The Flat Back Four: 2009/2010 Barclays Premier League Week 20 Review: Liverpool And West Ham Get Their Just Rewards

Monday, January 18, 2010

2009/2010 Barclays Premier League Week 20 Review: Liverpool And West Ham Get Their Just Rewards

After a slew of cancelled matches due to snow in Week 19, Week 20 had much to make up for the disappointment. And as always, the English Premier League never fails to live up to expectation!

Chelsea showed that there is life even without Didier Drogba...in fact seven goals were the proof. Arsenal and Manchester United continued in hot pursuit of the Blues by posting comfortable wins of their own as well. While Fran Merida may have scored his first Premier League goal, it could also be his last as the Spaniard looks for first-team opportunities outside of England. Manchester United gave Brian Laws work to do as Burnley continue to slip worryingly down the Premiership league table.

But the focus of this week's review shifts towards two teams who in the weekend employed the same tactical gameplan but with differing reaction to the results. These two teams are Liverpool and West Ham United.

After a terrible week where Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup by Reading and amid calls for Rafa's resignation by former Reds, Liverpool gave their fans a boost by also announcing the arrival of La Fiera, Maxi Rodriguez. With the injuries suffered by Gerrard, Torres and Benayoun, Maxi was expected to feature prominently in the weekend match against Stoke City.

Over the years, fans have known better than to try to predict Rafa Benitez' move and his lineup against an inferior Stoke City again highlighted how frustratingly negative Rafa's tactics have become. Nine players who are defensive in nature and two strikers put paid to any hopes Liverpool fans have of salvaging a bit of pride. Sitting on the bench were Maxi, Aquilani, Riera and Dani Pacheco. That's what Rafa Benitez have become and though at times, tactics are important, I would believe playing your best team to get results is the most foremost in every manager's mind.

In the end, Stoke came alive when Liverpool went ahead, and the result was a fair one in the end. Surely Rafa has got to go at the end of this season. After a fantastic season last time round, crashing out of the Champions League, Premier League, Carling Cup and FA Cup is simply unacceptable. Even winning the Europa League will feel hollow.

Contrast Liverpool's negativity with the one employed by Zola, West Ham put out a side which was designed to work very hard and stop Aston Villa from scoring. In terms of winning and keeping the ball, the midfield five of Kovac, Parker, Noble, Collison and Behrami are currently the best that West Ham have got. Zola acknowledged that Villa were the better side and chose his game plan accordingly, utilising his midfielders effectively. The result was a first clean sheet since August for the Hammers. A result that lifted them to 16th in the Premiership table, albeit on goal difference.

Results for week 19 and week 20 are shown below,

Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Stoke City	3 - 2	Fulham

Saturday, January 9, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Arsenal	2 - 2	Everton
FT	Birmingham	1 - 1	Manchester United

Monday, January 11, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Manchester City	4 - 1	Blackburn Rovers

Saturday, January 16, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Stoke City	1 - 1	Liverpool
FT	Chelsea	7 - 2	Sunderland
FT	Manchester United	3 - 0	Burnley
FT	Tottenham Hotspur	0 - 0	Hull City
FT	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0 - 2	Wigan Athletic
FT	Everton	2 - 0	Manchester City

Sunday, January 17, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Aston Villa	0 - 0	West Ham United
FT	Blackburn Rovers	2 - 0	Fulham
FT	Bolton Wanderers	0 - 2	Arsenal

West Ham takeover talks should conclude sometime this week and finally, the Irons can look forward to strengthening their injury-ravaged squad. With must-win games coming up, West Ham can ill-afford to slip up and a new striker remain top of Zola's transfer priority. Last week was a tough week for the Hammers - takeover speculations were rife and the FA slapping West Ham with a hefty fine for the Millwall incident but the outlook is now clearer after a valuable point against an off-form Villa.