Liverpool 8, Beşiktaş 0: Match Highlights

If this gets taken down, please email me or leave a comment, I'll find others somewhere. Cheers.

Liverpool 8, Beşiktaş 0: Player Grades

Pepe Reina 6
Didn't have to do much, but got the job done and made a great save.

Fabio Aurelio 5.5
The Brazilian made little contribution, but it wasn't required. He came off early in the second for Babel, which I'm hoping was because of fatigue more than anything else.

Jamie Carragher 6
Wasn't called-on to do much, but did what he had to.

Sami Hyypia 6
Stayed back, didn't get beat. One of his better performances so far this year, but I bet you he can't wait for Agger to get back so he can go on holiday.

Alvaro Arbeloa 7.5
Was a real instigator on the attack early and can probably be credited for getting us going. Once Beşiktaş had to worry about him as well, even more space opened up. By the way, he completed 100% of his passes. Wow.

John Arne Riise 5.5
Made up for his passing woes by causing havoc.

Steven Gerrard 5.5
Must have been nice for him not to have to play his arse off and our side win like this.

Javier Mascherano 7
Another solid performance from our other World Class midfielder, was utterly dominate in midfield and lead our side with 8 tackles.

Yossi Benayoun 8
I don't think it's possible for a player to have as good a night as Yossi. 3 goals and 2 assists? Ridiculous. Man of the Match.

Andriy Voronin 7.5
An inspiring performance from the Ukrainian as his relentless attack caused problems all day for the Turkish side.

Peter Crouch 7
Get ready to hear a bunch of nonsense about Crouch being the reason we dominated this match. He wasn't. In fact, he missed quite a few opportunities that could have made the score even worse and turned over the ball many times. With that said, Crouch was good at creating space and drawing fouls. His effort should be commended.

Ryan Babel 7.5
Was a ball hog early, which appeared to annoy his teammates, but adapted and made a solid contribution. Once Kewell came on and he moved up front, he looked more comfortable. The first goal was simply brilliant and he was unlucky not to have a third when one of his headers from a corner hit the cross bar.

Harry Kewell & Lucas Leiva 6.5
Both players brought a lot of energy to our side, but neither really got enough time on to get comfortable. Kewell definitely needs a full match or close to it, so we can see what he can do.

I hope this match strikes fear into our upcoming opponents more it goes to our heads.

Liverpool 2, Beşiktaş 0: halftime thoughts

So far, so good. We came out with a vengeance and frankly the first thing I thought was that we were expending too much energy. In fact our attack during the first fifteen minutes or so was highly enthusiastic, but had little organization. Once we stopped pushing everyone forward, especially Hyypia and Carra, and made a couple of simple, possession passes near the midfield, we appeared to gain some composure.

You wouldn't have known of it from the first goal though, which was a succession of Beşiktaş defensive blunders egged on by the determination of Peter Crouch. I was glad to see he didn't just give up for once and kept his cool.

After that, we could sense blood and the onslaught continued, except this time it appeared we had more of a plan and that was to attack down the right. Arbeloa played out of his head and created a couple of chances for himself and Benayoun, as the Spaniard came racing down the flank, noticeably alarming the Turkish side's defense, which had to scatter to mark him. Surprisingly nothing came out of it.

Even more surprising might be that the goal came from the left. Riise, aware of a screeching Voronin, rushed a throw-in to the Ukrainian, who crossed the ball to an awaiting Benayoun. Yossi calmly knocked down the ball and then slammed a cross-shot that found the corner of the net. I've read this week that neither Voronin nor Riise can cross, well, both have proved their critics wrong so far today.

After the second goal, we appeared to sit back and absorb the Kara Kartallar attack. I'm hoping we were just resting and saving up our energy for the second half and aren't becoming tired. Probably the most astounding aspect of our performance so far is that Gerrard has probably been our worst player. It's not that he's played horribly, but he's just made the most noticeable mistakes.

Anyhow, the second half is about to start. I'm hoping we can hold on. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Beşiktaş: What will Rafa do?

Well, it's do or die time, we either win tomorrow or put our Champions League aspirations behind us. I like how Rafa is approaching this match by stating that there is no pressure on himself or the team to advance past the group stage. Whether it's true or not is irrelevant, but a loss at Anfield to Beşiktaş would be embarassing.

With that said, I truly think we'll run rampant tomorrow and win by at least two goals. I think there's a possibility of our side being over-confident going into the match, but with them already beating us once, I don't see how we can underestimate them.

The health of our squad is significantly better when we last met the Turkish club in Istanbul two weeks ago. We have Aurelio, Arbeloa, and Kewell back, with really only a hobbled Pennant missing as Xabi was on the bench, but didn't play. Fernando Torres was in training today, but I can't see Rafa risking further injury to the Spaniard, especially when we have the personnel capable of getting the job done.

