Liverpool 8, Beşiktaş 0: Utterly Ridiculous

I think the score pretty much speaks for itself here, don't you? I was worried that we might be tired after expending so much vigor in the opening 32 minutes of the first half, but it appears that I was the only one who was wasting energy by thinking about it. The second half was just stunning.

Seven minutes in, Yossi Benayoun scored his second goal of the match on a rebound from a John Riise rocket that the keeper did his best to stop. Unfortunately it rolled right into the path of the Israeli International who was lurking in the area. Four minutes after that Yossi made it a a hat-trick on a similar free kick attempt by Steven Gerrard. Once again the Beşiktaş keeper failed to contain the shot and once again Yossi was there to calmly slot the ball into the net.

Now down by four goals, the Turkish side looked beat and bewildered. To their credit, they played staunchly, but never really looked the threat. Once Gerrard broke free on a one-two backheel from Voronin and slammed home a shot in the box with about 21 minutes left, the Beşiktaş spirit was officially broken. To make matters worse, Benitez put in Lucas and Kewell to go along with a newly-introduced Babel to rejuvenate the side.

Six minutes following Babel added to the opposition's woes by cheekily deflecting a Benayoun cross into the opposite side of the net. The brilliant finish appeared to do wonders for the young Dutchman's confidence as he looked the threat from then on. Not three minutes later though, he had to believe luck was on his side as well when a Beşiktaş clearance hit off his back, shot up into the air and landed on the other side of the goal-line. Simply ridiculous and pretty much summed up our evening.

We weren't done just yet though. In the closing minutes, as the attack was pushed forward by Lucas and Kewell, Yossi Benayoun found Crouch on a cross and the lanky striker notched his second goal of the night with a powerful header finish. We not only set a new Champions League margin-of-victory record, we crushed it by two goals.

The true character of this squad will now be revealed this Saturday when we travel to Craven Cottage. If we continue our no-holds barred, rampant ways that began with about twenty minutes left in the Blackburn match and proceeded to run over the Kara Kartallar all day today, then I think we can once again have hope of a season ending in some sort of success. If not, if we resort to playing the long-ball, getting in each other's way, fail to use the entire field, and basically give half-ass efforts all-around, well, then we'll know today was just a fluke.

The worst thing for this side to do is think that they've accomplished anything worthwhile. A record is nice, but if we fail to qualify for the next roudn of the Champions League, it doesn't matter. There's still plenty of work to be done and no time to really sit back and revel in victory over a side that we should have beat at their home. If we can carry this momentum into the next dozen matches, this season could end up being something special.

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: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Riise
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Voronin
Crouch

Bench:
Martin
Kuyt
Babel
Finnan
Torres
Kewell
Lucas

I guess Kewell is playing the part of the super-sub. No excuses for Crouch today, he either performs or drops in the ranks again. Surprised to see Riise on the pitch after such a horrible match on Saturday, but Rafa rarely sits a player just because of one bad outing. Also, where's Sissoko? Is he sick again?

I think our biggest question will be how Hyypia performs on just three days rest. He didn't really do much running around in the Blackburn match, which I guess is a plus. Hopefully if he starts to falter, Rafa will bring in Finnan for the Finn and move Arbeloa over.

Torres is on the bench, but I doubt he'll play. Cheers.

(Edit: Well, I just noticed that Markus Merk is the head official. Not only that, but the whole officiating team is Germany. You know, sort of like Herbert Fandel...)

Today's Banter: Beşiktaş 'lip service', Pako to Valencia, & Gerrard backs Kuyt

Going into today's match, it appears we're getting the same old lip-service. Gerrard wants the squad to treat it like a cup final. We haven't heard that one before, oh wait, we have, two weeks ago in Istanbul. A lot of good it did then and a lot of good it'll do now. To put it plainly, 'Talk is cheap.' I'm personally tired of rallying-calls like this, it only matters what you do on the pitch.

Jamie Carragher also added his two cents to the cliché piggy bank by saying that we thrive on pressure. Well, good then, maybe our players should get paid according the results of how they handle that pressure.

