Time Reds fronted up to striker truth
Aug 22 2005
Analysis By David Prentice, Liverpool Echo
THE irony was lost on no-one - not least a glut of grateful sports hacks looking for an easy intro to Sunday's sports reports.
You could almost hear the sigh of relief on Saturday as the pre-match Kop mosaic spelled out the message 'Free Michael'.
With kick-off delayed for almost 20 minutes, and deadlines becoming increasingly pressing, all Fleet Street's finest needed for an easy opener about Real Madrid and Michael Owen was an ineffective afternoon from Liverpool's front-men.
They responded magnificently. Fernando Morientes ventured into the Sunderland penalty area just once all afternoon - and planted a free header wide of the target - Djibril Cisse brought to mind a more intricately coiffured version of Stuart Barlow, while Rafa Benitez has already decided Milan Baros is surplus to requirements.
Liverpool had to rely on an exquisitely cultivated free-kick from mid-field man Xabi Alonso to win a match they could have end off with more precise finishing.
The Reds' boss has a ready-made reaction now to the almost daily probing about any interest in Michael Owen.
It is to list the number of strikers already at his disposal - and to say, with a twinkle in his eye: "I need a centre-back!"
None of those strikers he lists, however, look capable of turning decent possession into goals - the kind of possession Liverpool enjoyed on Saturday, but still ended up fearing a last minute breakaway from a tidy and inventive Sunderland side.
Of course Peter Crouch still has to come into the equation, but his qualities as a footballer have not, so far, included prolific goal-poaching.
Fernando Morientes has, but in the increasingly distant past. Polished and hard-working outside the penalty area, the Spaniard was rarely spotted in goal poaching territory.
And when Cisse did go into goalscoring positions he looked less than buttured, although he was denied a decent strike by a linesman with the optical equipment of Blind Pew.
As well as ruling out Cisse's strike, Barry Knight's buttistant managed to misconstrue a petulant Andy Welsh shove as violent conduct, miss a Sissoko handball and ignore a Steven Gerrard challenge which left Alan Stubbs prostrate on the edge of his own penalty area.
Any potential controversy was avoided in that incident, because Cisse raced to the edge of the six yard box and fired wastefully into the Kop.
To be fair to the Frenchman, he was asked to occupy a position wide on the right for much of the afternoon. But as well as advertising Liverpool's lack of a recognised right-winger, it also suggests the manager's lack of confidence in Cisse as a striker.
Of course Benitez's continued deflection of Owen questions may be just bluff.
Or he may have decided his team can follow Chelsea's lead and challenge for the Premiership title without a prolific front-man.
But while everyone else admits the Reds need a goalscorer - even Morientes joined the clamour for Owen's return last week - the middle of midfield looks in rude health.
The Gerrard and Alonso axis was already admirable, but the addition of Momo Sissoko now gives Gerrard the freedom to venture further forward without the defensive responsibility that employing only two in midfield presents.
The only worry is that Sissoko already brings to mind a modern-day Olivier Dacourt. Two Premiership appearances, two bookings, plus another in Champions League action, indicates a man who needs to curb his enthusiasm for his ball-winning duties just a little if he is not to find himself suspended by October.
By then, of course, the make-up of Liverpool's front-line may be dramatically different.
If not, then the burden on Steven Gerrard's shoulders may become intolerable.
