If it was possible to sum up our season in one game, then this was it. We had more possession, more chances and played the better football, yet we lost. It's a recurring theme, but one that we don't seem to be learning from. Gerard can keep saying we are unlucky, but frankly when you squander as many great chances as we did then nine times out of ten you are going to lose. It has happened far too often this season to be classed as luck. Palace had three chances and scored from two. They rode their luck, there's no question about that, but we didn't deserve to win because we were so wasteful in front of goal yet again. Obviously Owen was the main culprit, but Heskey, Barmby and Biscan all wasted golden opportunities as well. It had taken us seven fucking hours to get to this shithole of a ground, and looking back you have to wonder why the hell we bothered. Palace are shit, that's not sour grapes, that is fact. Losing to them is embarrassing, and it wasn't pleasant coming out of that ground being taunted by their knobhead fans.
The fans sat in the stand behind the goal where they scored were complete fucking arseholes. They were your stereotypical 'cockney geezers', and I just hope that we can really give them a hammering in the second leg just to rid them of their cocky attitudes. Speaking of which, isn't Clinton Morrison the most arrogant little gobshite you've seen outside the top flight. What a fucking smug little prick he is.
Anyway, for me only Stevie G and Sami emerged from this with any real credit. Carra was steady enough, and Heskey didn't do much wrong (other than balloon the ball over form six yards when it was easier to score), but pretty much everyone else was below par. We actually played well in the first half, but second half was a different story. Litmanen showed glimpses of his class, but is still way short of match fitness, and it's fair to say that the decision to leave Fowler at home backfired in a big way.
Fowler's form (and attitude) haven't really warranted a place in the side, but for all Robbie's problems he's still in better form than Owen. There's something clearly wrong with Michael, but I don't know what it is. The one thing I do know is that he's been absolute shite since he got that bang on the head at Derby. He looks slow, and totally lacking in confidence. Just what happened to the Michael Owen of September?
On current form, he shouldn't be in the side. It's simple really. I've got nothing against Owen, but when a player isn't producing he should be left out until he regains his form. Fowler has found that out, so why not Owen? I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it (even though it won't make the slightest difference of course) but Jon Newby deserves his chance. Had those chances fallen to Jon, then he'd have come away from Selhurst with at least two goals, probably more. I'd love to see how he links up with Heskey, but sadly it doesn't look like it will ever happen. A criminal waste of talent really.
As for the second leg, everyone on the coach coming back seemed to feel that we'd slaughter them back at Anfield, but how can you possibly make any predictions about this team of ours? Quite simply, they can't be trusted. When you think they should win, they don't, and when you expect them to lose, they win. The inconsistency shows no sign of going away, and if we don't go on to win this competition (which has virtually been handed to us on a plate) then some serious questions need to be asked about the direction in which we are headed.
TEAM: Sander Westerveld; Markus Babbel, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Jamie Carragher; Danny Murphy (Vladimir Smicer), Steven Gerrard, Igor Biscan, Nick Barmby (Dietmar Hamann); Michael Owen (Jari Litmanen), Emile Heskey:
