2007/08 Season Review

In terms of result and trophy, this season seems to be the worst since Rafa take up. But with the boardroom saga clouding for most of the season, we still managed to finish top 4 with a semi final in Champions League, and with a bit more of luck we would be in the 3rd final in 4 seasons.

This season we only lost 4 matches, but we drew too many games (13 in total, co-leader with Spurs) which really hurts. Especially at home, with the 6 draws we only get 42 points whereas Manchester gets 52. Away we are OK, and although we only win 9 games, which is the lowest among top 4, in terms of points we are not that far off except when compared with Chelsea.

In the Champions League, we had a slow start but at the end 3 consecutive wins helped us qualified. We did well vs Inter Milan and Arsenal, but when we play Chelsea we have no luck with Riise's own goal, and the tie was already lost in the 1st leg.

In the domestic cups we also faced Chelsea in the League Cup and was eliminated. Although the draw has been kind to us in FA Cup, we didn't seize the chance and lost to Barnsley.

Player Rating (Games played, Minutes played, Goal scored/conceded, Assists/cleansheets, MoM, Rating)
Goalkeepers
Itandje: 7G 630M 10GC 1CS 0MoM 6.29
Martin: 12 unused substitutes
Reina: 52G 4710M 40GC 24CS 2MoM 6.90

Reina continues to play well and won the golden glove for the third season in a row. Some critics may feel he sometimes flops in important games as shown when we play Manchester United, and this is certainly an area he can improve. Itandje also get some chances in the domestic cup games, but his performance was so-so and will not be able to challenge Reina yet.

Defenders
Agger: 9G 516M 0GS 0A 0MoM 7.08
Arbeloa: 41G 2158M 2GS 1A 1MoM 6.78
Aurelio: 29G 1971M 1GS 3A 0.5MoM 6.63
Carragher: 55G 4789M 0GS 2A 5.5MoM 7.09
Finnan: 35G 2866M 0GS 2A 0.5MoM 6.56
Hobbs: 5G 310M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.56
Hyypia: 44G 3549M 4GS 2A 0.5MoM 6.78
Insua: 3G 206M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.94
Riise: 44G 2956M 0GS 6A 0MoM 6.51
Syrtel: 20G 1662M 0GS 0A 0.5MoM 6.87

Carra is still the leader at the back with yet another impressive season. In the absense of Agger, Hyypia stood up and had another good season with 4 goals and was rewarded an extension of contract. Skrtel is a second half signing and despite a few scary moment when he first joined he managed to adapt well with 20 impressive games. On the side, however, none of the player really impressed. Arbeloa initially played very well but after an injury in the middle of the season he has yet to retain his top level. Riise is a real disappointment and he may leave us in the off season; Aurelio also did well in between his injuries, but then he has too many injuries. Finnan is getting older and slower and Rafa seems to rate him lower than Arbeloa now. The center back area is OK with Carra, Agger and Skrtel as the main players and Hyypia as backup, but Rafa will certainly be looking at strengthening both sides.

Midfielders
Alonso: 27G 2158M 2GS 1A 1MoM 6.78
Babel: 49G 2605M 10GS 7A 2MoM 6.63
Benayoun: 47G 2631M 11GS 8A 5MoM 6.83
El Zhar: 3G 105M 1GS 0A 0MoM 6.82
Gerrard: 52G 4194M 21GS 17A 15MoM 7.33
Kewell: 15G 757M 0GS 4A 0MoM 6.64
Leto: 4G 280 0GS 1A 0MoM 6.38
Lucas: 32G 1870M 1GS 4A 0.5MoM 6.71
Mascherano: 41G 3447M 1GS 1A 5.5MoM 7.31
Pennant: 25G 1494M 2GS 4A 1MoM 6.78
Plessis: 2G 180M 0GS 0A 0MoM 7.00
Sissoko: 14G 915M 1GS 0A 0.5MoM 6.34

Rafa has settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation with 2 holding midfielders and Stevie G moving up. This formation proved to be very effective. Mascherano, Alonso and Lucas take turns on the two holding role, and although Alonso was a bit off this season especially in the second half, he still have a lot to offer us. Mascherano is finally our player and he did very well except for a stupid game. With this new attacking role Stevie G shines with 15 MoM performances, 21 goals and 17 assists. The newcomers Babel and Benayoun also had good debut season with 10 and 11 goals respectively, and 7 and 8 assists. On the right Pennant had a so-so season and he may leave at the right price, especially Rafa is keen to play Kuyt or Babel on the right. Again, we have a strong spine but the sides are weak, and Rafa will be looking to strengthening the sides.

