Who turned over the ball most last season? UPDATED

One thing that drives all football fans crazy is when your team gives away the ball.  Peter Crouch, Luis Garcia, and Momo Sissoko used to bring out the worst in me when they constantly gifted the ball to the opposition.  So I got to wondering who has the worst TTI from last season?  Just for laughs, before I do the research, I'm going to guess either Glen Johnson or Luis Suarez, so let's find out.

	TTI Per 90
Suarez	15.7
Aspas	14.7
Toure	13.4
Sterling	12.1
Enrique	11.3
Coutinho	11
Sturridge	11
Johnson	10.9
Gerrard	10.9
Allen	10.4
Moses	9.9
Henderson	9.5
Flanagan	9.2
Cissokho	8.8
Kelly	8.5
Lucas	7.9
Agger	6.3
Mignolet	6.2
Sakho	6.1
Skrtel	5.3

I found a site that keeps track of minutes played by competition and have re-done the TTI chart accordingly.

Sterling jumped a bunch of spaces to basically second among regulars.  Suarez is still first, but he only went up a little since he plays so much.  Coutinho went from second to 6th, but still 3rd among regular starters.  And what can you say about Aspas? No wonder he rarely sees the pitch.  I think it would be interesting to see if he showed signs of this kind of performance at Celta.

Top of the table... again... for now...

What a match, though for all intents and purposes, the theatrics I could do without. Our boys were clearly the better side from start to finish and for us to have to come back from a 1-0 deficit to begin with, was the biggest joke of all. If Nugent was onside, then so was Kuyt (on his called-back goal, of course)... EASILY. Nothing surprises me from an Evertonian though, as Nugent showed his true scum colors by trying every move in the book to cheat Liverpool of three points. Sorry, son, you lost.

Like it or not, Rafa's tactics worked. Ngog was effective as his speed kept the Pompey back four at bay, scared to leave the Frenchman unmarked for more than a few seconds. Benayoun continued his brilliant form, causing chaos throughout the pitch. The only real disappointment was Babel, who missed a mind-blowing sitter (who the hell uses their right foot on a right to left cross?) and still failed to find the pass when covered by multiple defenders. Somebody is open, somewhere, even if you have to pass it back, it's better than losing possession. In his defense though, he scared the living crap out of the defenders with his threatening pace.

The most effective aspect of Rafa's gameplan? Resting Kuyt, Xabi, and Torres until later in the match. He used his younger and less worn players to wear down the opposition, which made them easy pickings when the more experienced came on.

One thing I found amusing, for two reasons actually, is how hard Crouch played. First, if he had played that hard for us, he'd probably still have a place on our squad and second, he was still pretty much ineffective.

My player of the match goes to Yossi Benayoun. He was effectively everywhere throughout and set-up the match winning goal. As for the rest of the squad, no one played particularly horrible, but I've seen better days from Babel and Mascherano. I would also like to add that Aurelio played particularly well for basically playing out-of-position at central midfield for a majority of the match.

I know I said in my pre-match blog that a goal against us would be embarrassing, but while watching the match I realized that a lot of our 'defensive-minded' players, saw this as more of an opportunity to show their attacking abilities and in that way, it sort of backfired. I wouldn't go as far as to call it 'delusions of grandeur' (except for in maybe Mascherano's case) though. Agger and Aurelio were far from incompetent in what they offered on attack.

Well, two weeks and a day until Man City. Let's hope for a healthy return for all our internationals. Cheers.

Liverpool nearly upset? What a joke.

And I'm not talking about our performance. I'm referring to the onslaught of garbage the press is force feeding the general public, most who didn't even see the match and won't look at the facts. The truth is this was a no contest. The truth is Havant scored on a set-piece, which any club can do against any other club no matter the differential in talent. The truth is the other goal was a deflection off Skrtel, ruled an own goal. The truth is Liverpool won quite easily, by three goals, but I guess the press has to conjure up bullshit to rectify and prove their control over the ignorance that is so rampant in the football world. At least the casual fan will concur. A farce nonetheless and it should have been worse if it weren't for a futile performance from the king of such, yes, I'm referring to one Peter Crouch.

