What Happens Next For Rafael Benitez?

 I don’t really like to go on too much about other clubs, their players, fans or management but sometimes it’s fun to.

 Last night after beating Middlesbrough in the FA Cup Rafa Benitez spoke about how some of the Chelsea fans hinder rather than help the team by singing against the manager and creating a negative atmosphere. He’s not wrong. And how many of us tune in to Chelsea’s home games on Sky so we can listen to the crowd’s reaction to their own manager because we find it funny a set of fans can be this short sighted? Plenty of us, we find it amusing.

 Rafa feels the reason the fans haven’t got behind him is because somebody high up at Chelsea decided to officially name him ‘interim manager’. The title suggests he won’t be there beyond the end of the season (as do some of the results and performances under him……) but to be honest a ten year management contract at Chelsea is also no guarantee of any more than a few months in charge.

 The reason Chelsea fans don’t like Rafa isn’t his Liverpool connection (they were happy enough when they signed Torres, little did they know….), it’s because of comments he made about Chelsea when in charge at LFC. We played them twice in Champions League semi finals, the atmospheres at Anfield have become legendary, they were nights amongst the greatest in or history and will never be forgotten, full of banners, scarves, flags, passion and noise. The two legs at Stamford Bridge were quiet, uneventful and full of plastic flags that the club laid out on the seats for the supporters. Rafa simply pointed this out, he was praising the Liverpool fans and comparing them to Chelsea fans by stating facts, something he would later become even more famous for doing.

 Rafa praised the Liverpool fans to let them know how much they helped the team, it was an attempt to get even more out of the supporters and consequently the team, it was a way of trying to gain an advantage and win. In short it was a manager doing what you’d want your manager to do. If the Chelsea fans don’t want to  see this then that’s up to them. They and Rafa between them have ensured he won’t be there next season anyway so it’s all irrelevant.

 I have a solution that I think suits everybody. Rafa will leave Chelsea in the summer and be looking for a job. He wants to work somewhere a manager is given time, somewhere the board, supporters and players will continue to back the manager even if he doesn’t deliver them trophies. He loves English football. He has a house on Merseyside. There will be a job available across Stanley Park come May time. Could be a perfect solution all round. I’m just saying….

Is A Top Five Finish Realistic For Liverpool This Season?

 It’s a simple question really, where will Liverpool finish this season?

 It’s a cliché but we’ve got no cup games to distract us, even though in my opinion still being in the cups gives a team confidence and actually helps rather than hinders the league form, 2001 being a prime example. We’ve got 11 games left to play, that’s 33

 points to play for.

 We’ve played well for large parts of this season but we’ve also shown a real tendency to make mistakes that cost us goals and for that reason I’d say we’ve no chance of taking all 33 points available, in my opinion if we get 25 of them we will have done well.

 We’re currently 10 points behind fourth place. If we manage to get 25 more points it will mean fourth place (currently Chelsea) need only 16 out of 33 to remain ahead of us. Looking at that I’d have to say realistically fourth place will be beyond us this season. Chelsea are quite unsettled at the moment, Arsenal seem to have plenty of dissenting supporters and Spurs could lose Gareth Bale in the summer leaving us one year into our project and in a decent place to challenge for a Champions League place next season, if all goes to plan and our improvement continues.

 Fifth place and a Europa League spot is only 2 points closer to us than fourth so while I’m not totally writing that off I’d say it is highly unlikely we’ll finish that high.

 Much more realistic is sixth place which at the moment is only 3 points above us, West Brom and Everton being the two sides we’d need to overtake. Sixth place is not an aim in itself but depending on who reaches the FA Cup final it could provide a route into Europe. I think we’d need two of Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea to meet in the final for the remaining Europa League spot to drop to sixth place in the league which may or may not happen but football is about doing your own job properly and not relying on others so if we got sixth place and a European slot then that’s a bonus, certainly not something to aim for.

 What we can go for, however, is a minimum of 53 points. That’s not a random tally, we got 52 last season. We’re on 39 at the moment so 5 wins in our last remaining 11 fixtures would see us improve on last season’s total, which is a start.

 I, like many Liverpool fans I know, am counting last summer as almost year zero, a turning point, a fresh start from nothing, the beginning of a revolution, whatever you want to call it. Getting more points than last season would be a solid start to the new era. Last season we finished eighth on 52 points, this season if we could finish sixth on 60 points or above it would represent progress.

 Liverpool Football Club does not exist to finish sixth, but over recent seasons we haven’t been competing as high as we have been, closing that gap won’t happen overnight, it’s a journey of many steps and it has to begin somewhere.

 Would I be happy with Liverpool finishing sixth? Not really. Would I accept that Liverpool finishing sixth with 60+ points is a sign we’re moving in the right direction? Absolutely.

Should UEFA Ban Luis Suarez On Video Evidence?

 Towards the end of our game against Zenit on Thursday Luis Suarez stood on the back of defender Tomas Hubocan, right in front of the extra official operating behind the goal line and in full view of the referee. Suarez didn't alter his stride to move his foot towards his opponent and he didn't bring his foot down with any extra force, he simply continued running as he had been doing and the player fell in front of him where he was about to stand. Could Suarez have managed to avoid contact between his foot and the other man? Well, we've all seen how quick his feet are in the penalty area so I'd have to conclude yes he could.

 So is Luis Suarez guilty of stamping? It's sort of a 'yes and no' answer isn't it. In my opinion he knew where his foot was going to land, but also in my opinion he knew he wasn't going to actually hurt his opponent. He trod on him to annoy him, to attempt to wind him up and gain an edge, it's part of the 'anything to win' mentality all the very top players have possessed over the years in football. He didn't tread on him with any intention of injuring him. For me this is key.

 I'm not totally convinced by retrospective bans after video evidence has been used, and our match on Thursday threw up some perfect examples of my reasons. 

 But firstly I must say that when a player tries (or manages) to injure an opponent, or tackles recklessly in a manner that could severely hurt an opponent punishment at a later date is without question correct. But I think for minor incidents or occasions where there was no real danger the officials decisions should be respected. 

