Birmingham 1 Liverpool 1

This started off as the first of 6 must-win games for Liverpool. Must-win in the sense that, maybe, keeping your fingers crossed, praying hard like never before, maybe if Liverpool win all 6, the resulting 18 points added to our tally would ensure 4th place, qualification to Champions League, and provide a semblance of having saved an awful season from complete and utter failure.

So what happened? Firstly, you start the game off in the usual utterly boring, defensive manner that has become a trademark of Liverpool's play of late. The first half saw barely any chances, and at moments, I almost nodded off. This is a team which had Torres - maybe the best striker of his generation, Gerrard - maybe the best midfielder in England (although not this season). Well ok, not much more than that, but players like Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayounm Maxi Rodrigues and Glenn Johnson are definitely expected to rattle a mid-level team like Birmingham.

But no, this season has truly seen a terrible recession in Liverpool's quality and it continued in this "must-win" game. And one man is answerable for it, and he is Rafa Benitez.

Picture this. Liverpool score thru Gerrard early in the second half, and then quickly concede an equalizer thru some really poor defending. Birmingham are looking at nothing more than a point from the game, you know that. They are sitting back trying to absorb your attacks. They are bracing themselves, expecting Liverpool to throw everything at them as they go searching for a winner. And what do you see? The substitution board goes up. Am I dreaming? Can this be true? Is Benitez really using his first substitution to take off his best player? No, Yes and Yes are the answers to those questions.

Much to all round bewilderment, including Torres himself shaking his head at the mysterious ways of his manager, we witness the great hope being substituted with David N'Gog sent on in his place. Gerrard's look of bewilderment was captured brilliantly and just echoes the sentiments of every Kop fan around the world. Within another 5 minutes, Benitez makes the substitution he really should have made first. He brings Babel on for Benayoun, who had had an indifferent game till then.

So consequence? Babel's introduction provides some impetus, three great chances are created. Who do they fall to? David N'Gog. Can the poor bugger do anything with them? No. Would Torres have scored even one of those chances? We will never know, coz he wasn't there! But would you bet your mortgage on him converting at least one, if not two, of those chances? I think most Liverpool fans would.

What were the reasons for this act of humonguous stupidity? Was Torres, who has played only 18 or 19 games this season, so tired that he was unable to continue? There had been no indication of this, but Benitez claimed this to be his reason. Could it also be due to Rafa giving more importance to the Benfica match next week? If this were the reason, its a mis-calculation of such proportions that its hard to believe a man in Rafa's position would make it. What do we gain by winning next week's Europa cup game? Is that the aim of this club? To win the Europa league and lose out on Champions League next season?

I have very little doubt that Liverpool will fail to achieve 4th place this season. Manchester City have suddenly struck a very rich vein of form, and I wouldn't count Spurs out either. Its increasingly likely that Liverpool will end up at 5th or 6th position this season, which most likely will mean that Benitez will go at the end of the season. And if he doesnt go, will Gerrard and Torres stay? Will they stay even if he does go? Which top class manager will want to bring this club - minus its top two players - back into the elite? Especially as the Americans have ensured there isnt much money left anyway.

What a season this had promised to be. How bitterly dissappointing it has turned out. Rafa cannot be absolved of blame from this situation. His transfer policies are horrendously bad - buying Aquilani for 20 mn and not using him at all, buying a fading Maxi instead of some other players like Niko Krankjar who had become available. His horrible decision to rely on an inexperienced David N'Gog as the only cover for Torres in the striker role, again when there were options like Michael Owen available - I think most of us would take that gamble than the one which Rafa did. His continuous deployment of an extremely defensive combination of Mascherano and Lucas in center of midfield for most of the season. The list just goes on and on.

This is do-or-die time for Liverpool. The team needs to deliver by at least achieving the last of the objectives which are still achievable. The manager can after all only communicate his strategies to the team. However, at this point of time, it feels more like its the team which is being let down by its manager.

Rafalution??

One weekend into the new season.. ya, just one weekend. And it seems to be crisis time already for Rafa Benitez and Liverpool!

I guess this could be called second-season syndrome too in a way. That term usually reserved for the second season in the top flight for a team promoted the previous time around, seems to also apply to Liverpool, especially coz they came so close to winning the damn thing last year. So everyone thought this year, with Rafa given more control over the transfers, might just be Liverpool's year.

And its already looking unlikely. The team lost just one player really, with Xabi Alonso deciding to move on after he had shown Rafa up for wanting to sell him last year. But the problem, as Sarah Winterburn pointed out in her pre-season analysis over at Football365, is really the complete lack of depth in the Liverpool squad. Even Arsenal, who didnt do much buying this year either although they did sell Adebayor and Toure, are better placed simply because they have a bunch of youngsters who strengthen the squad. In the case of Liverpool, they have brought in Aquilani as a probable replacement for Alonso. But this still leaves them with a lack of choices in many departments.

The first weekend, the first game of the season. A good Tottenham Hotspurs team, definitely one of the teams trying to break into the top 5. And the two Liverpool central defenders have a horrible misunderstanding, resulting in one of them ending up with a cracked jaw. It just goes to show how fragile this squad is, that with Skrtel out for 2 weeks, Liverpool will be down to their only other option in the middle of defence with Dan Agger.