Finally, Rafa plays the 'importance of the fans' card. Yeah, you don't want to forget about them. I know papers and sites need to write about something, but they should save themselves some time and money and instead of interviewing Rafa and the players, they should just write down all the normal banal pre-match jargon on little slips of paper, put them in a hat, and then pull one out and attribute to what ever it says to a certain person. Seriously, I think I get dumber reading these things.

On the flipside, we have Beşiktaş midfielder Matías Delgado who talks more junk than a heroin addict. The 24-year-old Argentine doesn't hold back at all in predicting a win for the Turkish side. Some of his comments are laughable though, 'In Istanbul we deserved the victory and played a sensational match.' Really? Because from my perspective we dominated the match, only failed to finish our chances, and your side only committed three fouls. That last point is so ludicrous, I won't start, but Delgado needs to send Platini a nice bottle of wine. Furthermore Delgado states: 'This Liverpool side is vulnerable and not the super team of previous seasons.' What season are you talking about? 2005? When we needed a couple of miracles to win the Champions League? And yes, we're vulnerable due to injury. Great analysis though. God I hope we crush this idiot, his arrogance precedes him.

Moving on, it looks like Pako Ayestaran might end up back at Valencia as an assistant to recently hired manager Ronald Koeman. I personally think Pako's role with the team has been over-stressed and his departure has been exploited as another cheap-shot at Rafa for our current dip in form. How Ayestaran left the club, whether he was asked to resign by Rafa or left on his own accord, is not clear, so any speculation about the matter is frivolous. It has always been the intentions of 44-year-old Spaniard to return to Spain anyhow. On a different note, in that article it alludes to Valencia fans in a recent match chanting for the club to bring back Benitez. At least he'd be appreciated there.

Finally we have Stevie-G throwing himself behind Dirk Kuyt in support of the Dutch striker despite the latter's recent goal-scoring issues. Gerrard actually says some worthwhile things in that article including: 'Missing chances is part and parcel of football. I’ve missed chances in the past and no doubt I’ll miss them again. The important thing is how you react...' & 'There’s no point picking on individuals when we don’t win. We win as a team, we draw as a team and we lose as a team, and that’s all there is to it.' Sounds like the words of a true leader. 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.

Liverpool 0, Blackburn 0: player grades

Before I get to my grades, let me say a couple of things. First off, until you accept that we just aren't good enough to win the League this year, the easier to take results like today's. We are at least a dynamic class striker and probably a solid, consistent centre back away from challenging Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal for the title.

Second, I do these grades as a reflection of a players contribution to the team and their effort to solidify the whole and be a sufficient cog in the machine. Rarely does one player's performance win a match, about as close as I've seen anyone do that was Steven Gerrard's efforts in the 2006 FA Cup final against West Ham. Anyhow, moving on...

Pepe Reina C+
Finally got a clean sheet after going the whole month of October without one. The usual solid performance.

Riise C-
A strange effort from the Norwegian. He didn't participate much on attack than usual, but didn't really make any mistakes otherwise.

Carragher C+
Solid as usual. The yellow card was rubbish.

Hyypia C+
Seemed like the Hyypia of old at times. Staying back was a good idea.

Finnan C+
Typical Finney, did his job on defense and contributed to the attack.

Babel C-
Would have liked him to play in front of Kuyt instead of on the left. His effort might have been affected by lack of rest, but for the most part he was ineffective and held on to the ball too long at times.

Mascherano B-
I expect more from him, but he was pretty much my Man of the Match and controlled the middle of the field throughout.

Sissoko C+
One of the better games I've seen him play this season. Was patient and composed on the ball and made some solid tackles.

Gerrard C+
A goal would have accentuated his effort tremendously, but he was playing 'out of position' most the match and occasionally looked beat.

Kuyt D
Dirk is not a true 'out-and-out' striker, so I might be being a little harsh on him. At the same time, when he was gifted the opportunity to show what I feel is his best element, his passing and vision, he failed miserably to do so and basically made me look like a donkey. Not sure what happened to the cheeky, creative Kuyt from earlier in the season, but we need him back and fast.

Benayoun C-
I don't want to use the analogy of a 'headless chicken' here but Benayoun seemed utterly useless out there. Like Babel, he tended to hold on the ball too long with defenders closing in, and wasn't so much as detrimental to our attack as he was simply daft overall. Probably his worse performance of the year.

