Liverpol WIgan 1st half view

In the 1st half it has been Liverpool walking all over the Latics however the fighting spirit that Bruce wanted to introduce to the team looks to have occured

Liverpool has had by far the better of the chance with 3 point blank shots on goal to only be denied by Kirkland who is having a blinder of a game so far

Same old story for Wigan in that our midfield and LB is being carved up causing at times our forwards Heskey and Bent to be parked in our own half which rarley occurs at any stage of the match let alone in the 1st half

Positives

- Scramble defence, Scharner, Bramble and Brown coming back have been good. Scharner has held his own against Torres and has been lucky a few times but thats what you expect from him. CB is really working for Scharner as his work ethic can't be questioned and he has saved us a few times today already. Bramble has been indifferent in that his urgency has been missing at times yet again he saved us on 1 occasion.

Brown has been great, he has come back in defence and when moving forward is 1 of the 1st up the other end. He really has been great the last few matches for us

- Melchiot has held his own against Kewell, yes he has been beaten a few times but he hasn't allowed Kewell the room he craves and creates down the flanks which in effect has cramped Liverpools attack somewhat in the middle

- Considering the posession count we have had a few chances on goal, be them limited and not in great positions. Liverpool have used the offside trap early but reverted to the conventional style defence towards the back end of the half after Bent and heskey nearly were ok.

- valencia, the quicker we sign him up from his loan the better, he has been the only one really causing concern for Liverpool out there, he takes 2 defenders on and beats them, his speed is a great asset and is only going to get better over time.

Negatives

- Midfield is being dominated against yet again, we need to get a pressance in the middle of the park big time

- Killer has been poor down the left, Pennant has had room to move every time Liverpool have gone that way, Whilst its been clear to target Kewell I wouldn't be surprised to see them push more attack down the left

- Liverpools forward dominace with 1 striker up front, they are still playing the 4-4-1-1 formation, I expect that will change at halftime if not it should occur before the 60min mark at least given the striker depth they have on the bench

All in all we are 0-0 at halftime and in a scrap in allot of ways, I don't expect we will dominate the 2nd half but would be nice to get some quality ball a few times up front and take a chance to take the lead to see what comes of it, however can't argue given what occured in the 2nd half with the result at halftime, undeserved but thats footy