Take A Look In The Mirror

 Don't really need to say too much about this one, I've mentioned double standards in press reporting of Liverpool before and I see no real reason to change my mind based on this evidence.......

 The Terry article also mentions Suarez five times, in addition to defending Terry as a family man who loves his kids and a courageous player (all of which is probably true but has no bearing on what he has been found guilty of) and no mention of his well publicised indiscretions in his personal life (which also have no relevance to his FA charge but in the interests of a balanced article would logically be included). Anybody wishing to compare the story on Terry to the story on Suarez could do so easily by checking the Mirror's online article archive, except that immediately after publishing the Terry story last night they removed their Suarez article from their website......

 One more thing that nobody seems to have picked up on concerns the difference in level of fines the two players received, Suarez getting £40,000 and Terry £220,000. At the time Suarez was reported to be on approximately £30,000 a week and Terry on closer to £200,000 per week so in reality the fines are very comparable. If a player in League Two on £500 a week had been found guilty of exactly the same thing as Terry nobody would have expected a fine of £220,000. Surely the obvious conclusion is the fine is calculated by the players earnings, which is probably one of the few things the FA actually seem to get right.

Effort And Application, Cutting Edge And Decisions

 So the much anticipated crowd problems never really turned up. There are a few reports of a small minority engaging in unsavoury chanting after the final whistle in a near empty stadium but none of this has been fully substantiated and if it is it will be condemned widely enough for me not to have to go into it on here. Both sets of fans observed the pre match Hillsborough tributes with the dignity the occasion demanded and as the game drew to a close the visiting supporters taunted the home crowd with purely football related shouts and nothing approaching crossing the line. Suarez and Evra shook hands as we all expected they would and the tone followed on from there. I feel I must add at this point that much of the talk around this handshake seemed to say Evra was the innocent party, which in my view isn't strictly accurate. Yes, he wasn't at fault in the whole racist comment saga, but his behaviour at the end of the league fixture at Old Trafford last season was unsporting to say the least and will have riled more than just Suarez in the Liverpool camp, his acceptance of the handshake today was just as important to the occasion as the Uruguayans.

 I'm assuming most of you reading this have watched the game so I'm not going to give a blow by blow account but Liverpool played very well, we passed accurately, worked hard and made very few of the errors that have so far blighted our season. All the possession and attacking play will continue to count for nothing though if we continue to struggle putting chances away. Borini is still young with plenty to learn and at time his movement was good, as was his work rate, but at the moment I wouldn't have him in my team ahead of Kuyt or Maxi, both of whom were moved on in the summer to make way for players like the Italian. Suarez and Sterling looked good as a combination and most of our more dangerous moments involved either one or both of them. Allen and Gerrard worked tirelessly and efficiently in midfield alongside Jojo Shelvey for the majority of the first half until he saw red. I've no complaints with Shelvey's dismissal, indeed he was very lucky to escape a yellow card early on in the game so he should really have taken that as a warning and calmed down. He was off the ground and not in control of his body and by the letter of the law that is a sending off, as is jumping in two footed studs first like Johnny Evans in the same challenge. I'm sure if Brendan Rodgers sat down with Mark Halsey and talked through the Shelvey red card and then asked why Evans' tackle didn't meet the same criteria the ref would admit it should have been a double dismissal. Even with ten men Liverpool looked the better side and it wasn't until the very end when legs tired that it looked like we were numerically disadvantaged.

 Gerrard took his goal well and we thoroughly deserved our lead, only to be pegged back minutes later. Our wastefulness in front of goal was brutally highlighted when Rafael curled the ball into the top corner with his wrong foot, a goal which he will never repeat but unfortunately on the evidence of this season so far neither will our attackers. Next up was the non award of a penalty for a foul on Suarez, he got to the ball before Evans, toed it past him and has his foot kicked out from under him before he was also tripped by Evans' shin. It was a very blatant foul and there was no real excuse for the spot kick not to be awarded but again Mr Halsey failed to rule in the Reds favour. Suarez should now have been awarded penalties in our last three fixtures and, while it's true reputation can go before a player, a foul is a foul, regardless of who it is committed on. It's also true that decisions can even themselves out, look at Everton, screaming for the introduction of video technology after being wrongly denied a goal against Newcastle last week only to score  their breakthrough goal yesterday thanks to an assist from Fellaini's hand, something that would not have been allowed if technology had been used. On this basis we should be due a fair few dodgy calls over the coming weeks, might be worth putting money on Gerrard as first goalscorer again the amount of spot kicks that may be coming our way.... Just to rub it in Utd then got a penalty of their own, Johnson bringing down Valencia on the edge of the six yard box after a quick breakaway from the Utd winger. It was an accidental clip of the back of Valencia's foot as he swung it back to kick the ball but it impeded him and we can't really complain about the award.

