Carling Cup Winners 2012

Step 1.… complete!


On Sunday Liverpool took another major step in their mission to return to their former standing. It had been a long 6 years since Liverpool last appeared in a final, and an even longer 7 years since we had last lifted a trophy. It is not the most glamorous competition to win and when Europe is on the cards it is rightly deemed to be 4th in the pecking order of possible achievements at the start of the season. Of course due to previous failures Europe wasn’t on the cards this year and so at the beginning of the season the most pragmatic Liverpool fans were saying a season of transition where we improve on the league and hopefully pick up a cup would be successful. The most optimistic of fans were saying that we should win a cup and finish in the top 4. I’m sure there were pessimists too but the less said about them the better. Whether you were in the pragmatist or optimist camps, your pre-season ambitions are still well and truly alive and step one of this mission has been completed. Although some Liverpool fans were blinded to the reality of our perilous situation last year, I don’t think anyone can say that what we have achieved, even at this (relatively) early point of the season, doesn’t show massive improvements. The silverware for one means Kenny has continued a record which is blighted only by one Hamster Scratching individual, this being that every Liverpool manager since Bill Shankly has won at least one Trophy during their managerial tenure. Granted, Hodgson was only in for a short period of time, but he had already ensure we suffered an embarrassing defeat at mighty Northampton Town and were firmly locked in a relegation battle, remember people this is just over a year ago I am talking about here. Pundits have been lining up to criticise our performance in winning this final, conveniently forgetting the epic battles which went into securing our place in the showpiece event. Heroic battles away to Stoke and Chelsea and a 2 leg war versus Man City meant we earned this The game itself was never going to be a formality, well I say never but who knows how we may have kicked on had Johno’s early effort not crashed back off the bar only to be launched into row Z by Stevie. The optimists were out to make life difficult as always proclaiming that we would steam roller the lowly Cardiff City who it would seem from these kind of predictions must have been given a by all the way through to the Final. You would think Liverpool fans would know better after previous recent difficulties against the likes of Alaves, Birmingham City and West Ham. Anyway … I tweeted at half time, and it proved to be the case right through to the final whistle that this game served as some sort of microcosm of our entire season so far we had huge amounts of possession and created some chances, although very few clear cut ones, but failed to make our advantage pay. From the minute the starting 11 was announced (which was very late by the way) it seemed we may be missing something, and with retrospect we can we were. Some big players failed to deliver and some previous under-achievers stepped up to the plate.

Stuart Downing in particular put in his best performance whilst wearing the Liverbird yet, even if I do think his performance has been exagerated by some. Jordan Henderson on the other hand failed to make any impact, in his defence he was played in the position which he has struggled to impress in for much of the season, wide-right and even more wide in this game than in many others. Its not a good sign that he allowed this game to pass by, but on the plus side its good experience for a player of 22 to have, especially because we managed to win the game in the end. Luis Suarez also struggled to make an impact as he has done in each game since his ban. I don’t think he should be dropped but perhaps if Andy keeps his form up to a decent level we could think about introducing him from the bench on the weekend against a tired Arsenal defence. It may take some pressure off and help him impose himself to regain some confidence. Andy Carroll had a decent enough game, he was involved in us getting the equaliser but didn’t really add much in other phases. He is doing simple things well,much better than he was at the start of the season but I still find myself frustrated by his lack of movement in the box. His confidence in general play is improving, to a point where he no longer looks like an elephant on one leg when controlling the ball but his strikers confidence is not yet at 100%. He has done enough to take the pressure off himself for a while but he needs to keep improving. Jose Enrique played, what he admitted afterwards, was the biggest game of his career to date, but unfortunately put in one of the weakest performances of his time in this team. He definitely needs to improve to maintain his place in the side through to next season but again the experience will surely benefit him. The outstanding performer of the tie, and of the season so far has undoubtedly been our Slovakian monster Martin Skrtel, He continued to defend with the strength and consistency Kopites are becoming acclimatised to and he scored our equaliser, succeeding where our more natural scorers had failed by simply putting the ball over the line! Gerrard, Carra, Reina, all had decent but unremarkable games. I was delighted to see Carra coming onto the pitch and being involved in adding another medal to his collection. I think its important to note that we won this final without having to lean on the hero of many previous finals, Steven Gerrard, who played well enough but who’s shooting was way off the mark.

