Happy Christmas

This is just a quick note to say Merry Christmas and Thank you to everyone who reads The Red Article! It's been a hard year to be a Liverpool fan and we have all put in a lot of effort to continue supporting the boys in red and trying to stop becoming disillusioned but hopefully 2011 will be more succesful for us all and we can get back to thinking about what happens on the pitch alone!

When I decided to start this blog back in August I had no idea it would be so succesful, but thanks to everyone who has read it and kept reading it, Its been way more sucessful than I could have hoped, and although I havent had a lot of good news to talk about its been even more enjoyable to do than I expected. So far the blog has been read by more than 1,000 people with an average of 200 people visiting each month from as far afield as Indonesia, India and Thailand.

And in case anyone is wondering, no I didn't get what I wanted for Christmas . . . .  yet, but it's not Santa I am waiting on, It's John Henry. All I want for Christmas is Rafa back in the Liverpool Dugout!

Liverpool 0 - 0 FC Utrecht (Positives and Negatives)

Well ...... what can I say? More of the same really. Liverpool were playing... we all got excited..... we watched the game...... we were all disappointed. Thats it really, although there was one major difference in that this game didn't really mean anything. We knew before we kicked off that we had qualified for the knockout phase of the UEFA cup, we even knew that win, lose or draw we would qualify as group winners. As such, i'm sure most never expected this to be a rollercoaster of a match, we did however expect some form of performance. It was a European night, at Anfield so even if nothing else pride was at stake.

Even before kick off things werent looking good there was the usual confusion caused as usual caused by statements from Roy Hodgson. In the run up to the game Roy said “Fernando Torres will be involved in the game, as will Pepe Reina and our centre-backs. Pepe Reina likes to play, he would like to play in this one and I’m not going to be the one who says to him, ‘You want to play, so you don’t play.’ So he will start the game and Brad Jones will be the second goalkeeper.” However when the team was named it seemed that something had changed because Fernando Torres had been relegated to the bench, Pepe Reina wasn't even in the matchday squad. After the game Roy explained Torres' ommission thusly "Following discussions with the conditioning people, they persuaded me to see the error of my ways. "I had a vision of Fernando going out there, having a great 45 minutes, it being good for his confidence, maybe scoring a goal and giving him a little lift."I was only going to play him for 45 minutes. He didn't play against Aston Villa and he was quite looking forward to playing."But when we sat down and we started to talk about it again, it seemed to me the disadvantages or potential disadvantages far outweighed any potential advantage." This seems strange in that if true, you have to ask why was he on the bench if it was decided prior to the game that he was never going to play. Now the simple fact is I completely agree that it was unnecessary to play Nando and risk injury in a game which meant nothing, but why make such a bold statement prior to the game? It was a case of putting your hand out to get slapped, the statement had the potential to make Roy look silly, and in the end, the statement did make him look silly.

So anyway, on with the crux of the article the Positives and Negatives.

POSITIVES

Martin Kelly: One of these days, definitely at some stage during the season I will have to tot up who appeared in the different sections of this feature each week and when I do I am sure Martin Kelly will have been one of the most occuring positives. His performances have been a shining light this season and this game was no exception. He attacked with verve and defended like a more experienced player. Regardless of the teams erratic form Martin Kelly has been consistent through the season.

Jonjo Shelvey: Another youngster performed well in the circumstances, he's only 19 but he looked stronger than his years aswell. He chased lost causes, put in hard tackles and played some creative intelligent passes and it was his strongest performance in a Liverpool shirt so far. Prior to the game the press had been comparing Jonjo to Steven Gerrard, I think that is most definitely pre-mature but in fairness he is a promising footballer who i am sure will improve if he is handled in the right way.

Aurellio's Return From Injury: Fabio Aurellio made his latest comeback from Injury against Utrecht and played pretty well, for a comeback game. We have been crying out for some competition for Konchesky at left back and it seems we finally have some. Hopefully Aurellio will come back into the squad, or at least push Konchesky to improve his current standards.

NEGATIVES

Joe Cole: Joe had a particularly poor game against Utrecht, he was wasteful in possesion and gave the ball away cheaply on most occasions. He also missed Liverpool's best 2 chances of the night, both inside the 6 yard box. Joe is having a crisis of confidence, we really need him to step up soon. There is no doubt that a fit, confident, on form Joe Cole  would definitely mean an improvement to our play.

Poulson: I'm not going through it again, Poulson did his usual thing........

The Hamster Face Rub: You know when Liverpool are playing shite and your pissed off beyond belief and the camera goes on the dugout, you'r hoping to see your manager in total control dishing out instructions, reassuring you that he knows how to turn it around, but what do you see on Liverpool's bench? The Hamster Face Rub thats what! Its that rub Roy does with both hands where he vigarously rubs his face as if to warm up his brain, it makes him look like a man who has no idea what is going on. unfortunately i cant take credit for this term but it is pretty accurate.

Houllier's Liverpool

Gerard Houllier returns to Anfield on Monday night, and you can be sure it will be painted as the return of a fan favourite by he press. The return of the last succesful manager Liverpool have had, the man who signed the players who won Liverpool our 5th European Cup. A manager so good that he didnt even need to actually lead Liverpool to becoming European Cup champions, he just built up a squad which was so brilliant that even Rafael Benitez couldnt help but lead them to glory. Djimi Traore, Harry Kewell and Djibril Cisse were proof of that.

The facts are that Houllier did achieve much as Liverpool manager and this shouldnt be forgotten, even though my sarcastic tone may rankle with many I do still have respect for the fact that Houllier was very important in restoring our reputation in world football. He turned us around at a very important time, when we were in terminal decline and changed the culture of our club and made us more professional from top to bottom. He won for us three competitions in 2001, The UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup and brought joy to a place were none had been seen for a long time. However, we must also remember that that is where the success story ends. After that we had to put up with some of the most boring football ever seen at Anfield (until Roy's appointment of course) we had to put up with players wearing the Liverpool shirt on the pitch who should not even have been allowed to wear replica shirts when playing 5-a-side with their mates. We had to bear witness to Robbie Fowler being bombed out of the club he loved in unceremonious fashion, by which he wasnt even given opportunity to say goodbye to the fans who he adored and who adored him so. He left behind an ageing, poor quality and ill diciplined squad of players who had little or no resale value... but when some of these players were lifted enough by a stronger manager to reach the maximum of their potential to win the European cup the press sent kudos in the direction of Houllier, disregarding the fact that none of these players ever looked like European champions when led by the Frenchman.

I've decided to write this REALLY SHORT article just to help any fans who, led by the press over the next few days, may remember Houllier's reing purely through rose tinted glasses.

