Liverpool Back To Winning Ways With Villa Win

 After a two week wait Liverpool today had the opportunity to get the 3-1 defeat at Southampton out of their system and they took it, winning 2-1 at Aston Villa, coming from a goal down to do it.

 Their were plenty of chances in the first half for both sides, Benteke's well hit finish meaning Villa lead at the break despite Suarez missing a couple of decent chances. The Uruguayan played well today and was a constant threat, but his finishing was nowhere near as clinical as it has been for the majority of the past year. He's the Premier League's top scorer this season but he's also probably had more shots off target than anybody else. 

 We got back on level terms within a couple of minutes of the second half starting, Jordan Henderson coolly finishing Philippe Coutinho's perfectly weighted through ball. For me Coutinho looks more comfortable playing wide in a 4-3-3 like today rather than in a 4-4-2. He's made and scored goals since arriving in January and is looking like a good piece of business. Henderson has more goals and more assists this season than Tom Cleverly who has become an England regular, despite our man only playing about half as many minutes. There's obviously more to a player than a few stats but Henderson is going the right way about making an impression on those he needs to impress, his attitude and improving performances are winning over his doubters among the Liverpool supporters.

 Our winner came when Suarez cut inside from the right and was hacked down, Steven Gerrard stepping up to place the resulting penalty right into the bottom corner. Our results have picked up significantly since the new FA directive was introduced midway through the season, meaning any foul on Luis Suarez inside the penalty area will be punished by the award of a penalty kick. Our last two victories have come with a Gerrard penalty as the winning goal, makes you wonder just how many points we would be on had referees done their jobs properly earlier on. A few minutes after hitting the decisive goal Gerrard was again the man of the moment, a great headed clearance off the line from Benteke keeping us in front. 

 We've now won five out of our last six matches, something I doubt any other Premier League side can say. The players are getting more familiar with what the manager wants from them and our system is working more often than not at the moment. Our defence still doesn't fit right yet and it certainly feels like our opponents need fewer chances to score against us than we need to score against them, but as long as we keep scoring we'll be alright until the manager gets the chance to sort it out in the summer. Only twice in our last twenty three games have we failed to find the back of the net, managing eight clean sheets over the same period.

 A quick word on today's opposition before I finish. I like what Villa are doing bringing through talented young players and I hope they stay up, they're a good club with a squad that will be capable of making an impact in a few seasons if they can all stay together. I'm not quite sure why their fans were booing Stewart Downing today, a man they got £20 million for, but that's up to them I suppose. They have some players who look full of potential and Benteke up front is a monster. If they manage to avoid relegation this season I think they'll finish much higher next time around.

 Watching Villa today makes me wonder what we'd look like without Gerrard in our team and looking at them is a harsh reminder of the fact we'll have to replace him sooner or later. If we don't identify a replacement and just wait to see if Henderson, Joe Allen or Jonjo Shelvey step up we could get caught out big time. I'm Sure Brendan Rodgers is as aware as anybody of the importance of our captain and he will deal with the situation as soon as possible, but plans need to be put into place now for when that day comes in a few years time.

Build A Bonfire

 The anti-racism group FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) has reported the England fans to FIFA for alleged racist abuse of Rio Ferdinand and his brother Anton during England's world cup qualifier with San Marino. 

 A quick google search seems to reveal that the chant which has caused the offence was a song that is sung at Old Trafford every week, with a couple of alterations to a couple of words. We all know the 'build a bonfire, put the Scousers on the top, put the City in the middle and burn the ******* lot' chant that's heard any time you watch Man Utd on tv. Apparently the England fans changed the words 'Scousers' and 'City' for 'Rio' and 'Anton'.

 Well I'm sorry but if that's racist then we might as well all zip out mouths shut now.

 Singing about burning black people would be abhorrent, in fact singing about burning people in general isn't really acceptable. But when the Man Utd fans sing their song it's classed as banter between sets of rival fans and as a Liverpool supporter I have no issues with them singing this, they are our rivals, we are theirs, we're not supposed to like each other. I take the song as meaning they dislike us, not that they would actually burn all of us on a bonfire, the same way when a minority of Liverpool fans sing 'we only carry axes, to bury in your head' we don't actually mean we intend to do this.

 If singing this particular song about burning people based solely on where they come from is racist then they might as well shut down Old Trafford now and force Man Utd to play all of their games behind closed doors as their fans have been singing this for years and will continue to do so. For the record I'm not actually suggesting the FA do this.

 Rio Ferdinand has made a rod for his own back when it comes to England, being so vocal every time he was overlooked as Roy Hodgson correctly builds for the future and called up somebody else ahead of the man who will be 35 by the time the next big tournament comes along. Finally being recalled, pulling out and then taking a long flight to do (presumably well paid) commentary work on the same game he missed doesn't look good on Rio, and if he's as intelligent as he'd like us to think then surely he can see that. Players miss internationals (especially friendlies) all the time with extremely slight (i.e. made up) injuries and if he'd had any sense that's what he would have come out with. I'm not surprised the England fans turned on him, I'm sure any club supporter would do the same thing if a player did the same thing at club level.

 It's not Rio who has made the allegations against the England fans to be fair to him, it's the group FARE. They do very good work in an important area but occasionally their executive director Piara Powar pops up with something that for me undermines their good work. On this occasion Powar expresses a personal belief that 'there was an undercurrent of racism there' but freely admits 'we did not have observers at the match'. A little research would have dug up the origins of the chant, and, while not exactly savoury, it seems quite clear it's not racist. If the England fans were expressing a dislike of black players then they would have made their feeling known when half of the England goals scored that match arrived from the feet of black players.

 After Liverpool played Oldham in the FA Cup last season Powar appeared talking about Liverpool supporters being whipped up into a frenzy by the club resulting in an Oldham player being racially abused. This was said BEFORE any investigation took place and once the police had finished their detailed enquiries the man accused was completely acquitted. Powar has not yet, and probably never will, said sorry for the comments which appeared to brand all Liverpool supporters as a racist mob. 

 Piara Powar only appears to surface when there is the potential of a high profile case. One Liverpool supporter (wrongly) accused of calling an Oldham player something and the England fans singing something that could, if twisted the right way, be made out as racist even though it isn't could make massive headlines and Powar pops up. I like to think of myself as a right minded person who is against any form of prejudice and I want to give my full support to any organisation wishing to clean up the more unwanted aspects of the sport I love. But I am also an intelligent, considered individual and when I see an organisation seemingly going for headlines it makes me question the validity of their work. I hope I'm wrong. But I also hope the England fans were doing nothing more than expressing their disappointment in a player who's attitude has let them down.

Luis Suarez 'Strikes' Again...