The positives were abundant. Lucas opened up his scoring account for us with this piece of brilliance:

The kid is going to be a legend.

A lot of the attack went through Babel and Pennant, even though Benayoun will get most of the superficial credit since he did get a hat trick. It appears that Babel is finally learning that he doesn't have to go it alone, as the final goal by Crouch, which the young Dutchman set-up by finding Gerrard in the box on the left. Stevie-G then set it across to an offside Crouch who easily tapped it in. Yes, he was offside, but at that point it mattered little, the match was over.

Pennant looked like his old trickster self, bobbing and weaving his way through the Havant defense like a ghost through a graveyard. I was really glad to see him back to such form. He'll never get the credit he justly deserves since his past will allow the shallow their self-righteous judgments, but in reality, JP's style of play is eclectic and produces results. I hope this performance convinces Rafa that Pennant is deserving of more pitch time.

Havant deserve plenty of credit for playing hard and not giving in. They almost had a third, on a set play, if it weren't for a brilliant stop by Itandje. Their play was inspiring and the flow of their attack was quite impressive, if not lackluster. Defensively though they were as porous as a sponge and their wall-building schemes only managed to leave them stagnant. I could have also done without their overt physicality which was more prone to nearly injuring our players than accomplishing anything else.

As for negatives, well, I could go off on a tangent on how bad Crouch was, but why bother? Once again he showed he's not much better than an amateur. I fear what would have happened if Torres had started, which is another point, we didn't put out our best side and won by three goals. Enough said.

Liverpool at Everton: What will Rafa do?

I look forward to this match about as much as I look forward to getting regular colonoscopies when I get older. If last year is any indication of what is in store for tomorrow, Everton will be playing like it's the Champions League Final. Too bad they'll probably never know what that's like.

We have more question marks with our roster than the Riddler had on his body suit. We have injured players that may or may not play in Kuyt, Alonso, and Torres, and we have an obscene amount of players coming off international duty on two days rest with Gerrard, Voronin, Finnan, Babel, Riise, Benayoun, Mascherano, Hyypia, and Pepe Reina.

The league did us no favors either with a 12:45 pm local start time.

Basically what I'm saying is Rafa has two options here. He can go with his best players and risk them being fatigued or he can fill in the gaps with rested yet less experienced players. Option A would look something like this:

Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Arbeloa
Darby
Leto
Sissoko
Lucas
Pennant
Kuyt
Torres

Option B:

Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Babel
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Kuyt
Torres

Not much difference, I know, the biggest being Darby whom I doubt Benitez would put in such situation. If Hobbs starts, we lose, it's that simple. Anyone who's actually watched him extensively knows he just not ready. The latter line-up is the most likely, but either way, Rafa will get the blame if we don't get a positive result.

Anyhow, here's my final guess:

Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Babel
Alonso
Sissoko
Pennant
Kuyt
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Gerrard
Crouch
Riise
Benayoun

If Kuyt is not ready to go, I think we'll see Crouch start unfortunately. Like I said, I'm not looking forward to this one at all, especially if Cahill is back. A win here would do us wonders.

Rafa wakes up! Crouch on his way out!

For the love of Robbie Fowler it looks as if Rafa has seen the light. In this article, it is revealed that Rafa is looking to dump the useless striker in the January window due to Crouch's attitude towards the gaffer's rotation policy and his recent dreadful performance versus Marseilles where he was clearly a detriment to our side.

Can today get any better? Johnny Wilkinson leads England to the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup with a stunning upset of Australia, Paul Anderson scores another goal, and now it looks as if our biggest (and tallest) problem might have found a solution.

I'm not sure if Crouch has the power to block a move though. I believe he can refuse, but if I was Rafa, I'd put the lanky waste of space on the Reserves squad and have him rot on the bench there.

