Are Liverpool Any Better Than Bolton?
Posted 26/08/10 21:40EmailPrintSave
For 83 minutes, Liverpool were slow, laborious, one-paced and utterly lacking in any creativity or spark. That they finally edged their way through to the Europa League group stages owed more to Trabzonspor tiring than any inspiration from a travelling side who looked at times like they had walked to Turkey.
Without the drive of Steven Gerrard, the steel of Javier Mascherano or the end product of Fernando Torres, Liverpool look no better than Bolton. You could argue that this was a team of internationals, but even the mothers of Fabio Aurelio, Leiva Lucas, Christian Poulsen and Dirk Kuyt would hesitate to describe their sons as creative forces.
This was a team set up to stifle and suffocate, but the plan backfired when Trabzonspor wriggled free as early as the fourth minute to take the lead. It was difficult to see from where a Liverpool goal could be wrenched, with Glen Johnson the only player who was willing to put any real pressure on the Turkish defence. If Liverpool were to avoid penalties, the impetus had to come from their right-back.
Joe Cole should thank Johnson for saving him from a probable post-mortem as once again the England man was a crushing disappointment. One very good cross that David Ngog should have buried is not enough from 90 minutes when the absence of other big names makes you the main man by default.
Time and time again he was bundled off the ball or his first touch deserted him. No doubt Roy Hodgson will say "he needs games" but Liverpool would have been bundled out of Europe if every Liverpool player offered as little as Cole. The truth is that he barely delivered for 25 minutes for Chelsea last season and he needs to improve sharpish in order to become a bona-fide matchwinner and thus hero on Merseyside.
On present form he is no better than a dozen other less-heralded Premier League players, while Liverpool look no better than a mid-table side. Of course, simply getting past potential banana skins is the most important thing but Liverpool fans should perhaps be a tad worried that Roy Hodgson seems to think his team "played well". No Roy, they eventually did just about enough to limp through.
That's all very well, but on the day that the Champions League draw reminded them just what they were missing this season, the fans would have no doubt liked to see something closer to emphatic than asthmatic. It might make work a little more pleasant on Friday mornings.
Sarah Winterburn
and .....
Headline is 'Liverpool limp into group stages'
Trabzonspor 1 Liverpool 2 (Agg: 1-3)
Posted 26/08/10 17:58EmailPrintSave
Liverpool escaped what could have been an embarrassing Europa League exit with two late goals to beat Trabzonspor 2-1 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
However, it was far from convincing and it needed a own goal by Remzi Kacar and a strike from Dirk Kuyt to secure their passage.
Their one-goal advantage had been wiped out in the fourth minute when Teofilo Gutierrez side-footed past Jose Reina but the late doule salvo ensured manager Roy Hodgson did not become the first Reds boss to exit Europe before the end of August.
The victory was Liverpool's first in Turkey against Turkish opposition and their hosts' first defeat at home in 2010.
Liverpool had chance to put the tie to bed in the first leg but taking a 1-0 lead to Turkey was never going to ensure a comfortable night.
And despite finding themselves under huge pressure in the opening 45 minutes they should have wrapped things up a lot sooner than they eventually did.
David Ngog missed two second-half chances which Fernando Torres, the man he was standing in for with the Spaniard resting back on Merseyside, would probably have buried.
Prior to that Sotirios Kyrgiakos - one of five changes from Monday's Manchester City defeat - could have scored in only the second minute but he directed a weak downward header from Fabio Aurelio's corner straight at Onur Kivrak.
Trabzonspor made no such mistake two minutes later when Kuyt gave the ball away and Gustavo Colman's intended shot sliced open the heart of Liverpool's defence and Gutierrez side-footed past Jose Reina.
The enthusiastic Trabzonspor support did not need encouragement to ratchet up the volume as Liverpool's task suddenly looked a whole lot more difficult.
A quick counter-attack from an Aurelio corner almost brought a second for Trabzonspor with Jamie Carragher deflecting Ibrahima Yattara's shot behind and then Colman drilling in a low effort which Reina turned around his left-hand post.