Keeper, once again, is a no-brainer, so joining Pepe on defense I think will be Aurelio on the left, Carra and Hyypia in the middle, and Arbeloa on the right. There is a possibility of Arbeloa playing centre back since it's only been a couple of days since Sami played last, but I'm not sure how confident Rafa is with the Spaniard playing there. Furthermore that would leave Finnan, who also needs his rest, to play on the right.

The midfield is probably the toughest to guess. Kewell seems to be the best option on the left with Babel starting the two previous matches there. In the middle I would probably play Mascherano and Lucas, but then again, my name's not Rafa Benitez. Who knows what he'll do there, we could see any combination of Masche, Lucas, Momo, or Gerrard. I personally would rather see Gerrard on the right, so he won't have to run himself silly.

Up front I'll assume Voronin will be back, so he'll definitely get the nod and I can't see Rafa starting Kuyt here, so Crouch will partner the Ukrainian. I really hope Crouch continues his promising form from the Blackburn match, but I won't be shocked if he returns to his useless ways.

Anyhow, here's my final guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Carra
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Kewell
Mascherano
Sissoko
Gerrard
Crouch
Voronin

Bench:
Martin
Lucas
Finnan
Kuyt
Benayoun
Babel
Riise

In the end I decided to go with Sissoko paired with Mascherano in the middle because I foresee Aurelio going forward a lot and we'll need the extra defensive coverage just in case. I really expect us to come out with all guns blazing here. A relentless onslaught for ninety minutes would do wonders for our confidence. If we don't have a goal by the sixtieth minute, I fully expect Rafa to bring on Lucas for either Sissoko or Mascherano and give the Brazilian full freedom of the pitch.

Today's Banter: Having a laugh at the expense of others

Overreaction and idiocy are probably the best words to describe some of the posts and articles in response to Liverpool's loss to Beşiktaş. I won't bother addressing most of them, because honestly, you won't find a nick of intelligence in them. They don't address actual play on the field nor the fact that we're in the midst of an injury crisis nor the factions that influence the match from behind closed doors. If you want to live in ignorance, that's fine, but your opinion will be held to that of a retarded child.

First, apparently Rafa's job is in jeopardy. This is just so laughable. The failure to mention our current injury crisis, six players out in all, three highly crucial, totally discredits anyone from ever writing anything in regards to Rafa's rotation policy. Continue to spew your ignorance and soon it will only fall on deaf ears. Thanks for desensitizing the zombie population, your efforts are commendable in that regard.

After that good laugh, we have two posts from two different club's fans. Neither worth the time put into them. The first which actually does have something to do with yesterday's match is a lowly Newcastle fan trying desperately to stretch reality to prove a moot point. This mongoloid wants us to believe that 'Big' Sam Allardyce was right about Benitez because of the results of one match. First of all, surprised you know how to spell Champions League since I don't recall Newcastle ever even making it to even qualifying. Also it must be disheartening that Derby County and Nottingham Forrest have more European Cup history than your side.

He continues to allude to Allardyce's comments in regard to Rafa's rotation policy, yet fails to mention our six injured players. Amazing. Not only that, then he plays the Crouch card. Did he even bother to watch the Marseilles match? Crouch's behavior in that match was suspiciously duplicitous and if not, shocking. No one who actually knows and understands the game would question a man with two La Liga titles, a Champions League trophy, a UEFA Cup, and an FA Cup. What has Allardyce ever won? A few hearts and minds in Bolton I presume. Whatever hole your poor soul crawled out of, please return to it preferably after you've wiped the egg off your face and the redness has gone away.

Moving on, of course we can't have a discussion about Liverpool without a Chelsea fan. That would be preposterous. I'm always baffled how Blues fans are always more concerned about our club than their own. Of course, they always have Abramovich's fat wallet and slimy ways to get them wins, which brings me to this die-hard Chelsea fan's post. This delusional twat just can't get over Mark Clattenburg doing us a favor versus Everton last Saturday. Oh, dear me, did he watch the Chelsea match at Anfield? Rob Styles was seen driving a new car to his new beach flat shortly after to spend that week off he got.

The biggest difference between a Chelsea fan and a Liverpool fan is that us Reds will actually admit we got a little help from the man in black. I clearly stated in my match review that Lescott deserved a penalty, but as for the other allegations, rubbish. Hibbert was clearly pulling on Gerrard's shirt in the box, but let's ignore fact and reality. I expect no less from a Chelsea fan. As for Gerrard muttering something under his breathe to Clattenburg as he walked away, that's just stupid. What did he say? 'Good call, he was pulling at my shirt. He's been doing it all day.' Oh no, that's just criminal. You don't know what transpired and maybe, just maybe, Clattenberg took out the wrong card to begin with, but like I said in my review, that single action didn't warrant a red card, but there might have been other factors involved. You weren't on the field, you don't know what was said beforehand, so keep your ignorant speculation to your head that's obviously already firmly up your ass.

