November Month Review

4W3L. It's been a month of roller coasters. We lost Baros, Garcia, Trare, Josemi via injuries, but Stevie G and Nunez are back. We lost two league game, which at least we should get 4 points. Then we won a great game against Arsenal and hopefully this will re-ignite the players. We also won one and lost one in Champions League, so we need to win by 1-0 or 2 goals to qualify.

This month saw us losing one place to 7th, but with the game in hand we can go back to 5th. We need to keep the pace with the leaders before we lose too much ground (and Gerrard as well..) December is a big month with 8 games and we need to get a good result, particular with not enough service up front. Hopefully Stevie G, after 2 month's "rest", should have enough power to play like in the Arsenal game through this season.

Players of the Month: (1) Alonso (2) Carragher (3) Baros/Biscan/Mellor.
Xabi did well in the wins vs Palace and Arsenal, but somehow he's not too consistent and Rafa even dropped him for the Monaco game. Carragher, needless to say, is as consistent as ever. The third place goes to 3 different players because they all only played a few games, nevertheless Baros and Mellor both scored 3 goals, and Biscan has been class whenever he played.

December Prediction:
12/1 Tottenham Hotspur (A) This is the lowest on Rafa's agenda, but I think we can still win it.
12/4 Aston Villa (A) A draw won't be too bad, but with the big win vs Arsenal, we can carry the momentum and win this as well.
12/8 Olympiakos (H) A must win game. And their away record is poor. 2-0!
12/11 Everton (A) We seems to do good at Goodison Park over the past few years. First derby for the Spaniards and possibly Milan will be back this game. A win for us.
12/14 Portsmoouth (H) This is the game in hand. With Portsmouth recent turmoil and form we should win this easily. The only thing I am worry is this may be their new manager's first game, and for some reason we always perform badly in this kind of situation.
12/19 Newcastle United (H) Need to win this game. And we should be able to do it. But with Robson gone and Souness in, they may get a draw.
12/26 West Bromwich Albion (A) Another game we should win. But this probably is a test for Rafa's rotation strategy.
12/28 Southampton (H) Southampton is doing very poor. Another win.

Match Report 041128 vs Arsenal: A well derseved win

2-1 and we are fully deserved to win the game. Rafa's tactic of 4-2-3-1 really nullified Arsenal - so good that they have no shot in 1H and only 2 in 2H, 1 the goal and 1 the 40 yard Henry wasteful lob, and Arsenal did not have a single corner.

Our 2 goals are all great goals as well. First one started when Hamann intercepted the ball in midfield. He found Finnan, who crossed the ball diagonally to Kewell, who headed back to Gerrard. Anybody will think he will pass to Mellor running into the penalty box, and so did the Arsenal defenders. Instead Stevie G passed it to Alonso, who had lots of space due to Mellor's effort, and banged the ball into the corner of the net.

The second goal was in the 92 minutes. Finnan refused to lose a corner and Henry was fouled him. Probably at that time the Arsenal players thought the game is over and they are not paying attention. But not for us. Kirkland had a great pass and Vieira failed to get it, the ball somehow was passed to Mellor, who put it into the net from 30 yards. What a goal!

As I mentioned in the preview we need 3 conditions to win the gam: (1) Henry not playing (literally he wasn't apart from that goal) (2) Vieira sent off (well, almost) and (3) a goal from nowhere (although not as bizarre as from Kewell, Carra or Kirkland, they came from Alonso (2nd goal only) and Mellor (first ever league goal).

This is really a team effort. Every one plays well and hard working, and the first half was almost perfect. 2nd half after they scored we were down a gear, maybe due to tireness as well, but you can see we are more eager to win the game, and we win it in the most spectacular way. Arsenal really had no chance to come back.

Player Rating:
Kirkland 7: Can't do anything about the Arsenal goal, otherwise he's commanding the penalty area very well
Finnan: 7 Done much better in defence that Josemi, and have a great diagonal pass to Kewell to create the first goal.
Carragher: 7.5 As usual the solid rock of the defense. He contained Henry very well.
Hyypia: 7.5 Same comment as Carra. And he had a good block on Henry to prevent him scoring a goal.
Riise: 7 He is also excellent in defense.
Sinama-Pongolle 7 Works very hard in right midfield, unfortunately injuried. Hope he is doing fine.
Alonso: 8 Scored a great goal and was very good in the midfield combination with Hamann and Gerrard.
Hamann: 7.5 A great performance for Hamann especially the first half. Second half he's a bit tired and not as effective, but still a good performance.
Kewell: 7 He works very hard and was very good defensively. For attacks he was involved in the first goal, and had a header saved.
Gerrard: 9 Plays very well in this 2nd striker role, and the Captain really bring everyone up a gear.
Mellor: 8 It's tough to play in this lone striker role but Mellor played very well. And he deserves the goal.