 I don't like bans being handed out after the match as I think it gives referees and there assistants a cop-out option. If the extra official on Thursday had felt 95% sure Suarez should have been sent off he should have raised this and had the player red carded, but knowing that he could avoid the decision until he's seen the video replay gives him an easy way out, and this wouldn't have been fair on Zenit. I'm in favour of making referee's jobs easier, but I'm not in favour of giving them a way out of making tough calls.

 Also on Thursday evening Liverpool should have had two penalties, one right at the start of the second half and one right at the end, both for clear handballs. Even with our poor conversion rate over the last couple of seasons you'd fancy us to have scored one of them. This would have taken us through and knocked Zenit out of the competition. So if you ban Luis Suarez for something the officials saw and decided wasn't an offence it would be logical to also eliminate Zenit from the tournament and put Liverpool through to face Basel as the officials made the wrong calls on incidents that would have had a far greater impact then whether or not Suarez deliberately stamped on Hubocan.

 If any of you actually think I'm seriously saying Liverpool should be reinstated into the competition you're missing my point. I'm saying that changing a referee's decision after a game is petty and pointless (which is why I think UEFA may ban Suarez, but UEFA's incompetence is another story...) and once we begin doing this it could go on and on. Like I mentioned earlier, players should be banned for seriously hurting or trying to seriously hurt an opponent, but other than in these circumstances they should be left alone, what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch and it's handshakes all round at the final whistle.

Reds Out But Not Down, How Good Were Our Goals??!!

 So we’re out of the Europa League after individual errors in both legs cost us dearly, but I don’t want to talk about that. We almost pulled off a magnificent comeback through a combination of effort, determination and good football, but I don’t want to talk about that either. The atmosphere at Anfield was the best of the season, not a great European night but certainly a very good one, but I don’t want to go on about that. We’ve had two home games in five days and won with an 8-1 aggregate scoreline, but again I don’t really want to talk about that.

 The memories from last night’s 3-1 win over Zenit for me will be the goals themselves, all three of them had something a bit special involved.

 The first goal came from a Luis Suarez free kick, blasted through a gap in the wall. The kick was won by Daniel Agger who picked up the ball deep inside his own half and took it forward. It was a fantastic run by the defender, confident, assured and purposeful, a truly great surge forward by a defender who fits perfectly into the modern game. We know he has a good left footed shot on him and if he can stride forwards like this regularly he’ll score goals.

 The second goal was scored by Joe Allen, making a good run into the six yard box, finishing off the rebound after a save from his own header. The chance was made by some great combination play from Jose Enrique and Jordan Henderson. Enrique decided not to cross early as there was nobody central, checked back, passed the ball to Henderson who played one of the most perfectly weighted first touch passes I’ve seen in a long time back to the Spaniard who then crossed for Allen. Enrique isn’t a good defender and if he starts next season as our first choice left back I’ll be worried, but he is a good footballer and I can’t help feeling if he’d been played in Stuart Downing’s advanced role as often as Downing is he would have contributed more. Henderson is still young and improving but the pass to Enrique last night was inch perfect and worthy of a seasoned international.

 The third and, unfortunately, final goal was another Suarez free kick, this time from almost thirty yards out. He could not have placed it any better, it went around the wall, outside the post and then swung back inside again, crossing the line millimetres inside the upright leaving the ‘keeper with no chance. If somebody had said pick the exact spot you want this ball to go in it would have been exactly where it ended up, the perfect free kick. Some players, like Ronaldo, have mastered the art of hitting a free kick with immense power, Suarez’ second last night wasn’t like that, it was pure precision and hopefully he can replicate this in the league before the season is done.

 So we’re out of a third competition this season and our chances of silverware have disappeared, but we’ve got plenty to feel optimistic about. We’ve got a weekend off to rest up and we need to come back firing on all cylinders. The players involved last night did themselves proud not just with their effort but with a lot of their play as well, add Sturridge and Coutinho into the mix and we can end the season on a real high.

Another Landmark Match For Jamie Carragher

 When Jamie Carragher steps out at Anfield tonight it will be his 150^th appearance in European competition for Liverpool Football Club. Let’s put that into context. 4 entire seasons of Premier League football is 152 games, so he’s played about 25% more football than a player of a similar age at a club that doesn’t generally qualify for Europe. And he’s played it at a consistently high level. No wonder he’s decided to retire, he must be shattered.

 Another way of looking at his milestone of 150 matches is that Everton Football Club have featured in European games a total of 71 times, less than half the figure of Carra.

 It would be nice if tonight wasn’t his last European outing for us, his leadership qualities and never say die attitude are as crucial in games like this one as his ability. He can help inspire his less experienced teammates to raise their game and we need every player to be on it tonight to get through.

 It would be fitting if we won 2-0 and Carra smashed home the winning penalty in the shoot out. Congratulations on reaching 150 Jamie, let’s hope it’s 150 not out.

Will It Define Our Season If We Beat Zenit?

 Tomorrow we welcome Zenit St Petersberg to Anfield as we attempt to overturn a 2-0 first leg defeat. It won’t be an easy task and one goal against us will make it almost impossible, but we can’t think like that.

 Liverpool supporters are often accused of living in the past, dwelling on older successes and refusing to move on. This can sometimes be true, but there are times like this when our past achievements are drawn on for inspiration and it doesn’t feel like we CAN win the tie, but it feels like we WILL win the tie. There can’t be any other club in the world who feels like it triumphs in the face of adversity the way Liverpool does, no set of supporters more convinced of it’s own team’s ability to get a positive result when it really really has to. The ‘twelfth man’ is such a cliché in football, but the Kop on a big European night when the team needs it is certainly the biggest advantage a team can have.

 It seems most generations of Liverpool teams have at least one night that stands out above the rest, even the very average early 90’s side has Auxerre, where we lost the away leg 2-0 and won the return match 3-0 in front of a half empty Anfield that still made twice as much noise as usual. When the team needs us we’re there.