The most comical part is that Hibbert made no qualms about accepting the decision. You figure he'd put up a fight if he thought the call against him was unwarranted, right? Thanks for sticking up for your Everton buddy, but he probably would have done so on his own had he felt differently. His take on the Kuyt foul is laughable as well. No contact was made, so let's ignore that as well. And if he's never seen such a malicious act on the pitch, than obviously you don't really watch much football. I've seen hundreds of tackles that were legit and contact actually made that were much more malicious. Nice try at trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Well, that's all I have to say about that, but don't mention the intentional handball by Neville. We wouldn't want Everton to be looked at in a negative light whatsoever.

On a much more serious note, this actually did disturb me. A betting company getting an article on a top news service basically telling everyone to bet on Liverpool to advance from the group stages in Champions League play warrants some attention, but not for the reasons it attempts to convey. First, I think this probably officially means our demise. The only thing I can think of would be Platini waking up, calling off the dogs to screw the gambling faction and giving us a few calls back. Could happen, but doubt it. It always worries me to see a betting company taking a side and promoting it. Anyhow, this was a fun post, hopefully as fun as Sunday will be. Cheers.

Liverpool at Beşiktaş: What will Rafa do?

Well this is pretty much our Champions League life on the line. Anything but a win here and we'll need a miracle to advance to the knockout stages. We should be able to get the three points if we get a fairly called match and aren't sabotaged by one of our disgruntled players again. I'm specifically looking at you Mr. Crouch. Anyhow...

Here's who I would play:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Riise
Mascherano
Xabi (or Gerrard)
Gerrard (or Pennant)
Voronin
Crouch

Bench:
Itandje
Babel
Lucas
Benayoun
Kuyt
Sissoko
Pennant (or Xabi)

When Gerrard starts on the right, which I think will start happening more often, we'll see Finnan instead of Arbeloa behind him since Finnan is more of a wing-back than Arbeloa. Arbeloa's attacking style is straight-forward and similar to Gerrard's so we would pretty much be wasting a flank by having those two line-up on the same side. If Rafa doesn't think Xabi is available to start, expect Gerrard to start in the middle with Pennant on the right.

When we get Agger and Aurelio back, our defense will be much better as Hyypia and Finnan will be able to rest more. I understand those two still wanting to play for their countries, but they need to seriously consider their age and inability to bounce back as fast from playing two matches every week. The affects on Hyypia have been slowly beginning to show as he looks tired and even less quick than usual.

I hope Rafa has a quick trigger when it comes to subbing under performers today. We cannot have Crouch trying to play midfield nor Riise attempting 35 foot bangers every time he gets the chance. I would like to see more shots from outside of the box, but from multiple players, especially Pennant if he gets the chance. We cannot afford to to relax at any point today and our attack must be relentless. I also believe it's high time Masche gets his first Liverpool goal. Maybe he can wear an Argentina kit under his shirt.

Today's Banter: Backlash from our first loss

As you probably would expect, most the news coming out of Anfield is about our 1-0 loss to Marseilles yesterday in Champions League play. What doesn't surprise me is that Rafa is not sharing his true opinion of the match. Why should he? There's no reason to give the English press more fodder to spin.

The only Benitez statement of remote truth that made print was him saying the Besiktas match in three weeks was now a must-win. I don't necessarily agree with him, but I do think it will make things a lot easier. Just as long as he doesn't play Crouch we have a chance.

I definitely disagree with him saying that's the worse home performance we've had since he's taken over. In Europe, maybe, but certainly the Carling Cup match with Arsenal last year comes to mind. Also, I don't think the whole team was bad and I do think singling out one player in particular is absolutely warranted.

Whether intentional or not, Crouch was atrocious yesterday. He played as if he was the star of the team, which he is not, and acted as if he was the only one in red on the field. He played out-of-position nearly the entire match and made a point of disrupting the forward flow of the ball whenever possible. Myself and others have already alluded to him possibly having ulterior motives, but despite that, he's just not good enough for our side. If Rafa doesn't sell him in the January window, maybe it's time to find a new manager as well.

I don't understand why people are so blind to Crouch's ways. He clearly was out of position the entire match. Intentional or not, it was mind-numbing. Is it because Tommy Smyth cajoled over the lanky striker? Listen, Tommy Smyth has his reasons and none of them are for the benefit of the club. The fact that he turned on Gerrard in the first ten minutes, before Gerrard was even able to get many touches on the ball is just laughable.