Substitution:
Nunez: 6 First game and was OK. Need to adapt to the pace ASAP.

Rafa: 9.5 Excellent tactic. He's really a good manager. Well done man!

Arsenal: 5 A poor game and had no heart. They don't derseve to get any point in this game. Hopefully they will recover ASAP and challenge Chelsea.

Man of the Match: Gerrard. Captain Marvel!

We need luck

With so many injuries we probably need a lot of luck to be able to win this game. First we need to have Henry injuried, then Vieira sent off in consecutive games, and third a goal from nowhere, probably Kewell, Carragher, Kirkland, or an own goal.

My Team Prediction:

Kirkland
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypia
Riise
Kewell
Alonso
Hamann
Gerrard
Biscan
Mellor

Result 1-0

RIP, Jim Suk

James Wong, or Jim Suk, passed away.

While I have never met him in person, I was lucky enough to be a La Sallian like him. His great works, especially in Chinese Lyrics, gave HK people a lot of laughter, confidence and precious moments. I can say I grown up with Jim Suk's lyrics.

Jim Suk, I will never forgot your laughter, and your great lyrics. RIP.

滄海一聲笑 滔滔兩岸潮
浮沉隨浪只記今朝
蒼天笑 紛紛世上潮
誰負誰勝出天知曉
江山笑 煙雨遙
濤浪淘盡紅塵俗世幾多嬌
清風笑 竟惹寂寥
豪情還勝了一襟晚照
蒼生笑 不再寂寥
豪情仍在痴痴笑笑

Match Report 041123: 2 more injuries

0-1 and we were beaten by a handled goal. Saviola's goal is definitely a handball and why the referee can't detect it is really every person's guess. And worst of all, we lost Garcia and Josemi. So Rafa is soon to reach his 13 first team players injuried scenario... And we are facing Arsenal this Sunday... I wonder where the goal will come from. Carragher or Kirkland or Henchoz?

The starting gameplan Rafa had is rather conservative, Mellor as loan striker, 3 in middle, and Riise and Garcia as wings. And within 2 minutes Garcia pulled his hamstring... but Rafa changed the gameplan and subbed Josemi. He's actually doing quite well, but he was subsequently injuried with 20 stiches on his head with a knock with a Monaco player...

Now we need to beat Olympiakos by 2 goals to be sure to go through, if we only beat them by 1 goal, a 1-0 will mean both Olympiakos has exactly same points, same goal scored and same goal difference, which will lead to the comparison of team coefficients and we should then go through. If we only beat them 2-1, we need Monaco not to win to go through. Of course, if we don't win, then we will be heading to UEFA cup. Is it an achievable task? Yes it is, but with the injury crisis, we need someone to score 2 goals.

Player Rating:
Kirkland: 6.5 Consistent as usual, but frankly speaking he doesn't has too many things to do thanks to the superb performance of Carragher.
Finnan: 6 First 2 minutes as right back and then as right midfielder, then back to right back when Josemi injuried. An average performance, he failed to provide too much attacking support.
Carragher: 7.5 Saved Kirky many chances. And even if he's beaten he will soon be back to cover. With this performance he should be able to contain Henry. But Arsenal is probably more than that.
Hyypia: 6.5 Had one scoring chance but failed to convert. With the current injury crisis we definitely need the vice Captain to score some goals from set pieces.
Traore: 6.5 He did quite well in containing Saviola, and was only substituted due to change in game plan when we were 1 goal behind.
Garcia: Unlucky, now we will miss him for a month...
Biscan: 6.5 He did better than Hamann and Gerrard in midfield. Have 1 half chance in 1st half but failed to convert.
Gerrard: 6 Still not back to his best level, we need patience...
Hamann: 6 Earned a yellow card and will miss the Olympiakos match. But Biscan should be more than enough to cover if Rafa plan to start a more defensive player.
Riise: 6 Failed to impress in his former home ground.
Mellor: 5.5 On one hand there's virtually no supply to him, but in general he did not do enough to convince us he is right up to the job yet. The last minute goal should have been stand if not the referee is biased and deemed Warnock as going too dangerously.