Dion O'Bannion wrote an amazing article in the Irish Independant which explains things even better than I can manage here (If you can imagine that), its definitely worth 5 minutes of your time, please click on the link below to read:

LINK

8 Reasons to be Positive

Well, yet again it has been a hard week to come up with a blog. I really dont want to end up sounding like a broken record and going on about the same things, making the same points week after week, but in fairness, we have spent a fair proportion of the season making the same mistakes, so the blog was bound to get a bit repetetive.
  

So, thats the reason I have decided to change the tune this week and write something different, an article which focuses only on the positive points to the season so far.

Please use the comments section to let me know if you agree or disagree with these, or anything else which you think qualifies as a reason to be positive but has not been listed here.

Martin Kelly

 

The Kids:

A lot of kids have come into the team this season, they were in and around the squad for large parts of last season but they have been more responsibility this season. While its true that a new manager generally has better opportunity and allowances in blooding young players (when Houllier took sole charge he was immediately able to promote Gerrard, amongst others, where Evans while on a poor run would have been easier to criticise) our thinner squad this season has also aided their promotion. Young players who deserve special mention are Kelly and Spearing, who have not looked overawed and fitted into the first team picture well. Neither is the finished article yet although Kelly is probably further along than Spearing, but both have shown enough promise to believe they will soon take the next step in their careers. Pacheco, Shelvey and Eccleston have also performed well when needed although they have been used sparingly.

F.A Cup 3rd Round:

When the draw for the 3rd round of the FA Cup paired Liverpool and Man Utd I'm sure the F.A as well as sponsors and TV Executives rubbed their hands together. Its not the first time England's two most famous teams have been drawn against each other in cup competition, but its more rare for this fixture to happen at such an early stage in the cup. This game is exactly what we need at this stage in the competition, It will be difficult of course, but the players will be inspired by this one, of that there is no doubt. We have shown at times this season that our style of play can be effective against the bigger sides, when teams play against and attack us, we can create chances, and if we do we all know how much Torres enjoys scoring against Man U. A win in this fixture could inspire an exciting run in the cup which goes all the way to Wembley.

The UEFA cup final is in Dublin:

This may not be a positive to everybody who reads this blog but its a big one for me, as an Irishman the possibility (no matter how remote) of being able to see Liverpool play in a European Cup final (Even if its not THE European Cup Final) in my home town is exciting, even when its this far away. The Aviva stadium is certainly a venue which will do the occassion justice and is fully deserving of this showpiece. I was lucky enough to attend the European Cup final in 2007 in Athens and even though we lost, and even though the venue was an absolute disgrace ,I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life! I would love to repeat that in Dublin.... now I just have to arrange the tickets!!!!!

We still have a chance of Silverware:

Again, this may be a long shot but regardless, right now we are still in with an opportunity to win a cup. We may have gone out of the League Cup in embarrasing fashion (but in fairness so have Man Utd now) but, as mentioned above, we are still in both the FA Cup and UEFA cup and while winning one certainly wont replace winning the League or Champions League, Liverpool have always existed to win trophies and we have been too long without a trophy. Whilst getting fourth place and qualifying for the Champions League is very important in terms of money and keeping players happy, not to mention attracting new players, winning silverware should not be disregarded to achieve it. Just think back to the treble season to remember how good winning cups feels, even if they are so called "second tier" trophies.

We still have Torres, Reina and Gerrard:

In order to consider this positive we have to think of one negative, albeit momentarily. Things are bleak at the moment and if we dont qualify for the Champions League or possibly change manager, it may happen that we lose one or more of this triumvirate. So lets enjoy them while they are here. We are currently in possesion of 3 truly world class players, if they leave it may take time to attract more of them, so lets enjoy them.

Rodolfo Borrell and Jose Segura:

When Rafael Benitez was given the control of Liverpool he had long campaigned for in 2009 one of his first actions was to appoint Rodolfo Borrell in charge of the u18's. Rodolfo came from Barcelona where he helped develop well-known Barcelona players past and present, such as Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Bojan Krkic and Giovanni Dos Santos, as well as many potential stars of the future, including Liverpool's own Daniel Pacheco. Also appointed from Barcelona was Liverpool's Academy technical manager Jose Segura. His role with the Catalan giants saw him help develop players of the calibre of Andres Iniesta, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Bojan Krkic, Cesc Fabregas and Mikel Arteta. Having men uch as these resposible for our youth development can only bode well for our future development

Players finally being given credit:

Last season, as well as being split over the suitability of Rafael Benitez as manager, Liverpool fans were also split over the quality of certain players. It seems that this year people have been able to recognise the improvement and further potential in certain players, Lucas and Ngog being the prime examples. While these players qualities still arent neccesarily acknowledged by fans of other clubs at least most Liverpool fans seem to finally be on the same page.

NESV:

After the disastrous ownership situation of Waldorf and Staedtler we now have some stability in the shape of NESV. The moves they have made so far are promising and have done nothing to make fans doubt that their intentions are less than noble.They have appointed Damien Comolli and Tom Werner has taken over as chairman, they have also made the right noises with regard to finances. They have also shown an appreciation of "The Liverpool Way" a prime example being the fact that Comolli's appointment was only reported in the papers, after it was official, this shows no leaks occurred and the business was completed in the right way. They have a proven track record of success so lets hope they can bring more of this to Liverpool.

Two Results, One News Story, And a Fixture.

Well I've not been able to write much at all this week. I still haven't been able to watch all 90 minutes of the West Ham game, although I saw highlights it wouldnt really be fair to write a Positives & Negatives piece based on that. I think it is fair to say though that the performance was an improvement. I base this on the stats (Increased possesion, more chances and less chances given away) as well as some match reports from trusted sources like the Echo website. I think its also fair to say that by using the same sources its easy to gather that West Ham didnt exactly put up the strongest of challenges. Regardless of that though, on the back of a few poor performances it was important for us to improve and we did that. It would have been nice to have finished 1 or 2 more in the second half to give our goal difference some respectability but I think prior to the game, and baring in mind we were missing Steven Gerrard, most Liverpool fans would have taken a 3-0 victory. Something which shouldnt be forgotten, amidst all my talk of poor performances, is that over the last 6 games we are currently second in the form table!

Link to Dominic King's review in the Echo

During the week there has not been much major news. Glen Johnson seems to have put his recent troubles with the manager behind him (publicly at least) by admitting that he is aware that he has not been in the best form this season. Glen stated that he had held clear the air talks with Hodgson, but made it clear that he is his own worst critic and did not need to be told he wasnt playing at his best level "I didn't need to hear it from the boss to know that I hadn't been playing at my best, I'm an honest man and I know how well I can play".

The reserves played out a 1-1 draw in the mini-derby against Everton with Dani Pacheco netting a goal which he will hope helps him reclaim his place in the squad for the upcoming European games.

