Kenny Dalglish stood in the Anfield dugout as Liverpool manager on Sunday for the first time in 20 Years and although the circumstances are very different it was the same opponents and a similar result points wise. The supporters have had a lift over the last few weeks which arrived along with the return of King Kenny and in around the ground you could feel the anticipation. This was a huge game for Liverpool given the run we have been on and the opponents, add in the King's first game at home since his return and our position in the table and most people were in agreement that this game was worth more than simply three points.
POSITIVES
We Started Brightly: It was such a big game, as mentioned above, that really there wouldn't have been much excuse for the lads not to have started with a bang, but with confidence and performances the way they have been recently it was essential that we started well. We certainly did that with Torres having the games first effort on target after 15 seconds.
Torres continued to perform: After his goal during the week it was good to see that Torres' performance didn't dip. He may not have got on the scoresheet on the day, although he did come close when hitting the post, but he was a danger to Everton all day. He worked very hard all day and he looks like a much more free player under Kenny.
Attacking full backs: Some people in the press seemed to be very surprised that Martin Kelly started at right back at the expense of Glen Johnson being moved to the left but in fairness Kelly is in better form right now and therefore had to be the first choice at right back. Konchesky as most will have seen hasn't been in great form, and Aurelio still isnt at top fitness so it made sense for Glen to start on the left. Both full backs were able to get forward quickly and effectively with Glen Johnson crossing in the build up to Meireles' opener. Martin Kelly carried the ball up the pitch excitingly and lifted the fans up off their seat more than a few times.
We got back in into the game: While leaving the how's and why's of going behind in the first place to the next portion of this column, the fact that we managed to comeback after going behind in very shocking circumstances has to be seen as a major positive. The players had to lift them from a major low and must surely have garnered some confidence from rescuing a point.
Meireles' first goal: Raul has really started to settle into this team and it was great to see him get his first goal in the red shirt. He has showed in similar positions a number of times this season but not managed to score so hopefully this will be the first of many. He has never really been a goalscorer throughout his career 4/5 goals a season from a deep lying midfielder would come in handy, especially this season!
NEGATIVES
Confidence is obviously still very low: It was unfortunate that when we were on top in the first half we didnt manage to score more than the one goal. It meant that when the blues started brightly in the second half and managed to get a goal our boys legs went to jelly. At the moment its just something we have just had to put with until manage to get that elusive victory or manage to put a game to bed when clearly on top. It would be easy to point to defensive frailties here for allowing the first goal, and I have seen plenty of journo's taking great pleasure in ripping Martin Skrtel to shreds for allowing Distin to get free but i really do think this kind of mistake has been happening all over the pitch, like Meireles' wayward pass which opened the door for Blackpool in midweek. Players are nervous right now, and nervous players make mistakes. Once confidence improves i am sure personal performances will improve too.
The bounce of the ball: As always seems to happen to teams when going through spells like this, luck just seems to be going against us right now. You can point at the fact that we won a penalty but regardless of what Moyes says it was a penalty, fair enough it was intelligent play from Maxi to get in between Howard and the ball but that doesn't change the fact that Howard never got the ball. So thats not good luck, thats just getting what you deserve. To show our bad luck right now i would just have to point to the fact that the corner from which Everton opened their account was quite obviously a goal kick. I'm not blaming that specifically on us conceding as we still had plenty of opportunity to stop the goal but it certainly shows our bad luck. As does the clear foul on Martin Kelly in the build up to Everton's second which left him in a heap on the deck as Beckford fired home, again we should still have stopped it.
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