I usually listen to the sound off when I watch matches, particularly because of the commentators trying to manipulate what's actually happening on the field. The only reason I put up with it yesterday was because I was watching it with others.

Throughout the match Smyth was trying to get the viewers to feel sorry for Crouch by saying he's being mistreated at Liverpool due to Rafa's rotation. Rubbish. Crouch has been part of the side for over two years now, he knows Benitez is going to rotate and has yet to ask for a transfer. In fact, he has made statements in the past year or so saying he wants to remain at the club.

My favorite part is when Smyth appealed not to get on Crouch for his poor performance toward the end of the match because he has worked so hard. As if hard work is commendable if it doesn't accomplish anything. You can train a monkey to wash dishes, but if he keeps breaking them, purposely or not, what's the point? Also, I'd like Smyth to tell me who on our side didn't work hard. It's not as if we didn't want to win. Well, at least most of our players.

Tommy Smyth is either an idiot, which I highly doubt, or he has ulterior motives, of which I refuse to speculate. You either see the forest for the trees or you're just another blind man walking through a busy intersection. All right, I've said enough on the subject, Tottenham can't come quick enough. Cheers.

Analyzing Crouch's duplicitous behavior in the Marseilles match

Accusing someone of throwing a match is very serious and I would never do so unless I believed it beyond a doubt. Crouch's erratic play is beyond just having a bad day once-in-a-while. It's gotten to the point where he has a good day once-in-a-while and that's just simply unacceptable. Why he is still at Liverpool, I refuse to speculate, but after his performance today, no one can question Rafa not wanting to play him. If I was the manager, he'd be relegated to ball boy.

First, let's look what his motive might be. First thing that comes to mind is playing time. It's no secret that Crouch isn't happy with Rafa's rotation especially since it seems that Torres is not necessarily part of it. One may try to argue that he's not playing enough to be the best player he can be. Oh really, than explain the Arsenal match from last year when he had a hat-trick? Due to injury, he hadn't played for us in over a month. Furthermore, explain his success with England. Does he play for the Three Lions week in and week out? No. He just happens to play well when he wants to.

Underlying playing time could very well be the motive of money, for if Crouch would go elsewhere and feature more, that club would probably be required to pay the lanky striker more since his playing time would increase. Not to mention the endorsement deals he would be more likely to get if he was the star striker of the side. I'll quit the motive aspect while I'm ahead and before I get personal, but we all know life is more complex than black and red.

His performance speaks for itself. If you were a striker on Liverpool and you wanted to have the most negative influence on a game, what would you do? You'd stand in the middle of the field and try to distract any ball movement, especially passes between the two best players on the club, Gerrard and Torres. And what did Crouch do today? Exactly that.

Nearly every time he touched the ball, he turned it over or he passed it back. At one point Torres laid off the ball to him and took off down the field. El Nino had tons of space and was wide open and what did Crouch do? He turned around and passed the ball back. Not unbelievable, intentional.

I mentioned in my review of the match that Crouch (and everyone else who's ever watched the grown-up version of Mike Teavee play) knows his physical limitations and knows his role on the field. He's not a distributing forward. He's not good with the ball over three touches. He by no means has any chance whatsoever of dribbling the ball past even the most inept opponent and he's not an idiot, he's complete aware of his faults and weaknesses.

So you can lie to yourself all you want, live in Candyland, eat gold-flavored ice cream and play with your very bestest invisible friend to your sweet little heart's desire, but the people who live in reality know that matches are fixed and players throw matches. Don't believe me? Have fun. Peter Crouch's actions today lead me to believe he threw the match, there's just no other explanation.

Liverpool 0, Marseilles 1

Ha ha ha, what a joke. Somebody got their fix on. Not to take anything away from Marseilles, but it took a wonder goal, three non-called handballs, and two very questionable yellow cards to beat us. Not to mention Crouch might as well have been wearing blue.

As a team we made some vast improvements in the second half and were really unlucky not to score. Well, I take that back, we were unlucky that Marseilles was allowed to use their hands in the box. Ridiculous, but oh well, we expect others to cheat against us, it's usually the only way we get beat in Champions League play.

The yellow cards on Carra and Gerrard were just ridiculous. Gerrard clearly got to the ball prior to contact and if it was for the viciousness of the tackle, I'm so sorry that he couldn't stop himself from sliding on the wet pitch. As for Carra, he was turning to go for the ball and obstructed the path of the Marseilles player. Foul? Yes. Yellow card? Not even close. Those cards took Stevie-G and Carragher off their game because now they had to be cautious just in case the official wanted to give them a second yellow for another minor infraction. Money well spent.