Link to Review of the Reserves 1-1 draw with Everton

On Sunday at 4pm Liverpool play Tottenham at White Hart Lane in a match-up which has grown in signifigence due to Spurs emergance and Liverpool's decline over the last view years, which of course resulted in Spurs qualifying for the Champions League this year.

Its hard to believe that even after our well known dificulties this season we could go level on points with Spurs, who currently lie in 6th place, if we win on Sunday. Although to put that into context it is also worth remembering that we are only 5 points ahead of Wigan who currently lie in 18th.

Spurs have had some famous victories this season, notibly Arsenal last week and Inter Milan earlier in the season, but they have not been in sparkling form either. Of course they have been juggling Champions League and Domestic competitions for the 1st time in their history which is difficult for any club. This is reflected in the recent form guide (which I mentioned earlier), from the last 18 points available Liverpool have taken 13 whereas Spurs have only taken 8.

Team News: Liverpool will definitely have to take on Spurs without the efforts of Steven Gerrard, Jay Spearing and Daniel Agger. Joe Cole is back in contention but may not be ready yet to start a full game.

A Long Delayed Update. Time for change???

This has been another hard week for Liverpool fans. A week which follows another disappointing result and performance! I've had a bit of time now to reflect on the game against Stoke and I decided I couldnt force myself through the pain and frustration of trying to squeeze more positives out of another embarrasing peformance and instead i've decided to just write out a few of the things in my head at the moment.

The performance itself was again the problem on Saturday. As I have said this on a lot of occassions this season that I could handle a the results (or at least some of them) if I felt we were growing or building towards something, but the fact is apart from a few minor peaks the general theme this season has been disappointment. Against Stoke we got one of the clearest indications yet of the impact Roy Hodgson has brought to the club, we were out-played, out-thought and out-fought by Stoke City.

The thing is that we are now a third of the way through the season and we are still showing no signs of improvement and to me it seems that any signs of the style that Roy has brought to the team have all been negative and contrary to the ideal's Liverpool fans hold dear. Pass and Move, Passionate football has been replaced by Hoof, Hope and Sitback football and the Kop dont like it. I have seen polls on many of the site's I visit frequently where over 90% of the voters believe Roy should go now. That would seem an accurate reflection of the popular opinion which was also proved by the travelling Kop singing Kenny Dalglish's name on Saturday.

I dont think there are many people who can argue that King Kenny is the long term solution for Liverpool Football Club but there is no denying the deserved love he receives from every single Liverpool supporter the world over.

I am of the opinion that we need to change our manager. I never believed Roy would be the man to bring us to the next Level and he has done nothing so far to change my mind. In fact, he didnt even have to take us to the next level really the fact that our last manager was sacked for finishing 7th with this team whilst achieving an often forgotten UEFA cup semi-final means Roys initial remit would have been to simply improve upon last season, and at this stage it must be said that even that looks unachievable at the moment. There seems to be a lot of fresh starts at the moment and NESV are going through a process of putting their stamp on the club, they have changed the structure of the club by bringing in Comolli as director of football, and are currently searching for a new Chief executive, surely it makes sense for them to hire a new manager, their manager to take the club forward. They are clever people and i am sure they are going through the process of finding the right man now. There is a case to be made that the reason Comolli has been brought in so early is so he can be involved in helping choose a manager who suits his (and NESV's) vision, and it is important this process is thorough and is not rushed so that when the right man is found he has the full backing of the owners and has the best chance to succeed.

However, Liverpool fans have been at war for a long time now. We were at war with Hicks and Gillette for so long that it caused divisions between fans. We were at war with each other over Rafael Benitez. Hell, weve even been at war over the standard of player in our squad this season with some people believing it is the worst crop of players to be at the club in 100 years and others believing we have a stronger squad than the press will gived us credit for, certainly stronger than our current style and position reflects. I think we need something to galvanise the fans again and get us all back on the same page, united in support of the red men. That is one thing which Kenny Dalglish could most definitely do. We not looking for him to come in and win the League (although we wouldnt mind) just to restore some pride and unite the fans again.

The thing is that if all Roy is doing is treading water until the owners man comes in surely it is doing more harm than good right now. Every few days another story of player unrest is reported. The two latest being Glen Johnson and Dani Pacheco (one of the more promising youngsters in Europe who has been effectively frozen out). Surely if morale is allowed to keep on slipping in such a way we are going to find it harder to get it back.

So, is it time for change? In my opinion, its been time for change for weeks!

Wigan 1 - 1 Liverpool (Positives and Negatives)

Wigan 1 - 1 Liverpool. Well after a great start to the game we took the lead and then faded out of the game. A lot of the old habits came back into our play in what turned out to be a very frustrating performance. Going from the high of a 2-0 victory over Chelsea to a 1-1 draw with Wigan can be frustrating in itself so its important not to look at things purely based on the result.





Torres finishes with precision at the DW Stadium!!!





POSITIVES:

Torres' Goal: Although it wasnt enough to seal the 3 points this time out, its a case of another game, another Torres goal. This time he linked up well with Steven Gerrard who provided an excellent through ball which Torres controlled perfectly and finished with! deadly precision. There were a number of times through the game when Torres looked dangerous but as the game wore on he became an incresingly isolated figure.

Martin Kelly: Kelly was called upon to play right back yet again in place of the injured Glen Johnson and without having a spectacular game he again defended well, and attacked brightly when the opportunity arose. Kelly is getting more experience than he might have if Glen had not been injured but it is proving to be a blessing in disguise as Kelly's performance continue to improve.

We Didn't Lose: Although this remains a game we should have had enough to win, especially after our explosive start to the game, the way we allowed Wigan back in and the dominence they held for about 75 minutes of the game means we should be pretty relieved to have gotten out of there. Wigan created some great chances and even had one goal (correctly) disallowed.

NEGATIVES:

Failing to press home our advantage: As mentioned earlier we really started this game well. We started off the game in much the same way as we started against Chelsea. We surged forward as a unit and seemed able to cut open the Wigan defense at will. Once the goal went in I am sure I am not the only Liverpool fan who felt that we would go on to record a comfertable victory. This obviously didnt happen, and although a draw away from home isn't neccesarily an awful result its the performance which will rankle fans the most. The players will need to take a certain portion of the blame, In fact Steven Gerrard tried (admirably) to personally take the blame in an interview with the echo, but after the goal our approach to the game changed completely.

