This is the machine, it does nothing, move along now!

Public relations is a fascinating game.  It is amazing, utterly baffling, the amount of money that has gone into something seemingly so meaningless, but that's it's intention.  Desperate moves washed in tubs of cash to remove the smell of desperation.  Of course a practice birthed in the genocidal precedence of 'Manifest Destiny', evolved by the incantations of a former painter turned dictator-mongol, and blatantly unveiled by the discounted sermons of a linguistic preacher with a disenfranchised choir is a ghost game shrouded by itself.  Seriously, there's a man behind that curtain whether you want to look or not and he's laughing all the way to the proverbial bank.

The newest rubbish campaign to deter the truth is 'blame Gerrard'.  He's 'too old', 'past it', 'worn out', 'not good anymore', or 'can't play that position'.  They haven't lost their minds, they are just securing their future.  'They' are those who make their living by playing you like a stringless fiddle.  'They' are those that say 'stats don't matter' which is comical considering 'they' use stats for virtually every thing they do.  Their actions are pre-calculated to produce the optimal result.  Their tactics have been researched and tested a million times for decades on end.

Just stop it.  I've yet to read a single article abhorring the violent display of tackling by West Ham.  Not a single line from the muppet brigade has been dedicated to Kouyate's potentially career-ending, unjustifiable late thrust at Moreno.  Do we need to mention 'studs up'?  I guess they'll have to re-write the unwritten rule book on that one.

It was 'grand' football.  A 'fantastic' display.  Sam Allardyce 'outwitted' Brendan Rodgers.  Yeah, don't get me started on that, the only thing Freddie Flintstone head out-did his counterpart on was thuggery and being a company man.  It would be an utter revelation had the focus of matches be on what actually occurs on the pitch instead of the concoctions of think tank bunnies.

Liverpool lost because they refused to be brute thugs, it's that simple.  Sorry they want to have class.  Apologies for wanting to put an attractive product on the field instead of a professional wrestling match.  That's where the EPL is heading if they continue to compromise, sport entertainment instead of sport.  What do they care though? As long as the mums and the dads buy their children that kit each year.

West Ham 3, Liverpool 1: The big top is burning

There is a weathered tale about a 19th century Siberian circus that while traveling through Eastern Europe is brutally attacked by the people of an isolated, starving mountain village.  The circus performers were so shocked by the merciless gore of the rampage upon them, they stood and did nothing while being torn to shreds.  Clowns were sadistically murdered, trapeze artists tortured and mangled, and all the animals, except the elephants, were killed and eaten raw.  The elephants apparently got away, but were never seen from again.  Though the town in Siberia where the circus originated made inquiries and notified the proper officials in Moscow about their missing family members and citizens, nothing was ever done.  It was brushed under the rug because, ultimately, nobody cares about a dead clown.

That's what Liverpool were today, a bunch of dead clowns.  Almost from the get-go it was apparent the ref was going to be lenient when it came to physical play.  How many times does Liverpool have to lose before they realize the match official is going to call a match a certain way and it's best to play that way instead of our own style.  This is how it works, there is no precedent for how a match is called no matter how much verbal feces the EPL aficionados defecate in our ears.  Now, had Liverpool started playing like West Ham, tackling viciously, studs up or not, being overtly physical, and then were called for it, then we have an issue, but LFC players didn't wrangle, they fell to the ground in the fetal position and let the Hammers have their way.  Sure, Kouyate should have been sent off for his barbaric tackle on Moreno, but he wasn't and that's my point.  Break Winston Reid's leg with a stud up sliding tackle and if the ref does anything about it, then we have an argument for fairness.  Ultimately the fault would have fallen on the ref and the EPL's inability to produce a consistent, legitimate product.

The biggest issue I have with the match is Craig Pawson referring to his ear-piece for the Balotelli-Adrian incident.  Why isn't this happening more often?  And why isn't it happening when it should actually matter?  The Moreno-Kouyote incident in particular.  Again, if the Premier League wants to avoid situations of complicity, shouldn't they do this every time to avoid controversy?  Maybe I'm not just the average ignorant, blinded, and drunk Premier League fan.