One thing that baffles me is Crouch saying he loves playing for Liverpool, though won't sign a contract extension. If he's not doing so due to monetary reasons, that's fine, but it doesn't give him the right to throw matches. Another reason may be because he knows it's more likely that he'll be transferred if he gets tied down to a long term deal. He's gone anyhow, and like I've said in previous posts, if they don't sell him in January, maybe it's time for a managerial change.

Sell him to Portsmouth where the other shady footballers roam. He and David James can go casino hopping with Harry Redknapp. I don't care what they do with him, just as long as he never wears a kit again. Oh, and by the way, if he does get the opportunity to play for us again, expect him to play well and then if you need more of a reason to roll your eyes, go find another club to support.

One more point before I go celebrate England's World Cup win. Rafa mentions he'll have around £20m to spend in the January window. I'm not sure if that includes what we'll get for Crouch or not, which will probably be over £10m. Time to start shopping for another striker and a centre back. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Ladies lose derby, Pennant excluded from England again, Babel wants striker role, & more

- Like the saying goes, 'It's only gonna get a whole lot worse before it's gonna get any better.' Those words seem to be a fair representation of what our beloved club is going through at the moment. Yesterday, just to add a glacier to the well put-out fire, the Ladies lost 2-1 to Everton in league play. Despite taking a 1-0 lead, our girls couldn't hold on as two strikes in two minutes in the second half were enough to lead the lady Toffees to the victory. Next up is a League Cup clash with Leeds United on Sunday in Skelmersdale.

- Steve McClaren snubbed Jermaine Pennant again for an England spot for the Three Lions Euro qualifiers later this month. I understand JP wants to play for his country, but honestly, there is just too much baggage going on in the England camp to make me give a rat's arse about his exclusion. Concentrate on your Liverpool game, lad. Unfortunately, Steven Gerrard will never be excluded from an England side.

- Ryan Babel, who just recently was found under a rock in the Sahara, thinks he is best suited as a central striker. He appears to be patient to get his opportunity to play there and is content playing a wing position. I'll put my shyness to the side here and say put him in the rotation in front of Crouch as soon as Harry Kewell gains fitness. Of course, who knows when that'll happen.

- I found this article about Rafa desiring a show of character for the Tottenham match a bit peculiar. He claims it's a call to have us improve ourselves from the dreadful Marseilles performance. I say it's a call to have all the rumored nonsense going on behind closed doors put to an end. There have been rumblings of discontent about certain players voicing their unhappiness with more than just the squad rotation. Let's just hope Rafa puts certain players aside and puts out a squad that's just happy to be on a great club come Sunday.

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: Ref change for Wigan, Crouch wants answers, & Gerrard 'almost fit'

- Due to protest from Wigan manager Chris Hutchings, the referee for our match on Saturday has been switched from Steve Bennett to Mark Clattenburg. Hutchings' ground for protest was Bennett's sending off of Kilbane for apparently no reason whatsoever in the Lactics tie at Newcastle on the first of this month. Though he has yet to receive any punishment for what has been deemed an 'incorrect decision', it was thought best that Bennett not be in charge of this upcoming fixture. Fine by me, the guy has handed out four red cards in six Premiership matches so far this season which would have probably meant a sending off for Mascherano at the JJB. Clattenburg has yet to hand out a red so far this year. Knock on wood.

- Peter Crouch would like to know FIFA's response to Graham Poll's accusations that the refs during last year's World Cup were asked to single the forward out. It's pretty obvious that he was. While he had the stage, Crouch also warned Torres that performance is not the main factor in Rafa's selection process and therefore he may not even be on the bench at Wigan. Crouchy may either be trying to force Rafa to start him Saturday or he may just be laying the foundation for a request for a transfer come January. If Torres is selected, look for the lanky striker's whining to increase.

- Gerrard has proclaimed that his best form is just around the corner as pain in his toe has subsided. I really don't understand why he was playing with pain for England or our club otherwise. In fact, it's pretty obvious he should have left the limping Three Lions to the wolves since he got no credit for his solid performances against Israel and Russia. Then again, we're talking about the English press who are more superficial than Victoria Beckham.