Our tactics after the goal: After taking the lead we seemed to drop right back and concede possession to Wigan in much the same way as we had done earlier in the week against Chelsea, the difference being Chelsea currently sit in 1st place in the Premier League table and are the reigning champions, Wigan started this game 3rd from bottom. Dirk Kuyt started the game up top with Fernando Torres and interplay between them and Gerrard was very fruitful until we took the lead, but after that he was dropped into a much deeper posision and that seemed to help Wigan regain possession more easily. We started playing a lot of long balls out of defence to an isolated Torres and so we basically just gave the ball back time and time again. I totally understand that we cant go gung-ho all the time but surely we are strong enough to hold possession better and continue to try and attack the game.

Our Substitutions: At half time Meireles had to come off due to injury, in his place came Jonjo Shelvey. Jonjo put in his best effort and tried his hardest but although he is a hugely talented and promising player, he is not the finished article yet and it showed today. Its these kind of times that remind me that Aquilani (currently playing out of his skin for Juventus) is still technically a Liverpool player and surely didn't need to be loaned out so prematurely. Just when we needed to press and chase the game further Roy withdrew Kuyt and brought on Poulson. Now I fully understand that Dirk may have needed a rest but bringing on a defensive midfielder who has struggled for any sort of form, in place of one of our most attacking players seemed baffling. Our last substitution was made in the 80th minute with Maxi, who had been largely quiet, being withdrawn  for Nathan Eccleston, another player with a bright future but is not near being the finished article. The fact that Ngog and Jovanovic were left on the bench was very strange, to say the least, when considering those who were brought on!

Roy's Comments after the game: Roy made a comment after the game stating "We have five injuries at the moment. We finished the game with Martin Kelly, Jonjo Shelvey and Nathan Eccleston. That's what we have at the moment. Hopefully we will get some players back soon." this is hardly going to inspire confidence in the 3 players mentioned. It also begs the question of why others were left on the bench (Or loaned out like Aquilani or Insua) if these players are so dissappointing that they are to be used as an excuse.

 



Liverpool 2 - 0 Chelsea (Positives and Negatives)

Liverpool 2 - 0 Chelsea. Liverpool got a result which can be seen as an actual turning point in our season. Just before the game Kyriagos and Johnson were suddenly ruled out which forced some changes on Roy Hodgson which he (and the team) coped with admirably. It was a great performance and a brilliant result, and the scoreline by no means flattered Liverpool, which means as you can imagine, has made this article very Positive heavy but hey, we have to be able to enjoy results like this!

Torres Celebrates another fantastic strike against Chelsea

POSITIVES:

Fernando Torres Liverpools number 9: What a great personal performance! There is a banner which hangs in Stamford Bridge which declares "Chelsea, Carefree since 1905", well I think after Sunday they should change the words to Read "Chelsea, Carefree until Fernando Torres arrived in Liverpool". Nando kept up his phenomenal scoring record at Anfield which now stands at 44 goals in 47 premiership games! Nando now seems to have confidence running through his veins and hopefully this is just the start of a rich run of form, for him and Liverpool.

Dirk Kuyt: Dirk is the kind of player who is never appreciated as much as he should be until he is not there. Over the last few weeks we have missed Dirk's attitude and workrate which is infectious to others around him. Against Chelsea he played in as a withdrawn stiker and his dinked pass to set up Torres' opener was an apt reminder to everybody that although he is one of the hardest working and commited players of his generation he is also a gifted player and deserves more credit for this side of his game.

Lucas Leiva: Lucas is an outstanding team player! Had Nando not been the scorer of the 2 goals in a 2-0 win Lucas would surely have won the man of the match award. This should not be such a surprise to people who have watched Lucas' progression over the last couple of seasons. The press are starting to warm to him and now fans are too (funny how that happens though isnt it, the papers start saying he is great and then your average fan in the street feels the same). However it has come about, the recognition is deserved and long overdue.

Martin Kelly: Another step forward for this very promising young full back. When Glen Johnson was ruled out late with a bout of tonsilitis Kelly was handed a huge opportunity and he went about his business in the right way. He certainly at the level now to deputise for Glen so he can continue to take these steps forward. It could be argued that he offers a stronger defensive option than Glen and while i feel that may be true in time, right now it is all about getting experience and not pushing him too hard too early.

Jamie Carragher: Jamie rolled back the years in a performance which reminded you of one he gave at Anfield against Chelsea in 2005 on the road to Istanbul. He Tackled fiercly and threw his body in the line of danger on numerous occasions, once in particular to deny Drogba scoring a simple tap in which would have given Chelsea a platform to build on and made for a very panicky finish for Liverpool.

Pepe Reina: As always Pepe showed why he is so highly rated making a number of remarkable saves to keep us in the lead.

The Defensive Unit: Finally Roy is stating to put his mark on this team. A few weeks ago I spoke about the minimum expectations we would have had from a Roy team one of which was a strong defense, over the last few weeks we are starting to see that.

Roy's Tactical Decisions: Roy made some subtle changes yesterday which I found quite impressive! Playing Meireles on the right has had differing levels of succes so far this season, but yesterday it proved an astute decision as it free'd Dirk up to be more attacking. Meireles and Kelly teamed up well on the right and made sure that was not a succesful attacking route for Chelsea. Another big decision was for him to replace Kuyt with Shelvey instead of Poulson near the end of the second half. Throughout the game we harried Chelsea and attacked swiftly. Credit where its due, against Chelsea Roy set us up very well!

NEGATIVES:

Possesion: We gave away a lot of possesion in the 2nd half which resulted in Chelsea creating some chances. Chances which did not turn into goals due to some good fortune and some wasteful finishing from Chelsea.

Thats really all I can come up with on the negative side. Sorry if that dissapoints anybody but really 2-0 against the champions was a brilliant and well deserved result.

A Roundup of the Weeks Happenings at L.F.C

Damien Comolli

Well, following on from our 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers this has been a fiarly eventful week at Anfield. Damien Commolli has been confirmed as the clubs new Director of Football Strategy, this seems to be the first step of NESV's new vision for Liverpool FC. NESV had spoken about implementing a new transfer policy, based more on the example set by Arsenal i.e. buying young and allowing players to grow with the club, this would be in direct contrast to the clubs transfer business this summer in which we bought Cole - 28, Poulson - 30, Jovanovic - 29 and Konchesky - 29. The problem with buying players in this age range is that there is little or no resell value attached to them, whatever money is spent will not be recouped and so it may not be seen as the most sensible way to extract the best value from a limited transfer kitty. It seems Comolli's immediate remit will be to overhaul our scouting network and ensure the required changes are implemented. Liverpool have been too long working with a short term vision, Comolli will be bringing the long term vision that the club has been desperate for Comolli is vastly experienced and hugely respected within football. He was employed at Arsenal as their European scout  between 1996 and 2003, He was also Director of football at Spurs from 2005 to 2008 where he is credited with signing players such as  Gareth Bale, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Younes Kaboul , Luka Modrić, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Heurelho Gomes, Roman Pavlyuchenko, as well as Dimitar Berbatov amongst others. His record also includes some flops (i think a 50% success rate for anybody in the transfer market is the most that can be expected) but overall his record is impressive. He has also worked with AS Monaco and AS Saint-Étienne in France. This is yet another example of the new ownership situation being a case of so far so good.

