LVERPOOL FC 1 ARSENAL 2

It really was a tale of two halves yesterday.
In the first 45 minutes, Liverpool were by far the better team, knocking Arsenal out of their stride with our usual brand of muscular pacy play.
Mascherano was to the fore. There is nobody better than the Argie when he's playing like this. It's no wonder he picks up injuries when he flies around, relentlessly harrying and snapping at heels over and over again.
Would he get the same satisfaction playing in the more languid Serie A or La Liga? I doubt it. The Premiership, with all its blood and thunder, seems tailor made for him.
When he picked up his knock at the end of he first half, that seemed to knock the stuffing out of us and we never really recovered.
Wheras Arsenal's Song and Denilson had been initially harrassed to the point of distraction, they were suddenly allowed the time and space to play in the second half and it was a totally different game.

In truth, we should have been two up at half time. Torres missed a glaring chance when brilliantly set up by Gerrard, and Howard Webb crowned a truly shambolic display by failing to spot a stonewall penalty on Gerrard.
Granted, the captain had knocked the ball on a fair distance, and it's unlikely he would have caught up with he ball before it went out of play, but swiping an attacker's legs away is a foul. Plain and simple.
He reached he ball first, knocked it on, and Gallas took him out.
But the luck is somewhat against Liverpool at the moment. A bobble denying Ngog against Blackburn, now England's supposed premier referee blundering last weekend.

Saying that, you've still got to emerge for the second half and try and replicate what you've done in the first.
From the whistle, Arsenal took charge and we were miles off the pace. From 65 minutes onwards, Liverpool were frighteningly poor.
No control in midfield, individual defensive mistakes, and aimless punts up front to an increasingly disillusioned Torres.
Let's hope the Spaniard isn't already thinking why he's alongside some very mediocre, average footballers.
The woeful distribution from the back is becoming a massive handicap now. No wonder Arsenal scream HOOOOOOF when they come to Anfield. And they're not wrong. Aurelio and Carragher were particularly culpable on Sunday.
It got quite depressing seeing Torres having to fight in the air time after time against Gallas and Co.
The modern game is about athletes and footballers in every position, not just in midfield or up front. A player who can't play an incisive pass, no matter what his position, is a fundamental worry.
Take Arsenal, even their full backs and centre halves can use the football constructively.
Every player has immaculate control and they can all spot a pass or motor past a defender.
That's where Liverpool fall down. We rely on a handful of 5 or 6 to show the kind of vision needed to open up a well drilled defence.
Solely working hard, and busting a gut now is not enough. Yes, we need a Mascherano type player, but do we need Lucas in their aswell?

Speaking of midfielders, it's a shame Yossi Benayoun appears to be going through a very ordinary spell at present.
Let's hope it's just the after effects of his injuries that's hampering him, and not a player with his confidence on the wane.
We need the Israeli on top form in this barren spell.
All eyes then on Alberto Aquilani. It woul have been preferrable if the Italian was joining the side on a high, playing well, allowing him to slot into a well-oiled machine.
Asking him to reinvigorate an ailing Liverpool, so soon after major surgery, is a big, big ask.
And while it was good to see Kuyt get on the scoresheet yesterday, his performance was yet another example of the one-dimensional play that is hampering Liverpool. Lots of workrate but not the ingenuity or craft you'd expect from a £9 buy.

It would remiss not to mention a quite woeful performance by Webb last night. Time and time again he got decisions wrong, infuriating the crowd. Physicality is allowed in football Webb. If this is the best we can send to the World Cup, then I pity the sides who are set to be pained by his officialdom in South Africa.
And when is somebody going to get a handle on Cesc Fabregas? Always whining to referess at some perceived injustice.
He never left Webb alone for a minute, waving his arms in the air, complaining about anything and everything.
Funny that, I remember he got one of his best mates, Arteta, sent off at Goodison last year after another display of gamesmanship.
Great player Cesc, bad example on the pitch.

So, we're five points off 4th place at the moment, current occupied by Aston Villa, who can go to Old Trafford and dispense with Manchester United in front of 70,000 plus fans.
They're no pushovers now, Villa.
A lot of results went for us over the weekend, with Tottenham and Man City slipping up. But it's never been clearer that our expectations now are certainly no higher than that last Champions League spot.
After missing out on the Premiership title by a whisker last year, who thought times would be so hard this year?