 The current Liverpool team is still in it’s infancy, we’ve surrendered our place in the two domestic cup competitions without much of a fight and we’ve not won any of our BIG league games yet this term. We’re crying out for a game that can define our season, something to look back on once the campaign is over and think ‘that’s what we’re about at Liverpool’.

 Zenit aren’t a glamour side but they’re good, they’ve spent plenty of money and have some genuine superstars who would get into most teams in Europe. Beating them 3-0 and going through would be a big result, they’re not a group of part timers from a sub standard league, they will be considered a scalp if we get the better of them. This could be the game where some of our younger players, the team in general, and the manager come of age.

 The tie is nicely poised for a bit of drama and excitement, the Kop will be ready, the floodlights will be on, the songs will be sung, now it’s over to the players, time to deliver. YNWA

A Word Of 'Caution' For Luis Suarez.....

 There’s been lots to admire about Luis Suarez this season, he’s got to be in the running for Player Of The Year, not just for Liverpool but for the Premier League. In fact he’s been so good I think you’d have to say he’s become indispensable to us. Which is why the fact that he’s on eight yellow cards for the season worries me greatly.

 If he reaches ten bookings he’ll get an automatic two match ban, and we can’t afford to lose him for that. We’ve still got Chelsea, Spurs and Everton to come to Anfield and we need every option available for these games, we can’t afford a suspension for our key player. Yes, Sturridge has looked the part, five goals and two assists in seven games is impressive, but it’s Suarez who makes our team unpredictable and hard to play against.

 I only remember our number seven committing a couple of fouls of any note this season (against Everton and Wigan) and taking one dive (vs Stoke) so I’d have to conclude that the majority of his bookings have been completely avoidable. Sarcastically clapping the ref against West Brom was daft and unnecessary and I’d hope the club have taken some sort of internal action against the player, as they should against anyone who gets so needlessly cautioned.

 I do think though that he sometimes gets punished for his reputation, he was booked in two of our early games for gesturing at linesmen when it was really necessary to yellow card him. We’ve seen several players (including one example I’m sure springs to all of your minds immediately) clearly telling a referee to ‘f**k off’ repeatedly when decisions go against them and they don’t seem to receive a booking. But however harsh some of Suarez’ yellows might be, if he doesn’t give the ref the option in the first place then he won’t be booked.

 His goalscoring record this season has been impressive, his general play has at times been magnificent and his fighting spirit has been unstoppable. He’s a key player for us, he’s fast becoming a world superstar, he just needs learn when to close his eyes and count to ten. If he does miss another couple of games this season it will make three in total, which is probably a couple of goals he will have missed out on scoring. Remember the bigger picture Luis, we just can’t get enough of you, we don’t want you missing any more games.

A Free Scoring Liverpool Side!!

 At Anfield on Sunday it was raining goals, 5-0 being our biggest win of the season. We've also recently won  4-0 and 3-0 on a few occasions. In fact we've now scored more league goals than we did last season, and it's only the middle of February! The attacking play has been at a cost, with our defending often looking as dodgy as it has done at any time for the last decade, with a rather generous amount of individual errors thrown in for good measure. But this piece isn't about the defence, it's about what we all want, Liverpool scoring goals.

 This season we've seen Fabio Borini, Andre Wisdom, Raheem Sterling, Nuri Sahin, Jose Enrique, Joe Allen, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho all score their first goals for Liverpool. We've lost Maxi, Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy and Joe Cole but all in all we're up on goalscorers. Added to all of this we've got Luis Suarez, a man who hit the woodwork regularly last term, who has fine tuned a lot of his finishing and is currently second in the Premier League goalscoring charts. Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson have chipped in, and Steven Gerrard has also been on the goal trail regularly.

 It makes it much harder for teams to play against you if they don't know where the goal threat is coming from (though performances like the one against West Brom where it looked like WE were the team who didn't know where our goals were coming from have appeared too often) and as our attacking players get used to each other things will improve even more. Coutinho's goal against Swansea was the perfect example, Suarez went out wide for the ball and three opponents went with him, a quick turn and pass inside and the Brazilian was away with half the Swansea defence stranded to make it 2-0 and game over.

 It hasn't clicked for us going forward in every match, but when it has it's looked very very promising and you can see where the work has been put in on the training pitch. What's more it's evident how much the attackers are loving being part of it when we're firing on all cylinders. Luis Suarez looked pretty annoyed when he was substituted on Sunday even though we were 5-0 up, the game was won but the Uruguayan wanted more goals. The way Gerrard allowed Sturridge to take the penalty for our fifth goal shows how much the players are enjoying playing with each other and how it's about the team, not the individual.

 I'm not yet totally won over by this season's team, but I've actually enjoyed watching more of our games than I seem to remember doing for a long time. This has to be tempered with a mention of a number of performances we wish we could forget but in general I think we've been good and watching us hit the back of the net regularly has been a joy, long may it continue.

Damien Comolli And Some Interesting Points About Liverpool

 Ahead of our recent match against West Brom, Steve Clarke made some comments about KD’s signings beginning to settle and coming good.  There was some truth in what he was saying, but more than anything it reminded me of an interview I heard with Damien Comolli just before Christmas on TalkSport.  

 Often, newspapers and media outlets use the same sources of information to saturation point, but this is one that might have gone under the radar at the time so I thought I’d flag it up as there was some interesting points.

 Of course, as you’d expect for an unemployed man who’s looking to get back into the game Comolli was generally talking up his successes and spoke a lot about patience in football.  On other subjects he spoke more candidly though.

 The transfer window may seem a long time ago now, but there wasn’t a day at the time when Tom Ince’s name wasn’t being linked with us.  Although he certainly fits the Rodgers profile and the type of player we need – someone who can beat a man with pace and trickery and find the back of the net (a la Suarez, Sturridge and hopefully Countinho), many of us expressed reservations about the deal.  Why take someone back when they’ve left.  Or indeed why let him go in the first place?