By the end of the season I hope that this wont have been the biggest game we have played in. Its just as important to win on Saturday when we face an Arsenal side which is resurgent after a huge victory in the North London derby last weekend. We have a game in hand on them at the moment, even if this is the tricky derby, but if we lose this one we will be 10 points behind them and even the most optimistic fans would have to acknowledge this would be too big a task. A draw isnt much use either but I am hopeful of getting a victory. We’ll need to be on top form of course but spirits should be high now that the players have a medal in their pockets.

A Look back at the last few weeks

There has been a lot happening since my last blog, going to be hard to comment on everything but i’m nothing if not a tryer....

The run began with an abysmal peformance away to bottom of the table Bolton. There was nothing much good to take from the game, other than the fact that (with hindsight) it seemed to prove a catalyst. The players on the field that day let the shirt down, and where King Kenny had made it a point to defend his players through thick and thin during the season so far, he took this opportunity to publicly state that performances needed to improve. Of course this public statement was, i’m sure, much more cordial than what was said behind closed doors.
The first game following the public criticism was the second led of a Semi-Final versus top of the league Manchester City. The first leg was as close to a smash and grab as you are ever likely to see. Once we got in front we hung on and dug in for dear life eventually going home with a goal advantage.The second leg was a much more confident display. I must say the atmosphere that night was the best I have to experienced in my time going to Anfield. From before the game until well after, the red faithfull shouted and lifted their team over the finish line. We went behind during the game and many may have thought this game was over at that point. But the mighty Kopites have seen some dramatic turn arounds over the years and never let their spirit drop. I honestly believe this transmitted to the field where a heroic effort brought the equalising goal which won the tie. A first cup final since Athens 2007 (a game i also attended by the by) and a first appearance at the new Wembly for the red men. It actually annoyed me in the coverage of this game, people kept making such a big deal of our first appearance at the new wembly, like as if all those appearances at the Millenium Stadium didnt count, even though we appeared there so frequently it was dubbed “Anfield South” by many.

After a strong performance in such a big tie, it can sometimes be hard to keep the intensity up for a lower profile game against a smaller side. There was no chance of this after the city game though. Next up was a 4th round tie against the old enemy, Man Utd. Of course the Reds looked tired at times in this game, there were some mistakes and we were not crisp enough in possession at times, but we had enough to win the game 2-1 to keep our cup momentum going. All the talk prior to this game had been around the Suarez-Evra controversy. Inevitably Evra was booed throughout the game by the Anfield crowd. Its was painted in the press yet again as if this means Liverpool fans condone the alleged racist remarks that Suarez is accused of making. I just want to make it clear, Liverpool fans (on the whole, i’m sure there a lot of A-Holes in the bunch too) are not defending racism, and we are not racist sympathisers. The booing and protestations at the punishment meted out to our number 7 are because we do not believe the accusation and do not believe that the FA panel proved Luis Suarez to be a racist! I know its a bit “broken record” here but i honestly cannot believe how some people (journalists and opposing fans) cannot get this into their heads. A quick analogy, if a member of my family is accused of murder, and I do not believe they did it so I protest their innocence, does this mean I am saying murder is ok? of course it doesnt! There was also some revolting, but not surprising, songs sung from the away end. In fairness i’m sure there were some songs sung back at them and I will never condone it from either end. I wish we could ever just get to a point were death and tragedy is not used as a stick in this immature baiting.

Anyway, rant over, back to the football! These two highly impressive results were followed up by a strong performance, against a poor Wolves performance which resulted in a fairly pedestrian 3-0 victory. Following this run we were confident going into a very important game against one of the league’s strongest sides, Spurs, at Anfield. Unfortunately it was back to service as normal in the league and a return to “Copy, Paste and Repeat” where we dominated the game for large parts, rarely looked in danger but were somehow unable to find the winning goal. Of course, out of context this is a decent result. Spurs are a very stong side and still involved in the title race. But having watched the 90 minutes it was hard not to be disappointed at only achieving the 1 point when it would not have take much more to achieve the 3.

