MiM 7: Liverpool vs Everton

Match in Mind 7, by Shadiq A-H. Free of Charge.

Liverpool 1-0 Everton

English Premier League

30/3/08

3.00pm

Anfield, Liverpool

.

Intro: I dont really need to explain why I wanted to watch this match, right? Merseyside derby! 2nd biggest fixture in Liverpool's calendar every year, behind e match against Man Utd, but I'm not too sure.. this could be e biggest. And there was another reason I wanted to watch this, as these are the 2 teams that are going for 4th place in the EPL. 4th place means a Champions League appearance and lots of TV money. So, a win for Liverpool would have brought them 5 points in front of Everton in 4th place.

Tactics: Both teams had their usual formations. Liverpool have started using this 4-4-2 with Steven Gerrard just behind Fernando Torres regulary recently, and it really looks like it's working. Everton used their usual 4-4-1-1 with Aiyegbeni Yakubu as e lone striker. No surprises in the lineups too, as Lucas Leiva started with Xabi Alonso in Liverpool's centre midfield. Everton had a real lack of strikers, as they even had no strikers or striker-like players in their substitutes, and an injury to Yakubu could have killed them.

My Man of the Match: Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool). He played at right midfield, which has also become regular for Liverpool recently. And as usual, he ran and ran, fighting for every ball, never slowing down. I really respect this guy for this.. he never considers a ball a lost cause. Gave a little extra to Liverpool's attack today. And he was alert to take advantage of Everton's slowness in clearing a corner kick, and so stole e ball and put it nicely in front of Fernando Torres, who, in e form he's in, was surely going to score that one (and he did, btw. that was e only goal, in e 7th min). Kuyt was subbed out in e last few mins for Jermaine Pennant.

“What the..?”: Only one incident haha. And it wasn't something that happened on e field. It was when, in e 75th min or so, Torres was stopped for offside, but e ball had been kicked into e stands. What e Liverpool fans in e stands should/would normally have done was return e ball quickly to e field. However, as e ball made its way down e stands, one joker (teenage boy in e 1st row) threw e ball to a ball boy standing at e corner flag, instead of Everton's Tim Howard who was waiting for it. And when e ball boy rolled e ball by e side (at Anfield, e stands are only like 3m from e field) and e ball went beside e advertisement boards (which are right in front of e stands), tt joker picked e ball up, and again threw it towards e ball boy. Not funny. I know u're a Liverpool fan (well, so am i, u know?) and ur team is against Everton, but u're jus wasting time and not helping ur team at all. u should have thought of that before doing wat u did, teenage boy in e 1st row.

Commentator’s memorable quotes: Alan Perry was commentating. There were very very very few comments about e Merseyside significance of this match, and most of e comments about e significance of e match were just about how both teams were e 2 teams with a real chance of 4th place. But yes, got a few quotes. "Once Torres gets into tt position, u know where it's ending up", "if tt had gone in, it would hv been, even by Gerrard's standards, a good goal", "Gerrard to Ryan Babel, that's a good ball.. and that's not a good ball" - Perry.

Implications/Expectations: 6 matches remaining and Liverpool are 5 points in front of Everton. And both teams have a similar set of 6 matches left. This fight for 4th place is surely not over yet, but this was a very very very very very important win, as it was against e competitors for 4th place themselves. And a derby win will surely boost Liverpool's confidence, which is so good because of the Champions' League quarter final coming up this week.

Champs League q-finals this week, can't wait. But argh, chem test this week too, can wait. But argh, match against HCI this week too, can't wait. But Kalai Vizha was a grand success haha.. thanks Aravind for e help too. This week, let's just wait la.

See u all in sch tmr. oops, this week has started, no chance to wait.