 Comolli said:  “When I arrived at the club Tom was at the end of his contract (in 2011). I met him and his Dad. One of the first things I did.  And Roy was still in charge. Paul was concerned that the standard of play at the club and the way the team was playing was not suited to Tom.  Roy went.  From then on I think we made 4 or 5 contract offers to Tom that he kept turning down. He didn’t feel it was the right place for him to stay and to play his football. I think the last offer, we would have made him the highest paid player underneath the first team, and to be fair to him I don’t think it was a money issue”.  Comolli went on to explain that the deal reduced the fee for Charlie Adam, which was attractive given that they didn’t have a choice – Ince wanted to leave and states “to keep our interest there was a big sell-on”.

 He then goes on to talk about the issue of over-playing young players.  Last month Jay flagged up his surprise that Sterling was getting so much game time right here on this blog.  Perhaps Rodgers is a reader because soon after Sterling was given a bit of a break from the action.  How we’ve treated our young players over the years is a concern.  Is it a coincidence that Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler were both practically finished by the age of 25?  Or was it our fault?  Owen seems to think so, pointing accusations recently, although he wasn’t begging to be dropped for Erik Meijer at the time.

 The fitness issue reminded me of another good feature which may have been missed by some of our fans a while back – a piece in the Daily Express about the backroom staff at Melwood.

 If accurate, one of the most concerning suggestions made in the article was that Rodgers was told on arrival that it would be highly unlikely he’d ever be able to play Johnson three times in a week, or that Agger and Gerrard could handle back to back matches.

 But instead of accepting this, LFC’s Head of Performance Glen Driscoll has been charged with a new approach.  Resting players is now deemed to be ‘old hat’.  If they’ve been rested it implies that we’ve failed to look after them in the first place.  The emphasis now is on tweaking the training to keep players in the best possible condition.  Even down to a personal level if required.  And that doesn’t mean giving players time off, or dodging sessions, it means a whole planned approach to training based on latest fitness and performance data.  Recovery from games is now given just as much attention as training for games.

 The stats are certainly impressive, especially for those more ‘fragile’ players.  Gerrard has already made far more league appearances this season than in either of the past two seasons (26, versus 18 and 21 respectively).  Without trying to curse him, should Agger make three more league appearances this season it will be his highest league total ever for us.  The full article can be read here. 

 I’m going  to leave you with a thought from the Comolli interview which is completely unrelated to the rest of the post, but interesting nonetheless.  He predicts a new golden era for two leagues in Europe: England and Germany.  He sights the new Premier League TV deal which will come into effect next season, and points out that on paper the team finishing 17^th in the EPL will have a higher turnover than the teams finishing  5^th in France, Italy or Spain.

Written by 3s

A Fortnight In The Life Of LFC - Heroes To Zeroes?

 A couple of weeks ago we'd just put in two very good away performances against two of the best sides in the country, 2-2 draws at both Arsenal and Man City in the space of a few days that should really have been six points and not just the couple we brought home. I, like many other Liverpool fans, felt a great sense of optimism about not just the rest of the season, but the future as a whole.

 Since then we've lost 2-0 at home to West Brom and 2-0 away at Zenit St Petersburg, meaning our aims of finishing in the top four and winning the Europa League both look to have vanished in four days, not a great week really. 

 So how have we (and our manager) gone from being the next best thing to a complete flop in a fortnight? 

 Simple really, we haven't. It's typical of not just the press but football fans in general to build a team up on the strength of one or two games and then knock them down over the same type of period. It's often said that 'you're only as good as your last performance' and, while that's a convenient, snappy statement to make, it's not exactly truthful is it?

 The two performances against Arsenal and Man City were good, they showed we can attack well against decent teams and we can defend well, though errors creep in due to a combination of not having enough numbers back and concentration not being good enough.

 The two performances against West Brom and Zenit showed we can attack well but need to be more clinical as missing chances will come back and haunt us. We could have quite feasibly been two or three nil up in both games before we conceded late strikes and with just a few shots going a foot to the side of where they ended up the exact same performances would have fitted in nicely alongside the previous two. The errors in defence and struggles with concentration were equally as evident in both of our recent defeats as they had been in our draws.

 Football is a game of fine margins and there is a tendency to equate results with performances, which isn't entirely false as you get nothing at all for playing well and losing, but it also doesn't tell the full story. The excuse that we're losing games now as we're getting used to a new method of playing which will bring us greater rewards in the long run is valid, though it won't remain so for too much longer. 

 I don't know of any serious, intelligent Reds fans who aren't supportive of the current management set up and methods, though we know what we're watching and you can only tell us the signs are there if we can actually see them. Which at the moment we can. But the improvement must carry on at a decent pace and we cannot get into a habit of accepting defeat - 'we lost today but.....' is not something the players or manager should be allowed to use. If we go a goal down in a game our focus must be solely on rescuing the scoreline rather than having in the back of your mind that 'it's okay to lose because.....'.

 We're not the best team in the world, but we're not the worst. We've got two home games coming up in quick succession that could effectively end our season if we don't get two positive results, but we have to go into the games with the right attitude, nothing is acceptable other than victory. The promising performances in games where we haven't won have been accepted by fans because failing to win hasn't really cost us anything on the day, but these next two games are different. Lose to Swansea and there's no way we'll finish in the European places, lose to Zenit and we miss out on our last chance of a trophy. 

 It's possible these are our two biggest games of the season, we've already seen evidence at times that the team has the ability to win them, now we need evidence of the attitude required to play for LFC. It's time for Brendan Rodgers and his side to step up and deliver.

Liverpool's Top Four Hopes Fade After Late 2-0 Defeat Against West Brom

 For the last couple of weeks Liverpool fans have had a bit of a flirtation with the idea of finishing in the top four this season, that coveted Champions League place winking at us like a girl in a crowded bar. Turns out she was winking at that bloke standing next to us and for now we'll be going home without her.

 West Brom coming to Anfield and winning 2-0 wasn't just unexpected before kick off, it was unexpected right the way up to the 80th minute last night. I'm sure some Liverpool fans and many journalists will go over the top about the result, which wasn't really acceptable, we need to stop conceding, and fast. The truth is we weren't as bad as the result sounds. Did we do enough to win the game? Obviously not. Did our approach play suggest we'd score goals? Probably yes.

