Liverpool 0, Chelsea 2: player ratings

I've decided to revamp my ratings system for a number of reasons. Before I was rating players individually, as in how well they played compared to how well I've seen them play. The problem with that is I feel that it doesn't really show the proper value of a player's performance in relation to the whole side. That's about the only way I can explain it, I hope that's understandable. The scale pretty much remains the same though.

1 - Take off the f*%kin' kit
2 - Still not fit to where it
3 - It better have been just a poor day
4 - Drink too much last night, did we?
5 - Glad you showed up
6 - Good effort, but you could do better
7 - Solid performance
8 - Brilliant at times, adequate at others
9 - Top man
10 - Unbelievably f&*kin' brilliant

Charles Itandje 7.5
Would have been Man of the Match if it weren't for him letting Shevchenko's shot get past him. This was his most impressive outing so far and he seems to get better each time. I'm pretty confident now that he can step in for Reina in any competition if needs be. The diving save on Essien was simply brilliant.

Fabio Aurelio 6
I really liked how the Brazilian stepped up in the latter part of the match, getting more involved on the attack. He was probably under orders not to leave our side of the pitch for most of the match, so I can't really hold it against him. His defending was adequate.

Jamie Carragher 8.5 Man of the Match
An inspiring performance from Carra, one of his best of the year, was simply everywhere on defense. Got a bit unlucky with the Lampard goal though. I hope he didn't expend himself to the point where he'll still be fatigued come Saturday though.

Jack Hobbs 4.5
I don't mean to slag off on the kid, but he seemed like pre-Bolton Hobbs out there, lost at times and unsure at others. He's still only 19 though and hopefully he'll be able to grow on such an experience.

Alvaro Arbeloa 6.5
Was a lot less involved on attack than I would have liked, but like Aurelio, I think that was part of Rafa's precautionary measures. Other than that, there isn't much to complain about. The ref did him no favors throughout.

Momo Sissoko 6
Pretty much the performance I've come to expect from Momo. Was pestering to Chelsea through out, put offered little else. I'm actually working on a post about Sissoko, as I feel he's gotten a bum wrap, but I won't miss him too much when he leaves.

Lucas 7
Like Arbeloa, though more harsh, the ref did the Brazilian absolutely no favors. He should have netted, but made the wrong choice in going to the left against Cech. I hope he gets to play when we visit Stamford Bridge later in the season, because I have a feeling he's got unfinished business there.

Xabi Alonso 5
I'm gonna write this one off as an injury return run off. He was pretty off his game throughout. We really need him to find his head and quick if we're going to have a chance to win anything this season.

Nabil El Zhar 5.5
I think this was a good litmus test to see if the Moroccan is good enough to play for our club. I'm gonna have to say no. He just doesn't have the pace and failed to show the ability to compete at such a level, if he does indeed possess it to begin with.

Andriy Voronin 6
I almost think that Voronin was insulted to be out there, he certainly played like it. His age is definitely beginning to show and not in a good way. He really needs to start relying more on his cunning and less on his ability if he's going to have any contribution to our side.

Peter Crouch 3.5
Pretty much rubbish. When a player gets sent off and your side appears to play better once he does, that's not a good sign. It was especially disappointing since Aurelio was there to provide long balls. I will give him this though, a couple of times he made some good 'set-up' plays that his teammates failed to read.

Ryan Babel 7
Impressive and continues to improve. The only thing is he holds on to the ball for too long at times and instead of leading to a positive, it usually results in a turnover. Still, he's here to stay for a long, long time, and I'm thankful for it.

Yossi Benayoun N/A
Didn't really play that long, so there's no need. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Chelsea 2: Billionaire Blues barely beat a ten-man Reserve side... at home

What are ya gonna do? When three players of the opposition are worth more than your whole side in transfer fees, a 2-0 loss with only ten men on the pitch has to be considered a valiant effort. I didn't know Chelsea needed an ego boost that bad, but I guess I was wrong.

All our boys need to be commended for their performances. No one was particularly poor, though I thought Crouch missed an opportunity to step up and be a leader. I take that back actually, Xabi was well off his game, but you can't really get too down on him, it was his first match back in two months. Everyone else played at a high level and were tremendous when allowed, especially Sissoko and Itandje.

The ref was clearly duplicitous in his actions. While they were allowed to steamroll over our players, if we accidentally touched one of them, a foul was called. I was surprised they were so fragile and crumpled to the ground so easily being world-class and all. The yellow card on Lucas was especially harsh and the red card against Crouch was a complete joke, but we actually appeared to play better once the lanky one was gone, so I'll leave it at that. Abramovich continued his squeaky-clean record of paying for vacation homes for referees, but I'm a bit surprised he spent his money on a Carling Cup match. He is the billionaire though, so I'm sure he paid some genius to analyze the cost-reward benefits.