John W. Henry

John W. Henry has also been busy engaging with fans in different ways. He met with Liverpool Supporters Union - Spirit of Shankly, details of this meeting can be read here:

http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Meeting-with-NESV-Representatives.html

He also took time out to answer some questions directly from Liverpool fans on Fan Forum Red and White Kop (RAWK) the questions and answers can be found here:

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=265701.0

John W.Henry also took a leaf out Rafa's book by taking time to meet with Liverpools most famous and popular blogger Paul Tomkins. Paul's website is generally subscription based but the article regarding this meeting has been made free to view along with some other excellent pieces. The details of the meeting can be found here:

http://tomkinstimes.com/2010/11/my-lunch-with-the-quiet-american/

Mr Henry seems to be engaging with fans to guage their opinions on club matters and this is very promising for the future, for who knows the issue's better than the fans themselves. This is obviously a direct contrast to the previous administration and that has to be good!

This week Liverpools current manager had another poor week for his press dealings. 

He attempted to deflect focus from our poor start to the season away from himself and onto the previous manager by having a few jabs at Rafa Benitez. This was yet another example of Roy's poor performances when dealing with the media. Rafa then came out and defended himself (which he has every right to do of course) and it all seemed pretty embarradding for Roy when it was plain to everybody that he was completely and utterly in the wrong (details of the spat can be found here and it is DEFINITELY worth a read: http://www.anfieldroad.com/news/201011014198/rafa-tells-roy-to-quit-talking-and-concentrate-on-coaching.html/ ) However Roy deserves respect for realising his mistake and offering a fairly complete apology and looking to end the matter.

Liverpool also have a game this week at home against Napoli. The redmen will be aiming to win following our goalless draw in Naples two  weeks ago. Roy has said he will be fielding a strong team so hopefully our winning run can continue and we can cement our position at the top of the group. Injury wise we are missing Ryan Babel and Daniel Agger. Dirk Kuyt and Fabio Aurelio are returning to fitness but this one may come too early for them to be considered starters. Kyriagos will have a fitness test prior to the game.

Liverpool 2 - 1 Blackburn Rovers (Positives and Negatives)

Liverpool 2 – 1 Blackburn. A much needed win and a vastly improved performance but is this a turning point or just a short term improvement?

POSITIVES

The Performance: Well finally it arrived, the performance we were all waiting for. A glimpse of something to show us that there might actually be something to cling to. We pressurised the Blackburn players all over the park and were tenacious in the tackle, with Maxi Rodriguez doing a particularly good job of clattering Diouf as often as possible and not getting booked until well into the 2nd half. We kept a higher defensive line too which meant that when we won the ball back we were able to build attacks more quickly and with less build up required which resulted in more incisive passing. Our passing was of a better quality too as was our movement and this really was a good performance. In fairness, we should be able to expect decent performances at Anfield versus the likes of Blackburn but considering the start we have had to the season it was commendable that we were able to pull this one out!

Sotirios Kyrgiakos: Kyri deserves great praise for his performances for Liverpool this season, and for the last quarter of last season when he was also immense. He has been one of our most dangerous attackers all season so far as he was versus Blackburn, getting on the scoresheet and was unlucky not to add a second to his days work. He is written off as a flop at times which is baffling when you consider he cost €1.5 million and was only ever intended to be used as a fourth choice centre back. He brings experience, power and aggression to our defence and offers a real threat from corners, something which we don’t have a lot of throughout the team.

Torres’ Goal: It may not have been the most spectacular goal he has scored for Liverpool but in terms of importance it was up there with any other. When Joe Cole played the ball for Torres to side foot home more was achieved then a simple Goal. This was Liverpool reclaiming the lead within 3 minutes of the dreadfully unlucky own goal, this was Torres ending his goal drought and this was restoring belief to the squad and fans. Torres’ performance throughout the game was much improved from recent games. One reason for this must be the pressing and higher defensive line which involved him in the game more, also the better quality of play in midfield providing better service for him, but Fernando himself was chasing harder than he had been recently and did not seem as frustrated as he has looked of late. If the team continues to play well and create chance Nando will finish them!

Finally finding Meireles Position: Having tried Meireles in a number of positions throughout his so far brief spell as a Liverpool Player, upfront and wide right, Roy Hodgson finally played him in his preferred position of central midfield and boy did he get his reward. Raul was involved in almost everything good Liverpool did on the day. He broke up attacks, played it simple when needed, created chances for others and arrived late into the box to great effect on a number of occasions, one shot in particular nearly took Salgado’s head off his shoulders and would probably have hit the top corner had it not been for the intervention of the Spaniards cranium. Mereiles today confirmed that he is a top class central midfielder.

NEGATIVES

The Performance: Call me cynical if you will but I cannot help feel like this improved performance came about through doing exactly the things which critics have been calling for since the season began. Namely pressing the opposition, holding a higher defensive line and looking to attack when in possession. In doing these things we looked better and got a desperately needed win, which begs the question.... why did it take so long for us to change things?

The last 20 (or so) minutes: Its probably to be expected given the situation we are in but we were noticeably edgy in the last 20 minutes. We got rid of the ball too quickly gave up possession and dropped deeper defensively inviting more pressure, basically slipped into the bad habits of our previous performances. As I said, its probably natural while confidence is low and we can eradicate this problem once we get a few wins on the trot.

Thats it for the negatives, I think we deserve a week of focusing on positives!

Scorers for Liverpool: Kyriagos, Torres

Lineup: Reina, Konchesky, Kyriagos, Carragher, Skrtel, Meireles (Shelvey 90), Gerrard, Cole (Ngog 78), Maxi, Lucas, Torres

Reluctant Acceptance

When the final whistle blew after the merseyside derby on Sunday I got a feeling which said more about the way the season has gone so far, than I had realised up until that point. The feeling was not anger, nor was it despair, I think it can be  best be summed up as a kind of reluctant acceptance.

It seems that somewhere subcontiously the turmoils of this season have lead me to re-align my expectations for the team. Gone are the days when I was filled with confidence before a battle against say Juventus, Barcelona, Real or Man Utd a new era is now in swing, an era in which it is not surprising to be beaten at home (and thoroughly outplayed) against a newly promoted Blackpool side. Its also not exactly shocking to see our side put in a totally abject performance lacking any heart, passion or tempo such as the one witnessed at Goodison Park this weekend. I thought our new english signings and manager were supposed to remind this club of our roots and bring back the passion (which was supposedly missing), well at least thats what the Andy Gray's and Jamie Redknapp's of this world told us. If this is part of the reason for the appointment of Hodgson or for signing the likes of Joe Cole or Paul Konchesky then I have yet to witness any improvement on the "foreigners" they were brought in to replace.

