Liverpool 1 Everton 0: Proving a point

When we suffer disappointing results, Rafa is the first to take stick from frustrated supporters. A common complaint is that Rafa makes baffling decisions in terms of team selection and substitutions during games. We can all think of times when his decisions have baffled us and few of us, if we're honest, can claim never to have argued that he should have started this player instead of that one or should have taken off X instead of Y ('X' being Lucas).

With that in mind, let's give the man credit for getting pretty much everything spot on against the Blueshite on Saturday even though the decisions he took were far from obvious ones and could just as easily have been used to castigate him had the result gone against us.

After conceding just once in the last four games and on the back of three consecutive clean sheets, it was far from an obvious decision to bring Agger back into the side following his recent injury. Having taken that decision, with most people (including myself, I'll be honest enough to admit) having concluded that Kyrgiakos was a waste of space virtually as soon as he was signed, it was not an obvious decision to drop Skrtel rather than the Greek. Agger totally justified Rafa's decision to select him and, despite the red card, I completely agree with Rafa's decision to drop Skrtel rather than Kyrgiakos. Anyone who has watched our recent games will concur that Kyrgiakos has been magnificent while Skrtel has looked uncomfortable (as he has pretty much since his injury at City last season) so I applaud the manager for the decision.

Following the red card, the obvious decision (i.e. the one I thought should be made at the time) would have been to bring on Skrtel for Maxi to replace Kyrgiakos in the back four. Credit to Rafa for instead switching Mascher to right back and pulling Carra back into the middle. Mascher was at his monstrous best and, aside from almost providing an assist for Cahill on the stroke of half-time, was utterly faultless. Meanwhile, Carra and Agger were formiddable in the centre of defence. With Gerrard also dropping deeper to support Lucas in central midfield, the Bitters could not break us down.

When I saw Babel getting stripped to come on, I assumed it would be to replace Maxi. Instead he was brought on to replace Ngog who had been terrific playing as an isolated lone frontman. As a different sort of player, Babel was clearly not going to be as effective at winning possession and holding up the ball in the opposition's half as Ngog had been but despite that, Babel ran his bollocks off (rare I can say that about him) and constantly chased down defenders denying them time on the ball. He was no Didier Drogba but he did a job and contributed towards a hugely satisfying win.

Meanwhile, it would be easy to assume that this game passed Maxi by given the lack of obvious contribution from the Argentine but actually he played with discipline and was positionally excellent whenever we were forced to defend. He was also involved in most of the better footballing moves from our team which, admittedly, were few and far between. The experience will do him good as he adjusts to the English League.

Perhaps if Rafa had made the more obvious changes instead of those he actually made we might still have won - we'll never know. However, it proves that the most obvious decisions are not always the most effective and on this occasion the manager deserves praise for getting it right.

I also want to give praise to a few players who have proven me wrong in recent weeks. A few weeks ago, I thought we'd have been better off having no fourth choice centre-half than having Kyrgiakos but he has proven his worth in recent weeks and has been a key figure driving our revival. Dirk Kuyt has frustrated me no end this season as, for all his obvious workrate, the only quality he has been able to display has been poor quality. However, in recent games, his form has been back to its best and when he plays like he did against the Bitters on Saturday, there is seriously no one else in world football I would rather have in my team. His was a performance of heart, character, determination, bravery and sheer will to win. The man is an absolute hero. Emiliano Insua has also been terrific in recent games suggesting he has come through his poor patch earlier in the season. Even Steven Gerrard has shown signs in recent games of getting back towards his best while other players who have suffered lapses in form this season such as Mascher and Carra have been back on top of their games for a while now. Finally, I want to mention a player who didn't feature on Saturday. I had dismissed Philipp Degen as useless but I will admit that in recent weeks he has proven me wrong. He may not be brilliant. He may be on a par with Antonio Nunez. But he has been of use to the team and is therefore not useless. You can't ask for much more from a player who cost nothing.