Liverpool Echo - Another Red Letter Day

LIVERPOOL FC 4 PORTSMOUTH 1

2010-03-16T11:00:15Z

THAT'S 4. That's right, four.
How refreshing it was to see Liverpool finally rediscover inventive, positive football.
There were some of us who thought it had well and truly been banished from Anfield.

]]> That last 25 minutes in the first half was as good as we've seen from the Reds in a long, long time.
Granted, it was against rock-bottom Pompey, but in these times of meagre scraps, we have to feast on anything we can get hold of.
That said, the movement and incisive passing which swept through the side from midway through the first half was hugely encouraging.
Like with most games, it took a slice of luck and an error from the opposition to get things started.
Although, Gerrard certainly deserved the run of the ball with his charge down of keeper Jamie Ashdown's clearance.
That harrying was mirrored by the skipper throughout the game and it was good to see his appettite for the game back after some disturbing body language during the defeat at Wigan last Monday.
Last night was the game where we appeared to happen upon our best formation.
Surely, there can be no doubt that, if we are to carry an attacking threat, a central midfield three of Gerrard, Aquilani and Mascherano, combined with Maxi on the right and Babel on the left, is the way forward.
Granted, well-aired criticisms of Babel and Aquilani have graced these pages, but the Italian at least is starting to show signs that a player of potential is emerging.
With Babel, despite some encouraging in his last few games, I'm still not so sure long-term. Short-term however, we need him.
Riera is fast showing himself as no sort of alternative. And Kuyt needs a few games on the bench to see if pace can turn the Reds into a threatening outfit going forward.

Seeing Aquilani perform last night was a big boost. He always looked like he had ability, it just was doubtful if he had the confidence or presence to stamp his authority on games.
Last night, he wanted to ball constantly, and his passing was crisp and direct. Ally that to a willingness to get into the penalty box to score goals, and we could have a decent player on our hands.
Hopefully, Rafa will grasp that the Mascherano and Lucas pairing is not a valid option if we want to rediscover any attacking instinct.
This may finally put paid to the Argie or Lucas being relied upon to thread damaging balls through to Torres, a forlorn hope if ever there was one.

As for the wide areas, there was more zip from left and right than there's been for a long time.
Maxi is an interesting player. I've not made my mind up yet. He looks quite lively at times. He always remains wide, and has a decent ability to pick out a man in the middle, particularly with slide rule balls played to a man waiting on the edge of the 18 yard box.
His limits appear to be a lack of real pace, and unwillingness to hit the byline. Time will tell on this lad.

With Babel, he's a real conondrum.
I suspect he'll never really become the finished article, and that 'can't be bothered' attitude will always resurface.
But he does have glimpses of talent. It was a fairly cute finish last night for the second, toe poke or not.
Essentially, Babel seems to get better with games. Build his confidence and he can have an effect.
The difficulty is, if he is a passenger while building that confidence, Liverpool cannot afford such a luxury.
But, who are we going to play on that left flank? Riera. No, we're starting to give up the ghost on him.
Kuyt? The penny is starting to drop that pace is everything in the modern game. The Dutchman should still play a large part within Liverpool's squad, but whether he has enough to be a regular starter is another matter.

What was disappointing was how we coasted in the second half. There was a chance to put six past Portsmouth, but we didn't go for the jugular.
Aquilani again stood out with a cracking ball for Torres' second, and being intergral with a wonderful passage of play near the corner flag which ended with us narrowly firing over.

Hopefully, this is the time for us to kick on. With Yossi and Glen Johnson all back in the fold, we have the full complement fit now.
There's a tough Old Trafford game on the horizon, but with very winnable games to come, and Spurs, Villa and City all yo-yoing in terms of results, it's time to make that fourth place our own, and forget about this very trying season.

WIGAN ATHLETIC 1 LIVERPOOL FC 0

2010-03-09T10:56:16Z

SOME people were describing this game as a 'gimme' for Liverpool leading into it.
I remember thinking at the time that was a bizarre comment.
Gimme?
For a team playing so poorly? And a team that has never risen above average all season?

]]> Even when we put a run of results together against Spurs, Everton and Villa away, we were hardly playing the sort of football that would have the Premiership quaking in their boots.
Bar clinically putting away Stoke, Burnley and Hull by the odd goal in 4, at the start of the season, we've been poor since the kick off.
Any victories we've secured have been because of gritty midfield sniping, dogged defending, but not a great deal else.
It was almost a seminal moment watching Liverpool last night.
Reina and Kyrgiakos aside, there were woeful performances right across the pitch.
Some fans harp on about the long list of 'world class' players still in the Liverpool side, but who are they exactly?

Torres is still a top, top performer, and on another day, would have bagged one of three very presentable chance.
At least the Spaniard is getting in the positions, and carries the fight even when Benitez decided to play him as a lone striker with precious little support.
Gerrard, granted, on his day is among the best there is, but is the midfielder capable of the superhuman feats that saw him rescue desperate situations like in Istanbul and Cardiff?
The captain was very poor last night, giving the ball away with regularity and injecting none of is usual vigour into proceedings. It was almost as if he was resigned to standing next to some of the mediocre red-shirted chaff around him.
But he can't blame others. Last night, his own performance wasn't of the standard required.

Kuyt had one of his worst games in a Liverpool shirt. The lack of pace from the lad is chronic. Tacklers eat up the ground when they're chasing behind him as the Dutchman gets slower and slower, and slower.
Even accounting for that snail-like progress, I still believe Kuyt up front with Torres is the best way to go.
The Spaniard needs a mate up there. Our best chance was created by a good Kuyt knock down for Torres.
Let's be honest, Kuyt is hardly going to get to the byline to swing a cross over. We might as well benefit from his waspishness in the central areas, and give some support to Torres to do what he does best.

Maxi has been taking a lot of stick for his performance. I actually thought he did a few good things, (one or two decent crosses), but let's not be fooled that he's the all-singing and all-dancing dashing winger we want him to be.
£1.5m gets you a certain type of player. And that's a player coming to the end of his career, whose best years are behind him.

After a fair bit of improvement from Lucas in recent months, it was back to anonymity.
Sideways and backwards passes. Lots of fouls. Zero offered going forward. It's difficult to quantify why this lad is a Liverpool player. Was Danny Murphy any better? Yes. Was David Thompson? Yes.
Liverpool's habit of buying overrated Spanish and South American dross really needs looking at.
Perhaps it's time to realise that maybe British is best and start trying to find some talent in the lower leagues.
Admittedly, the price tags slapped on English playrs is immediately prohibited. And I'll hold my hands up and say I was shocked when we were linked to Milner, and look what a player he's gone on to become.

But is Insua really a Liverpool left back? Look at the stick Riise took from fans, and while he wasn't the player he had had been years previously, I'd still prefer The Ginge to our weird crab-like Argie left back.
And some of us will say it until we're blue in the face, but the aimless punts upfield from Carragher, The Greek etc are meat and drink to our opponents.
No wonder Gerrard and Aquilani stand on the bootlaces of our centre halves to collect the ball as it's pointless our defenders trying to start a move.
Another thought - will someone remind Benayoun that he's allowed to have a shot, and it's not all about trying to walk the ball into the net?