Now, with that said, Liverpool played atrocious defense.  Who in Hades' name was marking Reid on the first goal?  From the looks of the replay, nobody, so it is the fault of Skrtel, Lovren, and Manquillo, who were closest to him at the beginning of the free kick.  Communication guys, come on, this is getting old.  I honestly think Lovren and Skrtel dislike one another for whatever Eastern European rubbish reason, but regardless, you aren't playing for your countries, you're not on the battlefield, and you play for the same team who is paying you and counting on you to perform to the best of your abilities.  Suck up your pride and do what is best for the club.

The second goal allowed was more dumb luck than anything.  Lovren laid off Sakho because Moreno was there, should the Spaniard have played him tighter?  Probably, but it was just one of those perfectly placed goals where not much could have stopped it. It reminded me of the goal by Konchesky in the 2006 FA Cup final.  I doubt Mignolet could have been better positioned either, if he was further back, Sakho would have probably tried to slam in closer to the near post.  It was a great goal by Sakho, get over it.

Borini is rubbish, he doesn't know when to pass and when to shoot and that was quite evident.  When he had the breakaway in the 54th minute with Moreno and Lallana lurking, but took the impossible angle shot, that was ridiculous.  Then he took the optimistic shot outside of the box in the 64th minute when he should have held the ball and see what developed since no West Ham players were close enough to dispossess him.  Adrian pulled in his leg there, by the way, so any studs up calls on that one are rubbish.  Then, finally, when Sterling tries to do a give-and-go in the 74th minute, he should have went for goal.  His style of play just doesn't work for us, put him on the reserves squad and let him die a slow play less death.

For once, Balotelli played well, he even got back on defence a couple of times which impressed me, but he has to take advantage of every scoring chance and his weak effort in the 59th minute was unacceptable.  He puts that three yards higher and it's a goal.  He's a special player, but has yet to play so for us.

I was a bit baffled by the no-call on Lallana right outside of the box in the 61st minute.  Why didn't Pawson refer to his ear-piece then?  If the Premier League doesn't want to be accused of complicity than don't put others in the situation to do so.  That was a clear foul by Song from behind and though I don't think it was penalty worthy, it still should have been called back for a free kick despite play-on due to possession.  I personally love Noble's applauding the ref for his non-call at the end of the 'play'.

Ultimately, I think are defence was suspect and Sterling has to realize he is the new 'man'.  He has to step up and be the replacement for Sturridge,  Unfortunately, he is only 19 and that has to suck for him.  He is our best player and probably the most talented player at his age in the world.  One goal was not enough and hopefully he'll realize that most fans, especially myself, would rather see him take 5 bad shots than make a useless pass.

Liverpool to lose? Noble to score? Can Gerrard reach 10? What the markets say...

I was a bit worried when I saw the amount of bets placed on Liverpool to win, but upon further investigation I realized the line movement didn't justify my concern.  Still a 5/6 payoff isn't worth a go.

To win:
Liverpool	5/6	64.80%
West Ham	4/1	18.00%
Draw	16/5	17.20%

There are only six players total from both squads who have scored in this fixture.  Gerrard has scored 9 times in 21 matches versus the Hammers which equals the amount of all the other players combined.  The other five are Mark Noble (2), Glen Johnson (3), Carlton Cole (2), Guy Demel (1) and Mamadou Sakho (1).  Only two players have scored for both sides, Gerrard and Demel.  Noble at 25/1 as first goalscorer and 8/1 for anytime goalscorer is worth a small wager and if you're feeling particularly lucky, Guy Demel is 50/1 as first and 26/1 anytime.

First goalscorer:
Balotelli	5/1	46.00%
Sterling	15/2	14.00%
Valencia	17/2	12.00%
Noble	25/1	6.00%
Borini	15/2	4.00%
D. Sakho	9/1
Coutinho	8/1
Markovic	8/1
Gerrard	10/1
Cole	10/1
Lovren	25/1
Downing	25/1
Skrtel	25/1
Song	35/1
Moreno	35/1
Manquillo	40/1
G. Johnson	40/1
M. Sakho	40/1
Demel	50/1

Unlike last week, where Liverpool dominated the final score bets, the draw wagers are coming into play today.  The 'favorite' West Ham gambles are 2-1 and 1-0, both at 16/1.  If you think Liverpool will thump the Hammers at Upton, 4-0 is a hefty 28/1 pay back.

