Steven Gerrard capped an excellent display against Bolton on Saturday with a sublime lofted pass into the box for Torres to finish superbly in front of the Kop and a pin-point cross to the far post which resulted in Joe Cole’s tap-in winner. Gerrard was the difference between winning and loosing against resilient opposition.
Once again, after the first half it didn’t look good as Liverpool trailed 1-0 to a Kevin Davies header from a cross that should never have been allowed to reach him. The lack in confidence in the team was highlighted by probably the miss of the season when Lucas had a tap in opportunity from literally a few feet to make it 1-1 but somehow he managed to scuff his shot wide. But a more cohesive, more aggressive, Liverpool appeared from the tunnel for the second half and in the end they totally deserved the win which came in the 92nd minute. A much-needed 3 points and a much-needed boost to the confidence of Fernando Torres who looked a different player after he had scored.
No one can be more relieved with the result than Roy Hodgson, although he knows more than anyone this doesn’t change the fact that his tenure as Liverpool manager hangs on a knife-edge. A bad result on Wednesday at Blackburn would surely be the end even though players like Joe Cole, in an after-match interview, says the team are fully behind him. However, if you believe a report in The Telegraph today, Hodgson’s end is immanent and that Kenny Dalglish will likely become the caretaker manager until the summer while NESV search for a long-term replacement. We shall see.
One very troubling statistic from Saturday’s game was the attendance of only 34,500, the lowest in a Premier league game since 2004. That’s almost 11,000 empty seats which is another illustration of how Liverpool’s poor form is translating into lower revenue’s, something I’m sure the new owners will be taking extremely seriously.
Let’s just hope the positives from this game translate into a positive, 3 point result, on Wednesday.