It was just embarassingly poor. Granted the Americans are bleeding the club dry. But that should mean we struggle to compete with the Man Utds and Chelseas and fail to get to the latter stages of the Champions League.
But to surrender so limply to the likes of Wigan, Wolves and Reading? To struggle so much at home to some Romanian unknowns? That can't be blamed on a lack of finance.
The money that has been invested over the years should have brought in sufficient quality to overcome those hurdles.
I found myself coveting many of Wigan's players last night.
Oh for some athletic dynamism like Figueroa, the skill of McCarthy, the threat of Rodallega......to dream of average Wigan players wearing a Red shirt...that's how bad it's become.

LIVERPOOL FC 2 BLACKBURN ROVERS 1

2010-02-28T20:53:49Z

WHO rankles us Reds more, Neil Warnock or Sam Allardyce?
Now, there's a question.
Every time we play a Big Sam-run team, there's always plenty of pretext and sub-plot and veiled chatter, which often, is more amusing, provoking, or downright irritating, than the action on the field itself.

]]> The nattering this time round appeared to come from Allardyce.
According to him (note the media's colloquial use of the 'Big Sam' moniker compared with the cold referral to 'Benitez') Liverpool are the new Bolton. Lots of hard work, graft, and plenty of legitimate physical stuff thrown in too.
The point is, Allardyce is probably right. I called us the new Merseyside Dogs of War after we beat Everton in the derby and our grinding down of Spurs at Anfield weeks before that.
Shorn of confidence, we've gone back to basics, and set ourselves up as difficult to beat, particularly as we've been without are trio of star players, Gerrard, Torres and Benayoun of late.
But, we don't need the manager of Blackburn Rovers to tell us that.
And if Liverpool are indeed the new Bolton, then Allardyce's Blackburn Rovers side make the old Wimbledon look like Barcelona.
The Reds do resort to the long balls far too often now, granted, but the boss of Blackburn Rovers isn't qualified to carp about thatm his own side this afternoon seemingly competing in some sort of mind-numbing competition to whack the clouds out the sky.
As much as the gruelling backs-to-the-wall final 15 minutes today was a grim way to close out three points, it similarly emphasised the absence any sort of quality from the Lancastrians.
Attritional, hoofed up-and-unders from Robinson, and/or any defender was the only way they would have managed to get anything from this game.

Despite views to the contrary (again from Allardyce), the victory wasn't harsh on Liverpool.
We played the best football, much of it in the first half, and didn't really concede a gilt-edged chance to Blackburn, apart from Samba's header which was saved by Reina at the death.
Even their penalty, won after a supposed handball from a prostrate Carragher, looked dubious.
There was a bit of newly-discovered zip to our midfield in the first half, largely down to Gerrard being stationed as a routine midfielder.
Some fans get apopletic if you describe Gerrard as a midfielder ('he's a deep-lying striker,' they fume), but we miss him when his focus is more that of a second striker.
With Alonso gone, and Aquilani struggling to prove himself, we've got nobody to start off an attack with a searching ball.
Mascherano and Lucas (that superb pass for our second goal excluded) are not the sort of players who have a probing pass in their lockers.
Gerrard's passing is still, at times, exemplary, and we need him around the centre circle to bring people like Maxi and Benayoun into play.
Our opener was typical Gerrad. Lucas won the ball, as is HIS strength, played a sensible ball to the captain, whose one-two with Kuyt put two Blackburn midfielders out the game, and some neat interplay with Benayoun, coupled with a slightly fortunate touch past a flat-footed Samba, did the rest.

Our second goal was encouraging, in that it was fashioned by two players, who hopefully, will start to grow in stature in this Liverpool side.
The pinpoint ball from Lucas to put Torres through on goal was majestic. A fully fit Spaniard might have reached it before Samba.
No matter, as the lively Maxi was switched on and his cross for Torres was simple, efficient play from the Argentinian.
It's taken a handful of games for Maxi to show he might be a decent weapon for Liverpool, but this afternoon showed just that.
He was an excellent option all game, sure of touch, full of running and with the sort of composure and skill on the right wing that could bring this Liverpool side a lot of reward.
It was noticeable that most of Liverpool's good work came down the right flank, and while Yossi is one of first names on the teamsheet when fit, his inability to get to the byline, and swing over a left-footed cross in traditional winger-style is a hindrance to our attacking play.
Riera would be the obvious option in terms of balance, but too many ineffectual and uninterested showings from him could mean his time is nigh.
On that note, how long are we going to keep persisting with Aurelio at Liverpool, the lad who breaks down whenever he breaks into a sprint.
Another innocous incident, another pull, strain or tear. Sometimes you've got to say enough is enough.

For all our good intentions in the first half, the second half was drab in the extreme, and the panic which embedded itself in the Liverpool side's mind alarming from a side supposedly imbued with single-minded professionalism, if not at the moment, flair and invention

Better sides than Blackburn would have capatalized on our ability to keep the ball, string passes together and our decision to worryingly retreat to our 18-yard line for the grim aerial onslaught that is Blackburn's only weapon of choice.
Credit to the lads for withstanding such a battering, especially without The Greek, but it wasn't a satisfying way to win a game.
That said, taking three points from the perennially monaing Allardyce is a joy in itself, and his post-match interview haranguing for his player's welter of yellow cards was predictably tiresome.

Five yellows for Rovers, and they deserved every one of them. In fact, they probably deserved a good few more.
Ref Alan Wiley was frustratingly inept at times, and when is a linesman going to have the courage of his convictions these days and help out a ref by spelling out what he has just seen in front of him?
We were treated to more snake-like behaviour from Diouf (should we expect otherwise?) Nzonzi could have not have complained about a red card for his body slam against Lucas, Kalinic should have received a first-half yellow (and therefore a later red-card) for a pathetic penalty box dive, and those in the Main Stand say that Chimbonda's boot into Maxi's midriff had a sinister element to it.
Yet, Allardyce thinks Liverpool are very good at 'swaying' the referee's mind.
We listen, and we laugh, Samuel.

LIVERPOOL FC 1 UNIREA URZINCENI 0

2010-02-19T16:54:59Z

WHAT a task just to type out their name!
And what a task it was to play them, Anfield bearing witness to an obdurate display from the little-known Romanians.

]]> That said, you've got to break these sides down, and that was something we had trouble with all night.
There was a suspicion the Reds might struggle in this game, by virtue of the lack of passion and expectation surrounding the fixture.
Nobody is ecstatic to be involved in this competition and it shows.
In this poor form, Liverpool rely on lusty crowds and full-bloodied passionate displays to make things tick.
Without that aggressive desire, however, and instead relying on skill and craft to make a path through the Eastern Europeans, we struggled.
Our play was pretty pedestrian and one-paced, and the injection of speed needed to get behind the massed ranks of defenders nowhere to be seen.
The 1-0 win was fair, but there were no real sitters or golden opportunities that could point to the wrong scoreline.
It was a pretty decent Liverpool midfield on paper and it was disappointing that a foursome of Riera, Aquilani, Mascherano and Kuyt couldn't dominate proceedings.
That's just over £50m of talent, by my reckoning, and we made little impression on their back four, particularly in the first half.
Mascherano is in decent nick, but patience is wearing thin with Riera.
Maybe the lad's not fit, but if that's the case he shouldn't be playing.
If he is fit, what he served up was sub-standard.
Running down blind alleys, errant passes, a lack of work rate, the signs are only too clear why Man City got rid of him a few years back.