On top of that comes then news that Rafa doesnt have any money to spend anymore. So, he is trying to loan players like Sylvin Distin from Portsmouth and that club doesnt want to loan the player out, they want to bloody sell him! But hey, we dont have any money, man! And every Kop fan out there, must be down on his knees praying every night, praying and hoping that the duo of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres stays fit and injury-free through-out this season. Because, if we happen to loose either of them even for a single game, we do not have anyone covering for them! Its bizarre that Rafa decided to sell out Robbie Keane after not playing him much last season, and then proceeded for the new season without any backup for Torres and Gerrard. The completely untried (and frankly uninspiring) David Ngog, and the already discarded Andriy Voronin are the only options left. I will definitely not be confident of Pool winning any games based on the prowess of those two alone.

So, the season has begun, and there are some signs of Pool fans showing stress already! Unfortunately, this being a World Cup year complicates matters a heck of a lot more, especially for the teams competing in Europe as well. Rafa has done a lot of inexplicable things in his tenure at Liverpool, but he is also revered by the fans for the success he has brought the club. This year could well be his toughest, and I sincerely wish him all the best! Glory awaits!

And what a night it was!

Following up on my previous post, a night to remember for the Kop faithful no doubt!

Liverpool 8 Besiktas 0 is not a scoreline Liverpool fans have seen often. I dont have the stats, but I definitely cant remember us scoring more than 4 in a match for some time now. But the team did what they did when it was sorely needed.

Again, Benayoun and Crouch made strong statements for bigger roles in the first team. Surely now Benitez must rethink his plan to use Crouch as a bit player. Crouch is not a great player, and strangely for a really tall guy he is better with his feet than with his head. But his contribution on the field is excellent. His ability to win balls allows players around him to play better too. He must surely be considered ahead of Voronin at least in the squad to play in the front line. Voronin was excellent yesterday playing on the wings too. But up front, his combination with Kuyt has not paid off yet.

Yossi Benayoun put in a brilliant performance and his hat-trick showed off his positional instincts wonderfully. Two of his goals were opportunistic and punished the goalie for his inability to hold on to a couple of cracking shots. Babel coming on late in the game and scoring two was also a good sign.

Benitez has a wealth of talent to use this season. With Kewell back, and putting in a decent performance against Blackburn in the weekend stalemate, there is a healthy competition on the wings. Crouch's performance might just have added that much pressure on Rafa to persist with him in the starting line-up. That would mean using Voronin on the wings, in addition to Kewell, Babel, Pennant, Benayoun and Rafa's possible favourite Jon Arne Riise. Inspite of their performances against Besiktas, neither of Crouch and Benayoun nor Babel may be sure of a starting place next weekend.

Here's hoping that Rafa works out a better alternative to his strategy of regular rotation.

Tonight's the night...

...when Rafa Benitez and Liverpool truly need to stand up and be counted. The clash against Besiktas today in the Champs League is of utmost importance if Liverpool are to avoid crashing out of the biggest football tournament.



And Stevie G, Rafa etc are making the right kind of confidence-boosting noises, but I have a sneaky feeling its going to be another one of those nervous evenings for the Kop faithful. In recent times, Liverpool have always seemed really edgy and brittle in important fixtures. And I cant help but think that a lot of the blame for that lies with Rafa.


His policy of enforced rotation, without consideration for present form is becoming less and less supportable. Almost no one is guaranteed a place in the starting eleven, even if they performed brilliantly in the previous match. At the moment, Sami Hyppia and Jamie Carragher are the only certainties in the first team, and thats because Benitez doesnt have cover for them with Dan Agger out. God forbid one of those two get injured before the January sales!! And with Torres unlikely to start, Benitez has a bit of a problem.


Kuyt has just not delivered so far this season, and has nothing to show for all his industry. His partnership with Voronin has not clicked at all, and the only times the Pool attack seems to be incisive is when the lanky Crouchinator is on the field. But there again lies a stink raised solely by Benitez. His trumpeting in the media about the need for Crouch to adjust as a bit player is clearly a sign that the lanky one may be on the shop window come January. Funnily enough, Crouch's performances (however erm, short they may have been) have probably made him attractive enough for the likes of Aston Villa and even perhaps Manchester City... though thats a rumour all my own. In fact, I'll just go out on a limb here. If Kuyt, Voronin and Crouch were all available, I think Crouch would generate the most interest.


So with so many of Pool's problem's seemingly Rafa-generated, has Benitez reached a plateau with Pool? Is a Houllier-like moment coming up sometime soon? Has the 'Rafalution' reached its climax? The expectations from the new owners and the fans this season is the highest it has been for some time now. Benitez has been provided the funds to deliver, and if he implodes in the first round of the CL so spectacularly , it will surely raise more than just a few eyebrows in the board room.


Thats whats making this game with Besiktas so important. I have my fingers crossed, especially with the prospect of Crouch being played from the start with Kuyt. Lets hope that Rafa sorts out his rotation itch and decides on his best team.

The Footie Roundup Post!

I've missed blogging. I've missed blogging (make that rambling on and on and on...) about footie even more. So here goes.

