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Slipperduke

The Camden Cad
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Messages
4,333
Location
North London
Liverpool finally joined up with their compatriots in the last eight of the Champions League on Wednesday morning and sent out an ominous message to the rest of Europe in the process. Inter Milan will complain bitterly about another harsh red card, but the truth is that they have been absolutely out-Italianed over the course of this tie. Rafa Bentez has yet to prove himself dominant in the Premier League, but he is a tactical genius in this arena, where defending and counter-attacking is so important.

As Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese warlord, once said, “He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.”

Benitez has never had any problem knowing when not to fight, it’s getting his teams to attack that’s always the been the issue. In recent weeks, however, something has clicked with this Liverpool side and they suddenly look balanced and dangerous. Now when they line up and try to protect an advantage they have a structure that allows them to break out and launch the occasional assault on their opponents. They don’t just sit deep and wait for something to happen, they pick and choose their moments, always creating enough of a threat to throw their enemies off balance. Sun Tzu would be very impressed.

This was a sixth successive win for the Reds and, as has been the case so often, it was secured by a moment of magic from Fernando Torres. Not since Jurgen Klinsmann has a foreign striker settled into an English side so quickly. Even Thierry Henry needed six months to acclimatise. Torres is a legitimate phenomenon. His crucial goal was so clinical, so effortless and so beautiful. It was the mark of a man at the top of his game.

Inter Milan had scattered chances to get back into the game, but instead of Torres, they had to rely on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, an unworthy rival. The towering Swede has a huge reputation, but I have to confess that I have never seen any evidence of talent to back it up. He did nothing in the 2006 World Cup, I saw him lope hopelessly around the Emirates Stadium in the summer and he was equally underwhelming here. His only involvement was to miss two golden opportunities and sulk for the rest of the game. Julio Cruz, his Argentine strike partner, was far more effective.

Even Tom Henning Ovrebo made more of a mark on this game. The Norwegian referee handed cautions out like business cards at a sales conference. Not only did he bring a premature end to an enthralling contest by sending off Nicolas Burdisso for his enthusiastic challenge on Lucas, but he spent the rest of the match trying to even up the numbers. Nine yellow cards in a game played in good spirits is daft and Liverpool will have to hope that the four bookings they received won’t come back to haunt them later on.

“I don’t think anyone will want to get us in the last eight,” said Steven Gerrard after the game and it’s difficult to argue with him. The only rotation in this Liverpool side now is when Fernando Torres turns defenders inside out. Consistency has crept into the team, in formation, personnel and performance. Martin Skrtel looks like a fine signing, Pepe Reina is back to top form and Lucas and Javier Mascherano have formed a rearguard that few teams will be able to break down.

Benitez’s only concern will have been the individual errors that led to Inter Milan’s fleeting attempts on his goal. For an obsessive like him, it will have been frustrating to see possession squandered in dangerous positions. He, like Sun Tzu will know that, “making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.”

The rest of Europe will just have to hope that he doesn’t manage to eradicate those errors before the next round.
 
Same goes for Harry Redknapp as well....
This refusal to speak to the BBC just makes them look petulant and stupid.

Actually I notice that 'Arry seems to have buried the hatchet with the Beeb and now gives interviews again, Just Sir Alex and Big Sam that still wheel out the no.2 for the Beeb cameras.
 
At least somebody agrees with me about Ibrahimovich. The single most overrated player in the world... Has all the tricks in the book, but offers little to nothing in terms of an end product everytime i've seen him. He's the Jamal Campbell-Ryce for the insanely rich.
 
EastStandBlue said:
At least somebody agrees with me about Ibrahimovich. The single most overrated player in the world... Has all the tricks in the book, but offers little to nothing in terms of an end product everytime i've seen him. He's the Jamal Campbell-Ryce for the insanely rich.
I've always thought that (not the JCR bit, but the rest of it). Totti's another one. I've never seen him have a good game.
 
I just don't understand the hype. He must have done something at some point to warrant his reputation, I just wish someone would tell me what it was!
 
Spot on about the FA cup Slipper, I totally agree, what a great year for the neutral too!! The prospect we all thought we faced of another 2 hours infront of the box watching Man U v Chelsea was bringing me close to tears!!

I now cant wait til cup final day
 
At least somebody agrees with me about Ibrahimovich. The single most overrated player in the world... Has all the tricks in the book, but offers little to nothing in terms of an end product everytime i've seen him. He's the Jamal Campbell-Ryce for the insanely rich.

Same here.

Mind you I never use to rate Davids or Seedorf. They were continually rubbish for Holland and I couldn't work out how they'd got their reputation. Eventually I saw them both have good games for their clubs, and realised why they were so highly regarded.

The other one as bad as Ibrahimovich is Inzaghi. Constantly off-side, misses more than he scores, yet somehow finishes with a respectable goal tally. A poor man's Andy Cole.
 
I just don't understand the hype. He must have done something at some point to warrant his reputation, I just wish someone would tell me what it was!

I believe it might have something to do with this (which is one of the all-time great goals in my book), but as you say, he seems to be living more off of his reputation than anything else these days.
 
Same here.

Mind you I never use to rate Davids or Seedorf. They were continually rubbish for Holland and I couldn't work out how they'd got their reputation. Eventually I saw them both have good games for their clubs, and realised why they were so highly regarded.

The other one as bad as Ibrahimovich is Inzaghi. Constantly off-side, misses more than he scores, yet somehow finishes with a respectable goal tally. A poor man's Andy Cole.

The thing with Inzaghi is that its perfectly acceptable in italian football for him to sit on the defenders shoulder and take the chance of being caught offside 20 times a game, because the 1 time he breaks it he usually scores. In Italian football thats usually enough to get a result.
Thats why shevchenko and crespo struggled here, in italian football its the movement and having the killer instinct in the final 3rd.. they werent expected to come back and defend - just save their energy for the few chances that came their way. Crespo is one of the best strikers ive ever seen for his movement off the ball - its just a shame for him his midfield supply line was touch and shoot lampard
 
I believe it might have something to do with this (which is one of the all-time great goals in my book), but as you say, he seems to be living more off of his reputation than anything else these days.

Ah, yes. Well, that is quite impressive. Mind you, it is 4-1 with not long left...

Maybe he'll be better this weekend against Palermo. Maybe he might think he has something to prove.
 
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