Correct score:
Liverpool	3-1	14/1	14.63%
Draw	0-0	14/1	12.20%
Liverpool	2-1	8/1	10.98%
Draw	1-1	15/2	9.76%
Draw	2-2	15/1	7.32%
Liverpool	1-0	9/1
West Ham	2-1	16/1
West Ham	1-0	16/1
Liverpool	4-0	28/1

As I mentioned above, Noble is a decent bet at anytime goalscorer.  The great English hope, 'Pretty Hair' Lallana, is getting a little love here as well with 3.23% of all wagers betting he'll net his first for the 'Pool.

Anytime scorer:
Balotelli	11/8	38.71%
Valencia	11/4	29.03%
Sterling	9/4	16.13%
Borini	9/4	3.23%
Lallana	31/10	3.23%
D. Sakho	10/3
Zarate	3/1
Cole	7/2
Henderson	5/1
Noble	8/1
Gerrard	10/3
G. Johnson	14/1
M. Sakho	14/1
Coutinho	7/2
Kouyoute	11/1
Demel	26/1

The last goalscorer bet is always an interesting one, you've got to think a late match striker sub would be the best wager, thus Lambert and Cole seem like decent shots.  The problem with Lambert is the return is only 5/1, while Cole is much better at 9/1.  Jordan Henderson at 16/1 seems possible as well.

Last goalscorer:
Lambert	5/1
Cole	9/1
Gerrard	10/1
Henderson	16/1

No one will likely score a hat-trick, but it's always fun for a small wager.

Score hat-trick:
Balotelli	28/1
Sterling	66/1
Gerrard	100/1

Man of the match betting has been interesting to say the least.  Moreno, for some reason, seems a popular pick and at 33/1, it's worth a meager go.  Song is also getting some action at 20/1, him winning would not surprise me either.  Sterling has been garnering the favorite for a few matches and that doesn't change here at 5/1.  Mark Noble is the dark horse and at 25/1, it's a nice reward for the risk.

Man of the match:
Moreno	33/1	38.10%
Song	20/1	19.05%
Sterling	5/1	14.29%
Valencia	12/1	14.29%
Lallana	12/1	4.76%
Balotelli	6/1
Gerrard	8/1
Noble	25/1

Other fun bets are an own goal scored (by either side) at 9/1 and the always volatile Balotelli to get a card 11/4.  Cheers and happy betting.

Has Rodgers solved the Big Sam 'conundrum'?

When Sam Allardyce was the boss at Bolton, he actually held his own against Liverpool.  In the 13 times his Wanderers met Liverpool, they were 4-3-6.  Considering his Newcastle, Blackburn, and West Ham sides are 0-2-7 against us, that's quite impressive.  What's even more noteworthy is that he was 3-1-2 at the Reebok.

His only win at Anfield was a classic match in the fourth round of the 2003-04 League Cup in December 2003.  Liverpool were the defending holders, winning it in March of the same year, 2-0 over Man United.  It was a back and forth battle with Bolton scoring first and Liverpool countering each time.  The free kick by Okocha to make it 2-1 and the stunning 20+ yard cracker from Vladimir Smicer to equalize are particularly special.  Unfortunately, Salif Diao decided it with a bad foul that awarded Bolton a penalty.  Here are the low quality highlights for your 'enjoyment':

In the last ten matches versus Big Sam, Liverpool have won eight.  In those eight matches, LFC have won by a combined 23 to 6.  Gerrard has scored 9 career goals against West Ham, including braces in three, the most famous being the FA Cup Final in 2006, but he also did the double last year, both being penalties.  Were they penalties though?

Their goal was just as questionable as the penalties, if not more so.