Crouch C+
Well, well, well, Crouch finally utilized his strengths and put in a solid showing. More of using his height to manipulate the ball is what we have him for. Enjoy the praise while you can Crouchy, we play again on Tuesday.

Kewell C+
This was only a taste of what King Harry can offer. It's no coincidence that once he got on the field and when the attack started going through him we became more of a threat to score. With him and Gerrard on the pitch, we're going to run opposition's batty.

Well, there you have it. Had Kewell played the entire match, I'm quite comfortable in saying that we would have probably scored and he would have probably been the Man of the Match. Javi takes the accolade though for being the central figure of our side and the wrecking ball that we have him for. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Blackburn 0: halftime thoughts

A kid in the stands trying to solve a rubik's cube is probably a fair representation of how this match has gone. It has been a rather odd and drab affair, though I'm pretty confident in saying it's more the fault of Blackburn's then our own. The Rovers appear to be sitting back as we slowly push the ball forward, at least we're not attempting the long pass every other time we gain possession.

Blackburn seem to be waiting for us to either make a mistake or for fatigue to set in. In their defense, it seems to be working. David Bentley broke free and nearly cost us a goal when we committed our defense too far forward, something for once we have actually been cautious about. Luckily the young England International's shot hit the outer part of the sidebar.

Our meticulous, rather poor man's attempt of total football is somewhat of an encouraging sign. To me it shows that we are capable of having patience on the ball and changing our approach to a match when required. Sometimes though we are making too many passes and we appear to be once again bashful of taking shots from outside of the box. Do we need to start playing Nabil El Zhar more often? If that's what it takes. It's especially disheartening when Stevie-G sends it to the flank instead of taking advantage of the opportunity of cracking the net.

Another alarming aspect of our performance appears to be a lack of communication on defense and an absence of synchronization on attack. We just aren't in sync at our opponent's end and on a couple of occasions Blackburn had unmarked players in the box even though we outnumbered them. The latter is inexcusable while the former is just going to take time for a chemistry to develop.

It's still nil-nil and though Blackburn has been luckless, rattling the bar twice, we have had our opportunities as well. I suspect both sides will get at least one goal, with the first to do so making a mistake and changing their approach to the match. Hopefully, we'll score first and continue to attack, but that's just wishful thinking.

(Quick note: Individually Mascherano has been our best player with Sissoko giving a solid effort as well. Both Benayoun and Babel need to learn to pass the ball before two defenders zero in on them. Kuyt seems hopeless at times, which is harrowing, though Hyypia appears to have found his legs. Would love to see what Kewell can do in the second, maybe subbing him for Gerrard with about twenty minutes left would be optimal. Our Captain needs his rest and King Harry needs to be properly re-introduced to the Premiership.)

Liverpool at Blackburn: The Line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Riise
Carra
Hyypia
Finnan
Benayoun
Mascherano
Sissoko
Gerrard
Babel
Kuyt

Subs:
Martin
Arbeloa
Lucas
Crouch
Kewell

Voronin getting some time off it seems. I guess Rafa is saving him for a Crouch/Voronin start next week with Besiktas coming to Anfield. Babel starts up front again I presume. Like it. Hopefully Kewell will get some significant time on. I'm not optimistic about this one.

Liverpool 2, Cardiff 1: Player Grades

I know this is late, but I just got to watch this for a second time and don't really feel like doing a complete review. So instead I offer you my opinion on individual performances.

Itandje C+
His most impressive performance for us so far, made a couple of great saves and the goal really wasn't his fault. Did overplay a couple of shots though.

Aurelio B-
Am I the only one who was impressed with Fabio's performance? The Brazilian seemed to be on his game all night long and made some great crosses into the box, not to mention a nasty shot trying to catch the Bluebird keeper off-guard.

Carragher C-
Probably the most lackadaisical performance I've ever seen him give.

Hobbs C-
Made some glaring mistakes that could have cost us against a more formidable opponent, but was the best effort I've ever seen from him.

Arbeloa C
He was sufficient, made no apparent mistakes, but seemed to give just an adequate effort.

Leto C+
Gave a solid effort and tried to be a factor even when he didn't have the ball. Was unlucky at times.