With more than a quarter of the season gone, the English Premier League table looks very different from the past few seasons. The most sensational story of the season has definitely been Manchester Citeh who are still riding on highs they havent seen in their recent past (their last moment of glory was in 1981 when they were, erm, FA Cup finalists). Sven Goran Eriksson and the dosh from the ex-PM of Thailand seem to be doing miracles for the club. Sven is clearly showing why he was a much better England manager than Steve McLaren can ever hope to be. Many of the players he has brought in were near-unknowns (even those Championship Manager fans didnt know about Elano, i'd bet!) but their quality has been undeniable. I always felt that Sven's being hounded out of the England job by the tabloids was disgraceful and that his achievements with the England team were phenomenal. But the English media seem to believe they should be winning every tournament they participate in, and thats never going to happen. It would be a minor miracle if Steve McLaren can take his team into the Euro Championship now, after their defeat in Russia. I mean come on, McClown replacing Sven! Ridiculous!

Both Manchester United and Chelsea had a much more shaky start to their seasons than usual. That great showman of a manager, Jose Mourinho, the Special One, found out that no one in the Chelsea setup is untouchable. Avram Grant and Henk Ten Cate seem to be proving themselves to be the right combination for that club. Sir Alex on the other hand, is reaping the rewards of his excellent bunch of attacking players. Nani, Hargreaves and Tevez, all are paying off their high transfer values on the field. Arsenal has also been brilliant this season with Cesc Fabregas coming very close to being the best player in the premiership, taking that mantle over from his ex-captain Thierry Henry. Van Persie, Hleb, Walcott, Toure have all been doing brilliantly, and Arsenal's version of kid-ology has them ruling the premiership table at the quarter-season mark.

Blackburn and Portsmouth have also gone off to great starts to their seasons. Though neither is potentially a top four club this season, they are definitely making progress in the right direction. With Roque Santa Cruz, Blackburn has bought a brilliant attacking player. Pompey on they other hand have made excellent purchases in John Utaka and Benjani. Both clubs have also kept their main players from the previous seasons.

Tottenham have definitely been the big losers so far this season. Martin Jol has lost his job on the basis of a string of poor results, but his work over the past seasons has been commendable. There is no doubt that Juande Ramos has a very good team at his disposal. Its upto him how he uses them. He made his reputation with Sevilla by getting the best out of a talented team without (arguably) having stars in his squad. If anything, he has made Freddie Kanoute more of a star than he ever was while playing in England. Dani Alves's star has also risen under Ramos' tutelage. Unfortunately for Ramos, every new manager is expected to bring in his own players, regardless of what is available. With a strike force consisting of Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov, Darren Bent and Jermaine Defoe; supported in midfield by the talented and pacy Aaron Lennon, Teemu Tainio, Steed Malbranque and Didier Zokora; and defenders like Ledley King, Gareth Bale, Kaboul etc. Well, its a pretty decent team - but Ramos will need to make decisions and he will probably spend some more of the Spurs kitty, if only to prove he has a mind all his own.

Liverpool's season had started like it hasnt over the past five or six seasons. They were expected to hit the ground running and with the additions of Torres, Voronin, Babel and Benayoun and adding the resurgent Jermaine Pennant to the mix, Liverpool did do much better in the early part of the season this time around. But Rafa Benitez's rotation policy has yet again hit a snag and has come under much criticism from fans and 'experts'. Sometimes Rafa is a bit too fixed on rotating his team. And ignoring Peter Crouch is something a lot of people have done before and the tall one has always come back strongly. He has been given too few chances this season, according to me. There have been too many Kuyt+Voronin combos already and it would probably be much better to have the gangly Crouch in there to break the monotony. Also, Benayoun has been ignored a bit too often I feel.

Anywayz, theres a long way to go this season, and it may turn out to be even more exciting than the last one. This time there promises to be battles for positions all over the table instead of only for the top 2 or 3 places. Any slip-ups from one of the top four, even a string of 2 or 3 poor results can easily come back to haunt them.

Liverpooooooool Liverpool

Long overdue football post!

After one of the more exciting football seasons of recent times, its been pretty interesting to see the transfer activities of the european clubs. The 2006-07 season saw an unexpected English Premiership winner in Manchester United. Compared to Chelski's huge acquisitions of Shevchenko and Ballack at the beginning of the season, the only addition to ManU was Michael Carrick. Not the signs of a potential winner! But Sir Alex backed the aging warhorses Giggs, Scholes and Neville to all have one of their best seasons with their overall contributions. Also, the phenomenal season that Cristiano Ronaldo had, was not something anyone predicted.

At the same time, over in Spain, Barcelona threw away the title in spectacular fashion. Beckham must have been very grateful for Barca's implosion as he drove Real Madrid to their first title in four years. Cut to scenes of hysterical badge-kissing from most of Madrid's heroes who had been dubbed as zeroes for most of the season. But all that hoopla could not save Fabio Capello his job. The mental Real board thought his style was not exciting enough and readily offered him his severance package after just a single, albeit triumphant, season. On the other hand, Frank Rijkaard keeps his job at Barca despite dissappointment in both the Liga and the Champions league.

Anyway, thats all in the past already. The latest buzz is all about the transfers. And one of the first clubs to make their mark in the transfer season (reminds me of those 'Duck Season' Bugs and Daffy toons!), was Manchester United again. They made their transfers official way before any of the other major European clubs even announced their intentions. Sir Alex seems to be building yet another generation of Manchester United players who can challenge for everything. Anderson(17m), Nani(14m), Hargreaves(17m) and possible Carlos Tevez(on loan) very soon. Thats a great roster to add to his squad.

