Cottagers capitulate

I thought that it was going to be one of those days, but it turns out I was wrong, it was one of these days. We had played quite well but hadn't got the goals that our play deserved. Then Rafa decided to unleash the kid. 20 mins to go and a match that looked like it would be another disappointing home point, was converted into three. The miracle of the loaves and fishes has nothing on this in multiplication terms.

We did create a few chance and should have been in front earlier. Crouch was unlucky to see a header hit the wood work o the stroke of halftime. Voronin had a few chances, one of which Niemi did well to save. The Finnish keeper repeated his heroics to turn a curling shot from Yossi around the post. But for all of our pressure, possession and persistence, it looked as if we were headed for parity.

Enter Torres. The media had a field day with the fact that Rafa named an unchanged team. Where was the "rotation"? The unchanged team hadn't produced the good so Rafa made a change to bring on the young fella. Torres had 20 mins and immediately looked dangerous. His goal was fantastic. A long kick out from Pepe arrived on his chest and he controlled it effortlessly. He turned Hughes one way and then another. Torres has the lethal combination of pace and quick feet. This combo proved too much for Highes as Torres shot through his legs. Poor Niemi had no chance and was beaten at his near post. Nice.

We were a bit lucky. with the peno. On the replay it does look like the foul occurred outside the box. I don't think that Crouch made a meal of it, there was a tackle and he went down, fair enough. Gerrard steeped up and took the peno. I am never 100% confident with him taking them but he's scored a lot more than he's missed. 2-0, job done.


There were many quality performers including Crouch, Voronin, Benayoun, Arbeloa and the two subs Babel and Torres. Babel caused a lot of problems with his pace, strength and direct running. As I've said on here before, he isn't the finished article yet, but he has the attributes needed to make it at the top level. Some of his decision making can be suspect when he takes a shot rather than passing. But I feel that we can coach him into playing a more team game while maintaining his goal threat.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend for us. Chelsea could only manage a draw against the bitter blues today which means that we're now a point behind Chelsea and 6 points behind Utd with a game in hand and Arsenal play tomorrow. Given how poor our form has been and injuries we've suffered last month, we're not in that bad a position. Hopefully we won't suffer anymore over the international break and Xabi and Agger will be back in two weeks when we play Newcastle. Benayoun is out now too but Torres isn't going away with Spain which is great news. The Toon are in shit form at the mo. Big Sam isn't working the wonders that they might have expected. I'm sure that he will get them in order eventually but now might be a good time to play them.

It looks like Utd have beaten us to the signing of John Cofie from Burnley. This is a bit of a disappointment but there's no guarentee that he'll make it and we're looking to sign a few youngsters of our own at the moment.

Anon.

A tale of three strikers

Exhibit A - Dirk Kuyt. Dirk had a terrible day at the office on Saturday. He is going through a crisis of confidence at the moment. He had a few chances but couldn't hit the target and when he did, Friedal was more than equal to it. Rafa is a big fan and seems to want to let him play through it. I don't think that he is clinical enough to play up front on his own, as he did on Sat. I like Dirk too but I don't think that he works well with Crouch or Voronin, only Torres.

Exhibit B - Peter Crouch. Crouch came on as as second half sub and almost changed the game. I don't know what he did to annoy Rafa, but he seems well out of favour at the minute. I would like to see him get more game time while Torres isn't ready because he looks like the striker who's most likely to score. I don't know if Crouch has a long term future at the club but I definitely think that he's the man for the moment.

Exhibit C - Fernando Torres. It sounds like the news might be better than had been previously hoped. He was back in training today after his muscle injury and faces a late fitness text for tomorrow. I can't imagine that he'll be risked after the last time but he might get a place on the bench for a last gasp throw of the dice if we need him. We're looking fairly blunt without him.

Harry Kewell was a welcome sight when he came on as a second half sub. If, and it's a big if, he can stay fit for a while, then he could do a huge job for us on the left and nail down that position. Despite his injuries, he's still the best winger that we have in my opinion. He did well in the 20 or so mins that he got on Saturday by stretching the play and taking his man on. I would imagine that he'll be an impact sub for the next few games while his builds up his fitness.

Babel started on the wing against Blackburn. Babel clearly has talent with his pace, power, control and shooting. But he hasn't really been able to put it all together so far. I feel that it might be after Christmas or next season before he beds in properly and makes a telling contribution. Here's what Wenger has to say on new signings.

"When I sign a player I don't judge him at all in the first six months. Never. I give him six months to adapt and don't put any pressure on him because I know what it takes. You have to settle and get the right level. You start to look at him really in January and February."

The draw for the Carling Cup quarter finals was made on Sat and we'll be heading to Stamford Bridge at the end of December. They have a superb home record so I'd be surprised if we get anything out of that one. It is only the Carling Cup though.

Oliver Kay has an article in the Times where he says that we're near an agreement for John Cofie From Burnley. United and Chelsea are after him too but it sounds like we're in the driving seat as he attended the Cardiff match last week. He's 15, plays up front and could cost anything between £250000 and £1m. Lauri Dalla Valle, a 16 year old Finn who I've mentioned before here, is also being tipped to arrive in Jan.

It's do or die against Besiktas tomorrow. It's time to stand up and spout cliches. Win and we have a chance, anything less and we're out. We should be more than capable but then again, I said the same about Porto, Marseille and the Turkish trip.

Here's hoping.