Steven Gerrard C+
I felt as if he treated this game as a run-through. Was unlucky not to score another goal nonetheless.

Lucas Leiva C+
His effort diminished as the game wore on, but seemed to be everywhere at times.

Nabil El Zhar B-
The goal definitely accentuated his performance, but his discipline to stay out on the wing at times really opened up the middle and gave us a lot of chances.

Ryan Babel B
My man of the match. He was untiring and created a lot opportunities for himself and others, unfortunately there always seemed to be a Cardiff player there to block the path of his shots.

Peter Crouch C-
Redeemed himself in the second half from another anti-Crouch rant. He still got in the way too much and needs to work on utilizing his strengths.

Yossi Benayoun B
Was outstanding and probably should have a goal to go with his assist.

Harry Kewell C+
Not really sure what position he was playing, but he appeared head and shoulders above the opposition.

Javier Mascherano N/A
Barely played, made no mistakes.

So there you go, half-assed, I know, but honestly, we really didn't give that much of an effort in that match. That's just how I feel. Cheers.

Liverpool at Blackburn: What will Rafa do?

Some may be surprised about Blackburn's form, but I'm not. I predicted it in the preseason. They have the necessary talent to challenge for a Champions League spot, but they're going to need a little bit of luck and most of their key players to stay healthy, that usually goes hand-in-hand though.

With that said, it's going to take a solid performance from our best available XI to go to Ewood and pull off the upset. That's right, I said 'upset'. If we had Torres, Xabi, and Agger, and a well-rested Gerrard and Carragher, I would think otherwise, but you're out of your mind if you think we're in better shape than the Rovers.

Since our keeper is a given, I guess I'll go ahead and start with the back-line. On the left I expect Riise to start, though he didn't play in the Cardiff match, I hope the wageslip controversy he's experiencing doesn't distract him. If it does, I'm sure Aurelio will be on the bench to take his place. In the middle, I have little doubt that Carra and Hyypia will get the call. I would say Arbeloa for Hyypia, but the Spaniard played the full match on Wednesday and Sami had the night off. Finally, a rested Finnan will start on the right.

In midfield, I fully expect Kewell to start on the left, but wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. If not expect Babel over there. The only question in regards to the central midfield is who will be paired with Mascherano. I suspect it'll be Gerrard, but it could be a recovered Sissoko or even Lucas. I would love to see the Brazilian here, but he did look spent at the end of the Cardiff match. Finally, on the right, I'm gonna guess Benayoun.

Up front we'll probably see Kuyt and Voronin, neither of which played in the Cardiff match. For the most part they've appeared to be futile when paired together, but let's just hope this time is different.

My final guess:
Reina
Riise
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Kewell
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Voronin
Kuyt

Bench:
Itandje
Aurelio
Arbeloa
Crouch
Babel

That seems to be a pretty formidable attack, if we can stay out of each other's way. I'll be surprised if we get all three points tomorrow and pleased if we get the draw. With all our injuries lately, we need to just weather the storm.

Liverpool at Blackburn: Our Secret Weapon?

I honestly think this game couldn't have come at a more opportune time for the Rovers. If we weren't without Torres, Xabi, and Agger, I would be much more confident of getting a positive result. Unfortunately we're devastated by those three major injuries, but might get some help from an unexpected source.

For all intents and purposes, it looks like Harry Kewell will probably start tomorrow and if so, there's good reason why. King Harry absolutely owns Blackburn. In the 13 matches that the Aussie International has lined-up against the Rovers, his side is a ridiculous 10-2-1. Now granted he was almost always playing for the favored side, but isn't that sort of the case going into tomorrow's match? Blackburn may have won seven straight and may have a solid squad, but they have no one who's on the same level as Steven Gerrard or Javier Mascherano. Not even if both are at 80%.

What's even more enticing is that Kewell appears to like playing at Ewood park even more so than he does at home. Of the five career goals he has notched against Blackburn, four of them have come at the Rovers' grounds. That includes a match in 2001 when he scored a brace for Leeds in an eight minute span, leading United to a 2-1 comeback win. He also scored the deciding goal in Liverpool's 4-3 League Cup win at Ewood in late 2003.