Substitutions:
Josemi: 6 Maybe the pace of an European game suit him better, he played better than his last few league games, but let's hope he will get well soon.
Warnock: 5 Not many contributions. I think he need to control his temper. If he did not earn the yellow card, the referee may not be so biased and deemed his last minute getting the ball tackle and then assist as too dangerous.
Kewell: 5 When will he be back to an acceptable level?

Rafa: 5 I just don't understand the game plan. And he now need to face with 2 more injuries. Hopefully Nunez will be back soon.

Monaco: 6 They win by a controversal goal, hopefully with the help of Deportivo winning all 3 home games would not be enough for them to go through.

Man of the Match: Carragher. Who else? Maybe we should play him as a striker now.

Win it, or lose it.

It's really simple. 3 points at Monaco and we are through. If not, we may as well lose the game as we probably need to win vs Olympiacos at home, unless they lost to Deportivo tonight. Monaco may have not won in 8 games, but they still get Saviola. We should try to attack from the very beginning until the end, but frankly speaking, where's the strikers?

My Team Prediction:
Kirkland
Josemi Carragher Hyypia Traore
Finnan Gerrard Alonso Riise
Kewell Garcia

Result 1-0

Match Report 041120: We need a striker!

0-2 and it was a very poor result. The lack of striker is very obvious. I don't understand why Rafa did not start at least one of Mellor or Sinama-Pongolle, if not both. The formation is more like a 6-4-0 than 4-4-2.

We played quite well in the first 30 minutes and contained Boro quite well, with the exception of attack. Then all of a sudden a defense lapse and we are one down. Garcia 's goal was then incorrectly judged as offside. This is his second goal incorrectly ruled out... Kewell was improving, but definitively lack of confidence. He has wasted way too many chances! Then we lost the second goal due to a Alonso error... The only plus from the game is that Gerrard is back, but it is very clear that he needs to catch up... Time is running out, and we have two very difficult games coming.

Player Rating:
Kirkland: 6 Helpless in the 2 goals, once again defense let him down.
Josemi: 5 Luckily we won't see him again vs Arsenal as he got his 5th yellow card.
Carragher: 6.5 Solid as usual and saved at least 2 Boro chances. Even have a run forward in 2H.
Hyypia: 6 Can't stopped the 2nd goal as the ball was passed through his legs.
Traore: 5.5 Fault on 1st goal and before that, another Boro opportunity but Carra saved him.
Finnan: 6 Played quite bad. But need to gear up at next week facing Henry.
Alonso: 6 At the heart of every chance we have, but couldn't get something. Was faulty in the 2nd goal, first lost the ball in midfield, then covered the offsided Zenden.
Hamann: 6 Substituted for Gerrard. As usual he failed to inspire the teammates.
Riise: 6 Tried very hard but couldn't get anything.
Garcia: 6.5 A bad day as his goal was incorrectly ruled out...But he is one of our better player.
Kewell: 5 Wasted so many chances. And Rafa need to do something to improve his confience.

Substitutions:
Gerrard: 6 Welcome back! He's still not in 100% condition, and hopefully he will be there soon.
Pongolle: 5.5 Not much contribution for his 20 minutes on the pitch.
Biscan: Played a few minutes only

Rafa: 5.5 Why not play either or both Mellor or Sinama-Pongolle is really a mystery. And finally he will stop playing Josemi vs Arsenal.

Boro: 8 Played very well especially Downing. Maybe we should get him as well.

Man of the Match: Garcia/Carragher. Garcia was unlucky not on the scoresheet, and Carra is as usual reliable.

Welcome back, Stevie G, and do it again, Mellor

Stevie G is back but Baros is out for 4 weeks... so we need Mellor to score again. I don't think Stevie G should start this game.. a bit too early. Boro away is never an easy task to us. A draw won't be too bad a result.

My Team Prediction:

Kirland
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypia
Traore
Kewell
Hamann
Alonso
Riise
Garcia
Mellor

Result 1-0

Match Report 041113 vs Crystal Palace: Milan! Milan! Milan!

3-2 and Milan scores his first hat trick for us! Hope this is the start of many hat tricks.

We started the match brightly and was only denied to take a lead earlier only by the brilliant performance of their goalkeeper. Carra even has a shot! I don't know why he was in the Palace area as it was not a set piece action... Milan was terrible and he won us 2 penalties and another free kick that lead to the 3 goals.

The defence was OK except Josemi. He's evolved into our weakest link... better catch up soon.