Rodgers and Allardyce advocate a similar style of football, but Liverpool, especially recently, have the better talent.  LFC also tend to have a rare goal-scorer as Kyrgiakos, Sakho, Joe Cole, Agger, and Jonjo Shelvey have all scored against Big Sam's clubs. With all the excitement following West Ham's 2-2 draw at Hull, their supporters might expect a promising performance at Upton against Liverpool, but a draw in my opinion would be just another sign to accept a mediocre campaign for LFC.

Skrtel or Sakho? Who is better to partner Lovren?

Despite being far apart on the ethnic field, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho play an eerily similar style of football on the pitch.  The Slovakian and the Senegalese-Frenchman are both efficient passers, each posting around 90% last season and this campaign so far, neither are very committal to tackling, preferring to play a 'stand-offish', marking style of defense, and both like to get forward, though Sakho does this much more to my liking.  If I had to give an edge to either concerning attacking and/or defending, I'd say Skrtel is actually better on both sides of the ball despite Sakho being more 'creative'.

That is not the question though, it is whom is better to partner our Croatian juggernaut, Dejan Lovren.  To do that, let's take a look at Lovren's style of play.  Our Number Six is not as good a passer as his fellow centre backs, but has improved from last season when he played for Southampton.  So far he's posted an 88.5% pass completion percentage compared to 82% last year, which is even more impressive when you consider he's averaged 17 more pass attempts per a match this season so far.  That probably has more to do with the fact that the Saints averaged nearly 2 more yards per pass and attempted 14 more long balls per match, finishing second in the league with 70 attempts on average. Lovren is also more likely to 'go to ground' and attempt a tackle than Skrtel or Sakho.  He has completed 11 successful tackles this season so far while the other two have 3 combined.

One could argue match-ups should play a part, but there are two great examples from this season that make that argument invalid.  Skrtel paired Lovren at the Etihad which Liverpool lost 3-1 despite playing well.  Unfortunately, City played slightly better even though two of their goals were due to defensive mishap, none the fault of Skrtel though.  In fact, I re-watched an extended highlights video of that match and noticed a lot of friction and distrust displayed between Lovren and Skrtel, but ultimately, the first two goals were mostly the fault of Lovren being out of position.

During the build-up of the first goal, Lovren is more concerned with whether Skrtel is marking Dzeko instead of covering 'his' area, the left side of the box.

As the above still shot from the match shows, Lovren was not in the best possible position and was unable to provide proper coverage for Moreno and Gerrard.  In a panic, he heads the ball right to a surging Jovetic.  Sure, Moreno could have done better to clear, but he shouldn't had to in the first place.

Here is a still shot just before the second goal:

Jovetic has the ball and is about to release both Zabaleta and Nasri with an excellent back heel pass through.  Lovren is way out of position to begin with, why he is so far forward is beyond me.  Jovetic has his back to the goal, which for him to gain possession and right himself would take more than enough time for Henderson and/or Gerrard to collapse on him, so Lovren had no business being there.  Once the break starts, Skrtel had no choice but provide coverage on the left, leaving Johnson to mark Dzeko.  Jovetic sneaked in behind, found himself all alone on the right, and the rest, they say, is history.  Had Lovren stayed behind Zabaleta, he would have most likely been able to clear the ball or at least disrupt play enough to prevent the goal, plus Skrtel would have been able to stay more central and allow Johnson to pick up Jovetic.  One could argue that Lovren was trying to set an offside trap, but if that is so, he's doing a terrible job of communicating it to his fellow defenders.

In the City match, a Skrtel-Lovren pairing was ideal being that Lovren is usually better at maintaining his position than Sakho.  Unfortunately he failed to do so.  For Villa, a Sakho-Lovren pairing is more ideal because Villa is dreadful and adding another player on attack seemingly can only help.  Unfortunately it did not, but once again Lovren was somewhat at fault for the goal.  He was beaten by Senderos on the corner, had Manquillo's arm not blocked the attempt, there was a chance of it getting past Lallana and going in.  It instead fell to Agbonlahor.  I would say Balotelli and Moreno's inability to clear it before it got to Senderos was more of an issue than Lovren's marking.

