Sami Hyypia Farewell

SAMI HYYPIA
1999 - 2009
464 Appearances
35 goals
10 Trophies

All the best Sami!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Awful Defending Ends Carling Cup Run

Tottenham 4 Liverpool 2
Pavlyuchenko 38, 53, Campbell 42, 45 - Plessis 49, Hyypia 63

Conceding 3 goals within 6 minutes? It's probably something we seldom see in Rafa Benitez's team. Defending was woeful which allowed Tottenham to end Liverpool's Carling Cup run early. Defenders which include Dossena, Degen, Hyypia and Agger, were terribly poor in almost everything. Marking, positioning and heading first ball upon crosses.

We didn't threaten the goal in the first 45 minutes at all and we were already 3 goals down at half-time. The first attack got us a goal right after half time with Plessis scoring a header from a Babel's corner. When there was a little hope of a comeback, our defence went AWOL again and conceded another.

Failing to defend properly and losing control in mifield were just sucide in any football matches. Liverpool were just a perfect example of it. Despite Hyypia adding another header to make the scores look less thrashing, it's just somehow tells me that it's a game for players to prove themselves and improve their fitness.

It's always feels bad to lose a game, but well, it's only Carling Cup! I remember Rafa saying this phrase few years back when he was criticised of losing out in this cup tournament too. "I didn't come to England to win the Carling Cup!"

Bolton up next!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Summary of Last Week Matches

Just a quick summary on each of the games played last week. Starting from the latest.

8 Nov'08

Liverpool 3 WBA 0
Keane 34, 43 Arbeloa 90

A double from Robbie Keane and rare goal from Arbeloa gave Liverpool a comfortable win at Anfield. I did not managed to get to watch the match myself but watching the highlights showed that the home side controlled the match and it's a good to win after suffering its first defeat against Spurs last weekend.

Goals

4 Nov'08

Liverpool 1 Atletico Madrid 1
Gerrard 90 - Maxi Rodriguez 38

Liverpool had a late lucky penalty against the Spanish side. Steven Gerrard got the penalty practically on the last minute of the game while Atletico Madrid was denied a victory at Anfield. Liverpool didn't play that well, but nevertheless, it's an important point and Stevie is the one who scored the deciding penalty, once again.

Goals

1 Nov'08

Tottenham 2 Liverpool 1
Carragher (og) 68, Pavlyuchenko 90 - Kuyt 3

The first defeat in the league which I felt pretty unjust and left wondering on how earth we manage to lose after dominating. Dirk Kuyt's early strike was brilliant. For long periods of the game, we threatened the goal and hit the post twice. I guess we need some luck for that. We lost control of the game and somehow, Carragher's own goal changed the complex of the game. These things happen in football, Harry Redknapp's men got the late winner right at the end unfortunately.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Torres Broke Ruud's Record On Last Day

Tottenham 0 Liverpool 2
Voronin 68, Torres 73

The last match of the 07/08 Premiership ended on a high note for Rafa Benitez's men as Liverpool won 2-0 at White Hart Lane. A game in which completes the whole league of 38 games and the result didn't have any significant effects on both teams.

Liverpool has already secured its 4th spot way back while Juande Ramos was just trying out more players to test out which are the ones who can stay in his plans next season. A Liverpool team who failed to see the likes of Peter Crouch, John Arne Riise, Harry Kewell, Jermaine Pennant and Xabi Alonso in it. These are the players who are speculated to be leaving Anfield in pretty soon.

I was switching channels in some parts during the game as there were relegation battles, title championship, all happening at the same time. 8 Live matches in Singapore led my fingers changing channels every minute or so. Having said that, I was still watching Liverpool's game.

Torres' flick on header was able to reach Voronin who didn't make any mistakes scoring past Spurs goalkeeper Cerny. Voronin scored? Well, it's not a bad effort from the 31 year old striker, but I don't wish to see him next season though.

The highlight of the game was Torres scoring his 24th goal of the season, breaking former Manchester United poacher, Ruud Van Nistelrooy record of 23 goals. What a moment for this young lad! Well done Torres! You've surpassed all expectations and he made the goal himself. Dumbed Michael Dawson, making him like a fool and eventually, being subbed out after conceding the goal.

A 2-0 win is always nice to see and it's time for holidays for some of the players while the rest will be heading to Euro 08. Captain Steven Gerrard will be resting after England couldn't make it onto the plane. We shall look forward to next season and hopefully, get what we have been waiting for.

In other news..

