Articles
Tight at the back
by Anthony Jones at Talklfc
Having put down the deposit on the trip to Cardiff in the first leg, Steven Gerrard last night made the final installment and ensured Liverpool's Millennium experience would go ahead. The game had a slightly odd feel throughout. Having ensured that this wasn't a dead rubber in the first leg, Watford seemed strangely inhibited compared to their efforts in the first game. Liverpool also looked more secure as Benitez returned to a five man midfield. Liverpool almost always felt comfortable, yet Watford for the most part kept an interest in the tie.
With Finnan returning injury to take the right back birth, Benitez was able to return Carragher to the centre of defence. With Hyypia injured it was no great surprise that the Englishman was back at the heart of the defence, and it appeared his teammates looked more comfortable having him there. Pellegrino made his third appearance since arriving from Valencia, with Traore completing the back four and hoping to make a better impression after his FA Cup howler. Dudek again continued in goal, Carson's arrival does not appear to have yet changed Benitez's mind on who should be the club's number one.
The biggest surprise was to see Baros line up on the right of midfield, allowing Gerrard to push further forward centrally. This adjustment allowed the recall of Biscan to midfield to help provide greater defensive solidity alongside Hamann who has struggled in the past week. Riise continued on the left, whilst Morientes was employed as a lone frontman as he searched for his first Liverpool goal.
The opening twenty minutes went by without any great fuss. Liverpool's first task was to prevent Watford getting a confidence boosting opener. This they did without any great challenge. Carragher was composed at the back, as he has been all season and took a great deal of pressure off Pellegrino who is clearly still not up to the pace of the English game. At the other end, Liverpool's final ball was often poor. Igor Biscan, lambasted after his inept Burnley performance was again struggling to find a team mate with his passing, though his work rate was much improved compared to his FA Cup showing. Hamann, with the extra body alongside him was back to his typical efficient best, whilst Gerrard seemed happier with the freedom he was being afforded.
Out wide Liverpool were not creating much. Neither wide player was seeing much of the ball in dangerous areas, with Baros unsurprisingly drifting inside at times to try and get involved. The decision to move Baros wide in truth was far from a total success, though the Czech striker showed admirable efforts for his team in tracking back on a number of occasions to break up Watford play.
Liverpool's setpiece play was also poor on the night. Numerous corners were won and few came to anything. Liverpool's first real chance did however come from one of the few set pieces that worked. A corner on the Liverpool right was rolled in low by Gerrard to Morientes on the near post. The Spaniard's first touch was good, picking out the pre-planned run of Riise to setup a strike. However the ball was too close to Riise and he was unable to direct his shot on target.
At the other end Helgusson was holding the ball up well for Watford and giving them a platform, but Liverpool were much more organised than they had been in the past week. Helgusson did get a shot in from distance during one attack but it went well wide. Liverpool created another chance, Biscan chipped the ball into Morientes' feet on the edge of the box, however the striker was beaten to the ball by his marker. The ball broke to Gerrard who returned the ball first time to put Morientes through, the striker shot at goal, but Neil Cox had done well to recover and deflected the ball just wide of the near post. It would have been cruel luck on Cox if the deflection had gone in after his part in Liverpool's goal in the first leg.
Watford then won a corner. The ball was swung in and Liverpool cleared. Suddenly Liverpool were on the attack with Gerrard in possession and more options than defenders. A goal seemed inevitable. Gerrard drove forward to the left hand edge of the Watford box, a player to his left, Baros and Morientes to his right. It seemed he wouldn't need them as he looked to take another touch before shooting, however his control was poor. The ball travelled further from Gerrard than he planned, and with a defender closing he looked to square the ball to Morientes, however the pass was too far in front of him, and behind Baros who tried to recover the attack, but Watford now had numbers back.
The was a moment of controversy in the closing minutes of the half as Bouazza chased a ball into the box as Watford enjoyed their best period of pressure. Finnan slid in to compete for the ball and the Watford man went down. Finnan had clearly caught the attacker but it was unclear whether he'd made contact with the ball. Mike Riley felt it wasn't a penalty and waved play on. Watford managed to return the ball into the box, and a moment of panic ensued before the danger was eventually cleared.