Crouch was horrid. He knows that he's a forward and not a midfielder, so why was he sitting out of position for most of the match? He knows he can't outrun anyone and isn't quick-footed, so why is he holding on to the ball? He's no candidate for Mensa, but he's not that dumb. Put him in the reserves, Rafa. The only thing he was working hard to do was throw the match.

Sissoko put on a baffling display as well. It seems he's returned to his make a great stop or tackle and then throw the ball away routine. Mascherano should have been brought in for him, but maybe in the end it will be better for Momo's confidence.

As for the rest of the team, like I said, we played much better in the second half, almost on cue. We used more of the field, we stopped trying the long ball to Torres so much, our passing overall got better, and we actually tried to make things happen. We were just unlucky not to put the ball in the net.

In the end, I'm sort of glad we lost. Maybe now we'll get off our asses early in matches and try to score instead of waiting around for something to happen. We need to take more risks. We have the talent to score, so why not risk a quick counter goal. They way we played today is not going to scare anyone, all their going to do is sit ten men behind the ball and dare us to do something different.

Liverpool 0, Marseilles 0: halftime thoughts

Blah, blah, blah, same old crap. We look unmotivated, disorganized, are failing to use the flanks, and our spacing is horrid (especially Torres and Crouch).

First things first, someone needs to tell Crouch he's not a midfielder. If anyone should be playing that role, it's Torres. El Nino is much better on the ball and doesn't throw it away as much as Crouchy. El Girafe needs to get his ass as forward as possible where he isn't in other people's way and he can use his height more effectively. Other than that, he is a waste.

Second, Gerrard and Sissoko need to figure who's going to play what? Is Gerrard the attacking midfielder or is Momo? Is Momo the holding/defensive midfielder or is Gerrard? Sort it out boys because you're making yourselves look stupid. Switching up is obviously not working.

Finally, when our backs go forward it seems to confuse our midfielders. They look as if they don't know what they want to do. None of them have really played all that bad, they just don't seem as if they are communicating with one another.

It sort of looks like we expected to come out and just walk over them without trying and our boys should know much better than that. Stop trying the bloody long ball to Torres, that only works if the other side has pushed forward when they need a goal.

This lackadaisical approach is getting old, we don't even have a decent shot on goal. Patience is one thing, laziness is another.

If I were Benitez, I'd take out Sissoko for Mascherano and tell Crouch to either stop trying to throw the match or be permanantly out of the rotation loop. At this point, he's liability to the team.

EDIT: The Gerrard card was bullocks, btw.

Liverpool vs Marseille: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Leto (--------->)
Sissoko
Gerrard
Benayoun
Torres
Crouch

Bench:
Itandje
Arbeloa
Riise
Babel
Voronin
Kuyt
Mascherano

Leto to start! Can't wait. Babel must be in the dawg house with Benitez. I'm really surprised to see Sissoko start over Mascherano, it must mean that Rafa wants our attacking shoes on. This one should be fun. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Cisse injured?, Benitez demands defense improve, Fabio wants love, & more

- Apparently Cisse was injured in practice at some point in the last couple of days and may or may not be able to go tonight. I'll be shocked if he isn't at least on the bench. I expect him to start though and I'm not playing this up to mind games, but it wouldn't surprise me.

- Despite the fact that it's been thirty years since we've allowed less goals in league play and that we've yet to concede a goal from open play with Pepe in the net, Rafa still demands improvement on the defense. I have to agree. We were lucky not to allow a goal against Wigan. When Agger comes back, it'll be a lot easier though.

- Fabio Aurelio wants to repay the fans for their loyalty. The first Brazilian ever to play for Liverpool, Aurelio has finally returned from a devastating knee injury he got against PSV last April. Going into that match, the 28-year-old was showing signs of improvement and finally adjusting to the English game. I think the big thing with him was patience on the ball. Early on he tried to force things, but as he got more relax, his skill and style really came through. I just hope he doesn't revert back to his old ways.

Some more links to digest as we wait to take on Marseilles:
- Kudos to this fellow American blog for banning the Sun
- Bolo believes Rafa can lead us to the Premiership title
- Does Fernando Torres have obsessive-compulsive disorder?

The official site is celebrating Halloween a little early

Two things on the front page of the official site, Liverpoolfc.tv, are giving me the chills. First, Pepe Reina looks like a cold-blooded vampire who's spotted a fresh drink of blood. Seriously, he's got crazy eyes. Also, if you click on the related article, 'Pepe proud to equal record', he thanks everyone in the defense for helping him achieve the clean sheet record except Jamie Carragher! Probably just a typo.

The other thing that's a bit creepy is the pictures of Beşiktaş J.K.'s stadium accommodations for visiting fans. They look like a seating section for an insane asylum with high white fences that drastically intrude the view of the pitch. There's just no way in hades that I would go to that match and sit in that cage. I understand other Turkey clubs (ha, no pun intended) visiting and their fans causing problems, but that just won't happen with our supporters. You'd think they'd have movable fencing or something of the sort for such occasions so they don't look like a country of barbarians.