While our League form has continued to frustrate, I don't think anyone would say that things aren't looking rosier than they were this time 3 or 4 weeks ago. As well as what I've written above we've also had a number of other positives. Andy Carroll has bagged a goal, a couple of assists and his performances have improved to a level where many are starting to believe that we might actually have a player on our hands. Bellamy has been a revelation and he has seemed in better shape to start games more frequently which has been a bonus. Dirk is back amongst the goals too and maybe making people who wrote him off think twice. Lets not forget that this run has also coincided with Luis Suarez’s ban, imagine what we can achieve with him back in their side. We are still without Lucas meaning Kenny still wont have a chance to name his strongest 11 until next season at least but on the whole Spearing has looked an able deputy in the hard running defensive mid role. We have another huge game coming up at the weekend. this time an away trip against United. I think all in all were are sitting quite well in the league. There is no doubt we need to improve our chance conversion rate if we want to get into the top 4 but with Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle all looking like they will drop more points there is no reason to stop believing that we can make it. Were already in 1 cup final and who would bet against us making it 2? As transitional seasons go... its not bad is it?

Copy, Paste and Repeat

I get a familiar feeling now pretty much every time I write a new blog. Sorry I shouldn’t say every time, its maybe every third time or fourth time. Its been a theme that’s been running throughout this season. It feels like I’ve written this blog before, and in all fairness I pretty much have. The Stoke game at home was another one where we dominated possesion, were barely threatened but failed to come away with the points. There were a few decisions from Kenny in this one that I couldn’t get my head around, I think most Liverpool fans would say the same. His tactics of course may have been dictated somewhat by the very tough game against Manchester City, perhaps he felt Andy Carroll couldn't do it over 90 after chasing shadows in that game. We know Bellers has to be managed carefully, Agger was injured, Maxi too and Suarez is banned of course. Still it felt like maybe we gave Stoke a little too much respect. 3 Centre halves to mark Peter Crouch seems a little excessive at least. I feel doing my usual post match blog would be, as ive said above, simply a matter of repeating myself so instead i’m going to do as I have done before. I’m going to take this opportunity to look at a few positives, from the game itself and the season. At times like this it can be hard to not get wrapped in negativity, so for readers of this blog, and probably as some form of self-therapy too here we go



GAME:





Defensive Solidity:


I know that we have one of the best defenses in the league over the last few months so you might think this is a strange thing to include, but this was very much a changed set, from 4 at the back we moved to 3/5. Out went Agger and in came experience of Carra and the youth of Coates. Playing 3 centre backs against the bustling Stoke side is nothing new of course, it was something Rafa did a few times. It was good to see Carra get a came to keep his chin up. As has been the case throughout the season Skrtel was our best defender. He dealt brilliantly with anything that came his way, the other centre half…..






Coates:


A first home start and a full 90 minutes from our young Uruguayan. He’s not the finished article by any means but its clear to see the potential he has. He looks very comfortable on the ball and strode forward to great effect at times during the game. A full 90 minutes against a strong side will help him settle and get used to life in the Premiership. Once he is acclimatised we will have a very strong defender in our hands and another to put pressure on our current first choices. On this point isn't it mad how a centre half carrying the ball up the pitch always seems to cause such mad panic to the opposing team. I mean realistically, as a defender, would you rather have Gerrard or Coates running at you with the ball? But when Coates did run with the ball, Stoke seemed to lose it with tackles flying in everywhere and defenders leaving their positions to make a challenge. You would think this would be something they would be used to but we’ve seen the panic before with Agger and when Rio does it for Utd. its the same thing, I just think its funny really.