The Liverpool goalkeeper was receiving some unwanted attention from a fan with a laser pen and Croatian referee Ivan Bebek instructed the UEFA delegate to put out a warning that the game could be stopped as a result.
Hodgson's side struggled to gain a foothold in the game and spent the remainder of the first half under pressure.
That continued after the break as Burak Yilmaz burst through on goal three minutes after the restart but was flagged offside.
In the 52nd minute Ngog should have given Liverpool some much-needed breathing space when Cole stood up a cross to the far post but the Frenchman headed wide from close range when it seemed easier to score.
Ngog then turned his marker inside-out on the edge of the penalty area but, faced with a clear shot at goal, rolled his effort wide.
Liverpool were, however, growing in confidence as Trabzonspor began to drop deeper and deeper.
But the longer it went without a goal, the more pressure they put on themselves.
Hodgson made his first change with 13 minutes to go when he sent on Dani Pacheco for Aurelio.
But the breakthrough eventually came eight minutes from time when pressure by Ngog forced an own goal.
Johnson's run and cross down the right was turned in by Kacar via the near post.
And things were wrapped up late on as Kuyt tapped in after Kivrak could only parry out Pacheco's shot.
Teams:
Trabzonspor Kivrak, Cale (Jaja 86), Korkmaz, Kacar, Balci, Colman, Gulselam (Atas 65), Inan, Yilmaz, Gutierrez,Yattara (Alanzinho 46).
Subs Not Used: Zengin, Baytar, Badur, Oztorun.
Booked: Gulselam, Yilmaz, Korkmaz.
Goals: Gutierrez 4.
Liverpool Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Johnson,Aurelio (Pacheco 77), Lucas, Poulsen (Skrtel 90), Kuyt, Cole,Ngog (Babel 86).
Subs Not Used: Gulacsi, Spearing, Shelvey, Eccleston.
Goals: Kacar 84 og, Kuyt 88.
Agg (1-3)
Att: 21,065
Ref: Ivan Bebek (Croatia).
Posted 26/08/10 21:40EmailPrintSave
For 83 minutes, Liverpool were slow, laborious, one-paced and utterly lacking in any creativity or spark. That they finally edged their way through to the Europa League group stages owed more to Trabzonspor tiring than any inspiration from a travelling side who looked at times like they had walked to Turkey.
Without the drive of Steven Gerrard, the steel of Javier Mascherano or the end product of Fernando Torres, Liverpool look no better than Bolton. You could argue that this was a team of internationals, but even the mothers of Fabio Aurelio, Leiva Lucas, Christian Poulsen and Dirk Kuyt would hesitate to describe their sons as creative forces.
This was a team set up to stifle and suffocate, but the plan backfired when Trabzonspor wriggled free as early as the fourth minute to take the lead. It was difficult to see from where a Liverpool goal could be wrenched, with Glen Johnson the only player who was willing to put any real pressure on the Turkish defence. If Liverpool were to avoid penalties, the impetus had to come from their right-back.
Joe Cole should thank Johnson for saving him from a probable post-mortem as once again the England man was a crushing disappointment. One very good cross that David Ngog should have buried is not enough from 90 minutes when the absence of other big names makes you the main man by default.
Time and time again he was bundled off the ball or his first touch deserted him. No doubt Roy Hodgson will say "he needs games" but Liverpool would have been bundled out of Europe if every Liverpool player offered as little as Cole. The truth is that he barely delivered for 25 minutes for Chelsea last season and he needs to improve sharpish in order to become a bona-fide matchwinner and thus hero on Merseyside.
On present form he is no better than a dozen other less-heralded Premier League players, while Liverpool look no better than a mid-table side. Of course, simply getting past potential banana skins is the most important thing but Liverpool fans should perhaps be a tad worried that Roy Hodgson seems to think his team "played well". No Roy, they eventually did just about enough to limp through.
That's all very well, but on the day that the Champions League draw reminded them just what they were missing this season, the fans would have no doubt liked to see something closer to emphatic than asthmatic. It might make work a little more pleasant on Friday mornings.
