Reina 5
Well he couldn't do much about the superb header goal that got past him, but what was up with that goal kick? Ugh. For the most part though there was very little else to complain about.
Arbeloa 4
Second subpar performance in a row, maybe he needs a match off? Clumsily threw away the ball a couple of times early on and was supposedly marking Lopez when the latter scored against us. Other than that, he did a decent job defensively, but was inexistent on attack. When he's the fastest of the back four, he really needs to pay more attention to where everyone is, our players and the opposition.
Carragher 6
Not a great performance by any means, but gets extra points for roughing up a Porto player early in the match and then acting as if he didn't do anything. Anti-diving, priceless.
Hyppiä 6.5
Another solid performance from the Finn. He was a defensive stalwart, earned the penalty for Gerrard, and was unlucky not to score one himself with a cheeky little deflection. Daniel Agger? Who's he?
Steve Finnan 5
What started out as a shaky performance from Finney ended up being okay. At times, he appeared shocked to find himself unmarked so deep in Porto territory with the ball.
Ryan Babel 6
Not a bad showing, just needs to shoot the ball more often... just not too much? He did have one opportunity where he found himself near the top of the box and really no one around nor in front of him, but instead of thumpin' it, he tried a pass. It was a bit baffling.
Mascherano 7 Man of the Match
Yes, I have a biased for defensive midfielders, but it can't be denied that Mascherano played well and exerted his influence. He was the be-all, end-all when it came to shutting down Porto. Consider this, we only held possession roughly 53% of the match, yet controlled nearly 60% of the pitch (territorial advantage). That's ridiculous and all because any time the opposition tried to push forward, our Argentine destroyer would intervene.
Gerrard 6
Two assists and a Kaká special (also known as a penalty). Other than the corners, his passing was a little off and on occasion, not in sync with his teammates. Still, despite not having the best of matches, he was still influential. That's seven goals in eight games by the way. Here's to hoping he sets a personal high this year.
Benayoun 6.5
Yossi was probably our best all-round player in the first half, but he still seemed timid to shoot like most our side. He tendencies to roam the field also caused some clutter. He's not a true winger, so it's hard to expect him to be disciplined and occupy the flanks most the match.
Voronin 5
Didn't contribute much to our side and felt he was well out-of-position on occasion. I've definitely seen him play better.
Torres 5.5
If anyone thinks this is a special performance from Torres than who have you been watching prior to the last two matches? Both goals were great, but he could have easily had another if not more. His first touch, for the most part, was off and his passing was flat. Still, he scored a brace... unbelievable.
Peter Crouch, Harry Kewell 7
Both Crouch and Kewell brought a ton of energy and composure to our side. Kewell made mince meat of the Porto defense and Crouch was steady on the ball, didn't turn it over, and made intelligent passes.
No grade for Kuyt as he barely got on the pitch.
Overall our individual efforts were okay, but as a team, we vastly need to improve our chemistry. Working on anticipating one another's movements and passes would be a good place to start. Set-piece goals are always good though. Cheers.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Liverpool 4, Porto 1: Rafa's belief in our side pays off
The second half began no promising then the first. We were out of sync on attack and failed to gain control of the match, but as the clock wore down, two things became evident. First, we were wearing down the Porto side and second, though our attempts appeared futile, we weren't giving up on pushing forward. Rafa has done this many times before, wear down an opponent then start bringing in re-enforcements on attack, and though it doesn't work every time, tonight Porto were expending an awful lot of energy doing a whole lot of nothing on attack and trying to stifle us on their end.
In the 63rd minute when Kewell came on, things really got going as the Aussie appeared a step ahead of everyone else on the pitch and was clearly on top of his game. He dribbled past Porto players like they weren't even there and then 14 minutes into his introduction, put a cheeky no-look pass through to Torres in the box. Up until this point, the Spaniard had been dreadful with his touches, either holding the ball too long or not reacting quick enough, but this time everything fell into place and with one touch to ready himself, he slammed the ball into the opposite netting of the goal.
From that point on, our attack was relentless. Even when we weren't in possession of the ball, we somehow kept it in their half of the field. About six minutes after the second goal, Fernando Torres earned a free kick about thirty-yards out from goal on a yellow card-earning foul by Milan Stepanov. On the ensuing kick, Steven Gerrard put it right in the middle of the box where Hyppiä and Stepanov waiting to make a play on the ball. Both leaped in the air and though there certainly was a lot of contact, it's not as if Sami helped him put his arm in the way of the ball. For a team that dove as often as Greg Louganis, Porto certainly had a lot of nerve to accuse anyone on our side of cheating. Anyhow, a handball was called, the penalty was awarded, and Gerrard stepped up and calmly sent the Porto keeper the other way, 3-1.
Before Torres got his brace by scoring what was essentially the game-winning goal, Crouch came on for Benayoun. I thought it was an odd substitution since Benayoun appeared to be one of our better players at that point and Crouch is usually useless as a second-half sub, but the England International ended up putting on a superb performance for the short time he was on the pitch. I'm no Crouch fan and in fact, no matter what he does positively for our side, I rarely give him rave reviews, but today he earned it. His passing and dribbling were spot on and to boot, he even got the final goal on a header from a Gerrard cross. If only he could play this well every match.
Ultimately, Rafa saw that our side was good enough to weather even the harshest storm brought about by Porto. Though we were lucky on at least one occasion, for the most part our defense was able to harbor and absorb their pace and trickery. For how sloppily we played all-round, it was quite the result. Let's just hope Rafa is around to lead us to more like it.
By the way, with Beşiktaş beating Marseille we only need a draw in France from our final group stage match to advance. If we win though and the Turks could somehow get a draw in Porto, we'll win the group and have a chance at a much easier draw for the first knockout round. I was wrong, we need to win or draw and pray Besitkas wins in Porto. Thanks to everyone who commented or emailed me about it. Cheers.
In the 63rd minute when Kewell came on, things really got going as the Aussie appeared a step ahead of everyone else on the pitch and was clearly on top of his game. He dribbled past Porto players like they weren't even there and then 14 minutes into his introduction, put a cheeky no-look pass through to Torres in the box. Up until this point, the Spaniard had been dreadful with his touches, either holding the ball too long or not reacting quick enough, but this time everything fell into place and with one touch to ready himself, he slammed the ball into the opposite netting of the goal.
From that point on, our attack was relentless. Even when we weren't in possession of the ball, we somehow kept it in their half of the field. About six minutes after the second goal, Fernando Torres earned a free kick about thirty-yards out from goal on a yellow card-earning foul by Milan Stepanov. On the ensuing kick, Steven Gerrard put it right in the middle of the box where Hyppiä and Stepanov waiting to make a play on the ball. Both leaped in the air and though there certainly was a lot of contact, it's not as if Sami helped him put his arm in the way of the ball. For a team that dove as often as Greg Louganis, Porto certainly had a lot of nerve to accuse anyone on our side of cheating. Anyhow, a handball was called, the penalty was awarded, and Gerrard stepped up and calmly sent the Porto keeper the other way, 3-1.
Before Torres got his brace by scoring what was essentially the game-winning goal, Crouch came on for Benayoun. I thought it was an odd substitution since Benayoun appeared to be one of our better players at that point and Crouch is usually useless as a second-half sub, but the England International ended up putting on a superb performance for the short time he was on the pitch. I'm no Crouch fan and in fact, no matter what he does positively for our side, I rarely give him rave reviews, but today he earned it. His passing and dribbling were spot on and to boot, he even got the final goal on a header from a Gerrard cross. If only he could play this well every match.
Ultimately, Rafa saw that our side was good enough to weather even the harshest storm brought about by Porto. Though we were lucky on at least one occasion, for the most part our defense was able to harbor and absorb their pace and trickery. For how sloppily we played all-round, it was quite the result. Let's just hope Rafa is around to lead us to more like it.
Liverpool 1, Porto 1: halftime thoughts
All even at a goal a piece at the half seems quite fair at this point, though a penalty our way on a handball in the box or if a one-on-one challenge by a Porto player versus Reina had not gone wide, it could very easily be one-up for either side. Either way, we don't appear the better side, but lately a sloppy first half is business as usual.
The goal, a corner from Gerrard to the head of Torres, was a decent set piece, but other than that, our attack has been woeful. In fact, Benayoun seems to be the only player cognizant of what's going on at all times and at the opposite end of the spectrum is Torres, who has either fumbled the first touch or just held on for too long.
Our poor form on attack has well made up for the cheating shenanigans of our opponents. The diving has already become viral and at times, laughable. If they weren't so poor at it and the ref had decided early on not to reward the Portuguese side for their deceptive manners, we could very well looking at a second half sans Mascherano. Hyppiä did collect a card for something, though what I'm not sure.
Porto's pace on attack has been lethal and it worries me to no end that our two centre backs are near geriatric and turtle-like by football standards. If Mascherano hadn't put on such an omnipresent and solid display, we could very easily be down at this point. Lord knows Arbeloa has not been his best. Maybe bringing in Riise for the left, taking off Finnan, who has also put on a disappointing performance, and pushing Arbeloa over to the right would be a good move. The Spaniard just seems to play with more confidence on that side.
For us to win this match, we're going to have to come together as a side and not physically. The clutter in the middle has to stop and though we did a decent job of utilizing most of the pitch, there's definitely room for improvement. If we don't start playing more as a cohesive unit and working off one another's ideas, we can kiss the Champions League goodbye (and don't care what the score in Istanbul is).
Edit: What is with all the non-movement off the ball? There's been an awfully lot of standing around by our side.
The goal, a corner from Gerrard to the head of Torres, was a decent set piece, but other than that, our attack has been woeful. In fact, Benayoun seems to be the only player cognizant of what's going on at all times and at the opposite end of the spectrum is Torres, who has either fumbled the first touch or just held on for too long.
Our poor form on attack has well made up for the cheating shenanigans of our opponents. The diving has already become viral and at times, laughable. If they weren't so poor at it and the ref had decided early on not to reward the Portuguese side for their deceptive manners, we could very well looking at a second half sans Mascherano. Hyppiä did collect a card for something, though what I'm not sure.
Porto's pace on attack has been lethal and it worries me to no end that our two centre backs are near geriatric and turtle-like by football standards. If Mascherano hadn't put on such an omnipresent and solid display, we could very easily be down at this point. Lord knows Arbeloa has not been his best. Maybe bringing in Riise for the left, taking off Finnan, who has also put on a disappointing performance, and pushing Arbeloa over to the right would be a good move. The Spaniard just seems to play with more confidence on that side.
For us to win this match, we're going to have to come together as a side and not physically. The clutter in the middle has to stop and though we did a decent job of utilizing most of the pitch, there's definitely room for improvement. If we don't start playing more as a cohesive unit and working off one another's ideas, we can kiss the Champions League goodbye (and don't care what the score in Istanbul is).
Edit: What is with all the non-movement off the ball? There's been an awfully lot of standing around by our side.
Liverpool vs Porto: Crouch on the bench, Aurelio nowhere to be found
Here's the line-up:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypiä
Finnan
Babel
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Voronin
Torres
Bench:
Itandje
Crouch
Kewell
Riise
Sissoko
Lucas
Kuyt
I'm beginning to wander about Aurelio's fitness. He's yet to see action for three weeks now with the international break and two matches since. That's probably part of the reason that Crouch is on the bench since they work best together. Babel starting is a bit baffling as well, his record shows that he's exponentially more the threat as a super-sub, while Crouch is just the opposite. Far from me to question Rafa's tactics, but if it doesn't work out, he's going to have a lot of questions to answer.
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypiä
Finnan
Babel
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Voronin
Torres
Bench:
Itandje
Crouch
Kewell
Riise
Sissoko
Lucas
Kuyt
I'm beginning to wander about Aurelio's fitness. He's yet to see action for three weeks now with the international break and two matches since. That's probably part of the reason that Crouch is on the bench since they work best together. Babel starting is a bit baffling as well, his record shows that he's exponentially more the threat as a super-sub, while Crouch is just the opposite. Far from me to question Rafa's tactics, but if it doesn't work out, he's going to have a lot of questions to answer.
Today's Banter: Quaresma wants weeping, Ferreira just wants focus, Lucho laidback, but Kuyt confident
Ricardo Quaresma has volunteered to be the Matías Delgado of today's match. Remember Delgado the Beşiktaş midfielder who proclaimed prior to the 8-0 thrashing his club suffered at the hands of our boys that 'This Liverpool side is vulnerable and not the super team of previous seasons'? Yeah, wasn't so smart, well, Ricardo Quaresma has one-upped the Argentine by declaring that he wants to make us fans cry. His exact words were 'They will weep with despair.' If our boys needed any more motivation, well, there you go. I hope Mascherano personally humbles 'the Q' himself.
Porto manager Jesualdo Ferreira just wants his side to remain focused. Though it would appear that all the current turmoil involving Rafa and the owners would be more of a distraction for our side than his, Ferreira doesn't want his players thinking that we won't be at the top of our game because of it. He needs not look further than Barça in our tie with the Spanish club at Camp Nou last year as proof that controversy sometimes helps a side play better. After all, football is merely just a distraction in itself.
Dragões captain, Lucho González, feels all the pressure is on our side and along with Porto's carefree attitude, could be the right ingredients for an upset. He may be right, but he fails to take in consideration that our club tends to thrive on pressure. Porto also needs to remember that despite a woeful performance from our side when we played them at Estádio do Dragão, they still required a penalty to get the draw. We had one attempt, mind you not just one shot-on, that entire match, and failed to earn a single corner as well.
Dirk Kuyt has nominated himself to be the voice of the rallying cry this time. Talk is cheap, boys, just get it done.
In other news, former Academy product and brief first-team midfielder, David Thompson, has decided to throw in the towel on his career due to knee injury. The 30-year-old played in 56 total matches for our side between 1996 and 2000, tallying five goals.
Finally, it appears the knee injury that forced Paul Anderson off the pitch yesterday is being assessed as not serious and only 'badly bruised.' The on-loan at Swansea winger is very doubtful for his club's FA Cup venture to Horsham on Friday night, but will most likely be back next Tuesday to face Northampton in League One action. I'll be back later with the starting line-up against Porto. Cheers.
Porto manager Jesualdo Ferreira just wants his side to remain focused. Though it would appear that all the current turmoil involving Rafa and the owners would be more of a distraction for our side than his, Ferreira doesn't want his players thinking that we won't be at the top of our game because of it. He needs not look further than Barça in our tie with the Spanish club at Camp Nou last year as proof that controversy sometimes helps a side play better. After all, football is merely just a distraction in itself.
Dragões captain, Lucho González, feels all the pressure is on our side and along with Porto's carefree attitude, could be the right ingredients for an upset. He may be right, but he fails to take in consideration that our club tends to thrive on pressure. Porto also needs to remember that despite a woeful performance from our side when we played them at Estádio do Dragão, they still required a penalty to get the draw. We had one attempt, mind you not just one shot-on, that entire match, and failed to earn a single corner as well.
Dirk Kuyt has nominated himself to be the voice of the rallying cry this time. Talk is cheap, boys, just get it done.
In other news, former Academy product and brief first-team midfielder, David Thompson, has decided to throw in the towel on his career due to knee injury. The 30-year-old played in 56 total matches for our side between 1996 and 2000, tallying five goals.
