It is quite some time since Liverpool last occupied that spot on Thursdays on Channel 5 - last appearing in the Uefa Cup in a a defeat to Marseilles under the guidance of Gerard Houllier in March 2004. Both Liverpool and the competition have changed since then; Liverpool have developed into one of Europe's footballing powers again and The Uefa cup has been rebranded as the Europa League.
Nonetheless, last night Unirea Urziceni visited Anfield for has to be the dullest game played there in recent times. The only argument to contradict this is that there was no football played - Unirea tried to avoid playing football at Anfield (presumably with the intention of hitting Liverpool on the return leg) and the unimaginative Liverpool seemed happy to go along with Unirea's plans. For most of the game Liverpool had possession 20 to 30 yards from the Unirea goal and would pass from the centre to the left wing, back to the centre, then to the right before returning it to the centre and then the left. Occasionally one of the more ambitious players, usually Aurelio, would shoot at goal, only to hit one of the 11 Unirea players camped in their box.
There were some chances. Gerrard forced an excellent save from Giedrius Arlauskis in the fist minute after being played in by Kuyt. Stevie G again went close in the second half when he almost provided us with a vintage Gerrard moment: taking the ball on his chest before flicking it round the defender and hitting it on the half volley. Had it been a foot to the right we would have been talking about it for years to come.
It was a combination of substitutes who finally created the games only goal. Ryan Babel, on for the ineffective Riera, lofted a high cross to the back post where the 19 year old Dani Pacheco, on for Alberto Aquilani, nodded back across goal for David N'gog to finish - heading in from two yards. The clear positive being Dani Pacheco, on only his third appearence, getting an assist and looking good. The young Spaniard moved to Liverpool from Barca in 2007 and has impressed in the reserves. When you see Pacheco one of the most obvious things is that he is only 5 ft 6, so it will have been a relief to Liverpool fans that he was able to demonstrate is aerial ability last night. He is certainly one to watch for the future. Another Positive from the goal may be Ryan Babel's involvement, but Alas it was his only positive contribution and was an over hit cross that was more rescued than utilised by Pacheco. Babel was not significantly worse than the rest of the Liverpool team, but did provoke the quote of the evening heard in the pub: "He can't even dive properly!".
The other thing that must be mentioned on this blog's first words on the Europa League, is the bizarre sight of seeing man in a tracksuit wandering around on the pitch between the edge of the box and the corner flag. This was one of the the new extra officials Uefa is experimenting with at either end. I'm not quite sure what they actually do and it seems that neither are they, but perhaps I've just not seen the sort of incident that they will help with. They do look odd. Wearing tracksuits when the referee, the linesmen and even the fourth official wear shorts makes them look a little like someone warming up, and their positioning seems unsure and needless. When are they supposed to venture onto the pitch and why? Perhaps in five years time all of this will seem normal. Perhaps.
So, Liverpool labour over a 1-0 victory at home to Unirea while Fulham overcome Shakhtar Donetsk, but I leave you with something else from the Europa League. Remember Jose Antonio Reyes, used to play at Arsenal? well he produced something special last night! What a hit, son! who said the Europa League was a second rate competition.
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