It would have been nice to have Skrtel for Ludogorets.  I can't see him getting caught out of position as much as Sakho and Lovren did.  I didn't expect to draw this conclusion, but after looking over the stats and watching match highlights, maybe the best pairing for Lovren is a seat on the bench.  The only thing he brings so far is tackling and errors.  That may be harsh, but it is clear he has positioning and communication issues, certainly with Skrtel on the latter.  Maybe Rodgers should give him a couple of matches off and some time to think about his latest performances.  I think he's a great defender and player in general, but it seems like he's trying to do too much and it's hurting the side.

It's Sam Allardyce vs Brendan Rodgers and one has got the better talent

Liverpool is 9-3-6 at Upton Park in the Prem and have won 4 of the last 5, which is significant considering that prior to their current run, LFC were 20-17-20 all-time at the northwest London grounds.  Still at 24-17-21, they have not posted a winning record there, but have at least won more than they've lost. The last loss in February 2011 featured goals from Demba Ba, Scott Parker, and Glen Johnson, while the Hammers were then managed by Avram Grant.

In week 5 matches on the road in the Prem, Liverpool is 1-3-5.  Their only win was at Ewood in 2003, a match that featured a brace by Michael Owen and Lucas Neill breaking Jamie Carragher's leg.  Blackburn would later be managed by current West Ham manager Sam Allardyce and Neill would shun Liverpool in January 2007 for West Ham in a transfer fiasco, claiming 'footballing reasons' as an excuse.

West Ham are a ridiculously mediocre 6-1-6 at home in week 5 since the conception of the Prem, though that includes a 1-0 win in the Championship against Burnley in 2004-05.  In 2009-10 they lost to Liverpool, 3-2, their only week 5 meeting at home versus the Merseyside club, which also featured a brace from Fernando Torres.  They also played LFC at Anfield in week 5 of the 1994-95 season, which ended in a 0-0 draw despite Tony Coffee being sent off 9 minutes into the second half.

Now to the absolutely absurd, the previous season 2nd place club is 13-4-5 at the previous season 13th place finisher during week 5.  Liverpool is 1-0-1 with a loss at Fulham in 2002-03 and a win at Bolton in 2009-10, both results were 3-2.  West Ham has only featured in this match once, a 1994-95 2-0 win at home versus Blackburn.

I posted more about this match-up already.  Feel free to draw your own conclusion.

EPL Fantasy Week 5: Slim pickings (Everton, Tottenham, and...)

Well, last week you could pick names out of a hat and have a good shot of putting together a solid squad, this week there won't be many names to draw.  The clubs to go with are Everton or Tottenham, but if you have to pick from other squads, I'd go Arsenal, Swansea, or Hull.

Keeper
Tim Howard or Hugo Llloris.  If you want to get adventurous, go with Szczesny, since Aston Villa can only score on set pieces and put backs.

Long term, Mignolet will probably not blunder for at least 3-4 matches now that he goofed on Tuesday.  Plus Liverpool do have a rather easy run upon them. Begovic is still the best keeper in the league and Stoke are still the best defence, so their upcoming fixtures seem manageable on paper.  If you're really into gambling Forster hasn't been the worst form lately and Southampton should be competitive in the next 5 matches or so.

Defenders
Everton's back four of Baines, Jagielka, Stones, and Coleman, if that's who start, are all candidates, as are Tottenham's Kaboul, Dier, Vertonghen, and Danny Rose.  Arsenal and Man U defenders should be decent as well with latter playing a Leicester side that will try to play a very 'controlled' match.  In other words a 0-0 draw will be as good as a victory for them.  Don't bet on that result though.  If I went with my gut, I'd go Chambers, Dier, Rojo, and Jagielka.

Lovren, Shawcross, Moreno, and Alderweireld would be my best bets for the next 4-5 weeks.