 Luis Suarez has found himself in more controversy after striking an Chilean opponent in the face in a world cup qualifier whilst on international duty with Uruguay. From the video he is clearly being held and his marker is saying something to him. Suarez reacts by putting his fist into the guy's face. It's not a full on punch and was never really going to hurt the defender but it's another incident for the press and the Suarez haters to get their teeth into. 

 It's quite clear he hits his man, but it's also clear he's being provoked. He's not trying to knock the guy out, he's just annoyed with the close attention. It should be a sending off in today's climate, no argument about that but it's not a dangerous action that was ever going to hurt anyone and it's certainly not the worst thing ever seen on a football pitch.

 It's easy to defend him with the whole 'he's a bastard, but he's our bastard' thing but on this occasion I don't think he needs much defending. He's in the wrong and anybody who says he's not is a bit too blinkered, but he's hardly committed GBH on anyone, and he's obviously reacting to how the other guy behaves. My concern here is that other players will see how he reacts to provocation and he will become even more of a target than he is already. He has plenty of yellow cards this season and I'd be willing to bet the majority of those are in the closing stages of games we've lost, he doesn't like it when things aren't going his way and that's when he tends to lose it a little.

 A few days earlier Suarez had scored this goal against Paraguay, showing excellent technique in his brilliant volleyed finish. People who claim they hate Suarez also claim they are football fans. His superb goal got just over 60,000 views on youtube, his 'punch' is close to a million views spread across several different posting of the same incident. I think this shows pretty clearly what people's interests are.... 

Reds Quintet Star For England Under 21's

 For the second time in the space of five days Liverpool had five players in action for an impressive England under 21's side who continue to record good victories. Jonjo Shelvey, Jack Robinson, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom have all played big parts for their country this week which bodes well for Liverpool.

 I've written several posts over the course of this season about the promise of our youthful squad and the thinking behind our policy of recruiting young, mainly British talent so I'm not going to go over what I've already written, but it's always good to see anything positive relating to Liverpool. At times during the recent under 21 internationals we've seen five Reds on the pitch all at once, which gives our players good experience of playing together in decent, competitive matches and will aid their development as a squad.

 Of the five lads we've got in the under 21 squad three of them have been bought for a fee by Liverpool, and in Henderson's case a sizeable fee, so it shows how hard our scouts are working to find good young talent. Sterling and Shelvey were both bought for fees that if we'd waited a couple of years would have risen considerably, adding more pressure to the youngsters the way it did to Henderson. I thought that at times last season Henderson showed potential but when you've paid the millions we did you don't want potential, you want instant results. Shelvey and Sterling have had the opportunity to gradually gain first team experience with lesser expectation due to the fact we didn't invest such a large amount of cash in either of them.

 Loan spells have helped players like David Beckham early in their careers and I don't think it's a bad idea, there are four or five players (Coates, Shelvey, Robinson, Yesil and maybe Wisdom) on the fringes of our first team squad who would benefit from a season of regular football at a decent level, ideally Premier League, if not Championship, and it's my opinion we should look at this for next season. Whether the squad is big enough to cope with losing almost half a dozen players for a year is debatable, but if we don't get European football next term, and it looks like we won't, we could probably manage.

 I'm not a big England fan but with so many of our players in the under 21 side I'm paying a bit more attention, anything that points to a good future for Liverpool is worth taking note of. We obviously need to add a little experience to the potential within our squad but the signs are that the young players we have are the right ones. The future at Liverpool is looking more promising than it has done for a while, let's enjoy it. 

The New Pope Francis Reveals He's Really A Red!

"A free pass into heaven for anybody who can tell me how many European Cups we've won"

Is There Too Much Sympathy For Football Managers?

 The international break gives me a chance to explore the more non Liverpool related aspects of football and today's piece is inspired by a couple of newspaper headlines I saw on the same day. On Thursday the front page of the Metro carried a story about £40 million of bonuses being paid to ten bank chiefs, the general tone of the article was pretty scathing about these people receiving such large pay outs. The same evening I was driving past a newsagents with a board outside advertising their local paper which contained a story about Henning Berg attempting to get a £2 million pay out from Blackburn Rovers. 

 When I got home I did a little research about Berg's record in charge at Blackburn - played 10, won 1, drawn 3, lost 6. That's six points from ten games, an average that over a season would bring you less than thirty points, an incredibly poor return. I should make clear right now that I'm not suggesting for a second that Venkys are running Blackburn in an acceptable way, the quick turnover of managers has never worked anywhere and I doubt it ever will and I have massive sympathy for Blackburn Rovers fans and what they're going through at the moment. My point here is that if I started a new job and my record was as poor as Berg's for the first few months I'd be going in every day with a fear that I'd be let go at any moment. And there's no way I'd be going with a couple of years salary as a pay out and a mass of public sympathy.

 If I'm honest I doubt any Blackburn fan who has seen their team regularly, home and away, would have managed fewer points than Berg and he's a professional football manager with experience and a big salary, there are people who would have happily done his job for free and not had worse results.

 I know there's much more to a manager's reign than his first ten results, Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool being a great example, he had a difficult start but is improving his side because he has been given time without the threat of the axe falling on his neck. The majority of the time a manager will need a decent period in charge to get his ideas across and improve how his team plays, it rarely happens overnight, but again, that's not what this is about, I'm simply saying that if the owners feel it's not working and they have solid facts to back this up (6 points from a possible 30) should a departing manager get sympathy as well as a large amount of cash?

 The general consensus was that Roberto Di Matteo was very harshly sacked at Chelsea only a matter of months after winning the FA Cup and Champions League, and from a sporting perspective it's easy to find reasons he should've been kept on. But let's get something straight, his results immediately before his sacking weren't good, he'd got them knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and out of contention for the league title at a very early time in the season. And he will not have been told 'you're simply not good enough, you're out of a job' and have no payslip the following week, I'd be stunned if he didn't receive at least a few million to not come into work anymore. I know people who have really enjoyed their job and still happily taken a severance payment of a year or two's salary when it was offered, the opportunity to earn without actually having to go to work is something that us 'normal' people would jump at.

 Loving your club and wanting what's best for it isn't just part of being a football fan, it's the whole reason to exist as a football fan. Wanting a manager to be given time to build a successful team is one thing, genuinely feeling sorry for somebody who is now financially set for life without ever having to work just seems very strange to me. Over the last twenty years or more the gap between players and the supporters who pay to watch them has got bigger, these footballers may have come from the same streets as us but the world they now inhabit is a million miles away from where we are.