Yes, I know stats and trends (if this could even be considered one) mean little in the thick of things, but I figured I'd share some food for thought. Maybe Rafa decided not to start Kewell on Wednesday because he knew that the Socceroo has experienced playing Up North. Of course, that would only make sense to those of us who have a clue about Rafa's rotating ways.

Today's Banter: Gerrard wins Player of the Month, Lucas: the next legend, Guthrie excelling at Bolton, & more

Fans voted Steven Gerrard the PFA Player of the Month via their website. That's a bit surprising considering the efforts of Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney. I guess how he battled back from injuries, played so many matches, has had to put the club on his back at times, and finishing strong with three goals in his last three matches were the persuasive factors. Congrats Stevie and let's hope your progress to return to a world class level continues with Blackburn on Saturday.

Lucas Leiva has been hailed to become a Liverpool Legend by Steven Gerrard and Rafa Benitez. The 2006 Bola de Ouro winner, and the youngest ever I might add, has earned the praise of our captain and manager with his efforts in training and matches. Stevie-G points out that, if it weren't for Phil Neville being a cheat, Lucas would have had the game-winner in the derby, something that not many players can attest.

Meanwhile Rafa's contributions to that article are quit interesting. He first points out that for Lucas to already have a first team appearance for Brazil at the age of 20 is simply unheard of. If you want some perspective, Kaká didn't make his debut until the age of 21. Then Benitez talks about how impressed he's been with the seemingly seamless and swift adjustment the young Brazilian has made to life and play in England, especially considering that even the grass is different. I never thought about that, but he's right, even something as inconspicuous as grass can effect an individual's play.

Amidst all the turmoil and controversy that has arisen from Bolton this season, on-loan Danny Guthrie appears to be maintaining his focus and continue to progress. With Sammy Lee's departure, it looks as if opportunities to play for the 20-year-old will diminish, but Guthrie is taking it in stride. At least now he'll have the experience of going through a managerial switch and will be able to learn how best to handle such a potentially traumatic change.

Fernando Torres has vowed to take his return from injury this time with more patience and caution. The 23-year-old Spaniard admits he's never had an injury spell in his career of this proportions and doesn't like it. Well, that's good to hear, we already have one player who loves being injured in Harry Kewell, so we don't need two. (I'm kidding about Kewell, by the way. I know how sensitive Aussie fans can be, trust me.)

Speaking of King Harry, Rafa has stated that if Kewell can stay healthy and show his brilliant form of previous years, he'll be offered a contract to stay on with the Reds. There is nothing I want more than for that to happen. It is simply tragic how injury has devastated the 29-year-old Aussie over the last couple of seasons. At this point, we need him to step up and stay fit probably more than he needs us. Cheers.

AB Awards for October

October was a month to forget record-wise. We played a half-dozen matches, winning a pair (@Everton, Cardiff City), drawing a pair (Tottenham, Arsenal), and amazingly losing both our Champions League ties (Marseilles, @Beşiktaş). Injuries devastated us with no less than 8 regulars missing matches and causing others to have to play when they would be rested otherwise. Not to mention, if you include his ties for England, Steven Gerrard had to play in no less than eight matches last month, six in an eighteen day period. The most amazing stat is that after getting seven shutouts in the first two months of play, we failed to blank a single opponent in October. If that doesn't tell you how much we miss Daniel Agger, I don't know what does. Anyhow, on to the awards.

Player of the Month
The only real candidates for this accolade in my opinion are Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, and Steve Finnan. Carragher gave it his all in every match and looked utterly spent by the end of most of them and Finnan was consistent as ever, but with the amount of matches he's played, showing the integrity to work his way back to class form, and ending the month scoring his third goal in as many games, Gerrard, to me, is the most deserving.

Unsung hero of the month
This one is between the two players that just never seem to get the proper credit they deserve, probably because they are always business as usual and leave the glitz and glamor at home. If you don't know which two players I'm talking about, it's Jamie Carragher and Steve Finnan. With Arbeloa injured, Finney was asked to play a lot more than his 31-year-old body can probably handle, especially when you add his appearances for Ireland, but the Irishman never seemed to miss a beat and was his normal reliable self. Unfortunately he has a teammate named Carra who had the responsibility of making up for a subpar Hyypia. Hopefully Agger will return in due time.