Chelsea this season seems to have forsaken their attempts to buy their way to success. But Jose is proving himself capable of picking up a bargain as well. The captures of Tal Ben Haim from Bolton, Claudio Pizarro from Bayern and Steve Sidwell from Reading, all free transfers, seem pretty sound. Also, he has added Florent Malouda as his only big money signing this season for 13.5m and he has a pretty good reputation as a speedy winger. But Jose may still have the problem of trying to fit in Ballack and Shevchenko in his team next season, unless the rumours of Sheva's return to Milan and Frank Lampard's possible transfer to Spain or Italy actually happen.

Another team which started early this transfer window was Bayern Munich with their big name signings of Luca Toni, Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose in the close season. Barcelona, of course, made one of the biggest transfers in terms of the quality of the player involved - Thierry Henry leaves the English league. He will definitely be missed, most of all by Arsenal fans who must really believe their club is becoming a selling club now.

I should really stop torturing myself (and probably my readers) by straying so far from the one club i really do want to discuss. The first few weeks of the transfer season was sheer torture for Liverpool fans, as rumours floated about how the American owners had tightened the purse strings and squashed the Kops hopes of seeing their beloved club become more competitive. But those rumours have been proven false as Pool made the big purchase of Fernando Torres for 27m. They have added to Torres with one of the most wanted young players in the world - Ryan Babel, and one of the best midfielder/wingers from the English league besides the top four clubs - Yossi Benayoun. Add to this the free transfer of the experienced Ukrainian forward, Andriy Voronin and two other highly rated youngsters - the Argentine left winger, Sebastian Leto and the Brazilian midfielder, Lucas Leiva. Overall, it already seems like a really good squad which can even play exciting football - now that would be a change for us Kop supporters. Not that it ever mattered, but Liverpool now have pace on their wings and potentially we will be able to see Gerrard making his marauding runs through the middle more often.

Another huge factor will be the introduction of Torres into the squad - potentially the biggest star player that Liverpool has purchases in recent times. Till now, under Rafa Benitez, there have been no competitors in star power with Gerrard. This may change this season. Although, both Gerrard and Torres have a reputation for not playing up their egos, it may be a genuine attempt by Rafa to reduce the overwhelming status of Steven Gerrard at the club - which has caused severe consternation every time Stevie threatens to leave.

And finally, it may not even be Torres who is the most important signing of the season - it could well be the two new wingers.

Another brick in the wall...

Damn capitalism! Companies nowadays seem to believe their employees dont deserve any free time at all! Productivity is the mantra; get on that seat boy, nimble up the fingers and churn out lines of code, or whatever you do. How can you have any pudding, if you dont eat your meat? No, its eat your meat, brush your teeth and get back to work, there isnt any pudding anymore.

So whats inspiring this rant? Its them blasted internet firewalls which the corporates use to make sure employees dont get any pudding. I understand the need to block the particularly juicy kinds of pudding of course, after all you dont want your employees drooling in the cubicles and the corridors of this monument to profitable and untiring industry . That degree of freedom might be a few steps too far, and I stand stoically by the corporate in this decision, though with a slightly heavy heart. I even applaud the decision to block all web mail services during the official working hours. After all, the corporate can justly claim that employees only need the corporate mail service for all business purposes. But then, in their frenzy of righteous virtuosity, they decide to follow these decisions by adding another: let there be no sports!!

And thats where this loyal crewmember baulks and abandons ship. To club sports with the afore mentioned juicy stuff and the small discomfort of not being able to check your webmail is highly unfair. An avid football or cricket fan should be allowed to follow the game while at work. After all, the other option is to not show up for work at all!

Sports websites have been blocked for some time now, but the Slayer usually finds a way. I love those remote PC connection tools! Connected to a remote PC which was on a network that did not have sports websites banned, the Slayer was able to peruse the latest news in the world of sports whenever overwhelmed by his tirelessness of the past few working hours. And then came the rude shock today which lead to this overflowing of emotions and attempt of anger management through this rant. When the Slayer connected to that lovely remote PC today, and typed in his favourite football (or any) website URL, following that up by a dramatic rap on the Enter button, he was in for a rude shock - "This website is banned due to its content: Sports. Repeated attempts to access this website will be considered against company policies.". That remote sanctuary with its lush football-field-green pastures had been shut down, the drawbridge has been lifted, the gates closed, the towers manned by archers and the Slayer was on the outside.

Oh hateful, hateful day!

And by-the-way, all those links are to just show off my spanking new snap shots blog tool!! And the juicy pudding link might dissappoint some folks!

Milan 2 Liverpool 1

I would have loved to report a different scoreline above, but thats how it ended in Athens. Not half as cool as two years ago in Istanbul.

But, hey! You can't win them all. Not that Liverpool has been winning 'them' all recently, but two European finals in three years is commendable. The irony really was that unlike in Istanbul, this time Steven Gerrard and his team went out on the field with the determination to take the game by the scruff of its neck. Playing Gerrard in a more advanced role than the right wing, as Rafa usually has been doing, signalled that even the cautios Benitez had decided to go for a greater focus on attack.

