I’m of two minds about today’s match although both of them are unhappy with this result. One thought is that Everton, tied for second for the moment with Arsenal and having already won more games than in all of last season, are playing above their heads while we are missing four or five of our preferred starters though injury and had a tough match in midweek which Everton didn’t, not having qualified for Europe. The other is that this is a derby in which the Reds had an eight game winning streak and Benitez made a couple of puzzling choices in assembling the side; why were Alonso, Nunez and Finnan not on the pitch at the open?
Another question, which may be an artifact of the television broadcast rather than on the pitch actuality: Didn’t Everton have a player offside when Carsley made his goal-scoring shot? There was very definitely a blue shirt behind the last visible Liverpool defender and though he wasn’t involved in the play (even had his back to the goal) he also was at least partially blocking Kirkland’s view. I’m not sure exactly how the passive offsides rule might play in here but then again neither of the commentators made a mention nor did Benitez in what I saw of the post-game interviews.
Definitely an annoying outcome after Wednesday’s triumph against the Greeks, not to mention the glorious victory over Arsenal two weeks ago. You can talk about giving players like Alonso rest but, geez, couldn’t that wait until the much lower pressure of Tuesday’s match against Portsmouth?
BillSaysThis 