The good news is, Liverpool had their marquee players back. Torres, Kuyt, Gerrard, and Benayoun were all there to attack. Sotirios Kyrgiakos made his first start in a month on defense, and even Glen Johnson showed up in the second half.
The bad news is, none of that mattered. They were out hustled and out scored by the younger Wigan club, who made the most of what they had and easily deserved the win.
It was hard to watch… as the game went on you could see the desperation getting worse for Liverpool. Gerrard and Kuyt kept giving the ball away, and Torres kept getting angrier and angrier as defensive players physically rebuffed his attacks (an anger that I can only imagine is manifested in a high pitched squeaky sort of noise). And Carragher’s face, normally a ruddy shade, looked more and more beet-like as the clock wound down. Even coach Rafa Benitez seemed to be wringing his hands more than normal, as this was surely a game he counted on winning.
If there was a bright spot for the Reds, it was the strong defensive play of the 6 foot 4 inch poplar tree named Sotiros Kyrgiakos. He saved at least one goal, arguably two. His return, coupled with Johnson’s return, might mean that the defense steps it up a few notches. Maybe our anemic attack won’t be able to score, but at least the other team won’t be able to either, right?
The Europa League is way cooler than the Champions League anyway. Yeah, you do get more money for the Champions, but it’s all such a hassle. And that Champions League trophy, where would you even put such a thing? It is enormous…
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I know, it hurt me to watch too. So much potential, so little coordination. On the bright side, however, hopefully you saw Landon Donovan’s scorcher of a goal on Sunday. When you get a stadium full of Brits chanting “USA, USA” you’re doing pretty well.
I’ve been trying to catch as many of Lando’s games over there as I can – I didn’t catch that one but I did see the highlight. The Everton fans really love them some Donovan, and they’ve been pressuring him (begging him?) hard to consider a permanent move. Bruce Arena doesn’t seem too keen on that idea, though. And I know, his return is clearly the best thing for US Soccer and for the Galaxy… but coming back stateside is certainly not the best thing for Landon.