The second half remained tight, with Liverpool for the large part in control without ever really dominating the game. With five minutes of the half Baros had a chance to seal the tie, with Gerrard picking out the perfectly timed run of the Czech striker. Clean through, Baros powered towards the goal, however on reaching the edge of the box he crucially attempted to cut inside and allowed Cox to get a tackle in.
The few chances that were being created we almost all coming to Liverpool now. Gerrard chased a ball into the box and beat Chambers to it, the Watford defender regained his feet and nudged into the Liverpool captain. It was the slightest of touches, yet Gerrard went down claiming the penalty. Riley, rightly waved play on and Gerrard was left to rue not taking the ball on having got goal side of his opponent.
Morientes who was becoming more of a feature in the match had a couple of chances to score. First of all a run inside nearly opened up the Watford defence, but his shot was blocked by anyone of a number of Watford defenders. He then rose majestically to win a header from a rare well delivered Liverpool corner, but having got to the ball he failed to get much purchase on it.
The winner did finally come and with Gerrard in such good goal scoring form this season, it was no surprise to see the skipper end the tie as a competition. Having flicked the ball on at halfway, Gerrard continued his run and picked the ball back up off a team mate. He continued his run centrally and then with Morientes dragging the left back out of position with a cross field run, he moved the ball to his right side and struck across Jones and into the bottom corner. It was a goal of simple brilliance.
Watford as they did for the whole of the two legs showed great fight and nearly snatched a goal back late on. A corner was headed goalwards by the impressive Helgusson but his effort went just over. Watford will be hoping that Premiership clubs continue not to show an interest in their striker who would surely not look out of place a division higher.
The only other action of note was an injury to Sinama-Pongolle. The young striker had replaced Baros on the right and within two minutes of coming on he was chasing back towards his own goal. Showing great pace he beat his man to the ball but then mishit his pass allowing a Watford player to get in. Trying to recover, Sinama turned quickly but caught his studs in the ground, turning his ankle. It's an injury that might see Sinama joined the list of players ruled out for the season.
And so, without much drama Liverpool had booked their place in the Carling Cup final. Watford gave all they had and were a credit to themselves and their fans, however ultimately over two legs, the difference in ability was just a little too much to bridge. Watford will rue missed chances in the first leg which would have made the tie more interesting and would have applied greater pressure to a Liverpool side short on confidence.
For Liverpool this is a much win and gives Benitez the opportunity of taking silverware in his first season. It would be a highlight in what has so far been a tough transitional year. However there is still a great deal of work to do, with Liverpool's opponents either Chelsea who have been brilliant this season, though fortunate in taking three points at Anfield, or Manchester United, local rivals. Either way, it's going to be a great occasion.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez: "It was a very, very important for us, the supporters and the club. We are in the final, we know it was difficult tonight, but we are there. We were always thinking about the game - not about people talking. We prefer to work and now we will try to give our supporters the cup. We have a very good squad with good professionals and good players and played a good game tonight."
Watford manager Ray Lewington: "Fair play to Liverpool, they came today and restricted what we could do. They changed their system and stifled us and they did all the ugly things well. They closed us down quickly. We tried hard but we couldn't break them down and we didn't have much of a chance on goal."
"I think they paid us some respect tonight. They played it right and it was frustrating for us but they did the job well. The FA Cup defeat and the poor performance at Southampton made them more determined to do a job tonight. I think what it did was concentrate their minds that they had to go through and they changed their systems - but we did not have enough to open them up."
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard: "We've used 4-5-1 before in the league and it's worked quite well. It means we can also have three up front, or three central midfielders. We had a game-plan before the game and it worked today. When you are drawn against a team lower it's a potential banana skin."
"We've coped well over the two legs but Watford have done well and, give them credit, they made it hard work for us. We've got a cup final to look forward to in front of 70,000 people at Cardiff. As a professional you want to play in as many finals as you can."
Liverpool fullback Steve Finnan: "Last week was a disappointing week but we've got confidence in everyone's ability. We were up for it tonight and I think we deserved it on the night. We knew what score would get us through - we kept tight at the back and Steven popped up with the goal."