Attackers
Crouch: 36G 1957M 11GS 4A 3MoM 6.97
Kuyt: 48G 3326M 11GS 8A 3.5MoM 6.93
Torres: 46G 3590M 33GS 4A 11.5MoM 7.49
Voronin: 28G 1574M 6GS 4A 0.5MoM 6.72

With Torres we finally has a 20+ league goal scorer. He did extremely well in his debut season with 33 goals scored and broke many records. With Torres so strong we have another problem of other attackers unable to get enough games and score enough goals, but still we managed to have 7 players scoring double digits. Crouch is annoyed with the lack of games and will be sold at the right price. Kuyt rediscovered some of his magic on the right and had a better second half. Voronin was hit by injury but still managed 6 goals.

Players of the season (3204 mins or above):
(1) Torres 7.49
(2) Gerrard 7.33
(3) Mascherano 7.31
(4) Carragher 7.09
(5) Kuyt 6.93

Rafa: 6.89. Rafa still need to work hard to strength the squad especially on both sides, and next season the challenge will be to beat the other big four and convert the draws to wins.

Goal Conversion

With Torres on board goal conversion improved a lot. We have 951 goal attempts (last season: 895) and scored 119 goals (last season 90) and this equals to 12.5% goals/goal attempts (last season 10.1%).

The defense also did a good job. Despite we have more goal attempts allowed (491 vs last season 444) we conceded only 50 goals vs last season of 52 (conversion 10.2% vs 11.7%). We are the most prolific in Europe with 17.9% conversion, whereas we still find it a bit more difficult to score in the league with only 11.0% conversion. Our home games are more open with 13.4% conversion and 11.7% conceded.

Comparing with the other Big Four, we are still below them by about 2% in terms of goa conversion. Clearly this is an area that we need to improve to get #19.

Match of the season
1. 11/6/07 Besiktas (h) Champions League (8-0) : 8.15
2. 9/1/07 Derby County (h) League (6-0): 8.13
3. 12/11/07 Marseille (a) Champions League (4-0) : 8.09
4. 8/28/07 Toulouse (h) Champions League (4-0): 7.67
5. 11/24/07 Newcastle United (h) League (3-0): 7.57

Worst match of the season
1. 3/23/08 Manchester United (a) League (0-3) : 5.66
2. 10/3/07 Marseille (h) Champions League (0-1): 5.84
2. 2/16/08 Barsley (h) FA Cup (1-2) : 5.84
4. 1/30/08 West Ham United (a) League (0-1): 5.98
5. 10/24/07 Besiktas (a) Champions League (1-2): 6.02

May Month Report

2 wins, 2 clean sheets. The team wraped up the season well with two deserved wins. Torres scored 2 goals and Voronin also scored one. Defense also did well with two clean sheets. Now the players can have a break, but still there are a lots of revamps to do during this critical summer.

Players of the month (1) Torres 8.0 (2) Carragher 7. 25 (3) Reina/Mascherano 7.0.

Match Report 080511 at Tottenham Hotspur: Pre-season friendly

2-0 and this game was just like a pre-season friendly. Players are relaxed, weather is hot and even Carra and Torres wear short sleeves. Credit to fans from both teams in trying their best to motivate the players, and at the end we came home with two goals, another clean sheet, and Torres broke the record for most goal in debut season for a foreign player.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Another clean sheet.
Finnan: 6.5 Another solid performance.
Carragher: 7.5 Lead the team to another clean sheet.
Skrtel: 7 Another good performance.
Insua: 7 Will try his best to challenge the left back position.
Gerrard: 6.5 Tried very hard to score one but it was not his day.
Mascherano: 7 Solid display.
Kuyt: 6.5 Run hard as usual.
Voronin: 7 A nice goal taken.
Babel: 6.5 Need to improve his finishing.
Torres: 8 Superb finishing.

Substitutions:
Benayoun: 7.5 Came on and made a difference.
Finnan/Lucas: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 7 Would be happy about the performance of the team.