Manchester United is crowned champions at the JJB stadium beating Wigan 2-0 while Avam Grant's men suffered a major blow in conceding a late late equaliser against relegation warrior Bolton. Besides, Terry was stretchered off after a nasty collision with Petr Cech during the game. Not a good sign right before of the Champions League final.

Derby has the company of 2 other teams. Reading and Birmingham would be going down to the Championship next season. Unfortunately, despite these 2 teams has won convincingly last night, the damage has already been done and it's heartbreaking for the club and especially for the fans.

A season review will be coming up, and hopefully some transfers news as well.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

P.S. Due to copyrights issue, I'm not allowed to post any pictures nor videos of these football matches or players. I apologised for any inconvenience caused.

Torres Grabbed A Point

Liverpool 2 Tottenham 2
Voroninn 12, Torres 90 - Robbie Keane 45, 47

Fernando Torres, saved Liverpool's blushes of losing at home consecutively with a 92th minute header right at the Kop End. The match ended in a 2-2 draw which we would have won easily in the first half. Tottenham played pretty well, managed to score 2 goals despite being a goal down.





Robbie Keane, the scorer of both goals, was superb on the day. Picking up on Berbatov's flick on for both occasions and broke Liverpool's record of not conceding in open play. Of course, Liverpool defenders has to be blamed as well. Not able to handle Berbatov and allowing Keane to get into his way. These are 2 big mistakes which Rafa was furious about.

I was angry as well. How can you make the same mistakes twice in a match? Keane scored just before the half ended and right at the start of the second half, you conceded another similar goal. What happen to the defence? A defence which used to be solid and hard to beat, yet conceded 2 soft goals, putting the team into a difficult situation.



Definitely, I'm glad that I saw improvements from the horror night against Marseille. We dominated the first half, was quick in tempo and managed to get in front early in the game through Andriy Voroninn. Steven Gerrard's freekick is parried out by fellow international colleague Paul Robinson and the Ukraine's striker was alert enough to tap the ball in.

We had several great chances which we didn't take. In football, you would be punished for not putting your chances into count. Liverpool paid for it and Spurs was leading 2-1 up at Anfield. It's an unusual situation for Anfield as the fortress which Rafa has built these years seems to be lacking of confidence and losing its fears.

There were frustrating moments in the game which I was swearing at these players. However, without any doubts, the Liverpool players didn't give up and shown character in the game. They kept on pressuring and pressing, and they managed to get their rewards at the end. Steve Finnan, who was the player playing better than the rest, cross a beauty which the met Torres' head and secured a point.



I'm glad that we managed to escape defeat. However, I'm clearly unhappy on how they are playing. Clueless on what happen to the lads out there. The way they play last night does have improvement but not to the standards they used to play. It's international break, and I truly hope this break would benefits the team but not the same way the previous break did to us.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

TOTTENHAM 0 LIVERPOOL 1

Team of the day:
Reina, Aurelio, Carragher, Agger, Finnan, Riise, Gerrard (captain), Alonso, Garcia, Bellamy, Kuyt.
Subs - Martin, Gonzalez, Crouch, Pennant, Paletta

liverpoolfc.tv reports..

It's the Reds third Premiership away win of the season and it was a hard fought three points after they battled against Spurs and the vicious rain to defend the one goal lead given to them by Luis Garcia on the stroke of half time.

Tottenham had won their last 12 home games before today so the Reds knew to expect a tough game, but they started well and threatened when Dirk Kuyt almost capitalised on a poor back pass.

Despite their good start, Liverpool could have found themselves behind in the 11th minute when Mido had a great chance, but they were grateful to see the Egyptian striker blaze over with only Reina to beat.

It was a tight first half, but it was the Reds who were creating the better chances and Craig Bellamy forced England goalkeeper Paul Robinson into a good save in 27th minute. And Dirk Kuyt's curled effort beat Robinson just a minute later before it finished agonisingly the wrong side of the post.

But as the referee was about the blow for half time, Liverpool took a lead that on the balance of play they deserved when Luis Garcia scored in the 45th minute. It came when Gerrard directed the ball goalwards with his head and Garcia was in the right place at far post to prod home left footed under Robinson's body.

It almost got better for the Reds at the start of the second half when Bellamy's endeavour gave him a shooting chance that was saved, but that was to be his last act of the match because a suspected injury meant he had to be replaced by Pennant just a minute later.

Spurs manager Martin Jol made some tactical changes on the hour mark when he brought ex-Red Danny Murphy and Dimitar Berbatov on, but Liverpool remained the most likely to score and Garcia came close to a second when heading Finnan's cross wide.