 Some people have become disillusioned with modern football and chosen to stop going to watch the 'overpaid prima-donnas' and who can blame them? But somehow managers seem to get much more sympathy when they are 'moved on' than players do. Maybe that's because we, as fans, have not yet lost respect for those who choose to manage the teams we follow in the sport we love, and in my opinion that can only be a good thing.

The Latest Luis Suarez Speculation - Story Or Non-Story?

 So Luis Suarez has said he would have an interest in talking to clubs playing in the Champions League that were interested in signing him? Where’s the surprise? If you or I were happy in our workplace but were offered the chance to work somewhere at a higher level and, almost certainly for more pay (plus a sizeable joining fee) we’d look at it, anybody who says they wouldn’t is a liar. I don’t see where the story is.

 Ian Ayre, managing director at Liverpool has said we love having Luis Suarez at the club and we’re very happy with him, we don’t want to sell and we expect him to be there next season. He’s been our best player this season and has won us plenty of points singlehandedly, of course our managing director wants to keep him at the club. I don’t see where the story is.

 As Liverpool supporters we want to see our club competing at the highest level, and we want our players to have the same desire. Is it worrying that Suarez intimated he wants to play in the Champions League? A little. Would it be worrying if Suarez said he had no desire whatsoever to play in the Champions League? Absolutely.

 I actually think we’re in a ‘no lose’ situation with Suarez. If he stays we’ll be keeping one of the best players in the league, possibly in Europe. If he leaves we’ll get a HUGE amount of money for a player who has caused us image issues over the last couple of years. We’re not a ‘selling club’ but we have to be realistic and say that there are several clubs out there at the moment who can offer players a better prospect of the big trophies than we can.

 Lessons must have been learned from Fernando Torres’ departure two seasons ago. We cannot be in a situation where one of our key players leaves on deadline day and in a panic we massively overspend on a replacement we haven’t thought through thoroughly. If Suarez is to either stay or go it must be sorted as soon as the season ends and we can prepare for next term properly. Comments made to the media will only fuel speculation and I expect we’ll have to live with more stories about our number 7 between now and the end of August.

 I hope he stays and I believe he really is happy and settled at Liverpool, and he strikes me as a loyal kind of guy. But if he does go the club will carry on. Ian Rush passed the mantle on to Robbie Fowler, then it was Michael Owen, then came Fernando Torres and currently it’s Suarez. Top players come and go and if Suarez leaves it will give us the finances required to bring in the best replacement possible. But for the record I expect him to be with us next season.

Ex Liverpool Striker Michael Owen Announces Retirement

 In an announcement today that has surprised many people in football Michael Owen has revealed that he is still currently playing, apparently for Stoke City, but he will retire at the end of the season.

 Owen came through our youth system and made an immediate impact in the first team, something he followed up on the international stage with England and it didn’t take him long to become a big name across Europe. When he was fully fit his pace was frightening and that was matched by his ability, I’ve lost count of the number of matches I went to at Anfield that were pretty dull affairs, usually livened up only by one or two bits of magic from our number 10 that secured us the three points.

 Since the early 1980’s Liverpool have consistently had a feared striker, even in the Premier League era when we haven’t been challenging as high up the table as we’d want to be we’ve still managed to keep at least one top class forward in our squad. Rush, Aldridge, Rush (again), Fowler, Owen, Torres, Suarez. Those six players and what they’ve done for us on the pitch are massively responsible for Liverpool still being the big name in world football that we are, and, while the league title has eluded us for many years, have contributed to the steady flow of other trophies that have continued to land in the Anfield trophy cabinet.

 Four years ago Michael Owen did the unthinkable for a former Liverpool player and signed for Man Utd. Given the options open to him at the time I don’t really blame him for joining them, though signing on for a third season when he knew he was a bit part player smacked of a man well aware his career was almost over.

 When Owen first returned to Anfield as an opposition player it was in the black and white of Newcastle, and he was subjected to chants from the home supporters, including myself, that day. I’m not of the opinion that anything directed at Owen that day was over the top or abusive, it was banter, albeit sung with a bit of anger. ‘You should’ve signed for a big club’ was a reference to him signing for the Geordies rather than holding out for a move back to Liverpool, nothing particularly bad and more offensive to Newcastle than to the player, surely. ‘Where were you in Istanbul?’ was, for me, an excuse to sing about winning the European cup in Turkey months before. When Rafa Benitez took over in the summer of 2004 Owen had a year left on his contract and had a choice, sign up again and give the new manager a chance, or move on. He chose to move on, saying it was in search of trophies, and twelve months later the biggest trophy of them all was back at Anfield and Owen was surplus to requirements at Real Madrid. With hindsight he made the wrong choice, but it was his decision and he’s had to live with it. Singing to him about Istanbul wasn’t nasty, it was a reminder that we are Liverpool and this is what he chose to leave behind.

 In many ways it’s sad that a player who brought success to Liverpool is now more remembered for his failures at other clubs than for all the good performances he put in during his time with us. He brought positive exposure to Liverpool, he won the European Footballer Of The Year award, and he helped us win trophies. In 2001 we won all three knockout competitions we entered, Owen’s two late goals won us the FA Cup against Arsenal, and the UEFA Cup win wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t scored two away in Rome on the run to the final. A couple of years later he was a scorer in the League Cup final as we defeated Man Utd in the final in Cardiff. He scored several goals in victories against Everton and Man Utd, not to mention against pretty much everyone he faced in a Liverpool shirt.

 If somebody had said ten years ago that Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher would retire at the same time, one as a half forgotten bit part player who had moved around clubs and one as a Liverpool legend I’m not sure too many people would have guessed which man would be which. Owen certainly won’t receive the plaudits on his retirement that Carra will (and already has done) but he definitely made a big contribution to Liverpool Football Club during his time there. If Owen had stayed at Real Madrid for the remainder of his career I’m sure he would have been thought of more fondly by the Liverpool supporters, but a series of poor career choices have made his decision to leave us look like it was the wrong one. Michael Owen, a player with huge ability, great potential and a good reminder that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

So Is Brendan Rodgers Doing Well At Liverpool? What Is Your Opinion?

 With the international break coming up and not a whole lot of LFC action happening in the next couple of weeks I thought I'd have a look at how our newest manager is doing, what he's brought to the club and where he's falling short.

 The title of this post could be taken as a criticism of Brendan Rodgers, but it isn't, I'm simply asking what is he doing, what's working (plenty) and what isn't (there's a bit there as well)? 

 Our last 'long term' manager with any level of success was Rafa Benitez, but there have been two appointments in between him and Rodgers so it's not really right to ask if the Northern Irishman is building on the successes that Benitez had. The side Rodgers inherited had already gone through the beginnings of a couple of transitional periods and bore no real resemblance to the teams that had brought Rafa success and good football from 2005 until around 2009. Last summer wasn't an easy time to take charge of Liverpool so having the character to back himself at that point was a good start in my opinion.

