The prospect of facing Preston North End in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, was hardly ever going to whet the appetite. So for a borderline 'meaningless match', the last thing you want is to see any of your better players picking up any injuries. Sadly that's exactly what appears to have happened with Alonso, the extent of his injury should become clear in a couple of days.
Keane is a player whose confidence should have been riding high coming into this match, but he missed several glaring opportunities to score, never mind at least hit the target. Hopefully his confidence won't take too hard a bashing.
Apart from the excellent performances of Alonso and Riera (who scored a stunning goal), it was the unselfish actions of Gerrard which really made watching this game worthwhile. It would've been so simple for Gerrard to score himself, but he literally gifted a goal to Torres instead. It was a generous gesture which should help Torres settle quicker after being out for so long.
9 comments:
With Keane its really worrying... the number of chances he missed!
How many chances is he going to get!
Thought Insua was good today,b ut babbel was rubbish!
Riera was amazing today, awesome goal, defo man of the match. Hope Alonso + Mascherano wont be out for too long. Keane looked really off it, he had so many easy chances, was very disappointing watching him. But Torres is back just in time for the 2nd half of the season. Happy days.
You say Keane's confidence should be riding high but Rafa's bizarre decision to completely ostracize him at Newcastle could hardly have done much for Keane's confidence. Going into that game he had scored 3 top class goals in two games but instead of letting him feel part of the team Rafa made a point of snubbing him by leaving him on the bench and bringing on useless Ngog while also leaving on Kuyt who looked very tired and wasn't anything of any note. A striker's confidence is a fragile thing and with things starting to look up for Robbie the last thing he needed was for Rafa to revert to type.
hope xabi is ok
What you say about Stevie G is so true, it was one of the best things i have ever seen him do. A true captain if ever there was one, a real leader and team player. Wouldnt swap him for anyone in the world.
Very well put... I guess you should have mentioned Riera.
At the beginning i too felt we had put too good a team for Preston but after the game i was pretty happy that we had put the full team on the field. Preston played well.
Babel was quite wasteful and i felt we missed Kuyt today. Imagine saying this last year :) . He got a well deserved rest though.
About Keane- i am simply not able to understand this guy. Is he feeling the pressure of Torres being fit and replacing him in the team? If he plays like this, he'll surely be. I still feel Keane will do well. Hope its sooner rather than later.
Keane's confidence & form all went array after he got left out by Rafa at SJP. I looked at his expressions & eyes during the couple of times that the cam showed him on the bench, he wanted so much to play....knowing that he has probably hit his best form since the start of the season, BUT he's LEFT OUT!
Babel is utterly wasteful...i'm beginning to think he's in the same pedigree as Pennant! Does Real Madrid want him?
@roberto - i remember wondering last season if Gerrard could handle having someone else in the team becoming the focal point, so glad he has since responded as well as he has. Was sooo impressed he laid the ball up for Torres.
@abhiram - i thought i did give him a 'wee mention', didn't want to gush too much about him as it was only Preston we faced. But am very impressed with how Riera has settled with us. I was very surprised by Keanes poor performance, really didn't see that coming at all.
@val - I figured Rafa was just resting him against Newcastle after his excellent performances before that, so I didn't read anything into it. If only Keane looked on it like that also....
is keane fit? looked sluggish in support for a couple of those chances against Preston....... thoughts?
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