If I had to point out a negative though, I would have to say our lack of continuity. While at times, when attempting to control possession while remaining relatively static, we moved the ball around well enough, but when anyone would tried to set-up another player with a through-ball, the majority of anticipatory passes found themselves either in the middle of nowhere or at a Chelsea player's feet. On defense, I was aghast when are uncoordinated ganglia of defenders didn't lead to more goals for Chelsea, but we either recovered in time or the Blues were unable to take advantage. Carra was decidedly awesome, covering for a bewildered Hobbs, who's first trip to Stamford Bridge found him clearly out of his league.

In the end, this is just a League Cup match. The trophy matters less than experience given to players like Babel, Lucas, Hobbs, Itandje, and El Zhar. Chelsea did give Sinclair a run out, but apparently he wasn't up to par, so Joe Cole had to be brought on to give the Blues that much more of an edge... at home. Next up is Portsmouth on Saturday, let's hope all is well with Steven Gerrard by then. Cheers, and I will definitely be doing player ratings for this one, as I feel certain players really stepped up today and need to be credited for doing so.

Liverpool at Chelsea: Hopefully the Mad Tinkerer will return?

The Reserves had a friendly with Tottenham yesterday, that they won 2-1 behind goals from David Martin and Craig Lindfield. More importantly, any player featured in that match will probably not get the call at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. That means sadly there'll be no chance of getting to see Emiliano Insua, Jay Spearing, Ray Putterill, or Krisztián Németh, among others, but neither Nabil El Zhar, Jack Hobbs, nor Sebastián Leto played, so they may feature.

I'm really hoping Rafa goes bonkers on his selection tomorrow. With Steven Gerrard apparently unavailable due to a stomach bug and our next match being Saturday, we've got nothing to lose anyhow. It is only the League Cup after all. If Gerrard was available, we may have put out a strong side, but without him, there's little point. Might as well rest Torres too.

The good news is, Xabi Alonso will be available, and I fully expect him to start. Unfortunately, due to lack of depth at centre back with Agger still not able to go, Carra will probably have to play the full ninety. Maybe Agger will be ready for Portsmouth, it would be just in the nick of time, but still, we can't risk old man Hyppiä.

In goal, we'll probably see Reina start. Itandje was brought in for matches like these, but it's Chelsea and though I don't mind if we lose, I certainly don't want to be embarrassed. Lining up in front of him, I see Aurelio on the left, Hobbs and Carra in the middle, and Finnan on the right. Who knows? We may see Arbeloa paired with Hobbs in the middle, but that would pretty risky, even for Rafa.

In midfield, I think we'll see Babel on the left. No need to wear out Kewell. In the middle, I like Sissoko and Xabi with Lucas on the right. I think it's time we let the Brazilian loose and see what he can do. Up front, Crouch and Voronin look to get the call.

Now if Carra doesn't start, it'll be interesting to see who gets the armband. The obvious choice is Xabi, but Finnan is just as deserving.

My final guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Hobbs
Carra
Finnan
Babel
Sissoko
Xabi
Lucas
Crouch
Voronin

Bench:
Itandje
Arbeloa
Torres
El Zhar
Leto

If Sissoko doesn't play tomorrow, he's definitely gone in January, but his fate is probably already sealed nonetheless. Babel and Xabi are obviously the most creative players on our side, so I hope they enjoy themselves. I think putting Lucas on the right would be a great idea just to see what he can do. Here's Crouchy's chance to prove he's worth a spot on our squad, if he can carry us to victory, he's more than deserving of it.

Never the less, I don't like our chances tomorrow unless Grant starts a similar side to ours. Cheers and godspeed.

Liverpool vs Cardiff: What will Rafa do?

I have to admit that these are the funnest matches to try and predict what kind of line-up Rafa will put out. Most of the time I just go with who I would play, which is rarely ever the same as Benitez, but he's got a few more credentials and a lot more experience than me. For this match though, the boss has already alluded that he's going to rest certain first-teamers and let some kids get playing time.

The biggest news is that Harry Kewell is set to start. I'm not sure where though. The most obvious spot would be on the left, but for some reason I get the feeling that he'll start up front. If he does, reportedly his partner will be Peter Crouch. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense, as we can rest Voronin and Kuyt for Blackburn and have Crouch for our Champions League clash with Beşiktaş next week. I would love to see a Voronin/Crouch pairing with Kewell on the left but with Rafa alluding to playing Leto, it just makes more sense.