Finally, it appears the knee injury that forced Paul Anderson off the pitch yesterday is being assessed as not serious and only 'badly bruised.' The on-loan at Swansea winger is very doubtful for his club's FA Cup venture to Horsham on Friday night, but will most likely be back next Tuesday to face Northampton in League One action. I'll be back later with the starting line-up against Porto. Cheers.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Kids recap: Paul Anderson injured as Swans go top & Németh nets brace in Reserves victory
The news out of Swansea is that Paul Anderson had to leave the match with Hartlepool United today in the 53rd minute due to a knee injury. No word on the extent of the knock as of yet, but he was able to 'limp off' the pitch. Despite losing the speedy, young winger, the Swans were able to win 1-0 on an 82nd minute strike from Spanish defender Angel Rangel. It was Rangel's first goal for the club and put his side atop the League One table with 31 points and a +11 goal difference. As soon as I hear anything about the fitness of Anderson, I'll be sure to mention his status in a post.
Also in that match, Godwin Antwi started and played the full ninety for the Monkey Hangers, so I guess he's back in the good graces of manager Danny Wilson. As for our other on-loan boys, Adam Hammill got a rare start for Southampton and played the full match, but failed to be a factor in the Saints 0-2 loss at Ipswich. Besian Idrizaj wasn't even on the Crystal Palace squad who beat Preston North End 2-1 at home. Neil Warnock and Liverpool aren't exactly on the best of terms dating back to the Gérard Houllier days and leading up to last year when Warnock blamed Liverpool for playing weak sides that essentially assisted in Sheffield United's relegation. I hope Idrizaj isn't suffering the brunt of Warnock's Liverpool disdain since the young striker signed with club on a one-year loan back before Warnock became their manager. Hopefully Rafa is keeping an eye on the situation.
Finally, our Reserves side notched a 3-2 win at Man City to go third on the Barclays Premier Reserve League North table. A brace from Hungarian debutant Krisztián Németh along with a strike from Jordy Brouwer with three minutes in regulation supplied the goals. It's got to be encouraging that a side missing three of it's more important players can go on the road and beat a quality side like City. The Reserves next match is scheduled a week from today when Everton visits Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Also in that match, Godwin Antwi started and played the full ninety for the Monkey Hangers, so I guess he's back in the good graces of manager Danny Wilson. As for our other on-loan boys, Adam Hammill got a rare start for Southampton and played the full match, but failed to be a factor in the Saints 0-2 loss at Ipswich. Besian Idrizaj wasn't even on the Crystal Palace squad who beat Preston North End 2-1 at home. Neil Warnock and Liverpool aren't exactly on the best of terms dating back to the Gérard Houllier days and leading up to last year when Warnock blamed Liverpool for playing weak sides that essentially assisted in Sheffield United's relegation. I hope Idrizaj isn't suffering the brunt of Warnock's Liverpool disdain since the young striker signed with club on a one-year loan back before Warnock became their manager. Hopefully Rafa is keeping an eye on the situation.
Finally, our Reserves side notched a 3-2 win at Man City to go third on the Barclays Premier Reserve League North table. A brace from Hungarian debutant Krisztián Németh along with a strike from Jordy Brouwer with three minutes in regulation supplied the goals. It's got to be encouraging that a side missing three of it's more important players can go on the road and beat a quality side like City. The Reserves next match is scheduled a week from today when Everton visits Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Liverpool vs Porto: What will Rafa do?
Here we go again with one of those matches where everything is on the line. The bad news is we still won't have Agger and Alonso, the good news is Yossi could return, Masche should return, and Finnan will be available despite suffering a knock against Newcastle. Some of the players who Rafa starts tomorrow will be of no surprise. I can't see Benitez not going with Crouch, Gerrard, Mascherano, Carra, Hyypiä, Aurelio, Arbeloa, and of course, Reina. That really only leaves two midfield spots and whom will be paired with Crouch.
On the left there are three options: Harry Kewell, Ryan Babel, and Yossi Benayoun. I think Kewell would be the best to go with here, mainly because he's probably more fit than Yossi and Babel's pace and skill is much more deadly as a late-game sub, especially if a spark is required. That leaves us with the other midfield spot. I'm thinking Gerrard will start on the right, so the question obviously is, who will pair with Mascherano? I think I'd take Lucas over Sissoko only because the Brazilian brings so much more energy and enthusiasm to the pitch as of late.
The other option Rafa has is starting Benayoun on the right with Gerrard paired in the middle with Masche, but I think if he goes with Aurelio and Crouch, and they do their normal Fabio cross to Crouch to head on to a streaking Gerrard or Babel or whomever, the middle of the pitch usually becomes cluttered. It's best to start Gerrard on the right to open up the defense, which brings me to the other forward. The problem with starting Torres is that he's a player who rarely ventures from the penalty box corridor, so even with Kewell/Babel on the left, there would still be a large portion of uncovered pitch on that side. That leaves either Kuyt or Voronin, and since Kuyt played Saturday and Voronin seems to be better on the left as it is, I'm gonna have to go with the Ukrainian.
If we fail to establish a lead by the 60th minute, the obvious move would for Babel to come in for Kewell and Torres for Crouch. This provides us with blistering pace against a hopefully fatigued Porto side. I think it's imperative we keep the ball on the ground as much as possible and slowly breakdown the Porto defense, a swift counter on a long ball mishap is all the recipe for an easy opposition score.
Here's my final guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyppiä
Arbeloa
Riise
Mascherano
Lucas
Gerrard
Voronin
Crouch
Bench:
Itandje
Leto
Babel
Torres
Finnan
Benayoun
Kewell
I totally forgot about Riise, probably because he's been playing so poorly lately. All the more reason to see him start here. I know that doesn't leave much defensive cover on the bench, but if something were to occur, Arbeloa would just move over to the spot of need and Finnan would be brought on. I have a good feeling about this match, which isn't always a good thing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Cheers.
Rafa outwits media in pre-Porto match press conference
Despite numerous attempts to get Rafa to 'slip-up' during the pre-Porto match press conference and talk about the ongoing rift he's having with the owners, our manager wouldn't budge. You could tell from the beginning by his playful smirk of a countenance, Benitez was fully prepared to dodge any questions in that regard. The more I think about it though, and after watching it for a second time, the body language of both Rafa and Pepe Reina can almost be described as giddy. It was as if they were ecstatic that instead of concentrating on tomorrow's match, the press was concerned with off-the-pitch diversions. Maybe they are hoping this distracts Porto into thinking our boys won't be focused. It reminds me a bit of the first Barça match from last year. Don't be surprised if a win tomorrow pushes the Rafa/owners conflict down the memory hole.Overall the press conference was quite entertaining as everyone appeared to be in amicable spirits. You can read the transcript on the official site here (or if you have an e-season ticket, you can watch it there as well). You can also watch a part of it here as well.
One of the many highlights is this exchange:
Journalist: You've won a lot of trophies in your career by being single-minded and doing what you think is best for the club you've represented. Are you ever willing to compromise on that?Cheers.
Rafa: The best will be to win tomorrow, so I will try to compromise and win tomorrow.
Kids watch: It's Anderson vs Antwi, Hungarians to make Reserves debuts, Third-straight FA Youth Cup peril, & more
In League One action today, Hartlepool travel to the Liberty to take on Paul Anderson and the Swans. Godwin Antwi is on-loan to the Monkey Hangers and though he played the full ninety on Saturday, his inclusion in the starting XI is nothing definite. The 2-1 loss at Gillingham was the first time in over a month that the Ghanaian-Spanish centre back/defensive midfielder has played in a League One match for Hartlepool. Once again Swansea has a shot to top the League One table with a win.
Hungarian striker Krisztián Németh and keeper Péter Gulácsi are set to make their Reserves side debut tonight at Man City. Oddly enough, Sebastián Leto and Jack Hobbs were excluded from the side. Does that mean they'll play a part against Porto tomorrow? I can definitely see Leto playing in some sort of capacity and Hobbs on the bench as a precautionary measure, especially with Agger still apparently unavailable. I guess Lucas is now rightfully considered a member of the first team. I'll be particularly curious to see how Németh does for us tonight. If I have the time, expect a review, but with our match tomorrow, don't hold your breathe.
The chance of our youth side winning a third straight FA Cup took a huge blow when we drew perennial teenage powerhouse Wycombe. The young Wanderers have strung together an alarming run of results to start their season, which has them undefeated in 12 matches (8-4-0) with a stunning goal difference of +26. That includes a pair of 8-0 thrashings of Hereford United and a 5-0 win over Dagenham and Redbridge. All the aforementioned results were played at Adams Park, where this upcoming FA Cup battle will be played out as well on December 12th.
Other on-loan players who could see action today are Besian Idrizaj at Crystal Palace, as the Eagles host former player Neil Mellor and Preston North End, and Adam Hammill at Southampton, as the Saints travel to Ipswich.
Hungarian striker Krisztián Németh and keeper Péter Gulácsi are set to make their Reserves side debut tonight at Man City. Oddly enough, Sebastián Leto and Jack Hobbs were excluded from the side. Does that mean they'll play a part against Porto tomorrow? I can definitely see Leto playing in some sort of capacity and Hobbs on the bench as a precautionary measure, especially with Agger still apparently unavailable. I guess Lucas is now rightfully considered a member of the first team. I'll be particularly curious to see how Németh does for us tonight. If I have the time, expect a review, but with our match tomorrow, don't hold your breathe.
The chance of our youth side winning a third straight FA Cup took a huge blow when we drew perennial teenage powerhouse Wycombe. The young Wanderers have strung together an alarming run of results to start their season, which has them undefeated in 12 matches (8-4-0) with a stunning goal difference of +26. That includes a pair of 8-0 thrashings of Hereford United and a 5-0 win over Dagenham and Redbridge. All the aforementioned results were played at Adams Park, where this upcoming FA Cup battle will be played out as well on December 12th.
Other on-loan players who could see action today are Besian Idrizaj at Crystal Palace, as the Eagles host former player Neil Mellor and Preston North End, and Adam Hammill at Southampton, as the Saints travel to Ipswich.
Today's Banter: The mass exodus that would follow Rafa, The press & pundits toe the company line, Gerrard speaks up, & more
With the impending (and ridiculous) debacle concerning the future of Rafael Benitez set to play out in the near future, a potential aftershock to ponder is that his departure could gut our side, if not first psychologically, eventually physically. The possibility of those who followed Rafa from abroad requesting a transfer or, in the case of Javier Mascherano, refusing to sign a permanent, is highly likely. Contractually obligated or not, a band of discontent players is a near impossible task to motivate and in our case, a large portion of the squad would at least secretly harbor feelings of betrayal for the men signing their paychecks.
The lack of professionalism displayed in the situation so far would surely dampen any calls of such a notion from our players. Relieving Benitez of his managerial duties is akin to a spit in the face of our Spanish, South American, and other foreign players who played under Rafa at his previous clubs. If our owners want a plague of strife followed by a substantial player-forced reshuffle that has the plausible backlash of crippling the side, then by all means they should rid themselves of Rafa and his small-spending ways. The threat of Jose Mourinho and his thriftiness is laughable at best.
This is ultimately about money, nothing more and nothing less, not egos nor power-trips. Rafa has done an absolute brilliant job at building a squad using peanuts to lure elephants. If Gillett and Hicks think that ridding themselves of the Spaniard is even an option financially, they're far worse businessmen than can be fathomed. Securing a transfer fee for Kaladze of £4m and signing Mascherano to a permanent for £17m, fee and salary, were both tremendously savvy deals. The former appears to be no longer an option while the latter is in serious jeopardy.
The monetary repercussions of dealing with a squad full of scorned players is unimaginable. The losses due to Bosmans and circumstantial devaluations could easily reach a nine-figure sum. All investment of even the past year would most likely go to waste. The oath of fealty when it comes to players always lies with their manager. He's the one that shares their love of football and there will be always be someone to sign their checks. If Gillett and Hicks truly are shrewd businessmen then a simple weighing of pros and cons can only lead them to one conclusion, give Rafa the meager amounts he needs to make your club even more profitable when you sell or suffer the consequences of even more dire financial constraints.
Perusing the press today, I found two articles of particular interest. The first is a piece at Sky Sports which is disconcerting in tone, but suspicious in agenda. According to Spain-based journalist Graham Hunter, Rafa Benitez 'has changed.' Mr. Hunter says he has heard such notions regarding the alleged personality metamorphosis from 'many people' and it is 'why so many of his friends and supporters have left the club.' Friends and supporters left the club? Like who? The only person who has left the club due to a rift with Rafa that I'm aware of is Pako Ayestaran and from what I understand that was due to a philosophical change in training methods by Benitez that Ayesteran did not support. This article has anti-Rafa PR campaign written all over it and is illogical in premise. Rafa wants what is best for the club because in the end, it's what's best for him, an attempt to imply anything different is just absurd.
Then we have an even more odd article by former Liverpool great Ian Rush. He starts out chastising Rafa Benitez for not doing things the 'Liverpool way' and keeping the rift behind closed doors, but Benitez wasn't the instigator nor the violator of the unwritten rule, Hicks and Gillett spoke first with their official statement on the official Liverpool site. Had the owners not made such a strange announcement, Rafa wouldn't have been hounded and pressured by the press to reveal the true origins of the declaration. Then Rush's article gets even more uncanny as he goes on to praise Benitez for his accomplishments in his short time with our club and makes a plea for keeping him on board. So first he slaps Rafa on the hand for something he didn't do, but then follows it up with elicit praise for our manager. Interesting.
Steven Gerrard has basically stated that he will not be getting involved in the spat between our manager and owners. I can definitely see his view, I mean, as a club we are entering a crucial string of fixtures that we need to win, especially in Champions League, and all distractions should be set aside to concentrate on the task at hand. I do hope he realizes though that if push comes to shove, he has the power to play a major role in doing what is best for the club.
Finally, two Liverpool legends, Ian Callaghan and Gerry Byrne, are set to receive winner's medals for being part of the England side that won the 1966 World Cup. Since neither player were part of the XI that played in the final, they were excluded from receiving a medal. Now thanks to England 2018 World Cup bid ambassador Richard Caborn and FIFA President Sepp Blatter, all members appointed to the squad will do so. Cheers.
The lack of professionalism displayed in the situation so far would surely dampen any calls of such a notion from our players. Relieving Benitez of his managerial duties is akin to a spit in the face of our Spanish, South American, and other foreign players who played under Rafa at his previous clubs. If our owners want a plague of strife followed by a substantial player-forced reshuffle that has the plausible backlash of crippling the side, then by all means they should rid themselves of Rafa and his small-spending ways. The threat of Jose Mourinho and his thriftiness is laughable at best.
This is ultimately about money, nothing more and nothing less, not egos nor power-trips. Rafa has done an absolute brilliant job at building a squad using peanuts to lure elephants. If Gillett and Hicks think that ridding themselves of the Spaniard is even an option financially, they're far worse businessmen than can be fathomed. Securing a transfer fee for Kaladze of £4m and signing Mascherano to a permanent for £17m, fee and salary, were both tremendously savvy deals. The former appears to be no longer an option while the latter is in serious jeopardy.
The monetary repercussions of dealing with a squad full of scorned players is unimaginable. The losses due to Bosmans and circumstantial devaluations could easily reach a nine-figure sum. All investment of even the past year would most likely go to waste. The oath of fealty when it comes to players always lies with their manager. He's the one that shares their love of football and there will be always be someone to sign their checks. If Gillett and Hicks truly are shrewd businessmen then a simple weighing of pros and cons can only lead them to one conclusion, give Rafa the meager amounts he needs to make your club even more profitable when you sell or suffer the consequences of even more dire financial constraints.