Lets not forget however that the game we are discussing here is no ordinary game. This is the Merseyside derby we are talking about here. The derby games are different to any other games we play in a season in that extra ordinary things happen, the result doesnt always go the way of current form. Its never taken for granted that you will get the right result, what is (usually) taken for granted is that your team will leave everything on the pitch and fight tooth and nail to get a win, even as poor as the season has been so far I think the result could have been acepted if the team had actually showed some passion or commitment. What hurts is that Everton played this derby exactly the way it should be played, putting pressure on Liverpool players all over the pitch and pushing forward with speed and in numbers. They played with similar tactics to those Rafa employed over the last few years leading us to a very rich run of results over our Blue neighbours.... home and away. Perhaps that also helps explain the way I felt at the full time whistle because after the first five minutes I never truly believed we would actually win this game

Something else which added extra pain to the result was the comments from Roy Hodgson after the game. You will find the quotes on other websites (lfc.tv for example) so I wont bother reprinting them here but basically the fact that he felt we played well and deserved any sort of result is quite worrying to me. Surely by now he has to acknowledge that things are not working out. I am reluctant to simply come out and say that I want rid of our manger, its not something I have done before as a Liverpool fan. I was never happy with his appointment in the first place and I feel the doubts that I had at that time have not yet been allayed in any way. Also, Roy is a good man, and of course he is doing his best to turn things around, this however cannot stop me from thinking that a clean break would suit everybody at this point. Roy could get out with his head still held high and a reputation still somewhat in tact, Liverpool could start building fresh too. I know that a lot of top managerial talent is not available right now but we could surely appoint King Kenny to hold the reigns in the short term. We could then take our time in appointing someone who can build for the future properly. Now that the finances are getting back in order we can build towards long term objectives as opposed to the short termism which seems to have become the norm at our club at the moment. Roy at 63 is hardly a Long Term appointment and his signings (Cole 28, Poulson 30 and Konchesky 29) are not going to be around very long either. I know it is very early to be talking about a change of manager, but I am talking now with my head rather than my heart. So far we have yet to have yet to see any evidence from Roy's reds that we are improving or that there is a clear picture in the players minds of how the manager wants them to play. We have removed a lot of the attacking mentality from the side, even as far as dropping our best ball-playing centre half in Daniel Agger, yet we continue to let goals in freely, surely defensive stability was the minimum requirement from Roy.

In an ideal world Roy wil turn things around, and who know's a couple of results could kick start us yet, thing is I have seen nothing to suggest that will happen. It is this kind of hope which comes from the heart rather than the head.

I will try to put up a more positive article later in the week...... hopefully there will be some positive news from the club to help me.

New Beginnings All Round!

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, as some of you may know I got married 2 weeks ago, which was obviously followed by my honeymoon (New York in case your wondering), I also started a new job on Monday of this week (I dont like making things easy on myself do I). I am back now though and as I am sure everyone is aware there have been plenty of happenings at the club for me to discuss.




Purslow does his Joey Jones impersonation



Let start with the most important thing to happen to the club, Today Mr Justice Floyd ruled that Hicks and Gillett did not have the right to change the board, meaning that the board are now able to reconvene and continue the  process off selling Liverpool Football Club, in further good news Mr Justice Floyd also ruled that H&G do not have the right to appeal his decision to the high court, they do have the option  to appeal the decision to the court of appeals but Mr Justice Floyd said he believes it would be "extremely

Inappropriate" for them to do so. H&G were also ordered to pay RBS's & LFC's costs, a figure believed to be approximately £600,000 , this is on top of the reported £140,000,000 they stand to lose from their involvement with Liverpool feels like sweet long awaited justice for reds fans.

Liverpool now need to make the right choice in who becomes the new custodians of our great club. As I read someone say earlier, this decision simply equalises the own goal scored by David Moore's and Rick Pary 3 Years ago when they sold the club to H&G, it is going to take a long time for us to get back into the lead by becoming a succesful, well run club again. It seems we will complete the £300m sale of Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures – as voted on a 3-2 majority one week ago. NESV claimed today that they have a legally binding agreement to buy the club, and although Broughton today claimed that all options would be considered during the board meeting tonight, he did let slip in one comment "We said right from the offset that we would find the right owners for Liverpool and that was our target. I think we've done that." which clearly implies that the decision has already been made. John W. Henry leader of NESV also commented on twitter "Well Done RBS, Well Done Chris, Ian and Martin". Liverpool fans know more than most that we need to be sceptical of someone with new promises, but all research on John W.Henry shows him to be a clever, and ethical business man, whose succeses with the Boston Red Sox and the admiration shown to him by their loyal fan base means he should be given more respect than would be afforded to most in this situation.

More Reading on John W.Henry and NESV can be found by clicking this link:

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE

(This is a link to one news story but there are numerous articles and investigations into the whole takeover if you search the site)

At this point I must pay credit where it is due to those who have worked hard to force this sale and ensure the future of Liverpool Football Club, I have spent a lot of time slaggin off a few of these people, and rightly so in some instance, but credit where its due, if this is the legacy they leave the club with we will always remember them fondly: Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow, Ian Ayre. The efforts of Spirit Of Shankly - ShareLiverpoolFC should also be applauded. On this day I cant help but think of Rafa to, lord knows how far we may have fallen had he not been there to guide us over the last few years. Rafa had this to say today "Today i am so happy for the people of Liverpool , finally the club can move forward and get stability"

Finally there was a joke going round twitter today that I simply had to share here.... "Stuck on the Telly today to see Scouser's cheering and Miner's celebrating I thought, Thatcher must've died then"

EDIT: Just after I posted this and just when we thought things were looking up it seems the classless parasites named Hicks and Gillett have put a spanner in the works in that they have succeeded in getting a Temporary Restraining Order from a court in Dallas Texas, they just wont let go, i think it is pitiful. Anyway it is all legal Mumbo Jumbo right now so when more is known (probably tomorrow) I will update again..... a scan of the TRO is available HERE

Where are the Real Problems at Liverpool FC?

Being a Liverpool fan at the moment feels like some sort of cruel and unusual punishment. Its been this way for a long time now, certainly last season and this. In fact its been so hard that its easy to forget that less than two years ago we finished the season in second place with a record points haul for a team who failed to win the league.

