[lfc-news] Mark Lawrenson column - Post

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Liverpool daily Post, 19 April 2005
Thanks for my humble pie... it'll be a pleasure
By Mark Lawrenson, Daily Post

THOSE of you who are regular readers of this column will remember that I
said I'd have to eat humble pie if Liverpool made it past Juventus in
the Champions League, having gone with my head and not my heart.

Well, it turns out that a regular reader is Liverpool chief executive
Rick Parry, who sent me a giant humble pie this week. It was suitably
decorated with the Champions League logo and LFC and suitably tasty.

For me as a former Liverpool player, the victory was a sweet one, and if
Liverpool play like that in every game until the end of the season, I'd
happily wolf down plenty more pies in celebration.

My bleak verdict for Liverpool had stemmed largely from the injury to
Steven Gerrard that ruled him out of the Turin trip.

What I failed to take into account was that they would put in such a
remarkable team performance that it left the Italians lumping long balls
forward, which was game over tactically.

I also failed to realise the effect on the team that the returning Xabi
Alonso would have. I was in Turin and I can't remember the Spaniard
wasting a pass.

To come into a game such as that, with as much at stake and after so
long out, and perform as he did, speaks volumes for the quality that
simply oozes from everything he does.

I love watching him play, and I bet Fernando Morientes - and the rest of
Liverpool's strikers - must be feeling the same way, because of his
country-man's ability to play people in and pick a pass.

The return of Alonso and Djibril Cisse is a massive boost for Rafael
Benitez, after what seems like an eternity of anxiously watching the
treat-ment room door to see who would go in to it next.

The pair of them will be running on adrenaline for the first game or
two, and the challenge after that is to maintain their standards while
their bodies feel like taking a break.

If Alonso especially can do that, I believe it will be a real boost also
for Gerrard because having Alonso in the team will allow him to play in
a more advanced role.

Thinking back to earlier in the season, Liverpool's best results came
when Benitez played Gerrard off the striker, with Alonso providing the
ammunition from deep.

That same system - almost a 4-2-3-1 - will be in evidence at Fratton
Park tomorrow in a game Liverpool have to win.

If this were October or November, if you got a point from a trip to
Portsmouth you'd probably feel that was all right - even though you
probably should get a win.

A draw is no good now though because with Everton playing Manchester
United, Liverpool have a chance to do what they have failed to do on
several occasions before - climb into fourth place..

It seems like every time that carrot has been dangled up to now, they
have slipped up and fallen back.

If that happens tomorrow, there's a chance they could be six points
behind Everton and all but out of the running for that fourth place in
the Premiership.

But with Alonso's influence releasing Gerrard to roam further forward, I
take Liverpool to win.

And this time I hope my predictions aren't quite so pie in the sky!

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