Is there a way we can somehow blame Andy Carroll for this?

The last of the newly promoted teams visited Anfield today and we finally got a decent result.

1. Not going to lie, I predicted a 1-1 draw ahead of this match. I didn’t want to tempt fate and I figured that with the way they’ve been playing at home, a draw was the best they could do. Note also that this is the first win at Anfield since the game against Wolves in September. SEPTEMBER. So long ago that I was at that goddamned game.
2. There continues to be a finishing problem on this team and I’m wondering how the blogs and the pundits are going to deal with it given that Andy Carroll was on the bench all game and they can’t blame him in any way for the fact that Liverpool should have scored about seventeen more goals than they did. Not that they didn’t try, of course; I couldn’t hear the commentators at the half because it was too loud in the pub, but they put up Carroll’s picture as part of their half-time analysis and I thought “Seriously? SERIOUSLY?” Why are we bringing him into this? I’m sorry, friend, you’re the team scapegoat and even if you got a hat trick in every start for the rest of the season I’m not sure anyone would cut you any slack.
3. Charlie Adam keeps looking better and better, which is fantastic. I find his set pieces dubious lately, though, which I find odd given that were these not one of the reasons we bought him in the first place? I digress. He’s good paired with Henderson, who I am much happier with since he’s switched to a position he can play, so I’m less scared about the barrenness of our midfield in the wake of Lucas and his season-ending injury and Jay Spearing’s three match ban for that non-red last week.
4. DANIEL AGGER. Ugh. Daniel Agger is experiencing a renaissance in my heart for reasons unknown. When I first started watching Liverpool, right away he was one of my favourite players because I like his attitude, his approach to the game, and the way he plays. And yet, perhaps beacuse he’s injury prone and thus missed large chunks of last season, I kept forgetting about him. The Skrtel/Agger dynamic at the back is working for me and everyone else and I like their eagerness to get up during corners, not just because this is the correct tactical decision to make but also because they actually look hungry to participate offensively in a way that I didn’t see our CB’s doing last year. Love it, love it, love it.

   Agger also did a hilarious Twitter session for the team earlier this week (in which he flat out said he refuses to get Twitter or Facebook or anything else, hehehe) and said that his favourite song is “You’ll Never Walk Alone” but, failing that, it’s “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake. WHITESNAKE.

   Finally, Captain Agger is one of the reason I’m excited that Denmark is part of the Germany/Netherlands/Portugal Group of Death at Euro next year. YAY. King of Denmark. (This is where Niklas Bendtner kills him with ear poison.)

5. Maxi and Suarez looked good together as well in that they both seem to have a constant driving skill to make something out of nothing by passing it back and forth until you get a shot. It’s funny to me that everyone keeps going on about the Carroll/Suarez striker partnership because I feel like both of them would be better complemented by other players (Suarez with Maxi or Kuyt, maybe, and Carroll with Downing). But what do I know.
6. Also, now that we have all these little duos that are working out, I kind of want King Kenny to tell everyone to find a partner, kindergarten-style, and make sure you always know where that person is on the pitch. Afterwards they can leave Anfield with everyone holding onto a long knotted rope so they don’t get lost, Kenny at the front and Steve Clarke bringing up the rear.
7. STEWART DOWNING, I LOVE YOU. I thought he looked fantastic out there and, as usual, was unlucky not to at least get an assist somewhere. (Which is one of my favourite complaints about him: his lack of assists. If your teammates are the ones failing to score despite you constantly feeding the ball in to them, how is that your fault?) He’ll get his goal eventually but I think performances like this one show why he should be in the starting eleven every week.
8. Craig Bellamy, you are my favourite free transfer of all time. Thank you for coming on as a sub and not even waiting literally five seconds before being called over by the referee for bad behaviour. When they announced he was coming on, someone was like “Uh oh, Bellamy and Joey Barton on the pitch at the same time?” which, yes, yikes. And surprise surprise, they got into a kerfuffle! These two.
9. If you’re a goalkeeper and you want to have the game of your season, start at Anfield. You’ll be guaranteed to look like a genius. I have no idea what is going on here.
10. I’m going to go out on a limb today and say the only person who was not good was Dirk Kuyt, who was appalling in places. Amazing work rate, I know, but for the love of christ I do not care about your work rate when you keep passing it directly to the other team. Maybe you’re using that work rate to get back the balls you’ve misplaced? Eesh.
11. No one is talking about how Jamie Carragher hasn’t started in the last three league matches. I find this odd.
12. My favourite fan in the stands today was the woman wearing the retro red and white striped scarf that she had embroidered player names onto. I like a good DIY fan craft.