And there were definitely very good performances put in by many of the Reds that day. Milan are a good team, but not a team in the same calibre as Barcelona, who would inspire fear through their attacking prowess. Kaka is excellent, but Mascherano and Dan Agger put in terrific performances in controlling him. Where Liverpool severely lacked though, was on the wings. Zenden and Pennant huffed and puffed, but especially in the case of Zenden, were completely powerless to influence the game. Pennant actually surprised a lot of his detractors, including me, through several intelligent runs, but his greatest weakness is his final ball. His crosses either never go past the first defender, or are lobbed too high and far over the danger areas. The first time he did manage to get a tight, low cross in, it was the 83rd minute (or so) and Crouch didnt manage to beat the keeper. The next time his cross was low and tight, Agger touched it on for Kuyt to score the consolation goal. But the match was already lost by then.

Notable performers - Carragher and Agger were solid in defence, except for one misunderstanding which Milan could not take advantage of. Riise and Finnan were both very good, although Finnan had to cope with not enough help from Pennant down the right flank. What we wouldnt have given to see one of Riise's magical long distance goals on Wednesday!

In midfield, Mascherano was superb, as was Gerrard. But I was surprised to see Alonso losing his head so often. He was a ticking bomb waiting to explode, and finally he did concede the free kick with a foul on Kaka, which was converted by Pirlo via Inzaghi's wincing arm or shoulder. Harry Kewell got a chance to find out what the second half of a CL final feels like this time, but he could not influence the game as much as could have been hoped. Kuyt was hard working, but he did not see enough chances created for him.

So, another season comes to a close. Having missed most of the season in the US, I hate the thought of nearly 3 months without any football. But there will be a lot of action happening in the transfer market. And this time, Liverpool could be among the big spenders, thanks to Hicks and Gillett spreading the dosh around. Hopefully, we will have a couple of brand new wingers as high priority requirements. If the rumours are true, Arjen Robben could be out of Chelsea soon, but do we really want the oldest 'young' player in the world? Can Kaka be dragged away from Milan? Will we see two new exciting Portuguese players in Simao and Nani travelling to Merseyside next season? Will Rafa keep faith in Kewell for another season? Zenden, i feel, will definitely leave. Pennant may remain as backup only. Also, Gabriel Palleta and Sami Hyppia are probably leaving, so there should be another center back coming in. And how much dosh will Rafa be ready to blow on either Torres or Eto'o? Or David Villa?

Loads of questions. Hopefully, we will get the answers gradually over the summer. Exciting times ahead for Liverpool!!

Wastelands...

Its been ages since I last updated this blog. I've been adrift in the wastelands, deep in the abyss, caught in the net. Been too busy to blog, in brief.

In the meantime, Liverpool again lost to Man Utd at home in the league, but kept their European campaign going with a brilliant victory over Barcelona. In the league, its looking more and more likely that Liverpool will not manage a higher position than 4th, which means they'll be involved in the third round qualifier for next seasons Champs League. Another year with a too early start to their season. But there is still hope, and Arsenal have shown that its highly likely that they will slip up - especially without Thierry Henry for the rest of the season.

And of course, the cricket world cup has got under way. The traditional game of Super Selector has begun, it should be fun. The Indian media has gone nuts like never before. The hype is sometimes cringe-worthy. The 30-mins of Indian news that I get to see (sometimes) on the telly has 15 mins worth of the newsreader repeating news about inane training sessions, trivial player and coach quotes, and similar balderdash like its the second coming. A story about a few food-poisoning cases occurring in the Indian team's hotel is given coverage equivalent to Saddam's hanging.

Then there's the quirky stuff too. Like Zee News proclaiming the Indian team as Dada's Army!! Quite besides the fact that this echoes the wonderful DA (Dumbledore's Army) from the fifth Harry Potter book, the eponumous Dada is not even the skipper of the Indian team. Seems like Saurav Ganguly is getting a lot more support in the media now, than in the turbulent period a year ago. But Rahul Dravid is our skipper, and the last thing we want in the middle of a tough, exhausting and mentally draining tournament is to see politics rearing its ugly head in the Indian team. Dravid is our skipper, and he should have our support. May he (with Dada and Sachin) bring that pot of moonshine home.

Barcelona 1 Liverpool 2

Who would have thunk it! But its true. Of course, its far from over. But the second tie being at home, Liverpool will definitely take heart from the precious away victory. They can now literally afford a 1 - 0 defeat at home or a draw. But I think they can even add to this win with another at Anfield.

To add to the romance of this victory, the goals were scored by the two players everyone thought might not even start today. Craig Bellamy and Jon Arne Riise were the two players who were the most likely to get the sack as their team-building trip to Portugal had the opposite effect. Especially at fault was Bellamy, who allegedly attacked Riise with a golf club. With his past record, the media was claiming this was the end of Bell at Liverpool. It may still be, Rafa is not one to take lack of discipline in his squad, and additionally there is money flowing in of course after the takeover, which means Rafa may be able to afford a less volatile player with perhaps the same or better skills than Bellamy. That boy Bellamy even had the cheek to celebrate his goal with a golf swing !!! I dont know if Rafa might have appreciated that bit.

But for the present, these two players might just have redeemed themselves on the field. For most of the first half, Barca were lording over Liverpool and the scousers were barely seeing about 38% of the possession. But they got the goals that mattered as Barca consistently were unable to find the net in spite of all their attacking play. They now play Sheffield Utd and Man Utd at home in the Premiership before Barca comes a-visiting.

Great big whooooop for the Reds!!

Things left unsaid (thus far anyway)

While I'm at it, there are a couple more things to talk about. Urgently.

