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.

You're a f&@kin' idiot if you think Liverpool is in a crisis

Things happen for a reason. My computer went schizo a couple of weeks back and at the time I was bit stressed out about it, but now, I'm glad it happened. Why? It allowed me to once again realize how much rubbish is the press. I have had some computer access, as you may tell, so I would peruse the headlines and read an article or two, but for the most part, not much was worth writing about.

Is it just me or is every little nook and cranny involved with LFC blown out of proportion these days? Man U has a Christmas party where a woman is raped, a player is arrested, and that seems to get less coverage than Harry Kewell not worrying over a contract renewal. Analyzing the agenda of the media is easier said than done, but discussing the size of mountains with blind moles is a waste of everyone's time.

I'm not disillusioned by our recent run of form. I'm more baffled by the 'ignorance' of the media, that's a joke of course. I've said it a million times in the past and I'll say it a million more times until it happens, give Rafa some real money, some Abramovich money, some Glazer money, and we'll win either the league or the Champions League every year. I've already disproved any nonsense that he's had such funds, so you're a fucking idiot if you think otherwise.

We are not Premiership contenders, we never were. We have not invested near the amount of money to even lay claim to do so. For those who want to argue that neither has Arsenal, I have a some insight for you: Arsenal will not win the title this year. Sorry, Gunners fans, Wenger doesn't play the game and gets screwed for not doing so. If he did, Arsenal would have won the title the last two years and would have had a substantial lead already this season.

It's time to forget about the Premiership and turn to the Champions League and the FA Cup. Even if we get David Villa, I don't think we'll be able to make up the ground in the Premiership nor will we be allowed anyhow. It's not Rafa's fault nor Steven Gerrard's (such a fucking joke, btw) nor any other player's and at the moment, nor the owner's fault either. If they don't lock down Mascherano though...

All I want to know is why the press concentrates on such a 'little' club like Liverpool? It's laughable to say the least. We're not in a crisis of any sort. We're an improved side from last season and ultimately, that's all that matters. Whether we get the funds to compete with the best is yet to be seen, but I don't appreciate being lead on, lied to, or ridiculed by idiots who are too stupid to know better. Torres was a great start, but if that's all Hicks/Gillett are going to give us, be honest with us supporters or sell the club. Please.

Liverpool vs Wigan: Pennant's back! WTF?!

Here's the line-up:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Arbeloa
Finnan
Kewell
Xabi
Mascherano
Pennant
Gerrard
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Riise
Benayoun
Crouch
Kuyt

Wow. Didn't see that one coming, but really pleased we now have a true right winger out there. A bit odd that Crouch isn't starting with him though. I guess Rafa has enough faith in Gerrard and Torres to head the ball in from JP's and Aurelio's crosses. I'm pretty excited, nonetheless.

My second thought was where's Babel? He's not even on the bench, but Kuyt and Crouch are? Even with Benayoun, it doesn't leave us with many options of pace. I'd have put Babel there instead of Kuyt.

I also don't understand why we're going with a fully loaded squad. It's Wigan, not even a top ten side. If we don't get all three points here, we might as well pack it in and fully concentrate on Champions League. Absolutely no excuses, not even with Arbeloa at centre-back. God forbid if there's an injury, that has me more nervous than anything.

Liverpool vs Wigan: What will Rafa do?

With Crouch back from suspension, Voronin possessing fresh legs, and Wigan the opponent at Anfield, I don't see why Rafa wouldn't give Torres the match off here. That would ultimately result in a two week holiday, assuming that he isn't used for our FA Cup tie on Sunday at Luton. El Niño would, of course, be on the bench, in an emergency roll in at least the Lactics tie.

I think the same goes for Gerrard, Mascherano, and possibly even Harry Kewell. A midfield of Xabi and Momo would seem efficient, with possibly Lucas joining them as well and Babel going up front to make a 4-3-3 formation.

The Agger situation is getting more and more discouraging. I'm hoping that he gets a run out here, but if he doesn't get one at Luton, the injury is more severe than they're letting on. Let's just hope it's not career threatening. With that said, I guess Hobbs will start at CB since Hyypia is supposedly out until the 12th. I would go with Arbeloa, but I don't think Finnan can go for the third time in a week.

