LIVERPOOL FC 2-1 MACCABI HAIFA

Not the most impressive start to our season, but on the plus it was good to see our new signings scoring and Pennant playing well down the right. But the final scoreline papers over a lot of the cracks in Liverpools display.
Credit to Haifa they are a good team and we could not have met them at a worse time. Their country is at war and that surely added a bit of fire in their bellys last night, but Liverpool made such a poor start to the game and only Haifa`s goal shook us out of our coma but after Bellamy scored we seem to go back to sleep once again.
The introduction of Crouch and that direct attack finally put Haifa on the back foot and Gonzalez looked good when he was on, and i have to say he did very well to dig that ball out from under his feet to score. But we have a lot of work to do in the second leg, but this time i think we will be fitter and know more about them.
One small point, what the hell have Liverpool got against taking a shot at goal when we have a free kick in range we wasted so many with these little set ups last night, but when they finally let Pennant take a shot only a brilliant save from the keeper denied him.

Rafa`s starting 11 selection highlights what is going to be a dilemma for him in the upcoming season. Sissoko Alonso and Gerrard, how can he fit all 3 of these central midfielders into his formation, and he will want too because Sissoko is the ball winner while the other 2 are more attack minded but too good to be left out, he will play Pennant on the right and probably Gonzalez on the left. That leaves him with 2 options either playing 3 at the back or 1 up front.
I think he will opt for one up front with Gerrard playing off the striker for now but which striker?
Bellamy is more of a goal poacher than Crouch but with Pennant sending in so many crosses Crouch`s height will be a big advantage, and we looked far more threatening when he came on last night. In a perfect world 3 at the back would suit our squad much better but even though Rafa has brought in 2 class central defenders in Paletta and Agger who have huge potential, i fear at the moment thats what it is potential. Paletta looks class and tackles like a cruise missile but he has made schoolboy mistakes but he will learn from them under Rafa`s guidance.
Dont get me wrong its always good when your problem is having so many good players that you have to try and fit them into your team, my only concern is that with playing only one striker we may be going a bit negative with our formation.

• TEAM RATINGS
  
• 25 Jose Reina Had not a great deal to do handled crosses well, could not do much about goal
  
• 3 Steve Finnan Went about his work well, linked up well with Pennant
  
• 23 Jamie Carragher Both central defenders looked bit shaky but Jamie looked more solid as game wet on, some great blocks at end
  
• 4 Sami Hyypia His great positional intelligence was not enough to make up for his lack of pace last night, but write this defender off at your own peril he seems to thrive on pressure when his place in the team is being challenged
  
• 6 John Riise surprisingly left for dust last night on a few occasions, nowadays more comfortable as a midfielder
  
• 8 Steven Gerrard Defiantly still not match fit, but at last we seen a position he cannot play, looked very lost trying to play on the left wing
  
• 22 Mohamed Sissoko Seems Momo is ready for new season great claw like tackles his parried shot gave the first goal and some lovely mazy little runs.......class act
  
• 14 Xabi Alonso Very quiet first half but then Alonso did what Alonso does, one defence splitting pass to set speedy up for the winner
  
• 32 Boudewijn Zenden I think he will be used as cover for our central midfielders did not look good on the left wing last night
  
• 16 Jermaine Pennant Probably the best player in a red shirt last night was a constant threat down the right good free kick, only minus is he really has to improve the quality of his crosses
  
• 17 Craig Bellamy Looked out of position for a lot of the crosses and needs to play more games with his teammates to be able to read there game more, but loved the way he nudged Gerrard out of the way to finish the goal ............shows real hunger
• 10 Luis García Done ok when he came on and had a 50-50 shout for a pen turned down
  
• 11 Mark Gonzalez Only on for couple of minutes but done well to dig ball out from under feet to score, and the boy is fast, think he is going to be a big plus for us this season, and scoring already will help him settle
• 5 Peter Crouch For me it was his introduction that changed the game for us, it put Haifa on the back foot with our more direct style attack, a nightmare for any defender, i just hope Rafa can find a system that allows him to play alongside Bellamy Fowler or whoever we buy