- By the way, if you didn't know, Danny Guthrie scored a goal for Bolton yesterday. It was the first strike for the 20-year-old midfielder with the club in which he is on loan and proved crucial as the Wanderers beat Fulham, 2-1, in League Cup action. As soon as I can find a video of it, I'll either link or show. Cheers.

The Tinkerman tinkers again and we're still unbeaten

I love the muppets out there who are so proud of themselves by proclaiming that since we won last night, they were right by chastising Rafa for not playing Torres last Saturday. Of course, in actuality they are dead wrong. Again. Rafa played Torres as part of ten other changes to the side, which means all that bitching and moaning about Benitez' tinkering was all for naught. It was Rafa's rotation that gave us the win last night, plain and simple, but let's ignore the facts of the matter.

Aurelio made his first start of the year at left back. Arbeloa made his first start at centre back. Itandje made his first start ever for us. Finnan, who did not start against Birmingham, did so last night. The midfield had four different players starting in Leto, Sissoko, Lucas, and Benayoun, and of course, Crouch and Torres started up front, not Kuyt and Voronin. Call me crazy, but it looks like he rotated to me.

Another good point is that Torres probably wouldn't have scored a single goal if it weren't for the performances of Benayoun, Leto, Riise and Gerrard. Benayoun, as I stated in my final review, was crucial in taking the initiative and being the leader in the midfield. Let's fail to see that if it weren't for a cheeky through ball from Leto, a brilliant dribble and lay-off by Riise, and the vision of Gerrard, Torres could very well have went away goalless. The big difference between his performance and let's say Kuyt's and Voronin's from Saturday was that he did what he was paid to do, finish.

If you still don't realize that it was just a poor overall performance that earned us a draw on Saturday and not the exclusion of one single player, than I advise you to stop writing, because you're only going to continue to make a fool of yourself.

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 1, Reading 1: halftime thoughts

You know, I understand the home side getting some calls, but this is simply shocking. First off, how Duberry and Bikey don't have cards is a mystery to me. Both have been making reckless tackles, pulling at shirts, and pushing players down left and right. How can the ref expect to maintain control of a match if he's allowing those two mongoloids to play American football while almost every time a Liverpool player runs into a Reading player, they get a foul called on them? If a Reading player gets his leg broken by a Liverpool player in the second half, don't blame the player, blame the ref.

Furthermore, the goal by Convey should not have been allowed. Lita was clearly offside through the obstruction rule as he was in Itandje's way. It is partly Itandje's fault though, since he should have came forward and made a bigger deal out of the obstruction. As for the keeper's performance so far, it's been awfully shaky and I can understand why he hasn't won the confidence of his teammates yet.

By the way, pardon me for wanting a ref to actually know the rules. If a Liverpool player would have obstructed the Reading keeper like that, not only would have the goal been disallowed, but that player would have probably gotten a card. I hope we come out in the second half and be twice as physical as them, I'm so tired of the thug approach teams with lesser talent take toward us, especially since they know for the most part the officials will let it go.

As for our play, we really need to start using the whole field. We barely used the right side and I blame Benayoun for that, though I can understand why he keeps going inside. It seems to me that neither Lucas nor Sissoko want to come up and be the attacking midfielder. I'd definitely would rather see Lucas take the initiative than Sissoko, since Momo is supposed to be a destroying type player. Of course, they may be a tad apprehensive to come forward since for some godforsaken reason Crouch thinks he's a midfielder now.

I don't want to go on an anti-Crouch rant, but for God's sake you overgrown gazelle, play forward and create space. Gees, you would think that he's never played forward before. He needs to be more aware of where he and his teammates are, especially Torres and the central midfielders. If the ball keeps going through Crouch, we might as well just forfeit because if he doesn't pass it back, he loses possession.

By the way, the goal by Benayoun was a thing of beauty. Arguably our best goal this season. I'll post a video of it later hopefully. Anyhow, the second half is about to start. I doubt we'll be able to win this one in regulation though. 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.