Midfielders
Here's where you can get a little risky and not sacrifice points like on defence.  Still Mirallas and McGeady from Everton along with Chadli, Lamela, and Eriksen from Tottenham are the most likely/safest picks.  Arsenal midfielders are a shot in the dark, only because there are so many to chose from, you don't know who'll play.  Last week I was sure Cazorla would make an impact and he never saw the pitch.  The obvious is Ramsey, but even Flamini can put in a decent match here and there. The same with Swansea, as you never know who's going to have big day, you're most likely high scorer is Sigurdsson, but Dyer, Shelvey, Sung-Yeung, and Routledge could all go off any given match.  Out of all those above, I'd go Mirallas, Chadli, Lamela, and Dyer.

In the long term, Sterling, Schniederlin, Victor Moses,  DiMaria and Tadic are the most likely to produce mucho points.

Forward
The most obvious picks here Lukaku and Adebayor, but don't fret over Naismith and Eto'o is a decent roll of the dice.  I don't know about Harry Kane though, you got some brass cajones if you pick him up.  If you want to go Arsenal, Welbeck is bound to have a decent match at some point, but if you want to play it safe there's always Alexis Sanchez.  Other players worth a shot include Jelavic and Abel Hernandez at Hull and Wilfried Bony for Swansea, who is bound to get his starting spot back after Gomis unable to take advantage of his first start.

My long term forwards are Balotelli, Pelle, Diouf, and Flacao.

Flamini still king, Lovren holds on, & Senderos' assaults are invaluable to Villa: EPL player rankings

Most efficient EPL players on attack:

S. Nasri	0.855
Y. Toure	0.835
Cesc Fàbregas	0.819
M. Flamini	0.818
D. Fletcher	0.813
E. Capoue	0.800
F. Coloccini	0.791
Juan Mata	0.790
T. Blackett	0.786
Schneiderlin	0.782

Players must have player 60 mins per teams total matches played (240 mins).

Gerrard is the highest ranked Liverpool player at 14th.  Sakho is 6th in all players who have played 180 or more minutes so far this season.

Most efficient EPL players on defence:

S. Dann	0.926
M. Demichelis	0.914
P. Jagielka	0.911
John Terry	0.910
F. Coloccini	0.907
P. Mertesacker	0.906
Curtis Davies	0.906
J. O'Shea	0.905
M. Flamini	0.904
D. Lovren	0.895

Lt Dann at the top, that's surprising.  Lovren hangs on to a top ten spot, barely.

Most efficient EPL players overall:

M. Flamini	0.861
F. Coloccini	0.849
E. Capoue	0.842
T. Blackett	0.839
J. O'Shea	0.839
Y. Toure	0.835
S. Nasri	0.834
D. Fletcher	0.827
Fernando	0.824
M. Schneiderlin	0.820
G. Barry	0.816

Coloccini cuts Flamini's lead in half, but if the centre back ever takes the overall lead, I'll be shocked.  Lovren shot up to 19th to become Liverpool's highest rated player and Gerrard went up 8 spots to 25th overall.

Most valuable players to their club per efficiency rating:

J. O'Shea	0.214
S. N'Zonzi	0.198
Ron Vlaar	0.192
F. Coloccini	0.191
J. Olsson	0.187
Andy King	0.186
Dean Marney	0.180
D. Hammond	0.173
P. Senderos	0.169
David Jones	0.160

Senderos' assaulted his way into the top ten for Aston Villa.  Lovren is the 35th most valuable player, which is not a bad thing when you look at the clubs of all the listed players above.

Liverpool 2, PFC Ludogorets Razgrad 1: The same old rubbish

Like clockwork, the problems plaguing our side once again reared their ugly heads.  We couldn't score despite plenty of intrusions into our opponent's third and got caught out of position at the back.  We were lucky not to lose and the only way to justify a win is to say we deserved it, but even that is laying it on a bit thick.  Sure, we dominated the match, played a reckless style that was enjoyable to watch, but should have scored loads of goals and not allowed any by a clearly inferior side.