The easiest midfielders to predict are the central ones. I have little doubt that Lucas and Sissoko will start there. The flanks though are much harder. We could see Leto, Babel, Kewell, or even Benayoun on the left. After hearing Rafa say Leto will play in some capacity, I have to believe that he'll start there. On the right I have a feeling that Gerrard will get the call, though wouldn't be surprised to see Benayoun there either. It all depends on what Rafa has in store for Saturday or if he plans on splitting halves with two different players.

On the backline, I think we'll see Aurelio on the left, Carra and Hobbs in the middle, and Arbeloa on the right. I was hoping that either Insua or Darby would get a chance to play, but I have my doubts now. We could possibly see Arbeloa start at centre back instead of Carra, since JC looked awfully spent at the end of the Arsenal match, but I'm not sure Rafa wants to risk having to play a potential keystone cops backline of Aurelio, Arbeloa, Hobbs, and Darby. One thing is for sure, Steve Finnan will have the night off.

In goal, Pepe has the night off which means Itandje will get the call. Would be interesting to see David Martin here, but I know Rafa won't take that big of risk in not only giving such an inexperienced player the nod, but also because it would probably make Itandje unhappy. I'm praying Itandje is a bit more consistent than he has been in previous performances.

Anyhow, here's my final guess:
Itandje
Aurelio
Carra
Hobbs
Arbeloa
Leto
Sissoko
Lucas
Gerrard
Kewell
Crouch

Bench:
Martin
Insua
Benayoun
Voronin
Darby

Before anyone gets their panties in a wad, I fully expect Gerrard and Kewell to come out with plenty of time left for Benayoun and Voronin. Also I expect Insua to get a run out so Rafa can assess his progress. Here's hoping we don't have to use any subs for injuries. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Riise upset over wageslip leak, Villa want Crouch, Rafa afraid of 'God'?, & more

Well, another match day is here and I'll get to the normal routine in a bit, but first it's time to cover what's going on in the world of all things Liverpool FC. First off, John Arne Riise is furious that one of his wageslips from last season has been made public. The 27-year-old defender is convinced the paper was somehow stolen from him since he would never just throw something containing such sensitive information in the trash. Why this interests anyone except a criminal trying to use Riise's information to steal his identity is beyond me. Furthermore, it's obvious that there's a severe case of cognitive dissonance going around that is more viral than images of Riise's wageslip. I seriously doubt any of those people who have published the photo of the papers would want their wages and/or personal information revealed. Have some class and stop doing things just for your own self-benefit.

Martin O'Neill has revealed that Aston Villa are interested in making a bid for Peter Crouch in the January transfer window. It looks as if O'Neill is ready to break the £10m mark for the lanky striker, smashing the club transfer fee record in the process. Other interested parties such as Sven-Göran Eriksson and Man City seem reluctant to pay a proper sum for Crouch, obviously seeking a bargain. Rafa has recently said that the England International is not for sale, but I personally hope he's willing to change his mind for the right price.

Speaking of Crouch, there seems to be speculation that he could start tonight. I would sort of be surprised if Rafa didn't save him for Saturday, but then again, maybe he's planning on resting him then so he'll be in top form for our crucial Champions League clash with Beşiktaş at Anfield next week.

Rafa just can't stop praising Robbie Fowler. Benitez feels that 'God' could very well score against his former club this evening, but hopes he does so in a losing effort. He continues the Robbie Fowler love-fest by thanking the 32-year-old striker for his second term service to the club and being like an additional coach on and off the field. I love Fowler and am worried about him being extra motivated to score tonight, but I'd rather he didn't, losing effort or not.

Finally, Rafa has called a fit Harry Kewell like a new signing. I concur, but let's all hope he stays fit. The Aussie is due to start against Cardiff this evening and with Gerrard likely to sit, I look to him to be our leader. We need his heroics now more than ever. Cheers.

Robbie Fowler to return!!

Wow, great job rigging the draw whoever did. Not only do we get a relatively easy opponent for our fourth round Carling Cup tie, but 'God' gets to return to Anfield. This match could be played on All Hallows' Eve as well.

Robbie Fowler to return for Cup tie?

