leg of their quarter-final, would have to pull off one of the greatest European comeback to progress to the semi-finals by defeating Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday, but Benítez smiles at any mention of comebacks in Europe.
“We know, we have experience in Istanbul [in 2005 when Liverpool came back from 3-0 down against AC Milan to lift the European Cup],” Benítez said. “You must approach the game with caution. You know if they score an early goal they will be going forward and maybe we will have some problems and the players will be nervous.”
Benítez had to bring Jermaine Pennant and Dirk Kuyt off the bench to ensure that Liverpool took all three points on Saturday and they combined to score the winning goal after Kuyt met Pennant’s delightful cross. The visiting team had lacked urgency and allowed Reading to find their groove — and an equaliser through Brynjar Gunnarsson — after Alvaro Arbeloa had given Liverpool the lead. But Benítez’s team are ending the season with an air of authority and Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, was left with an air of resignation.
“Realistically, given the size of the clubs, their reserves should beat us,” Coppell said. “They are certainly looking very good at the moment.”
Reading play Charlton Athletic at The Valley this evening knowing that Alan Pardew’s team have had a day longer to prepare for the match that Coppell acknowledges “is a cup final for them”. Coppell will, therefore, make changes to the team who faced Liverpool, but he is mindful that he has a responsibility to the other teams threatened by relegation to be as competitive as possible.“My team, I hope, will reflect that,” he said.
Pardew played under Coppell at Palace. “He’s done a terrific job,” Coppell said. “He’s ambitious and wants to go a long way in the game. It’s a real dogfight there and I’m grateful we aren’t involved.”
The reason Reading are not involved is to their ability to defeat the teams in the bottom half of the table. The 6-0 demolition of West Ham on New Year’s Day underlined how precarious the East London club’s tenure on Premiership status had become and Alan Curbishley, the West Ham manager, will be hoping that Reading can retain a ruthlessness that fails to emerge against clubs such as Liverpool.
Reading (4-4-2): M Hahnemann — B Gunnarsson, I Ingimarsson, M Duberry (sub: A Bikey, 46min), N Shorey — J Oster (sub: L Lita, 82), S Sidwell, J Harper, S Hunt — D Kitson, K Doyle. Substitutes not used: A Federici, S Long, G Halford. Booked: Hahnemann, Kitson
Liverpool (4-4-2): J M Reina — S Finnan, S Hyypia, J Carragher, A Arbeloa — S Gerrard, J Mascherano, M Sissoko, M González (sub: J A Riise, 79) — C Bellamy (sub: D Kuyt, 50), P Crouch (sub: J Pennant, 65). Substitutes not used: J Dudek, D Agger. Booked: Sissoko.
Referee: P Walton.
Liverpool harried into bad habits
By David Miller
Last Updated: 12:56am BST 09/04/2007
Match details
Reading (0) 1 Liverpool (1) 2
Four days can be a long time in football. Liverpool looked about as likely on Saturday to recapture the Champions League trophy as do Watford to escape relegation. Substitute Dirk Kuyt's late winner denied breezy Reading the Premiership point they deserved.
Rafael Benitez, who changes his selection as often as his socks, had omitted Xabi Alonso from the squad and retained Peter Crouch, who is never likely to surpass last week's display against Arsenal, up front. The outcome was initially as exciting as an Easter weekend catalogue from B&Q.
Analysis of Crouch's football talents are akin to Churchill's summary of the Russians: a mystery wrapped inside an enigma. His impact on Reading, who are as busy as a forest fire but technically ordinary, was now insignificant having been exceptional against Arsenal a week earlier.
In the 65 minutes he was on the field, before giving way to Jermaine Pennant, Crouch 17 times either had possession or the chance to put in a header.
Nine times he was found wanting on the ground and only once did he authoritatively win the ball in the air. On that occasion, two minutes before he was relieved of duty, he thundered the ball against the bar - his own.
No doubt that finally persuaded Benitez that something must be done, notwithstanding that, in his one seriously cerebral act, Crouch had made the through-pass that sent left-back Alvaro Arbeloa speeding down the wing to cut in and give Liverpool the lead, with an angled shot wide of Marcus Hahnemann.
Until Kuyt had replaced a dysfunctional, and evidently displeased, Craig Bellamy five minutes after half-time and had been joined on the pitch by Pennant, Liverpool seemed to be suffering a midweek hangover, disconcerted by Reading's eager challenges for every ball.
Reading's lack of finance, and therefore genuine class, prevents them being feared in central midfield where Steve Sidwell and James Harper are honest journeymen.
The key to their success lies on the flanks, where manager Steve Coppell here adroitly used the close control of John Oster and Stephen Hunt.
It was these two who throughout the first hour were a handful for full-backs Steve Finnan and Arbeloa, and sharper reaction from either Kevin Doyle or Dave Kitson around the penalty area might have brought reward before and after Arbeloa's opener. So full of enthusiasm are Reading that they even sprint to collect the ball for throw-ins, and it was much against the run of play when they went a goal behind.