Players Rating:
Kirkland: 6.5 Wasn't too bad, the 2 goals are not his responsibility, and he has a nice diving header outside the box in the dying minute to prevent Palace to equalize the third time.
Josemi: 5 Need to adapt to the Premiership pace ASAP. Or Rafa should start Finnan instead. Fault on both goals.
Carragher: 7.5 Solid as usual, and even have our first scoring chance in the game.
Hyypia: 7 A good understanding with Carra has developed.
Traore: 7 A good display throughout, but if his crossing improves he will be a better player.
Hamann: 7 Rock in midfield.
Alonso: 8 His vision bring to the first penalty and also his intelligent pass created the 2nd goal. A good display.
Riise: 7 A good performance but was unfortunately substituted due to tactical reason. His freekick just before he is substituted is very close.
Kewell: 6.5 He created the 2nd and 3rd goal , but most of the time he just give away the ball or not daring to dribble pass a player... Still unsure.
Garcia: 7 An OK display.
Baros: 10 A full mark display. His Euro 04 form is back! One thing he need to work on is to try pass to other players when they are in a better position to score.

Substitutions:
Finnan: 7 A very good game. I think he should be starting ahead of Josemi.
Mellor/Sinama-Pongolle: Not enough time to shine.

Rafa: 7 A good win, but I think he should consider starting Finnan instead of Josemi. How he is going to shuffle now that Stevie G is back is really interesting to see.

Crystal Palace: 7 They just never give up! If they continue to play like this I am sure they will staty up. Maybe as high as 11th place.

Man of the Match: Baros. Let's score more hat tricks!

Let's restart our winning streak

Home game against Crystal Palace. Hopefully after their midweek defeat they will be a bit down. And we gotta restart our winning steak after last week's unexpected lost. The key is really how the strickers are performing.

My Team Prediction:
Kirkland
Josemi
Carragher
Hyypia
Traore
Garcia
Alonso
Biscan
Riise
Baros
Mellor

Result 3-0

Match Report 041023 vs Middlesbrough: Well done, lads!

2-0 and Mellor scored both. I am really happy about his and other young lads, notably Partridge, Whitbread and Potter. Knock on the door for the A Team! Next round would be at Spurs. 4 more games to win the League Cup!

Players Rating:
Dudek: 7 Rarely troubled, even though there's a goal conceded but it's ruled offside.
Finnan: 7 A solid experience.
Henchoz: 7 Another good experience. Although I am still not sure he will be here for too long...
Whitbread: 7.5 An excellent home debut. Hyypia should be worried now.
Traore: 7 He's getting better and better.
Potter: 7.5 A good display with a nice assist for the 2nd goal.
Biscan: 8 A good display and almost score again. I think we should start Igor instead of Hamann.
Diao: 6.5 The fact he was substituted probably means he's not playing too well.
Warnock: 6.5 Can be better.
Sinama-Pongolle: 7 Injuried... hope he will recover in time and open his account soon.
Mellor: 8 2 goals scorer, well done lad!

Substitutions:
Partridge: 7 Come up and had an assist on the first goal. A good experience. Hope his career finally kick start.
Welsh/Riise: Played a bit of the game. I am really pleased Welsh is playing. Let's hope he get more and more chance (at least he should be ahead of Diao).

Rafa: 7 Good game using the B Team and giving so many young lads a chance to display. Well done Rafa!

Middlesbrough: 6.5 We gotta beat them again next week.

Man of the match: Biscan. He should start instead of Hamann.

RIP, crazy horse

Emlyn Hughers, our great captain, died last nite... Maybe he rest in peace, and let's win the game for him - League Cup is the only Trophy he didn't get in Liverpool, althogh he made up by winning it with Wolves.

Although Rafa will only play the team B, but they should be able to have the job done, especially Boro is going to rest a few first team players.

My Team Prediction:
Dudek
Josemi Whitbread Henchoz Traore
Warnock Biscan Diao Potter
Mellor Pongolle

Result 2-1 in normal time

European Handover?

Every team except Chelsea who played in the midweek European games lost points. And our problem is even bigger as even Milan is injured.

We played quite well but just couldn't score the goal. Sinama-Pongolle missed a chance to shine, and Kewell was blamed by everyone. At the end a minor of lack of concertation had Anderton scored the goal. He seems to be doing well against us... And under Rennie's referee we lost 2 games in a row, in the first game he ruled Garcia's equalizer offside, and this time he ruled the clear handball by Izzet out... So let's hope we won't have another game under him.