Perusing the press today, I found two articles of particular interest. The first is a piece at Sky Sports which is disconcerting in tone, but suspicious in agenda. According to Spain-based journalist Graham Hunter, Rafa Benitez 'has changed.' Mr. Hunter says he has heard such notions regarding the alleged personality metamorphosis from 'many people' and it is 'why so many of his friends and supporters have left the club.' Friends and supporters left the club? Like who? The only person who has left the club due to a rift with Rafa that I'm aware of is Pako Ayestaran and from what I understand that was due to a philosophical change in training methods by Benitez that Ayesteran did not support. This article has anti-Rafa PR campaign written all over it and is illogical in premise. Rafa wants what is best for the club because in the end, it's what's best for him, an attempt to imply anything different is just absurd.
Then we have an even more odd article by former Liverpool great Ian Rush. He starts out chastising Rafa Benitez for not doing things the 'Liverpool way' and keeping the rift behind closed doors, but Benitez wasn't the instigator nor the violator of the unwritten rule, Hicks and Gillett spoke first with their official statement on the official Liverpool site. Had the owners not made such a strange announcement, Rafa wouldn't have been hounded and pressured by the press to reveal the true origins of the declaration. Then Rush's article gets even more uncanny as he goes on to praise Benitez for his accomplishments in his short time with our club and makes a plea for keeping him on board. So first he slaps Rafa on the hand for something he didn't do, but then follows it up with elicit praise for our manager. Interesting.
Steven Gerrard has basically stated that he will not be getting involved in the spat between our manager and owners. I can definitely see his view, I mean, as a club we are entering a crucial string of fixtures that we need to win, especially in Champions League, and all distractions should be set aside to concentrate on the task at hand. I do hope he realizes though that if push comes to shove, he has the power to play a major role in doing what is best for the club.
Finally, two Liverpool legends, Ian Callaghan and Gerry Byrne, are set to receive winner's medals for being part of the England side that won the 1966 World Cup. Since neither player were part of the XI that played in the final, they were excluded from receiving a medal. Now thanks to England 2018 World Cup bid ambassador Richard Caborn and FIFA President Sepp Blatter, all members appointed to the squad will do so. Cheers.
Monday, November 26, 2007
A petition to back Rafa Benitez as manager
Please sign this petition if you support Rafa Benitez, want his services as manager retained and his transfer policies implemented. It's imperative that Gillett and Hicks understand that this isn't their club, it's ours as well.
petition link:
http://www.petitiononline.com/amg83ds/petition.html
Cheers,
Brian
petition link:
http://www.petitiononline.com/amg83ds/petition.html
Cheers,
Brian
£4m?! You're having a laugh! Is it time for Gerrard to get involved?
According to this article in the Liverpool Daily Post, the current rift between Rafa and our owners is over £4m. That's the price quoted by AC Milan for their centre back, Kahka Kaladze, a player who would have instantly provided coverage at not only at that position, but at left back as well. In hindsight, I'm not sure if it would've mattered if you consider that the more Hyppiä has played, the better he's become, but I'm also not sure how long the aging Finn can keep it up.
Ultimately though, £4m is nothing, especially of a player with Kaladze's experience and quality. If the owners are going to quarrel over what essentially is peanuts, then Rafa has every right to go elsewhere. Think about that: £4m to basically put the problem of lack of centre back depth to rest. That's utterly ridiculous and inexcusable. If that's not a clear indication that Hicks and Gillett have no clue about football and/or bit off more than they could chew when they bought the club, I don't know what is.
I initially said I wouldn't be addressing this issue, but if there's any truth to this report, it's difficult to ignore. If Rafa's job is in jeopardy because our owners are misinformed in thinking we have the horses to win any race, than maybe it's time the most influential person at the club get involved. I know it's not his place, but Gerrard should at least offer some sort of mediation. I mean, according to most newspapers and blogs, he's an expert on how to solve England's lack of international competitiveness issue, so this should be a walk in the park for him. The squad as a whole should step up and show solidarity in backing Rafa, even if they disagree with his tactics and policies. He wants what's best for the side and has the silverware to prove he knows what he's doing.
The owners need to understand that they got the steal of the century when they bought our club and with just a bit more tweaking (by investing more money, of course), they could build something special. They basically bought a squad that has tons of potential, but just not there yet. Not handing over a mere £4m to augment the side even more, worries me to no end. I'm hoping a voice of reason comes out of somewhere to set everyone straight and I'm sure Gerrard could play that role, but if the meeting on December 16th doesn't go well, we can forget about even having a hope for silverware.
One tactic that the owners have implemented that has all the scent of a bureaucratic power play is stating that Rick Parry will be in charge of transfers. Naming a mediator whom is clearly on their side is a brilliant managerial move, but will only place the club deeper into disharmony and push Rafa further out the door. Ultimately Parry doesn't control the funds nor does he know what's best for our squad, Rafa does. This is where Gerrard needs to come forward and take the side of his manager. Stevie-G is the face and clear-cut breadwinner of the club, without his heroics, the mystique is lost. He is a local boy who against all odds has become a Champion of Europe, leading our club to amazing heights. If he gets involved and the owners still don't see it Rafa's way, well, then I guess we really will know where their true intentions lie and it's not for the better of the club.
Ultimately though, £4m is nothing, especially of a player with Kaladze's experience and quality. If the owners are going to quarrel over what essentially is peanuts, then Rafa has every right to go elsewhere. Think about that: £4m to basically put the problem of lack of centre back depth to rest. That's utterly ridiculous and inexcusable. If that's not a clear indication that Hicks and Gillett have no clue about football and/or bit off more than they could chew when they bought the club, I don't know what is.
I initially said I wouldn't be addressing this issue, but if there's any truth to this report, it's difficult to ignore. If Rafa's job is in jeopardy because our owners are misinformed in thinking we have the horses to win any race, than maybe it's time the most influential person at the club get involved. I know it's not his place, but Gerrard should at least offer some sort of mediation. I mean, according to most newspapers and blogs, he's an expert on how to solve England's lack of international competitiveness issue, so this should be a walk in the park for him. The squad as a whole should step up and show solidarity in backing Rafa, even if they disagree with his tactics and policies. He wants what's best for the side and has the silverware to prove he knows what he's doing.
The owners need to understand that they got the steal of the century when they bought our club and with just a bit more tweaking (by investing more money, of course), they could build something special. They basically bought a squad that has tons of potential, but just not there yet. Not handing over a mere £4m to augment the side even more, worries me to no end. I'm hoping a voice of reason comes out of somewhere to set everyone straight and I'm sure Gerrard could play that role, but if the meeting on December 16th doesn't go well, we can forget about even having a hope for silverware.
One tactic that the owners have implemented that has all the scent of a bureaucratic power play is stating that Rick Parry will be in charge of transfers. Naming a mediator whom is clearly on their side is a brilliant managerial move, but will only place the club deeper into disharmony and push Rafa further out the door. Ultimately Parry doesn't control the funds nor does he know what's best for our squad, Rafa does. This is where Gerrard needs to come forward and take the side of his manager. Stevie-G is the face and clear-cut breadwinner of the club, without his heroics, the mystique is lost. He is a local boy who against all odds has become a Champion of Europe, leading our club to amazing heights. If he gets involved and the owners still don't see it Rafa's way, well, then I guess we really will know where their true intentions lie and it's not for the better of the club.
Liverpool 3, Newcastle 0: Player Ratings
Before I get to my ratings for Saturday's match, I'd just like to say that there's absolutely nothing going on with our beloved club. Speculation about the rift between the owners and Rafa has been taken far out of the realm of common sense and given way too much attention. Mostly from wind-up blogs and children still craving attention from their neglectful mother. Who cares? Until something actually happens, I'm not even going to address it's existence. Also, any talk of Xabi Alonso going elsewhere is rubbish. Moving on...
Pepe Reina 5
An average outing for our keeper. I thought he was a bit lucky when Alan Smith knocked it wide and also I wish he'd stop trying the long ball so often. That probably is Rafa's fault though.
Alvaro Arbeloa 4
Was quite sloppy on the ball and just seemed out of it most the match. He didn't take any Newcastle players on nor did he even appear to want to attempt a run at the goal. Like I've said prior, he looks much more comfortable on the right, which brings me to ask where was Aurelio?
Jamie Carragher 6
Carra had to do little if nothing and in fact, seemed excited to get to come up for corners. Still, he was his reliable self.
Sami Hyppiä 7
Was again outstanding. Officially got the assist to Kuyt and even though it was cheeky little deflection, it was really Gerrard who earned it. As Carra has said recently, when Sami plays well, the team plays well. He's probably earned himself another year with the club with his recent run of matches, but Agger still has to get the start when fit. Hopefully Hyypiä won't fall back into a rut when he begins to play less. Hey, maybe Carra can have some games off?
Steve Finnan 6
Other than a wild cross in the first half, he was his same old reliable, efficient self.
Lucas 7.5
What can you say about our little Brazilian wrecking ball? He's never going to get the proper recognition from the press nor pundits, but he's on pace to be a LFC great. His performance here truly showed his footy smarts and almost allows me not worry about losing Mascherano. Almost. He lead the side with 11 tackles while committing just three fouls and also lead us in attempted passes with 63 and completed passes with 59. In fact, he had more completed passes than anyone else on our side had successful ones. Oh, and he got the assist on Gerrard's free kick goal.
Sissoko 6
I don't think most people understand Momo's job out there. He's not there to score goals, make brilliant passes, or even split defenses with runs off the ball. Whenever he does do these things, it's just icing. He's a destroyer and his job is to disrupt the flow of our opponents and he does this very well. The problem is we have Xabi, Masche, and Lucas, who are all pretty good at it as well, plus offer a little bit more. I'm sure it's up to the Malian if he wants to stick around though. Speaking of Mali, he'll be joining his fellow countrymen when the Africa Cup starts up.
Gerrard 7.5 Man of the Match
I'm really tempted to give MotM to Lucas, but our skipper was just brilliant and had he not scored that free kick goal, there's a good chance the match would have ended in a scoreless draw or worse. His assist to Babel was brilliant as well. You can just see the confidence oozing in Stevie-G these days as he's on a roll. That's six goals in seven matches and seven overall. Playing him on the right allows him to roam free and give us inspirational performances like he did Saturday. I hope Rafa continues to play him at that spot even when Pennant comes back.
Harry Kewell 4
Is King Harry timid about thumping away at the ball or what? I don't think this match could have done much for his confidence since he was clearly woeful. Hopefully it won't affect his playing opportunities because he probably needs to play more often and for longer durations if he's to get in sync with the rest of the club. The difference when Ryan Babel came on the pitch was quite evident, we were a better, more fluid side.
Dirk Kuyt 6
The ever efficient Dirk Kuyt: 2 shots, 1 goal, an 84% pass completion rate, and five tackles to boot. He doesn't want your praise, he just wants to do his job.
Fernando Torres 6
A comical performance that I hope he can look back on and laugh. In the end we didn't need the two or three or even four goals he probably should have had, so I hope it doesn't have any effect on future performances. He still worried the living daylights out of the Newcastle defense and also won the foul that gave Gerrard his free kick goal.
Ryan Babel 8
Had he played the entire match, he would have probably run away with the Man-of award. All that happens when he's on the pitch for thirty minutes is we score a goal, this time he was the benefactor of his own influence. Is he the best super-sub in the league? I'm beginning to think so. He's brilliant nonetheless.
Neither Crouch nor Riise did much of anything so I won't bother taking the time to rip their poor, yet time-constrained performances. I will say this though, Riise was particularly dreadful, so much so that I'm beginning to wonder if he's fully fit.
Well, there ya go, feel free to comment back, I have about thirty that I have to go through for past posts, but I hope to get to them sometime today. No daily today since there's nothing new or relevant worth discussing. Cheers.
Pepe Reina 5
An average outing for our keeper. I thought he was a bit lucky when Alan Smith knocked it wide and also I wish he'd stop trying the long ball so often. That probably is Rafa's fault though.
Alvaro Arbeloa 4
Was quite sloppy on the ball and just seemed out of it most the match. He didn't take any Newcastle players on nor did he even appear to want to attempt a run at the goal. Like I've said prior, he looks much more comfortable on the right, which brings me to ask where was Aurelio?
Jamie Carragher 6
Carra had to do little if nothing and in fact, seemed excited to get to come up for corners. Still, he was his reliable self.
Sami Hyppiä 7
Was again outstanding. Officially got the assist to Kuyt and even though it was cheeky little deflection, it was really Gerrard who earned it. As Carra has said recently, when Sami plays well, the team plays well. He's probably earned himself another year with the club with his recent run of matches, but Agger still has to get the start when fit. Hopefully Hyypiä won't fall back into a rut when he begins to play less. Hey, maybe Carra can have some games off?
Steve Finnan 6
Other than a wild cross in the first half, he was his same old reliable, efficient self.
Lucas 7.5
What can you say about our little Brazilian wrecking ball? He's never going to get the proper recognition from the press nor pundits, but he's on pace to be a LFC great. His performance here truly showed his footy smarts and almost allows me not worry about losing Mascherano. Almost. He lead the side with 11 tackles while committing just three fouls and also lead us in attempted passes with 63 and completed passes with 59. In fact, he had more completed passes than anyone else on our side had successful ones. Oh, and he got the assist on Gerrard's free kick goal.
Sissoko 6
I don't think most people understand Momo's job out there. He's not there to score goals, make brilliant passes, or even split defenses with runs off the ball. Whenever he does do these things, it's just icing. He's a destroyer and his job is to disrupt the flow of our opponents and he does this very well. The problem is we have Xabi, Masche, and Lucas, who are all pretty good at it as well, plus offer a little bit more. I'm sure it's up to the Malian if he wants to stick around though. Speaking of Mali, he'll be joining his fellow countrymen when the Africa Cup starts up.
Gerrard 7.5 Man of the Match
I'm really tempted to give MotM to Lucas, but our skipper was just brilliant and had he not scored that free kick goal, there's a good chance the match would have ended in a scoreless draw or worse. His assist to Babel was brilliant as well. You can just see the confidence oozing in Stevie-G these days as he's on a roll. That's six goals in seven matches and seven overall. Playing him on the right allows him to roam free and give us inspirational performances like he did Saturday. I hope Rafa continues to play him at that spot even when Pennant comes back.
Harry Kewell 4
Is King Harry timid about thumping away at the ball or what? I don't think this match could have done much for his confidence since he was clearly woeful. Hopefully it won't affect his playing opportunities because he probably needs to play more often and for longer durations if he's to get in sync with the rest of the club. The difference when Ryan Babel came on the pitch was quite evident, we were a better, more fluid side.
Dirk Kuyt 6
The ever efficient Dirk Kuyt: 2 shots, 1 goal, an 84% pass completion rate, and five tackles to boot. He doesn't want your praise, he just wants to do his job.
Fernando Torres 6
A comical performance that I hope he can look back on and laugh. In the end we didn't need the two or three or even four goals he probably should have had, so I hope it doesn't have any effect on future performances. He still worried the living daylights out of the Newcastle defense and also won the foul that gave Gerrard his free kick goal.
Ryan Babel 8
Had he played the entire match, he would have probably run away with the Man-of award. All that happens when he's on the pitch for thirty minutes is we score a goal, this time he was the benefactor of his own influence. Is he the best super-sub in the league? I'm beginning to think so. He's brilliant nonetheless.
