Could not have predicted this. Hoped for it, yes, but never predicted it. Liverpool are top of the Premier League with the Christmas crush just around the corner. A bit fortunate to pick up three goals tonight against Blackburn, but deserved the win, at least in the second half.
Xabi Alonso has just blown me away this season. He's been a bit off form the past couple seasons, and there was a lot of transfer speculation over the summer. Whether that galvanized him into form or he just had a lot of trouble with injuries and such, I don't know if any of us will ever really know, but the fact is, he's shown this season why he really is a class apart. He just takes control of the midfield and forces opponents back on their heels with these amazingly accurate, long searching passes deep into the corners. And he got the first goal tonight, which you could just see meant a lot to him. After all the ups and downs, plus the form he's been in, I think he, more than almost any other player out there, deserved the goal.
Fernando Torres is out until after New Years, which is concerning everyone, including myself. He seems to have a fair amount of trouble with his hamstrings acting up, and the last thing anyone wants is for that to become a chronic problem that will keep him from ever reaching top form. He hasn't been nearly as devastating as he was last season, and surely part of that is that the defenders are on to him now and are thinking about how to deal with him well before gametime. Part of it, too, has to be the Euros over the summer and the fatigue/extra wear and tear that those laid on him and the other Spanish players. The consensus on the message boards at RAWK seems to be, get him completely fit and healthy, and don't risk him until absolutely necessary, like late in the season, when the other teams are worn out.
Sami Hyypia showed again tonight why he should be considered a legend. Class defending all game long, didn't get flustered or anything, kept his cool even when things got a little hairy in the back. Jamie Carragher looked really solid too, and Arbeloa and Insua on the wings kept things mostly under control.
Watching games like this makes me itch to just bite the bullet and make plans to go to France to visit Tom and jump across the channel to see a game at Anfield. I've been obsessively working out budgets this weekend, and on paper I can afford it, but I just don't know how it will all actually work out with the timing of our scholarship payments, tuition payments and so on.
But in any event, well in Liverpool. Haven't been this excited about the domestic campaign in awhile.
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