Last season was extremely difficult to take, in fact it was probably made even more difficult because of coming so close the previous season, but it was where the torture began. A lot of supporters put this down to the manager at the time (Rafa Benitez) and called for his head. This argument was clearly ignorant to the bigger issues affecting our club concerning the finances, ownership and power struggle. This argument was usually supported by untruths read and heard throughout the media which made out we had spent as much as our rivals and had wasted more money. Regardless of the reasons behind their stance the people who felt this way got their wish over the summer and the manager was relieved of his duties "by mutual consent" as the official line goes but what was clearly a sacking (Martin Broughton our chairman basically said as much in an interview on the official site shortly afterwards). When this happened I know the people who had wished for this felt that our problems may very well be over, Guus Hiddink or Martin O'Neill would soon be hired and they would be given money to spend and the league championship trophy would be arriving within 12 months.

What actually happened was Roy Hodgson was given the job, a steady hand people said, a man to steady the ship. It was an uninspiring but safe appointment which disappointed some but appeased most. Whats happened since Roy has arrived has been hard to take for everybody. We have suffered poor results and we have been playing some very negative and unexciting football. This has resulted in people voicing their discontent very loudly, Roy has not earned our respect you see so its alright to slag him off before giving him a chance, never mind the fact that he has had the job for about 10 minutes or that he has been given approximately £20 million to spend in order to replace about £45 Million worth of talent leaving the club. The game against Northampton on Wednesday was the final straw for most. "He needs to go now they are saying, before things get worse. Just to clear things up I want people to know that I was very much a Pro-Rafa Liverpool fan. I was among those who was disappointed when Roy was given the job, and I have been as disheartened as anyone else with how we have played so far this season.

However, to fall into the same trap again of placing the blame for all of Liverpools ills at the managers door would be playing right into the hands of the Torture masters who are in control of Liverpool Football Club, namely Hicks & Gillett (with dis-honourable mentions for messers Purslow& Broughton. Liverpool fans muct not allow themselves to be distracted from the real problems afflicting our club. We must take action in anyway we can.

Remember a loss can hurt like hell, but you might win next week. A poor season hurts too but there is always next season!

Please take the time to read some of the following further information on the problems we face and guides to how you can act to help Liverpool Football Club rid ourselves of these evils.

LINK: THE PROBLEMS

LINK: WHAT YOU CAN DO

Man Utd 3 - 2 Liverpool (Positives and Negatives)

Sorry for the delay in posting this. Obviously, this was a particularly hard game to look at calmly given the score line and the manner of defeat. I have had another look at the higlights (lowlights?) and have come up with some positives which i think we can focus on rather than just the negatives.

As always please feel free to leave comments on here if you agree or disagree with anything.

NEGATIVES



The first half performance: As has been the case throughout the season so far, we took too long before imposing our selves on the opposition, we sat back early on and gave Utd confidence.

Defensive Frailty: For all the possession we gave away throughout the game one major point is that two of the goals we conceded could have been avoided. For their first goal Torres did not challenge Berbatov strongly enough, but even then his effort could have been stopped had Konchesky not abandoned the post he was supposed to cover for no apparent reason. For the eventual winner John O’Shea was given far too much time to pick a cross, and Jamie Carragher made a very weak challenge in trying to rise with Berbatov.

The wide area’s: Again this has been a recurring point, but although we tried different personal the result was the same. It was Joe Cole and Maxi Rodriguez’s turn this week and neither player made much of an impact on the game, Cole’s performance was however an improvement on the invisible Argentine’s. I am genrally a fan of Maxi but this was a particularly poor performance. As for Cole, well he did have a few nice touches and he is a positive player but in his two “big” games as a Liverpool player (Arsenal & Utd) he has been on the periphery.

Lack of chances: Yet again we failed to create any real opportunities. Torres got the ball in a dangerous area twice and won us a free kick and a penalty from which our goals came. I cant help but be worried though that we are becoming very reliant on set pieces to get us goals.


POSITIVES


Merieles: Although he didn’t do anything outstanding, he did help us to up the tempo of our game. He helped us keep possession and in the second half he definitely helped move the ball up the pitch more quickly and effectively. Its still early days but the signs are promising.

Christian Poulson's performance: In the first half he struggled to get involved but having looked at the highlights again (with a clearer mind) he was heavily involved when we went on top for a period in the second half. He broke up play and gave the ball quickly to a team mate (often Stevie) to get us attacking quickly and basically did an effective defensive midfield job. He's no Mascherano (who is?... well Mascherano is) but he can do a job and this was his most promising performance in red so far.

Torres’ impact: Ok don’t be alarmed, I am not deluded. I know his form has not been at its best so far this season, and this game was no exception. I do however think more is being made of his form that is necessary, I also think its hard to expect much better when he gets very little of the ball the way we are playing right now. What I am highlighting here is the fact that even when out of form he directly impacted to help us score two goals in this game. Once winning a penalty and once winning a free kick, to show that even out of form he can still be effective.

The end of a very difficult group of fixtures: since the beginning of the season we seem to be going from one pressure game to the next, with this game out of the way we are looking at two home games against Sunderland and Blackpool coming up next, although these certainly wont be easy games, there is no reason why we cant hope for 6 points from these games.

Liverpool 4 - 1 Steaua Bucharest (Positives and Negatives)

Well, thank God for that! Finally, a result to get excited about and a promising performance to offer some hope for the season ahead. Roy (as expected) put out a weakened side but the players still managed a convincing victory to get our Europa League season off to a great start.


As always though, it is important to not be blinded by the scoreline and think of the whole performance rather than just the scoreline. That is after all the whole point of this feature.

 NEGATIVES:



The first half performance: I think when Joe Cole forced the Steaua defender into a poor back pass and then brilliantly finished past the undecided keeper a lot of fans would have expected the shackles to come off this Liverpool team and for us to take the game to them from there, unfortunately that did not happen. We sat back, conceded possession and invited pressure, in the same way we have done in most of our games so far. This eventually lead to their goal which, although it was cancelled out in the end, could have been more damaging had we been playing against a better caliber of opposition.



The Pace of our Central Defenders: Although this was a second choice defensive partnership (In fainess to Agger, he is only second choice at the moment due to him helping out at left back earlier in the season) they seemed to suffer from a problem which also afflicts our first choice central pair, in that none of the four has particularly good pace, this offers very little recovery when an attacker manages to get in behind, this was apparent twice with Kyriagos in particular, once for their goal and once when a striker had freedom in the 6 yard box (only for Reina to save his shot, and for him to be ruled offside anyway). This is probably another reason why Roy is instructing the players not to press the opposition, for fear of them being caught out of position and being unable to get back.