Neither Crouch nor Riise did much of anything so I won't bother taking the time to rip their poor, yet time-constrained performances. I will say this though, Riise was particularly dreadful, so much so that I'm beginning to wonder if he's fully fit.
Well, there ya go, feel free to comment back, I have about thirty that I have to go through for past posts, but I hope to get to them sometime today. No daily today since there's nothing new or relevant worth discussing. Cheers.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Liverpool 3, Newcastle 0: And some have the nerve to say he isn't world class...
Dear Big Sam,
Up your hole and shut your trap. Once again Rafa showed he was the superior manager.
Cheers,
Every Liverpool Supporter (and probably a few Magpie ones as well)
Once again Steven Gerrard proved his class in a thoroughly dominating display where even a three goal margin of victory doesn't properly tell the tale of the match. It could have been much worse, but it seems Fernando Torres refuses to score a simple goal, which is fine by me. As long as he nets the difficult ones I don't care, but it was a bit comical after awhile.
If there's one negative effect Torres has on the side, it's the long ball. Particularly in the beginning of matches, everyone tries to chuck it down the field and have him chase after it. The problem with that is, aside from it occasionally working which makes it worse, it prevents from 'breaking in the ball' so to speak. Passing around the ball just to keep possession builds confidence and wears down the opposition, but when we start with the long ball and fail to produce, it has the opposite effect. It stagnates controlling the match, which should be our side's first objective instead of a quick, cheap goal. Thankfully we tend to realize this about twenty minutes in to most matches, as we did today, but if we started from the onset, we could be even more assertive throughout.
The man of the match was without a doubt Steven Gerrard. Our captain had a world class free kick goal to start things off and then assisted on the other two. His brilliance just cannot be understated. I wouldn't sell him for £100m and there's no player in the world I'd trade him for. That's six goals in seven matches and probably his most inspiring display of the year. Anybody who watched that match today and still says he's not world class is obviously mental.
I'll do grades eventually, but despite the relatively easy three points, not everyone was on top of their game. Kewell, Arbeloa, and of course, Torres, have had better days, but in the end it didn't matter. I just hope no of them let it affect them in the long run. We'll probably read or hear how rubbish Sissoko was, but though he didn't have his best match he did complete 39 of 42 passes and was second on the side with 7 tackles. Lucas Leiva was superb overall and lead the side with 11 tackles.
It's always a good sign when your club doesn't play their best and sleeps its way through a commanding victory as they did today. I can only imagine the scoreline had we be on our game. It was really good for Kuyt to get the goal even if he had to do basically nothing to get it and whatta ya know? Babel comes on and we score, or well, he scored, as expected. We are now three points behind Man U with a game-in-hand and after today, even the most cynical supporter like myself, sort of believes we have a shot at the title. Next match is Wednesday when Porto comes to Anfield for a crucial Champions League tie. Let's pray we continue our winning ways. Cheers.
Up your hole and shut your trap. Once again Rafa showed he was the superior manager.
Cheers,
Every Liverpool Supporter (and probably a few Magpie ones as well)
Once again Steven Gerrard proved his class in a thoroughly dominating display where even a three goal margin of victory doesn't properly tell the tale of the match. It could have been much worse, but it seems Fernando Torres refuses to score a simple goal, which is fine by me. As long as he nets the difficult ones I don't care, but it was a bit comical after awhile.
If there's one negative effect Torres has on the side, it's the long ball. Particularly in the beginning of matches, everyone tries to chuck it down the field and have him chase after it. The problem with that is, aside from it occasionally working which makes it worse, it prevents from 'breaking in the ball' so to speak. Passing around the ball just to keep possession builds confidence and wears down the opposition, but when we start with the long ball and fail to produce, it has the opposite effect. It stagnates controlling the match, which should be our side's first objective instead of a quick, cheap goal. Thankfully we tend to realize this about twenty minutes in to most matches, as we did today, but if we started from the onset, we could be even more assertive throughout.
The man of the match was without a doubt Steven Gerrard. Our captain had a world class free kick goal to start things off and then assisted on the other two. His brilliance just cannot be understated. I wouldn't sell him for £100m and there's no player in the world I'd trade him for. That's six goals in seven matches and probably his most inspiring display of the year. Anybody who watched that match today and still says he's not world class is obviously mental.
I'll do grades eventually, but despite the relatively easy three points, not everyone was on top of their game. Kewell, Arbeloa, and of course, Torres, have had better days, but in the end it didn't matter. I just hope no of them let it affect them in the long run. We'll probably read or hear how rubbish Sissoko was, but though he didn't have his best match he did complete 39 of 42 passes and was second on the side with 7 tackles. Lucas Leiva was superb overall and lead the side with 11 tackles.
It's always a good sign when your club doesn't play their best and sleeps its way through a commanding victory as they did today. I can only imagine the scoreline had we be on our game. It was really good for Kuyt to get the goal even if he had to do basically nothing to get it and whatta ya know? Babel comes on and we score, or well, he scored, as expected. We are now three points behind Man U with a game-in-hand and after today, even the most cynical supporter like myself, sort of believes we have a shot at the title. Next match is Wednesday when Porto comes to Anfield for a crucial Champions League tie. Let's pray we continue our winning ways. Cheers.
Liverpool at Newcastle: Kewell and Lucas to start!
Here's the line-up:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Kewell
Sissoko
Lucas
Gerrard
Kuyt
Torres
Subs:
Itandje
Riise
Crouch
Babel
Mascherano
Love Lucas starting! And with Kewell! And with Sissoko! I guess Agger isn't fit yet. Anyhow, let's hope this is the right ingredients for a winning recipe. Cheers.
By the way, I have about 30 comments I've yet to check because I've been busy, but I'll get to them in due time. I've had to be an uncle for the last few days, sorry.
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Kewell
Sissoko
Lucas
Gerrard
Kuyt
Torres
Subs:
Itandje
Riise
Crouch
Babel
Mascherano
Love Lucas starting! And with Kewell! And with Sissoko! I guess Agger isn't fit yet. Anyhow, let's hope this is the right ingredients for a winning recipe. Cheers.
By the way, I have about 30 comments I've yet to check because I've been busy, but I'll get to them in due time. I've had to be an uncle for the last few days, sorry.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Liverpool at Newcastle: What will Rafa do?
Finally, the exhibition matches have commenced for a while and we can get back to football that matters. Last year's trip to St. James Park was a comedy of errors played in a virtual swamp and I'm hoping we don't see a repeat of that tomorrow. The good news is that we should have a fully fit Fernando Torres and possibly Daniel Agger as well. I'd be somewhat surprised if Agger started, but then again, Hyppiä played for Finland on Wednesday, so it's not as if the most-likely fatigued Finn would be the better choice here. There's a chance that Benayoun might be available as well as he is recovering from a groin injury, though Xabi is definitely still out.
A lot of our players played either Tuesday or Wednesday in international competition, so I think it's safe to say those who didn't will probably start, which means Carra, Arbeloa, Aurelio, Kewell, Torres, and Sissoko should be out there from the onset tomorrow. I would like to see Lucas start as well, but given it's away from Anfield against a semi-formidable opponent, I doubt he will. The rest of the squad really depends on the fitness of others. I think Kuyt will start up front with Torres, only because he played just the second half in the Netherland's loss to Belarus. From the looks of the result, he along with the rest of the side probably didn't try too hard.
Anyhow, here's my guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Carra
Agger
Arbeloa
Kewell
Sissoko
Mascherano
Gerrard
Kuyt
Torres
Bench:
Martin (or Itandje)
Babel
Lucas
Hyypiä
Finnan
I would love to see Finnan start at right wing, but since Rafa hasn't done that in a long time, I can't see him pulling it out of nowhere and doing it here. I feel Sissoko will be the key, if he plays well, we'll win. If he doesn't it may be the beginning of his exodus. We are lucky to have seven well-rested players and we should definitely need it. St. James Park hasn't been nice to us over the years and I have a feeling that won't end tomorrow, even though I would for our boys to stick to 'Big' Sam Allardyce. Cheers.
Today's Banter: Hicks/Gillett show their true colors & more
What the hell is going on? I'm not really angry about the issue and I can't honestly say I'm surprised, but the recent action of our owners is just witless. Why would they come out with this statement? It makes no sense. Rafa hasn't voiced any complaints to the press concerning transfers, the closest he did was talk about wanting to sign Mascherano permanently and that wasn't even recently.
If that wasn't enough, Tom Hicks made more statements to the Liverpool Echo, which in my opinion is starting to make this sound like an anti-Rafa PR campaign. Here's what he had to say: "After the Champions League final in Athens, Rafa made certain demands of us and we responded to those demands in the summer... We brought in some good players and spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club. We now have some crucial games coming up in The Premier League and the Champions League and we want to see if we can win these games with the players we have. This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this. We told him to concentrate on the games coming up and nothing else and I guess he didn’t like that. George and I will be over in mid-December and that is the time to talk about other issues. It is really time for Rafa to quit talking about new players and to coach the players we have."
Let's take a closer look at these words, since Hicks appears to make some distorted allusions. First off, Liverpool "spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club." We only spent a net of £21-25m after you consider the amounts received from transfers. That's nothing compared to what Man U spent and nowhere near the boatloads Abramovich had to payout to make Chelsea competitive. Then he says, "This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this." Really? If he was frustrated, why are we hearing it from you? Rafa made no statements in this regard. To say such things is irresponsible and unprofessional. The owners clearly know nothing about football and furthermore, I actually think they believe we supporters aren't smart enough to assess our own club. If they aren't in it for the money, as they claimed when first purchasing the club, then they are the ones that need to shut up and start handing over the transfer money.
It's not like we'll need much anyhow. If we sell Carson and Crouch, that's at least £20m to spend right there. That covers Mascherano's fee and puts a little toward a centre back, hopefully Ezequiel Garay. We could also use another forward, but it's not a dire need with Babel capable of playing up front. If Hicks and Gillett think they can get away with just spending £25m and then blame Rafa for not bringing success to our club, they're sorely mistaken. Give him the players he needs or sell the f**king club! It's not as if he's spending insane amounts. Give him Man U money and we'll win the league, I guarantee it, but until then, they are the ones that need to shut up. Okay, so I did get worked up a little over that after all, but I'm not going to take any bullshit from our owners.
It's looking more and more likely that Hicks and Gillett had no idea what they were getting into when they bought the club. This isn't the Texas Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, or NASCAR. Even though Rafa has done phenomenal with the minimal funds provided and is slowly building our youth and development programs, the financial practices of their American sports franchises just won't cut it in the Premiership. There's no chance of parity curbed by a salary cap or luxury tax and it's going to be at least five years until we'll see the fruits of Rafa's youth movement ripen, but there's no guarantee of that either. If we don't see an investment of at least £60m in the next two transfer windows, I wouldn't blame Rafa for walking, and if that happens, there'll be hell to pay.
Speaking of which, in the now famous press conference from earlier today where Rafa said, "I am focusing on coaching and training my team." Thirteen times (!!!) in all, as response to questions other than about the Newcastle match, he also said he would consider the England job if he received an offer. It gave me a bit of much needed comic relief, but in reality, he'll never be offered the position and if so, would never accept. Rafa running England would be a disaster and both parties probably know it. It's not as if he wouldn't be successful, because I'm pretty certain he would, but most of the matches they would win would be utterly tedious 1-0 and ultimately that would be bad for England and the sport itself. I'm sure Rafa was just sending a message to the owners that he could go elsewhere, but they should already know that. Valencia and most La Liga clubs for that matter would love to have Benitez as their boss.
In transfer news, Ryan Flynn has joined Hereford United on one-month loan. He joins fellow LFC teammate Robbie Threlfall at the Edgar Street. Flynn was part of both the 2006 and 2007 FA Youth Cup winning sides. He'll be with the Bulls until the 22nd of December. Cheers.
If that wasn't enough, Tom Hicks made more statements to the Liverpool Echo, which in my opinion is starting to make this sound like an anti-Rafa PR campaign. Here's what he had to say: "After the Champions League final in Athens, Rafa made certain demands of us and we responded to those demands in the summer... We brought in some good players and spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club. We now have some crucial games coming up in The Premier League and the Champions League and we want to see if we can win these games with the players we have. This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this. We told him to concentrate on the games coming up and nothing else and I guess he didn’t like that. George and I will be over in mid-December and that is the time to talk about other issues. It is really time for Rafa to quit talking about new players and to coach the players we have."
Let's take a closer look at these words, since Hicks appears to make some distorted allusions. First off, Liverpool "spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club." We only spent a net of £21-25m after you consider the amounts received from transfers. That's nothing compared to what Man U spent and nowhere near the boatloads Abramovich had to payout to make Chelsea competitive. Then he says, "This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this." Really? If he was frustrated, why are we hearing it from you? Rafa made no statements in this regard. To say such things is irresponsible and unprofessional. The owners clearly know nothing about football and furthermore, I actually think they believe we supporters aren't smart enough to assess our own club. If they aren't in it for the money, as they claimed when first purchasing the club, then they are the ones that need to shut up and start handing over the transfer money.
It's not like we'll need much anyhow. If we sell Carson and Crouch, that's at least £20m to spend right there. That covers Mascherano's fee and puts a little toward a centre back, hopefully Ezequiel Garay. We could also use another forward, but it's not a dire need with Babel capable of playing up front. If Hicks and Gillett think they can get away with just spending £25m and then blame Rafa for not bringing success to our club, they're sorely mistaken. Give him the players he needs or sell the f**king club! It's not as if he's spending insane amounts. Give him Man U money and we'll win the league, I guarantee it, but until then, they are the ones that need to shut up. Okay, so I did get worked up a little over that after all, but I'm not going to take any bullshit from our owners.
It's looking more and more likely that Hicks and Gillett had no idea what they were getting into when they bought the club. This isn't the Texas Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, or NASCAR. Even though Rafa has done phenomenal with the minimal funds provided and is slowly building our youth and development programs, the financial practices of their American sports franchises just won't cut it in the Premiership. There's no chance of parity curbed by a salary cap or luxury tax and it's going to be at least five years until we'll see the fruits of Rafa's youth movement ripen, but there's no guarantee of that either. If we don't see an investment of at least £60m in the next two transfer windows, I wouldn't blame Rafa for walking, and if that happens, there'll be hell to pay.
Speaking of which, in the now famous press conference from earlier today where Rafa said, "I am focusing on coaching and training my team." Thirteen times (!!!) in all, as response to questions other than about the Newcastle match, he also said he would consider the England job if he received an offer. It gave me a bit of much needed comic relief, but in reality, he'll never be offered the position and if so, would never accept. Rafa running England would be a disaster and both parties probably know it. It's not as if he wouldn't be successful, because I'm pretty certain he would, but most of the matches they would win would be utterly tedious 1-0 and ultimately that would be bad for England and the sport itself. I'm sure Rafa was just sending a message to the owners that he could go elsewhere, but they should already know that. Valencia and most La Liga clubs for that matter would love to have Benitez as their boss.
In transfer news, Ryan Flynn has joined Hereford United on one-month loan. He joins fellow LFC teammate Robbie Threlfall at the Edgar Street. Flynn was part of both the 2006 and 2007 FA Youth Cup winning sides. He'll be with the Bulls until the 22nd of December. Cheers.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
The worst Liverpool site possibly ever
Well, we've found our winner for Liverpool 'wind-up blog' of the year... and possibly ever. It's clearly a case of someone trying to garner fame by slagging off on popular conceptions and theories because his mother waned him from the nipple prematurely. His lack of empirical evidence and legitimate data to back his raucous claims are clear indications of his inability to write an article as he put it 'rejecting biased media hype and and fawning 'blind-faith' fandom.' What a wanker and that's just one of the reasons I refuse to link him.