 Roy Hodgson wasn't at Liverpool long enough to be properly judged. It clearly wasn't working out and relieving him of his duties was the right call, but he hadn't had the time to make the team his own so I'm not going to criticise him as heavily as some other Liverpool fans. He was six months in our one hundred and twenty year history, a nice fellow, a proper football man but not somebody who looked like he was going to change things for the better. 

 Kenny Dalglish was different. He is a Liverpool hero, he has the club running through his veins, he eats, drinks, sleeps and breathes Liverpool Football Club, he's the kind of man you'd want in charge at your club. His second spell at the helm was difficult, he had to deal with the Luis Suarez / Patrice Evra situation as well as being the first managerial appointment made by FSG, there was a lot of pressure, he had to sell Fernando Torres and he inherited a side with no confidence who hadn't really played well for eighteen months. I'm of the opinion that Kenny did quite well, not spectacularly, but well. Two cup finals in one season was a great achievement but all too often the league results were poor and his expensive signings didn't settle as quickly as expected. Given another season I think he would have improved us, but there was one thing that I could never quite get over. With Kenny in charge it never felt to me like a long term project, it always felt like he was a bit of a stop-gap, somebody who was brought in as a caretaker manager and did too well to be let go of, but was never really intended to be the long term figurehead. I liked having Kenny Dalglish as the manager of the club I love, but I never quite felt like I could see where the club would be in two or three years time, which isn't necessarily a criticism, but after the last season under Rafa, the Hicks and Gillet saga and the short-lived reign of Roy Hodgson I think the club needed long term stability.

 This is where Brendan Rodgers came in. A young, relatively inexperienced, modern, forward thinking British manager with a reputation for playing attacking football. Really, aside from the lack of experience, he had exactly the qualities a Liverpool manager should have. So how has it gone so far?

 His reign up to this point has been one of extremes and contradictions, case in point being there's only Man City in the Premier League with more clean sheets than us, yet our defence feels dodgy, vulnerable and not at all settled. We don't seem to concede single goals, it's either a clean sheet or we ship two or three. Fixtures where in the past we might have limped to a 1-0 defeat haven't seen us do this, we lost 3-0 at West Brom, 3-1 at Southampton and yet won 5-2 at Norwich and 4-0 at Wigan. It's not just Brendan Rodgers who's been in charge of an unpredictable Liverpool over the last twenty five years, but it seems the swing between his good and bad results is bigger than any of his predecessors. Many Liverpool fans expected us to brush aside Southampton yesterday while many others more than half expected us to flop simply because we've been riding so high lately.

 There's no doubt our attacking play has improved this season, at times we've been unplayable and had we been a little more clinical we could have almost reached double figures on more than one occasion. The problem seems to be that when the attack fails the defence fails too, and vice versa. Our forwards don't seem to bail our defenders out when they've had a poor game, and our defence doesn't seem to stand up and be counted when it's obvious we're really struggling to score, the home game against West Brom being a good example. We either fail spectacularly as a team or turn it on all over the pitch and look like Barcelona.

 Rodgers needs to make the defence his priority one the summer transfer window reopens. Pepe Reina has missed more games injured this season than ever before, Sebastian Coates needs game time that his performances so far just won't allow to happen, Jamie Carragher will retire, Martin Skrtel has dropped well below his standards and Daniel Agger, despite having a decent record this season, can't be relied on to be available for a full season. Glen Johnson, Martin Kelly and Andre Wisdom should have more than enough too cover the right back slot but Jose Enrique, purely as a defender, on the left is an accident waiting to happen. On paper it seems a complete overhaul is required but in reality we probably need three signings in that department, and if they don't come we could well be caught short next term. Brendan Rodgers hasn't yet signed a defender in his time at Liverpool and his work with what he inherited hasn't cut it so far, it will be interesting to see how he copes with the challenge of making us harder to beat.

 Rodgers seems to cope well with the media, generally being honest and forthright before and after games. There are so many managers who speak after a match and you feel they've been watching a different game to you but our gaffer isn't one of them, which always leaves you with hope any problems will be worked on before the next fixture. Keeping the media onside in this day and age is vital, especially with the high number of 'casual' fans who tend to believe whatever the press tells them and don't have a realistic amount of patience.

 Some of our team selections this season have been inspired, and some substitutions (especially at half time at Goodison) have been well thought out and really paid off, others (Gerrard and Allen together yesterday) have been obvious risks right from kick off and have backfired, leaving the boss wide open for criticism. It must be remembered that, like the majority of the squad, the manager is young and still learning at this level. Mistakes will happen, we just don't want to see the same ones happen again and again. If at first it doesn't work try again, if it doesn't work the second time it might not be the right option.

 I think the fans haven't yet taken the new manager to their hearts, but the number of calls of 'Rodgers out' after poor results is much lower than you'd probably expect. While some of our results have hit both ends of the extreme, the reaction to our manager seems pretty consistently to be 'give him time'. When they get right behind you there's no support like that of the Liverpool fans and if Brendan Rodgers can deliver more regularly what he has shown he is capable of in patches this season he will be backed to the hilt. We won't reach the top four this season but if the team can show enough in our remaining games to give us hope for next term the manager will start 2013/14 in front of a crowd full of belief and that can be a powerful ally.

Southampton 3 Liverpool 1, As Predictable As It Was Unpredictable

 Our good run of results came crashing to an end this afternoon at St Mary's where we were well and truly outfought, outplayed and, most importantly, outscored. When I wrote my preview of the game I had a strong feeling that we wouldn't get anything from the afternoon but I try to be optimistic when I write so I didn't want to share too much negativity before the match itself. Being a Liverpool fan over the last twenty years or so has meant seeing scorelines like this on a semi-regular basis so today's defeat has left me quite disappointed but certainly not surprised.

 Prior to today we'd won four matches in a row, if somebody had said five games ago we'd win four and lose one I'd probably have taken that so I'm refusing to get too disheartened by this loss. Some people are saying our season has been three steps forward then two steps back, which is quite a good analogy but since the turn of the year it's been more like three forward, one back. Progress feels like it's being made which is why there is anger among some Liverpool fans about our performance, we've had poor runs in the past where a scoreline like today's would have been met with more acceptance and resignation than our 3-1 loss has been.

 We went into the game as one of the league's form teams so many will have been surprised by the final score, but Southampton at home have been good against the top sides so I'm not really sure if you could call a 3-1 home win a shock or not. What probably wasn't expected was that we'd show so little in the game.