Bench player of the month
Lucas, hands down. His effort against Everton won him this award alone.

Goal of the Month
I have this down to three: Torres versus Tottenham, Nabil El Zhar versus Cardiff, and Gerrard versus Arsenal. The first goal was a brilliant header finish to equalize and save us a point, but I have to give Steve Finnan partial credit for getting the assist. The second is just brilliant especially considering it was Nabil's first in a Liverpool kit. The award goes to Gerrard versus Arsenal, though because it was a classic Stevie-G effort and allowed me to breathe a little easier.

Assist of the Month
Though Benayoun's effort yesterday is worth a mention, only one assist came to mind: Finnan's assist to Torres to get the equalizer versus Tottenham.

Player-out-on-loan Award
Few candidates for this one as most of our boys seem to either be having it tough getting playing time or are fighting fitness. The only two that come to mind are Paul Anderson at Swansea and Danny Guthrie at Bolton. Though Guthrie either played or was on the bench for all six Wanderers' matches last month, Paul Anderson has to get the nod. The 19-year-old winger featured in all of the Swans matches in October, scoring three goals and helping them to a 5-0 record. He is looking more and more like the real deal, but a spell in the Championship next season should be the next step. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Latest on Riise wageslip leak, Sick Sissoko may miss Blackburn, Xabi back in a fortnight?, & more

Though the Merseyside police have stated that they will look no further into how John Arne Riise's wageslip was leaked to the internet due to lack of complaint, Liverpool FC have decided to take matters into their own hands by launching an independent investigation. The first anecdote to emerge involving the controversy is that a group of Everton fans co-conspired to rummage Riise's vehicle after spotting the 27-year-old Norwegian in a pub. While other Toffees fans kept watch on Riise, another co-conspirator allegedly searched out his SUV where the wageslip was apparently within plain view of a camera phone. The problem with that theory is: a)there was a hand clearly in one of the leaked pics, b)how did they know which vehicle was Riise's?, and c)the plot sounds a little too fantastic and definitely too intelligent for a group of Everton fans to pull off.

Rafa has revealed that the only reason Steven Gerrard played yesterday was because Momo Sissoko is still sick. Had the 22-year-old Malian been available, Stevie-G would have more than likely had the night off. Momo has been diagnosed with a virus of some sort and had trouble keeping food down earlier this week. His condition will be evaluated ahead of the Blackburn match on Saturday, but prospects of him playing are not looking good. Thankfully Mascherano's injury wasn't as severe as first thought as the Argentine played in the closing minutes of yesterday's match.

Speaking of injuries, our current crisis appears to be becoming less grim. Turns out Xabi Alonso's foot injury is not as disastrous as originally anticipated. The 25-year-old Spanish International was expected to be out up to two months, now it's looking more like two weeks. That means with a little luck, we could have a full and fit squad in a fortnight with Agger and Torres expected back by then as well.

Jack Hobbs and Nabil El Zhar have garnered loads of praise for their efforts versus Cardiff City yesterday. The 19-year-old Hobbs received acclaim from teammate and fellow centre back, Sami Hyypia. The legendary Finn went as far to say that he believed Hobbs was better than him at that age. Wow. Meanwhile, El Zhar, who scored an absolute cracker of a goal to give us an early lead has been getting his fair share of attention. In a post-game interview, he stated that he would play defender for us if it meant more playing time. Now that's the kind of attitude we need.

Finally, Hereford United has received permission from Reds management to FA cup-tie Robbie Threlfall. It looks as if the young left-back will be getting some pitch time for the Whites. Cheers.

Liverpool 2, Cardiff City 1: Gerrard's goal

Not pretty and a little bit lucky, but great team work down the field.

Liverpool vs Cardiff: the line-up

Here it is:
Itandje
Aurelio
Carragher
Hobbs
Arbeloa
Leto
Lucas
Gerrard
El Zhar
Babel
Crouch

Subs:
Martin
Riise
Kewell
Benayoun
Mascherano

Mascherano?! Wow, that was a quick recovery. Where's Sissoko? Hopefully he's okay. Anyhow, I'm really excited to see El Zhar out there, he's really improved over the course of the season with the Reserves and is fun to watch.