Player Rating:
Kirkland: 7 Do nothing bad but can't prevent the goal. The teammates let him down.
Josemi: 6 Once again his slow in motion let the team down... And another yellow card.
Carragher: 6.5 Nothing bad, even dribbled pass 3 players in 2H.
Hyypia: 6.5 Fail to inspire the team. Maybe time to let Carra be the captain.
Traore: 6.5 An OK game, though not as good as the previous few games.
Garcia: 5.5 Missed chances and lost balls easily. Let us down.
Hamann: 5.5 Once again when the team was not doing well he can't inspire the others. Maybe time to play Biscan instead.
Alonso: 7 Do all the tricks but with no strikers available, what can he done?
Riise: 6.5 A fair game... Was winning every header
Kewell: 5 We need Harry to play well ASAP.
Sinama-Pongolle: 5.5 A chance for him to shine, but he didn't take it.

Substitutions:
Finnan: Did not lose the ball easily.
Mellor: Maybe he should be introduced earlier...
Biscan: Had one scoring chance despite only played for a few minutes.

Rafa: 5 Need to bring Siname-Pongolle and Kewell (and Garcia) up to speed ASAP.

Birmingham City: 6 As Bruce said it should be a penalty, anyway they stole 2 points from us.

Heskey: 5 As usual, misses chance after chance.

Man of the Match: Alonso. But only him doing well does not help. We need every one to spot on.

Welcome back, Emil, but no welcome

Saturday Heskey will be back after his transfer to Birmingham. Given the recent form of Birmingham it should be an easy game to us. The question for Rafa is really who to partner Baros. Let's roll on and win the game!

My Team Prediction:
Kirkland
Josemi Carragher Hyypia Traore
Alonso Hamann Biscan Kewell
Garcia
Baros

Result 3-0

Match Report 041103 at Deportivo La Coruna: A great performance!

1-0 win and saw us within 1 win to qualify. Now is really simple. 1 win in the next 2 game will do. Of course we want to have the job done in France. :)

We started the match brightly and Baros almost scored in the first minute. Biscan was everywhere and rightly deserved a man of the match performance. He "created" the goal by dribbling the ball and passed 2-3 opponents. He then passed the ball to Riise, whose great cross forced the Deportivo defender to put the ball in his own net.

The defense was really great and Kirkland has almost nothing to do besides colided with Biscan (he's everywhere). We have a few chances but can't finish off, but at the end we deserved to win.

As Rafa said the game plan was executed perfectly. He tried to maintain a high tempo and Deportivo was never really into the game. If we have this performance day in, day out, who knows how high we will finish?

Player Rating:
Kirkland: 7 Almost nothing to do.
Josemi: 7 A much better performance. Maybe because he's back to his homeland?
Carragher: 7 Solid as ever.
Hyypia: 7 He wins every header, though his passing need to improve.
Traore: 7 Another solid performance.
Kewell: 7 He tried very hard and in fact his performance is not bad. But maybe due to tactical reason he was substituted.
Hamann: 7 A typical good Hamann performance.
Biscan: 8 The best performance of Igor in a red shirt. More to come!
Riise: 7 His great cross lead to the own goal, and he has several shoting attempts.
Garcia: 7 A good performance, created several chances.
Baros: 7.5 Works very hard. And he was constant threat to Deportivo.

Substitutions:
Finnan: 6 A good substitution performance.
Sinama-Pongolle: Conceded several free kicks. Need to improve
Alonso: He was deemed unfit to play for more than 45 minutes. But due to the excellent performance of Igor, he only need to walk 3 minutes during injury time - enough to break his jinx against Deportivo.

Rafa: 8.5 An excellent tactical win for Rafa. The high tempo methodology finally works for the whole match. The key is too put Igor ahead of Diao.

Deportivo: 6 Unless they win the last 2 home games they can't qualify. I really wish they can qualify as this means the other teams are losing points, which is good to us.

Man of the match: Biscan. First of many great performances coming.

We need to get something

If we are to qualify the next 2 away games are crucial. But Deportivo at home will be a differnet team. Our defense need to be at their best. And Milan, please score for Djibril.

My Team Prediction:
Kirkland
Josemi Carragher Hyypia Traore
Finnan Hamann Alonso Riise
Garcia
Baros

Result 1-0

October Month Review

3 wins, 2 draws and 1 lost. Not too bad, but can be better.