If you want someone who ignores other's opinions and in fact, mocks the status quo, look no further than here. I consistently mock mass media released articles for their ignorant zealotry and purposely shut out the rest of the world when watching Liverpool matches, just so my opinion isn't persuaded by outside influence. I doubt this plonker even watches matches and his 'data' is primitive at best if not made-up. The difference between me and him is that I do the actual work and am able to write a critical article without spouting half-truths riddled with overbearing arrogance to justify my opinion. This lad clearly has a severe case of cognizant dissonance to go with his Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Let's take a gander at the front page of his site so I can prove my point. His first article is 'Croatia debacle proves one thing: Steven Gerrard is NOT world class.' If that's not a good laugh, I don't know what is. His opening sentence? 'Steven Gerrard’s abject ability as a Captain was exposed once again as England suffered ignominious defeat to Croatia.' Well, if that doesn't prove that this guy spends more time during a match looking in a mirror than he does actually watching a match, I don't know what does. He clearly isn't a Liverpool fan. Gerrard worked his ass off in the Croatia match, but got little help from his teammates, which is essentially the problem for England, they don't play as a team. Gerrard was covered in mud by the end of the first half, anybody notice how Frank Lampard looked? Anybody notice that Frank Lampard was even playing? It's hard to inspire a bunch of prima donnas who are more worried about how they look then if they'll win or not. Furthermore, who cares? It's England, not Liverpool, and I could care less if Gerrard ever put on a Three Lions shirt again.
To say Gerrard is not a leader is all the evidence I need that this idiot doesn't watch Liverpool matches and is not a LFC supporter. Where to begin? Let's see, what about March 31, 2001? Man U? Ring a bell? Probably not. September 15, 2001? Everton at Goodison? Just to give this guy a backlog of matches so he can learn something, here's a list:
October 16, 2001 at Dynamo Kiev, European Cup
February 3, 2003 vs Manchester United, League Cup Final, Cardiff
April 21, 2003 vs Charlton, Premiership
December 8, 2004 vs Olympiakos, Champions League
May 3, 2005 vs Chelsea, Champions League
April 29, 2005 vs Aston Villa, Premiership
May 25, 2005 vs AC Milan, Champions League Final, Istanbul
May 13, 2006 vs West Ham, FA Cup Final, Cardiff
April 18, 2007 vs Middlesborough, Premiership
This is just a few that stick out, rarely was there a better nor more inspirational and influential player when Gerrard was on the field between the beginning of the Premiership season in 2003 up until our last match versus Fulham. Go get a copy of each of these matches, son, and then make your cretinous claims. If match performances don't make a player world class, what does? He painted himself in a corner on that one.
This paragraph is a perfect example of this guy's inept understanding of football:
'Truly world class players deliver not only in their domestic league but on the INTERNATIONAL stage. Any player who does not deliver in the big tournaments cannot be considered world class. There are of course exceptions to this, such as George Best, who never got to play in a major tournament, but players like him are a special case. The whole idea of ‘world class ability’ needs to be redefined, and in my view, achievement on the international stage should be the main criterion.'
Name one 'world class player' who's proven himself on the international stage? Zidane? Uh, no, Zidane sort of had a bunch of other great players, most of them not French I might add, playing along side of him. In fact, this moron's inability to recognize Claude Makélélé as the most important 'French' player of the last dozen years proves he's a plonker. Don't believe me? How many cups and trophies did Zidane win after Makélélé left Real Madrid? Try zero, zilch, none and he did nothing in France without him either. This guy wouldn't know world class if it stabbed him in the chest. He has the nerve to call out Gerrard for lacking football intelligence, but he clearly hasn't a clue about the sport. Just because Stevie-G didn't take a dozen shots or score a hat-trick, doesn't mean anything. He's a box-to-box midfielder, not an attacking one. If you need dazzling displays than think about this, Steven Gerrard is the only English league-based player ever in the history of the game to score in a domestic league cup final, a domestic cup final, an UEFA cup final, and a Champions League final.
Every single other player on your list had other world class players playing with them. Ronaldinho and Pele each had about half a dozen world class players playing with them at one time or another, but they never have carried a side by themselves. Maradona? I seem to recall a player named Passarella, among others. It is Argentina after all. Cruyff had the van de Kerkhof brothers, Platini had Trésor & Papin, Beckenbauer had almost as many great players as the Brazilians and Argentinians in Sepp Maier, Gerd Müller, Berti Vogts, and Uli Hoeneß among others, and Puskás was part of the legendary Golden Team. Gerrard can't do it on his own and England has nobody in his class with either the ability nor desire to help him, which is just another reason I don't care if he plays for England. Maybe Rooney when healthy, but as long as he plays for Man U, a hangnail is legitimate enough of an injury to prevent him from playing for England. John Terry is great, but legitimate injuries have kept him scarce. Beckham is at least three years past and no one else has even the potential to reach that level. Michael Owen stopped caring when he started hanging out with the wrong crowd.
Furthermore, saying players should be judged by their international performances as to whether or not they are world class and then making an exception for George Best makes no sense. How can one say that those Northern Ireland sides that Best played on aren't better than England today? You can't and therefore you're argument becomes null and void. In fact, it just proves my argument that one world class player can only carry a side so far. To prove this guy has no class and just a wind-up ponce, he then goes on to criticize Steven Gerrard's post match comments. Make up your mind you loser, is he a footballer or a pundit?
I could reduce every article he writes to rubbish, but honestly, I have better things to do with my time. This person clearly lacks the intelligence to write 'hard-hitting critical analysis' of anything without using manipulative methods of spin and illogical reason to prove his point instead of having an objective outlook. He deserves all the proper attention of a child kicking and screaming because they aren't getting it in the first place. The humorous aspect is, he's not going against the grain at all, he's just a muppet with the mass media's hand up his ass. Gerrard is constantly ridiculed in the national press and Peter Crouch is consistently praised and Rafa questioned for the forward's scarce use. By the way, I won't be doing a daily today (obviously) because there's shit-all going on. Cheers.
If you want someone who ignores other's opinions and in fact, mocks the status quo, look no further than here. I consistently mock mass media released articles for their ignorant zealotry and purposely shut out the rest of the world when watching Liverpool matches, just so my opinion isn't persuaded by outside influence. I doubt this plonker even watches matches and his 'data' is primitive at best if not made-up. The difference between me and him is that I do the actual work and am able to write a critical article without spouting half-truths riddled with overbearing arrogance to justify my opinion. This lad clearly has a severe case of cognizant dissonance to go with his Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Let's take a gander at the front page of his site so I can prove my point. His first article is 'Croatia debacle proves one thing: Steven Gerrard is NOT world class.' If that's not a good laugh, I don't know what is. His opening sentence? 'Steven Gerrard’s abject ability as a Captain was exposed once again as England suffered ignominious defeat to Croatia.' Well, if that doesn't prove that this guy spends more time during a match looking in a mirror than he does actually watching a match, I don't know what does. He clearly isn't a Liverpool fan. Gerrard worked his ass off in the Croatia match, but got little help from his teammates, which is essentially the problem for England, they don't play as a team. Gerrard was covered in mud by the end of the first half, anybody notice how Frank Lampard looked? Anybody notice that Frank Lampard was even playing? It's hard to inspire a bunch of prima donnas who are more worried about how they look then if they'll win or not. Furthermore, who cares? It's England, not Liverpool, and I could care less if Gerrard ever put on a Three Lions shirt again.
To say Gerrard is not a leader is all the evidence I need that this idiot doesn't watch Liverpool matches and is not a LFC supporter. Where to begin? Let's see, what about March 31, 2001? Man U? Ring a bell? Probably not. September 15, 2001? Everton at Goodison? Just to give this guy a backlog of matches so he can learn something, here's a list:
October 16, 2001 at Dynamo Kiev, European Cup
February 3, 2003 vs Manchester United, League Cup Final, Cardiff
April 21, 2003 vs Charlton, Premiership
December 8, 2004 vs Olympiakos, Champions League
May 3, 2005 vs Chelsea, Champions League
April 29, 2005 vs Aston Villa, Premiership
May 25, 2005 vs AC Milan, Champions League Final, Istanbul
May 13, 2006 vs West Ham, FA Cup Final, Cardiff
April 18, 2007 vs Middlesborough, Premiership
This is just a few that stick out, rarely was there a better nor more inspirational and influential player when Gerrard was on the field between the beginning of the Premiership season in 2003 up until our last match versus Fulham. Go get a copy of each of these matches, son, and then make your cretinous claims. If match performances don't make a player world class, what does? He painted himself in a corner on that one.
This paragraph is a perfect example of this guy's inept understanding of football:
'Truly world class players deliver not only in their domestic league but on the INTERNATIONAL stage. Any player who does not deliver in the big tournaments cannot be considered world class. There are of course exceptions to this, such as George Best, who never got to play in a major tournament, but players like him are a special case. The whole idea of ‘world class ability’ needs to be redefined, and in my view, achievement on the international stage should be the main criterion.'
Name one 'world class player' who's proven himself on the international stage? Zidane? Uh, no, Zidane sort of had a bunch of other great players, most of them not French I might add, playing along side of him. In fact, this moron's inability to recognize Claude Makélélé as the most important 'French' player of the last dozen years proves he's a plonker. Don't believe me? How many cups and trophies did Zidane win after Makélélé left Real Madrid? Try zero, zilch, none and he did nothing in France without him either. This guy wouldn't know world class if it stabbed him in the chest. He has the nerve to call out Gerrard for lacking football intelligence, but he clearly hasn't a clue about the sport. Just because Stevie-G didn't take a dozen shots or score a hat-trick, doesn't mean anything. He's a box-to-box midfielder, not an attacking one. If you need dazzling displays than think about this, Steven Gerrard is the only English league-based player ever in the history of the game to score in a domestic league cup final, a domestic cup final, an UEFA cup final, and a Champions League final.
Every single other player on your list had other world class players playing with them. Ronaldinho and Pele each had about half a dozen world class players playing with them at one time or another, but they never have carried a side by themselves. Maradona? I seem to recall a player named Passarella, among others. It is Argentina after all. Cruyff had the van de Kerkhof brothers, Platini had Trésor & Papin, Beckenbauer had almost as many great players as the Brazilians and Argentinians in Sepp Maier, Gerd Müller, Berti Vogts, and Uli Hoeneß among others, and Puskás was part of the legendary Golden Team. Gerrard can't do it on his own and England has nobody in his class with either the ability nor desire to help him, which is just another reason I don't care if he plays for England. Maybe Rooney when healthy, but as long as he plays for Man U, a hangnail is legitimate enough of an injury to prevent him from playing for England. John Terry is great, but legitimate injuries have kept him scarce. Beckham is at least three years past and no one else has even the potential to reach that level. Michael Owen stopped caring when he started hanging out with the wrong crowd.
Furthermore, saying players should be judged by their international performances as to whether or not they are world class and then making an exception for George Best makes no sense. How can one say that those Northern Ireland sides that Best played on aren't better than England today? You can't and therefore you're argument becomes null and void. In fact, it just proves my argument that one world class player can only carry a side so far. To prove this guy has no class and just a wind-up ponce, he then goes on to criticize Steven Gerrard's post match comments. Make up your mind you loser, is he a footballer or a pundit?
I could reduce every article he writes to rubbish, but honestly, I have better things to do with my time. This person clearly lacks the intelligence to write 'hard-hitting critical analysis' of anything without using manipulative methods of spin and illogical reason to prove his point instead of having an objective outlook. He deserves all the proper attention of a child kicking and screaming because they aren't getting it in the first place. The humorous aspect is, he's not going against the grain at all, he's just a muppet with the mass media's hand up his ass. Gerrard is constantly ridiculed in the national press and Peter Crouch is consistently praised and Rafa questioned for the forward's scarce use. By the way, I won't be doing a daily today (obviously) because there's shit-all going on. Cheers.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Euro-qualifying: A great day to be a Liverpool fan... well, almost.
I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. With the conclusion of today's matches, a large majority of our players who would normally be representing their countries in next year's Euro Championship, will now be getting the summer off. Like I've said prior, I don't give a rat's ass about international play, especially exhibition tournaments like the Euro and the World Cup. They're great for killing time or for an excuse to binge drink, but for the most part they aren't legitimate competitions anymore and have certainly ceased to matter. Too many questionable calls and duplicitous actions have tainted them far beyond any rational person's belief.
Anyhow, to get to today's matches, four teams, three featuring our players were given glints of hope before having them squashed by the all-mighty hand of reality. John Arne Riise and Norway crushed Malta, 4-1, but occurring at the same time Turkey was hosting Bosnia-Herzegovina in Instanbul. The Norwegians needed the Bosnians to at least manage a draw while they took care of business in Ta' Qali. After going up 2-0 in the first 28 minutes and Turkey appearing to have their problems scoring against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Norway probably started to believe they had luck on their side, but it wasn't meant to be. Villareal scoring machine, Nihat Kahveci, placed a shot in the far side of the net with two-minutes to go in the first half and Ay-Yıldızlılar managed to hold on, 1-0.
Sami Hyypiä and Finland were hoping to travel to Porto today and pull off one of the biggest upsets of qualifying by beating Portugal at the Estádio do Dragão. The only way for the Finns to advance was to win. They were lucky to come away with a 0-0 draw as Portugal unleashed an onslaught of attack on the Finnish side, but came away empty each time. The result eliminates the Huuhkajat from competition and with the summer months off, might allow Hyppiä to come back for one more season.
Then we have the Three Lions. After going down by a pair of comical goals by Croatia, England battled their way back to draw even, the latter goal a magnificent chest-catch and finish by Peter Crouch. It looked as if Gerrard and company might just get it done, but then Sol Campbell forgot he was supposed stop the ball from going towards the goal and conveniently got out of the way of a Mladen Petrić shot, which found itself in the back of the net. Carson hadn't a chance. Euro dreams for England were crushed and Steven Gerrard will finally have a couple of months off to recuperate. I can't say I'm not ecstatic.
Finally we have Spain with Pepe Reina the lone Spanish Red starting in goal. Thanks to a deflected shot from Xavi Hernandez, our Pepe got the win and the clean sheet. Other players who saw action include Andriy Voronin, who was the only goal scorer from our club, and the Dutch duo of Kuyt and Babel. The former came in at the half, while the latter played the full match and collected a yellow card to prove it. So Spain and Holland are the only two teams with our players that advance, which may mean up to six of our players, but it could have been worse.
Anyhow, to get to today's matches, four teams, three featuring our players were given glints of hope before having them squashed by the all-mighty hand of reality. John Arne Riise and Norway crushed Malta, 4-1, but occurring at the same time Turkey was hosting Bosnia-Herzegovina in Instanbul. The Norwegians needed the Bosnians to at least manage a draw while they took care of business in Ta' Qali. After going up 2-0 in the first 28 minutes and Turkey appearing to have their problems scoring against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Norway probably started to believe they had luck on their side, but it wasn't meant to be. Villareal scoring machine, Nihat Kahveci, placed a shot in the far side of the net with two-minutes to go in the first half and Ay-Yıldızlılar managed to hold on, 1-0.
