Post by Scott on May 13, 2006 22:02:10 GMT
Observers of this great old institution had said that today was one day when the competition would have the chance to produce a great final, and so it was.
West Ham, all naivety and sparkle took the game to Liverpool, and with the help of dodgy defending, took a 2-0 lead before the Reds had got off their chaises longues. Perhaps Carragher and Reina had been taking tips from Mikael Silvestre!
Inevitably, Liverpool found their feet and for a 15 minute period in the first half looked capable of getting more than Djibril Cisse's goal back, but in fairness to West Ham, their players recovered their composure and went into the break with their advantage.
It is fair to say that once Liverpool equalised at 2-2, I would have expected them to win it, but the surge in confidence that greeted Cisse's goal didn't materialise. Konchesky's goal, although not against the run of play, I suspect came as a complete shock to most neutrals, and also to Liverpool.
I have to say that Liverpool were lucky to take this match into extra time, their players apart from their captain, looked beaten. His second equaliser was by far the goal of the season, and when you evaluate his performance today, you have to wonder about the sanity of Benitez's brinkmanship about his captain's career at Anfield last season.
A number of people rang up 606 to demand that Gerrard be made captain of England on the strength of what we witnessed today. This is all very well, and as a great as his performance was, he has yet to produce that for England. People's expectations of him have been raised again, and he can't afford to disappoint in his first World Cup. When you raise the bar that high, people expect it on a consistent basis. Ask David Beckham. He has been trying to get Greece out of people's heads for 5 years.
I am not pretending to hide my disappointment that Liverpool won the game today, because this was an opportunity for a competent Premiership team to reclaim the F A Cup for the rest of that division. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have won the last 11 F A Cups, and only Everton and Tottenham have managed to buck that trend in the 1990s.
Congratulations to Liverpool, but today's match give hope to all their opponents for the future. Carragher and Hyppia look vulnerable to pace, and without Steven Gerrard today, this team would have been well beaten. Much was made of Hayden Mullins being missed by the Hammers, but I think Liverpool missed Garcia and a fit Xabi Alonso more.
Unfortunately, the BBC, impartial to the last as far as Liverpool is concerned, declared that it would be a shame for "any team to lose a game like this on penalties". I look to Liverpool fans to laugh at that and say as should have been stated by the organ "that it would be a shame for West Ham and Gerrard to end up on the losing side". I think that would have been more accurate.
We had the Matthews final in 1953, 53 years on have we witnessed the Gerrard Final?
West Ham, all naivety and sparkle took the game to Liverpool, and with the help of dodgy defending, took a 2-0 lead before the Reds had got off their chaises longues. Perhaps Carragher and Reina had been taking tips from Mikael Silvestre!
Inevitably, Liverpool found their feet and for a 15 minute period in the first half looked capable of getting more than Djibril Cisse's goal back, but in fairness to West Ham, their players recovered their composure and went into the break with their advantage.
It is fair to say that once Liverpool equalised at 2-2, I would have expected them to win it, but the surge in confidence that greeted Cisse's goal didn't materialise. Konchesky's goal, although not against the run of play, I suspect came as a complete shock to most neutrals, and also to Liverpool.
I have to say that Liverpool were lucky to take this match into extra time, their players apart from their captain, looked beaten. His second equaliser was by far the goal of the season, and when you evaluate his performance today, you have to wonder about the sanity of Benitez's brinkmanship about his captain's career at Anfield last season.
A number of people rang up 606 to demand that Gerrard be made captain of England on the strength of what we witnessed today. This is all very well, and as a great as his performance was, he has yet to produce that for England. People's expectations of him have been raised again, and he can't afford to disappoint in his first World Cup. When you raise the bar that high, people expect it on a consistent basis. Ask David Beckham. He has been trying to get Greece out of people's heads for 5 years.
I am not pretending to hide my disappointment that Liverpool won the game today, because this was an opportunity for a competent Premiership team to reclaim the F A Cup for the rest of that division. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have won the last 11 F A Cups, and only Everton and Tottenham have managed to buck that trend in the 1990s.
Congratulations to Liverpool, but today's match give hope to all their opponents for the future. Carragher and Hyppia look vulnerable to pace, and without Steven Gerrard today, this team would have been well beaten. Much was made of Hayden Mullins being missed by the Hammers, but I think Liverpool missed Garcia and a fit Xabi Alonso more.
Unfortunately, the BBC, impartial to the last as far as Liverpool is concerned, declared that it would be a shame for "any team to lose a game like this on penalties". I look to Liverpool fans to laugh at that and say as should have been stated by the organ "that it would be a shame for West Ham and Gerrard to end up on the losing side". I think that would have been more accurate.
We had the Matthews final in 1953, 53 years on have we witnessed the Gerrard Final?
summed it up well. their players were ***** after 90 minutes. Utd and Arsenal did the same last year didn't see utd players hobbling about! 