© Anthony Jones
Having put down the deposit on the trip to Cardiff in the first leg, Steven Gerrard last night made the final installment and ensured Liverpool's Millennium experience would go ahead. The game had a slightly odd feel throughout. Having ensured that this wasn't a dead rubber in the first leg, Watford seemed strangely inhibited compared to their efforts in the first game. Liverpool also looked more secure as Benitez returned to a five man midfield. Liverpool almost always felt comfortable, yet Watford for the most part kept an interest in the tie.
With Finnan returning injury to take the right back birth, Benitez was able to return Carragher to the centre of defence. With Hyypia injured it was no great surprise that the Englishman was back at the heart of the defence, and it appeared his teammates looked more comfortable having him there. Pellegrino made his third appearance since arriving from Valencia, with Traore completing the back four and hoping to make a better impression after his FA Cup howler. Dudek again continued in goal, Carson's arrival does not appear to have yet changed Benitez's mind on who should be the club's number one.
The biggest surprise was to see Baros line up on the right of midfield, allowing Gerrard to push further forward centrally. This adjustment allowed the recall of Biscan to midfield to help provide greater defensive solidity alongside Hamann who has struggled in the past week. Riise continued on the left, whilst Morientes was employed as a lone frontman as he searched for his first Liverpool goal.
The opening twenty minutes went by without any great fuss. Liverpool's first task was to prevent Watford getting a confidence boosting opener. This they did without any great challenge. Carragher was composed at the back, as he has been all season and took a great deal of pressure off Pellegrino who is clearly still not up to the pace of the English game. At the other end, Liverpool's final ball was often poor. Igor Biscan, lambasted after his inept Burnley performance was again struggling to find a team mate with his passing, though his work rate was much improved compared to his FA Cup showing. Hamann, with the extra body alongside him was back to his typical efficient best, whilst Gerrard seemed happier with the freedom he was being afforded.
Out wide Liverpool were not creating much. Neither wide player was seeing much of the ball in dangerous areas, with Baros unsurprisingly drifting inside at times to try and get involved. The decision to move Baros wide in truth was far from a total success, though the Czech striker showed admirable efforts for his team in tracking back on a number of occasions to break up Watford play.
Liverpool's setpiece play was also poor on the night. Numerous corners were won and few came to anything. Liverpool's first real chance did however come from one of the few set pieces that worked. A corner on the Liverpool right was rolled in low by Gerrard to Morientes on the near post. The Spaniard's first touch was good, picking out the pre-planned run of Riise to setup a strike. However the ball was too close to Riise and he was unable to direct his shot on target.
At the other end Helgusson was holding the ball up well for Watford and giving them a platform, but Liverpool were much more organised than they had been in the past week. Helgusson did get a shot in from distance during one attack but it went well wide. Liverpool created another chance, Biscan chipped the ball into Morientes' feet on the edge of the box, however the striker was beaten to the ball by his marker. The ball broke to Gerrard who returned the ball first time to put Morientes through, the striker shot at goal, but Neil Cox had done well to recover and deflected the ball just wide of the near post. It would have been cruel luck on Cox if the deflection had gone in after his part in Liverpool's goal in the first leg.
Watford then won a corner. The ball was swung in and Liverpool cleared. Suddenly Liverpool were on the attack with Gerrard in possession and more options than defenders. A goal seemed inevitable. Gerrard drove forward to the left hand edge of the Watford box, a player to his left, Baros and Morientes to his right. It seemed he wouldn't need them as he looked to take another touch before shooting, however his control was poor. The ball travelled further from Gerrard than he planned, and with a defender closing he looked to square the ball to Morientes, however the pass was too far in front of him, and behind Baros who tried to recover the attack, but Watford now had numbers back.
The was a moment of controversy in the closing minutes of the half as Bouazza chased a ball into the box as Watford enjoyed their best period of pressure. Finnan slid in to compete for the ball and the Watford man went down. Finnan had clearly caught the attacker but it was unclear whether he'd made contact with the ball. Mike Riley felt it wasn't a penalty and waved play on. Watford managed to return the ball into the box, and a moment of panic ensued before the danger was eventually cleared.