Stevie’s road to recovery:


Our talisman and captain took another step forward in his recovery. Another 90 minutes and another good performance. Again, he’s not 100% yet but he’s getting there and he certainly has kept himself fit. We have more big games coming up and each game that goes by Stevie is improving. Its going to be a hard run in and we will need our best players to be operating to the best of their abilities, with Gerrard think that is assured. It was a pity that in this game Stevie seemed to be under instruction to sit back, but again maybe this was due to Wednesday nights efforts and he needed to conserve energy.






1 game closer to the return:


At the very least we can take comfort from the fact that this is another game of Suarez’s ban gone. We definitely miss some inventiveness and guile with him out of the side. This was exactly the kind of game were you feel he could have been the difference, It was not to be of course but we are closer to seeing him wearing red again and Reds all over the world cannot wait for that!



SEASON:





Were still in the running for 4th:


That’s the crazy thing about this eason. Weve not had a great season so far, there have been frustrations and disappointments’ and very costly decisions by the powers that be. We could be higher in the table, even without more effort just through better luck, be “would have” and “should have” have no place in football . We are were we are and that’s that. Arsenal also dropped points again and so were not out of the running yet. We need to get our performances together of course if we want to start climbing the table, but if we can do that there is no reason that we cannot get up to fourth.






Cup’s:


We have a 1 goal advantage going into a semi-final second leg at Anfield. People might say its only the Carling cup, you can say that to me if you like, I’ll tell you to fuck right off. it’s a competition that has been a favourite of ours for the last 30 years or so. We are the record holders for times won. With no European football this year I always thought it would be great to get a run in this competition, and while it doesn’t make up for Europe it goes someway to helping you cope. Like a European Cup patch if you will. We have an amazing fixture ahead and what promises to be a truly amazing night at Anfield, one which I’m proud to say I will be sitting in the Kop for. Don’t forget, this time last year we were out of both domestic cups!






Possesion football:


If the cutting edge has been lost from the team this season, one thing that has clearly been gained is an ability to control games. I think this can be perceived at times as a negative because it leads to such frustrations when watching your side dominate but not win. I’ll be honest I actually wanted to break something….. anything! after the final whistle on Saturday. That’s all part of the match though. it’s the reason why I wait a while before posting anything, particularly after this type of game. You have to cool down before making judgements. Nobody can expect to be cool headed during, or just after such a game. But when you have perspective and look at the whole picture things dont seems so bad. we’ve had plenty of big performances this season that show we are not a bad side. We’re not a great side by any means but we don't need to add much to become one. a little more inventiveness and an ability to finish if added could move us on leaps and bounds.

Liverpool FC is NOT Racist

I didn't want to write a blog on the current issues surrounding my football club. The situation deals with some major issues which as an amateur writer, I thought I wasn't qualified to comment on and so decided to refrain from doing so. The accusation, the following report, the decision to not appeal are all issues which need to be commented on but I think they have been discussed at length by people more qualified than me. This changed for me on Friday night though when I was watching the Oldham game. We saw that Oldham player Tom Adeymi was near to the Kop when something offensive was said to him by a member of the crowd. He was clearly hurt by what had been said, he seemed upset and was visibly distraught by what he had heard. While this incident occurred, the Kop faithful were signing the name of their current superstar, one of the most exciting players seen at the club in years, and the man who had just been found guilty by an FA appointed panel of Racially abusing Patrice Evra, Luis Suarez. Whats moved me to post about this is the reaction of people to this second incident, as if the two are related in any way. It seems that anybody now, no matter how unqualified, is allowed to now take this incident pack it together with the Suarez one and deem that all Liverpool fans, and the club itself is inherently racist. This is simply not true and it has changed my decision regarding commenting on this whole thing.

