Great result for the club. It's games like this we had trouble with last season so it's nice to see that we haven't stumbled yet on lower table teams. Now, if we can beat those pesky ones in the top half of the table we will be doing great.
Even when we stomp a team by scoring four goals and keep a clean sheet, Rafa manages to say something to annoy the crap out of me.
Lucas supported and managed in the middle and kept everyone else going forward. . .For me he was the key player today. We can talk about Yossi but it was thanks to Lucas.
Seriously? I will admit that Lucas looked much more at home in the defensive midfield role instead of trying to play the part of some sort of pseudo-Xabi, but I didn't notice him doing anything extraordinary. The best thing I can say about him is that he did not do anything stupid that resulted in a goal for the other team or him getting a card. I will say this though, if he continues to perform solidly as he did in this match, the fans will eventually get behind him. I might even quit picking on him. I would honestly rather that MC Babel be the whipping boy anyways.
It was nice to see Rafa finally read this blog and take my advice about putting Stevie G back in the midfield and utilizing Kuyt and Benayoun more. I'm sure Mascherano taking a knock while playing for Argentina had nothing to do with that decision. Whatever the case may be, it was a system that Burnley did not know how to stop. I was little concerned at first when it seemed like all our efforts were going to be taken at long range, aiming at corners. It seemed to make more sense to smash the center and then have someone clean up the rebound, which ended up happening.
Should be no question at all in anyone's mind who the man of the match was. You cannot have a hat trick and not be the star player. Benayoun not only scored brilliant goals, but also created space for chances with great energy. He started out on the right, but seemed to interchange with Kuyt a lot. When Burnley was getting tired, he was still running around like the energizer bunny, scoring more goals. As a wise Canadian has said, "His demolition of Burnley only strengthens his case for a first team spot and proves that if you shut your trap and take your chances, good things will come your way."
Unfortunately, Fabio Aurelio did not make a cameo during the match, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing him on Wednesday against Debreceni. You can probably include Glen Johnson in that starting XI since Rafa took him out at 64' to give him a rest. Unfortunately, Torres was fairly quiet, but if we can score four goals without depending on him, better for us. There's always another time for the Torres bounce.
So how bout them goals:
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