Sami Hyypiä and Finland were hoping to travel to Porto today and pull off one of the biggest upsets of qualifying by beating Portugal at the Estádio do Dragão. The only way for the Finns to advance was to win. They were lucky to come away with a 0-0 draw as Portugal unleashed an onslaught of attack on the Finnish side, but came away empty each time. The result eliminates the Huuhkajat from competition and with the summer months off, might allow Hyppiä to come back for one more season.
Then we have the Three Lions. After going down by a pair of comical goals by Croatia, England battled their way back to draw even, the latter goal a magnificent chest-catch and finish by Peter Crouch. It looked as if Gerrard and company might just get it done, but then Sol Campbell forgot he was supposed stop the ball from going towards the goal and conveniently got out of the way of a Mladen Petrić shot, which found itself in the back of the net. Carson hadn't a chance. Euro dreams for England were crushed and Steven Gerrard will finally have a couple of months off to recuperate. I can't say I'm not ecstatic.
Finally we have Spain with Pepe Reina the lone Spanish Red starting in goal. Thanks to a deflected shot from Xavi Hernandez, our Pepe got the win and the clean sheet. Other players who saw action include Andriy Voronin, who was the only goal scorer from our club, and the Dutch duo of Kuyt and Babel. The former came in at the half, while the latter played the full match and collected a yellow card to prove it. So Spain and Holland are the only two teams with our players that advance, which may mean up to six of our players, but it could have been worse.
The goal Andriy Voronin scored for the Ukraine today
Nothing spectacular, but our only player to manage to score today. Oh yeah, there's a commercial before hand? Cheers.
Today's Banter: Pepe seeks to stop Healy, Torres title talk, Rafa outclasses Big Sam, & a tad more
As I alluded to in yesterday's daily, Pepe Reina might be setting himself up for a fall today when he starts in net for his native Spain. The match is meaningless for the Spaniards who have already booked their ticket to the 2008 Euro, but their opponent, Northern Ireland, need to win if they want any chance of advancing. Pepe may be looking to shut down David Healy, the hat-trick hero when Norn Iron beat La Furia Roja 3-2 in Belfast in September of last year, but it doesn't mean his teammates will have the same kind of commitment. I'm still hoping Aragonés plays younger players or ones that will at least care, I don't want Reina to get embarrassed.
Fernando Torres has made some interesting points lately. Most notably how our side has yet to play our best yet are only six points off the pace of league leaders Arsenal. He also claims that there is a 'winning mentality' ever present in the LFC locker room before matches. The problem with our side is that we may have a winning attitude at the offset, but as matches wear on and goals aren't produced, we begin to doubt ourselves instead of believing that as long as their is time on the clock, we'll still get it done. Finally, Torres gets a little cocky and says “From what I have seen so far in England we do not have anything to fear from any of our opponents for the title." That may be true, but there's no need to give our opponents more motivation to beat us.
In anticipation of our clash at St. James Park on Saturday, Tommy Smith at the Echo has taken a few stabs at 'Big' Sam Allardyce. It's not as if the Newcastle boss doesn't deserve it, he feels as if he has the right to criticize Rafa Benitez despite lacking the silverware to do so. As Smith mentions, the only accomplishment of Allardyce worth any sort of recognition was keeping Bolton up for six seasons and reaching the UEFA Cup once. 'Big' Sam would get a lot more respect from others if he learned to keep his mouth shut. In fact, I'd go even as far as to say he'd make a better manager for England than Steve McClaren.
Two of our players saw action yesterday. On-loan Robbie Threlfall helped Hereford United upset Leeds 1-0 in first round FA Cup action. The left back, who turns 20 on Sunday, started and played the entire match. Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano and Argentina suffered their first loss of World Cup qualifying to Colombia in Bogota. Carlos Tevez conveniently received a red card in the 25th minute and despite going up 1-0 on a brilliant strike from Lionel Messi, the Albicelestes failed to hold on, eventually succumbing 2-1. Cheers.
Fernando Torres has made some interesting points lately. Most notably how our side has yet to play our best yet are only six points off the pace of league leaders Arsenal. He also claims that there is a 'winning mentality' ever present in the LFC locker room before matches. The problem with our side is that we may have a winning attitude at the offset, but as matches wear on and goals aren't produced, we begin to doubt ourselves instead of believing that as long as their is time on the clock, we'll still get it done. Finally, Torres gets a little cocky and says “From what I have seen so far in England we do not have anything to fear from any of our opponents for the title." That may be true, but there's no need to give our opponents more motivation to beat us.
In anticipation of our clash at St. James Park on Saturday, Tommy Smith at the Echo has taken a few stabs at 'Big' Sam Allardyce. It's not as if the Newcastle boss doesn't deserve it, he feels as if he has the right to criticize Rafa Benitez despite lacking the silverware to do so. As Smith mentions, the only accomplishment of Allardyce worth any sort of recognition was keeping Bolton up for six seasons and reaching the UEFA Cup once. 'Big' Sam would get a lot more respect from others if he learned to keep his mouth shut. In fact, I'd go even as far as to say he'd make a better manager for England than Steve McClaren.
Two of our players saw action yesterday. On-loan Robbie Threlfall helped Hereford United upset Leeds 1-0 in first round FA Cup action. The left back, who turns 20 on Sunday, started and played the entire match. Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano and Argentina suffered their first loss of World Cup qualifying to Colombia in Bogota. Carlos Tevez conveniently received a red card in the 25th minute and despite going up 1-0 on a brilliant strike from Lionel Messi, the Albicelestes failed to hold on, eventually succumbing 2-1. Cheers.
The genius of Rafa shines through Ryan Babel
As I mentioned in my last post, I've been tediously mulling over data during the international break, the extent of which might deem me certifiably insane. Basically I'm trying to create a 'performance database' for each and every player on our squad in an attempt to quantify as many determinants as possible to figure out what would be their optimal situation to provide maximum performance. I would probably go as far as including elements such as what they ate and at what time on match days if I could get a hold of such data, but as for now, I'm going to stick with basic corporeal information.Though I've barely built a foundation hardly worthy of drawing any thorough conclusions, today I decided to attempt to assess Rafa's seemingly erratic use of Ryan Babel. When you take a young, inexperienced player with immense talent like Babel, it's usually best to slowly ease him into a new competitive environment as intense and grueling as the Premiership. Rafa has appeared to have done an astounding job, delicately and almost nonchalantly allowing the young Dutchman to familiarize himself with new challenges on his own. Statistically, the results have been more than just positive, they've been extraordinary.
Most sides would probably start Babel and play him as much as possible, but Rafa has the convenience of a deep squad with many players who can occupy the left flank and forward positions. Such comfort afforded our gaffer to use Babel in advantageous situations where he's most likely to utilize his talents to produce positive results and increase his confidence. The 20-year-old has only played in 16 of our 20 matches for a total of 809 minutes by way of 7 starts and 9 substitution appearances. That breaks down to roughly 50 minutes per tie, which is important when computing his contribution per a full appearance in comparison to the team's overall average output.
The data speaks for itself, when Babel is on, we appear to be a better attacking side. As a squad our standard performance consists of 2 goals with 15.3 shots, 6.5 on-goal. Our possession percentage, passing rate, and territorial advantage is 55.7%, 76.8%, and 50.6% respectively. With Babel on the pitch, all those numbers increase, some significantly. Our goals per match average increases to 2.46 on 7.9 shots-on and 17.14 attempts overall. As for the percentage stats, possession swells to 58.2%, passing rate ups to 77.9%, and territorial advantage increases to 51.1%. We average a goal every 36.8 minutes he plays. It's pretty clear that the winger/forward is quite the catalyst in our offensive forays.
Where it gets even more interesting is on defense. Babel clearly isn't much of a contributor at the other end of the pitch, but in using the 'best defense is a good offense' logic, the most telling stat that he positively effects our defensive output is the fact that, as a side, our goals against per match decreases from 0.65 to 0.53 when he's on. Taking in consideration that the obvious circumstances of statistics such as possession percentage and territorial advantage increasing for our side results in a decrease for the opposition and that a total of only 5 goals have been scored against us when Babel is playing, he's arguably just as valuable as any of our defenders.
As our season wears on, I don't expect Babel's role to change. He'll get the occasional start, particularly when cup matches come around, but for the most part I expect him to maintain his super sub status. Just because our team is a better attacking side when he's on the pitch, doesn't mean we should keep him on as much as possible. The genius of Rafa is knowing when and where to use certain players to best help the club. He's proven it with Steven Gerrard, Steve Finnan, John Arne Riise, Alvaro Arbeloa, Fernando Torres, even Craig Bellamy in the past, and now he's affirming it with Babel.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Five interesting stat facts from the season so far
For the past few days I've been mulling over data from the obscure to the obvious for a number of reasons. I really want to get an idea of the contributions each player makes to the whole, who's the most efficient at which position, and most specifically, what players work best with one another. It also reveals some trends that are more than likely coincidental, but interesting nonetheless. Here's five of them:
1. youth + height = win
Though it rarely happens, when Rafa puts out a side that is younger yet taller than the opposition, we win. Four times so far this season it's occurred: Toulouse (2nd leg), Derby County, Cardiff City, and Fulham. Of course this means little considering the opponent and the fact that they were all played at Anfield.
2. Goals are scarce at Anfield?
If you take away Toulouse, Derby, and Besitkas, we've only scored 8 goals in 7 matches at home this season. Not that we've been much better on the road. Take away the Reading match and we've only managed 10 goals in 9 matches away from Anfield.
3. Our most dominating performance of the season was a scoreless draw at home
You read that right, our most dominating performance was the 0-0 draw against Birmingham at Anfield. In that match we had our highest possession percentage at 71.5%, and both our second highest pass success rate (81.9%) and territorial advantage (56.8%). We also had our most corners won at 11. So why didn't we win nor score? Our shooting was piss poor. We had 4 shots on goal the entire match, 3 right in front of the net.
4. Statistically our worst performance was a draw on the road
You know, I didn't think we played that bad at Porto, but the numbers tell a whole different story. In fact, we had no right even taking a point. How bad were we? Try one shot on goal, a single corner kick won, a possession percentage of 43.5%, and a passing rate of 64.2%. All four of those stats were season lows. Pennant's red card didn't help either. The amazing part is that Porto needed a penalty just to get the draw.
5. The Riise factor
This is one of those odd stats where there's much more at play than just one simple movement, but it is sort of eye-opening. In the 5 matches that John Arne Riise has had to move to left-back due to substitution reasons, we've scored 8 goals... in 130 minutes. If Rafa could somehow tap into this trend, we could average more than three goals a match, rather than 2 as we do now. Of course, there are two other factors that play into this that aren't present at the beginning or during an entire match. First, fresh players are brought in to revitalize the attack and second, the opposition has tired out a bit.
These are just some odd bits I've come across so far and I have a ton of more work to do, but I hope to have a better feel for our side when it's all said and done. Expect more interesting tidbits in the near future. Cheers.
1. youth + height = win
Though it rarely happens, when Rafa puts out a side that is younger yet taller than the opposition, we win. Four times so far this season it's occurred: Toulouse (2nd leg), Derby County, Cardiff City, and Fulham. Of course this means little considering the opponent and the fact that they were all played at Anfield.
2. Goals are scarce at Anfield?
If you take away Toulouse, Derby, and Besitkas, we've only scored 8 goals in 7 matches at home this season. Not that we've been much better on the road. Take away the Reading match and we've only managed 10 goals in 9 matches away from Anfield.
3. Our most dominating performance of the season was a scoreless draw at home
You read that right, our most dominating performance was the 0-0 draw against Birmingham at Anfield. In that match we had our highest possession percentage at 71.5%, and both our second highest pass success rate (81.9%) and territorial advantage (56.8%). We also had our most corners won at 11. So why didn't we win nor score? Our shooting was piss poor. We had 4 shots on goal the entire match, 3 right in front of the net.
4. Statistically our worst performance was a draw on the road
You know, I didn't think we played that bad at Porto, but the numbers tell a whole different story. In fact, we had no right even taking a point. How bad were we? Try one shot on goal, a single corner kick won, a possession percentage of 43.5%, and a passing rate of 64.2%. All four of those stats were season lows. Pennant's red card didn't help either. The amazing part is that Porto needed a penalty just to get the draw.
5. The Riise factor
This is one of those odd stats where there's much more at play than just one simple movement, but it is sort of eye-opening. In the 5 matches that John Arne Riise has had to move to left-back due to substitution reasons, we've scored 8 goals... in 130 minutes. If Rafa could somehow tap into this trend, we could average more than three goals a match, rather than 2 as we do now. Of course, there are two other factors that play into this that aren't present at the beginning or during an entire match. First, fresh players are brought in to revitalize the attack and second, the opposition has tired out a bit.
These are just some odd bits I've come across so far and I have a ton of more work to do, but I hope to have a better feel for our side when it's all said and done. Expect more interesting tidbits in the near future. Cheers.
Today's Banter: Kuyt burgled, Deco talks dirt?, Gerrard pep talks England, & more
Dirk Kuyt became the fifth Liverpool player in eighteen months to have his home burgled last Thursday while he was away on international duty. Just another reason to quit the national team if you ask me. Anyhow, this of course shows that Merseyside is riddled with crime and a far worse place to live than say Manchester or London, right? Wrong. If anything it shows that at least the criminals are smart enough to know who to target. Just for kicks, check out the 193-page report on crime in the UK and Wales from the Home Office. If you don't want to bother, ponder this: per 10,000 households in Merseyside approximately 0.0352% were burgled between August 2006 and July 2007. Greater Manchester? 0.0518%. London? 0.0422%. In fact, those two areas are worse percentage-wise in every category of crime, but facts don't matter, right? Moving on...Oh my God, Barça's Deco forgot to mention us as contenders for the Champions League, so he must not think that we have much of a chance. I am so riled up at the moment, I mean, just because we have a slim chance of advancing to the knockout stage, doesn't mean we can't win at all! That Brazilian, uh, I mean Portuguese ponce! This is called 'mocking a shit rag site who has nothing better to do than make things up.' Deco doesn't mention us, big deal.
Gerrard must want some expensive gifts for Christmas. I mean, who are the two England players whose asses you'd kiss to get, say, most likely a Ferrari from as a present for Christmas? It's not Joleon Lescott or Nicky Shorey, I assure you that. Our captain was just full of praise for John Terry and David Beckham in this article.
Stevie-G wants the side to win it for the Chelsea defender and thinks that Beckham is still 'international class.' Those comments are worth at least a bottle or five of Krug Clos du Mesnil.
Robbie Threlfall dreams of playing for Liverpool one day. The soon-to-be 19-year-old local product may be far down the left-back totem pole, but he knows if he works hard and continues to develop, he's got a shot at making the first team. He's currently on-loan at Hereford United where he has started four matches. They play again today in FA Cup action at Leeds. I honestly think the kid's got what it takes to be a first-team contributor in two-to-three years after being impressed by him in the preseason against South China FC.
Finally, I feel sorry for Pepe Reina. It looks as if our keeper will be in net for Spain when they face Northern Ireland in Euro qualifying tomorrow. The game is meaningless to the Spaniards so I hope Luis Aragonés plays youngsters who care and are looking to impress their coach for future call-ups. If not, it could be a long day for Pepe as Norn Iron has to win to have any chance of advancing. Of course, with the Green & White Army relying on Latvia to upset Sweden, they might as well not even try either. Cheers.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Weekend Recap: Harry Kewell, Norway falls, Finland wins, Paul Anderson plays, & more
Even though we didn't play this past weekend, we had a ton of players who saw action for country or on-loan club. First off, as I mentioned in my daily, Harry Kewell played the full match for Australia in their Wembley friendly with Nigeria. He appears to have come away unscathed, but I'll believe it when he suits up for us again. By the way, the Aussies won 1-0.
