Match in Mind 4, by Shadiq A-H. Free of Charge.
Bolton Wanderers 1-3 Liverpool
English Premier League
2/3/08
1.30pm
Reebok Stadium, Bolton
Intro: I wanted to watch this match because I had a feeling that Martin Skrtel was going to start for Liverpool, and I haven't really seen him play. And Rafa did play him. Thank goodness for his rotation policy? I also wanted to watch it cos the blog became so stagnant. I don't think many people actually read MiM but it would have added sth new to e blog. And of course, I wanted to watch it cos it was a Liverpool match. Ah I love the Reds. Oh and I forgot to say this. Martin Skrtel looks like that actor who acted in Prison Break, ah? That's if I remember that guy's face correctly.. or was it e guy in Heroes? Or Lost? Argh, I'll just think of the guy who acted in Bolton vs Liverpool la.
Tactics: Both teams were unsurprising. Bolton in their 4-3-3 (i think..) with El Hadji Diouf trying to influence e match from e right wing. Didn't work though. Bolton playing with aerial balls to Kevin Davies often too. And Liverpool playing their usual 4-4-2, with Steven Gerrard changing from CM to RM to RF occasionally. Jamie Carragher, however, started at RB. I was abit surprised by this, but jus thought that Rafa probly decided to play the unfamiliar pair of Sami Hyypia and Skrtel as CBs cos Bolton don't have much pace upfront. Carragher was, though, quite surprising cos he kept going up the right flank trying to do something haha.. never seen Carragher do that. He was always e uncompromising, clearance-is-first, English, defender haha.
My Man of the Match: Ryan Babel (Liverpool). Came back into the team and did what he does best. Made fast runs down the left flank whenever Liverpool had the ball, causing trouble for Bolton and creating an option to attack. By doing that, he let Liverpool score their 1st and 2nd goals. He scored the 2nd goal himself, actually. On a few occasions, made fast runs down the left, Recieved the ball from the midfielders, continued running with the ball, turned inside onto his right foot and shot with power. 2 of those shots could have almost been goals, had Jussi Jaaskelainen (who made a huge blooper to let Liverpool score their 1st goal) not saved them. He showed again why they call him the next Thierry Henry.
"What the..?": Hyypia went up into Bolton's half for a corner kick and when it was not completely cleared, he took a shot with a bicycle kick. Haha? In other words, he did something I've never seen him even try before. It would have been even more of a "What the.." thing if he scored with the bicycle kick.
Commentator's memorable quotes: Again, I didn't catch e commentator's name. But caught a few good quotes! He was as intrigued as I was about Carragher playing at RB. "There's Carragher, 50 yards further up the field than normal.", "Don't know if everyone in the Liverpool board was really happy with Gerrard's honesty this week.", "Jaaskelainen would be given credit for that as an own goal.. no I don't think credit is e right word to use." - Commentator.
Implications/Expectations: Liverpool looked comfortable. This may help Rafa reduce e pressure on him. However, Bolton didn't at all look like they were at their best. The match meant that Liverpool move back into the top 4, back into that highly-wanted top 4 spot. Carragher could now be expected by a few people to become Liverpool's first choice RB, too. But I don't think that will happen, or at least not until Hyypia and Skrtel play more easily together at CB, or at least not until Steve Finnan or Alvaro Arbeloa suffer serious injuries (which I hope never happens).
See u all in sch tmr.
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