Here's my final guess:
Reina
Riise
Carra
Hobbs
Arbeloa
Xabi
Sissoko
Lucas
Voronin
Crouch
Babel

Bench:
Itandje
Aurelio
Gerrard
Kuyt
Torres

Xabi might have be prepared to play a little centre back if needed. I'm pretty confident in the three points there, but not as impressively done as would like. Probably 2-0 with Babel getting at least one of 'em. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Man City 0: Player ratings

As I said in my review, we actually played quite well, but not well enough. I'm going to have a hard time not reflecting my disappointing of certain players. Anyhow, here's the scale:
1 - Take off the f*%kin' kit
2 - Still not fit to where it
3 - It better have been just a poor day
4 - Drink too much last night, did we?
5 - Glad you showed up
6 - Good effort, but you could do better
7 - Solid performance
8 - Brilliant at times, adequate at others
9 - Top man
10 - Unbelievably f&*kin' brilliant

Pepe Reina 5
Pepe is usually always the hardest player to rate and today was no exception. I mean, he did what he had to to get the clean sheet, but that wasn't much. So giving him a 5 is in no way a negative rating.

Fabio Aurelio 7
Played well in all facets of the game: on defense, on attack, passing, and shooting, and if one of his efforts had even lead to a goal, he would have been a candidate for Man of the Match.

Jamie Carragher 9 Man of the Match
Was simply brilliant in the first half and did what was needed in the second, including getting involved on attack by coming forward at times, but mostly by making some brilliant long passes. He cleared nearly every ball and stopped nearly every Man City attack single-handedly throughout and almost got the assist on the winner.

Alvaro Arbeloa 6
I'm cutting him some slack since he was playing out of position and after about thirty minutes he actually regained composure. In the second half, discipline set in and he appeared much more reliable.

Steve Finnan 6.5
Would have liked him to get more involved on attack, but can't ask for much more from him. This was the second match for him in five days and I don't care how fit a 31-year-old he is, that's still a lot.

Harry Kewell 7
Solid performance, kept the ball well and created chances on attack.

Steve Gerrard 6.5
His distrust of Arbeloa in the first half probably hurt us from taking control of the match before the second half, but once he got involved on attack, asserting ourselves became much easier.

Javier Mascherano 8
A tremendous performance from the Argentine as he plucked away the ball from the Man City players almost effortlessly and got to show off some of his ball-handling skills.

Yossi Benayoun 7
It's hard to get down on Yossi for holding on the ball too long when he creates so much and does make some great passes, but the truth is, he does try to do too much at times.

Dirk Kuyt 7
Probably his best performance of the year. He made some great plays, tried some different things, and made few mistakes. Ultimately though, Kuyt just doesn't have the pace to help us become Premier League champs.

Fernando Torres 5.5
Man City put on a clinic on how to stop El Niño and for the most part it worked. I thought the ref was awfully lenient on the roughness of the Man City defenders, but still, Torres lacked in creativity. Gerrard set him up with a perfect give-and-go which Fernando failed to put through, instead he tried to create something else on his own.

Ryan Babel 6
Like Benayoun, only worse, Babel needs to learn when to give up the ball instead of keeping it himself. It's fine if he scores, but most of the time he doesn't. I don't know if it's just a lack of intuitive skills or selfishness, but it's frustrating and very predictable for the defense.

Liverpool 0, Man City 0: He may be gold, but he's not perfect

I hope that was the worse match I ever see Torres play. Much credit to the Man City defense is due though, particularly Dunne and Richards. I knew that Richards would be able to match El Niño's pace, but I was unaware Dunne would out-power him. That clearly canceled out our young Spanish strikers one-on-one abilities, which leaves him to rely on his other attributes. Obviously he needs to work on his passing, but he's not the only one. Benayoun and Babel frustratingly held on to the ball way too long as well.