First of all lets look at the case of Luis Suarez, on the face of it, it seems pretty straight-forward. There was an accusation of racist abuse, there was an investigation, Suarez was found guilty by an independent panel and punished accordingly. If you choose not to look any further into the case, and if it suits your agenda, that's pretty much all there is to this whole scenario. This isn't a case of Liverpool fans simply defending their man blindly, its because as the party who feels hard done by in this, we have looked into the case and the 115 page report on the ruling more extensively because we need to understand what has happened. Unfortunately when you do take the time to look into the report closely you see that there are a lot of holes in the case. You discover that as this ruling was made by tribunal the burden of proof was not as high as it would have been for a trial in court. You discover that Luis Suarez was found guilty on the basis that he was “on the balance of probabilities” guilty, whereas if this had been a trial in front of a jury, he would have had to proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The balance of probabilities is where those who defend Suarez base their opinions. Its a fact, from the report which was released, that absolutely no further evidence came to light to prove either party right. The accusation it seems is what was deemed enough to find Luis Suarez guilty and see an 8 Match ban handed down. An accusation which of course could not be proven, it was found to “probably” be right. Lets be clear on this point, either before or after the release of the findings, no man or woman on this earth can be absolutely certain of what was said between Evra and Suarez, in the report it is clear that Nobody else saw or heard Luis Suarez racially abuse Patrice Evra. What is clear, and has been admitted by Suarez, that the word “negro” was used at least once. It is also important to remember that the exchange of words was initiated by Patrice Evra, and when he initiated the exchange he chose to do so in the Spanish language. So the word negro was used, but not the English word negro (nee-gro) but the Spanish word negro (neh-gro), these are two completely different things and without getting into the complicated arguments of intent and the nuances of culture we can accept this, as it has been accepted by both parties ,as fact. The only evidence that this word was used more than once comes from Evra himself, and has zero independent corroboration of any kind. What is not clear from the report is why they have chosen to accept everything Evra says as fact in spite of inaccuracies in his evidence, but chosen to deem Suarez’s evidence untrustworthy as a result of perceived inaccuracies in his. In the report small inaccuracies in Suarez’s evidence are given weight and used to paint him as an untrustworthy witness. The panel seems to take a completely different view with regard to Evra. His offensive behaviour, and frequent changes to his account of things are accepted as nothing more than mistakes. At different stages of the proceedings Evra claims he was called “a black,” “a fucking black”, “a nigger” only to settle eventually in the report on “Negro”. He also initially claimed to have been insulted “10 times” but the report found this number to actually be 7, the panel eventually write this off as a nuance of the french language “10 times” it is said is just a figure of speech in French. Hilariously (or at least it would be hilarious if it were not so serious) the report actually says that testimony from Liverpool’s Director of Football Damien Commoli back up this “figure of speech” claim. However, when you actually look at Comolli’s testimony, it absolutely does not back this up. Comolli is asked if a frenchman may use this phrase in a general term and he answers, well you might use it to a child i.e ive old you ten times already, but if you were dealing with an adult you would certainly apply greater accuracy. This, in absolute contrast to the report’s claim of it backing up Evra’s statement, actually contradicts it.
You also have to wonder why when translating Evra’s comments the panel chooses to accept the lightest translation, changing a comment which can be translated as “your sister’s cunt” to “fucking hell”, whereas when translating Suarez’s words they change what can be translated as “calm down pal” to “Because your black”. Evra and the report itself both state that they do not believe that Luis Suarez is not a racist yet they believe that a man who, according to them, is not racist and has no record of racist offences suddenly decided to abandon this and fly into a racist tirade. The decision to translate the Spanish word “negro” to literally mean “Black” is very strange as well as the words used around it greatly change the meaning of this word.
The main problem with the whole case is that it still boiled down to one mans word against the
other and the panel decided to not only back up one mans claim without it being substantiated, they also handed out the most harsh possible punishment. It is for this reason that Liverpool choose to back their man to the hilt. It is for this reason that Liverpool fans defend a man who has been found guilty of such a charge. The insinuation is that if you dare to defend Suarez, certain people will label you a racist and presume you are condoning it. The reality is if there were evidence to back up the accusation or to increase the probability of Suarez being guilty, then we would have to accept this and revise our opinion of the man, but this evidence has NOT come to light and that is why we choose to defend our man. What should also be highlighted is that the fact that Liverpool chose not to appeal this decision is not an admission of guilt. It is stipulated in this case that Liverpool, or Luis Suarez do not have the right to appeal the ruling in this case. They do have the right to appeal the length of the ban but this seems a bit pointless. Liverpool's intention from the start has been to clear Suarez’s name the ruling effectively means this is no longer possible and so rather than risk increasing the ban it was decided it was best to just get it over and done with.


