Champions League Final: Milan 2-1 Liverpool
Thursday, 24 May 07, 08:13 PM
Or: Damn you, Pippo Inzaghi
Ok, let's get the bitterness out of the way right off the top:
- Milan's first goal was deflected in off Inzaghi's arm. In other words, handball. In other words, it should never have counted.
- The ref blew his whistle to end the game before stoppage time was up. So much for that little announcement, "There will be a minimum of three minutes' extra time." Or the fact that there'd been a substitution in stoppage time, which should have been even more time added on.
- And that was just the final straw in a game that featured some rather biased refereeing. How many 50/50 decisions went against Liverpool? (If I was really bitter, I would wonder how much Berlusconi paid the ref. But I'm not that bitter. Quite.)
I'm not really disappointed in the team, but I'm disappointed for them. I thought they did well to get as far as they did, and they were the better team for most of the match. They shut down Milan's midfield quite effectively -- which was the key to their game plan -- and they created way more chances on goal. The problem, as it's been so often this season, was that they couldn't convert any of those chances.
Rafa went with a 4-5-1 formation, which I didn't predict but I actually preferred. With the right players, it can actually be a much more attacking set-up than 4-4-2. But it depends a lot on having quality wingers. Liverpool had...Jermaine Pennant and Bolo Zenden. Yeah. They both worked hard, but Zenden doesn't have the legs to be a true winger, and Pennant, although he was helped out by Jankulovski having a nightmare of a game, needs to do some serious work on his crossing (seriously, please sit him down with a David Beckham highlight reel so that he can learn to put a dangerous ball into the box rather than hanging it up every time).
The other thing is you need somebody who's effective as a lone striker. Whereas in this game, on one side, we had Alessandro Nesta, reminding us that the list of hotshot Italian centre-halves does not begin and end with Fabio Cannavaro, and Paolo Maldini, who I've concluded is some kind of ageless creature who feeds on the blood of virgins (insert Kaka joke here). On the other, we had Dirk Kuyt. That's not even close. Again, he worked hard -- and even scored a late consolation -- but that's not enough over 90 minutes. Liverpool could badly use a top-class finisher, and they've been struggling to fill that role ever since Michael Owen left.
Normally Steven Gerrard is the player you expect to pop up with the game-winning goals, and he had a few decent chances yesterday -- particularly that one where he was in alone on Dida and didn't place the ball quite right to squeeze it past the keeper, which I'm sure he'll be kicking himself over for months. It just wasn't happening.
Whereas Milan, who only had a handful of shots, got a couple of lucky breaks and made the most of them. Their first goal was from a free kick in a dangerous position, but I'm confident that Pepe Reina would have saved it if not for the deflection. The second came late in the game, with Liverpool throwing everybody forward for an equalizer, as Kaka, freed up by Javier Mascherano being subbed off, slipped the ball through the Liverpool defence to Inzaghi -- who was onside for possibly the first time in his entire life -- to kill the game off. (oh, that, and a nice display of time-wasting after he took a ball to the stomach. Suck it up, you rat-faced little bastard.)
I've seen some post-game criticism of Rafa's tactics, but I think he got it right, for the most part. Playing five across midfield meant that they were able to close Milan down quickly and not give them time to play, while also freeing up Gerrard, although he couldn't reproduce his Istanbul heroics this time around. Rafa probably could have made his substitutions a bit earlier (and I'm still confused by Arbeloa on for Finnan, frankly), but overall he did the best he could with somewhat limited resources -- i.e., Bolo Zenden. I thought Harry Kewell looked like a better option when he came on, but starting him would have been a big gamble. The result just highlights the areas they have to invest in over the summer.
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Same old story for Liverpool... you aren't going to win anything with Kuyt, Bellamy and Crouch up front (no offense intended, but they are lacking the requisite quality). Not sure how Voronin is going to help that either.
OK Liverpool dominated play quite a bit in the first half, but they generally looked quite toothless no? Kuyt didn't even get a sniff.
Exactly.. they had more of the ball because they hustled Milan and broke them up but did little with it. Pennant despite Jankulovski's freebies had little end product. for a centre forward, Kuyt spent a lot of time running around trying to get the ball like a defensive mid.
Well I thought Pennant put a lot of quality crosses in, but there was just no one there. Kuyt always has had that as the strong part of his game - working hard, holding the ball up, and giving very little away, and Rafa loves him because he runs as much as any defensive midfielder and is always working the channels. But he's finding it much harder to score goals in the Premier League (and I feel he has struggled similarly at International level as well).
I did try to get the bitterness out of the way off the top. But I don't claim to be 100% objective. I don't think any of my three refereeing complaints were what cost Liverpool the game (although it did only take Man Utd, what, two minutes to score two goals against Bayern?); what cost them the game was their inability to score, plain and simple. They desperately need a top-quality finisher up front.
I'm not saying that Milan didn't deserve to win. What I am saying is that I was impressed with the way Liverpool took the game to Milan -- made them look ordinary compared to the team that took apart United in the semi-finals and I'm disappointed that things didn't fall their way this time. They may have overachieved in the CL this season, but on the other hand they did knock out last year's winners and the defending Premiership champions on the way.
who would you recommend? the dream scenario of course is owen returning, but... rafa don't like.
I agree with a lot of that. Milan took their chances, we didn't. I'm a big fan of Dirk Kuyt but I don't think he's suited to a lone striker role and is better with a partner. I think he's done well in his first season here and his goals to minutes ratio is the same as Rooneys in a less attacking team.
I wouldn't be in favour of Owen returning as he's crocked. How many games has he played in the last two years?
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I think you're letting bitterness get in the way of your analysis.
Inzaghi's opener came off his shoulder, inadvertedly. That's not handball. Alonso had some disgusting tackles early on and on another day could have easily walked by the time he conceded that silly free kick. Shaving off 12 seconds of stoppage time would have hardly made a difference, in over 210 minutes of football against Milan in the last 2 finals, Liverpool have never led - what makes everyone think they could have knocked another in had there been 12 or 42 more seconds ?
Liverpool may have shaded the game overall but other than Gerrard's run (which Nesta really should have cut off) and Pennant's shot, had no clear goal-scoring chances. Shooting randomly at the goal (Riise, Alonso) may give you shots in the stats columns but won't guarantee a goal.
.. Liverpool may have edged it but Milan still had a higher pass completion rate and possession. If teams should win for dominating shots and chances then Arsenal should be crowned Premiership champions right now. But if you cannot finish, you don't deserve to win.
In any case when Milan completely dominated Liverpool (apart from 6 minutes) in 2005, no one felt bad for Milan or called Liverpool undeserving winners. And that included a Gerrard dive (see goal 2 in the 'comeback').
Fact is for all their effort, Liverpool never looked like scoring and Kuyt's rather scrappy goal was too little too late. Pippo's time wasting was reprehensible but is there anyone on Liverpool's team who can finish like that ? Furthermore, is there anyone who can thread the eye of the needle like Kaka ?
Liverpool have overachieved in the Champions' League till this stage. They didn't deserve to win.