Harry Kewell starts from the bench, huh? Does that means he'll be available against Blackburn on Saturday? I guess it really depends on how much he plays today. Anything more than the last thirty minutes and he's probably questionable against the Rovers.

The backline looks familiar. Babel and Crouch up front is interesting. A lot of youth in Hobbs, Leto, Lucas, El Zhar, and Babel. Let's see how it goes.

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: Kewell set for Cardiff, Torres may return sooner, Mascherano training, & more

- Wow, what a difference a day makes, but it's still not all roses & wine just yet. It would be great to hear that Xabi's injury is not as bad as thought, but optimism isn't my forte. Anyhow, it looks as if Harry Kewell will make the next step in his return to first team action when we play Cardiff in League Cup action tomorrow evening. That probably means he won't play against Blackburn on Saturday, but still, with his record, cautious baby steps are probably the best way to go about re-integrating him into the squad.

- Rafa has stated that Torres might be back sooner than expected. Before anyone throws the baby out with the bath water in belief that Rafa might be making another error in rushing Torres again, think about this. Benitez wants the Spaniard back fully fit and would never risk further injury. Torres wanted to play against Arsenal and by all accounts was good to go. I know rationality is not a trait of Rafa's critics, so I guess we'll just have to weather the storm of ignorance comments that the press and pundits might have in store for our boss. Fernando may return a week earlier than expected.

- Another piece of welcome news is that Javier Mascherano is already back in training. Thank Robbie Fowler. I doubt we'll see him on Wednesday, but Sissoko should suffice in that regard anyhow.

- With tomorrow nights fixture against Cardiff, Liverpool legend and current Bluebird striker, Robbie Fowler, is getting a lot of praise from a former Reds teammate and manager. Dirk Kuyt has thanked 'God' helping him adjust to English football and life in England. Meanwhile, Rafa Benitez might be planning some sort of grand return for the 32-year-old Toxteth Terror. Bringing back Fowler was one of Rafa's smartest moves both on and off the field.

- Fernando Torres is happy at Liverpool and plans to play out his six-year contract. It's good to hear that we have some positive voices coming from our squad. You taking notes, Crouch?

- Rafa has declared with his last two performances, Steven Gerrard is near top form once again. It's amazing what a couple of goals will do for one's confidence. Keep 'em coming, Stevie-G.

- Finally, Rafa has announced that he'll be resting some big names for the Cardiff clash. No big surprise, I fully expect Mascherano, Hyypia, Riise, and Reina to be get the night off and possibly Finnan, Gerrard, and Kuyt as well. According to Benitez, Leto, Lucas, and Aurelio will most likely start. I'm pretty confident Hobbs and Kewell will as well. I hope Stephen Darby and Emiliano Insua are there too. I know that's a lot of youth, but it's only the League Cup and honestly, a lot of our boys looked spent by match conclusion with Arsenal. Even our Reserves players mixed in with some first-teamers should be good enough to beat Cardiff.

Today's Banters: Our injury crisis worsens, Wenger is a racist?, Gerrard praises Fabregas, & more

- At the start of yesterday's match with Arsenal it looked as if we were about to emerge from our current injury crisis with both Xabi and Torres starting and Arbeloa on the bench. It was all for naught though as El Nino was subbed at the half and Xabi re-aggravating his foot injury later in the match. To make matters even worse, Javier Mascherano left Anfield in a medical boot. Hopefully none of the injuries are too severe, but we'll find out soon enough. Thank God Harry Kewell is near return, Aurelio and Agger are not far behind him, and Arbeloa is back to form, I don't think we can take another major player loss.

- You gotta love stupid fans who try to exaggerate and manipulate what players say to create an illusionary controversy with their beloved club and manager. This idiot tries to imply that Jermaine Pennant is calling Wenger a racist, when in fact JP is saying that he thinks Wenger prefers non-English players, not non-White players. Only a retard would interpret Pennant's word in such a manner. By the way, there's a very good reason why Wenger prefers non-English players, and it has nothing to do with skill-level.