What happened on Friday night was something completely different and must be viewed as such. Yet again there is an accusation but in this instance there are witnesses to corroborate this. As of right now all we know is that there has been an accusation. The complainant, Tom Adeyemi, said he was racially abused by a member of the crowd. I think there is no doubt that what he heard hurt him in a really bad way, you could clearly see how it cut him and the upset it caused. Liverpool FC released a statement to assure everybody that they would assist with investigations in any way possible. The police have taken statements from witnesses and have arrested a man in connection to this. In this instance the case will go to court and will be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt” If found guilty he will rightly be punished by the courts and will be banned from football ground for the rest of his life. There is no right minded person would defend a man who has been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt!

Liverpool FC Official statement on Suarez's ban

All Liverpool fans will be shocked and saddened to hear that the FA have found Luis Suarez guilty of the charges put against him. As of now he has been given an 8 game ban and a £40,000 fine. Liverpool will appeal the decision and I can say with some certainty that we have not heard the last of this story. I am not going to make much comment on this, judging by the comments i've read on Facebok and Twitter I would only be wasting my time as its at time like this that idiots are at their most vocal and whatever I say will be ripped apart. Instead I have just put the Official Liverpool FC Statement about the ruling below. This discloses a lot of facts which were until today unknown about the case, and may show that there may be plenty more to be disclosed over the coming weeks.

STATEMENT:

Liverpool Football Club is very surprised and disappointed with the decision of the Football Association Commission to find Luis Suarez guilty of the charges against him.

We look forward to the publication of the Commission's Judgment. We will study the detailed reasons of the Commission once they become available, but reserve our right to appeal or take any other course of action we feel appropriate with regards to this situation.

We find it extraordinary that Luis can be found guilty on the word of Patrice Evra alone when no-one else on the field of play - including Evra's own Manchester United teammates and all the match officials - heard the alleged conversation between the two players in a crowded Kop goalmouth while a corner kick was about to be taken.

The Club takes extremely seriously the fight against all forms of discrimination and has a long and successful track record in work relating to anti-racist activity and social inclusion. We remain committed to this ideal and equality for all, irrespective of a person's background.

LFC considers racism in any form to be unacceptable - without compromise. It is our strong held belief, having gone over the facts of the case, that Luis Suarez did not commit any racist act. It is also our opinion that the accusation by this particular player was not credible - certainly no more credible than his prior unfounded accusations.

It is key to note that Patrice Evra himself in his written statement in this case said 'I don't think that Luis Suarez is racist'. The FA in their opening remarks accepted that Luis Suarez was not racist.

Luis himself is of a mixed race family background as his grandfather was black. He has been personally involved since the 2010 World Cup in a charitable project which uses sport to encourage solidarity amongst people of different backgrounds with the central theme that the colour of a person's skin does not matter; they can all play together as a team.

He has played with black players and mixed with their families whilst with the Uruguay national side and was Captain at Ajax Amsterdam of a team with a proud multi-cultural profile, many of whom became good friends.

It seems incredible to us that a player of mixed heritage should be accused and found guilty in the way he has based on the evidence presented. We do not recognise the way in which Luis Suarez has been characterised.

It appears to us that the FA were determined to bring charges against Luis Suarez, even before interviewing him at the beginning of November. Nothing we have heard in the course of the hearing has changed our view that Luis Suarez is innocent of the charges brought against him and we will provide Luis with whatever support he now needs to clear his name.

We would also like to know when the FA intend to charge Patrice Evra with making abusive remarks to an opponent after he admitted himself in his evidence to insulting Luis Suarez in Spanish in the most objectionable of terms. Luis, to his credit, actually told the FA he had not heard the insult.