In some ways it was a bizarre affair with Kuyt being the better forward on the day, Aurelio basically playing the John Arne Riise role, though an improved version as of late, and Arbeloa starting at centre back, where he appeared to be lost until about a half hour in. Most the positives were on the defensive side of the ball, with Carra and Mascherano not allowing Man City to exert themselves on attack. On the other side, the aforementioned Kuyt had one of his better days while Kewell almost looked back to the form of old.

In the first half, Gerrard arrested most of our attacking development by staying too far back. Maybe he was distrustful of Arbeloa and wanted to make sure he settled in before going too far forward, no matter what, it clearly made us a less dangerous side early on. Carra was absolutely out-of-his-mind in the first half, determined not to allow Man City a lead. Most of the time I don't really care for players taking shots 30 yards plus out, but Aurelio looked the threat, so I say fire away.

The second half was utter domination from our boys, keeping the ball in their half most of the 48 minutes. Our old demon from previous seasons of being unable to finish re-appeared somewhat, but it really was the outstanding play of the Man City defense. Playing back and boring, a staple of the Sven days with the Three Lions, looked to be their game plan, and it worked on the day. We had our chances though and didn't covert, particularly Torres, and usually taking a point away at a side as good as Man City would be a satisfactory result, but we were without a doubt the superior side.

Ultimately, we're going to have to win these matches if we hope to compete for the leauge, especially when Man U falters. Also, playing as well as we did, and overall, we played quite well, while not getting the result, cannot do much for our confidence. Thankfully we have Wigan coming to Anfield on Wednesday.

Liverpool at Man City: I have no clue what Rafa will do...

...mainly because I've been computer-less for about a week now. Which is also the reason for my lack of updates. I apologize, but hey, Man U lost today and Arsenal is losing (knock on wood).

Because I don't have a computer, I'm pretty much lost in what's going on in Liverpool land, so I don't have much of a clue of who's set to go. Is Arbeloa still ill? Have there been any fresh injuries? I have no clue.

So here's my guess anyhow:
Reina
Auelio
Agger
Carragher
Arbeloa (or Finnan)
Riise
Xabi
Mascherano
Gerrard
Kuyt
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Finnan (or Hobbs)
Babel
Kewell
Benayoun

That's who I'd go with anyhow, pretty much what I consider our best defensive XI. With United's loss today, a win tomorrow has become even more crucial. Cheers, and I should be back tomorrow with a recap though I won't be announcing the starting line-up.

Are Man U fans worried?

I'm not sure what warranted this, but I would think that Red Devils supporters would be more concerned with Arsenal than poor, little Liverpool. I hope this doesn't lead to a Chelsea-like treatment. Blues fans seem to write and talk more about us than they do their own side, it would be quite sad to see the mighty Man U crowd go the same route.

And by the way, there's a reason why Man U have won so many Premiership titles and other than a few spurts during the Busby years, were non-competitive in the Old First Division. It's called the Michael Jordan effect, used by the league, in this case, the revamped top flight English football league, and the media that reap the most benefits from it's success, which would be Sky. Creating excitement by having one side constantly and consistently dominate is a great way to draw 'fans' of the insecure nature, they will then have something to feel confident about. Most Man U supporters aren't fans of football, they're sad losers who haven't a chance in life, so they needed to grasp to anything that represents otherwise, ethics aside.

And since I'm using this post as therapy, that Chelsea-Villa match was horrible. Laughable decision after comical call, the ref made a mockery of the sport. When are we going to get a fifth official, video replay, and open mics on the officials? Oh for the integrity of the game.

Liverpool 2, Derby 1: When we find ourselves in times of trouble...

...all we have to do is call on Stevie-G. Fekkin' brilliant.

And he had a shit match otherwise.

As I said in my preview, this was not going to be an easy task, but the determination of our fearless captain pulled it out... again. I know I don't have to say it, but there's absolutely no player in the world with his class. Not even close. He can be having a woeful day and then put our side on his back and refuse to accept to defeat as he did. Absolutely, positively, fekkin' magic.

Fernando Torres, also once again, showed why we paid £20m for him. His goal was a phenomenal piece of class, something you rarely get to see at this level. It's disappointing that he can't play so mesmerizingly genius the entire match, but I'll take the few seconds that he can.