The second half remained tight, with Liverpool for the large part in control without ever really dominating the game. With five minutes of the half Baros had a chance to seal the tie, with Gerrard picking out the perfectly timed run of the Czech striker. Clean through, Baros powered towards the goal, however on reaching the edge of the box he crucially attempted to cut inside and allowed Cox to get a tackle in.
The few chances that were being created we almost all coming to Liverpool now. Gerrard chased a ball into the box and beat Chambers to it, the Watford defender regained his feet and nudged into the Liverpool captain. It was the slightest of touches, yet Gerrard went down claiming the penalty. Riley, rightly waved play on and Gerrard was left to rue not taking the ball on having got goal side of his opponent.
Morientes who was becoming more of a feature in the match had a couple of chances to score. First of all a run inside nearly opened up the Watford defence, but his shot was blocked by anyone of a number of Watford defenders. He then rose majestically to win a header from a rare well delivered Liverpool corner, but having got to the ball he failed to get much purchase on it.
The winner did finally come and with Gerrard in such good goal scoring form this season, it was no surprise to see the skipper end the tie as a competition. Having flicked the ball on at halfway, Gerrard continued his run and picked the ball back up off a team mate. He continued his run centrally and then with Morientes dragging the left back out of position with a cross field run, he moved the ball to his right side and struck across Jones and into the bottom corner. It was a goal of simple brilliance.
Watford as they did for the whole of the two legs showed great fight and nearly snatched a goal back late on. A corner was headed goalwards by the impressive Helgusson but his effort went just over. Watford will be hoping that Premiership clubs continue not to show an interest in their striker who would surely not look out of place a division higher.
The only other action of note was an injury to Sinama-Pongolle. The young striker had replaced Baros on the right and within two minutes of coming on he was chasing back towards his own goal. Showing great pace he beat his man to the ball but then mishit his pass allowing a Watford player to get in. Trying to recover, Sinama turned quickly but caught his studs in the ground, turning his ankle. It's an injury that might see Sinama joined the list of players ruled out for the season.
And so, without much drama Liverpool had booked their place in the Carling Cup final. Watford gave all they had and were a credit to themselves and their fans, however ultimately over two legs, the difference in ability was just a little too much to bridge. Watford will rue missed chances in the first leg which would have made the tie more interesting and would have applied greater pressure to a Liverpool side short on confidence.
For Liverpool this is a much win and gives Benitez the opportunity of taking silverware in his first season. It would be a highlight in what has so far been a tough transitional year. However there is still a great deal of work to do, with Liverpool's opponents either Chelsea who have been brilliant this season, though fortunate in taking three points at Anfield, or Manchester United, local rivals. Either way, it's going to be a great occasion.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez: "It was a very, very important for us, the supporters and the club. We are in the final, we know it was difficult tonight, but we are there. We were always thinking about the game - not about people talking. We prefer to work and now we will try to give our supporters the cup. We have a very good squad with good professionals and good players and played a good game tonight."
Watford manager Ray Lewington: "Fair play to Liverpool, they came today and restricted what we could do. They changed their system and stifled us and they did all the ugly things well. They closed us down quickly. We tried hard but we couldn't break them down and we didn't have much of a chance on goal."
"I think they paid us some respect tonight. They played it right and it was frustrating for us but they did the job well. The FA Cup defeat and the poor performance at Southampton made them more determined to do a job tonight. I think what it did was concentrate their minds that they had to go through and they changed their systems - but we did not have enough to open them up."
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard: "We've used 4-5-1 before in the league and it's worked quite well. It means we can also have three up front, or three central midfielders. We had a game-plan before the game and it worked today. When you are drawn against a team lower it's a potential banana skin."
"We've coped well over the two legs but Watford have done well and, give them credit, they made it hard work for us. We've got a cup final to look forward to in front of 70,000 people at Cardiff. As a professional you want to play in as many finals as you can."
Liverpool fullback Steve Finnan: "Last week was a disappointing week but we've got confidence in everyone's ability. We were up for it tonight and I think we deserved it on the night. We knew what score would get us through - we kept tight at the back and Steven popped up with the goal."
© Anthony Jones
