[Freddie and I and the old Joe DiMaggio statue at the last Joe DiMaggio Day at Yankee Stadium in 1998. I am wearing the 97 or 98 away kit so that's your tie in.]
Let’s talk Liverpool Football. The 5th Rd FA Cup game vs Barnsley is going on now. Dirk Kuyt has scored on 32′. Reina is not in goal. Gerrard is dressed but not starting. Hyypia, a beautiful blast from recent Red past, is the centerback and they are playing an unlikely 3-4-3, with Kuyt, Babbel and Crouch up front. Carragher, Hyypia and Finnan are the lone back 3. My goodness Cara is a hard man. Does he EVER get a match off to put his feet up? Midfield is Riise, Xabi (brutal late challenge) Alonso, Benayoun and Leivia Lucas.
I’ve been ripping Kuyt because he is slow and not creating any mayhem up front. I’m not the only one, Rafa has had to defend his form recently. His goal was the creation of my new favorite: Ryan Babbel. Babbel took the ball deep and then cut it back to a totally unmarked Kuyt. He had time to stop it and wind up and hit it. Gobs and gobs of unmarked time that you get once in a while against Barnsley, but that you NEVER get against Inter or Chelsea or Man U or frankly, ANY Premiership team. So don’t get all, “Kuyt-is-an-effective-weapon-again” on me. BABBEL is more and more becoming an effective weapon and if you saw the Chelsea match, you saw that Gerrard was just IGNORING an open Kuyt up the right side to play balls to Babbel in traffic.
Now look, Babbel isn’t world class yet. He needs polish. But he has all the elements of a guy who can slash and burn defenses and with Torres in the side for the defenses to contend with, you need a second threat to work to if they have Torres loaded up. I see big things for Babbel and for Liverpool if Babbel improves and gets confidence.
Great to see old Sammy Hyypia going forward with aplomb and playing his old role again today. Go Sammy. Show Crouchy what your head is for.
*** 45 minutes later ***
Well, Rafa has subbed Harry Kewell for the productive Babbel. Why? I don’t know. This guy Kewell is the John McCain of Liverpool. Everyone has done nothing but rave about the Aussie since he got there but I’ve never seen him do squat. And sure enough, his first 3 touches completely blow good Liverpool runs forward. He does absolutely NOTHING with the ball. Later on, he stops good offense cold by pausing and then blasting the ball because nothing better has occurred to him to do. How did this guy snow everyone all these years? He’s a bum!
I remember when he came on in the Champs League final and everyone in the bar in midtown Manhattan cheered. Again, I thought, “…why are you cheering? He’s not going to do a thing!” And he didn’t. I’ve never seen a guy just continue to get good press and fool everyone. I mean, these people watch every touch and debate every play. Read Red All Over the Land or Through the Wind and the Rain. These are serious fanzines that just scorch anyone who doesn’t perform. HOW HOW HOW did Kewell escape their wrath all these years?
It’s the same with John McCain. He’s done absolutely NOTHING except go against his own party for the last 8 or 10 years. His Feingold-McCain campaign finance reform bill is a gift from Santa Claus for the Democrats, but he is praised for it. And with all of his anti-Republican behavior, he is somehow the nominee! At least with McCain you can understand that the Liberal media has pushed him hard all these years because he has been such a Democrat deep in Republican territory. They gave him a huge tailwind, so I get some of that. But with both Kewell and McCain, there are elements I don’t understand, namely: Are people really WATCHING!?!? Do they see what I SEE?
Back to the game: Barnsley scores on a nice cross. Riise marked his man pretty close but the guy got the cross off and somewhat unexpectedly, because the head was right over Cara. He was down and the man got the air and put it home. Good goal. Good for you Barnsley. I’ve often wondered how amazing it must feel for one of these lower teams to come into Anfield and score an FA Cup goal like that. I mean, how many times did they play that scenario out on the school ground as kids? A 1000?
So Liverpool puts on the captain, Steven Gerrard. And you LOVE to see that with the Champs Lg game vs Inter on Tuesday. Just what you didn’t want. And right away, you see Gerrard making nice space and creating and giving nice balls to…Kewell up the left. Not Babbel, who it should have been. And Kewell squanders the chances.
So, after some of the best attacking footy action I’ve seen, for a good 10 minute stretch, Barnsley gets into the box and thinks they have a PK. The ref isn’t biting. And not 30 seconds after the appeal, their captain collects the ball and slashes a few yards and beats the Liverpool keeper near post. A beautiful goal. Bedlam at Anfield. Bless you, Barnsley: You deserved it. Enjoy it and talk about it for year–you earned it.
To Liverpool, I say, you deserved to lose. You underestimated a determined and professional side. They ate your lunch in your building. You played 3 men forward against a lower div side and couldn’t muster but one goal at home! Babbel was the goalmaker. Kuyt and Crouch couldn’t do ANYthing with the good chances they were given. They are clowns. Crouch is not a world class player. Kuyt is not even a first teamer anymore. Babbel came off for Kewell and his nonsense. You have to use Gerrard anyway. You now go into the biggest match of the year on Tuesday with Inter, feeling like a bunch of bums off of this! My goodness Rafa, what are you thinking?
I know this is fantasy, but how many of those chances in front of goal today would Robbie Fowler have messed up? If you ask me (no one has), these types of matches at Anfield are MADE for Fowler! You say he’s too slow to create much but really, what the hell does Crouch do to create and move? He needs TOTAL, 100% perfect service and even THEN, he doesn’t slot all of them home. Balls Fowler would put away in his SLEEP! Listen, you can insert a lot of striker’s names in there for Fowler. I know his day is gone. I’m just using him as an example to put an image in people’s minds. The 3 people who read this. Enjoy your Saturday. Well done Barnsley! Conrats! Amazing game there, today! –Fog