 Joe Allen has justifiably come in for a bit of criticism for his display but he was taken off at half time and the team was poor for more or less the whole ninety minutes. Picking one player as a scapegoat would hide a lot of the problems from today and isn't worth it, Allen's introduction last weekend swung the game in our favour and it's important not to get on the backs of players too early. Ironically most of the people slating Allen were calling for either Lucas or Jordan Henderson to be brought on, and these were probably the same 'fans' who have handed out more than a little stick to the very same pair of players they now want to see in the team. 

 In my opinion we were never really in the running for a top four spot despite several reports to the contrary in recent weeks. I had (and still have) a large sense of optimism about where the team is heading but I'm very aware of just how far we have to go, and days like today serve as a not so gentle reminder of how much of our journey still remains to be travelled.

 For me the worst thing about our loss is that it comes right before the international break, meaning we have to wait two weeks before we can try to get the performance out of our system. We have an anxious wait to see if our key men return from playing for their countries fit and well, and only a short time together as a group to prepare for our next fixture. I hate the intrusion of international football whenever it rears its head, but most of all after a defeat when I just want the team back out on the pitch as soon as possible to show what we're really made of.

 The other big negative today was Luis Suarez' booking, taking him to a total of nine yellow cards for the season. It's completely inevitable now he will reach ten and miss two games through suspension, I just sorely hope he doesn't miss the games against either Everton or Chelsea. One thing about Brendan Rodgers that impresses me is his willingness to chastise players even if they are the team's star man, he treats everybody equally and if Suarez lets him down and causes him a problem by missing two more games he'll let him know it's not acceptable.

 Right, I think I've got all of that out of my system now, remember folks, one defeat isn't the end of the world, our disappointment is a sign we've made strides forward lately. And the most important thing about a defeat is the reaction to it in the next game. We're too far from the top or the bottom of the table for any one result to put us into crisis so let's take the defeat on the chin, congratulate Southampton as worthy winners on the day and move on.

A Short Look Ahead To Southampton v Liverpool

 This weekend we have one of the rarest fixtures on our schedule, a 3pm kick off on a Saturday! Away at Southampton isn’t a fixture I associate with us winning, the only two visits that spring to mind instantly are back in 2000 when we were 3-0 up and drew, and more recently John Arne Riise heading over our ‘keeper into his own net. I’m sure we have won there more often than not but they’ve obviously not been memorable victories for me.

 We’re on a very good run of form, we’ve won our last four games in a row and played well in all of them. I try to be optimistic and upbeat on here and with the run we’re on it isn’t hard, but I’m always a little suspicious when things are going well. I think we’ve been very promising this season but I’m not sure we’ve shown enough to suggest we’re capable of going on a long unbeaten run. I hope I’m wrong but I have a gut feeling we’ll struggle at Southampton. It’s a big game for them and they will be right up for it, we will need to match their attitude and desire in order to win.

 We need to use our 4-0 win at Wigan recently as a motivator, go to a ground like that against a team that likes to play football, get your attitude spot on, attack from the kick off and the rewards will come. We can use the results at West Brom and Stoke as good examples of what can happen if we don’t get everything right.

 Fingers crossed Pepe Reina will be fit for the game, Brad Jones has done well (Oldham apart) deputising this season but Reina is our undisputed first choice. I wouldn’t expect any outfield changes from our game against Spurs last weekend, Brendan Rodgers has shown a reluctance to change something that works so far in his tenure and I see no reason for him to alter the side for this game.

 By the time we kick off Everton will have played against Man City so knowing the result of that game should give us great motivation to either keep pace with our neighbours or pull clear of them. Hopefully the recent run of results has given us a hunger for more and has helped the team focus on getting victories, not just controlling possession and making hundreds of passes during a game. To anyone else looking in a win at Southampton tomorrow might look like a routine result for Liverpool, for me it will be genuinely impressive and a real sign of progress made under the current management.

This Is MY Liverpool

 Liverpool Football Club is many different things to many people, to some it’s a hobby, to others it’s a religion, to some a passing interest, to others something to lose hours of sleep over every night. There are Liverpool supporters happy to find out the final score on teletext hours after the game has finished, others in far flung countries will get out of bed at 2am to watch a 0-0 draw with Wigan before a full day at work. We all love the club and nobody can honestly say it means more or less to them than to anyone else, we just follow the Reds in different ways.

 This is MY Liverpool.

 I was taken to my first Liverpool game sometime in the mid eighties, we beat Arsenal 2-1, we were sat in the Paddock and my ticket cost £1.50. I was hooked, I loved the whole thing, the stadium, the noise, the full experience. I was used to watching football on TV and one of the things that I still remember clearly from that first taste of live football was the realisation that when you’re in the stadium you don’t get action replays. A goal was scored and I didn’t get to see it again from several angles, I think this taught me very early on to pay full attention to what was going on, if you miss something that’s it, it’s missed forever. Even to this day I’ll never have more than a couple of beers before going to a game, must be able to take everything in.

 Trips to Anfield became a part of my life, though not particularly regularly, they were certainly a treat and not the norm. I do remember a stadium tour, before they became as slick as they are now, it was a case of ‘there’s the pitch, there’s the dressing room, there’s the This Is Anfield sign, there’s the Kop’. But on that tour we did see Ronnie Whelan who was in for treatment at the time. As we were leaving and heading to the car he was also walking out to the car park, me being such a shy kid I ran and hid rather than stopping to talk to him, but he saw me next to the car and said ‘hi’ as he strode past. Thanks for that Ronnie, I missed out on the chance to tell you I had number 5 on the back of my shirt that day and I’ve always regretted it.

 I remember where I was on the day of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 but was too young to really understand what had happened. It was only much later when I’ve heard the stories of the survivors and the families affected that it’s really hit home what happened to a large number of supporters of the club I love. I don’t know anybody who was personally affected by the events of that afternoon and yet it’s still a subject I find it hard to talk about, I can only imagine what it must be like for people who lost friends and relatives. Like every other Liverpool fan I fully support the fight for justice and hope that it arrives one day soon, and with it comes a sense of closure for the families.

 There were two things that changed my Liverpool supporting life forever. Firstly I got my driving licence, and secondly I discovered that if I dropped a cheque into an envelope (along with a stamped, SAE) and posted it to the LFC ticket office there would be match tickets dropping through my letterbox within a week or so. This was revolutionary. I could go to watch MY team under MY own initiative, heady days indeed.

 After a few seasons of being a semi-regular at Anfield I found myself even more committed to the cause, and in the 2000/2001 season I only missed one home league game (for which I still hold a grudge against the ticket office), a 2-0 win over Man Utd and one home FA Cup game, a win over Man City. That season we won the UEFA Cup, League Cup and FA Cup, in addition to qualifying for the Champions League for the first time. On May 12^th 2001 I was fortunate enough to be in Cardiff for my first ever Cup Final, the 2-1 win over Arsenal thanks to Michael Owen remains just about my favourite ever afternoon in a football stadium.