I guess Paul Anderson wasn't subbed off early for injury reasons in his side's 1-0 Football League Trophy victory over Yeovil Town last Tuesday. The 19-year-old winger was replaced in the 50th minute of that match by Thomas Butler. This past Saturday the Swans looked to continue their current unbeaten run of ten matches when they faced Huddersfield. Paul Anderson started and played the full match, but Swansea lost 0-1, costing them a chance to go to the top of the League One table. Their next match is away to Tranmere on Saturday.
Of all the internationals, John Arne Riise probably had the worst weekend. All Norway had to do was draw with visiting Turkey to almost assure themselves a spot in the 2008 Euro, but they failed to do even that. The Norwegians took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute on a goal by Erik Hagen, but a little under twenty minutes later Newcastle's Emre Belözoğlu equalized. Then in the 59th minute, Villareal's Nihat Kahveci, a player I think Liverpool should inquire about, put the Turks up 2-1 with a clinical finish. That ended up being enough and now Norway will have to rely on the Bosnians to go into Istanbul and get a positive result or else their Euro dreams are over. Riise played the full match, but wasn't much of a factor.
On the other end of the spectrum, Sami Hyppiä and Finland won, just not in the fashion they would have preferred against group doormat Azerbaijan. Playing in Helsinki, it was believed that the Finns would have little trouble with the cellar dwellers, but it wasn't to be. The Azeri took a 1-0 lead on a stunning shot by Makhmud Gurbonov which sent the host side into a frenzy. Upping their play, the Huuhkajat managed to even things up with 11 minutes to go on a cheeky chest-catch and finish by Birmingham's Mikael Forssell. Then seven minutes later former LFC star Jari Litmanen placed a free-kick cross into the box that after bouncing off a head or two found Shefki Kuqi right outside of the net. The recent Fulham addition had powered himself into position and easily headed the ball past the line. The Finns next travel to Portugal on Wednesday, where they have to win to have any chance of advancing.
Javier Mascherano played the full match in Argentina's 3-0 World Cup qualifying match. The win kept the Albicelestes as the only side with a perfect record and to have yet to yield a goal in the CONMEBOL group. They play Colombia tomorrow in Bogotá. I really don't see the point in making Argentina and Brazil qualify. Despite Brazil's recent stumbles, and by stumbles I mean draws since they're still undefeated, both of these countries will easily qualify. I guess they do need to play home matches to raise revenue though.
In other on-loan action, no one managed to score, but a few saw action. On Saturday, Robbie Threlfall played the full ninety for Hereford United who won 3-0 on the road at Stockport, while Craig Lindfield started and played 72 minutes for Notts County in their 0-1 home loss to Macclesfield Town. On Sunday, Lee Peltier played the full match in Yeovil Town's 2-1 victory over Gillingham at Huish Park. Those who didn't play were Godwin Antwi at Hartlepool and Miki Roque at Xerez CD.
In other International matches, Steve Finnan played the entire ninety in Ireland's meaningless 2-2 draw with Wales at Cardiff on Saturday. Andriy Voronin started and played 69 minutes in the Ukraine's 0-2 embarrassing loss at Lithuania. Dirk Kuyt came on at the start of the second while Ryan Babel was subbed on in the 84th minute as the Netherlands clinched a spot in the 2008 Euro with a 1-0 win over Luxembourg in Rotterdam. Finally, as expected, Pepe Reina did not get to play in Spain's 3-0 home victory over Sweden which also booked their ticket to the exhibition tournament next summer. That probably means he'll play Wednesday against Northern Ireland. Great.
Oh yeah, then there was that insignificant friendly between England and Austria in Vienna. England won, Crouch scored, and Owen got hurt. Sounds like the typical Three Lions match. Steven Gerrard only played the first half as he and his English teammates prepare for Croatia on Wednesday. I could care less if they advance or not. Knowing my luck though, they'll lose and then replace Austria when the host country pulls out of the competition. Cheers.
I guess Paul Anderson wasn't subbed off early for injury reasons in his side's 1-0 Football League Trophy victory over Yeovil Town last Tuesday. The 19-year-old winger was replaced in the 50th minute of that match by Thomas Butler. This past Saturday the Swans looked to continue their current unbeaten run of ten matches when they faced Huddersfield. Paul Anderson started and played the full match, but Swansea lost 0-1, costing them a chance to go to the top of the League One table. Their next match is away to Tranmere on Saturday.
Of all the internationals, John Arne Riise probably had the worst weekend. All Norway had to do was draw with visiting Turkey to almost assure themselves a spot in the 2008 Euro, but they failed to do even that. The Norwegians took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute on a goal by Erik Hagen, but a little under twenty minutes later Newcastle's Emre Belözoğlu equalized. Then in the 59th minute, Villareal's Nihat Kahveci, a player I think Liverpool should inquire about, put the Turks up 2-1 with a clinical finish. That ended up being enough and now Norway will have to rely on the Bosnians to go into Istanbul and get a positive result or else their Euro dreams are over. Riise played the full match, but wasn't much of a factor.
On the other end of the spectrum, Sami Hyppiä and Finland won, just not in the fashion they would have preferred against group doormat Azerbaijan. Playing in Helsinki, it was believed that the Finns would have little trouble with the cellar dwellers, but it wasn't to be. The Azeri took a 1-0 lead on a stunning shot by Makhmud Gurbonov which sent the host side into a frenzy. Upping their play, the Huuhkajat managed to even things up with 11 minutes to go on a cheeky chest-catch and finish by Birmingham's Mikael Forssell. Then seven minutes later former LFC star Jari Litmanen placed a free-kick cross into the box that after bouncing off a head or two found Shefki Kuqi right outside of the net. The recent Fulham addition had powered himself into position and easily headed the ball past the line. The Finns next travel to Portugal on Wednesday, where they have to win to have any chance of advancing.
Javier Mascherano played the full match in Argentina's 3-0 World Cup qualifying match. The win kept the Albicelestes as the only side with a perfect record and to have yet to yield a goal in the CONMEBOL group. They play Colombia tomorrow in Bogotá. I really don't see the point in making Argentina and Brazil qualify. Despite Brazil's recent stumbles, and by stumbles I mean draws since they're still undefeated, both of these countries will easily qualify. I guess they do need to play home matches to raise revenue though.
In other on-loan action, no one managed to score, but a few saw action. On Saturday, Robbie Threlfall played the full ninety for Hereford United who won 3-0 on the road at Stockport, while Craig Lindfield started and played 72 minutes for Notts County in their 0-1 home loss to Macclesfield Town. On Sunday, Lee Peltier played the full match in Yeovil Town's 2-1 victory over Gillingham at Huish Park. Those who didn't play were Godwin Antwi at Hartlepool and Miki Roque at Xerez CD.
In other International matches, Steve Finnan played the entire ninety in Ireland's meaningless 2-2 draw with Wales at Cardiff on Saturday. Andriy Voronin started and played 69 minutes in the Ukraine's 0-2 embarrassing loss at Lithuania. Dirk Kuyt came on at the start of the second while Ryan Babel was subbed on in the 84th minute as the Netherlands clinched a spot in the 2008 Euro with a 1-0 win over Luxembourg in Rotterdam. Finally, as expected, Pepe Reina did not get to play in Spain's 3-0 home victory over Sweden which also booked their ticket to the exhibition tournament next summer. That probably means he'll play Wednesday against Northern Ireland. Great.
Oh yeah, then there was that insignificant friendly between England and Austria in Vienna. England won, Crouch scored, and Owen got hurt. Sounds like the typical Three Lions match. Steven Gerrard only played the first half as he and his English teammates prepare for Croatia on Wednesday. I could care less if they advance or not. Knowing my luck though, they'll lose and then replace Austria when the host country pulls out of the competition. Cheers.
Today's Banter: Kewell survives Nigeria, No interest in Javi Martínez, West Ham want Hobbs? & more
Probably the best news to come out of the weekend was Harry Kewell playing the full match for Australia. The 29-year-old started on the wing for the Socceroos as they beat Nigeria 1-0 at Wembley. Interim manager Rob Baan hopes this helps Kewell get more time and play more often for us. Obviously he's not too familiar with the ways of Rafa.
I don't know where the rumors of our interest in Athletic Bilbao central midfielder Javi Martínez emanated from, but they've been rubbished by Rafa Benitez. I thought it was a bit strange that we were going after the 19-year-old with the amount of players we already have at that position. This pretty much scratches any chance of a move for Momo in the January window, something I'm against anyhow.
There's a little disinformation in this article regarding West Ham's interest in obtaining Jack Hobbs on loan in January. He actually has made his first team debut. In fact, I believe he's played three matches overall for us, one start and two subs, but that aside, I think it'd be a great idea to let him go to the Hammers on a six month loan. He might actually get some pitch time there and if he's as good as everyone says, they won't include an option to make it permanent. I've yet to be impressed by the lad myself, but it's not like he's really had a chance to 'settle in' with the first team.
Finally, in other transfer news it's been reported here that the £17m quoted as the transfer fee for Javier Mascherano may also include his salary over five years. Not sure how that'll work out and it sort of makes little sense, but I hope he's not getting screwed over by MSI and Kia Joorabchian. In that same article is another reference to Racing Santander centre back Ezequiel Garay, who I have to believe is our top target in January. Cheers.
I don't know where the rumors of our interest in Athletic Bilbao central midfielder Javi Martínez emanated from, but they've been rubbished by Rafa Benitez. I thought it was a bit strange that we were going after the 19-year-old with the amount of players we already have at that position. This pretty much scratches any chance of a move for Momo in the January window, something I'm against anyhow.
There's a little disinformation in this article regarding West Ham's interest in obtaining Jack Hobbs on loan in January. He actually has made his first team debut. In fact, I believe he's played three matches overall for us, one start and two subs, but that aside, I think it'd be a great idea to let him go to the Hammers on a six month loan. He might actually get some pitch time there and if he's as good as everyone says, they won't include an option to make it permanent. I've yet to be impressed by the lad myself, but it's not like he's really had a chance to 'settle in' with the first team.
Finally, in other transfer news it's been reported here that the £17m quoted as the transfer fee for Javier Mascherano may also include his salary over five years. Not sure how that'll work out and it sort of makes little sense, but I hope he's not getting screwed over by MSI and Kia Joorabchian. In that same article is another reference to Racing Santander centre back Ezequiel Garay, who I have to believe is our top target in January. Cheers.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Today's Banter: One part wind-up, two parts wind-down, & 44/100% certifiable
All appears quiet on the Liverpool front, which is fine by me, but apparently not so for the wind-up bloggers. There's this one site in particular that holds contests for it's 'writers' to see who can attract the most hits. Basically it's who can write the most outrageous title followed-up by the most inane, speculative garbage that any half-witted teenager could author. One of these 'articles' is about how Steven Gerrard doesn't deserve a starting spot on a fully fit Liverpool squad. Yes, they are that feeble-minded.
Another 'article' attempts to blame Liverpool and more specifically Rafa for the supposed stunted development of Momo Sissoko. He didn't have to sign that contract extension this past summer and furthermore he's had two major injuries in his first two seasons with us, but let's leave facts to the thinkers. For this bullocks to stop, please make an effort to ignore these imbeciles. Don't click on their articles and definitely don't comment. It'd be nice if they dropped dead, but that would be asking way too much, so ignoring them is the best way to go about. They don't write such rubbish for the good of anyone but themselves. Moving on...
According to this article, Mascherano is close to signing a five year, £17m contract. Well, this is news to me. I know his transfer fee is around that amount, which we obviously have to pay first, but I didn't know we've already negotiated a contract with him. Of course, this is the first article I've read that's mention such notions, so someone might just have their facts wrong, intentional or not. Another part of that article I've yet to hear is Mascherano 'insisted he would leave Anfield unless a deal was finalised within a month.' Really? Hmmm....
Tony Barrett of the Liverpool Echo has written a short but sweet article praising Alvaro Arbeloa. He basically just reiterates a lot of what's already been said of the Spaniard by myself and other bloggers. One thing I slightly disagree with is how he thinks that Arbeloa is better on the left. To me, he appears more comfortable on the right and gets more involved on attack when he's over there. I chalk it up to him having more confidence on that side to get back on defense. Barrett even goes as far as to compare Arbeloa with Stevie Nicol.
Speaking of which, Nicol's New England Revolution face the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup final today in a repeat of last year's match-up. The Revolution have already won the US Cup this season and will be looking to complete the double in Washington, DC, where the match is being held. As painful as it is for me to watch MLS, I'll probably take in this one. Nothing really better to do, actually.
Finally, I can't end my daily without mentioning an article or post by a questionably mental Man U or Chelsea fan. That would be unforgivable. Today we have a Chelsea supporter from the ever reputable site Vital Chelsea. If you've ever visited that veritable armpit of the world wide web, you'd know that it's one of the more dim-witted sites around. The most humorous aspect is that it's supposed to be a place for Chelsea fans to write about their own side, but most of their articles are usually about Liverpool. I guess when you don't have much of a history nor brain cells, you get short on subjects. Anyhow, this clown starts off writing about how a reporter from the Echo chastises Michael Essien for not apologizing for a vicious yellow card-earning tackle on Leon Osman last Sunday and then ends up talking about Didi Hamann and Dirk Kuyt. What?! Oh, because the paper is in Liverpool. Brilliant. Yeah, Evertonians and Liverpool fans are one in the same, just like Chelsea supporters are the same as Fulham fans. I mean, Chelsea is in Fulham after all. Cheers.
Another 'article' attempts to blame Liverpool and more specifically Rafa for the supposed stunted development of Momo Sissoko. He didn't have to sign that contract extension this past summer and furthermore he's had two major injuries in his first two seasons with us, but let's leave facts to the thinkers. For this bullocks to stop, please make an effort to ignore these imbeciles. Don't click on their articles and definitely don't comment. It'd be nice if they dropped dead, but that would be asking way too much, so ignoring them is the best way to go about. They don't write such rubbish for the good of anyone but themselves. Moving on...
According to this article, Mascherano is close to signing a five year, £17m contract. Well, this is news to me. I know his transfer fee is around that amount, which we obviously have to pay first, but I didn't know we've already negotiated a contract with him. Of course, this is the first article I've read that's mention such notions, so someone might just have their facts wrong, intentional or not. Another part of that article I've yet to hear is Mascherano 'insisted he would leave Anfield unless a deal was finalised within a month.' Really? Hmmm....
Tony Barrett of the Liverpool Echo has written a short but sweet article praising Alvaro Arbeloa. He basically just reiterates a lot of what's already been said of the Spaniard by myself and other bloggers. One thing I slightly disagree with is how he thinks that Arbeloa is better on the left. To me, he appears more comfortable on the right and gets more involved on attack when he's over there. I chalk it up to him having more confidence on that side to get back on defense. Barrett even goes as far as to compare Arbeloa with Stevie Nicol.
Speaking of which, Nicol's New England Revolution face the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup final today in a repeat of last year's match-up. The Revolution have already won the US Cup this season and will be looking to complete the double in Washington, DC, where the match is being held. As painful as it is for me to watch MLS, I'll probably take in this one. Nothing really better to do, actually.
