Hamlet Answered: Liverpool 3 - Zenit St Petersburg 1

photo by h.koppdelaney	via PhotoRee

From a despondent Correspondent Scott:

There were Slings and Arrows aplenty but the Sea of troubles ultimately proved too much. It was not to be.

The last ray of first-season hope for Brendan Rodgers was extinguished at Anfield on Thursday when, despite a thrilling and resounding win to bring the aggregate score level, a pesky Hulking away goal sealed their fate. That the 20th minute concession was the result of a Jamie Carragher under-hit back-pass, in his 150th European appearance for the club, only added to the misery.

Despite being on the wrong side of this one, this fan can admit a thrilling game, even in aggregate defeat.  Needing 3 goals to win and then 4 after Zenit St. Petersburg scored first, the persistent Reds fought on bravely and nearly pulled it off. This rollercoaster game can really only truly be appreciated from my real-time notes:

0 Need goals!

3 Zenit pressing very high and Liverpool has to work hard to get out of the back without booting it.

6 Liverpool moving the ball and controlling the game so far, stubbornly working out of the back.

11 Gerrard fires way over from free kick.

15 Through fifteen minutes, all Liverpool but no clear chances.

20 Carragher blows it. Horrible back-pass mistake. Game over. Need 4 goals now. Did it to Swansea. But Zenit is not Swansea.

24 Now just stupid mistakes all over the pitch as Liverpool reel from the blow.

28 After much ado about the spotting of the ball (yielding a Zenit Yellow Card) the Zenit wall fails and Suarez scores through a gap provided by Henderson and Enrique. 8 minutes lost but back where we started!

30 Gerrard goes down and he never dives so thankfully linesman sees it correctly.

32 Reina whiffs the clearance kick outside his area, after an ambitious Lucas back-pass, then recovers.

43 And another goal!  This time by Allen. I believe!

45 Half time comes with only 2 goals to go, which is where we would have liked to be from the start.

The Worst of the Worst

A New Award for the Holiday Season: The Ballon du Merde
photo by johannal	via PhotoRee

It seems as if virtually everyone else has used the Christmas break to come up with their Season-to-Date Recaps, or EPL Best XI list, but we don't work like that here at farlieonfootie.  Instead, we're proposing to do something just a little bit different.  Herewith the First Annual farlieonfootie Nominations for the Ballon du Merde, a new award we're trying to convince FIFA to grant to this year's worst players in the EPL:


Goalkeeper: Robert Green, West Ham United.  His problems began back in the World Cup, allowing an inexplicable goal against the USA and promptly losing his starting spot, and have continued into the EPL season.  By allowing 31 goals so far, Green's conceded more often than any other 'keeper in the EPL this year (he's actually tied for this dubious honor with Scott Carson of West Brom).  Although Green's not always terrible, he's routinely bad enough to take home the prize this year. 


Defender: Jonathan Spector, West Ham United.  Dismiss the two goals he scored against Manchester United in the League Cup, and focus more on Spector's consistently poor defending, which sets an awful standard even for an American.  He's been so bad in defense that the Hammers are now trying to hide him in midfield  They'd be better off hiding him on the bench.


Defender: Richard Dunne, Aston Villa.  Where did this guy's skills go?  Like Rhett Butler, they're seemingly Gone With the Wind.  Last year this guy was a joy to behold and a rock in the center of defense.  This season he's arguing with management and his status is sinking like a rock.  What a difference a year makes.