Derby needs to be commended for their effort. They certainly didn't deserve to walk away with nothing. I can already read the rubbish headlines now and honestly, it's disrespectful to the Rams. They were the better side in the second half by a mile.

I'm not sure what our deal was, maybe we were looking ahead to Sunday's match at Eastlands, but that's no excuse. We were not a top side today, to say the least. I was disappointed in Rafa's tactics as well. I would have gone with a different starting line-up and taking Hyppiä off, unless he was injured, was clearly a mistake.

I'll get into individual efforts when I do my player ratings, but if I had to pick a Man of the Match right now, I have no clue who'd I pick. Torres and Gerrard for their mere seconds of genius and conviction I guess are deserving, as is Xabi for his brilliant passing. In fact, Alonso made two world class passes in the first five minutes of the match, something we usually fail to do an entire ninety minutes.

And when the night is cloudy, there's still a light that shines on me... Stevie F'n G.

Liverpool at Derby: Strangedays Rafa returns

Here's the verdict:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Riise
Gerrard
Alonso
Babel
Voronin
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Benayoun
Lucas
Kuyt
Mascherano

I don't know where to begin. Babel on the right? No defensive players on the bench? Well, other than Mascherano, but that doesn't really count. I have concerns... this is a good side, not our best possible, but still, no excuses for anything less than three points.

My 2007 World's Best XI

I'm pretty bored, so I thought I'd throw my irrelevant two cents into the mix. Here's who I think were the world's best XI in 2007. Feel free to flog me, I know nothing, of course.

GK - Petr Čech
Casillas, Reina, and Buffon are all incredible, but some of the saves Čech makes are just plain silly. Rarely does a side score against him without a phenomenal effort.

LB - Gianluca Zambrotta
Heinze, Thuram, and Lahm are all tremendous as well, but Zambrotta is probably the most consistent.

CB - John Terry
CB - Fabio Cannavaro
Just too many good ones, and really, it comes down to personal preference. Carra would no doubt be in the squad. I don't really want to get into it, but these are the two I would trust most if I were managing the world's best XI.

RB - Steve Finnan
Yeah, I know I'll get plenty of flack for this one, but Finney was the second best overall defensive player in the Premiership last season according to Actim and his qualities are undeniable. Even at 31, he's arguably the best right wing-back in the world. Dani Alves and even Arbeloa deserve recognition as well.

LM/LW - Lionel Messi
This isn't even debatable. Not even Ronaldinho takes his spot.

CM/DM - Javier Mascherano
Simply the best defensive midfielder in the world. Dietmar Hamann is going to be hard to leave out of the squad though.

CM - Steven Gerrard
If I have to defend this pick, you're a victim of the anti-English press or your own inability to know world-class when you see it.

RM/RW - Kaká
You can pretty much start him anywhere at midfield or forward with this side. With Gerrard and Mascherano there to provide cover, he, like Messi, are just additional forwards.

FW - Fernando Torres
FW - Didier Drogba
As with CB, there's just so much quality at that spot that it comes down to personal preference.

Squad (23 total):
Pepe Reina
Jamie Carragher
Cristiano Ronaldo
David Villa
Philipp Lahm
Andrea Pirlo
Patrice Evra
Franck Ribéry
Carles Puyol
Ronaldinho
Dani Alves
Deco

I think I'm pretty fair in my assessment overall. Like I said, I think the Finnan pick is a bit controversial, as even a lot of Liverpool fans don't seem to realize his consistency and contributions though he's clearly a tremendous player. Alves is not as good as Finney defensive-wise, but he is superior in the pace and attacking aspects.

I really hate putting Pirlo on just the squad. He's probably my favorite Italian player and for someone who loathes the Italian game, he'll always be one of my favorite players of all-time. Gattuso is nothing compared to Mascherano, and I'm not having a go with that, I'm just preaching the truth.

I don't feel as if I have to defend putting Carra on the squad, but I will. First of all, go ask the Milan and Chelsea players how good he is, they'll tell ya. Second, he's also pretty versatile having played fullback for Liverpool in his earlier years, and he can even play defensive midfield, as he has with England.