Finally, I can't end my daily without mentioning an article or post by a questionably mental Man U or Chelsea fan. That would be unforgivable. Today we have a Chelsea supporter from the ever reputable site Vital Chelsea. If you've ever visited that veritable armpit of the world wide web, you'd know that it's one of the more dim-witted sites around. The most humorous aspect is that it's supposed to be a place for Chelsea fans to write about their own side, but most of their articles are usually about Liverpool. I guess when you don't have much of a history nor brain cells, you get short on subjects. Anyhow, this clown starts off writing about how a reporter from the Echo chastises Michael Essien for not apologizing for a vicious yellow card-earning tackle on Leon Osman last Sunday and then ends up talking about Didi Hamann and Dirk Kuyt. What?! Oh, because the paper is in Liverpool. Brilliant. Yeah, Evertonians and Liverpool fans are one in the same, just like Chelsea supporters are the same as Fulham fans. I mean, Chelsea is in Fulham after all. Cheers.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Today's Banter: Carra praises Hyypiä & Reina, Bayern wants Benitez, Javi responds, & more
With all the time he's got on his hands these days, Jamie Carragher has decided to give somewhat of a state-of-the-club address with particular praise for his centre back partner and Pepe Reina. Carra makes a good point that taking eight points from a run of Goodison, Arsenal, Ewood, and Fulham at Anfield is a decent string of results. He then goes on to point out how Hyypiä has raised his level of play recently, something that hasn't gone unnoticed, but also adds that it seems when the Finn plays well, the whole team appears to follow suit. That's something I haven't really recognized, but come to think of it, he may be right. Finally, the man from Bootle calls Pepe Reina one of the three best keepers in the world along with Petr Čech and Gianluigi Buffon, as well as the best he's ever played with. Good call, Carra, way to schmooze your teammates so close to Christmas and all.
Apparently Bayern Munich wants Rafa to replace Ottmar Hitzfeld at the end of the season. I won't even address such rubbish, Bayern is no where near the club they once were just six or seven years ago and Rafa is investing too much time and energy to be lured away by what's frankly a lesser club.
Moving on, one of our transfer targets, Javi Martínez of Athletic Bilbao, appears to be open to a move to the Premiership, but wants to do what's best for his club and himself. Sounds to me as if he's going to go elsewhere, he wants his current club to make a substantial financial gain for doing so. I've got to wonder that if he's not a true winger or can even be effective on the flank, do we really need another central midfielder? I think not, unless Rafa has something up his sleeve like selling Momo, but I doubt it.
Finally, we have a delusional and ill-informed Man U fan trying to compare their debt issues to ours. Sorry, but as usual, a Man U failed to do the actual work and tried to pass half-assed biased opinion for fact. The Red Devils (not Reds, mind you) have a current debt of at least £660m, stemming from the Glazers refinancing in July of 2006, so it could actually be more than that, especially if you consider the amount they spent on players this past summer and that the Glazers will probably do their best to keep the fans and media in the dark about financial matters at the club due the negative light it tends to shed. Liverpool's debt currently sits at around £300m, but the owners are will have to refinance soon to fund the building of the new stadium. At most it will increase to around £520m, which is still well less than the Mancs. I realize that misery loves company, but I refuse to be dragged into the hell of ignorance that epitomizes the typical Man U 'fan'. Cheers.
Apparently Bayern Munich wants Rafa to replace Ottmar Hitzfeld at the end of the season. I won't even address such rubbish, Bayern is no where near the club they once were just six or seven years ago and Rafa is investing too much time and energy to be lured away by what's frankly a lesser club.
Moving on, one of our transfer targets, Javi Martínez of Athletic Bilbao, appears to be open to a move to the Premiership, but wants to do what's best for his club and himself. Sounds to me as if he's going to go elsewhere, he wants his current club to make a substantial financial gain for doing so. I've got to wonder that if he's not a true winger or can even be effective on the flank, do we really need another central midfielder? I think not, unless Rafa has something up his sleeve like selling Momo, but I doubt it.
Finally, we have a delusional and ill-informed Man U fan trying to compare their debt issues to ours. Sorry, but as usual, a Man U failed to do the actual work and tried to pass half-assed biased opinion for fact. The Red Devils (not Reds, mind you) have a current debt of at least £660m, stemming from the Glazers refinancing in July of 2006, so it could actually be more than that, especially if you consider the amount they spent on players this past summer and that the Glazers will probably do their best to keep the fans and media in the dark about financial matters at the club due the negative light it tends to shed. Liverpool's debt currently sits at around £300m, but the owners are will have to refinance soon to fund the building of the new stadium. At most it will increase to around £520m, which is still well less than the Mancs. I realize that misery loves company, but I refuse to be dragged into the hell of ignorance that epitomizes the typical Man U 'fan'. Cheers.
Friday, November 16, 2007
On-loan watch: Will Paul Anderson play tonight?
Swansea City will look to extend an unbeaten run of 10 matches tonight when they face Huddersfield Town at the Liberty. It is unclear whether or not Paul Anderson will be available to play, but since I've yet to read otherwise, I'm going to assume that he will. On Tuesday, the 19-year-old winger was subbed off in the 50th minute of the Swans' League Trophy match with Yeovil Town, though there have been no reports to think that it was anything but a precautionary measure. Anderson will be looking to add to his goal tally of eight as the Swans have a chance to go to the top of the League One table if they manage to win by a margin of two or more. If anyone gets the chance to see this match, feel free to comment below on Anderson's performance.
Flash Friday: Volley Challenge 2007/08
Ugh, I had nightmares about this game for about two weeks until I finally won the league. My hand-eye coordination is not what it was 20 years ago when I was vying time between my Commodore 64, NES, and Sega Master System. Ah, those were the days...
Anyhow, the premise is basically to slam volleys past the opposing team's keeper to collect points. Each club you face has a set number of points you need to beat in order to draw or win the match. The number of points per squad depends on how good they may be, in other words, Man U and Chelsea have the highest amount to overcome.
Once you get the hang of it, it's quite easy. I now like to go ahead and get the necessary amount to earn my three points and then try to smash the ball in the head of the defenders. Most of the time it's Gary Neville... it feels so good.
Just in case you missed the link, go here. Cheers and good luck getting any work done for the rest of the day.
Anyhow, the premise is basically to slam volleys past the opposing team's keeper to collect points. Each club you face has a set number of points you need to beat in order to draw or win the match. The number of points per squad depends on how good they may be, in other words, Man U and Chelsea have the highest amount to overcome.
Once you get the hang of it, it's quite easy. I now like to go ahead and get the necessary amount to earn my three points and then try to smash the ball in the head of the defenders. Most of the time it's Gary Neville... it feels so good.
Just in case you missed the link, go here. Cheers and good luck getting any work done for the rest of the day.
Transfer target: Javi Martínez
Javier Martínez Aguinaga is a 19-year-old midfielder currently plying his trade with La Liga outfit Athletic Bilbao. Born in Pamplona, Spain, Martinez attended the youth academy at Osasuna where he eventually earned 32 starts for the B team, scoring a pair of goals. In 2006, the young Spaniard was bought by Los Leones for €6m and has since become a first-team regular. He has been compared to Patrick Vieira for their similar size and style of play. In 48 matches, he's scored 3 goals.
Here's a video of him scoring a brace against Deportivo. The second one is a nice display of his speed, ball control, and determination:
Here's a compilation of the 'best' goals from La Liga and 2006/07. Martinez is number 9 with a great curling lob from right outside the box. The music is awesome as usual by the way:
Here's a video of him scoring a brace against Deportivo. The second one is a nice display of his speed, ball control, and determination:
Here's a compilation of the 'best' goals from La Liga and 2006/07. Martinez is number 9 with a great curling lob from right outside the box. The music is awesome as usual by the way:
Today's Banter: Sissoko to Everton?, Crouch departure looks likely, Kewell may start for Socceroos, & more
Well, this is quite alarming. Apparently David Moyes is interested in bringing Momo Sissoko to Everton. Why do I get the feeling that this is going to spark Toffee cries that Liverpool stole him away from them in the first place? Of course they just want to ignore the fact that he played under Rafa at Valencia. As for this rumor, I'm going to have to give it the Heston treatment and say, 'From my cold dead hands!' There's just no way Rafa can allow a talent of Momo's proportion to go not only to our friends in blue, but to any Premiership side.
Apparently Sissoko wants to talk over his future with Benitez, which I'm sure will just lead to the Malian announcing that he's got to work harder or some rubbish of the sort, but if he does go elsewhere, it's best he goes to Italy or Spain. I personally want him to stay, as his athleticism could eventually be an asset to allow him to be more than just a defensive midfielder, as he showed in the preseason. Plus at times he's a beast on the pitch and with the motivation that our side didn't think he was good enough for us, I'm sure he won't be very fun to face. Not to mention recklessly dangerous.
Word is Rafa is tired of Crouch's ego and is looking to sell him in the January transfer window. Do you hear that? Are you sure? Well, it's a heavenly host of angels in my head singing glorious psalms of triumph. Who needs coffee when you've got news like this? With that said, Rafa will probably come out sometime next week and say that Crouch is, in fact, not for sale, crushing my hopes. Well, apparently his valuation has been set at £10m and among those interested are Newcastle, Portsmouth, and Aston Villa. I would just like to ask those clubs not to give in to the good fight and if it'll help, I'll donate a couple of quid to their cause. By the way, unlike Momo, I would pray that other clubs would play Crouch against us. One less player to worry about.
Any hopes of Harry Kewell not seeing action for Australia tomorrow have appeared to've been dashed. Apparently Tim Cahill is unfit to play which will move Kewell into a starting role. So he has yet to start for Liverpool this season, but he may for the Socceroos? I can't say that I'm shocked. Anyways, I'll be keeping tabs on the situation on Saturday and may even watch the match. Stay fit, King Harry... please.
Now for the fun stuff. Steven Gerrard is once again the slag flavor of the month for his so-called 'xenophobic' comments regarding a foreigner quota in the Premiership. First off, the fact that this is getting any attention is just pure rubbish. All he said was that it might be something to look into, that's it, but I realize it's Stevie-G, the greatest player in the world, and everything he says is front-page news that sells copy. Fine, whatever. The best thing is when complete morons chime in on their opinion, believing they know what Gerrard said, which, let me assure you, they don't. They weren't there and didn't ask Stevie himself. Muppets.
Patrice Evra is apparently one of them. The French International has been quoted as saying that Man U have more England Internationals than Liverpool. I just love it when Senegalese players... what? What was that? He's French? But... Really though, Patrice? Let's look into that for a second. I'm looking at the latest squad selection right now and I only see one Man U player, Wes 'I'm having a laugh' Brown, and two LFC players, Crouch and Gerrard. Last time I checked, two was more than one. Oh, wait, do you mean players with caps for England? This will be fun.
Let's start with Gary Neville. Gary Neville? Paging Gary Neville? Nevermind. Then you have Wes Brown... hold on... I can't stop laughing... Jamie Carragher is ten times the player Brown would ever hope to be. Michael Carrick? B team at best. Hargreaves? Like I said yesterday, he only has knee cartilage for his club. Kieran Richardson? Oh, wait, nevermind. Rooney? Always seems injured when his country comes a-calling. That leaves Rio Ferdinand, who, unlike last year, is well-deserving of a spot to represent his country, but alas, he's suspended. So there you go, Man U's latest contribution to England in a nutshell. Stick with being a cheat Evra, you're good at that. It's in your Senegalese, uh, I mean French blood.
Finally, we have another good laugh when this bloke tries to say Jermaine Jenas is as good as Steven Gerrard. Of course, Jenas is more of a holding midfielder and Gerrard is a true box-to-box, but let's ignore that. Also, Gerrard plays in more matches for club and country and has scored more goals overall, but let's just manipulate the data to prove our point. No manager in the world would take Jenas over Gerrard and if he did, he'd be an unemployed manager. Cheers.
Apparently Sissoko wants to talk over his future with Benitez, which I'm sure will just lead to the Malian announcing that he's got to work harder or some rubbish of the sort, but if he does go elsewhere, it's best he goes to Italy or Spain. I personally want him to stay, as his athleticism could eventually be an asset to allow him to be more than just a defensive midfielder, as he showed in the preseason. Plus at times he's a beast on the pitch and with the motivation that our side didn't think he was good enough for us, I'm sure he won't be very fun to face. Not to mention recklessly dangerous.
Word is Rafa is tired of Crouch's ego and is looking to sell him in the January transfer window. Do you hear that? Are you sure? Well, it's a heavenly host of angels in my head singing glorious psalms of triumph. Who needs coffee when you've got news like this? With that said, Rafa will probably come out sometime next week and say that Crouch is, in fact, not for sale, crushing my hopes. Well, apparently his valuation has been set at £10m and among those interested are Newcastle, Portsmouth, and Aston Villa. I would just like to ask those clubs not to give in to the good fight and if it'll help, I'll donate a couple of quid to their cause. By the way, unlike Momo, I would pray that other clubs would play Crouch against us. One less player to worry about.
Any hopes of Harry Kewell not seeing action for Australia tomorrow have appeared to've been dashed. Apparently Tim Cahill is unfit to play which will move Kewell into a starting role. So he has yet to start for Liverpool this season, but he may for the Socceroos? I can't say that I'm shocked. Anyways, I'll be keeping tabs on the situation on Saturday and may even watch the match. Stay fit, King Harry... please.
Now for the fun stuff. Steven Gerrard is once again the slag flavor of the month for his so-called 'xenophobic' comments regarding a foreigner quota in the Premiership. First off, the fact that this is getting any attention is just pure rubbish. All he said was that it might be something to look into, that's it, but I realize it's Stevie-G, the greatest player in the world, and everything he says is front-page news that sells copy. Fine, whatever. The best thing is when complete morons chime in on their opinion, believing they know what Gerrard said, which, let me assure you, they don't. They weren't there and didn't ask Stevie himself. Muppets.
Patrice Evra is apparently one of them. The French International has been quoted as saying that Man U have more England Internationals than Liverpool. I just love it when Senegalese players... what? What was that? He's French? But... Really though, Patrice? Let's look into that for a second. I'm looking at the latest squad selection right now and I only see one Man U player, Wes 'I'm having a laugh' Brown, and two LFC players, Crouch and Gerrard. Last time I checked, two was more than one. Oh, wait, do you mean players with caps for England? This will be fun.
Let's start with Gary Neville. Gary Neville? Paging Gary Neville? Nevermind. Then you have Wes Brown... hold on... I can't stop laughing... Jamie Carragher is ten times the player Brown would ever hope to be. Michael Carrick? B team at best. Hargreaves? Like I said yesterday, he only has knee cartilage for his club. Kieran Richardson? Oh, wait, nevermind. Rooney? Always seems injured when his country comes a-calling. That leaves Rio Ferdinand, who, unlike last year, is well-deserving of a spot to represent his country, but alas, he's suspended. So there you go, Man U's latest contribution to England in a nutshell. Stick with being a cheat Evra, you're good at that. It's in your Senegalese, uh, I mean French blood.
Finally, we have another good laugh when this bloke tries to say Jermaine Jenas is as good as Steven Gerrard. Of course, Jenas is more of a holding midfielder and Gerrard is a true box-to-box, but let's ignore that. Also, Gerrard plays in more matches for club and country and has scored more goals overall, but let's just manipulate the data to prove our point. No manager in the world would take Jenas over Gerrard and if he did, he'd be an unemployed manager. Cheers.
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