Sarah Winterburn
and .....
Headline is 'Liverpool limp into group stages'
Trabzonspor 1 Liverpool 2 (Agg: 1-3)
Posted 26/08/10 17:58EmailPrintSave
Liverpool escaped what could have been an embarrassing Europa League exit with two late goals to beat Trabzonspor 2-1 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
However, it was far from convincing and it needed a own goal by Remzi Kacar and a strike from Dirk Kuyt to secure their passage.
Their one-goal advantage had been wiped out in the fourth minute when Teofilo Gutierrez side-footed past Jose Reina but the late doule salvo ensured manager Roy Hodgson did not become the first Reds boss to exit Europe before the end of August.
The victory was Liverpool's first in Turkey against Turkish opposition and their hosts' first defeat at home in 2010.
Liverpool had chance to put the tie to bed in the first leg but taking a 1-0 lead to Turkey was never going to ensure a comfortable night.
And despite finding themselves under huge pressure in the opening 45 minutes they should have wrapped things up a lot sooner than they eventually did.
David Ngog missed two second-half chances which Fernando Torres, the man he was standing in for with the Spaniard resting back on Merseyside, would probably have buried.
Prior to that Sotirios Kyrgiakos - one of five changes from Monday's Manchester City defeat - could have scored in only the second minute but he directed a weak downward header from Fabio Aurelio's corner straight at Onur Kivrak.
Trabzonspor made no such mistake two minutes later when Kuyt gave the ball away and Gustavo Colman's intended shot sliced open the heart of Liverpool's defence and Gutierrez side-footed past Jose Reina.
The enthusiastic Trabzonspor support did not need encouragement to ratchet up the volume as Liverpool's task suddenly looked a whole lot more difficult.
A quick counter-attack from an Aurelio corner almost brought a second for Trabzonspor with Jamie Carragher deflecting Ibrahima Yattara's shot behind and then Colman drilling in a low effort which Reina turned around his left-hand post.
The Liverpool goalkeeper was receiving some unwanted attention from a fan with a laser pen and Croatian referee Ivan Bebek instructed the UEFA delegate to put out a warning that the game could be stopped as a result.
Hodgson's side struggled to gain a foothold in the game and spent the remainder of the first half under pressure.
That continued after the break as Burak Yilmaz burst through on goal three minutes after the restart but was flagged offside.
In the 52nd minute Ngog should have given Liverpool some much-needed breathing space when Cole stood up a cross to the far post but the Frenchman headed wide from close range when it seemed easier to score.
Ngog then turned his marker inside-out on the edge of the penalty area but, faced with a clear shot at goal, rolled his effort wide.
Liverpool were, however, growing in confidence as Trabzonspor began to drop deeper and deeper.
But the longer it went without a goal, the more pressure they put on themselves.
Hodgson made his first change with 13 minutes to go when he sent on Dani Pacheco for Aurelio.
But the breakthrough eventually came eight minutes from time when pressure by Ngog forced an own goal.
Johnson's run and cross down the right was turned in by Kacar via the near post.
And things were wrapped up late on as Kuyt tapped in after Kivrak could only parry out Pacheco's shot.
Teams:
Trabzonspor Kivrak, Cale (Jaja 86), Korkmaz, Kacar, Balci, Colman, Gulselam (Atas 65), Inan, Yilmaz, Gutierrez,Yattara (Alanzinho 46).
Subs Not Used: Zengin, Baytar, Badur, Oztorun.
Booked: Gulselam, Yilmaz, Korkmaz.
Goals: Gutierrez 4.
Liverpool Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Johnson,Aurelio (Pacheco 77), Lucas, Poulsen (Skrtel 90), Kuyt, Cole,Ngog (Babel 86).
Subs Not Used: Gulacsi, Spearing, Shelvey, Eccleston.
Goals: Kacar 84 og, Kuyt 88.
Agg (1-3)
Att: 21,065
Ref: Ivan Bebek (Croatia).