I'm pretty confident that this side could go undefeated and win any league at the moment and the Champions League and domestic cup as well. There's just very little fault. They may not be as defensive-minded as even I would like, but a clean sheet against a side of this caliber would be an unbelievable effort.

My LFC Player of the Year: Javier Mascherano

Let me first say that Steven Gerrard is definitely just as deserving, but I think Masche's contributions to the side in the past twelve months have been equally important and influential. Others that I considered were Finnan, Arbeloa, Reina, and of course, Carragher, but it really only came down to two.

Mascherano became a huge asset to our side when we got him on loan last January. His impact was instantly evident after immediately stepping into our starting side and I truly believe that it was the addition of him that lead us to our second Champions League final in three years. Not to mention he made Kaká look very average in that match.

I have little problem calling the Argentine the best defensive midfielder in the world. His most important contribution to the side though, as I've mentioned in the past, is that he allows Steven Gerrard to roam around the pitch unfettered. He has gained the trust of our iconic captain, which is probably the greatest comment a player of Gerrard's caliber can offer.

Like in chess, to be able to dominate the middle of the pitch is instrumental in winning a match, and Masche has shown to be able to do so in world-class fashion. He displays such brilliance with an undying effort and at least appears to wear the shirt with unequaled passion as if he was a Scouser himself. To say we need to lock him down for the rest of his career should be added to the dictionary as an example of redundant.

Liverpool at Derby: What would Carra do?

In the spirit of Saturnalia, I thought I'd do a little role reversal and with Carra considered the player most knowledgeable football-wise on the side, he would most likely switch with Rafa.

I have a feeling that this match will be a lot tougher than we hope. First off, Derby has been playing better as of late under Paul Jewell who took over at the end of November. They basically held United to three goals at Old Trafford and were unlucky not to get three points at St. James Park, though it isn't as if that is a monumental task these days. I don't buy the rubbish of their injury issues either, there's not a huge discrepancy of talent between their normal starters and their bench, so pride and determination would play a huge part to begin with.

As for who we'll play, I'm not completely convinced we need to go with our best available side. Man City awaits on Saturday at Eastlands, so I'm not sure it's wise to risk fatigue and injury. Crouch's suspension doesn't help though, a front line of Kuyt and Voronin would seem a bit futile, though we could start Babel there. I think Hobbs is likely to get the start over 'Old Man' Hyppiä.

Here's my guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Carra
Hobbs
Arbeloa
Kewell
Xabi
Lucas
Benayoun
Voronin
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Riise
Hyypiä
Babel
Gerrard

If Crouch was available, I could definitely see him starting here. I believe Finnan is still injured, if not, he'd also probably get the start. I think we'll win, just not as impressively as most will think. I'm sure the 2-0 victory by Chelsea at Pride Park in late November will elude the ever omnipotent post-match press, once the reviews are published. Cheers.

Pompey fans struggling for positives, slag off on Anfield

I just had to share this link.

Apparently they don't have much to take from the actual match, understandably so. Anyhow, I guess we Liverpool fans should be 'very, very, very, very, very embarassed' that playing a truly small and insignificant club like Portsmouth doesn't get us going.

Yes, I'm 'avin a larf!

Liverpool 4, Portsmouth 1: Stat of the match

I guess I really should say 'stats' of the match. I'm a number geek, if you can't tell, and what's interesting about this match is that while we dominated possession, 60.5% to 39.5%, they took the territorial advantage, 56.5% to 43.5%. That basically means that, while we had the ball for a large majority of the match, we did little going forward when doing so. What's even more impressive is that our average place of possession winning was at the 28.07m line as opposed to the 27.29m line for them. So, in other words, when we gained possession, we did a phenomenal job of working the ball around, though not necessarily forward. In this case, since we won, patience truly was a virtue.

