Stoke City 2 Liverpool 0
Stoke recorded their second home win of the week with their first ever victory in the Premier League over Liverpool at the Britannia Stadium. Second half goals from Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones moved Tony Pulis’s side into the top half at the expense of Roy Hodgson’s men. The visiting Merseysiders were not at the races and their performance can be summed up by the atrocious ball star striker Fernando Torres attempted after receiving the ball from substitute David Ngog which landed somewhere in the crowd. Liverpool could barely string a couple of passes together and this poor distribution was coupled with a lethargic approach to winning the second ball.
Early penalty shouts for the home side were turned down by referee Mark Halsey. From a trademark Rory Delap throw Maxi Rodriguez appeared to barge Fuller over whilst Martin Skrtel had more than an obstructive hold on Robert Huth. Whilst for me the first incident was unconvincing, I have never rated Liverpool’s Slovakian centre half. He has always struck me as a player in the mould of Nemanja Vidic: overly physical, lacking pace or composure on the ball, but good in the air. Huth himself is a big lad and with his frame doesn’t go down easily. Whilst Premier League clubs have begun to neutralise the effectiveness of Delap’s gifts, Hodgson’s side struggled with it. It was from a similar situation that Stoke took the lead with ten minutes of the second half played. The long throw caused confusion in the visiting ranks and after a pinball-like scramble, Fuller toe-poked home from a couple of yards out at the second time of asking. There’s no point in sugar coating it, it was such a scrappy goal.
The defending was far from good, the lack of closing players down and not clearing the ball are all cause for concern on Merseyside. What worries me more is the personnel. It was fine to play Jamie Carragher at full-back in the past, but he is thirty-three in a couple of months. His pace is largely gone and I’ve never seen a player so negative in his distribution from that berth in the top flight. He didn’t execute a forward pass or produce a cross that got anywhere near his teammates. Carragher only successfully passed the ball backwards or sideways, which carries its own dangers. With him and Raul Meireles on the right, there was no width. The left flank wasn’t much better. Konchesky always provides an outlet and makes positive runs to be fair, but Maxi in front of him was always going to cut inside onto his stronger foot.
Stoke started the game really brightly and were on top for most of the first half. Jones continues to pose an aerial threat, yet it was with his feet that he punished Liverpool as the match entered second half stoppage time. The Merseyside messiah Steven Gerrard gave the ball away and seconds later it was in the back of the net, Andy Wilkinson finding Jermaine Pennant who played in the Trinidadian frontman to calmly slot past Pepe Reina. He had had an earlier chance to wrap up the points, but his touch had let him down. From a long ball Jones peeled away from Skrtel, but taking it out of the air forced him wide and he dragged the shot across goal.
Lucas continues to blow hot and cold, mainly cold. His ill-discipline got him two bookings and the sending off that inevitably brings to compound Liverpool’s misery. He was yellow carded for a foul on Fuller before the hour and then sent off for a challenge on Matthew Etherington after the second goal. Speaking of the left winger the only thing tactically from Stoke that surprised me was that they didn’t really give him a chance to run at Carragher. It is curious when you consider the former West Ham player has been in good form with the assists this season. When the away side did have the ball the Potters were quick to close them down, hurrying them, but few if any players were making themselves available to receive a pass anyway. Hodgson said after the game Torres was carrying a knock on his ankle which is a real concern for a club that lacks depth in the striking department. Their performances must improve.
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