Sterling has to take his shots, forget about trying to help Balotelli break the duck or trying to share the wealth with his captain, he has to shoot it.  Has he lost his confidence? If so, his play on the ball doesn't show it, he should just thump away without a concious like Suarez did last year.  I'd rather he take it on a decent look than lay off and let the defence collapse around whomever receives it.  It became infectious as even Gerrard passed on a decent look at the top of the box where he has, in the very least, challenged the keeper many times throughout his career.

Beyond that, after the first goal, eighty-two minutes into the match and seen coming from a mile away, Rodgers should have pulled everyone back instead of allowing his players to be greedy.  I know it's not his style, but it should have been 4-0 at that point, take what you can get and park the bus.  Our defence become porous and Ludogorets produced counter after counter with ease. Once Sakho and Lovren got 'adventurous' the probable became inevitable.  Also, Mignolet didn't help with his decision to come out of net so early.  Then, of course, we are saved by a dubious penalty, which probably did more bad than good.  No matter what, we must learn to score without Sturridge, whom along with Gerrard, saved us many a time last season.

As for individual performances, Lallana is now 0-2 on chances to impress. Big surprise, I thought he was going to show me I was wrong about him being a wasted £26m? Yeah, not gonna happen, if he pulls his club out of this scoring rut, I may lay off of him, but he won't. We'll be laughing about him being the second worst acquisition in LFC history soon enough.  I also thought Southampton was going to be relegated? Again, ridiculous.

Balotelli was probably the man of the match, but Moreno needs special mention for his assist, five chances created, 37/41 passing (90.2%), and 3 tackles for good measure.  Also, Manquillo was a beast on defence, leading the side with 8 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 3 clearances.  In the end, it's a much needed three points for our Champions League cause.  Next we have West Ham at Upton, which means Sam Allardyce trying to measure up against Rodgers and Liverpool's superior talent.  I will be shocked if Big Sam takes a stifling defensive approach, but if he does, it won't be the first time he's surprised me.  Hopefully we'll find an answer to our scoring issues early on and then pour it on.

Liverpool 0, Aston Villains 1: 'Character'? Senderos should be suspended

In continuing some of the worst football seen in the Premiership in years, Aston Villa pulled off a criminal win against Liverpool on Saturday.  The farcical display was highlighted by four, yes, four off-the-ball assaults by Phillip Senderos on Mario Balotelli.  Somehow all four officials missed them all.  Oh yes, there are FOUR officials, not just one or two or three, but four.  Once again the Prem cheapens it's product with a laughable display of officiating and then blatantly ignores the 'ignoring'.  Yes, the refs saw all four fouls, if that was Sakho on Rooney, the Frenchman would have been sent off immediately after the first assault and then probably fined and suspended.  Save the lies, misdirections, and double-speak for the idiots who will fork over any amount of money to feel like a winner because their lives are so pathetically indulged in vicarious behavior and will never analyze anything beyond where they defecate.  If the Premier League truly cared about racism, they certainly failed to show it at Anfield on Saturday.  If the Premier League truly cared about putting an honest product on the pitch, they would never allow contentious acts of 'character' be displayed one time, yet alone four.  Welcome to the hyperreality, you just got a front row seat.

With my diatribe out of the way, Liverpool did not deserve to win either, but they certainly should not have lost.  They dominated nearly every aspect of the match except thuggery.  Lo and behold had the home side acted in the manner that the Brum bruisers did, cards would have been in abundance.  The fact that LFC received more cards than the visitors is laughable in itself.  Amazingly the Claret and Blue got called for more fouls though, a whole one that is, and 19 total fouls in the entire match?  Maybe the refs didn't see anything in the match, maybe they were just too busy thinking about their summer homes.

As for individual performances, outside of the amazing diplay of 'character' by Phillip Senderos, who probably thinks by 'character', he means a cartoon character.  Maybe he thought he was Elmer Fudd and Balotelli was Bugs Bunny. Who knows, who cares.  Getting on with it, Adam Lallana has a long way to go to justify his £26m transfer fee, 80% passing is just not going to get it done.  It was technically his first match so he gets a pass, this time.  The bottom line is, we had an 89% pass success rate, we moved the ball down the pitch with ease, but once we got in the opponent's third, we failed to find space, failed to make space, and failed to take advantage of the few true shot opportunities afforded to us by the 'negative' football being displayed by Villa.