Liverpool vs Reading: What will Rafa do?

Ah, these are the fun ones. Not necessarily to watch, though I hope this one is, but definitely fun to pick who Rafa will play. Before I get to that though, let me first offer an idea to any LFC website that has the funding to do so. How about having a 'pick Rafa's side' game? Seriously, I look forward to trying to pick out who Benitez will play more than anything else on my blog. Just a suggestion, anyhow...

For this match, I think the boss is going to try and mix the vets with the kids so to at least ensure that we don't get killed. I'm not so sure Pepe needs a game off since he is hardly called to do much in matches these days anyhow, but I think Itandje needs a start here and there outside of the Reserves. Pepe should grace the bench though.

At left-back, I hope to see Emiliano Insua and I think it's a good possibility, but I'll get to why in a minute. In the middle, it looks quite likely that we'll see Carra paired with Hobbs. Some may think that Carra will get the night off, but there's two reasons I think otherwise. First, he seems to be in great form as he showed with the Birmingham tie, and second, he is Hobbs mentor and what better way to show a student how it's done than by example. Take notes kid, because from what I've seen from you previously, you're gonna need all the advice you can get. On the right, I see Finnan getting the call as he only played the better part of a quarter-hour on Saturday.

At left-mid, I think Aurelio will get the call, which is why I think Insua will play behind him. Fabio provides a bit of defensive insurance on that side, just in case. I could see Riise starting there as well if Aurelio didn't need some pitch time. The only other thing I think Rafa might do is start Aurelio at left back and Leto at left wing, but I look for Leto to start from the bench and if injuries allow, come in the final thirty minutes for one of the left sided players. if he comes in for Insua, then Aurelio will be pushed back.

In central midfield, Sissoko has to get the call and I see Lucas paired with him. I'm hoping the attack runs through Lucas as much as possible because I really want to see what the Brazilian is capable of. I expect Sissoko to have a monster game as he has had a lot of time off. On the right, Yossi has to start. Pennant needs a day off as does Babel.

Up front is the real dilemma. I can definitely see Torres starting up front, but knowing Rafa, I don't think he will because it would look as if the boss is giving into his critics. After his performance on Saturday and playing the full match, I don't see Kuyt up there either. So I guess that leaves Voronin and Crouch. I can't see Crouch not starting here, he definitely needs more pitch time. Babel may get the call, but I don't think Rafa would pair him with Crouch.

So here's my final guess:
Itandje
Insua
Carra
Hobbs
Finnan
Aurelio
Lucas
Sissoko
Benayoun
Voronin
Crouch

Subs:
Reina
Gerrard
Torres
Hyypia
Leto

I'm not sure how many bench players Carling Cups allow, but I'll assume they go by FA rules.

With that line-up and Reading going with Convey and Lita, this could potentially be a fun match to watch. I don't really expect our side to win and honestly, don't care too much either. It's only the Carling Cup after all, but I'm hoping the kids realize that the better they play, the more likely we win, and if we win, that's more playing time for them. Be back later for the line-up, halftime report, and post-match report. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Birmingham 0: final thoughts

After viewing this match for the second time, with much less emotion involved since I knew the outcome, I have to say that the reason Liverpool did not get the three points is because most of the team, particularly up front, were mentally unprepared for this match while Birmingham seemed quite the opposite.

Kuyt was appalling and Voronin wasn't much better. In fact, I would have to say this is the worse match I have ever seen Kuyt play. He seemed to turn the ball over nearly every time he got possession or he took a bad shot when there was a smarter pass. Voronin appeared to just be waiting for the ball to come to him instead of going after it.

Overall we lacked intensity as a side, save Carra and Mascherano, who more than made up for his poor performance in Portugal last week. You can blame Rafa for not starting Torres all you want, but Kuyt should have been more than capable of getting the job done. If Dirk played for Birmingham he would easily be their best player.