 It took until the 80th minute for the visitors to have their first attempt at goal, Reina palming a long range effort around the post, and with an air of inevitability the resulting corner was headed in, Daniel Agger completely losing his man and with him any chance of us taking the three points. An injury time second on a breakaway counter attack sealed it, Agger again losing his individual battle.

 We didn't deserve to lose the game, that's without question, but with finishing like ours last night we can't claim to have deserved the win either. That Ben Foster in the visitors goal was man of the match tells part of the story, but aside from two saves from Steven Gerrard he didn't have to make any saves beyond the ordinary. 

 The key moment of the game came when Liverpool were awarded a penalty with a quarter of an hour to go.  Suarez was knocked over in the box, not a particularly bad foul and one that defenders tend to get away with, but it was a foul nonetheless and it was inside the penalty area, so it was a penalty, I'm not totally sure what Steve Clarke was complaining about afterwards. As Gerrard stepped up you just didn't get that feeling that he was about to score, and so it proved. It was a fairly well hit spot kick but Foster was equal to it and saved very well low down to his left. We've now missed five of our last six penalties in the league and that has to improve. The feeling that it was going to be one of those games where we just couldn't score only intensified with Foster's save.

 It's now four games in a row without a win for Liverpool, and Zenit away on Thursday certainly won't be an easy match to try to break the sequence. We've conceded at least two goals in four of our last five games and defensive concentration simply has to be top priority for the remainder of the season so we can begin the next campaign with a solid base.

 However, if your looking for positives there are one or two. The fact that we're so gutted to be out of contention for the Champions League shows that we've actually come far enough to think we were going to make it back into the continent's premier competition. Our last two away performances have given us hope, and even if we're taking two steps forward and one step back that's still progress. We won't get back to the top overnight, but the feeling of disappointment last night is a good sign we've been making strides forward. There have been times in our not too distant past where a result like last night's wouldn't have surprised us in the slightest, that it did is a good thing.

 Also last night showed us how much of an impact Daniel Sturridge has made. Sturridge was missing through injury last night and that made it even easier to see what he brings to us. His pace, directness and ability to stretch defences will be a key weapon for us as we continue building a side that will be able to compete at the top. 

 Brendan Rodgers' decision to replace Sturridge with Jonjo Shelvey was a bizarre one though. I understand the logic of wanting to keep the changes to a minimum after the previous two performances, and keeping everyone in the same positions they had played with makes sense on some levels. But Luis Suarez has been one of the best two strikers in the league this season and should have been played as the central striker from the kick off, no debate. Best players in best positions wins you matches, always has, always will. I fully support our young manager but one or two of his selections recently have been what I'd consider to be gambles, and they haven't paid off. He must learn as his young team does. We've shown over the last few seasons we're not afraid to make managerial changes if it's called for and he will be no different. But, like I said, I support our manager and am willing to give him time as long as he continues to deliver us progress. Last night was a setback, but that happens to everybody, it's the reaction that counts and we will be demanding one in our next couple of fixtures.

So Who's Bright Idea Was It To Give Us A Monday Night Kick Off?

 It's Sunday evening, we've got a game AWAY IN RUSSIA on Thursday night, and WE'VE STILL NOT PLAYED YET. How nonsensical is that?

 I understand Sky have a big say in fixture dates and times, and as an avid football watcher I'd be lost without my Sky dish so I'm not going to launch into a big tirade against the god of TV. But in all aspects of life I'm happy to have a pop at those who display no common sense at all and this seems like another opportunity for me to do so.

 I've no idea how the powers that be expect English sides to compete effectively in Europe if they don't help them out with fixture timings and give them decent preparation times, especially for away games, and even more so if the game is on the other side of the continent. Let's get something straight, I'm in no way suggesting the fixtures should be arranged to benefit any side's domestic campaign, purely to aid them in Europe.

Man Utd are playing at 4pm today and they have a (hopefully) tough game away at Real Madrid on Wednesday, which is certainly much closer than our trip to St Petersberg but you know there's no way Real will have been playing today, giving them more preparation and rest time for the midweek game.

 It's so obvious that the fixtures chosen for TV by Sky for this weekend should have been played in a different order. Man Utd V Everton Saturday lunchtime, Spurs V Newcastle and Liverpool V West Brom on Sunday, Villa V West Ham Monday night. Same fixtures, same TV audience, more time for the sides involved in Europe to get ready for their games, easy. I honestly can't understand why this isn't what happened.

 Looking at our games I think our squad is looking more healthy than it has been and we can hopefully deal with two games in quick succession and the travelling involved, but a bit of help here and there wouldn't go amiss. Monday could be Reina, Johnson, Agger, Carra, Enrique, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Sturridge, Suarez, Downing. Thursday can be Jones, Wisdom, Coates, Skrtel, Robinson, Allen, Shelvey, Suso, Borini, Sterling, Assaidi. Two completely different XI's but I wouldn't fancy the second lot to win away at Zenit.

 But if the Premier League are going to give us the Monday night kick off so close to a big Europa League tie then there's not much we can do about it. Though I completely understand how some managers regard qualifying for the Europa League to be a punishment rather than a reward for a season's hard graft.

Are There Any Good Teams In Premier League?

 There's not a lot of Liverpool action today but there have been some interesting results, not least Southampton beating last year's champions, Man City, who are still four points clear in second place. City were poor against us and have had some dodgy results this season, and the fact that they're still second has made me wonder, is the Premier League actually any good?

 Currently Man Utd sit nine points clear at the top and if they win tomorrow the title race is all but over before mid February, and they've had some poor results too, as well as some dodgy performances and late wins. There's no denying they've been the best team so far this season, but are they just the best of a bad bunch?

 Utd are top by a distance because they've had good results in the big games, but they've also had luck along the way. They beat City with an injury time deflected free kick after their full back dived to win the set piece, they beat 9 man Chelsea away with an offside winning goal, they beat Liverpool at home with an offside winning goal, they won at Anfield after the home side weren't awarded a clear penalty. This isn't a 'bitter rant' about their fortunes (if it was I'd mention that after all this luck their manager has been fined for actually complaining an official was biased AGAINST them, irony huh?) but rather a way of saying there really isn't much between the teams at the top. 