Aquilani was given a start, and while he looks to have a cultured touch on the ball, the Italian is not doing a hell of a lot with the ball when he has it.
That said, my Kop colleague commented abut how Alonso would have struggled to service that pretty non-existent frontline last night.
He had a point.
Gerrard looks depressed with the lack of ability around him, but even the captain doesn't seem like the superman he used to be.
The skipper did sensationally carry this side in the mid Naughties with jokers like Traore, Biscan, Diao etc in tow.
He's still a great player, but is the eyeopening dynamism still there?

I'd give Carragher man of the match. That was on the basis that he did nothing wrong and nobody else did much right.
It's just not happening for Ngog at the moment. He seems to have regressed from a slightly improved period a few months back.
He looks lost at times, but leading the line alone at his young age can't be easy. And he was loitering in the right place for the goal.

It was nice to see Pacheco and while he didn't see much of the ball, his intelligent header in the goal build up was encouraging.
The little Babel cameo also cheered the spirits somewhat.
A friend of mind texted me at half time bemoaning the absence of Pacheco, Darby and the others.
"I hope Rafa doesn't think there's any glory to be gained in this tournament,' he said.
I disagree slightly, to win the Europa silverware in a competition that has the likes of Juve and Ajax is still an achievement.
Whether we can do that, conquering our Romanian friends in the process, is another matter.

ARSENAL 1 LIVERPOOL FC 0

2010-02-11T09:14:19Z

Liverpool's good run of form, or at least, results, had to come to an end at some stage.
Recently, we have displayed lots of grit, but there was never enough quality to convince us that we wouldn't come unstook once we met a really top side away from home.
Even debatable 50-50 shouts for a last-gasp penalty don't mask the fact that we didn't quite do enough to warrant anything from the game.

]]> A frustrating game in many respects. We actually did ok, irritating Arsenal with a pretty professional, organised display.
Consequently, the Gunners didn't create that much, especially in the first half, and we kept them at bay fairly comfortably.
The snapping and snarling Mascherano/Lucas screen is a conundrum for many an attack these days.
While this tactic of constantly closing down space can be allied to some high-octane attacking at home, away from home pans out differently, with Liverpool often under the cosh in these sort of games.

Nevertheless, there's a nagging feeling we could still have taken something from the match.
A great Gallas tackle prevented Ngog from possibly converting and a Babel blockbuster producted a stunning save from Almunia.
Cue an absurd comment from Sky commentator Andy Gray: "I can't understand why Babel can't get in this Liverpool side."
Crassness in the extreme there, Mr Gray.
The reason the ineffectual Dutchman can't get a regular berth in this Liverpool side is due to persistent lacklustre showings, a blatant lack of effort while on the pitch, and despite a fabled reputation built on pace and power, those qualities are hardly ever seen in the flesh.
True, it was a great first touch from Babel, and an even better strike. But it happens very very rarely.
A lot of Reds fans can't stand Gray, and I must say, I've never fully joined the chorus of disapproval.
But the wide-of-the-mark comments were bountiful from the former Blue last night.
After a succession of Gerrard corners which failed to beat the first man, Gray remarked: "It's not like Steven to put in a bad corner like that."
Actually, it is Andy. He's been fairly mediocre on corner kicks all season, the Derby delivery excluded.
Another thing, why does Gray refer to Gerrard as 'Stephen' all the time?
I didn't notice him referring to Javier, or Pepe, or Emiliano. Is it an attempt to appear 'paly' with the skipper of Liverpool and England international?
The final Gray blooper, in my opinion, was his reaction to the Nicolas Bendtner challenge/dive.
I've looked at it several times, and the striker chucks himself.
Agger might step across slightly, but Bentdner was auditioning for the high board at the Olympics.
But no, according to Gray, 'Liverpool got away with it.'

As for Liverpool player performances, I thought Mascherano stepped up to the plate, Lucas didn't shy away from a tackle, Gerrard was our one spark of creativity, and Insua seems to have regained his good early season form.
At the back, Skrtel looked pretty decent and Agger looks like he might start becoming a fixture in this side.
Some fans blame Insua him for the goal we conceded, citing his sometimes weak positional sense, but he wasn't at fault for me.
Fabregas, for once, had acres of space in the midfield to plough into, and Insua had two or three players to pick up.

It was a shame Degen had to come on to the field to masquerade as a footballer at the expense of Carragher.
It's a tough call between who is less of a Liverpool players between Dossena (now departed) and Degen
The Swiss plays with a slight smirk on his face, like he's amused that he's actually here, being watched by millions on the telly.
He's like that imposter bloke who creeps onto the Man Utd Champions League photo, or walks out to bat during an England Test, Karl Power was it?
He's patently not good enough. Every time he gets the ball, he hasn't enough craft to pass it forward, instead ferrying it sidewards putting a teammate in trouble.
He's one who has to go in the summer.
As for our newest rectruit Maxi, there's been nothing yet to suggest the Argie will turn out to be a good signing.
Maybe we've been seduced by that World Cup wonder goal, but it was four years ago, and even that strike for Athletico at Anfield against us was around 18 months ago now.
It takes a good while to get accustomed to the Premiership, however, so we should be prepared to give him time.
As for Riera's constant in-out-in-out status, either he's good enough to be a regular or he isn't.
And was Aquilani, another of our great hopes, injured, or just not selected for the trip?

And finally, the penalty shout.
It's a close one, but I'm not buying it. It's a desperate shout from us when we really didn't quite do enough to bag a point.
The very back of Fabregas' heel might be on the line, and the Spaniard does definitely handball it, but it's touch and go.
Aside from this, Gerrard seems to throw himself to the ground in the run-up and any contact on Kuyt, which actually wins the foul, appears pretty minimal.
A word on Fabregas, who spent all game standing one yard in front of our free kicks, and petulantly rolling our dead balls back 30 cms.
A waspish, annoying irritant in the extreme. When are we going to see cards for this kind of behaviour?
Good player mind.
This was always going to be tough to get any points from and let's hope the stigma of a defeat doesn't upset the lads, who have shown good character of late.
Man City away next, which looks tough, followed by Blackburn at home, which should be up our street.
The Liverpool midfield scrappers will fancy that one.

LIVERPOOL DERBY PIC

2010-02-10T15:46:58Z

WHAT'S great about this picture?
Have a look and tell me what you think. And describe exactly what is so great about it.

LIVERPOOL FC 1 EVERTON 0

2010-02-07T22:03:49Z

IN CONVERSATION with the ECHO's Everton reporter Greg O'Keeffe after Saturday's derby, we both hit upon a similar conclusion.
"Liverpool are Merseyside's new Dogs of War,' we agreed. "It's come a full circle."

]]> That was certainly the feeling at the final whistle, and which stands up as a valid argument to explain the Reds recent run of positive results.
Liverpool ground out a win in trying circumstances with good old fashioned application, grit and bloody-minded desire.
It was almost a sequel to the Spurs game.
Yes, it wasn't a game for the faint-hearted with boots flying in, and some X-rated tackles, but effort and determination is surely the first way out of a mini-crisis and patchy runs of form.
There was a time in the 1990s when Everton packed their midfield with gutsy and hard-working professionals to gain results.
Wasn't it the likes of Kenny, Horne, Stuart and Co who bared teeth in the faces of less steely opponents?
Now, Liverpool are specialising in that Dogs of War attitude to get them on the road to recovery.
The craft and artistry, to be added to the commitment, will come later...we hope.