Firstly, a great big whoop of triumph at Saurav Ganguly being named the man of the series for the India - SL series. The big man is back and with a bang. His has been one of two cases of actions being louder than words which has happened over the last month or so. The second being the triumphant return of David Beckham into the Real Madrid first XI.

Looking back, the silence in the face of allegations and harsh criticism of both Gangs and Becks had seemed to indicate that these two stars had given up on their careers. Gangs decided to try his luck in English county cricket while Becks retaliated to the intense pressure heaped on him by the Real board to sign an extension to his contract or leave, by making the in-your-face decision to leave for the MLS. In return, Greg Chappell for the Indian team, and Fabio Capello for Real made similar noises about the door back into the squad being shut for ever for their respective players. Capello was a lot more outspoken about it saying that Becks will never play in his team again.

In both their cases, luck has to some extent played its part. The Indian team started playing really badly, it needed a spark and it looked more likely to come from its erstwhile captain than from the rookies who were tried. This combined with injuries to players like Yuvraj, and the poor form of some of the remaining senior players provided the opportunity of giving another shot to Gangs.

For Real Madrid, a series of dissappointing showings resulted in a clamour from the public to bring back Becks, who had made a mark in the hearts of the fans by his professional nature and his passion on-field. Capello though might have managed to ignore the public outcry, but when his influential players like Raul and Guti publicly commented on the teams need for Becks to be re-instated, he could not ignore it anymore. Another factor, as pointed out by Tim Stannard, in his excellent articles about the spanish league on Football365, is the unerring survival instinct of the Real coach. Capello brought Becks back, and he has been the lynchpin in Real's mini-revival over the last month. Capello even managed to get some credit from it by making the statement that a smart man knows when to change his mind.

Both games are richer for having these two wonderfully skillful players back on the field. For Becks, there may even be a return to the England team as McClaren has reportedly decided to follow Capello's lead and look a lot closer at his ex-skipper. If he looks close enough, he might just find a way to save his job.

As a postscript, my big hope of Liverpool accumulating 15 points before coming up against Barcelona in the CL, has been dashed to bits. First, they were held to a draw by Everton, then they actually lost to a resurgent Newcastle. Thats 5 points fewer then than they could have taken. But its Barcelona tomorrow, fingers crossed for that game.

Footy Brawls

From my favourite website, F365. Great football reporting done with a great big splash of Brit humour. This article had me rolling.

There is so much to admire about football, but too often there are individuals in the game that tarnish its image. The case of Kieron Dyer vs Lee Bowyer fight night was unique in that it was teammates fighting each other on the pitch, while the match was being shown live on TV. It just showed the shambles in which Graeme Souness left Newcastle. John Hartson is another figure in the game who has only brought disrepute to it.


Eric Cantona was of course one of the great mad geniuses of the game, and his attack on Matthew Simmons, a Crystal Palace fan who was mocking him, was also on live TV. But that's Cantona, a man who is now dedicating himself to the upliftment of beach soccer. Nuff said!

But then there is a man like Henrik Larsson, who put it so beautifully to the warring Freddie Ljungberg and Olaf Mellberg - ""You are specks of dust. We all are. The team is what matters." Now that's inspirational.

Yankfield?

OK the big derby has come and gone, and Liverpool dropped their first points since the double cup whammy from Arsenal. So the potential 15 points we could have taken before the Barca game is now down to potentially getting 13. That's if we beat Newcastle at St. James's Park next week. Well, lets see. Chances of catching up and possibly beating Chelsea to second are now slipping by.

The big news of course is the takeover by the Yanks, Gillett and Hicks. It opens up the possibilities of a lot more cash being available to build the team. A new 60000 seater stadium is part of the deal, and that would increase gate receipts as well. Plus, it brings up the possibility of making more money by staging big games not necessarily involving Liverpool too - Champs League finals perhaps. Only time will tell how the new owners build the club up. I don't think it will be the limitless cash option that Chelski has, but there will be more to splash, and perhaps Rafa can use his scouting network (mostly in Spain) to better use!

Busy Busy Busy

Been very busy at work last week or two. Didn't get a chance to update my blog.



Following up on Liverpool's progress. It is now a third victory in a row, as Pool went on to beat West Ham 1-2 away. There was little to worry for Liverpool in this game, even though the Hammers have been busy in the transfer window. Some quality players have been brought in by Alan Curbishley like Kepa Blanco, Luis Boa Morte (who I rate very highly) and Lucas Neill. The latest addition is Matthew Upson, a very hard working defender who I think will have a definite impact on the Hammers shambolic season so far. Blanco got the goal for the Hammers but the Reds were not in trouble anytime in the game.



So that's 9 points out of 9 since the cup debacles. I predicted that they could possibly win all five before their Champs League game against Barca rolls by. Its the Merseyside derby next and this time it will be at Anfield. I think Liverpool will manage a victory over Everton this time around !!



And the transfer window is now closed. Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea did not buy any players at all this January!! That might be a real sign for Jose that Roman Abramovich is closing his chequebook and it may also indicate that Jose might be gone before next season's transfer window opens.



Liverpool themselves have been busy in the window, but the transfers all appear to be targetted at the future rather than the current season. I think that's probably for the best, Rafa is a shrewd manager and believes his current squad can get the best results for Liverpool this season. Realistically, the best league position we can aspire to is second. And the only cup we are still in is the Champs League and with Barcelona to face, it might not be a hurdle we can get past. Although Barca themselves are not performing anywhere near their performances from last year. So making expensive purchases in January may not be the best way to go for us. Except for Arbeloa and Mascherano, the rest of the purchases are all kids and points at Rafa's policy of securing the future.



