I titled our 3-2 win over Bolton as “Don’t Be Fooled” for a vast variety of reasons. It all depends on whose slant you’ve taken on our club over the past few weeks. It could also depend on your own personal view on our club. Either way, analysis is simply that… “just analysis,” and to be hoodwinked into one “absolute blanket” would be foolhearty, as we have been so Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde this season that analysis alone cannot describe what’s going on. Here are a few reasons not to be fooled:
1) Don’t be fooled that Liverpool are out of it (the title). Comebacks like this were the hallmark of our season last year, and a very similar result was obtained against Portsmouth in January under even more daunting circumstances in a season where we came back from deficits to win more than once. Additionally, Chelsea and Tottenham have started 100% perfect, but we all know that momentum determines the title, and that momentum is rarely maintained from the very beginning of the campaign. With United and Arsenal being as dangerous as usual, but slipping up at times, as well, you never know.
2) Don’t be fooled that this win means we are back IN it. After all, we have given up seven goals in only four matches, a defensive record that will indeed infuriorate Senor Benitez. Often times it has not been about tactics, but about insane lapses of concentration… i.e. the Gerrard challenge against Villa, or the completely unchallenged Cohen goal at Bolton today. As long as we cannot get our heads in gear, we don’t have the same chance as we did last season when we were as mentally solid as a rock (erm… rocks aren’t mentally solid. Just solid.). Our back four need desperate help at the moment… Johnson included, though offensively he has been already our best player BY FAR.
3) Don’t be fooled that Gerrard and Torres are out of form just because the media says so. Did you watch them against Stoke and at Bolton today? It was just two matches where they looked a bit off… don’t read too much into it. They are both playing well and will continue to play well because they are two of the best players in the world.
4) Don’t be fooled that Rafa is right about zonal marking or that the media is wrong about it. In other words, we aren’t amazing at set-pieces, nor are we dreadful at it. So don’t talk about it anymore. Look at OPTA statistics if you’d like.
5) Don’t be fooled that this result means everything will change. We said that about the Tottenham AND Stoke matches. So let’s just take it one match at a time and realize that we have work to do and that talking about what we need to do tactically is total rubbish. As if we really know what the hell we are talking about compared to Rafa. “Sell Lucas,” “Sack Rafa and take Benni with him…,” “BLAH BLAH BLAH.” Internet messageboards are becoming a place where the most truly unsavory characters roam and publish stuff they haven’t thought through. Particularly on SkySports, I’ve noticed…
No matter what your view on Liverpool Football Club’s shaky start has been, it is safe to say that we can defy the odds with 34 of the 38 matches to go. So instead of making crazy sacking statements or “sell ____ and _____” statements, let’s rally around the lads and give them our support… hence our role as “supporters,” not “tactical advisory peons.” 
And let’s face it… we should be taking Rafa’s advice and going one match at a time and not getting too fixated on this 19th title when it is only August. I, for one, am just incredibly pleased that we won the match in a very similar fashion as we were winning last season. More of the same against Burnley on the 12th, thank you very much!
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