To beat an in-form Everton side, playing for most of the game with a man down, was no mean feat.
Moyes may harp on about not deserving to lose, but neither did Liverpool, and to equal the Blues in every department, with their numerical advantage, rendered a Reds victory a deserving and fair result.
Referee Martin Atkinson hardly covered himself in glory, either, with a catalogue of decisions that were questionable, or just plain wrong.
For the Kyrigiakos/Fellani rumble, I'd argue Fellani's studs on ankle stamp was the worse of the two tackles.
The Greek won the ball, didn't appear to play the man, yet received a red card. Granted, you can't jump in two-footed these days, and Screech having to retire hurt showed enough illegal contact was made to potentially warrant an early bath.
Fellani's was worse, however, yet Atkinson didn't appear too interested in that one.
Furthermore, the referee missed the worse of the lot some moments earlier when Pienaar virtually poleaxed Mascherano with a raking studs up challenge high on his shinbone.
An interesting player the South African, he of the 'God is Great T-shirts, who was later red carded for an unnecessary shoulder charge around Gerrard's face.
All skill and verve, but certainly plenty of niggle to his game.

Down to 10 men, it was always going to be a backs to the wall job for the Liverpool, and pretty much every player stood up to the task.
Honourable mentions to Lucas, Mascherano, Inusa, Gerrard, Carragher and Kuyt.
The Dutchman is invaluable in games like these, his workrate almost counting for two players.
Not only did he bag the goal which won the points, but one defensive back post header, begging to be converted for the Blues, was outstanding.
Gerrard seemed to have the fire back in his belly, and Insua seemed to regain the robustness and calmness on the ball which he displayed early on this season before a calamity two months around Christmas.

Everton must be kicking themselves. Such a golden opportunity to win at Anfield, yet they didn't have the nouse, quality, or sadly for them, the heart to press home their advantage.
Liverpool, however, and Benitez, used to specialise in games like this. Get your noses in front, and then shut up shop like the much-vaunted AC Milan and Italian defences which bored the hell out of neutrals, but which helped bag trophy after trophy.
Fair play to Carragher. The signs that his age might be catching up with him have seemed non-existent in recent months, with performances of true Bootle blood and guts.
And Lucas revelled in the dog-fight too. As has been discussed on these pages before, he loves a scrap.
It's a paradoxical thing. Yet the Brazilian, displays little of note in terms of silky forward play, yet seems to adore a battle in the middle of the field.
His reading of the game, ability to tackle, pinch the ball back, track back with a runner, is invaluable at times like these.

This was never a game for Aquilani. But that statement in itself is a worry. Surely for £20m, the Italian should be a player for all seasons.
Essien, Mikel, Ballack, all foreigners.....Song, Fabregas......they wouldn't quiver at the thought of these games.
You could imagine Aquilani would. Maybe the Arsenal game at the Emirates this Wednesday might be more up his street.
I wouldn't bank on it though, as Benitez's trust in the player appears already to be quickly wavering.

Opinion on the terarces appears undivided about Ngog.
True, in years gone by, the French forward would have been packed off on loan to learn his trade.
In these penny-pinching times, however, with greed-driven owners unpprepared to toss even a handful of farthings from their bulging pockets, it's very much a different story.
With Torres crocked, and Kuyt preferred as a midfielder, Ngog is the option. The only option.
Yet, while he appeared massively out his depth over the last eight months, there are signs his game is improving.
Let's not forget it can't be easy playing as a lone frontman for Liverpool with the sparse service and creativity a hardworking, but essentially mundane midfield of Mascherano and Lucas can give you.
But, I've noticed a growing confidence in Ngog with his back to goal, a more assured touch, ability to bring a ball down and turn, and willingness to accept the rough and tumble handed out by opposing centre halves.
You never know, the lad might still make a player.

And the difference between his contribution and the jogging indifference of substitute Babel was marked.
The Dutchman had the bit between his teeth in the early minutes of his substitute showing.
But it quickly turned into shrugs, any absence of trying to put the Blues defence under pressure, and some very questionable control from a £10m man.
Yet, still we try and foster forlorn hopes that the former Ajax man could still unleash an abundance of pace, power and 25 yard drives.

Nevertheless, we move on up to fourth and what looked a very sorry state of affairs one month ago looks infinitely more promising.
Especially with Man City, Aston Villa and Spurs all looking very average at the moment.
A win at Arsenal in three days time would even leave us on their coat tails after another limp Gunners surrender against one of the Top Two.
Maybe, a Top Three finish could be on the cards after all?

LIVERPOOL FC 2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0

2010-01-20T23:35:10Z

FIGHT, passion and commitment.
That's the first way to battle out of a crisis of confidence that is seeping through Anfield at present.
When signs of footballing quality are in short supply, one of the initial things fans demand from their players is effort.
And to be fair to the Reds, last night, they gave us that in spades.

]]> There was a crackle in the air from the outset, almost akin to a European night.
Maybe everyone recognised the importance of this game.
Spurs, along with Villa and City, represent the biggest threat to us securing fourth and grabbing that all important Champions League place.
From first minute, Liverpool played as though their lives depended on it.
Spurs were knocked out their stride, so much so, that their usual silky passing football was non-existent and they resorted to long balls up to Crouch to fight for.
The problem for Spurs was that Liverpool fought much harder. And when the Reds are REALLY up for a fight, there a few better.
The battling qualities on display were similar to when we beat Man United at home in October.
Our midfield were like maniacs, tearing into tackles, and upsetting ball players like Modric, Jenas and Defoe.
At the back, the rugged centre half pairing of Skrtel and Kyrgiakos, both of who have been found wanting in recent weeks, were top drawer.
For once, set pieces and corners posed no threat as the pair dominated the aerial contest, and they harried and thundered into attacking players who can do untold damage when given time and space on the ball.

True, this was no vintage football from Liverpool, but with the low ebb at Anfield still to clear, good old fashioned hard work was hugely heartening to see.
This was the kind of game which Mascherano, and to a similar extent Lucas, loves.
Snapping at heels, flinging themselves into white shirts, it was war in the trenches, and Spurs couldn't deal with it.
Moments of quality were supplied by Aquilani, who gave a fairly accomplished 70 minutes before he was replaced.
There has been some genuine concern about our £20m purchase in recent weeks, but the Italian showed poise, an eye for a pass, and some commendable workrate in a packed competitive midfield.
Kuyt, as ever, was a mixture of excellent and poor.
The excellent was reflected in a delightfully placed 20 yard finish to put us in the lead. The excellent was also exemplified by his composure to score two (one retaken) penalties with no cause for alarm.
The excellent was also a bulldozing run which resulted in a golden opportunity for Degen, who showed his gutless side by trying to play in Kuyt again instead of unleashing on goal with 40,000 Reds baying him to shoot.
The poor Kuyt saw him firing a sitter over the bar from seven yards, and frequently forgetting he was our lone striker while drifting out to the wings and central midfield to leave us striker-less at times.
Still, two goals and plenty of fight. Can't complain.

It was good to see Riera back, but he didn't seem fit to me, and had an alarming lack of pace, once allowing even the statuesque Crouch to gain ground on him near the touchline.
One great header and left foot piledriver aside, he struggled to make an impact, but at least he's fit now.
The Degen experiment on the right wing was dubious. He did succeed on pegging back the Spurs left back, and he did work hard, while gaining a few blows and nasty challenges in the process.
But there's not a lot of quality there, and his refusal to shoot when fed by Kuyt late on was criminal.

