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| Carragher going Gangnam Style... Image: caughtoffside.com |
Swansea came to Anfield with exactly the right intentions; to attack. Too many teams come to Liverpool and don't feel brave enough to take on the Reds, especially in cup games where anything can happen and an away side will often rely on it's counter attack.
For Swansea it was the complete opposite, they applied pressure from the whistle and had the better first half by far. Liverpool had youngster Yesil up front but he wasn't as impressive as he has been in some international fixtures we have seen him in, however, Yesil is certainly one for the future.
Swansea on the other hand were having no problems with their front men but it was a defender that ended up getting Laudrup's side off the mark.
The Spaniard Chico beat Sebastian Coates in the air to head home a corner for Swansea, perhaps question marks could be raised around the Liverpool defence here but there was no denying that the Jacks deserved their lead.
Liverpool had offered very little at the Kop end aside from a poor Joe Cole effort that went straight to the keeper. The Reds looked lacking in ideas and with no real proven goalscorers on the pitch, things would need to change.
Jamie Carragher saved Brendan Rodgers from even more early humiliation in front of his old club after a couple of his famous last ditch challenges and blocks prevented Liverpool from conceding again.
The second half saw Rodgers bring on Suarez and Gerrard immediately whilst Yesil and Cole were relieved of their duties.
The introduction of Suarez always provides Liverpool with some zest but the problem is too much reliance is placed on the Uruguayan. People often accuse Suarez of being too selfish but if you pay close attention it's often because there are no options but to go for it himself.
Half time didn't appear to disrupt Swansea's momentum at all and with the psychological advantage of forcing Liverpool to hit the Kop End in the first half, it looked as though the Welsh side had control of the game.
Liverpool brought on the lively Raheem Sterling just after the hour mark in the hope to further improve their attack but still Swansea remained resilient. A second goal for them through Nathan Dyer just after 70 minutes meant Liverpool would have to wake up to keep themselves in the competition.
A Luis Suarez header from a Steven Gerrard free kick gave the Anfield faithful some hope with 15 minutes left to go but it was looking like a very difficult task to undo all of Swansea's good work.
de Guzman's tap in in the 90th minutes sealed the Reds fate and ensured Swansea their progress to the quarter finals. Swansea were well deserved winners, Liverpool on the other hand were dire.
It's hard to pin point exactly what went wrong because the stats suggest our possession was adequate and we had the same amount of shots on target as the away side, but as always goalscoring itself seems to be problematic.
Of course you can pull out the old "well it's only the League Cup" but I for one wanted us to go all the way again this year. last years final was by far my moment of the season however, the ability to focus more on the league is never really a bad thing.
Next up for Liverpool is Newcastle on Sunday which happens to be my birthday!