Heavy rain in North London was making conditions difficult for defenders and goalkeepers and Reina had a nervous moment in the 59th minute when the wet ball slipped from his hands, but there were no Spurs attackers around to take advantage.

Tottenham came breathtakingly close to equalizing soon after when Steve Finnan deflected the ball against his own crossbar when trying to clear. But in truth, the biggest danger to Liverpool's lead was the torrential rain that fell on White Hart Lane in the second half.

The Reds hung on to their lead though and they will head home battered, bruised and wet after an all action display. But most importantly, they head home with the points.

Rafa's comments..

"I thought it was a fantastic team performance," said the Reds' manager. "When you lose a game like we did at Blackburn then you want to see character from your players and we had that today.

"We played well in the first half and scored at a very good time, just before the break. In the second period Tottenham played more long balls and put us under pressure, but the work rate of the side was first class.

"The defenders dug in, Xabi played well in front of them, the midfielders tackled and fought and Kuyt and Bellamy worked for every minute they were playing.

"We knew before the game that the result would be important because Tottenham were close to us in the table and we wanted to stay ahead of them.

"We have lost many away games this season despite having more attempts than our opponents. Maybe today was the game where we didn't quite have as many opportunities but still managed to win the match."

Benitez revealed Craig Bellamy was substituted early in the second half as a precaution after feeling a tightness in his hamstring and that Jerzy Dudek wasn't included because his wife gave birth last night.

louis' comments..

a typical luis garcia goal gave us our 3rd away win. it's hard-fought game under the pouring rain. tottenham just couldn't break our liverpool wall of defence. a good win and it's good to bounce back from our defeat at Edwood Park.

as usual in games recently, we dominated the game. patient passing around the field, hence, frustrated tottenham as well as their home fans. the build-up was nice and you could see the players have been training hard for all these set pieces and situations. bellamy and kuyt worked hard upfront, alonso and gerrard were disciplined in the middle. there's one player who i really wish to praise was steve finnan.

being a right back, part of our heart of defence, he defended really well. besides heading the ball against the crossbar, he was flawless. his overlapping gave tottenham lots of troubles and his crossing? can be matched to a right-winger. good control on the ball, no nonsense player and does his job week in week out. no wonder jan kromkamp went back to holland.

luis garcia was fast enough to capitalise the loose ball in the penalty area and striked home the winner. he played well and had some tricks in his sleeves all the time. though he tend to lose the ball easily, but i do like him a player. creative player and scores crucial goals for us. still remember the strikes against juventus and chelsea in the fa cup semi final.

alonso was excellent. his passing and vision were flawless. read the game very well. intercepted many balls in mifield from tottenham mifield. very important player for us. we can't afford to lose him if we have to do well in any competitions.

defensively awesome. finnan, carragher, agger and riise. these four played to their best and defended like there's no tommorrow. carragher was great to keep defoe, mido and later berbatov quiet. excellent display of defending and hence, we kept our clean sheet and had our 3 points.

next game it will be bolton. it's a very important match if we want to stay up on the table. bolton has been good form especially nicholas anelka who once played for us. nevertheless, it's at anfield and opposition teams have to worry when they visit us.

a good job done at white hart lane. let's look forward for next..

you'll never walk alone.

cheers.

TOTTENHAM VS LIVERPOOL PREVIEW

Martin Jol's side have won their last seven home games in the Premiership and are looking to maintain their push for UEFA Champions League qualification.

Spurs will draw level on points with Liverpool if they win, and they will be determined to exact revenge for the 3-0 defeat at Anfield in September.

Liverpool slipped up against Blackburn on Boxing Day but had scored nine goals without reply in their three games prior to Christmas and will be eager to get back on track.

The Reds will be wary of Tottenham's strikeforce however, with Jermain Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov totalling 22 goals between them this season.

They are set to continue up front for the Londoners, even if Mido overcomes the groin problem which ruled him out of the victory over Aston Villa.

Robbie Keane (knee) is also sidelined, while Aaron Lennon has missed the last four games and remains a major concern.

Rafa Benitez has no fresh injury worries ahead of the game, but may decide to tinker with his starting XI.

Jermaine Pennant and Luis Garcia are both pressing for recalls, with Mark Gonzalez the likeliest to make way.

Peter Crouch was preferred to Dirk Kuyt as Craig Bellamy's strike partner against Blackburn but he has not scored in the Premiership since October and may be relegated to the substitutes' bench.

louis' comments..
what else can i say? a win. 3 points is essential, to be the best, you have to beat the rest.

louis' predictions..
2-1 to liverpool.

you'll never walk alone.

cheers.