It has been a dull transfer window though. The flashiest transfers were perhaps Vincenzo Montella's loan move to Fulham from Roma, and Man Utd's capture of Henrik Larsson, the legend, the footballing genius. I think these two will also be the best purchases of the rest of the season. Montella is already proving his worth for Fulham. So is Larsson. The dark horse could be Julius Aghahowa who has moved from Shaktar to Wigan. Julius was at one time a highly rated striker, we will soon see if he can match the feats of Jay-Jay Okocha or Kanu, his compatriots, in the Premiership.



By the way, wanna know who is the English footballer I most resemble ? I always knew I had a great touch for a big man!! LOL!!

Liverpool 2 Chelski 0

That was a great result! Liverpool desperately needed something good soon, and this might just be the result that turns things around for us. Kuyt and Pennant were the scorers, while Jamie Carragher was the star in the center of defense. Wish this could happen more often. The truth still remains that this is the first time Liverpool have beaten Chelski in the league since Rafa and Jose arrived in the English league. But hey, lets enjoy it!

So, Liverpool have won two of the five which I had talked about in an earlier post. We are now 5 behind Chelsea, and 11 behind Man Utd. I think it may still be possible to catch Chelski. Though second is hardly the same as first, it would still be terrific.

Being in this situation just keeps reminding you of the wasted points at the beginning of the season. We could easily have been title challengers if we get a good start to the season for once!! Draws against Sheffield Utd and Middlesborough(both away) and Blackburn and Portsmouth(both home), defeats to Everton and Bolton (both away), coupled with defeats to all three of the big four, meant that at the end of November, we had already lost 23 points, out of which only 9 were to the big title contenders. The remaining 14 could have been real handy right now, and would have improved our chances of stealing some of the points from the big 3 too! And in December, we lost to Blackburn again, another three points wasted.

Anyway, West Ham(a), Everton(h) and Newcastle(a) now before the trip to Barcelona.

Brand New Day

Big weekend coming up.. Liverpool play Chelski, Arsenal play Man Utd. And I am stuck here in the US with no way to watch the games. Darn! Anyway, Liverpool did beat Watford comfortably last week, and here's hoping they find a way to beat the champs. It will be a big favour to Man Utd too, especially if MU can get themselves at least a point against Arsenal. Not that I would usually be rooting for ManUre to win the league, but it will be fantastic to see Chelski bite the dust !!

I'm too busy at work lately, really need to get a lot done and fast. Might have to come in over the weekend and get some stuff done. Wish I could get out of town for a day, but don't think its gonna happen this weekend. And its dull and gloomy outside today, not at all like Phoenix, feels more like Mumbai or Pune, except there's no humidity. Its usually so sunny and nice here most of the year that one gloomy day makes you feel like it was all a mirage. It couldn't have been such a bright lovely day yesterday!! And its raining too, the irritating drizzles all day.

I'm looking forward to partying tonite at Andy's place. Its Mojito party time, and its going to be great fun as usual. We skipped our regular Happy Hour Friday meet at Tailgater's since Andy had to go home and get his cooking done. Usually, the Mojito party would be just us men, but the ladies are getting in on it today. So, there needs to be food, which we wouldn't usually bother about. Just a quesadilla later to soak up the alcohol would be it! Anyway, hope the weather is not a downer.

Did you know Mojitos were the second favourite drink of Ernest Hemingway? Though I think he had a lot more favourites than two!

And James Bond drinks one in the movie "Die Another Day". These facts courtesy Wikipedia.

Current music - still listening to Strings today. I am so bored with most modern music, i cant stand hip-hop or so-called R&B. I can barely stand most of the modern or new-age rock groups. Once in a while, a band like Train writes a song like "Drops of Jupiter" or Green Day writes "Boulevard of broken dreams". Where did all the musical talent go? I keep returning to The Who, Led Zep and Deep Purple among a few other favourites. Even bands like U2 and REM are not cracking it with their new stuff. And Metallica has lost it, they are trying too hard to just fit in. These are sad times musically. What will the next generation have to look back on as great music? Like I look back and wish it was the 70's now. So, Strings it is for today.

Chelski and Becks

Heard a real good one about Ballack...

Ballack walks into a cocktail bar in the west end. "Two Martinis, bitte," he pipes up. The barman says "Dry?" Ballack's fuming. Slams his fist on the table and says "Nein! I said two". :))

Like the Beatles said, Money cant buy them love. Chelski have spend countless millions in trying to buy themselves all the trophies they possibly can. They have won the premier league twice now in the process, but are universally hated by all but their own supporters. Even their own supporters cant have failed to note the reasons for their clubs status as the most hated club in the world. Why, people would even support Man Utd just because they are the ones with the best chance of beating Chelski to the winners trophy! That takes a lot of doing, as Utd were definitely the most hated club before Jose Mourinho came along.