October began with one of the toughest game of the season, away at Chelsea. And we lost 0-1, which is perhaps a bit unlucky. Then there is the international break and we didn't have another game until 10/16 at Fulham. We started poorly and was 2 goal behind in 30 minutes. In second half Alonso played and the whole game was transformed. Even Biscan scored a goal which is quite an achievement. The next game we hosted Deportivo, which we played very well esp 1H but didn't win. Then we host Charlton at home and it was a easy win. After that the B team played and we win 3-0 at Milwall in the League Cup. The month ended in a bad mood as Cisse was cruelly injuried and will be out for a long time in the Blackburn game, which the result was not too good given Arsenal drawn and Man United lost.

We gradually climb up the league table and is now 6th, if we win our game in hand we will be 4th. The 3rd place is still ours and Man United's battle for, but with Cisse now out Rafa need to do his tricks on Sinama-Pongolle or Mellor or Kewell. In the League Cup we will play the defending Champion Boro at home, which will not be easy. But the B team gotta come up and prove. In Champions League, we need to get something in the next 2 away match or else we will be out.

Players of the month: (1) Carragher 7.5 (2) Baros 7.33 (3) Alonso 7.2 Carragher was very consistent in the month and is the worthy winner of the PoM. Baros started to show his Eurp form, and we need him to do so consistently now. Alonso still need to maintain his consistency. At Chelsea he was crap but after that he played very well, especially the Fulham game.

November Predictions:
11/3 Deportivo La Coruna (A) At least a point is needed.
11/6 Birmingham City (H) A game that we have to and should win.
11/10 Middlesbrough (H) It's clear League Cup is not Rafa's first priority, so the B team need to show their worth
11/13 Crystal Palace (H) Another game have to and should win.
11/20 Middlesbrough (A) A double on Boro!
11/23 Monaco (A) We can win this game. Go for it!
11/28 Arsenal (H) A draw won't be too bad against the top dog. But we can win.
11/30 League Cup Quarter Final Depend on opponents and whether we go thru, a winnable game.

Match Report 041030 at Blackburn Rovers: We're All Behind You, Djibril

2-2, but result does not matter any more. We are all behind Djibril and really hope he will recover soon and become a stronger player.

As I said before, we need to control the pace, and in fact we did it for the opening session. We started the game brightly, and Riise scored another great goal in the 7th minute. But the lead did not last too long and we let Blackburn control the pace. A hestitation by Traore played Emerton onside and he played the ball calmly to let Bothroyd score easily. Then things went worse with Cisse broke his leg, and another hestitation by Hyypia sent the ball to Emerton and he curved the ball into the net in the dying minute of 1H...

2H we played a gear up and equalized. It was a clever pass by Garcia, the new dad, who get the ball from an Blackburn error and passed it to Baros, who calmly put it into the net. After that both teams have a few chances, notably Garcia did a last man save, but it finished 2-2, which is probably a fair result for both teams. One thing that I really didn't like is that at some time we just allow Blackburn to control the game, at one point the 5 minute possession shows 85% Blackburn 15% Liverpool! Can't let this allow anymore. On a day that Arsenal drawn and Man United lost, it's really not too good a result to lost 2 points.

Player Rating:
Kirkland: 7 Once again the defense let him down. But he did made some great saves or else we will lost the game.
Josemi: 5.5 Lack pace. Out run by Emerton several times. Need to improve a lot, and to avoid the needless tackles.
Carragher 7 The only defender that is up to standard.
Hyypia: 6 Responsible for the 2nd goal.
Traore: 5.5 Played Emerton onside that result in the 1st goal.
Finnan: 6 Nothing spectacular done, and was substituted early 2H. Although I would put him ahead of Josemi at the time being.
Alonso: 6.5 Had a great assist, and other then that a good performance, but he can have a bigger impact.
Hamann: 6 Typical Hamann performance, ie, stable, but can't raise us to a higher level.
Riise: 7 Scored a great goal. We are getting close to see the best of Riise. Striker in next game?
Cisse: 6 Just as he started to show bonding with Milan, he was cruelly injured... Get well soon.
Baros: 7.5 Scored a great goal and was constantly our greatest threat. And from now on we need to rely on him. Milan, bring your Euro 2004 form back!

Substitutions:
Garcia: 7 A great assist shows his awareness. Also, have a last man save. Well done newly dad!
Kewell: 6.5 Need to gear up now that Cisse is injuried.
Diao: Scary...

Rafa: 6 Need to solve our away form, especially the defense.

Blackburn: 6 Let's put it straight here: This is a bad pitch for us, so let's hope they get relegated.

Man of the Match: Baros. And he need to perform this day in day out now. Let's prove you are a better striker than a certain former player.