 Our overall performance was excellent and we deserved to win, never mind draw, but sometimes such is football. The better team on the day doesn't always get the victory but that doesn't mean we can't take positives. Our effort, pressing, passing and moving was top drawer against a very good side who will be challenging for the title come next May and a couple of decisions were all that stood between us and the three points. Many more afternoons like this and our current league position will be improved upon very quickly.

Youth And Young Boys

 A virtual Liverpool reserve team last night consisting mainly of young players and even a few debutants managed what the senior side haven’t done for a while and won a match. Our Europa League fixture away at Young Boys was an entertaining 5-3 victory against a side that gave Spurs a real scare recently.

 The standout performances came from Andre Wisdom, Suso and substitute Jonjo Shelvey. Right back seems to be the position that is most often covered by our reserve team, the last decade or so has seen Jon Otsemobor, Steven Wright, Martin Kelly and John Flanagan all get regular runs in the side and Wisdom looked as if he has all the qualities needed to be the next off the conveyor belt. Big, strong, quick and determined, and already a Liverpool goalscorer, powering in a header from an accurate Nuri Sahin corner late in the first half, he seems a genuine prospect for the future. Suso showed some neat skill and dribbling ability and if he progresses how the management hope he could be a star in the making. Shelvey came off the bench for the last twenty five minutes and took the game by the scruff of the neck the way we’ve seen Steven Gerrard do, albeit against a Swiss defence with more holes in than their famous cheese…

 I was also impressed with Brad Jones, he was assured, good in the air and made a few decent saves. I’m not sure he has the strength of personality to command his area like the top ‘keepers do but he proved more than capable as back up if he is ever. Nuri Sahin and Ossama Assaidi both played their part and if they can reproduce their best moments more consistently over ninety minutes we may have players that can help our league campaign this season. Jordan Henderson looked pretty tidy in a more disciplined role and I think being out of the week to week spotlight may be helping his confidence, though obviously match time will be required if he is to step his game up to the necessary level.

 There were downsides as well, Dani Pacheco failing to really make any sort of impression leads me to believe he probably won’t make it at Liverpool the way he threatened to do a couple of seasons back. Jose Enrique’s decline in performance level seems to be continuing from last season, it’s scary how quickly somebody who was so impressive at the beginning of the last campaign is turning into a bit of an accident waiting to happen, fingers crossed this is a blip rather than his natural level. It’s also hard watching Jamie Carragher struggle in situations he dominated for such a long time in the heart of our defence. He’s never had pace but seeing him outmuscled is a real worry, still his attitude is spot on and he is a good leader and somebody who more than played his part in helping guide a young side to a well deserved victory.

 Our Europa League group is quite a tricky one on paper, especially with our first team squad looking so sparse, so to win our first game away from home is a real boost. The competition may not have the prestige of the Champions League but it is still a trophy and it would be a good one to win, I’m certainly not of the opinion that getting knocked out early will be a benefit to the team. The performance of the youngsters means we can make eleven changes for Sunday and still pick a team of Reina, Kelly, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Gerrard, Allen, Shelvey, Borini, Suarez and Sterling which has the potential to produce results if and when the players gel together.

Hatred And Respect - Sing Your Hearts Out

 There has been plenty of talk on internet forums about the crowd behaviour at the upcoming Liverpool v Man Utd game, Liverpool fans annoyed by the Utd supporters ‘victim’ chants against Wigan and the Utd fans saying Liverpool supporters regularly sing about Munich. Utd fans have been saying they weren’t singing about Hillsborough when they sang ‘always the victims, it’s never your fault’ on Saturday and it’s misleading and incorrect press reports that are stoking up the tension ahead of Sundays game. I could be mistaken but is this not saying ‘we’ve done nothing wrong, we’re the innocent victims in all of this’? And isn’t that exactly what they’ve been accusing Liverpool fans of whinging about? A touch of irony here perhaps.

