tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post2806220430590050409..comments2008-09-29T08:30:49.163+01:00Paul Heronnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-41354702937175744902008-09-29T08:30:00.000+01:002008-09-29T08:30:00.000+01:00Forgot to mention his defensive capabilities, his never-say-die attitude and his passion in the previous post. I don't give a damn if he does not score any goal for the next 6 months as long as we are winning and his contribution is significant to that effect.Abhiramnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-63491572049083159932008-09-29T08:27:00.000+01:002008-09-29T08:27:00.000+01:00@big red599 - Mate, Benitez has never said Kuyt is our out and out winger on the right. He is a all-in-one package for us. See both of our goals and you'll understand. <BR/><BR/>Except for Ronaldo, i have not seen wingers get into such awesome positions to make goal scoring opportunities. Kuyt pulled Lescott with him and kept him busy and thats the reason Torres was not marked. Hence the goal. If you see the 60 min before the game, Lescott (a.k.a A**hole) was kicking Torres right and left which irritated Torres to such an extent that he got himself booked.<BR/><BR/> Even in the second goal the pressure by Kuyt forced the defender to clear the ball without control, and that ball landed with Torres and we know the rest.Abhiramnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-19395459849559184042008-09-28T11:21:00.000+01:002008-09-28T11:21:00.000+01:00@roger - i was a bit worried that Mascherano wasn&#39;t playing, but Gerrard &amp; Alonso definitely controlled the midfield<BR/><BR/>@inderjit - like you said, at least we got our Torres back ;-) (but it would&#39;ve been great if he was allowed the hat trick)<BR/><BR/>@roberto - yeah the wide areas were problematic, thankfully the rest of the team produced the goods though :-)<BR/><BR/>@thedropper - he definitely blew the whistle far too often, but to be fair he made some good decisions (booking Yakubu &amp; sending off Cahill), i&#39;ll not comment further on his denying Torres his hat trick though<BR/><BR/>@big red599 - nah, Babel ain&#39;t injured at the mo. As for Kuyt, he was always going to get his game as he&#39;s perfectly suited to the physical battles and is usually willing to put in the effort, which is what Rafa loves about him. I&#39;m guessing Rafa is just trying to strike a balance between the number of &#39;creative&#39; &amp; &#39;hard working&#39; players that we&#39;ve got...Paul Heronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11048672512906526013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-41987783093239785032008-09-27T23:50:00.000+01:002008-09-27T23:50:00.000+01:00Great to see Torres looking like his old self again. We really needed him and Keane to start looking like the players they are and today they did. Two questions though - firstly is 'flyin Ryan' Babel injured at the moment? and secondly what the hell did Riley think was wrong with the third Torres 'goal' which was the best finish of the three ?? Aside from Torres I thought Stevie G and Alonso were totally dominant in midfield and Skrtel also had a particularly fine game. My only gripe was with the ineffectual Kuyt on the right again. Surely we have someone who can pose more of a threat on the right wing than poor old Dirk. I know he worked hard and his mere presence at the near post drew away a defender on the first goal (although surely anyone else in his position would have done the same thin) but we had no penetration at all from the right wing throughout the entire game (I mean this quite literally if anyone wants to go back and check). Despite getting a massive amount of good ball on the right wing from Gerrard and Alonso Kuyt once again did nothing with it except constantly pass the ball back to the same midfielders who were in a less threatening position than him. Is this really the role of a right winger?? He even did this when he had plenty of space behind him to turn into. I've heard all the arguments in favour of Kuyt but I still can't understand why Rafa persists with him. The class of Torres, Gerrard and Alonso means we can get away with having no viable threat on the right wing in quite a few games and still scrape a win but in the long run it will cost us too many points that don't need to be dropped.Big Red599http://www.blogger.com/profile/12841907722606882686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-41151690256609406172008-09-27T21:40:00.000+01:002008-09-27T21:40:00.000+01:00Mike Riley really WAS trying his best, wasn't he :P like he was going to spoil this one for us!!!!TheDropperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08937318066807832329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-20251826206446478152008-09-27T21:07:00.000+01:002008-09-27T21:07:00.000+01:00that should put the bitter twats back in there placeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-69504358687832451742008-09-27T20:47:00.000+01:002008-09-27T20:47:00.000+01:00Brilliant game, brilliant. All our central players were amazing = Carra, Skrtel, Alonso, Gerrard, Keane, Torres.<BR/><BR/>It was only the widemen who weren't that good today. But it feels great everytime we win against Everton.Robertohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17668393293187442510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-9197205707988363652008-09-27T18:35:00.000+01:002008-09-27T18:35:00.000+01:00It is really shit that Torres hat trick was denied by the ref. He would have been the first player since Ian Rush to get a derby hat trick. But we have got our Torres back now (the one we all know and love so well).Inderjithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00583726754235275176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-7271269810600279112008-09-27T18:21:00.000+01:002008-09-27T18:21:00.000+01:00We wont be top of the league for long, Arsenal and Chelsea will see to that.<BR/><BR/>But we are firmly in the title race. We deserved to beat Everton as we completely dominated the whole game.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-85221412188795216572008-09-27T18:16:00.000+01:002008-09-27T18:16:00.000+01:00Top of the league - back where we belong !!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-10356911715845442492008-09-27T18:08:00.000+01:002008-09-27T18:08:00.000+01:00Torres was amazing after his first goal. It really does go to show how much difference a goal can make. Keane had an impressive game also. Hope he gets some confidence from today also. But Stevie G was immense, so composed and alongside Xabi Alonso they controlled the midfield. They made the blue shite, look like blue shite.Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070000596610893400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655208675973113222.post-18733936504376003422008-09-27T17:56:00.000+01:002008-09-27T17:56:00.000+01:00Totally agree. I've always thought that Torres, after his injury, was always half a step too slow or half a touch too hard, or half an inch too sloppy. After his first goal, his second was not just so cool and composed. <BR/><BR/>His third was just world class considering the angle in which he scored when two defenders were in front of him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com