LFC won the Carling Cup 2012

That little man in the middle will feature in the Liverpool FC squad in less than 5 years. - Reuters

Was it entertaining to the highest degree? May be. Perhaps because the match had to be settled via penalty shoot-out. Or was it the score line shows as if Cardiff is a force to be reckoned with, soon to be enlisted in the Premier League? Or did the match only show how fragile we are when ever we play "smaller teams''. No offence but on the way to final, Liverpool beat Manchester City, a really really BIG MONEY team!

My summary would be simple. Cardiff City did a really good job in studying the earlier matches where teams such as Swansea, Stoke and 7 more clubs managed to stop Liverpool from free-scoring. How did they do this? Parked a double-decker in front of the goal post. Then strike on a measured counter-attacked. If you read the match statistic, Cardiff's player did very well in achieving the target of this hideous football tactic. 

So what happened to Liverpool? Why couldn't they kill the game within 90 minutes? Yes, there were buses and trains defending the Cardiff keeper, but why did Kenny Dalglish stubbornly relying on Andy Carroll who was again... lousy. Did any one noticed that his replacement, Dirk Kuyt eventually scored after the hapless Carroll were out of the pitch? My real question is, why was Craig Bellamy benched? Correct me please, if I'm wrong. In situation where your opponent decided not to attack but defend, do you opted for long balls for your tallest man in the penalty box for more than 90 mins? My mind says that the experiment should have ended in an hour. Carroll should have been taken out in the 60th minutes. 

One for the poster on my wall. - Reuters

A win is a win, regardless of how the goal was converted (3 own goals by Brighton) and what was the scoreline (a slim 1-0 margin or a riot 6-1). In last night's match, it was decided by the penalty kicks or more correctly, penalty missed-kicks.

Our captain Steven Gerrard show that he meant serious business from the very first minute til the last where he squandered the penalty kick. Luckily, where Gerrard and Charlie Adam failed, it was made worst by Cardiff's player. It must be Pepe Reina's aura. The second best goalkeeper for Spain, the reigning World Cup Champion. Reina didn't really touch any of the ball or made a save but the mere appearance of him was sufficient to ensure the unlucky Cardiff's, including our captain's cousin, whose last shot was too much for him to focus onto.

OHHHHH WHAT A FEELING !!!... - Reuters

Now we have the Carling Cup. We should go for the FA Cup. We're meeting Stoke City on March 18th. This is another club that employs the double-decker bus. I hope Kenny Dalglish would learn from last night's match. If only Andy Carroll could convince us of his true talent, LFC can't be relying too much on him for Dalglish to settled on a single attacking mode.


To all you guys, my fellow Liverpool FC fan, let's celebrate the Carling Cup win. 
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE.