Far too easy for Liverpool

by Steve McManaman , 03 May 2009

I predicted 4-0 or 5-0 so why didn't that last one go in from Steven Gerrard?!

It was far too easy. I said before the game I wanted to see a little bit of spark from Newcastle to give me hope for next week but I didn't get that.

Initially, when I saw Joey Barton's tackle, it didn't look that bad but, having seen it again, he's off the floor and the referee is right behind it and can see that.

You knew the referee would send him off, he's lunging in with one foot first but the other is following it. He's seen it and sent him off.

It was a comfortable performance from Liverpool but they were quite slow in the second half as they knew it was at a canter today. It's hard to pick the pace of the game up when there's no pressure from the opposition.

It could have been anything, if Liverpool had got a third earlier in the second half. They got the third in the end to show how emphatic it was.

Fernando Torres will be sitting there saying he could have scored two, three or four today, with the sapce that was on the pitch. The best player on the park, arguably in the country, Steven Gerrard had more space than anybody.

Didn't they watch Chelsea man-mark him? Don't let him kick the ball, follow him around the pitch. How Gerrard didn't score today, it was only because he didn't have his shooting boots on. The one that hit the bar was the closest one.

Nobody closed him down whatsoever. Any other day, it could've been a disaster and six or seven.

You wanted one of those great shots to go in as three hit the bar and they were wonderful efforts that deserved better.

Liverpool are in a rich vein of form and finishing off the season well so it's a pity there's not another 10 games left. They're scoring goals and looking very comfortable.

There's so much confidence in the team, whoever comes off the bench slots into the game straight away. They have clicked and it's what Rafa Benitez wants.

Unfortunately, the games we'll talk about are Fulham, Hull and Stoke here. They were not creative enough and now we'd see them give them all a hammering probably.

Teams shut up shop and the likes of Stoke have drawn twice against them yet you'd expect Liverpool to beat teams of that standard.

Everybody is going to be bitterly disappointed if Liverpool do finish second. They'll be looking forward to next year with renewed confidence though as they've been so close.

They've only lost twice so they're doing something right. They are a hard team to beat and just need to make a few signings. You can see that already, they have three left backs so you know people will be moved on.

There's only Jamie Carragher on the wrong side of 30. If Gerrard and Torres are fit and well, it's important they play the majority of games together, then we will see a better Liverpool side.

If anything, though, Manchester United have come to the fore with the kids they play that got to the Carling Cup final. It means I can say they have the better squad now after seeing the full  year.

'Macca' was talking as part of Setanta's post-match coverage of the game from Anfield.


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Pos
Team P W D L GD PTS
1.
Arsenal
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.
Aston Villa
0
0
0
0
0
0
3.
Birmingham
0
0
0
0
0
0
4.
Blackburn
0
0
0
0
0
0
5.
Bolton
0
0
0
0
0
0
6.
Burnley
0
0
0
0
0
0
7.
Chelsea
0
0
0
0
0
0
8.
Everton
0
0
0
0
0
0
9.
Fulham
0
0
0
0
0
0
10.
Hull
0
0
0
0
0
0
11.
Liverpool
0
0
0
0
0
0
12.
Man City
0
0
0
0
0
0
13.
Man Utd
0
0
0
0
0
0
14.
Portsmouth
0
0
0
0
0
0
15.
Stoke
0
0
0
0
0
0
16.
Sunderland
0
0
0
0
0
0
17.
Tottenham
0
0
0
0
0
0
18.
West Ham
0
0
0
0
0
0
19.
Wigan
0
0
0
0
0
0
20.
Wolverhampton
0
0
0
0
0
0
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