Win vital ahead of testing week

Aug 13 2007 View From The Stands by Paul Cooper, Liverpool Daily Post

A WIN is a win and it was it was essential to get the three points and set us up for the two tricky away trips this week.

We can now go into those games with a positive outlook and with confidence boosted.

Wigan tried very hard and there were times when they started to get a real foothold in the game.

However, it was during one of those times that Leon Osman scored with an excellent improvised finish. He is generally alive to those sort of opportunities and caught Kirkland just off his line. We played some good stuff at times but there were periods when neither team could get in the ascendency.

I always felt that we had the edge though and deserved the three points. I’m not sure whether Lee Carsley and Phil Neville are the answer in midfield as they do a similar job, but I guess it gave us a platform for others, particularly our Spanish maestro, to do their work high up the pitch.

I thought Victor Anichebe was very good on the day and held the ball up well for others to join in. He was also in the right position for what turned out to be the winner and he deserved his reward.

Emile Heskey stood out for Wigan and was always a threat as was that man Paul Scharner, who always seems to play well against us, running from deep.

First impressions of Steven Pienaar were quite good, his movement is intelligent and you could see that his teammates trust him with the ball.

He looks good coming forward and willing to track back, time will tell whether his stature will be a problem against better and more physical opposition.

Overall a job well done so onward and upward!