 Last season both Manchester clubs failed to get out of the group stages of the Champions League, this time round it was Chelsea and City who failed, only Arsenal have got through to the last sixteen in both the last two seasons. Both Man Utd and Arsenal have tough ties this week in Europe and you could make a good argument for them both getting knocked out. Liverpool play Zenit in the Europa League and it wouldn't be much of a surprise if the Russians win over the two legs.

 In terms of entertainment I still think there's nothing that can beat the Premier League, we've got the atmosphere, the drama, the goals, the star players, the historic stadiums, the rivalries and the traditions, but in terms of top quality teams I'm not sure we've actually got one.

 If there was a tournament where the first place teams from England, Spain, Italy and Germany played each other, the second place sides squared off, third place and so on I doubt a single one of the English clubs would win their respective groups. I don't know why the quality has dropped, but I'm pretty sure it has.

 Not long ago it felt like it was a real possibility we'd have four English sides in the semi finals of the Champions League every season, now it feels like getting just one into the quarter finals would be an achievement.

 One thing that I find comforting in the decline of our domestic league is that it feels Liverpool haven't got as far to go to catch up with the teams above us. I don't know why but I really feel everyone, apart from Man Utd (and that might be a different story when Fergie retires) is catchable over the next few seasons. I know we need to concentrate on what's within our control, but if the other teams want to drop their standards and make it easier for us to reach them then we should take full advantage and hopefully before long get back towards the top of the pile.

When Full-backs Attack

 A lot has been made this week of Man City’s equalising goal against Liverpool last Sunday, or, more specifically, Pepe Reina’s error of judgement that presented Sergio Aguero with the chance to make it 2-2. Experienced journalists have been saying that Liverpool need to sign a new ‘keeper, but I don’t particularly agree with that, what we need is a centre back with plenty of pace.

 Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique have both been extremely effective for us this season in the final third of the pitch, getting into good positions wide of the opposition penalty area and creating chances for themselves and for our strikers. Their attacking intent has become a feature of our style of play and it makes us more dangerous going forward, something we needed to improve on and we have done.

 More often than not we control possession in the middle of the pitch, allowing us to start attacks and wear our opponents down as they chase the ball. To do this we play with three central midfield players working effectively together, moving for each other and allowing the team to make simple but progressive passes. This contributes hugely to our impressive possession statistics and has been a major factor in freeing Steven Gerrard to become one of the top assist makers in the league this season.

 For the majority of this season we’ve played with one main striker and two support strikers. In order to effectively assist our main forward the two support attackers have to come infield regularly to occupy defenders and be available for passes. This can leave us lacking a little width in the final third.

 This is where the full backs come in. The only players in the side detailed to play purely close to the touchlines are required to fully support the attack at every possible opportunity. And for this reason a long ball over our defence towards the corner flag can quite easily land in space, meaning Pepe has to come running out for it. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred he gets there and you don’t even notice there was any danger of us conceding because he clears the ball so calmly and comfortably. On this one occasion he didn’t, Aguero is quick, got there first and produced a stunning finish.

 Our two centre backs are the only players free of attacking responsibility and as such are required to be able to cover swift counter attacks and long balls over the top, whether they be central or wide. I’d almost say in this formation that having a fast centre back is as important as having a good one. Strikers by their nature are fast players and if we’re going to leave large areas of space for them to run into we need to be able to catch them or Reina will find himself in the same situation again.

Jamie Carragher : 'He's Scouse, He's Sound, We Hope He Sticks Around'

 It’s always nice to be two goals up in a Derby going into injury time and being awarded a penalty. This season if that happens it will be extra special.

 Jamie Carragher has today announced he will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season and retiring from playing professional football. Carra has been with Liverpool since he was nine years old, he’s a true ‘one club man’ despite the chapter on his Evertonian childhood in his biography revealing it wasn’t his boyhood dream to wear the red shirt.

 There have been so many Carragher moments that will stay with us forever and whoever has to put together a highlights reel for his career has my sympathy. The goal at the Kop end on his first start for us, making the left back position his own much against anybody’s expectations, throwing the magic pound coin into the crowd at Arsenal that somehow seemed to have hit hundreds of people, the top corner penalty in the League Cup shootout, I could go on and on. So I will a little more.

 The own goals, the sliding tackles, the (completely untrue) stories about his Everton tattoo, his international retirement and then going back, leading the team out as captain on so many occasions, and of course, the image that will define the man and his career – the cramp in Istanbul.

 From my teenage years onwards I’ve been buying Liverpool kits, usually home and away shirts, and I’ve recently put them all into storage so when my own son is old enough (or rather big enough) they can all be passed on to him. Certain kits remind you of certain players, for example the shirt with the cricket style collar will always be associated in my mind with Stan Collymore. As I packed my tops away it occurred to me every one of them was one I’d seen Carra play in. He’s just been there, all through my Liverpool supporting career, whenever a new season starts Jamie Carragher is there for Liverpool, next August will be weird, I don’t think I’ll like it.

 There have been calls already to retire his number 23 shirt, I don’t think this is needed. Who is going to want to wear it now anyway? Some shirts come with added pressure (Newcastle number 9 etc…..) and there’s no way anybody can try to fill Carra’s shirt, there’s just too much heart, soul, sweat, attitude and ability in there for any other player to take on. I hope Jamie’s kids are being taken on by our academy.

 It’s so typical of the person to choose to come out with this now, just after he has regained his first team place and proved he can still not just survive at the top level but also excel. Retiring at the end of this season wouldn’t have felt right or fitting for the man if he’d been a reserve all campaign. His performances in our last few Premier League games have been top drawer, and that’s said without a trace of sentimentality, he’s simply played well and I’ve no doubt he will continue to do so until May.