Insua was a lot more steady than of late, his old robustness coming to the fore and Carragher was the epitome of honest endeavour even stationed at right back.
One madcap sprint to the Spurs corner flag, winning a Liverpool corner from an impossible situation, was real talismanic stuff which raised the volume around the whole ground.
We shall make Spurs fight for every inch, appeared to be the message.

And a word too for Ngog, whose impact on the game, with just 15 minutes of playing time was immediate.
Full of running, tricking his way past players, and holding the ball up well, before winning the penalty that won the game.
It was great stuff from the young Frenchman.

It felt fantastic to walk away from Anfield with a real big win under the belt. And it was all achieved by bloody hard work.
True, that class, the guile, the invention is a long way off. But if we can maintain this sort of tenacity and defend with this kind of grit, positive results will not be too far away.

LIVERPOOL FC 1 READING FC 2 - HUMILIATION

2010-01-14T15:15:21Z

LAST night, Liverpool FC surrendered limply to a side struggling at the wrong end of the Championship.
Not only we beaten, at supposed fortress Anfield, but we were outplayed.
The Reds were palpably second best in terms of fight, commitment, ideas, creativity and skill.
Now is not the time for delusional hopes, skewed statements of how we just need our luck to change, but for cold, hard, plain facts.
It's only facing up to the reality that will possibly drag us out of this sorry, sorry mess.

]]> It wasn't as if we'd had scant warning after our tentative performance in the first leg at the Madejski Stadium.
We scrambled a replay thanks to a Gerrard cross which crept into the net, hanging on grimly at the death for a replay.
Back to Anfield, our haven, we'd do away with these pesky Championship hopefuls. Wouldn't we?
Not with this shocking attitude, this rock-bottom confidence, this ever lowering ebb, these limited players.
You'd think, after a wake-up all like the first game against Reading, the Reds would need to step up to the plate.
You need to want to produce a performance on a cold wintry night in Liverpool to show how embarrassed you are by events 10 days earlier.
But wanting and doing are two different things entirely.
Appallingly, Liverpool players didn't fancy it half as much as Reading who showed bags of skill, bags of energy and bags of desire to put us totally in the shade.
Outclassed by a side 21st in the division below us. Liverpool have been woeful all season and this result was just waiting to happen.
We were hugely fortunate to head into the dressing home at half time 1-0 up.
Two great chances for Reading spurned, the first for Rasiak (which saw Carragher inexplicably decide to jump over the cross into the box - his collection of own goals no doubt weighing heavily on his mind -) and the second for the admirable Simon Church.
How it must have been great for a neutral to watch Reading attack and break forward with pace and verve.......they should have been 2-0 up at half time.
Pace and verve. Aside from Torres and Gerrard, we haven't seen fit to use those adjectives to describe a Liverpool side since the days of McManaman, Collymore and Fowler.
Crap at the back we were, but mustard going forward. At least the crowd back then were watching great attacking football, even if the results were up and down.

Readng were nutmegging us, swinging in fast crosses from the byline, showing real trickery on the flanks. It was great stuff.
Ah the flanks...I think Benitez must have forgotten where they actually are. All that green grassy area near the long white lines.
Liverpool are painfully narrow at times. If there's one way to pick apart a well-drilled defence its pace on the wings stretching immobile centre halves who like to stay on the spot and head balls away all day for fun.
Time and time again we tried to pick our way through the packed central areas......our predictable one-twos meat and drink for any defender with a bit of nouse.

What was galling was how short of pace and appetite we looked compared with Reading. They seemed to eat up the yards in front of them, while our players looked like they were running through treacle at times.
It's becoming almost laughable now the snails-like pace which Kuyt operates at. Who'd win in a race between him and Crouch? I reckon Usain Bolt could run the 100metres twice over and still finish before them.
Elsewhere, the chronic distribution from the back continued. We've bemonaed in the past the useless chipped punt up to disenchanted frontmen. If we're going to play like Wimbledon, we might as well have kept Crouch.
Arsenal shout 'HOOOOOF' whenever we play them, and let's be honest, they're spot on.
Liverpool bang the ball up in the air and fight for the scraps. It's the Red Machine in full effect.

All over the field there was mediocrity. True, I was a fan of Insua at the start of the season, but now the lad has lost the plot.
I'm not an Aurelio fan, but he's surely got to be better than the crab-like and one-sided Insua.
If he makes the Argentina squad for South Africa they're surely going out before the quarter finals.
Jeez, I'd take Riise back right now. It's got that bad in that position.
Benayoun tried to spark a few things, but his finish when one-on-one in the second half was not the composed play of an accomplished international.
Ngog again showed his rawness, kicking a very presentable chance against his own foot, and Lucas is never going to give Liverpool anything other than tackling and shoring things up defensively.
Central midfielders have long been a position of maestros and giants for Liverpool FC - Gerrard, Souness, McMahon, Whelan.......
Lucas? We're relying on Lucas to drive an ailing Reds team forward?
As for the great hope, Aquilani, the portents don't look good. I've heard some fans talking positively about his second half display.
Sorry, but I didn't see it. True he got box to box which was encouraging, but his capacity to give the ball away, pass to the opposition, and get 'sacked' while in possession was alarming.
When we won a free kick on the edge of their area, I was expecting some Italian invention to dip the ball over the wall.
What we got was an agricultural blast against the wall which Bernard Diomede would have been pleased with.

Fans have been divided for some time about how much of our problem lies with Benitez or our American owners.
It's right that Hicks and Gillett fed us a carefully orchestrated web of half truths when they took over the club, and promises of cash to compete with the world's best has not materliased.
The dwindling warchest, or the lack of any warchest indeed, with which Bentiez could attract some decent talent to Liverpool, has left us severely hamstrung.
That said, we should still have plenty to overcome a relegation-threatened Championship side, with two bits of the cherry.
We still had a £9m Kuyt on the field, a £9 Babel, a £6m Lucas, a £5 Benayoun...full internationals like Degen and Insua, a £20m Aquilani, one of the best midfielders in the world in Gerrard...the list goes on.
If those players aren't capable of disposing of Redaing, that's hardly the owners' fault.
Christ, Jobi McAnuff looked a world beater out there.
How we cried out for talent like that as he slalomed his way through our defence from the halfway line like a knife through butter.
Let's be truthful here, Rafa has paid a lot of money for some real poor footballers. Yes, there have been some very good buys.....Reina, buying the world's best striker in Torres for a value which has subsequently tripled..to name two.
But have there ben enough of them? And they're starting to look dwarfed by the growing number of let-downs.

As we speak, Torres has just been ruled out for six weeks, Gerrard for two weeks and Benayoun for a month. With Johnson still crocked, the Stoke game away doesn't even bear thinking about.
Shawcross and company must be rubbing their hands in glee.
What struck me at the final whistle was the lack of gleeful jumping around by the Reading players.
Basically, beating Liverpool at Anfield isn't what it was formerly cracked up to be.

READING 1 LIVERPOOL FC 1

2010-01-03T18:14:33Z

AFTER many of our dismal draws or defeats this season, some fans have been quick to chirp up and say: "What do you expect, when the owners won't financially back the manager?"

A fair point, some would offer.

But dropping points at well-baked Spurs and being held at home to money-bags Man City is one thing. Being outperformed by a side five places from the foot of the Championship is quite another.