Bellamy's mood was worsened when receiving a blatant elbow in the face by Brynjar Gunnarsson, which went unpunished. But within 90 seconds of the second half home side's spirits soared as Hunt's overhead kick was seized by the same Reading defender who had joined the attack and drove home from an angle via the far post.
Yet by now Liverpool were at last gaining some control, thanks to the accuracy and industry of Momo Sissoko and, after Ivar Ingimarsson had done well to block Steven Gerrard's shot eight yards out, Liverpool's winner came as Pennant cut inside. His cross to the far post reached Kuyt, whose close-range header punished able opponents.
Coppell was dismayed by conceding so late and admitted: "Our naivety in trying to win can undo us - sometimes we're over-committed." On a poor run of seven games without a win, he reflected that the opposition had included Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham. "Four of the big five puts it in perspective, and neutrals would say we push them to the limit," he said. Benitez claimed that the game against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday had taken a lot out of them. "Reading pressed us hard and we needed fresh legs," he said.
Match details
Reading (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Gunnarsson, Ingimarsson, Duberry (Bikey h-t), Shorey; Oster (Lita 82), Sidwell, Harper, Hunt; Doyle, Kitson.
Subs: Federici (g), Long, Halford.
Goal: Gunnarsson 47
Booked: Hahnemann, Kitson.
Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina; Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Arbeloa; Gerrard, Sissoko, Mascherano, Gonzalez (Riise 79); Crouch (Pennant 65), Bellamy (Kuyt 50).
Subs: Dudek (g), Agger.
Goals: Arbeola 15, Kuyt 86
Booked: Sissoko.
Referee: P Walton (Northants).
Man of the match: Momo Sissoko (Liverpool)
Coming next: PSV Eindhoven
PSV Eindhoven demolished by Liverpool last week, are now in full free-fall after stumbling to a 2-1 defeat at NEC Nijmegen on Saturday. The result means PSV go into Wednesday's second leg against Liverpool six games without a win. The only good news for the Dutch is that it looks like they will be able to field their first-choice striking line up. Jefferson Farfan, the Peruvian international who came off injured during the first leg, played at Nijmegen after shaking off a tight hamstring. He was partnered for the first time in a month by Arouna Konem after the Ivorian striker recovered from a knee injury. Whether they will have the firepower to haul in a three-goal deficit is another matter.
Reading 1 Liverpool 2: Reds profit after Shorey gifts Kuyt winner
By Mike Rowbottom
Published: 09 April 2007
You can lead a manager to a suggestion, but you cannot make him assent. After a match where one moment of overreaching ambition and consequent failure of concentration lost Reading a match they should have at least drawn, the first assertion was put to Rafael Benitez, who was invited to offer his support in principle for Chelsea in their forthcoming Champions League quarter-final second leg against Valencia. With a grin, the Liverpool manager produced a swerve of which Cristiano Ronaldo would have been proud, commenting only that he hoped the better team would win.
The home manager Steve Coppell was brought face to face with the notion that he might have mixed feelings about defeating Charlton today, given that their manager Alan Pardew, who has just managed to haul his team out of the relegation area after three months of effort, was signed by him from non-League football when he was in charge at Crystal Palace in the 1980s.
"It's a selfish game," Coppell said. "We managers are paid for winning games, not for being nice blokes." Coppell does not need to be paid to be a nice bloke, but he needed to be extra nice on Saturday not to have a pop at his left back, Nicky Shorey, whose misjudgement four minutes from time, when he attempted to trick his way past not one but two Liverpool players on a foray down the wing, opened his side up to a brutally swift counter-attack into the gap he had left. Substitute Jermaine Pennant did what he was brought on to do in making ground and crossing, and Dirk Kuyt, Liverpool's other substitute, did what he had been brought on to do by evading a disorganised defence and heading home the winner.
No doubt the cries of "Shorey for England" will continue to ring around the Madejski this season, and the full back's enterprise gives the notion some credibility - but until his last hurrah the home side looked fully entitled to the point which full-back Brynjar Gunnarsson's thunderous in-off-the-post cross shot two minutes into the second half appeared to have earned them.
That equaliser was created through a characteristically enterprising reverse pass from Stephen Hunt. The Irishman's glorious unpredictability unsettled the mighty Liverpool defence throughout.
Just after the hour, Reading all but went ahead as a cross from the accomplished John Oster tempted Peter Crouch into a horrendous intervention that saw the ball crash against his own crossbar.
It was Crouch's only telling moment in the game, save for the smart exchange of passes he made with Alvaro Arbeloa that sent the Spanish full-back through for the opening goal in the 15th minute.
With third place in the Premiership all but consolidated thanks to Arsenal's home defeat at the hands of West Ham, Liverpool can afford to concentrate on finishing PSV Eindhoven off on Wednesday to earn a Champions League semi-final place - and they should have Xabi Alonso back.