 I find it very hard to believe there won’t be a place for him on our coaching staff whenever he wants it. He’s the perfect role model and won’t just be great for the younger players to have around, he’ll be important for the senior players too. I don’t think we should consider it Jamie retiring from LFC, it’s more that he’s just taken the lead in his race with Steven Gerrard to see who manages Liverpool first.

Away at Chelsea this season Jamie flicked on a corner for Luis Suarez to head in. Yes, this season he has an assist. That makes it quite a prolific year for our number 23 and it’s right for him to go out this way. But it will be even more right if he were to score against his boyhood Blues when they visit Anfield in a couple of months time.

 Thank you Jamie Carragher for all you’ve done for LFC, come back any time.

YNWA

FSG's Transfer Policy - Can Liverpool Afford To Buy A Title Winning Side?

 The January transfer window is now well and truly shut, we've moved on 30 year old Joe Cole and brought in 23 year old Daniel Sturridge and 20 year old Philippe Coutinho. Cole's minimal on pitch contribution and £100,000 weekly wage have been replaced by two players who's combined wage is probably quite close to Cole's alone and have long futures ahead of them. These moves have been typical of our transfer strategy since Fenway Sports Group assumed control of our club just over two years ago.

 We've not been buying established, big name stars at the peak of their powers the way some other clubs can do and have done. Look at Man Utd over recent times, they watched as Leeds paid £18 million for Rio Ferdinand and Spurs paid £12 million for Dimitar Berbatov, and once these players looked like they were top Premier League players at the right stage of their careers they paid around £30 million a piece for them. This is in no way a criticism of how they spend their money, it's an observation on a transfer strategy and it's probably the way we'd all do it if it was within our means. But it isn't. 

 Which all begs the question, can Liverpool actually ever afford to buy a team capable of winning the Premier League title?

 Let's have a look at the side that won the league last season, Manchester City. I've had a look at their starting XI for large parts of the season and seen what it has cost them (incidentally it was interesting to note there wasn't a 'home grown' player in the bunch, every single man had been bought in).

Joe Hart: Shrewsbury to Man City £100,000
Pablo Zabaleta: Espanyol to Man City £6,450,000
Vincent Kompany: Hamburg to Man City £6,000,000
Joleon Lescott: Everton to Man City £22,000,000
Gael Clichy: Arsenal to Man City £7,000,000
Gareth Barry: Aston Villa to Man City £12,000,000
Yaya Toure: Barcelona to Man City £24,000,000
Samir Nasri: Arsenal to Man City £25,000,000
David Silva: Valencia to Man City £25,000,000
Edin Dzeko: Wolfsburg to Man City £27,000,000
Sergio Aguero: Atletico Madrid to Man City £38,000,000

 Total cost = approx £192,550,000

 So that's over £192 million for eleven players. Can Liverpool afford to do that? No. Not a chance. Should Liverpool gamble by spending that much in the hope of landing the title? No. Remember Leeds, don't spend beyond what you can afford or it will come back and get you. 

 Basically Liverpool can't afford to buy a side that can win the Premier League, so why bother turning up as there's no chance we'll ever be competing right at the top ever again.

 Or can we afford it? Take a look at these eleven transfers.

Joe Hart: Shrewsbury to Man City £100,000
Pablo Zabaleta: San Lorenzo to Espanyol £2,500,000
Vincent Kompany: Hamburg to Man City £6,000,000
Joleon Lescott: Wolves to Everton £5,000,000
Gael Clichy: Cannes to Arsenal £0
Gareth Barry: Aston Villa to Man City £12,000,000
Yaya Toure: Metalush Donetsk to Olympiakos £825,000
Samir Nasri: Marseille to Arsenal £12,000,000
David Silva: Valencia to Man City £25,000,000
Edin Dzeko: Zeljeznicar to Teplice £25,000
Sergio Aguero: Independiente to Atletico Madrid £18,000,000

 Total cost = approx £81,450,000

 So that's just under £82 million for a title winning side. That's roughly the fees paid for Carroll, Downing, Henderson, Adam and Enrique. So can Liverpool afford to buy a side that can win the Premier League? Absolutely!

 Before anybody tries to point it out, I know I've somewhat over simplified this whole thing, it's not as easy as just going out and buying the players, putting them in your team and then winning every game. The players need to develop, they need to be at the right point of their career, in fact you need eleven (or more realistically fifteen) players to all be at the right stage of their careers at the same time. Then when all the elements come together you can genuinely put together a title challenge.

 What I'm trying to say in this article is that Liverpool can challenge at the top, but not by buying the finished articles, we have to get the players when they are younger and, more importantly, cheaper. That's why Wesley Sneijder was never an option. He was at a stage in his career that the majority of our squad wasn't, it would have been a lot of money spent on a player who would not peak alongside his team mates, by the time some of them reach their best he will be retired (or playing in China for huge amounts of money). To this end I have to say I'm fully supportive of our transfer policy, though I think the addition of a little more experience if it can be found at a decent price rather than on inflated wages would obviously help.

 Who has been our best player over the last decade? Easy, Steven Gerrard. Without him we almost certainly wouldn't have won any of the trophies we have done this century, which is a scary thought. If he hadn't come through our ranks could we ever have afforded him? Yes, but only if we'd bought him at 18 or 19 years old, which is how we're currently recruiting players and why we're paying out the sums we have done on players like Jordan Henderson, because if they turn out to be what we hope they will be then by the time they reach 22 or 23 they'll be out of our price range.

 There is one big note of caution for clubs adopting this type of recruitment policy though, and it's something that has already happened to us. We had a team containing some of Europe's top talent in Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. This quartet would have got into any team in Europe and came very close to winning us the title but never got the chance to try to build on the second place finish they achieved a few seasons back as some of the biggest and wealthiest clubs in the world saw what they could offer and started picking them off.

 Alonso went to Real Madrid. It's a shame we lost him but I've never totally agreed with people saying we shouldn't have chosen to sell him. Real had just bought Kaka and Ronaldo and it was obvious there was a big project going on there and once Alonso found out they wanted him he must have wanted the move himself. And the club got £30 million for a player we paid less than half of that for a few years earlier. The problem with Alonso wasn't selling him, it was trying to replace him with somebody completely inadequate.