Today's Banter: Nasri?, Benayoun content being super sub, Eccleston comes through, & more

- According to this article, we're going to make a £10m bid for French superstar Samir Nasri. Bullocks. I'm not saying it wouldn't be nice to have him, but first off, he primarily plays central midfield and we're kind of loaded in that department. He is versatile enough to play the wings as well, but unless he's going to be content sharing time there, he won't approve the transfer. Finally, if he's as good as advertised, I kind of doubt £10m will be enough to snag him. French players are usually bargains (unless Houllier is the buyer), but that sounds a bit low. Unfortunately, we won't get a look at the 20-year-old when Marseilles come to Anfield on Wednesday as he is convalescing from flu-like symptoms.

- Yossi Benayoun, the only player who felt like scoring for us on Saturday, has proclaimed that he's content being a super sub. It's good to see Yossi have a change of heart from his early season tantrum about not getting enough playing time. He really shows class in that article and its a real testament to our side to have such quality in depth. He should be our starter on the right come Wednesday, that is if Harry Kewell isn't miraculously back from injury and Babel is available.

- Nathan Eccleston lead the way with a brace as the Academy beat Stoke City 3-2. Joe Kennedy scored the other goal. The kids now sit at 3-2 for the season though still have -1 goal difference. Their next match is Saturday when they travel to Blackburn.

- After bagging the next Lionel Messi in 16-year-old Gerardo Bruna, we're apparently tracking Irish Starlet James McCarthy and may make an offer for him at the end of the season. The 16-year-old Hamilton Accies midfielder is the youngest ever scorer for his club and has attracted attention from seemingly every club on the planet.

- Finally, Djibril Cisse can't wait for Wednesday when he makes his return to Anfield in a Marseilles shirt. The 26-year-old French striker said he was on the phone with Stevie-G the moment he found out about the draw. He also said some nice (and true) things about our captain like calling him the best midfielder in the world. Bolo Zenden also plays for Marseilles. Hopefully he'll give the average Anfield performance and be more of a burden to his own side. 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.

Why only the ignorant bash Rafa's rotation ways

I'm so tired of all the muppets blaming Rafa's line-up tinkering for any and everything that goes wrong with our side. Do I always agree with who he plays? No. Do I always agree with what formation he uses? Definitely not. Do I always agree with who he subs? No, just see the previous post for proof, but as with the line-ups, I don't have access to the players, I don't know how fit they are, and I don't get to talk with them or observe them before the match to see how they might be mentally.

Rafa does what he does for several reasons. Sometimes, especially in Champions League play, he plays certain players in certain places for tactical reasons. The first example that comes to mind was Arbeloa at Camp Nou last year. He started Arbeloa on the left, which most found quite strange, but he did so, so the Spaniard could contain Messi, which he did quite well I might add.

For the most part, entering matches we are the superior side at nearly every position. Birmingham on Saturday is a good example of that. Would it have mattered had Torres started in one of the spots up front instead of Kuyt and Voronin? Maybe, but he could have also had his leg broken and been lost for the season, so speculating on just the positive is futile.

I still think Torres should have been brought in for Kuyt instead of Babel, but I don't know what the situation was, so that's all I can really say about that. The fact that Rafa didn't recognize Kuyt's poor form is kind of disheartening though. Maybe he was hoping he would improve, but I'm getting off the subject here.

The most important reason he rotates is to keep players fresh. If you need any proof that it works, just take a gander over his career. Managers like Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson need more than just a few great players to win trophies, Benitez has not. He didn't need ridiculously overpriced players to win the two Spanish Championships and a UEFA Cup that he did with Valencia nor did he needed a star-studded side when he won the Champions League and the FA Cup as he has with Liverpool.

In the 2005 Champions League run he got huge performances from players who he rotated quite liberally including Anthony Le Tallec, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Dietmar Hamann, and Vladimir Smicer. Those players played well because they were fresh and those of us who have played the game know that in most cases, especially in youth, the least you play the better you seem to perform when the opportunity arises.

With Rafa's rotating, past November we have had the best record and garnered the most points in the league the previous two seasons. Having rested, fresh players against tired sides is what has allowed us to be successful in those latter months. Unlike the last two years though, we have had a much better start to the season. So let Arsenal, Man U, and any other club that are perceived to be challenging for the title this year run their horses into the ground. When the wee hours of the season are upon us, I bet you that it's Rafa's ways that help us to the Premiership title.

Liverpool vs Birmingham: What will Rafa do?