I wish they had just stuck with the amiable Claudio Ranieri instead. I am sure he would have got them the same results. Its not like Jose has uncovered gems through his scouting network, he just buys the ones who are making all the headlines. Makelele, Essien, Robben, Crespo, Drogba, and this seasons huge flops Ballack and Sheva. The worst possible failure of a manager is when he cannot get the best out of a proven world-beater like Sheva. Perhaps Mourinho's coaching style is similar to his media personality - obnoxious, out-spoken, arrogant. At least he did have the guts to place Sheva on the bench instead of trying to keep playing him when he is out of form. Another damning statement made about Chelsea is that they are unable to entertain, even though they are a team of galacticos. And then Jose has the audacity to ask "Why dont the Chelsea supporters sing?".

They dont coz they dont have anything to sing about, Jose. Grinding out 1-0 victories at home with Drogba scoring the only goal of the game against much weaker opposition is not what makes supporters break into song!

Of course, as a Liverpool supporter, I cant be too critical of Chelsea's game! Liv havent been setting the pitch on fire lately, but the difference is that the new talent coming in is vastly un-proven. Well, not the Bellamy and Pennant kind, but the Gonzalez, Paletta, Agger kind.

Another big story this week is about Becks's final stand-off with Predrag Mijatovic and the Real Madrid board. Mijatovic gave him an ultimatum, tell us if you will sign a new deal by the end of this week. Beck's comes back with "To Hell with you, I am not going to sign. I'd rather take the $25m a year package with the LA Galaxy"!!

Sad, really sad. I dont think he can be blamed for wanting the money, and it would do wonders for his celeb status living in LA and hobnobbing with Hollywood types of course. I think Becks wants to make his hay while the sun still shines. But from a footballing point of view, its a disastrous decision. He has now closed the doors to his England career for sure. Even if he scores 10 goals a month and sets up 10 more, he will still not get back into the national squad.

A great deal of the blame should fall on Steve Maclaren, I think. His decision to strip Beckham of the captaincy AND to dump him out of the squad was a very dishonest one in my opinion. At the same time, there was no action against players like John Terry and Frank Lampard, who both had very poor World Cups too. In fact, except for Owen Hargreaves, none of the English players did anything at the WC to enhance their reputations. And yet, Becks was made the scapegoat. As a footballer, he still has a lot to offer. Teams like Newcastle, Portsmouth and Bolton would give their right arms (or their managers) to have him play for them, but Becks made it clear that he will not be able to take lining up against Man Utd in the premiership. There was some rumours of Liverpool making a move for him too, but thats highly unlikely. That shows character, I think and a sense of loyalty to the club which ignominously sent out one of their favourite sons.

Unfortunately, Beckhams choice of his next destination will always be seen as more of a money thing than a footballing decision. Hopefully, after a season at LA Galaxy, he may rethink and decide a move to the premier league is not such a bad thing. I believe he easily has at least 3-4 years of football left in him, and the MLS will not be able to hold on to him, if he still has any footballing ambitions that is.

I think thats a long enough rant on footy for today!

Aww man, the Gunners again!

Well, damn those gunners !! Two games in a row, both at Anfield, and Liverpool gets thrashed! Hard to believe it, but it really seems like the new year has brought more luck to the Gunners than to us.

For those who havent been keeping score, Arsenal first beat Liverpool on Sunday in the FA Cup third round game - 3-1 at Anfield. Then today, they went ahead and beat us again at Anfield, this time its the Carling Cup quarter final and its 6-3 !! Nasty!! Julio "Beast" Baptista scored 4 goals!! He had only scored once before this season, and this was his 14th appearance. According to the match reports though, Jeremie Aliadere, the French kid was the real star for Arsenal, scoring one and creating 3.

Whats really shocking though is that the Liverpool defence has now given away 9 goals in 2 games, both to Arsenal!! From the match reports again, looks like Jerzy Dudek may just have played his last game for Pool. Also, Gabriel Palleta had a nightmare game. Plus both the wasteful Luis Garcia, and Mark Gonzalez had to be stretchered off the ground, so thats worrying news for Rafa.

Its not just a matter of losing two games though. This now means that the only silverware we can win this season is the Champs League. And I am not betting the house on that yet, there's Barca waiting round the corner. On the flip side, now we have two less competitions to worry about, maybe Rafa can reduce the tinkering which caused so many problems early in the season. Concentrating mainly on the Premiership, perhaps just perhaps... we can catch up with Chelski and ManUre. Here's hoping!

We will have a much simpler fixture list now compared to Chelski, Manure and Arsenal. Can that help push us to a higher level in the league? I feel we have probably slipped too much already this season to make any sort of attack on the title, but have we slipped too far off beating Chelski to the runner-up spot?? I dont know, its just 8 points, and theres 16 games to play. By the time we travel to Barca on the 21st of Feb, we will have played 5 league games... if we can have collected all 15 points by then, I'd say we might just be breathing down Chelsea necks then. Chelsea would have played 7 games in that period, Manyoo 6 games and Arsenal a whopping 9 games! Could that be to Liverpool's advantage?

Oh by the way, to get the 15 points before the CL second round away game against Barca, we need to win three away games - Watford, West Ham and Newcastle - and two home games - Chelsea and Everton. I see all of those games as potential defeats for Liverpool, especially if Rafa does not tighten his team up and get them focussed again. But at the same time, I do think we can beat them all too. Chelsea and Everton will be the toughest obviously, even though they are home games. But WH and Watford are both in the relegation zone, Newcastle are on the rise (sort of), so all the games are hard.

But we can do it! I believe in Rafa and Stevie G, and the whole Pool team. Go Liverpool!!! Keep following this blog for updates from Anfield!