Liverpool 4, Portsmouth 1: player ratings

I have a hard time saying any of our players were phenomenal today and that's pretty amazing considering we won by three goals against a decent side. The scoreline was deceiving, but I'm wondering if our intentions were as well. We appeared to return to our quick-strike methods where we worry little about bringing the ball forward in a patient, designed fashion, and instead just lob it forward or make a decisive past to a streaking player. Torres and Babel allow us to do such things and it appears that complaints about the 'long ball' tend to fade when you score a plethora of goals doing so. Anyhow, on to the ratings. Here's the scale:
1 - Take off the f*%kin' kit
2 - Still not fit to where it
3 - It better have been just a poor day
4 - Drink too much last night, did we?
5 - Glad you showed up
6 - Good effort, but you could do better
7 - Solid performance
8 - Brilliant at times, adequate at others
9 - Top man
10 - Unbelievably f&*kin' brilliant

Pepe Reina 5.5
The goal wasn't really his fault and he was his adequate self for the rest.

John Arne Riise 6
I'm not sure if I'm flattering him with that grade or not. He appeared to be trying less than recently, and I think it helped him out. He didn't force much and didn't try to get to involved on the attack. Maybe he deserves a better grade? I just want the Old John Arne Riise back, this was at least a step in that direction.

Jamie Carragher 6.5
Carra was instrumental in keeping the ball away from Portsmouth and also set Torres' second goal with a pass to Gerrard. Still, it certainly was a less memorable performance than the Chelsea tie, but at the same time, he was called upon to do less as well.

Sami Hyypiä 6
Again, like Carra, his acumen on the ball helped to keep the it out of Pompey's grasp, but at times he looked as if even he'll be happy to see Agger return.

Alvaro Arbeloa 6.5
Our only defender to really be involved on attack throughout and was beneficial to the side in doing so. The yellow card was somewhat justified, if not harsh.

Harry Kewell 6
Honestly, if he hadn't got the assist on the Benayoun goal, it would have been a pretty poor day for the Aussie. He gave away the ball way too often and clearly lacked the ingenuity to truly take any Pompey players on. Still, he got that assist.

Mascherano 7 Man of the Match
Yes, he made errors and yes, he turned over the ball and yes, I've seen him play better, but he will be in the Portsmouth's players nightmares tonight after hassling them to no end. He also set-up Torres' first goal with a brilliant pass to Babel.

Gerrard 6
I'm being quite flattering to our skipper with that grade, but I think he might have been still suffering a little from the flu. His passing was simply horrid and he could create shit-all, well, accept for the brilliant assist to Torres that is.

Benayoun 6.5
Yossi scored an awesome volley goal, which really jump-started our attack, but he really wasn't too involved overall. I honestly think that may be more his teammates' fault, he certainly tried to make himself available.

Dirk Kuyt 5.5
All I want to know is what happened to the Kuyt of the preseason? The Kuyt who went and tried to enjoy playing football? The one that tried cheeky passes and roamed around the pitch like a man with little worries? We need him back and fast.

Fernando Torres 6.5
A brace and he actually had a better passing day than usual, even though you wouldn't know it unless you... well, did.

Ryan Babel 7
If this kid just works on his passing intuition, he's going to be magic. That's two more goals while he was on the pitch, and he was clearly influential in both of them. By the way, we average a goal every 38 minutes he's on the pitch.

Fabio Aurelio N/A
Lucas N/A
Neither Brazilian really got to break a sweat.

Liverpool 4, Portsmouth 1: Explosions of brilliance

I think I'm finally getting a feel for our side. Honestly, we really didn't play that well overall. Mascherano was his ever-present disruptive self, Benayoun put us up with a brilliant finish from a Kewell pass, Torres notched a brace, and Babel caused havoc in his usual super-sub role, but it was far from calculated dominance. That's the thing, if we can just be ridiculously brilliant in surges and play adequate defense, most of the time, we're going to walk away with three points. I'd almost rather see such an approach than the tedious possession-based, reserved approach we've had to take pre-Torres and Babel.

Portsmouth is a decent side, though they certainly rely on their athletic ability more than skill. So when they come up against an opponent that is equal in strength and pace, but superior in prowess, they've little chance. Benjani's goal certainly rattled us, but they were unable to take advantage and once we regained composure, it was game over. In fact, the confidence they gained from getting on the scoreboard probably cost them more in the end. They started playing further forward and that cost them the Mascherano to Babel to Torres goal, that essential ended the match.