 In 2002 I embarked on a ninety day trip around America and very quickly invented a new game, which I called ‘how many people’s holiday photos can I get my Liverpool shirt in?’. The rules are fairly self explanatory and it’s quite a lot of fun. There are bus loads of Japanese tourists with photographs of the steps in Philadelphia made famous by the scene in Rocky where he runs to the top (not recommended, there’s A LOT of them) with me standing at the summit, arms aloft, proudly showing my gold ‘HENCHOZ’ ‘2’ shirt. I’m proud of that.

 The next big season for me as a Liverpool fan was Rafa’s first with us. I attended every game at home in the Champions League, the games against Juventus and especially Chelsea will never, ever be forgotten. The noise, the passion, the thrill of the victories, everything. This was MY Liverpool, these were MY nights, the same way generations before me had THEIR nights, THEIR victories when they watched THEIR Liverpool. As much as I wanted to I just couldn’t afford the prices being charged for a trip to Istanbul so I had to settle for watching the game against AC Milan in Concert Square in Liverpool. It was the most amazing match in history and a feeling I didn’t think I’d ever have, but for me the semi final against Chelsea will always edge it out, simply because I WAS THERE.

 Over recent seasons as ticket prices have risen the frequency of my Anfield visits has dropped. I know watching on TV isn’t the same as being in the stadium but when you can get an entire month’s football on the box for the same price as one match ticket it’s hard to justify the spend. I still get to as many cup games as possible, I followed our FA Cup run last term all the way to the semi final – the ticket office again denying me when it came to the biggest game of the season. Missing out on going to the final hurt, but being at Wembley for the semi final win over Everton made up for it, especially being second row right behind the goal where Andy Carroll broke our neighbours hearts. I normally prefer to be high up in the stands where you get a better view of the pattern of play, but I wouldn’t swap where I was that sunny afternoon for anywhere else.

 I’m quite close to the top of the season ticket waiting list and once we either move or increase the Anfield capacity I’m pretty sure I’ll be offered a season ticket. I’m highly doubtful that I’ll be able to fork out the required cash when this happens though, another case of a loyal supporter priced out of the game. And we’re still one of the most reasonably priced clubs in the league, I have sympathy for people who follow other teams and have to pay out even more. I think I’ll have to make do with being a ‘couple of league games a season and as many cup ties as I can manage’ fan. That and catching us every time we’re on TV.

 I have a stash of probably almost fifty Liverpool shirts in a vacuum bag in my loft waiting for the day my son will be old enough to wear them. That day is probably a good fifteen or sixteen years away yet but I’m looking forward to it, I can’t wait to hand over to him what has been a big part of my life.

 For the moment MY Liverpool will have to consist of mostly afternoons and evening watching my beloved Reds on the TV, writing about them regularly on here and defending them on a daily basis against their bitter enemies I seem to have ended up in an office with. Who knows what will happen on the rest of my journey supporting Liverpool? I’m hoping that it will be trophy filled.

 This is MY Liverpool. Please feel free to share your Liverpool story with me.

Rumours Of A Xabi Alonso Return To Liverpool - Would It Be A Good Transfer?

 There have been a lot of rumours in the press and plenty of hopeful conversations between Liverpool fans about the potential return to the club of Xabi Alonso from Real Madrid. How much truth there is in these stories is debatable, but never the less it’s an interesting thought and worth having a look at in a bit more depth.

 Would Xabi Alonso fit into how we currently play? Without a doubt yes, the three central midfielder set-up is pretty much made for a player like Alonso, and the movement and pace of Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling is ideal for a player with his ability to slide a pass through. Having two players alongside him would also help Alonso with his defensive duties, he’s a good holding midfielder but in that aspect of his game he’s never been as good as Didi Hamman or Javier Mascherano. Alonso would be as perfect a fit as you can get into our current XI.

 What effect would Alonso have on our younger players? I’m actually not too sure about this one. In Joe Allen, Jordan Henderson and Jonjo Shelvey we have three young players with plenty of potential who would learn a lot from the more experienced Spaniard. But would it make it harder for them finding another player blocking their path to regular first team football? What would be more beneficial to their long term development, learning from a master or playing more regular football? I think that’s a question people far more qualified than me would have to answer. Personally I think with Steven Gerrard’s advancing years another experienced head would be more than welcome in such a key area of the pitch.

 Would bringing Alonso back help our dressing room? From all I can gather Xabi was a popular member of our squad during his time here and I have no doubts having him around would be good for team spirit. He also has a winning mentality and his unwillingness to accept defeat could rub off on others.

 Would the fans welcome him back? Well, yes, of course we would, he was a fantastic player for us for the majority of his stay on Merseyside. He scored some great goals and starred in some big wins for us, we’d love to have him back.

 How would he fit into our current transfer policy and wage structure? To put it bluntly, he wouldn’t. FSG’s actions have made it quite clear that signing younger players who will retain their value is regarded as more of a priority than recruiting senior players who command higher salaries and will see their resale value drop as they get closer to the end of their careers. Real Madrid are the richest club in the world and I think it’s safe to assume when they spend £30million on a player they give him a salary to match. We’re not in the Champions League and we’re not ready yet to be handing out Champions League wages, if he wanted to return I expect he would have to take a significant wage cut, which brings me to the next question.

 Does the player want to return? The stories are that he’s not happy at Real Madrid, and his contract has a little over a year left, leaving the player in a good position to negotiate his own future. As I’ve mentioned, he would have to take a cut in pay to return to Anfield but he’s always struck me as the kind who plays for the love of the game and isn’t motivated solely by money. I think he’d happily come back but if another club offered him silly money I’m sure he’d have to give that serious consideration. Also if a top club from Italy or Germany offered him the chance to try a league he hasn’t experienced yet I think he could be tempted.

 So, overall would it be a good move re-signing the popular playmaker? From a purely footballing point of view he would be a great signing, but with the financial fair play rules coming ever closer it’s just as important that the money men feel comfortable with the deal. I wouldn’t really expect the transfer to happen unless the fee is pretty low and the player is happy to be earning less than he was when he was last at the club, but I wouldn’t completely rule out the possibility of seeing Xabi Alonso in a Liverpool shirt again.

Luis Suarez Stars In Liverpool's 3-2 Win Over Spurs

 A topsy-turvy encounter at Anfield this afternoon saw Liverpool go ahead, go behind and finally come back to win against a Tottenham side on a very good run. 

