Heroes and Villians

Retrived from : Liverpoolfc.tv
Author - Paul Tomkins

Well, the way the timing of the goals was going, the Reds were always going to need 175 minutes to win the Villa game, weren't they?

Unfortunately, much of a Sunday as a football fan has to spent in front of a certain TV station. But to listen to the views expressed on Sky this weekend, you'd think Liverpool weren't in fact sitting second in the table, as the only title contenders to have faced two away games so far.

I'm actually far from Andy Gray's biggest critic amongst Liverpool fans. He talks some sense about many of the general truths of football, and does offer some insight – such as when noting how Liverpool's centre-backs dropped off Carew so that they could focus on the 'second ball'; this was excellent punditry, and not just because it was a positive point. But on Sunday it was the almost incessant drone of Gray's critical co-commentary, particularly in the first half, that was so offensive to my ears. Later on in the day, Gray even managed to write off Benítez's European Cup win as 'irrelevant', suggesting anyone can win it. It was that kind of Sunday.

Although I mention my illness from time to time, the worst thing about not being able to go regularly to places like Villa Park (where I’ve been almost a dozen times over the years) is that the 'enjoyment' of a steady (but admittedly uninspiring), containing away display where the home team are kept at bay for the first 45 minutes is decimated by the constant harping on about every last detail of Benítez's management. V

Villa, the home side who'd just spent £50m this summer, and who had no major players out injured (unlike Gerrard, and then Torres after 25 minutes), were doing nothing constructive with the ball, but all we heard was criticism of Liverpool. Had it been at Anfield I'd have said "sure, spot-on"; but at Villa Park?

With the Gareth Barry saga stoking the Villains, it was a far more hostile atmosphere than usual for this fixture, and in many ways a game that needed to be treated like a European away tie. An early goal for Villa would have ramped up the noise and made it very difficult to even get a point. I don't see the problem with containing the opposition for the first half, and quietening the crowd, when they are a good team playing at home with a distinct edge to the game; then, as the game opens up, exploit the space in the second half.

Maybe I'm a pessimist, but I just don't see that Liverpool have to win every away game bar Arsenal, Chelsea and United. When did drawing away at clubs with ambitions to break into the top four become a bad result? It was certainly a far better result than drawing at home to Newcastle or a struggling Spurs side, as United and Chelsea have already done, or losing at Fulham, like Arsenal have.

Villa rested six players against hugely inferior opposition in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, but Liverpool had to play 120 minutes against 'proper' opposition the night before that. So this was never going to be an easy game. In fact, I felt it was one the Reds could easily lose, and with this in mind, I was obviously fairly content at the end.

Performances have to improve, everyone can see that; but the quality of this team is not defined by what we've seen so far. We know that. Once again an international break disrupts the flow of a stop-start season, although for once the timing might not be too bad. And this time all other clubs are in the same boat, after the unfair Olympic situation.

Obviously getting the two key players fit is imperative. Torres and Gerrard are possibly the best in their respective positions in the world; you can't but help miss such attacking quality. You don't just have another couple like that lying around in the reserves – they don't even exist in other top clubs' first teams. In that sense, the international break could be a blessing. Ryan Babel, whose fitness still doesn't look 100%, is another who may benefit from an extra couple of weeks of training and some games with Holland.

However, despite the validity of Gerrard's injury, a certain Sunday morning football chat show lambasted Benítez for the timing of the operation; how could he do so with important World Cup qualifiers looming, the guests asked, as if Liverpool should have timed it so that he instead definitely missed the Manchester United match. It was agreed, with baffling unanimity, that Liverpool had acted improperly. I was flabbergasted.

Let's get some facts straight. Gerrard had already missed two stretches of preseason with the injury, which precluded him being able to start in Liege – a very important game for the Reds. As the employers who pay his wages, which are indirectly funded by Liverpool fans (not England's!), Liverpool have the right to decide when to put their captain under the knife for an essential operation. It's a no-brainer.

Why wouldn't Benítez chose a time that is most beneficial to him? And it's not like Liverpool themselves weren't going to pay some kind of price, with Gerrard forced out of the Villa game, if not more. Any injury needs treating sooner rather than later, so why should the club pay the potential price of the injury worsening just to benefit England? It's insane.

But what sickens me is that the club is being criticised for keeping a player out of international games when 50% of the Reds' senior midfielders – Mascherano and Lucas – were off in Beijing until this week. So Liverpool were hardly going to countenance an operation when two players who play in the very same position were away with their countries. It's illogical. I'm in no doubt that International football has decimated Liverpool's preparations to the season. Four key players missed most of preseason because of their wonderful exploits with Spain; no other Premiership club lost that many players for that long, as Liverpool are the only 'Spanish' team. It was a great achievement, and one I totally salute, but it also means that those players lost their sharpness at a later point in the summer with their break, and thus it'll be later to return. (The one exception is Pepe Reina, who has been superb so far, but as a goalkeeper it's a different story regarding fitness.) Three further first-team players then went to the Olympics. I don't recall any other top club losing even two important players, let alone three. Add to that the injury that Ryan Babel picked up playing for Holland at the start of the summer, and how to me he didn't look fit enough to even be in Beijing, and it's added a significant handicap.

I have no problem with the international game. But it should never override the club game because clubs are the ones who employ the players, and whose fans generate the finance over ten months of a long season. That seems lost on some England-centric journalists. With everything taken into account, the Villa game was always going to be tricky. A lot of fans rightly talk about the importance of the league, but some seem to have this misconception (as does Andy Gray) that Benítez favours Europe. You only have to see games like Wednesday's, and how hysterical the reaction would have been had the Reds not overcome the Belgians, to know how difficult the balancing act of a Liverpool manager needs to be.

Europe is seen as having less importance by some – but only until the club are faced with elimination. Then, all of a sudden, it's the most important thing in the world. As such, the manager had to give that game his full attention, and that won't have helped preparations for the trip to Villa Park. Ideally the tie would have been won in Belgium, but it wasn't to be after a bad night. For the second leg Liverpool had to be slightly cautious because one goal conceded on the break would be costly. It was hard to go gung-ho with that in mind.

Rafa took a lot of stick for being negative, but he had two strikers up front, and a midfield comprising three attacking players –– Kuyt, Gerrard and Benayoun –– who scored over 40 goals between them last season, while Xabi Alonso nets more than almost any other sitting midfielder. (His record is almost twice as good as Didi Hamann's was during his stint at the club. And of course, Alonso even scores directly from the holding midfield area of the pitch.)

The start of the season is never about strutting about in style and winning plaudits not points, but getting results and gaining that extra sharpness; creating a solid platform to build on for when the team hits its stride. Excuse me for thinking it's a good start to see Liverpool in the group stages of the Champions League for the fifth successive season under Benítez, whilst having gained seven points from the opening three league games.

Like others I look forward to greater style and more goals arriving in due course – and I see no reason why it won't come when everyone's fit and sharp – but for now the ends totally justify the means.

Ps - I published this post because I am in TOTAL AGREEMENT with it. Damn the critics.