The team Dalglish selected was our best, and I was pleased to see our full-backs changed. Although Glen Johnson was unavailable through the birth of his child, the exclusion of Paul Konchesky from the squad signaled a change from Hodgson's conservative tactics and with the inclusion of Fabio Aurelio, who can pass the ball around, our return to our historic passing play.
The penalty given in the first minute was controversial , with Berbatov appearing to dive. Although I feel he did go down easily, Agger gave him the opportunity by lunging in unnecessarily. Steven Gerrard's dismissal was borderline. He did go in two footed and off the ground, but made minimal contact. By the letter of the law that is a sending off, whether contact was made or not, which may leave many fans aggrieved because of Rafael's tackle only minutes before. These two events cost us the game.
I think we should all take pride from the performance. The team played well and looked much more comfortable on the ball then we have recently. After Gerrard's dismissal, the team were particularly impressive in defence, although in attack we seemed to lack a cutting edge. The introduction of Babel and young Jonjo Shelvey in the second half added pace and enthusiasm to our attack. Shelvey seemed capable of running all day and his imagination proved to be an asset. Another notable performance was that of Martin Kelly. At such a young age, and playing out of position, he did extremely well against the likes of Giggs and Evra.
Although the result wasn't what we had hoped it would be, it may prove to be a blessing in disguise. With our squad lacking in quality, our team can now focus on the league and European competition, without midweek matches tiring our already depleted first team. I think we did ourselves proud today considering our current circumstances, when most people expected us to roll over, he fought bravely.
Have Faith!
You'll Never Walk Alone!
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