Once in a while, especially early on in matches, we need to take ambitious chances to score spectacular goals and once we are a threat from scoring outside the box, it'll open up the pitch like magic.  Sterling, Coutinho, and Henderson are going to have to 'thump' it from distance and try to at least force a save from the opposition keeper.  Maybe Balotelli sneaks and puts away on the rebound, you never know.  It's nice to have players that want to help their teammates score, but one too many passes is becoming habitual among our players and getting us no where.  Sometimes being selfish is best for the team.

There is little logic to Saturday's result.  Aston Villa basically planned on the nil-nil draw and got a lucky result.  They had no intentions of trying to play an up-and-down match with a side that would have abused them for doing so.  Still, Liverpool is going to have to deal with this a lot this season, very few other than the top five or six clubs have the firepower to get into a free-for-all.  Coutinho, Sterling, Henderson, and Lallana are going to have to step up, take chances and quit going for the obvious pass all the time.  Failure to do so is going to result in a long season and Balotelli getting assaulted often.

Senderos leads in on-field assaults: EPL week 4 top performers

Aaron Ramsey  - 1 assist, 3 chances created, 60/68 passing (88.2%), 1 shot on-target, 4 tackles, 3 interceptions

Jack Wilshere - 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 chances created, 52/65 passing (80%), 1 shot on-target, 10 successful dribbles, 2 tackles, 1 clearance, 1 blocked shot

Cesc Fabregas - 2 assists, 6 chances created, 78/83 passing (94%),  2 successful dribbles, 1 interception, 4/5 crosses, 2/3 long balls

Branislav Ivanovic - 6 chances created, 4/4 aerial duels, 2 successful dribbles, 2 tackles, 1 clearance

Diego Costa - 3 goals, 4 shots on-target, 3 chances created, 24/28 passing (85.7%), 2 successful dribbles, 1 tackle

Eden Hazard - 9 successful dribbles, 4 key passes, 4 chances created, 63/68 passing (92.6%), 2 shots on-target, 2 interceptions

Andrew Robertson - 2 chances created, 1 successful dribble, 7 tackles, 5 interceptions, 4 clearances, 2 blocked shots

Mohamed Diame - 7 tackles, 1 goal, 1 shot on-target, 17/18 passing (94.4%), 2 interceptions, 1 blocked shot

Michael Dawson - 11 clearances, 6 interceptions, 5 blocked shots,  4/7 aerial duels, 1 tackle

Curtis Davies - 16 clearances, 6/6 aerial duels, 4 interceptions, 2 blocked shots, 1 tackle

Jason Puncheon - 4 chances created, 3 successful dribbles, 1 shot on-target, 2 tackles, 1 interceptions, 1 clearance

Ritchie de Laet - 2 chances created, 5/7 aerial duels, 4 tackles, 3 interceptions, 12 clearances, 2 blocked shots

Dejan Lovren - 100/118 passing (84.7%), 11/16 long balls, 7/8 aerial duels, 8 clearances, 3 tackles, 2 interceptions

David Silva - 6 chances created, 4 successful dribbles, 1 shot on-target, 2 tackles, 1 interception

Gael Clichy - 2 chances created, 2 successful dribbles,  7 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3 clearances

Ander Herrera - 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 chances created, 2 successful dribbles, 8 tackles, 1 interception, 1 blocked shot, 77/85 passing (90.6%)

Angel Di Maria - 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 chances created, 2 successful dribble, 1 tackle

Morgan Schneiderlin - 1 goal, 62/69 passing (89.9%), 1 successful dribble, 7 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 clearance

Victor Moses - 24/24 passing (100%), 4 key passes, 10 successful crosses, 4 successful dribbles, 4 tackles, 1 interception

Christian Eriksen - 1 goal, 3 chances created, 78/87 passing (89.7%), 3 successful dribbles, 2 tackles, 1 interception, 1 clearance

Stewart Downing - 7 chances created, 58/60 passing (96.7%), 1 shot on-target, 1 clearance