Liverpool 1 - 2 AC Milan

Another foot(ball)note

Despite the disappointment, I'm always glad to see Milan pick up that trophy - they're probably my favourite team (after Liverpool, of course). What they did from the late '80s to the mid '90s was almost perfect and they are the one truly great club side I can think of since Liverpool fell away. This team is nothing compared to those great line-ups, but they still have some top players:
Kaka, Maldini (despite being the old man of calcio), Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso and Seedorf - all very worthy winners.

Now then, with the homage to AC out of the way, we can proceed to the diatribe:

Wtf was Benitez doing puttng that team out?

How they lined up:

Kuyt

Zenden        Gerrard        Pennant

Mascherano   Alonso

Riise   Carragher   Agger     Finnan

Reina

Zenden was unfit, and played like the useless cripple he is.
Kewell was a non-entity, despite (and because of) some nice, (meaningless) touches
Riise is not the best left back - Arbeloa is at least as good (even though he's a right back)
Kuyt cannot lead the line by himself, and Crouch is the best (fit) goalscorer the club have and should be used at every opportunity.
Pennant needs to work on his crossing, badly.


How I think they should have lined up:

Bellamy    Crouch


Riise    Mascherano      Alonso    Gerrard



Arbeloa  Carragher      Agger     Finnan


Reina

Arbeloa should have played LB to allow Riise to play further up the field.
Gerrard should have started on the right, free to roam, leaving Pennant a substitute option.

Then came the subs :(

1. Kewell on for Zenden. What was the point in that? Kewell had an impact against Charlton - that's about his level.

2. Crouch on for... Mascherano?! He had Kaka in his pocket and Liverpool were trailing by 1 goal. Why free Kaka up to let him show his class? Inzaghi was making those runs for the whole game, but no-one could get free in the midfield to put him through until Mascherano was taken off.
It reminded me of Man U - Milan when Gattuso was taken off with 30 mins left leaving Scholes free to take over and capitalize on the space.
Crouch should have come on for Kewell ;-)

3. Arbeloa on for Finnan. Like for like. An experienced, classy right-back replaced by an inexperienced, classy (maybe) right-back. Goodnight.

Performance:
Played well 1st half
Contained Milan well, Mascherano took care of Kaka and even Pennant pressed hard and did well but failed to deliver good crosses. The deflected free was a sucker punch and wasn't deserved.
The second half was much worse. Zenden had nothing, and Kewell had nothing either. Pennant continued to fluff his crosses and Gerrard could not make any impact from that strange position he was asked to play. Kenny Dalglish or Bergkamp he ain't. Alonso had no-one to aim for and started to make wrong choices. Kuyt drifted out to the left and right wing, leaving NO-ONE in the box (why do forwards do that?).
Kewell had no impact and Mascherano going off left a big hole, which Kaka took great advantage of, to absolutely no-one's surprise. Crouch made a difference, but he didn't perform any miracles. By bringing Arbeloa on for Finnan, Benitez was sending a clear message to Bellamy just how little he thinks of him - which is a shame, because Bellamy could have changed things.
By the time Kuyt scored, it was too little, too late and really a result of Milan getting complacent and switching off.

Summer signings for Liverpool:

Left winger (Zenden and Kewell are crocks)
Right winger (Pennant doesn't cross well enough)
Scoring centre forward (a fit Robbie Fowler - Kuyt still doesn't look a natural finisher)
Left back (Riise is not the best LB, and neither is Aurelio)
Extra Centre back (just for cover)
Playmaker / Attacking midfielder (it takes real class to open up defences)

LM: Simao? But I'm not sure if he's up to it.
RM: Simao can play there too, but maybe Joaquin - although he seems a bit of a nutter.
CF: Tevez? Berbatov? If you don't have classy wingers you need someone who can make something out of nothing, but if you have the wingers you just need a poacher - which Berbatov isn't. Question is: who is, these days?
LB: Someone who can defend well and bring the ball forward, overlap and put crosses in. Grosso springs to mind - he's the best I can think of.
CB: Not urgent - just a luxury - but someone young, yet experienced, like Mexes. I know he didn't look to good against Man U, but I still think he's a decent player.
Playmaker: Kaka obviously! But I'm sure he's out of reach. Good playmakers are elusive, but all the best teams have them - Liverpool certainly did when they were great.

Thing is, Benitez should have money to spend, but:
A) Will he know how to spend it? and
B) Can Liverpool attract the really top-drawer players?