 Mascherano went to Barca and Torres left for Chelsea. With all three players we recouped more than we paid, which is another good argument for buying young and one that most club owners just can't ignore. The key to maintaining a challenge is replacing like with like when things are going well. When we sold Alonso we were selling a central midfielder at the peak of his game with a complete range of passing, and we received a fee that reflected this. We should have spent the entire fee on the closest thing to Alonso we could find out there, rather than a young player with promise but a track record more of injuries than of success. It looks like Spurs may soon have a similar issue with Gareth Bale if the reports linking him with Real Madrid are true, a good player brought in young who fulfills his potential before the team fulfills theirs and moves on to somewhere currently enjoying a successful spell rather than staying in the hope of future success where he is.

 We need to continue buying the way we have been, but we should always have a back up list so we know if any member of the squad leaves for any reason we already have the replacement lined up. There's no guarantee that our buying policy will bring the title, but given our resources it's easily our best bet for success.

Liverpool Champions League Match Fixing Reports Are Old News

 After all the fuss over the match fixing scandal over the last few days we’re starting to get a clearer picture of what’s going on.

 The Debrecen goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic was punished by UEFA in 2010 for failing to report approaches before their games against Liverpool and Fiorentina by people who wanted him to influence the outcome of the game. He was not found guilty of throwing the matches, just of failing to report the approach he received.

 This was all acted upon by UEFA over two years ago and it is, in every sense of the phrase, old news.

 Some of the headlines written over the last day or so have been deliberately misleading, softly suggesting Liverpool were involved, though the articles themselves have made it quite clear we’re not suspected of any wrongdoing.

 The tabloid coverage today is minimal, especially in comparison to yesterday, so it looks like it’s been another case of connecting our name to a scandal to sell papers and then taking a big step backwards when the real story turns out to be far less interesting.

 YNWA

Who Would You Rather Wins When Man Utd Play Everton On Sunday?

 The next round of Premier League fixtures doesn’t see Liverpool play until Monday but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for us to watch this weekend. Sunday sees our two fiercest rivals meet so here’s a question for you, who would you prefer to see win the Man Utd v Everton clash?

 I prefer to support my own club so I try not to spend too much time slagging off our rivals (though sometimes you’ve just got to, what’s football without rivalry?) but I’d be interested to know who you dislike the most out of the two of them. I’ve put a poll in the top right hand corner of the website for you to vote in, simple question, who do you want to win on Sunday?

 A Man Utd win will take them closer to a 20^th league title and an Everton win would keep them at a reasonable distance ahead of us, so there’s good reasons for us to want them both to lose. A draw would be a good way of them both dropping points but that’s not what I’d prefer. Like I said, I support my own team and it’s better for us if the sides we can actually catch drop points, so I’m not saying I want Man Utd to win, but I am saying I’d rather see Everton lose.

Liverpool Champions League Fixture From 2009 Reportedly Being Investigated By European Police

 Unconfirmed media reports in Denmark have named the Liverpool v Debrecen tie from the 2009/10 Champions League campaign as one of the matches under investigation by Europol for match fixing.

 There is no allegation that Liverpool have been involved in any wrongdoing, what has been reported is that the Hungarian side’s goalkeeper was offered money by a betting syndicate based in Asia to help ensure Liverpool scored more than 2.5 goals. The Reds won the game 1-0, Dirk Kuyt scoring the only goal after the ‘keeper spilled Fernando Torres’ shot. The same played is apparently also under investigation for Debrecen’s 4-3 defeat against Fiorentina in the same campaign.

 I repeat this is all completely unconfirmed and I don’t expect the investigating body to confirm any of the 680 matches they are looking at across the world until their work is complete.

 Again, if this is true it doesn’t appear that Liverpool are guilty of anything other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time and we’re not implicated in any alleged corruption. But it’s still not a story we want the club connected to.

 A Liverpool spokesman has since said that the club has not been contacted by Europol or any other agency regarding the matter.

Roberto Mancini Accuses Liverpool Of Unsporting Behaviour, But Was It Us Or Dzeko In The Wrong?

 Roberto Mancini has accused Liverpool of bad sportsmanship yesterday after our 2-2 draw at the Etihad, saying we should have put the ball out of play before we scored our first goal as Edin Dzeko was lying on the floor. It’s impossible to deny Dzeko was fouled by Daniel Agger, but it IS debatable which side the bad sportsmanship came from.

 The referee is obliged to stop the game if there is a head injury, which there wasn’t, so although he missed the foul his actions afterwards were correct and he enforced the laws of the game properly. It’s the referee’s job to decide if a player requires immediate treatment, not the oppositions. From this perspective we did nothing wrong, but it has become a given in modern football that if a player is down injured the ball is put out of play, so it wouldn’t have been a surprise if we’d kicked the ball out for a throw in. I wouldn’t really call this bad sportsmanship as we played to the rules of the game, but it is something you’d expect your opponents to do if it was one of your own players down.

 BUT, and this is where this incident is different, Dzeko wasn’t hurt. He was fouled, sat up totally unharmed, was about to get up, saw Liverpool on the attack and lay back down again and started rolling around in ‘pain’ in an attempt to make Liverpool put the ball out of play and halt their attack. So where was the bad sportsmanship in this incident? As soon as the goal was scored Dzeko magically recovered enough to chase after the officials and I think the referee can feel justified in his decision that the Bosnian did not require treatment, though he still missed the foul on the City forward.

 I don’t really want to criticise Dzeko as he’s certainly not the only player to use this tactic, it happens a lot and it would be unfair of me to single him out, I’m sure our own players have done it on occasion, though no instances spring to mind right away. I think if Mancini wants to complain about a foul not being given he’s well within his rights to do so, the same way we’ve done often enough this season when Suarez has been wiped out in the box. But if Mancini wants to bring up bad sportsmanship he needs to address his own player rather than blaming the opposition. And if his expensively assembled defence doesn’t totally switch off he has nothing to moan about anyway.