Lack of Creativity: This point has come up in almost in almost every “Positives and Negatives” article so far, but unfortunately it can’t be ignored. The result was fantastic, and to score 4 goals in a game is no mean feat, but the goals (apart from goal number 4) did not come about from great through balls, tricks or invention at all really.

Think back on it:


1st goal scored from a poor back pass.
2nd goal scored from the Penalty spot after a pull in the box when defending a corner.
3rd goal a tackle leads the ball to Lucas who smashes home from 25/30 yards (excellent stike, who says he offers nothing going forward?)


In fairness the 4th goal came from decent attacking play with a few players involved before the ball fell nicely for Ngog to finish very well. I still feel we will need more than this to get a result on Sunday but hopefully a full strength will bring some greater invention.






POSITIVES:






The second half performance: Having felt deflated and frustrated at half time, I was expecting more of the same from the second half but I was pleasantly surprised to see us improve greatly. Our passing was better and more often forwards, rather than backwards. Our movement was better in showing for the ball and I felt we gave the opposition less time and space on the ball. Surely Roy deserves credit here for inspiring the team at half-time.






The “weakened” team: Some stand out performances from a few players. David Ngog took his goals very well and I still fail to understand the stick he gets, he’s not the finished article but he is a great prospect and is always improving, he gets a ridiculous amount of goals for someone so young! Martin Kelly, this kid really does look class, I have yet to see him look out of his depth in any performance, if he needed to start in the Premier League I would not be worried. Ryan Babel gave us a different option when attacking, he did get caught in possession once or twice but that’s to be expected from a player who is trying to beat people, I feel a big performance is on its way as he continues to improve. Lucas what a goal! Pacheco really looks comfortable, not ready just yet but a few more cameo’s will do him good, we need more of this type of direct attack minded player.






The “Stars”: A number of players who had not been in the side consistently for one reason or another but who performed well. Meireles, I really like the look of him, great movement and distribution. He runs all day and is willing to pop at goal. Maxi looked a little rusty (only to be expected) but a couple of nice runs and good passing meant a good nights work. Joe Cole, what a great finish! He seems to be settling in well, although he is still too inclined to try play the ball first time rather than taking control of it at times. I think he is looking good but so far only against lesser teams, if he gets the nod on Sunday we should get a decent idea of where he is!






The scoreline: Leaving aside how the goals were scored, the simple fact of winning 4-1 in Europe just before playing Man Utd in Old Trafford can only be good for confidence, confidence I feel has been lacking in our play so far this season. I hope we can get a result on Sunday and put it this way, I am more confident today than I was this time yesterday.

Birmingham City 0 - 0 Liverpool (Positives and Negatives)

This was a disappointing performance in many ways, even if a point away to Birmingham is not necessarily a poor result. I had hoped we would get to see an improvement on recent displays but unfortunately that was not the case.

NEGATIVES:

Lack of Creativity: As has been the case in pretty much all of our games this season there has been an apparent lack of creativity to our play. In fairness Joe Cole being suspended for the past 3 games has not helped on that front, and his return along with Meireles getting acclimatised can only help.

Defending Deep: In a complete change from the previous regime Liverpool have adopted a very deep line of defence. Where Benitez encouraged his players to press the opposition in order to force mistakes and win back possession Roy prefers for his players to sit deep. Although this is not necessarily a negative point in itself, at the moment playing with just Poulson and Lucas in centre midfield it means that when possession is won back our forward line is to distant with no meaningful link between midfield and attack. Hopefully we can change the midfield with either Mereiles or Gerrard coming in to bring the ball forward and possibly Cole as a link man.

Indecision:  I personally thought our lack of creativity and the need for something different was pretty obvious from quite early in the game. I thought it was therefore strange that Roy waited until the 76th minute to make his first change. Meireles came on for Lucas and I thought that his mere presence improved us as a unit. The ball seemed to get up the pitch quicker and seemed to stick up the right end of the pitch. He looked ok on the ball and his movement was good.


POSITIVES:

Pepe Reina's Performance: Another world class display from our Number 1, a display which literally could have earned us a point. Pepe has had a couple of mistakes over the last few weeks (1 against Arsenal and 2 for Spain V Argentina) this performance was a timely reminder that Pepe is (still) possibly the best goalkeeper in the world today.

Paul Koncheskey's Performance: Nothing too spectacular from our debutant at left back, he did however do well defensively and pushed forward to decent effect on a couple of occasions. Its good for him to have his debut out of the way before the game against Utd next week.

The Result: As I said in my match preview this was always going to be a difficult game, and considering we did not play very well and gave away a few decent opportunities we should really be happy to have gotten away with a point. As I said before we have some big games coming up and it is important for us not to lose games and keep momentum as long as possible.

The End of Joe Cole's Ban: This was the last game for which Joe Cole was suspended. We are desperate for creativity as i pointed out earlier. Hopefully Joe can bring this back with him and give us another option to help break teams down.

Preview: Birmingham City V Liverpool FC

Birmingham City F.C V Liverpool F.C

St. Andrews

Sunday 12th September 2010

Following a succesful International break for Ireland the Premer League action resumes this weekend. Liverpool travel to St. Andrews to play Birmingham City. In our last game we ran out 1-0 winners against West Brom thanks to a typically brilliant Fernando Torres strike. This should give the lads confidence going into what could be a tricky tie.

Last season Birmingham frustrated the Red Men on both occasions were we met them, holding us to a 2-2 draw at Anfield, and a 1-1 draw at St. Andrews. Birmingham went on to finish in 9th place in the table at the end of the season in what was a very good season for Alex McLeish's men.

For this season Birmingham have added a few players the pick of which being Alexandr Hleb, Matt Derbyshire and Ben Foster and this promises to be a difficult tie for Liverpool.

Following the international break Liverpool have been struck by a few injuries to key players as usual. This time its Dirk Kuyt and David Ngog. Kuyt will be out for the next 4 weeks at least although Ngog has a chance of being fit for this game. Aurelio is also injured (seriously, can he not stay fit for more than 2 weeks at a time) and Joe Cole is still serving his suspension. On the plus side Meireles is in line to make his debut which should excite all reds fans and players alike.

If we are being realistic we would have to look at this game and think that a draw would be a decent result, however following a difficult start to the season and considering we are travelling to Old Trafford next week a win would be very beneficial, to build confidence and momentum. I think its not too much to hope for a win but bare in mind that a draw would not be disaster. I am also hoping for an improved performance now that we have gotten our first win of the season under our belts, Meireles inclusion should help us with regard to attacking impetus and getting the ball from defence to attack more quickly. I am also interested to see whether Roy chooses to go with Lucas or Poulson in this game as both players are rested and in decent form it should be a good indication of which player he prefers right now.

BETS: This week for my bets I am going to go for a 2-0 nil win and Torres to score first.