 As a Liverpool supporter I have to be honest, I’m not overly bothered if Man Utd fans sing about Hillsborough. They are our most hated rivals and there is a tradition of animosity between the two sets of fans, hearing them sing about our fans dying only helps to reinforce our belief that a percentage of their support is worth despising and it validates the rivalry. And it’s not something that everyone will readily admit but seeing your enemy attract negative headlines can be pleasurable. How many Man Utd fans do you think wanted Luis Suarez found not guilty of abusing Patrice Evra? The thought of Liverpool fans singing about the Munich air disaster offends me much more. I don’t want to be classed as part of a group of supporters who behave like this, it’s not something I would do and I, like most other reasonably minded people, find this sort of act highly distasteful.

 I’ve been going to Anfield for around 20 years and I’ve honestly never heard any songs about Munich, I don’t know any and have never been involved in any chanting of this sort. Does this mean I believe songs like this don’t exist amongst Liverpool fans? Of course not. I see people at the game who have that combination of anger and ignorance needed to indulge in that sort of thing and I’m sure in certain circumstances they would relish the opportunity to taunt their rivals over such a sensitive and emotive issue.

 My hope for Sunday is that if one set of fans crosses the line the other set don’t follow. I know this sounds childish but we learn at a very early age that two wrongs don’t make a right. I can envisage a scenario where one group of supporters sings about Hillsborough and the other sings about Munich and they both use the behaviour of the opposition fans to justify their own actions. Remember you’re representing your club, and all of it’s supporters around the world when you attend a football match, we all get tarred with the same brush and I don’t want anyone behaving in a way that reflects badly on the club I love or indeed the decent supporters I stand side by side with when I attend the games.

 As I’ve already mentioned, as a football fan I’m not too bothered about what hated rivals sing to each other, but as a parent I am bothered about bringing up a child in a society that is happy to take such pleasure in the deep pain of others. Songs about your oppositions past tragedies may be an easy way to wind up their fans, but there are people behind these tragedies who are no longer with us or who have left grieving relatives to suffer a lifetime of loss and these people should be respected. YNWA.

Always The Victims.........

 There has been plenty of coverage in the press this morning of chants about Liverpool heard at Old Trafford yesterday, prompting Man Utd and the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) to issue public statements. The most widely reported chant was 'always the victims, it's never your fault' which Man Utd say they deplore and that their manager has made the club's position on this clear and it's up to the fans to respect this. the MUST say that while the chants were directed at Liverpool it was related to the Evra / Suarez saga rather than Hillsborough and any attempts to report otherwise are irresponsible. I wonder what it must be like for the press to report your fans as doing something they haven't done and damage their reputation, I hope to God nothing like that ever happens to my club...................

 Manchester United were playing against Wigan, not Liverpool, or indeed Everton, the game was not live on TV so there were no Liverpool supporters watching, there was basically no reason for this chant to be aired yesterday. There may or may not be any truth in the idea that this was aimed at Luis Suarez, I can't go inside the head of everybody who was singing to find out what they meant, but to sing a song that they use to taunt Liverpool about Hillsborough shortly after kick off three days after the independent report was released is only going to be interpreted one way, and any Man Utd fan who thought it was an appropriate chant at a time when the rest of football was honouring the victims is either very naive or very stupid. Anyway, neutral journalists and, according to social networking sites, supporters of most other clubs find this chant at this time insensitive, offensive and disgusting. This is now clear so if the Man Utd fans genuinely weren't singing about Hillsborough they now know how this was interpreted and it is a song that they should not bring with them when they turn up at Anfield next weekend.

 There is a good chance by kick off next Sunday that Liverpool will be in the bottom three, we have had our worst run of results at the start of a season for over 100 years, we're as far away from winning the title as we have been for the majority of the past 20 seasons and we've now started the last four seasons under four different managers. If the visiting supporters want to taunt us next week there is plenty of ammunition for them without stepping into any grey areas or crossing any boundaries into tasteless territory, any chants that seem to allude to the tragedy where 96 football fans lost their lives through no fault of their own will undoubtedly be met with similarly disgusting songs in response.

 The rivalry between the two clubs is massive and next weekend will be key in future relations between the two sets of fans. There will be almost 45,000 people in the stadium but for once at Anfield I feel it is down to the visiting fans to set the tone for the atmosphere, respect the grief and anger felt by a group of people over the way their friends and family members died 23 years ago and it will be appreciated, whatever you may think about Liverpool fans if you show us respect in an area that is so emotive you will get respect back. Mock us over the way they died and cross the line into tastelessness and disrespect and I would expect nothing less than the same coming back at you.

 Both managers have made it very clear they want an end to the unpleasantness from the minority of all sets of supporters and it is up to the fans to listen and take on board. Both clubs have enough about them to make fun of, and both sets of fans are imaginative enough to not sink to the depths I fear could be reached next Sunday.