Well, we went from arguably the easiest match to predict so far this season, to quite possibly the hardest league fixture so far. Wait until our Cup ties start, then it gets next to impossible to guess what Rafa the Mad Tinkerer will come up with.

There are a lot of outside factors to consider this week, especially at right midfield. It's Yom Kippur so that may rule out Benayoun. Jermaine Pennant's reckless performance at Porto may also see him starting from the bench. Also, with the Carling Cup tie coming up against Reading next Tuesday and Rafa apparently taking it more seriously this time around, you wonder who he'll reserve. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gerrard start on the right with Sissoko and Mascherano in the middle. It also wouldn't shock me to see Riise or Aurelio start on the left and Babel start on the right.

In other words, I have no clue what Rafa is going to do. Since it is a 'lesser' side, I hope he goes balls out and that doesn't mean bringing in any Reserves, but I don't really consider Sebastian Leto nor Lucas as full-time Reserves like I do say Robbie Threlfall or Ray Putterill. No offense to those two as they have both showed promise when given the opportunity, they just aren't as ready as the aforementioned pair. Once again, I would love to know what is up with Harry Kewell, having him fit for this match would be a huge boost. Ultimately, I'm looking for Rafa to take some risks here. As his squads have gotten deeper, he's gotten more predictable and I believe that's taken off some of the edge.

GK - Reina
If he's fit, he plays, and as far as I know, he's fine.

LB - Riise
He's back and he could start at left-mid with Aurelio here, but I think Rafa will want him to take it easy after coming back from a groin pull.

CB - Carragher
We need him to stay as healthy as possible.

CB - Arbeloa
Younger than Hyypia and though he could use a day off, I just don't see it happening here.

RB - Finnan
When's he fit, he'll play.

LM - Aurelio
I think Rafa goes defensive here, but that's using logic.

CM - Sissoko
Is back and after Masche's performance at Porto, the Argentine needs a day off.

CM - Gerrard
When he's fit and rested, he'll play.

RM - Benayoun or Babel
I don't see Pennant starting here only because his recent rash play and the fact that he used to play for Birmingham. I can see him making some bad decisions on and off the ball. Benayoun will start if Yom Kippur doesn't conflict, if not it will probably be Babel.

F - Voronin
I think Rafa will look to allow the Ukrainian to redeem himself for Portsmouth.

F - Torres
Torres will stay on until the three points are secured and then look for Crouch to get some pitch time

Bench:
Itandje
Mascherano
Hyypia
Babel or Leto (it depends whether or not Benayoun is available to play)
Crouch

I have no confidence that Rafa's selection will be the same, but that's pretty much who I would play. Cheers.

Liverpool 1, Porto 1: Man of the Match

Whoa, were my fellow Liverpool fans watching the same match I was? I just checked out the Fan's Man of the Match over at the official site and it had Dirk Kuyt voted first by the fans followed by Sami Hyypia and Mascherano?! Holy shit on a stick! Are you serious? Do I have unrealistic expectations of our Argentine midfielder or were you all drunk? Masche was appalling. I will admit that Hyypia started out just as unimpressive, but got better as the match progressed.

The site's picks were Jamie Carragher first followed by Hyypia and then Kuyt. There's just no way I put Kuyt behind Hyypia since it was mostly the latter's fault that they got the penalty. And what about Finney? Kudos for giving credit to one of our unsunge heroes in Carra, but I'd put Finnan above Hyypia as well.

In fact, if I had to rate our players in order from best to worst it would go something like this:

1. Kuyt
1. Carra

Kuyt is my Man of the Match, but I can't put Carragher very far behind him as he was in his inspirational form. The never-say-die Dutchman was relentless and per usual did what ever he was asked when he moved over to the right after Pennant was sent off. Carra was tremendous in keeping Porto and the ball away from the box.

3. Finnan

Another quiet, flawless performance. I'm going to start calling him the ghost because not only does he haunt our opponents, but no one ever seems to notice him.

4. Torres

El Nino did what El Nino was brought on to do, create space for Gerrard and worry the hell out of our opponent's defenses. He sent them scrambling mad on a couple of occasions.

5. Babel

It would have been nice if someone would have gotten open when he had the ball deep down in Porto territory.

6. Reina

Made a great save, but made questionable decisions in the box and on the ball, especially early on.

6. Hyypia

Almost made up for the penalty with his clearance and got better as the match wore on.

8. Gerrard

Was apparently hanging out with Harry Kewell.

9. Arbeloa

Looked tired and made some poor decisions after he was beat. His positioning was questionable as well.

10. Mascherano

His legal issues must be affecting him or he was having flashbacks of the Copa final when he heard the Porto players speaking in Portuguese.

11. Pennant

Thought his name was Ashley Cole again.

I'm not going to bother with the subs. Saturday can't come soon enough. Cheers.