]]> It's difficult, however, to put forward the same argument when a lowly outfit like Reading, struggling in a division below us, show more skill, ability, and most worryingly fight, than one of the supposed best teams in Europe.

Let's not kid ourselves, the display against Reading, in particular the second half, was shocking.

We defended set pieces pretty well, and Torres has some moments of sharpness, but other than that, what else can we grasp on to?

The experiment of playing two full backs on the left hand side has to stop.

Insua is having such a crisis of confidence that it would be best to leave the lad out for a few weeks.

I was a big fan of the Argie earlier this campaign. He seemed to be really solid and showed a real willingness to get forward.

And he has an ability to swing in a good cross, like for Gerrard's barnstorming header against Wolves.

But in the last couple of months, Insua has lost the plot. His positional sence is awry, any winger with a modicum of pace or trickery waltzes past him, he consistently barges players to the floot in unnecessary situations, and his Riise-like left footed one-sidedness is massively limiting.

To compound our mediocrity on that flank, many of us our failing to see the wisdom of playing Aurelio as a left winger or midfielder.

He gave us, and he gives us, very little. I'm not the Brazilian's biggest fan as a left back, but left mid is no kind of a solution.

What's the alternative though? People are starting to clamour for Babel now...again. Have we forget how utterly forgetable his displays in a Red shirt have been?

Yes he might have pace to burn and a booming shot, but that pace is never ignited and the shot never booms.

Riera? Maybe. But he's got a habit of getting injured, and a habit of drifting through games doing not very much.

There isn't really a great alternative, other than spending a bit of cash in January, and that looks extremely unlikely from our Scrooge-like, suddenly frugal, say-one-thing-do- another American owners.

There was really poor Liverpool football everywhere you looked on Saturday. Kuyt's touch verges on the chronic at times, and our central midfield had no sort of control on the game.

It's about time we started getting some displays of authority from Lucas, rather than pesky, nuisance value, getting your foot in, performances.

After all, he is likely to be part of Brazil's squad for the World Cup. Surely that should guarantee some sort of pedigree?

There were, furthermore, some worrying signs from Aquilani. It wasn't the easiest game to come on as a sub for the last 25 minutes, but he looked like a lost sheep. #

Time and time again, he was sacked, American quarter back style, caught in possession, or sen hurriedly shovelling the ball away as hungry Reading midfielders pounced upon him.

Granted, there are some concessions we should make for the Italian, namely that he is still yet to reach full fitness after his injury, and he needs time to get used to the helter sklter pace of the Premier League.

But that aside, shouldn't £18m of Serie A, Italian international-capped ability overide those concessions? Shouldn't the class and ability on which you've built you're reputation around steer you safely through testing times like this?

Worrying to say the least.

We were really under the cosh at times on Saturday. Reading's bevy of Icelanders seemed to much for us. Darby at right back was one of the few positives.

It lookes like that position is his for a month at least with Johnson crocked, Carra unkeen to play there, and Martin Kelly injured.

On a night of endless negatives, this was one of the few chinks of light.

Bottom line, there were no superstars in the Reading line-up, yet they exerted a pressure and a control on the match that seemed beyond our superstars, beyond players bought for sums of £9 (Kuyt) £6 (Lucas) to name a couple, along with a host of others valued at prices that hardly seems fathomable now.

How we needed Mascherano to snarl around the central areas in this game. How we needed a second striker to give Torres some effective support, and pose a threat to a largely untroubled Reading backline.

How we needed wide midfielders to go at a struggling Championship outfit with pace and invention.

Many jusitifably thought this was the moment to push on strong after the hugely promising away at Aston Villa. But it seems even that confidence boosting victory might have been a flash in the pan.

Still, Leeds beat Man Utd. There's still things that can make us smile.

ASTON VILLA 0 LIVERPOOL FC 1

2009-12-30T21:31:17Z

STRANGE game this one, with Reds fans convinced that we deserved the points and Villa boss Martin O'Neill certain his side were robbed by Torres' late winner.

]]> One things for certain, this was a massive win for Liverpool as that coveted fourth place has begun to look worryingly out of reach in recent weeks.
Now, we're right back in the mix.
There's been a fair amount of debate about how much hope can be attached to this win, and how hearty the slaps on Red backs should really be.
For me, it was by no means a vintage Liverpool showing. But then, Liverpool have hardly ever shown any sort of 'vintage' this year.
Certainly in the first half, we took a stranglehold on the game, which, while it wasn't a choke hold, did see us exert a certain degree of control on proceedings.
We didn't create any gilt-edged chances, but we looked capable of scoring, and had a lot of the ball in fairly promising areas.
It was typical Liverpool really. Lots of the ball, largely in control of the game, but not opening up Villa's rearguard.
That said, any team who goes to their patch and bosses it for decent periods deserves praise.
Let's not forget, Villa are really strong this year....turning us over at Anfield and doing a number on the Mancs at Old Trafford.
For all one can wax lyrical about goals, pace and razamtazz, there's plenty to be said for resilience, commitment, and courage to set the pace against a genuine Top Four chasing side in this sort of form.

It was that sort of game where nobody stood out for us, but everybody played their part.
This midfield threesome of Lucas/Mascherano, Aquilani and Gerrard appears to work.
The balance is right - one defensive midfielder, one creative passer who can get up the park, and Gerrard, almost playing as a second striker.
Either Lucas or Mascherano, but not both. That's when a lack of creativity and vision comes to the fore.
Aquilani didn't exactly set the world alight with his display, but I thought he did quite well.
And what was encouraging was Gerrard and Yossi seemed to enjoy having a player of good technical ability around them.
The Italian's football brain and skilful touch bodes well for the little triangles, and one touch stuff which we, and Gerrard in particular, enjoys.
The slog continues for Kuyt, and the Dutchman looks like he needs a rest, with any creative spark he may have had, left back in the dressing room.
I recall one moment in the first half, when a centre mid spun the ball out to the right, his first touch took him three yards backwards when we had an opportunity to create a few holes in a quickly retreating Villa defence.

Some interesting stuff post match, too.
I don't totally agree with some of our fans that there's a media agenda against Liverpool and the press want to see the Reds fall flat on their face.
But I have to say the Sky Sports interview with Benitez would make me reconsider that viewpoint.
The lad asked Rafa why he was surprised that the media had made a big deal of the manager recently stating we would definitely get 4th place.
Rafa's obvious reply: "You always have to make statements to keep the club positive."
Sadly the interviewer couldn't grasp that and so, following more asides to the Spaniard and his position, Rafa had a little fun asking if he (the journalist) would be resigning after every mistake he made.
Rafa's had some critics for his interviews recently, but I thought this was really bob on.

As for Martin O'Neill, I think he must have been watching a different game if he felt Villa were robbed of three points.
Maybe Villa were just about good enough for a draw, just about, but three points Martin?
Having a laugh there.
Yes, you had the Downing chance, Carew header from a corner, and Agbonlahor break...but let's neutralise that with Friedel's tip over from Gerrard, a stonewall penalty when Dunne upended Kuyt, our goal and a very very presentable chance for Yossi eight yards out when he scuffed it into the ground.
He's always been a bit emotional though has O'Neill.

Big, big win this. Let's hope the season starts here.

LVERPOOL FC 1 ARSENAL 2

2009-12-14T12:18:53Z

AND so the gloom deepens.
We traditionally have too much for The Arsenal at Anfield, our power, physicality and high octane tempo often winning out over pretty passing patterns.
But the way we surrendered in the second half, limping through the last 25 minutes without so much as a whimper, was truly alarming.