 Luis Suarez expertly finished off a good passing move also involving Jose Enrique and the again impressive Philippe Coutinho, the Uruguayan's quick low shot giving Hugo Lloris no chance in the Spurs goal. Jan Vertonghen scored either side of half time, on both occasions taking advantage of poor defending by Glen Johnson before Stuart Downing and a Steven Gerrard penalty turned the game decisively in Liverpool's favour. 

 It was a decent game that had promised goals before kick off and always looked like one team or the other could strike at any moment. We shaded the first half hour before the visitors stepped up a gear and for the middle third of the match we found it hard to get a grip on possession of the ball, the final thirty minutes were fairly even though we took full advantage of a pair of defensive errors to ensure the three points remained at Anfield. 

 It was refreshing to see a referee let plenty go in the game, he had several opportunities to bring out his yellow card but chose not to, the only two bookings being handed out when he had absolutely no choice. Having said that twice we were denied what seemed pretty clear penalties for fouls on Coutinho in the first half and Johnson towards the end of the match.

 When the team was announced I was slightly concerned, Joe Allen was left out of the starting XI and Daniel Sturridge brought back in after injury. Sturridge has been excellent since he arrived but I didn't see the logic in dropping a more defensive player in favour of a striker after our performance at Wigan last weekend. Surely playing against an in-form Spurs has more requirement for a hard working, ball winning central midfielder than a trip to a relegation threatened opponent? I'll happily admit Brendan Rodgers got it right and I was wrong, we usually play a variation on a 4-3-3 formation but we were a slightly more orthodox 4-4-2 today. Spurs attack with plenty of pace in wide areas and reverting to 4-4-2 gave our full backs much more cover, something that is certainly needed against Totenham at the moment or you will struggle.

 The match was billed as a battle between Suarez and Gareth Bale, two candidates for Player Of The Year. On today's evidence it's much easier to keep Bale quiet than Suarez. Our excellent number 7 scored with a top quality finish and won the penalty that brought us our winning goal. He was a threat all afternoon and he's the one player for us who you feel will make something happen every time the ball goes near him. Bale provided the assist for the first Spurs goal and looked dangerous delivering set pieces but, other than one good run, was well kept in check by Lucas. Bale is used to playing wide where there is plenty of space, on today's showing I'd say he's still getting used to how the game has to be played from a central area.

 I wouldn't say we were far better than Spurs today, but over the whole ninety minutes we certainly equalled them and for me that's progress. We were in a real footballing battle this afternoon and we managed to come out on top, showing great mental strength to recover from going 2-1 behind and being outplayed, not to mention how cool Gerrard was stepping up to fire home a pressure penalty. A win like today should give us more confidence going into the other big games we have left this season, namely against Everton and Chelsea. A couple of positive results there and just maybe we can sneak into the top five.

 Add our scoreline to a couple of other results this weekend and everything feels really good right now....

Luis Suarez' Reputation Not Helped By Well Meaning Debates

 There’s been plenty written about why Luis Suarez should be considered a valid candidate for PFA player of the year, people saying he doesn’t stand a chance because players simply won’t vote for him and that’s not fair. But in my opinion even writing articles on this debate is offensive to our Uruguayan striker, it’s ‘Player Of The Year’ and what has he actually done this season that should be overlooked so his performances alone can be voted on?

 I think it’s pretty well expected that the six candidates for the award will be Michu, Fellaini, Bale, Mata, Van Persie and Suarez. All that springs to mind for this season with Suarez was his ridiculous dive against Stoke, which didn’t earn him a penalty so he didn’t gain from it. The ‘handball’ at Mansfield was an accidental incident blown out of proportion by the press. As far as I can recall there’s been nothing else. Bale has been repeatedly cautioned for diving, Mata is no stranger to ‘winning’ penalties, Fellaini’s headbutt and other various assaults at Stoke were worse than anything Joey Barton has ever done on a football pitch and Van Persie has put in some pretty bad studs first challenges this season that should have resulted in red cards. As far as I can see only Michu of the group has kept his nose clean. So I repeat my question, why the debate about Suarez?

 Liverpool fans, current and ex players and journalists have been quick to say Suarez should be judged on performances alone, and despite these pieces being written with the aim of supporting the striker, I don’t think they help with his reputation. He has done no more wrong this season than probably half of the players in the Premier League and these debates do nothing other than enhance the myth that he’s the lone sinner in the sea of purity which is the English football.

 I’ve defended Suarez on several occasions, just have a read back over some of my previous posts, but this time I won’t, because there’s absolutely nothing to defend him for.

 As for the Player Of The Year award itself, it’s not an easy one to call. Any of the previously mentioned six players have done enough to win it. It’s probably between Van Persie, Suarez and Bale. I think Bale has been awesome recently but I’m not sure he’s been on top form the entire season so it’s down to the other two, who will almost certainly finish the season as the league’s two top goalscorers.

 A couple of simple questions, if Van Persie had been in the Liverpool team this season would he have scored more or less than he has done? And if Suarez had been in the Man Utd side would his current total be more or less than it is? Pretty easy answers to those two which tells you how much of the players performance is down to the team, rather than the individual, meaning the clear winner should be Suarez. But his goals haven’t won us anything, Van Persie’s goals have landed his team the title. So how do you decide? You can’t really, whoever wins it will have deserved it.

Liverpool V Spurs, A Good Indicator Of Our Progress?

 Sunday sees us host Spurs at Anfield in the 4 o clock kick off on Sky and it will be a good opportunity for us to judge how much progress we’re actually making. It seemed we beat them regularly for many seasons but it feels like a while since we’ve tasted victory against them, White Hart Lane especially proving an unforgiving place for us to visit.

 Much has been made of the fact that we haven’t beaten a top side this term but not as much time has been spent focussing on how well we’ve actually played in the majority of these games. We’ve deserved more than we got away at Spurs, away at Arsenal, home to Man Utd and in both fixtures against Man City, but we haven’t had what it takes to turn these good displays into victories. The fact that we’ve played so well without winning in so many games suggest it’s not the ability and organisation of the side that needs improving, it’s the belief that our efforts will be rewarded. One win in a game like this could trigger a good run of results against the sides at the top.

 In my opinion there are many similarities between us and Tottenham, but it has to be said they’re a couple of years further down the line than us despite also having a new manager arrive last summer. I wouldn’t say they hit rock bottom a few seasons back but they were in the bottom three when Harry Redknapp took over, but a period of investing in young, mainly British talent has paid off as the likes of Lennon, Bale, Dawson, Walker, Assou-Ekotto, Sandro and Kaboul have developed together, complimented by more experienced players such as Parker and Defoe. That’s where we’re at now. We have a mainly young squad assembled for the long term and as they continue to work together we will hopefully re-establish ourselves in the top four, allowing us to push on and aim even higher.

