Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Benitez knows Liverpool must improve for Chelsea clash
Liverpool 3 Wigan 2
AMID the frustration, relief, rapture and anger which bubbled to the surface at Anfield, one emotion was felt above all others. Confusion.[>
[>
Not at another controversial performance from referee Alan Wiley, which succeeded in driving Wigan manager Steve Bruce to distraction – but rather over what to make of Liverpool.[>
[>
Where to begin trying to work out a team who are on the brink of posting their most convincing-ever start to a Premier League campaign, but who have been in the lead for just 56 minutes in their games.[>
[>
A side whose best result so far has come without the best players. A side who boast more width, but are frighteningly weak at full-back. A side who have accumulated four more points than at the same stage of last season, despite having scored less and conceded more goals.[>
[>
For every fan on The Kop adamant that this latest stirring fightback offered further proof of the mental strength required to mount a title challenge, there is another reluctantly suggesting the constant need for last-gasp heroics highlights a fragility that will eventually catch up with Rafa Benitez’s men.[>
[>
Perhaps the argument will be settled next weekend when Liverpool arrive at Stamford Bridge for a showdown which will see unbeaten records, as well as pride, on the line.[>
[>
“I don’t like to do it this way,” said Benitez, his heart having already endured come-from-behind victories against Middlesbrough, Manchester United and Manchester City.[>
[>
“At the end if we have won, then everyone will be happy. But for the fans and everyone involved with us, I think it’s better to score and play well in the first half and enjoy the game.[>
[>
“Clearly Chelsea are a team that, if they score, will be difficult to score against. Maybe the experience we had here can help for the next game.”[>
[>
Liverpool can ill-afford to be as rudderless next weekend, their efforts to regain a foothold going nowhere until Antonio Valencia was sent off.[>
[>
Having been harshly booked by Wiley for supposedly encroaching at a free-kick, Wigan midfielder Valencia should have been more careful when launching into a reckless tackle on Xabi Alonso.[>
[>
Minutes later, Albert Riera had scored his first Liverpool goal to make it 2-2. Then Dirk Kuyt grabbed his second with a volley that came off his shin and slipped through the butterfingers of Chris Kirkland.[>
[>
Benitez had ended without either of his full-backs on the pitch, though as one wag pointed out, Liverpool had been playing without anyone there anyway such was the ease with which Wigan ran amok down the flanks.[>
[>
Certainly, Andrea Dossena, a £7million recruit from Udinese and apparently a full Italy international, appears the sort of expensive error Benitez will have to cut his losses on sooner rather than later.[>
[>
Dossena was embarrassed by Valencia on the stroke of half-time, with Egyptian Amr Zaki dispatching an unstoppable, acrobatic volley to stun Liverpool for the second time.[>
[>
He had earlier profited from a mistake by Daniel Agger.[>
[>
That Liverpool can get it so wrong in the transfer market is all the more remarkable given Wigan’s success with a far more exotic blend. As well as Zaki and Valencia, Wilson Palacios was in imperious form and ran the midfield for the opening 45 minutes.[>
[>
Bruce’s post-match demeanour was coloured by his fury over Wiley’s performance, his mood not helped by the failure to punish Liverpool substitute Nabil El Zhar for a poor tackle on Mario Melchiot two minutes after reducing Wigan to 10 men.[>
[>
Long term, Bruce’s headache will be caused by trying to keep half a dozen members of his blossoming team together.[>
[>
“I’ve got that problem with about six of them,” he said. “It’s just one of those things you have to put up with. I can safely say this is the best team I have ever had the privilege to manage. Obviously the big threat I’ve got is that the big boys are vultures.”[>
[>
Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina 5; Arbeloa 5 (Benayoun 79, 5), Carragher 6, Agger 6, Dossena 4 (El Zhar 77, 6); Pennant 6, Gerrard 6, Alonso 6, Riera 7; Kuyt 9, Keane 6 (Hyypia 90). Booked: Dossena. Goals: Kuyt 37, 85, Riera 80.[>
[>
Wigan (4-5-1): Kirkland 5; Melchiot 6, Scharner 6, Bramble 6, Figueroa 6; De Ridder 6 (Kilbane 79, 5), Valencia 7, Cattermole 7, Palacios 8 (Koumas, 90), Kapo 6 (Brown, 82); Zaki 8. Booked: Valencia. Sent off: Valencia. Goals: Zaki 29, 45.[>
[>
Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).[>