After consecutive back-to-back draws at home, Liverpool got back to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at the weekend.
The decision to start the inexperienced Emiliano Insua was a brave one by Rafael Benitez. His choice to start Yossi Benayoun looked to be a borderline suicidal one in terms of tactical decisions. What could a player of Benayoun’s ability bring to a relatively full strength Liverpool side?
Those voices of doubts coming from Reds’ supporters, including myself, were silenced when the Israeli scored in the 79th minute, ten minutes after Liverpool had broken the deadlock through Xabi Alonso.
Up until that point Liverpool’s performance had been very reminiscent of the games with Fulham and West Ham – a scrappy performance where chances weren’t converted.
As with their previous two opponents, Liverpool allowed Blackburn the space and freedom to attack Pepe Reina’s goal. The Spanish stopper was called into action a few times in the first half, most notably to tip Pedersen’s goal-bound shot onto the bar. The second half was a little bit different but the Reds’ defence were caught napping late on when Santa Cruz headed home as Rovers trailed 2-0.
It was nice to see Steven Gerrard score the third goal at the club he made his debut against in November 1998. Whilst he has been our best player in those ten years he will need to adapt to life on the right to accommodate the team’s style of play. The central midfield pairing of Alonso and Mascherano has worked to Liverpool’s advantage this season but such is the impact of Gerrard on the team that Benitez has been unable to omit him from his preferred position.
Dirk Kuyt is once again proving his worth with a tireless work rate which would be better utilised in a second striker role behind Fernando Torres as opposed to the right wing. This would solve the problem of where to put Gerrard but it would not solve the problem of Robbie Keane.
The former Spurs striker was an unused sub on Saturday and there have been strong rumours linking him with a move back to White Hart Lane for as little as £5 million after a poor start to his Anfield career.
Whether the rumours are true or not, Keane is going to struggle to fit into a side where Benitez has every position pretty much covered. His lack of confidence is plain for all to see as he fails to reproduce the form that saw him gain such cult hero status at Tottenham and at £20.3 million it could prove to be a signing Benitez, who claimed Keane was Liverpool’s ‘missing link’, will regret.