- Stevie-G has nothing but praise for Cesc Fabregas. The world's greatest midfielder said of the young Spaniard: "The world is his oyster. He can go on to be one of the best in the world, there is no doubt about that." I agree, Chucky Fab has all the talent in the world, but sometimes I feel his attitude and the 'South American influence' sours his performances.

Some more links to digest:
- Souness interested in Ireland spot
- Crouch for Sunderland's Jones? I say yes.
- Crouch to Newcastle? Yes, please.
- Goran Pandev in the works? Eh.

Post-Arsenal match reactions

I'm beginning to enjoy doing my post-match reaction debunking now more than ever. It's always fun to ridicule recycled opinions of matches, especially when they are manipulated by the commentators from the match and the press. Those who don't understand the intentions and motives of the media are deemed to repeat their words. I actually listened to the commentators for this match, something I rarely do nor would rather do, and I have to tell you, their comments were laughable at best. Anyhow, moving on...

Let's start with Ian Doyle's assessment for the Liverpool Daily Post. I have little issue saying that Mr. Doyle has written the best review I have read of the match so far, though I have yet to read Chris Bascombe's take. Doyle is quite fair to both sides though I don't agree with his entire view.

First, he fails to give importance to Mascherano's injury with ten minutes to go in the match. If Masche had been able to continue his shadowing of Fabregas, the Arsenal equalizer would have surely had to come from another source. Also, I thought it was a brilliant move by Wenger to push the young Spaniard forward to further Masche's negating influence.

Doyle instead puts the blame on Arbeloa, who he felt was playing too far forward which allowed Chucky Fab to beat him. At the very least it was a communication or tactical error. Looking back, I bet Rafa now would have pushed Sami forward and put Arbeloa at centre-back, but hindsight is 20-20 and what is done, is done.

A couple of other points from Doyle is that he gives recognition to Rafa's formation change, which will probably be ignored in most match reviews, but then he praises Crouch, I'm not sure why though. For the first time in a while, I agree the lanky striker actually looked as if he wanted to score, but after about ten minutes he returned to his useless form. Doyle also noted Eboue's card-deserving flop in the box when he received a slight-nudge from Carra though tried to make it look like a knockout punch. Moving on...

Sam Wallace of the Independent wrote a clearly-biased and insipid review that takes about as much stabs at comedy than Andrei Chikatilo. Mixed-in with asinine comments about player's hair and boardgame references, were cheap shots at Benitez and orgiastic Arsenal praising. If Arsenal were so good, why didn't they win, Mr. Wallace? Hitting the sidebar is not hitting the back of the net. Anyhow.

The most entertaining and baseless reviews always come from the opposition's bloggers. Most believe they were the better side and I can't flatly disagree with that assessment, but if anyone thought the Gunners dominated, well, you're delusional. As I said prior, hitting the bar is still a miss, and to base your opinion on that is just self-deception.

My favorite has to be insidearsenal.com's review. If you want to undermine your own valuation of a match, simply quote a match commentator in the opening sentence. Good to hear you can think for yourself. If you want to make yourself out to be a clown, do it again in the second paragraph. Gees.

Anyhow, other than being seduced by Andy Gray and clearly manipulated by the commentator's lip service, this guy fails to realize that fate is a two-headed monster. Anybody can 'woulda, shoulda, coulda' but the end result happened for a reason. Saying 'with a bit of luck, a solid wall, some composure in front of goal and an accurate final ball we would have stolen the spoils', is just ridiculous.

He also likes to spew stats, but incorrectly assesses whether or not they are either a determination of a side's performance or if it is a good result. He first writes that Arsenal had 63% of possession in the match, which his true, but believes this matters somehow. It doesn't, you can have 80% possession and lose 10-0, it only matters what you do with the ball when you have it.

Then he tries to make us believe that Fabregas' 86% passing completion percentage is good 'for this kind of match'. Really? Well, I guess if that's a good passing percentage 'for this kind of match' than Dirk Kuyt (100%), Steve Finnan (94%), Hyypia (89%), Xabi Alonso (86%), and Steven Gerrard (89%) are better passers than Chucky Fab. I don't believe that at all, except for maybe Xabi, but hell, Mascherano had a subpar match passing-wise, but still completed 83%. Laughable.