Tottenham Hotspur: 6.5 Didn't do much to win the game, but you can't blame them at this stage of the season.

Man of the Match: Torres. Another goal.

Finish the season on a high

After the last game of the season several players will leave, and some new one will join us. Next season we have a lot of works to do in order to challenge the title, but right now, let's try to win this game and finish the season on a high - for the fans!

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Skrtel
Insua
Mascherano
Plessis
Crouch
Gerrard
Babel
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 080504 vs Manchester CIty: Nice end

1-0 and we finished the last home game with a nice victory. Torres shown us our worth again and now broke Sir Roger Hunt's record by scoring in 8 consecutive home league games. It is good to see Insua has a game, and he certainly will be up there to challenge the left back post.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Another clean sheet and guaranteed a third golden glove for him.
Finnan: 6.5 A nice performance.
Carragher: 7 Another nice performance.
Hyypia: 6.5 A solid display.
Insua: 7 A well deserved home debut, and he did well.
Mascherano: 7 Another well performance.
Lucas: 7 Have a golden chance but was unlucky not to score.
Kuyt: 7 Worked hard and should consider himself unlucky not to score.
Gerrard: 7.5 Provided leadership to the team.
Babel: 6.5 Did well.
Torres: 8 Superb taken goal.

Substitutions:
Benayoun/Alonso/Voronin: 6.5 Not much to do.

Rafa: 6.5 Should start more youngsters. Would be disappointed that we only score 1 goal.

Manchester City: 6 Didn't do too much to win the game, but their fans are as usual class by giving full support to their manager.

Man of the Match: Torres. Broken many records.

Look for the future

Win or lose we will be finishing 4th, so Rafa should look for the future and give the young guns a chance. The fans would love to have a glance of some of the exciting young players, and we should win the game for their continuous support.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Hyypia
San Jose
Insua
Lucas
Plessis
Voronin
Benayoun
Babel
Crouch

Result 2:0

April Month Report

3W4D1L. And at the end is 1 draw too many. We did well in the Arsenal trilogy and get into the Champions League semi final. In the league we did well with 2 wins and 2 draws that confirmed us 4th place in the league. In the semi final of the Champions League, we tried our best and at the end luck was not on our side and we lost by an own goal. Now the season is over and we should enjoy our final 2 games.

Players of the Month (1) Carragher 7.54 (2) Mascherano 7.39 (3) Kuyt 7.22. Carragher was as usual rock solid at the back. Mascherano also did well in covering the back 4, and Kuyt scored 2 important goals in Champions League during the month.

May Prediction:
5/4 Manchester City (h) A win to finish the season at Anfield.
5/11 Tottenham Hotspur (a) Season finale and we should give the young guns chances.

Match Report 080430 at Chelsea: Dream is over

2-3 and our dream of winning the Champions League is over. In fact the match was already lost in the 1st leg, when we failed to kill them off.

We started the game slowly and let them scored one. In the second half we did better and Torres promptly scored to forced the game into extra time. A penalty conceded by Hyypia proved to be crucial, and although Babel did pull one back, it was too little, too late.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6.5 Not to be blamed for all 3 goals.
Arbeloa: 6 Too slow and were responsible for the first goal.
Skrtel: 6 Did well but was injured early on, which proved to be crucial.
Carragher: 7.5 Made many courageous tackles, but was not enough to prevent us from losing the tie.
Riise: 6 Tried very hard but was unable to repay Rafa's faith on him.
Alonso: 6 An average performance.
Mascherano: 7 Did well in the holding midfielder role.
Kuyt: 6 Worked very hard but not deadly.
Gerrard: 6.5 A very quiet game.
Benayoun: 7 A surprised starter, but he did well and provided an assist to Torres.
Torres: 6.5 Had a great chance in 1H but hesitated. Not many chance in 2H but he managed to score a goal.

Substitutions:
Hyypia: 6 Conceded a crucial penalty.
Pennant: 6 Not much impact.
Babel: 7 Scored another goal as a supersub.

Rafa: 6 Would be unhappy by the first half performance. Not sure if the Torres substitution is right or not, but he would be satisfied by the performance over the two legs in general.

Chelsea: 7 Take their chances well. Now we wish them to do the double.

Man of the Match: Carragher. Stand up to be counted.