Liverpool 1, Porto 1: the goal

Great team work. Torres won the foul, Finnan took the kick, Hyypia got the header assist, and Kuyt headed it home. It's Kuyt's third CL goal this season and fourth for his career. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Reaction to yesterday's match

Before I begin to criticize other's reactions to the match, let me make it clear that with our horrid performance and the fact that it was away, we really had no right taking a point yesterday. If it weren't for the performances of Carra, Kuyt, and Finnan, we probably wouldn't have. Babel and Torres weren't bad either, but other than those five, those were some of the worst efforts I have ever witnessed from our side.

I was especially disappointed in Mascherano and Pennant. I have stood up for JP countless times and yesterday he really let me down. He was nowhere near his form from last year. Maybe he isn't mature or secure enough to work in the rotation environment that any big club is going to utilize when going for multiple cups. I'm not going to bother to psycho-analyze the kid, but seriously, JP, get your shit together or ask for a transfer. With Benayoun on the bench, Kewell on his way back, Babel as versatile as he is, and Leto collecting Reserves caps, you should be worried about keeping your spot. As for Masche, I just think he had a bad outing and I don't expect one as poor ever again. On to the muck.

Some people think that certain individual efforts aren't to blame, especially Pennant and Reina. I don't know where that guy heard or read that people were blaming Reina and Pennant. If it wasn't for Reina, we would have lost 2-1 easy. His passing at times was a bit suspect and I'm not sure why Porto didn't just run over to Babel every time Pepe was about to attempt a goal kick, but as the game progressed, Reina's decisions got better. As for Pennant, he was appalling and I blame Rafa for leaving him in too long more than anything.

The same bloke who is hearing voices in his head also wonders why Liverpool are 'scared of the football'. That whole post is just preposterous. Scared to pass to each other? Are you having a laugh? Our passing was just off, particularly Masche's, that's it. Making a mountain out of mole hill, especially away in Europe is a bit ridiculous. And by the way, though I did predict the line-up accurately, Agger would replace Hyypia in our best XI. That's not an excuse though, for a man his age, Hyypia's form has been wholly impressive so far this season, but that was his least mentionable match so far.

On the official site, there are a couple of interesting articles. The first one is Rafa's reflections on the match. He seems somewhat pleased with the result and I for one agree with him. Ten-men for much of the second half when we appeared to be an actual threat to score and going home with a point, is nothing in which to be disappointed. Especially considering they needed a penalty to score on us. I definitely agree that we looked better and better towards the end of the match, but disagree that Torres should have been taken out. Unless El Nino was fatigued or for some other reason requested a sub, he should have been left in. Voronin basically brought the same elements to the match, nothing more and possibly less. Defenses just don't have the same respect for the Ukrainian as they do the Spaniard.

Also on the official site, Carra seems to be defending his buddy and captain, Stevie-G, by calling him the 'best skipper in the world'. No shit, Jamie, but if you are somehow trying to assuage us fans of his performance yesterday, you're wasting your breathe. He may have not been his best, but he did not cost us anything. A top form Gerrard would have probably put the team on his back and garnered us the three points, but yesterday he was merely just a cog in the inefficient machine. I expect better, but it's done and over so there's no point.

Apparently Rafa planned on subbing Pennant right before he was sent off. I was planning on moving to Hollywood and becoming the next Marlon Brando once, but it never happened. I'm so glad the ref saved him the trouble. Seriously, I'm usually not one to criticize Rafa's decisions, but this is the second match in a row that I have issues with his moves or lack thereof. Thankfully he has Birmingham at Anfield next weekend where he could play some of the members of the ladies team and still get the win.

Finally, we have Chris Bascombe's match review from the Echo which per usual was class. He not only blames our boys for a wasted evening, but also the Porto side, who for all accounts should have whipped up on us. I kind of think he fails to give Carra and Finnan the credit they deserve on defense, but they're used to it.

Bascombe also brings up some interesting things that I failed to notice. The first being Pennant's tendencies to dive this year. Last year he was on the brunt end of some bad non-calls and maybe he's been hanging out with Arbeloa too much these days. Seriously, JP, not that you should give a rat's ass, but I'm almost at my wits end with your behavior so far this season. Maybe the loss of Craig Bellamy, a man who probably wouldn't dive if both his legs were broken in half, has had a negative effect on you.

Another observation the Echo writer makes is the lack of Xabi's influence might have been integral. I never thought about it, but he's probably right, though with Xabi's poor attitude lately he could have easily been a card casualty as well. Furthermore, who says Rafa would have put Xabi in, and if he did, he would have probably put him in for Stevie-G instead of Masche, who should have been taken off so he can think about being mentally prepared to play next time. I wonder if all the talk of his potential legal troubles had an effect on him? I hope not. Cheers.