How awesome would it be if we drew Cardiff City at Anfield tomorrow when they do the Carling Cup draw? God would get an improbable return to the place that made him a legend. Of course, knowing our cup draw luck, we'll probably get Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Here's the remaining sides:
Leicester City
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
Chelsea
Coventry City
Everton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Arsenal
Blackpool
Portsmouth
Luton Town
Manchester City
Sheffield United
Cardiff City

West Ham might be sweet as well since Craig Bellamy quit us and all. Maybe we can relive the 2006 FA Cup final. Ugh, forgot Arsenal was there. Just had a very painful flashback. Anyhow, the draw is at 12:15 GST Saturday. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Reading: the goals

Benayoun's strike


Torres' 1st


Torres 2nd (and best, in my opinion)


Torres 3rd

Liverpool 4, Reading 2

Two things happened early in the second half of this match that allowed Liverpool to play their game. First, we got an early goal on a well-played ball from Leto to Torres who beat Duberry and slotted it into side of the net past Federici. Then I guess the ref got tired of watching Reading turn the beautiful game into a pub brawl and started handing out the yellow cards. It's so odd that players I singled out in the first half, Duberry and Bikey, got cards, because, I mean, they played with such class. Once those two things occurred, Reading could no longer bully our side less they wanted to be reduced to ten.

With them having to allow us more space by not being able to grab a hold of our shirts, all of sudden we became a threat to score nearly every time we brought the ball down. Unfortunately that didn't do anything for our set-piece defense which was frantically horrid. I attest that to two things though, having Itandje make his first team debut and having Arbeloa play for the first time at centre back. The lack of communication on defense was apparent from the start and didn't seem to improve much as the match wore on.

It was because of our set-piece defense that Reading again equalized when a bobbled corner kick fell into John Halls' lap and the defender slammed it through a maze of legs into the back of the net. If either Pepe, Hyypia, or even Agger were in there I doubt it would have ever gotten to Halls as it was complete chaos in the box prior to and during the play. We didn't really seem that bothered by the equalizer, but then Rafa made a great decision anyhow to further tilt the match back in our favor.

Around the 69th minute, Riise came on for Aurelio and immediately made his presence felt. He took the ball down the left, faked out a Reading defender by passing it to himself through the defender's legs, and then dribbled closer to the box until he found a charging Torres to lay it off to. The Spaniard slammed the ball across the box and into the upper right corner of the goal. After that, Reading looked a side lacking confidence.

Once Gerrard came on in the 77th minute, the match was fully in Liverpool's grasp and with four minutes left a Gerrard to Torres pass made it all but official. The England International found the streaking Spanish International with no one left to beat but the keeper, which he did almost effortlessly.

Though not a perfect effort, it was a win on the road with a rotated side. Certainly our inability to utilize the whole field, Crouch reverting back to his ineffective ways, and the Itandje/defense communication issues are things that we need to work on. Also I was disappointed not to see Lucas more involved on the attack, which was one of the reasons why it seemed that Benayoun had free range of the field.

Despite Torres getting the hat-trick, I'm going to have to say Yossi was the Man of the Match. He made some huge plays including our first goal which was crucial because it forced the Reading defense to respect him as much as any other threat. He also had a header clearance in the box late in the match that if he didn't get to, might have allowed Reading to equalize once again. Most importantly he stepped up and took the initiative to run the offense when it looked as if no one else was going to. That kind of leadership is just priceless.

Next up, Wigan on Saturday at the JJB. Hopefully Kuyt will bring his ace form. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Reading: the line-up

Rafa looks to be taking this match quite seriously.

Here's the line-up:
Itandje
Aurelio
Carragher
Arbeloa
Finnan
Leto
Sissoko
Lucas
Benayoun
Crouch
Torres

Subs:
Martin
Gerrard
Riise
Hobbs
Putterill

I'm pretty pumped to see Leto there as well as Lucas and Torres on the same pitch with him. Benayoun and Finnan should have plenty of room to operate on the right with Sebastian stretching the side as well as Crouch and Torres worrying the central defenders. Arbeloa to get a test run at centre is interesting, let's see how he does. His pace might come in handy against Lita.

Suprised not to see Pepe at least on the bench, but David Martin should be able to fill in if something were to happen to Itandje who gets his first start for the side. I hope Putterill gets on as well, I'd like to see what he can do against Premiership quality players. Here's to a fun match. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Nasri to miss CL clash, Carra closing in on 500, A battle of who could care less?, & more

- Marseille's Samir Nasri is set to miss his side's Champions League match next week with us due to meningitis-type flu. The 20-year-old attacking midfielder was hospitalized last weekend and has yet to be released. He is expected to require at least a two week convalescence period.

- Jamie Carragher is set to make his 476th appearance for Liverpool tonight against Reading. Impressive as that number is, the record is held by Ian Callaghan at 848. I sincerely doubt the 29-year-old Liverpool icon will be able to challenge that number.