I really don't have much else to add without getting into individual efforts. Torres makes everything look so easy and with 14 goals in 20 all-contest matches, he's got to be considered one of the best forwards, if not players, in the world. The first goal was far from easy and it goes without saying about the second. He is simply brilliant, and honestly, there's room for improvement. A scary thought to say the least. He and Mascherano are the prime candidates for Man of the Match, but I'll decide my pick when I do player grades later. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Portsmouth: All the cards...

And the envelope reads...

Reina
Riise
Carragher
Hyypiä
Arbeloa
Kewell
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Kuyt
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Babel
Voronin
Aurelio
Lucas

I hope Xabi is okay. At the moment, I think this is our best side, so if we can't win today, we might as well just concentrate on Champions League.

Rick Parry has a huge head

Literally and figuratively.

Also, from the linked article, Rafa states about recruiting promising youngsters from around the world, especially Spain: "They are 16 to 18 but I'm sure that in two or three years most of them will be ready for the first team. That means saving big money."

He's not going anywhere for a long time.

Early bird transfer speculation worms (pt 4): Sulley Muntari, Steven Taylor, Boubacar Sanogo, Nihat, & Nikola Žigić

I was going to use this part to talk of players that I think should and/or will be sold, but I've decided to do one more installment of possible acquisitions. Some have been rumored, while others I've just thrown in there just in case, you know, Rafa is reading.

Sulley Muntari, CM, Portsmouth - Supposedly a replacement for Mascherano if we fail to sign the Argentine on a permanent. It makes absolute no sense to pay a rumored £15m for the 23-year-old Ghanaian, when for £2m more we can retain Masche. Both Harry Redknapp and Rafa have rubbished such rumblings, so I'm assuming it's highly ulikely. Masche is the superior player anyhow, though Muntari is very talented and has appeared to mature past the temperament displayed in Italy.

Steven Taylor, CB/LB, Newcastle - Saying I'm not sold on the soon-to-be 22-year-old is an understatement to say the least. I have to admit though, the only times I've actually seen him play was against us. Apparently we were pursuing him in the summer, before Sam Allardyce told us to piss off. I'm not sure what the situation is now and I'm also not sure if we either need or want him. He was in a tiff with Allardyce, but apparently that's been resolved. I just don't believe he'll want to come here and be a scarcely used squad player for a couple of years before getting 'regular' time. Unlikely.

Boubacar Sanogo, FW, Werder Bremen - This is speculation at it's worst since Sanogo has not been linked with our club whatsoever, but I think he's a good player, so I thought I'd include him. The Côte d'Ivoire forward would provide us with muscle in the Heskey fashion and his poacher radar is finely tuned. He's also very athletically and somewhat, if not raw, skilled. He would also come on the cheap at around £4m, though I'm not sure Werder would sell him. He is somewhat inconsistent as well, though with Gerrard and Torres being just the opposite, maybe a player of the goals-in-bunches persuasion would be good for our side. Unlikely anyhow. Here's a compilation of him while he was with Kaiserslautern.


Nihat, FW, Villareal - Nihat Kahveci is a goal-scoring machine. The Turk has scored 169 league goals in 282 matches in the Turkish Super League and La Liga. He has scored 19 in 25 league matches for Villareal so far and 57 in 115 appearances for Real Sociedad, when he was there. The thing is, a lot of his goals are wholly unimpressive, yet deceiving as well. He just always seems to be in the right place at the right time, a poacher extraordinairre, and his finishing is impeccable. I like him a lot, but he is 28, and he did join El Submarino Amarillo on a Bosman, plus I'm unsure they'd be willing to sell nor he'd want to come. Anyhow, if so, more than £6m would be mental. Unlikely.


Nikola Žigić, FW, Valencia CF - Apparently Žigić, who just joined Los Che this past summer, is on his way out with Koeman's housecleaning project at the club. He's tall at 2.02 meters, but has struggled to maintain the same scoring rate in Spain as he did in Serbia. Honestly, he'd be more expensive at around £10m than Nihat or Sanogo, and really hasn't proven to be much better than those two, so if we are in need of striker in January, he'd be pretty far down the list. Somewhat likely.


Next up should be the chopping list. Cheers.