 Spurs have been rewarded for their bottom half of the table suffering with consistently high finishes over the last three or four seasons, unluckily missing out on a second attempt at the Champions League last time around when Chelsea won the trophy and took the final spot in this year’s competition away from them. Short term pain provided long term gain. This is exactly the blueprint we’re working from with our current project and let’s hope it takes us even further than it’s taken them.

 Anyway, back to Sunday’s game. We’ve had a full week to prepare while our opponents had a game against Inter on Thursday night, in theory giving us an advantage when it comes to fitness and preparation time. It doesn’t always work like this but there’s no doubt we have the potential to make the extra rest pay off in our favour. They have an obvious dangerman in Gareth Bale but we have one or two of our own. The form striker in the Premier League at the moment is Luis Suarez, and not too far behind him, if fit, is Daniel Sturridge who has really hit the ground running at Liverpool. If these two are unleashed in tandem they’ll give the visiting defence a very difficult afternoon.

 I’d expect the scoreline to be close but the game not to be tight, both sides are more comfortable going forward than sitting back. The onus will be on us as the home team to provide the main attacking threat which doesn’t necessarily suit us, our attackers are better moving quickly into spaces on the counter, in a very similar style to Tottenham. I’d expect both teams to score and wouldn’t be surprised if it ends 2-1 or 3-2, it has all the ingredients to be one of the most entertaining matches of the season.

 There are also FA Cup matches this weekend so if we win we could climb the table and things will look far rosier than they did back in September and October. A victory against a top currently top four side on a good run of form would be a real scalp for Brendan Rodgers and his team and there’s no reason we can’t achieve it. The atmosphere will be good, the team will be prepared and hopefully the result will come.

Anybody Remember This?

A Bright Red Future For Liverpool's January Signings

 After yesterday's 4-0 thrashing of Wigan Luis Suarez took most of the headlines with his hat trick, taking him two goals clear at the top of the Premier League scoring chart, but there was another player who had a massive impact on the game too, Philippe Coutinho.

 In January Brendan Rodgers invested significantly in Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, both brought in for high fees but both are young with long futures ahead of them. So far the records of the two players are as follows, Sturridge - seven appearances, five goals, two assists, Coutinho - three appearances, one goal, two assists. In short both men are at least partly responsible for at least one goal for the team per game they play, can't ask much more than that really can we?

 It's the sign of a manager who knows the game and can read how his team plays that he brings in players who fit in immediately, we've seen over the years how hard it can be for new men, especially attackers, to fit in. I doubt either man will be able to keep up their prolific contributions at the rate they have started but they don't have to, we have other players like Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Stuart Downing and Jordan Henderson effectively scoring and making goals for us too. 

 The fact that our two new signings have settled in so quickly is good for two reasons. Firstly it shows they are decent players who can cut it in the Premier League, and secondly it shows our manager can identify players who will fit into the style he wants to play. It always makes it easier for a manager to persuade an owner to part with cash for new signings if he can point to previous successful acquisitions and prove he knows what he's on about when it comes to spending money. At the time we signed both players I felt we'd slightly overpaid in both cases but I think if we were to sell on either man right now we'd get back more than we spent.

 It's only the beginning of March and it's definitely too early to get carried away with the impact of our January arrivals but the signs are all promising and their performances so far will gain the manager a good deal of credit with the Liverpool supporters.

 The match itself against Wigan was slightly odd, take a look at these two sets of statistics :

Possession LFC 57% Opposition 43%

Attempts LFC 23 Opposition 4

On Target LFC 14 Opposition 3

Compared to : 

Possession LFC 50% Opposition 50%

Attempts LFC 8 Opposition 15

On Target LFC 7 Opposition 11

One of these games we won 4-0 (yesterday) and the other we lost 2-0 (West Brom at home last month) but the match we won is the one that statistically you would have thought we would have lost, and vice versa. This clearly highlights a couple of key factors that you could see while watching the game. 

 Firstly Pepe Reina played well. He made plenty of saves, three or four of them top drawer and that will always enhance your chances of winning. And secondly we were clinical in front of goal. Downing scored only his second league goal for us, he's a player with a proven record of missing a whole lot more than he scores for Liverpool. Suarez took his first and third goals brilliantly, sometimes it takes him four or five good chances to get a goal, other times he's surgical in his precision and when he is we don't tend to lose the game. I also really enjoyed the fact we scored a deflected goal, I don't know if it's accurate or not but it feels like we concede a lot more 'lucky' goals than we score, I'm sure most fans feel like that about their teams though.

 I wasn't overly looking forward to our trip to Wigan but our clinical finishing and intelligent attacking play was a joy to watch and it gives us great confidence going into next weekend's massive fixture at home to Spurs. It will be a real test of our improvement but twelve goals in our last three outings means it will also be a big test for Spurs as well.

 YNWA

A Short Look At Wigan V Liverpool

 Liverpool travel to Wigan for the late kick off on Saturday evening looking to carry on where we left off after our last couple of performances. We’ve netted eight times in our last two matches so we’re going into the game with form and confidence. Wigan have also been pretty free-scoring lately and it has the potential to be an open, exciting encounter.

 We haven’t really gone to Wigan and put in a real performance since they were promoted to the Premier League so we’re certainly due a good game there and having had a week and a half to rest and prepare for the match we should be more than ready and familiar with our gameplan.

 We’re in a tight little bunch just below the top five along with Swansea, West Brom and Everton so dropping points could have a big impact on our league position, the same way winning could make the table look a lot better for us.

 It would be difficult to make too many changes to the side that played against Zenit but, if fully fit, Daniel Sturridge should come back in, taking the place of either Lucas or, more probably Joe Allen allowing Jordan Henderson to move back into a more central midfield role and probably putting Luis Suarez wider where he can operate in less congested areas. I wouldn’t expect Philippe Coutinho to start this weekend but you never know, he could well feature if Sturridge isn’t quite fit for the games.

 Wigan have a quick attack and Kone is an experienced forward with pace and intelligence, and Franco Di Santo is the type of forward who plays well but doesn’t score often, exactly the kind we usually concede to… Manager Roberto Martinez held ultimately unsuccessful talks with the Liverpool owners in the summer about becoming our next boss so he may feel he has a point to prove against us.

 It’s one of those fixtures that we should win but you don’t necessarily expect us to, we’ve had too many slip ups at grounds like this over the last couple of decades to take anything for granted. It’s a test of our attitude and mentality as much as our ability, get our mindset right and we will take the three points, but if we’re slightly off we’ll more than likely get nothing.