- It seems like neither Coppell nor Rafa really care that much about winning their Carling Cup clash later today. Both seem to be using double-speak type antics to hide it, but it seems quite apparent with who they are looking at selection-wise. Coppell is looking to give Leroy Lita a test-run from injury as well as playing Bobby Convey as a means of practice time. The Reading boss is adamant though that he has no room for Reserves on his roster. Meanwhile Rafa is looking at giving time to some of his actual Reserves in Sebastian Leto and Lucas, though they would most definitely be regulars on a lot of Premiership sides.

- Finally, we have everyone and their mother giving their opinion on Rafa's rotating ways. Phil McNulty at BBC Sport wonders why Rafa went on such a tantrum about not having enough quality on his side after the Champions League final when he doesn't bother to play that quality as much as possible. Lawro thinks that Rafa should play his best players as much as possible now and rest them when needs be later. Finally, Ian Rush defends Rafa by saying that the Spaniard probably thought Kuyt and Voronin would have been able to beat Birmingham and that the movement of those two would open up the congested Blues side of the field.

Today's Banter: Hyypia backs Rafa, Rafa vows Reading Cup changes, Rafa frustrated over Gerrard, & more

- Sami Hyypia has been the latest star player at the club to vocally back his boss' rotation policy. The 33-year-old Finnish International has deemed Rafa's tinkering critics 'silly'. I've actually been thinking a lot about the pros and cons of Benitez' ways and will write a post with my conclusion later today. Meanwhile there are talks of Hyypia getting either a contract extension now or a new contract offer at the end of the season when his current one runs out. I really can't see Sami lasting more than another season, but one encouraging note is that the Finn himself is very realistic about what he can bring to the squad. He basically claims he never really had pace, doesn't feel as if he's gotten any slower over the years, and doesn't really understand why people question his abilities. It's refreshing to hear a player living in reality about their attributes. Hyypia's form this year has been inconsistent to say the least and even at times shocking. Hopefully he'll become more restraint in his discipline to help the team out more. If that means going up less for set plays in the box, then so be it.

- Expect to see an interesting and possibly exciting eleven hit the pitch tomorrow for our opening Carling Cup match at Reading. The boss has vowed changes from Saturday's side. I really don't give a monkey's uncle about the Carling Cup, but it would be a good confidence builder for the kids if we can advance. I do expect Reading to take it a bit more serious than us since they pretty much have no chance at much else. It would be great to see Insua, Leto, Lucas, with a rejuvenated Aurelio leading the way. I'll have my 'What will Rafa do?' up later.

- Maybe he's looking to deter the critics and have them turn to their ever favorite victim, the head coach for England, but Rafa has voiced his displeasure with McClaren's use of an unfit Gerrard in England's two recent Euro qualifier matches. I'm not sure if the person who wrote that article hasn't anything better to do or not, but honestly, it needs to be put the rest. Gerrard will probably not play tomorrow so a week off will do him good.

- I apologize for my review on Saturday, it's certainly not up to the standards in which I set myself. I won't erase it though. Anyhow, I'm going to watch the match again here a little bit and will be back with a proper review. Also I plan on doing a post about why Rafa's rotation policy will prevail and of course, my 'What will Rafa do?' for the Reading tie. Cheers.

Anfield Banter: Xabi & Agger injured, Riise fit though, Leto stars in Reserves win, & more

- Both Danny Agger and Xabi Alonso will be out up to six weeks with foot injuries. With Riise declared fit for our upcoming Birmingham match at Anfield on Saturday, we should be fine, but once again after seemingly getting out of depth issues concerning our backline, we're nearly right back where we started from. Aurelio coming back is a huge boost as Arbeloa will no longer be needed to share duty on the left. I expect him to play a lot in the middle in front of Hyypia and on the right when Finnan needs the occasional day off. Riise has centre back experience as well if needed.

- The Reserves beat Wigan 3-0 behind two assists from winger Sebastian Leto to remain undefeated in FA Premiership Reserves League (Northern Division) play. Jordy Brouwer scored his first goal for Liverpool as Nabil El Zhar and Ray Putterill also netted. I fully expect at least Leto and Lucas to be featured in our Carling Cup tie with Reading next week.

- Finally, Palermo forward Amauri Carvalho has been linked to a summer move to Liverpool. The 27-year-old Brazilian scored 8 goals in 18 league games before suffering a serious knee injury to end his season. He has returned to action since. He seems like a good player, but seriously, if only he's coming on board to replace Crouch would it make sense. Even then I expect a bigger name.