As for Reading, Coppell hinted that his mind is already turning to difficult decisions to be made before next season, citing Bolton as his model for progress. "If you want a template, a blueprint, look no further than them," he said. It could be that Reading will not lose too many more games through quixotic late charges for glory. Which would be a pity.
Goals: Arbeloa (15) 0-1; Gunnarsson (47) 1-1; Kuyt (86) 1-2.
Reading (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Gunnarsson, Duberry (Bikey, h-t), Ingimarsson, Shorey; Oster (Lita, 82), Sidwell, Harper, Hunt; Kitson, Doyle. Substitutes not used: Federici (gk), Long, Halford.
Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina; Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Arbeloa; Sissoko, Mascherano, Gerrard, Gonzalez (Riise, 79); Crouch (Pennant, 65), Bellamy (Kuyt, 50). Substitutes not used: Dudek (gk), Agger.
Referee: P Walton (Northamptonshire).
Booked: Reading Kitson, Hahnemann; Liverpool Sissoko.
Man of the match: Hunt.
Attendance: 24,121.
Benítez tells players to expect the unexpected
Reading 1 Liverpool 2
Alyson Rudd
Rafael Benítez refuses to praise Steven Gerrard, so it should come as no surprise to learn that Javier Mascherano had no idea that his manager had called him the best midfield player in the world for his age. The Liverpool manager wants to keep his players hungry, but for Mascherano, 22, there is no shortage of incentive. He has arguably experienced the biggest turnaround in fortunes of any player in the Barclays Premiership this season.
The Argentina player could have been stuck at West Ham United, contemplating relegation and wondering why he had joined a club who did not seem to want him and did not appear to know what his position was. Instead, Mascherano has a Champions League final in his sights and is playing in what English fans now call the “Makelele role”.
“I have always played that way, it is the role I play for the national team,” Mascherano said. “I know what my job is out on the pitch. It is much easier to play alongside great players like the ones here at Liverpool. I like him [Claude Makelele, of Chelsea] very much. I watched him play in Spain [for Real Madrid]. He is one of the best in the world.”
Benítez not only got a disciplined holding midfield player when he signed Mascherano, he also acquired a player who had had little first-team action and so brings energy to his squad as he attempts to seal third place in the Premiership and secure Liverpool’s sixth European Cup.
PSV Eindhoven, who are 3-0 down after the first leg of their quarter-final, would have to pull off one of the greatest European comeback to progress to the semi-finals by defeating Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday, but Benítez smiles at any mention of comebacks in Europe.
“We know, we have experience in Istanbul [in 2005 when Liverpool came back from 3-0 down against AC Milan to lift the European Cup],” Benítez said. “You must approach the game with caution. You know if they score an early goal they will be going forward and maybe we will have some problems and the players will be nervous.”
Benítez had to bring Jermaine Pennant and Dirk Kuyt off the bench to ensure that Liverpool took all three points on Saturday and they combined to score the winning goal after Kuyt met Pennant’s delightful cross. The visiting team had lacked urgency and allowed Reading to find their groove — and an equaliser through Brynjar Gunnarsson — after Alvaro Arbeloa had given Liverpool the lead. But Benítez’s team are ending the season with an air of authority and Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, was left with an air of resignation.
“Realistically, given the size of the clubs, their reserves should beat us,” Coppell said. “They are certainly looking very good at the moment.”
Reading play Charlton Athletic at The Valley this evening knowing that Alan Pardew’s team have had a day longer to prepare for the match that Coppell acknowledges “is a cup final for them”. Coppell will, therefore, make changes to the team who faced Liverpool, but he is mindful that he has a responsibility to the other teams threatened by relegation to be as competitive as possible.“My team, I hope, will reflect that,” he said.
Pardew played under Coppell at Palace. “He’s done a terrific job,” Coppell said. “He’s ambitious and wants to go a long way in the game. It’s a real dogfight there and I’m grateful we aren’t involved.”
The reason Reading are not involved is to their ability to defeat the teams in the bottom half of the table. The 6-0 demolition of West Ham on New Year’s Day underlined how precarious the East London club’s tenure on Premiership status had become and Alan Curbishley, the West Ham manager, will be hoping that Reading can retain a ruthlessness that fails to emerge against clubs such as Liverpool.
Reading (4-4-2): M Hahnemann — B Gunnarsson, I Ingimarsson, M Duberry (sub: A Bikey, 46min), N Shorey — J Oster (sub: L Lita, 82), S Sidwell, J Harper, S Hunt — D Kitson, K Doyle. Substitutes not used: A Federici, S Long, G Halford. Booked: Hahnemann, Kitson
Liverpool (4-4-2): J M Reina — S Finnan, S Hyypia, J Carragher, A Arbeloa — S Gerrard, J Mascherano, M Sissoko, M González (sub: J A Riise, 79) — C Bellamy (sub: D Kuyt, 50), P Crouch (sub: J Pennant, 65). Substitutes not used: J Dudek, D Agger. Booked: Sissoko.
Referee: P Walton.
I love Rafa.
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