]]>

It really was a tale of two halves yesterday.
In the first 45 minutes, Liverpool were by far the better team, knocking Arsenal out of their stride with our usual brand of muscular pacy play.
Mascherano was to the fore. There is nobody better than the Argie when he's playing like this. It's no wonder he picks up injuries when he flies around, relentlessly harrying and snapping at heels over and over again.
Would he get the same satisfaction playing in the more languid Serie A or La Liga? I doubt it. The Premiership, with all its blood and thunder, seems tailor made for him.
When he picked up his knock at the end of he first half, that seemed to knock the stuffing out of us and we never really recovered.
Wheras Arsenal's Song and Denilson had been initially harrassed to the point of distraction, they were suddenly allowed the time and space to play in the second half and it was a totally different game.

In truth, we should have been two up at half time. Torres missed a glaring chance when brilliantly set up by Gerrard, and Howard Webb crowned a truly shambolic display by failing to spot a stonewall penalty on Gerrard.
Granted, the captain had knocked the ball on a fair distance, and it's unlikely he would have caught up with he ball before it went out of play, but swiping an attacker's legs away is a foul. Plain and simple.
He reached he ball first, knocked it on, and Gallas took him out.
But the luck is somewhat against Liverpool at the moment. A bobble denying Ngog against Blackburn, now England's supposed premier referee blundering last weekend.

Saying that, you've still got to emerge for the second half and try and replicate what you've done in the first.
From the whistle, Arsenal took charge and we were miles off the pace. From 65 minutes onwards, Liverpool were frighteningly poor.
No control in midfield, individual defensive mistakes, and aimless punts up front to an increasingly disillusioned Torres.
Let's hope the Spaniard isn't already thinking why he's alongside some very mediocre, average footballers.
The woeful distribution from the back is becoming a massive handicap now. No wonder Arsenal scream HOOOOOOF when they come to Anfield. And they're not wrong. Aurelio and Carragher were particularly culpable on Sunday.
It got quite depressing seeing Torres having to fight in the air time after time against Gallas and Co.
The modern game is about athletes and footballers in every position, not just in midfield or up front. A player who can't play an incisive pass, no matter what his position, is a fundamental worry.
Take Arsenal, even their full backs and centre halves can use the football constructively.
Every player has immaculate control and they can all spot a pass or motor past a defender.
That's where Liverpool fall down. We rely on a handful of 5 or 6 to show the kind of vision needed to open up a well drilled defence.
Solely working hard, and busting a gut now is not enough. Yes, we need a Mascherano type player, but do we need Lucas in their aswell?

Speaking of midfielders, it's a shame Yossi Benayoun appears to be going through a very ordinary spell at present.
Let's hope it's just the after effects of his injuries that's hampering him, and not a player with his confidence on the wane.
We need the Israeli on top form in this barren spell.
All eyes then on Alberto Aquilani. It woul have been preferrable if the Italian was joining the side on a high, playing well, allowing him to slot into a well-oiled machine.
Asking him to reinvigorate an ailing Liverpool, so soon after major surgery, is a big, big ask.
And while it was good to see Kuyt get on the scoresheet yesterday, his performance was yet another example of the one-dimensional play that is hampering Liverpool. Lots of workrate but not the ingenuity or craft you'd expect from a £9 buy.

It would remiss not to mention a quite woeful performance by Webb last night. Time and time again he got decisions wrong, infuriating the crowd. Physicality is allowed in football Webb. If this is the best we can send to the World Cup, then I pity the sides who are set to be pained by his officialdom in South Africa.
And when is somebody going to get a handle on Cesc Fabregas? Always whining to referess at some perceived injustice.
He never left Webb alone for a minute, waving his arms in the air, complaining about anything and everything.
Funny that, I remember he got one of his best mates, Arteta, sent off at Goodison last year after another display of gamesmanship.
Great player Cesc, bad example on the pitch.

So, we're five points off 4th place at the moment, current occupied by Aston Villa, who can go to Old Trafford and dispense with Manchester United in front of 70,000 plus fans.
They're no pushovers now, Villa.
A lot of results went for us over the weekend, with Tottenham and Man City slipping up. But it's never been clearer that our expectations now are certainly no higher than that last Champions League spot.
After missing out on the Premiership title by a whisker last year, who thought times would be so hard this year?

BLACKBURN ROVERS 0 LIVERPOOL 0

2009-12-07T00:15:16Z

ANOTHER game, another lot of huff and puff from Liverpool, but not enough craft to open up a mediocre defence.
The task of grabbing that Champions League spot seemd achievable a couple of weeks ago, but it now seems an increasingly arduous one with every passing fixture.

]]> All in all, we were unlucky not to pick up three points after dominating the second half.
Our big chance came when Ngog hit the bar from two yards out - he's slightly excused by the nasty bobble which made the ball sit up moments before he hit it, but even so, it should have been buried.
One of the most alarming features of the game was the inability of any player, other than Gerrard and Johnson, to fashion an opportunity for Liverpool.
Riera offered precious little and was replaced soon in the second half, and the perennial debate about whether Kuyt is good enough is rearing its head once again.
Plenty of effort from the Dutchman, sadly lacking in class.

It says something that our right back is, hands down, our second most creative player.
There may be a shout for playing him as a right winger and showing the likes of Riera and Kuyt a thing or two about attacking play, although I doubt the player himself would be too glad about that with an England World Cup right back berth to consolidate.

There's a definite feeling with me to have a wholesale clearout and start again.
Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano, Aquilani, Benayoun, Johnson, Reina, Insua, Agger, Carragher can stay...the rest of them, on your way.
How we expect a central midfield pair of Mascherano and Lucas to show the necessary guile and invention to prise open well-drilled defences is beyond me.

The one positive is that the defence seems like its getting over its recent jitters.
Agger is far more assured than bundle of nerves Skrtel, and Carragher is still a reliable citizen.
Insua had one of his better games too, getting forward well, and eradicating the youthful errors that have littered his game of late.
Reina has taken over the mantle of best keeper in the Premiership. After his wonder save against Fellani last week, there was a similarly briliiant piece of goalkeeping near the end, when his perfectly timed rush from goal stopped an almost certain goal.
He is winning us points....single points sadly.

We could revisit old arguments about where Liverpool are falling down, but they're old hat now.
We just hope that Rafa can see the things that seem palpably obvious to supporters watching.
The need for Aquilani to be a real gem is almost a given now...if another ordinary player emerges, then we really are in trouble.
The loss of one player (Alonso) shouldn't really make such a difference.
For me, we really over-achieved last season, while our big rivals were consistently below par.
This season, some sort of true realistic picture has appeared about the respective strengths of Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, us, Aston Villa, City and Tottenham.
It would be brave man who'd place serious money on Liverpool securing that Champions League spot come May.
Going forward, we hope for a soon-to-be-fit Torres, a talented Aquilani, some discernible transfer activity involving shipping out dross and bringing in players with ability, and a defence to stop leaking silly avoidable goals.
That's a lot of hoping.

THE DERBY - EVERTON 0 LIVERPOOL FC 2

2009-12-02T18:43:03Z

A LITTLE late this, I know, but reporting duties have kept me chocca of late.
Still, a retrospective look at the Derby, with more time to ponder, is sometimes preferrable to kneejerk reactions to performances, n'est pas?
Or, 'No?'as Rafa would put it.
I digress.
First off, isn't that winning feeling great?
I'd forgotten what three points was...