I do have a problem with Rafa's subbing though. I feel as if Torres should have been brought on for Kuyt and if Babel needed to come off for one reason or another, then Finnan could have been brought in, Arbeloa pushed over to the left and Riise pushed up to midfield. Kuyt should have been taken off at the half in my opinion as he had no business wearing the shirt that day.

You can say that Birmingham played solid defense, but the truth is, Kuyt had plenty of opportunity to at least be the catalyst in scoring a goal and he messed up time and time again. His head clearly wasn't in the match.

The funny thing is, if we were Man United, we would have won this by at least a goal. Case in point, as the first half was coming to a close, Carra made a brilliant pass to Kuyt in the box who controlled and turned to shoot. Just as he was about to do so though, the ref blew the whistle to end the half. Apparently only Man U gets extra time to score the goal they need.

Also, Torres should have had a penalty late in the game. After being set-up by a nice pass from Pennant, he faked out Queudrue in the box and the Frenchman not only clearly obstructs El Nino's forward movement, but also grabs his shirt to prevent him from continuing play. If Saha's dive was a penalty, then there's no question that that was one as well.

Some other points, Babel wasn't at his best, but he by no means cost us the match. He needs to work on his corners a little bit though. Speaking of set plays, the few we got, we were abominable, except for maybe the last corner where Gerrard found Crouch's head with a perfect pass, though the latter couldn't finish the job.

Defensively, Arbeloa had his second lackluster performance in a row and I think it's time he get a game off. If he starts against Reading tomorrow, I'll be surprised. Riise seemed to lose steam as the match wore on, but I wouldn't characterize his performance as anything less than average. Carra and Hyypia were adequate if anything.

As for our skipper, I've seen him play better, but for the most part he just faded in and out of the match. I'm hoping the week off gets him back into preseason form. If he was so fatigued though, I wonder why Rafa just didn't let him and Mascherano switch up and make Stevie-G the holding midfielder?

Birmingham said they were going to focus on Pennant and most the first half they did. It allowed Babel more space, but the Dutchman still preferred to go inside instead of out, which sort of took away the space he would have provided had he gone wide. I can't really complain about Pennant's performance as he was hounded throughout the day and when they finally let up, he became more of a threat and created a few chances for us.

My man of the match is Mascherano, though I've seen him play much better. In fact, with Hyypia and Carra sitting so far back the entire match, Masche certainly could have gotten more involved on the attack. He did towards the end, but it was too little too late. He was tackling was on point per usual and he was without a doubt a menace to the Blues the entirety of the match.

I guess Birmingham does deserve some credit for executing their game plan, but in truth, it was just a poor, insipid performance by Kuyt and Voronin that cost us. Maybe if Babel stayed to the left more, Dirk and Andriy would have had more room to operate, but what's done is done and all we can hope is that he learns from it.

Reading next and I'm think why Carra and Hyypia were basically planters was because we'll probably need them to do the same tomorrow at the Mad Stad. I'll have my 'What will Rafa do?' up soon. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Birmingham 0: embarassing

Well, it looks like our old haunt of not being able to finish has returned. Kuyt couldn't kick the ball into the stands if he wanted to. All his tireless effort seem to just get him tired and I hate dogging on the kid, but gees, I feel like I'm watching Toronto FC out there at times.

This is the third straight match that I've disagreed with Rafa's selection. Torres should have started. What? Is he saving him for Reading and the Carling Cup? Rubbish. I have no problems with his tinkering, but for Christ sake, if you're going to do it have the guts to do something different.

Do you want to know why we are such a dreary side? It's because Rafa is afraid to really mix things up. Play a different formation, play Babel up front, put Voronin on the left, do something. The only critics who would be against it are old men living in an old world and they can go piss off.

Nobody is buying that we are any different from last year nor the year before because we aren't. We've reverted back to the old ways despite the new faces. Nobody eats stale bread because they know it's stale. They just leave it on the table to be thrown away.

I'm fully convinced we lost the league today and the only bright spot was we didn't give away a penalty. Ugh. Okay, let me calm down. I'll be back later.