]]> I think it's universally accepted that we played poorly, as an attacking unit at least, and Everton were far the brighter and more inventive on Sunday.
That said, it's a while since we had a bit of luck.
If it wasn't beach balls scoring against us, it was French teams scoring undeserved equalisers or unjustified red cards at Craven Cottage.
So, it was about time we got a bit of the rub of the green.

Still, the disjointed nature of our attacking play was worrying.
Passes went astray and we didn't seem to carry much of a threat up front.
Gerrard doesn't look quite fit yet, and people like Kuyt, Ngog and Aurelio had ineffective games.
Mascherano is playing well, however, and his passing has taken on a more offensive look after some criticizm in that area.
As a mate pointed out to me, his celebration after his deflected goal didn't seem like a man who was desperate to push off to Barcelona.
The Argie appears totally committed to the cause, further shown by him storming off the field in a rage following recent sub-standards showings.
The combination in central midfield of him and Lucas is still crying out for a huge dollop of creativity, but in a Derby, the Brazilian's aptitude for spoiling and breaking up play was fairly valuable.

As for other areas of the park, I can't say I'm a big fan of this Insua/Aurelio combination on the left.
Essentially, two defenders expected to terrorise the right wing? I'm still not convinced with Aurelio as a player and while I'm largely an Insua fan, he's had a shaky couple of months.
Good desire to get in the box for that header though. Unlucky.

I still hold out hope for Riera, despite him being a frustrating player.
It's becoming apparent now why Man City quite liked him during his time there, but didn't quite like him enough.
He shows flashes of real quality, and then mixes that up with some annoying mediocrity. His penchant for niggling injuries doesn't help.
His little cameo on Sunday was a case in point.
A lovely sweet left footer led to Howard's parry and Kuyt's goal. If only we could coax out more consistency from the Spaniard we might have a real player.

We need to get Yossi back fit soon as he's one of the few sparks of vision still in the squad.
And the coming of Aquilani must be near.
There have been some reports of late from people scracthing their heads as to the Italian's continued absence from the first 11.
For me, it seemed a decent choice not to play him from the start against Everton. He seems to be essentially injury-free, but not fully match-fit.
And the fierce snap of a Merseyside Derby is probably not the best place to put him to the test, bearing that in mind.
It's something of a worry the amount of expectation on his shoulders to revamp an ailing midfield, but £20m should buy you some sort of quality.
Shouldn't it?

A quick word for the lads at the back with Carragher back in the sort of form that we're used to.
That performance has helped to dispel a few doubters who were suggesting that age was catching up with the Bootle man.
And I was far more assured to see Agger patrolling the back line instead of Skrtel, a liability of late.
As for Pepe Reina, a extremely accomplished double saved won us the points. If Screech had scored, the tide would ahve almost certainly have turned against us, considering how averagely we were playing.
But we are used to this sort of excellence from the Spaniard now who is close to attaining cult status with his manic celebrations and moody stomps off the pitch when we lose.
Quite right too.
Let's hope this win kicks off the season again and lits the gloom around Anfield of late.

LIVERPOOL FC 2 MANCHESTER CITY 2

2009-11-23T22:03:36Z

ANOTHER game, another absence of a win....it seems that we're in for a long hard season boys.

]]> Liverpool can't seem to buy a victory at the moment.
A campaign which began with huge expectation, following on from our hugely unlucky second place in the Premiership last year, threatens to fritter away into the dust.
Granted, Man City at home is a tough game for any big side these days, but the way they controlled large portions of the second half was telling.
In truth, we didn't deserve the three points and it was City who were the ones kicking themselves for not holding out for a win.

We were always going to struggle without the effervescent Johnson, the width of Riera and the class of Torres, but the paucity of our back up options really has been exposed in recent weeks.
Add to that a Gerrard still not fully fit, our only other midfielder of craft Benayoun not properly recovered from his hamstring, and it's a squad devoif of the quality that cannot nearly match the likes of Spurs, Man City, never mind Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea.
As for the game, Liverpool were yet again hampered by set pieces. As much as Skrtel should be praised for beating Adebayor to score his goal, his failure to get nowhere near Adebayor for City's opener was staggering.
Nobody was marking the big striker, but rather the defenders were patrolling their 'zones'.
But the quality of the cross was good, and Skrtel couldn't make up the ground in his 'zone' quick enough to put in any sort of discernible challenge.
Please, oh please, oh please, can we just go back to breathing down an opponents neck at corners and free kicks?
This defensive suicide is killing us. But then it'sa nothing new is it?

Buoyed by that, City started to take over the game, and their second was composed with genuine quality.
That said, it came from another Skrtel mistake. The Slovak had the ball near his own corner flag, but allowed the indefatigable Tevez to harry him off the ball, and The Argentinian's probing ball into Wright Phillips sett them on their way.
As much as Skrtel was great last year (yes, I sung his praises from the rooftops), he is in a poor run of form at present and is not worth his place in the side.
Agger is clearly the best centre half at the club, and his injury was not only bad news from a solidity point of view, but also with regard to distribution from the back.

Elsewhere, Mascherano seems to have recovered from a crisis of confidence and is right back on song at the moment.
Shame, there's nobody else giving him the help he deserves.
Ngog, optimistically, is looking a huge lot better than in previous months, but he's still at novice level and not the sort of player we should be relying on.
As for Kuyt, with big talents out the side, we need the Dutchman to really take a starring role.
But it seems beyond him. Dirk (God love his attitude and coomitment) is great complimenting top drawer players, but when it comes to him to picking up the conductor's baton, there's just not enough there.

Babel was given a start, but an apparent injury did for him..(Gerrard's shake of the head and refusal to look at the Dutchman as he traipsed off spoke volumes) and Lucas showed plenty of his trademark endeavour, but hasn't enough guile and class to open up well-drilled defences.

It's tough to see how we've gone from nearly men for the Premiership title, to Europa league candidates in just six months.
Put simply, while the big clubs, other than Liverpool, showed rare signs of fallibility last season, they are largely right back on song now.
While they have pushed on, we've taken two steps back.
Chuck in a build-up of injuries, and Liverpool's first eleven, not long ago as good as any in the league with eveybody fit, looks weak.
To see Defoe looking majestic for Sours the other night was painful - the lad could have been snapped up for an affordable fee when he was still at West Ham.
What we would do for a midfield with the artistry of Lennon, Huddleston, Modric, Kranjcar, Jenas, Palacios...and Spurs are a side who won't even get near the title.

Yes, I'm writing this while on a downer, but it's almost criminal to see what's happened to Liverpool in 2009.
We're stuck between a rock and a hard place - the Yanks won't give Benitez the cash to really compete with the big boys.
Yet, signing cheques for the manager doesn't necessarily guarantee quality that will win trophies.
For every Torres, Mascherano and Reina, there's a Dossena, Babel, Lucas, Nunez and Kuyt.
How do you operate a club when everybody views everybody else with suspicion? When nobody has real faith in what the other person is doing, despite what they might proclaim publically?
Unless something drastic happens at Anfield, no sort of silverwear is heading to L4 this season.
This season should be used to rebuild, and rebuild fast. Make some realistic, and no doubt tough, choices about personnel, and act decisively.
Or we might have to get used to not just 12 months of rebuilding, but 24, 36 or 48 months of assembling a squad from scratch.