The 'Friendly' Derby........

 Everton's win at Sunderland last night sets up a third Merseyside Derby of the season, this time at Wembley in the FA Cup semi final. It's the first time the teams have met there since the FA Cup final of 1989, just a month after the Hillsborough tragedy and this time they will meet a day before the anniversary of that fateful day. Of all the opponents we could face so close to such an anniversary Everton, our neighbours, are probably the most appropriate.

 The matches between the two clubs have often been dubbed 'the friendly derby' but in the last couple of decades this hasn't really been the case and where the two sets of fans once stood side by side there is now a bitter divide. It's been debated in depth why this has happened, both sides blaming the other, and I'm not going to add too much to it here, there's very little that hasn't already been said. Suffice to say I'm sure it's Everton's fault.... When the two sides meet in the league the stat regularly trotted out is that there have been significantly more red cards in this fixture than any other in premier league history, a good example of how the game isn't as 'friendly' as it was.

 There were alot of Red fans wanting Everton to come through against Sunderland and relish the opportunity to beat them in such a showpiece event, just as there were many hoping Sunderland knocked them out, of all the teams we could lose to at Wembley Everton would be bottom of our wanted list. Everton deserved their win last night and the stage is set for a cracker in London. Incidentally both clubs have been allocated approximately 32,000 tickets for the game, meaning the game could easily fit into the capacity of Old Trafford, saving thousands of pounds of petrol money, thousands of travel hours and not to mention the environmental effects of 64,000 plus people travelling 200 miles rather than 40. But as long as the FA gets it's pockets lined eh?

 We've had two fairly straightforward victories against the blues in the premier league this season and for some reason this worries me, it's rare to play against any side three times without them causing you any problems. I'm sure the league games will have no bearing on the semi final and both teams will be fully focused and concentrated on progressing. It's a strange game as winning a derby is not the victory itself, it's just a step towards winning the competition and victory for either side will mean little if they can't turn over the winners of the other semi between Spurs and Chelsea. Both sets of supporters will be confident going into the match, Liverpool fans will point to the two league wins as a good indicator of superiority and Everton fans will take heart from our stuttering form of late as well as an upturn in their results.

 It's not an easy game to call the outcome of but it's an exciting fixture, certainly one that sparks interest form outside of the two clubs and keeps both clubs seasons alive given they have nothing really left to play for in the league. It's not just about winning a trophy, it's about stopping your rivals winning a trophy aswell. For Liverpool it's a great opportunity to come out of a disappointing league season with a second trophy. People remember Arsenal winning both domestic cups in the same season in the 90's but nobody remembers where the Gunners finished in the league that season (10th), trophies are more memorable than a mediocre league performance and let's hope we can bring home another one.

Where Next?

 Another game, another defeat. Playing at home against the team at the bottom of the league is not a fixture that should pose Liverpool any real problems but right now our league form is so poor I'm not sure we'd be favourites against a pub team. I'm a Liverpool supporter and it's not in my nature to be negative about my club, I look for the positives in everything Liverpool related and I realise the value of getting behind my team rather than getting on their backs. Our recent run of results just simply isn't good enough and actually had me checking the league table to make sure we'd already reached 40 points (we've got 42, phew.....). Away at Newcastle next weekend was always going to be tough but it's now impossible to predict us winning that game and almost as difficult to see where the inspiration for a victory might come from.

 One win in seven league games is too far below the standards acceptable at any top division club, never mind one as successful and trophy laden as ourselves, there is something wrong with the team at the moment and it needs to be addressed quickly.

 There will be many calls for the manager to step down and I'm not going to dismiss that as a possibility but I think the time for a change that drastic is not right now. We cannot qualify for the Champions League this season and we already have a Europa League place, we won't get relegated so what happens in the remainder of the league season is irrelevant. I don't mean it's unimportant, I just mean we will finish with the same reward for the season whether we win or lose all nine of our remaining fixtures. Kenny should be given the rest of the season and then a decision needs to be made. This was always going to be a transitional season with some difficult moments and we cannot underestimate the importance of having the right man in charge and in many ways there is only one person exactly right for that role, and that is the man we have in place now. After the last season under Benitez and the six months under Roy Hodgson the team was in poor shape and needed rebuilding, it wasn't going to happen overnight and whoever took on that job would need time, and who is the only man our fans would allow such time? Kenny Dalglish.

 Look at the players we have. Pepe Reina, one of the best keepers in the world, Enrique, Skrtel, Agger, Kelly, that's a good back four and all of them have plenty of time ahead of them. Downing, Adam, Lucas, Henderson, all good players. Downing has quality and is beginning to show it in patches and he will improve for us and deliver. Adam is capable of delivering top set pieces and when he's on his game his passing is excellent. Lucas took a long time to settle at Liverpool but until his injury had been out best player for eighteen months. Henderson has ability but is still young and time on the pitch is the best way for him to bring on his game, he's played some good passes for us and has good energy, he will be a good player and people need to forget the price tag and remember he's still a young player learning the game. Suarez and Carroll up front, the classic little man / big man combination that has served us well over time. Both are still settling in at Liverpool, ok it would have been nice if it had happened faster but it hasn't. They are both players who when they are in form defenders don't like to face but the form hasn't arrived consistently for them yet.

 That is a side of promising players, not one of them even coming close to the latter years of their careers. Lucas improved for two reasons, his attitude and the fact he played regularly in the team. If he had been dropped a couple of years ago we wouldn't have the player we have now. It's normal for a club to have a player like this in the side and the other ten players help them bed in. We have half a team bedding in so it will always take longer. Look at Man Utd, they've spent big money over the last few years on Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves, Carrick, Young, Valencia and their best two midfielders, the two key players who make the team function, are both in their late thirties and won't be replaced overnight, it will take time for their replacements to settle and for the team to get used to them not being there. Chelsea have spent massive amounts of money trying to overhaul their squad but when it comes down to it and they really need a result who pulls them out of it? Drogba, Lampard and Terry. Three players at the end of their careers who they want to replace but can't if they want instant success.

 We had to sell Torres, a world class player and an idol to our fans. Which managers could have sold him and still kept the fans on side? Only one, Kenny Dalglish. Which managers could be in charge of our current team, bringing in so many new young players needing time to adapt, taking the bad results that will come along the way and still hear the fans singing his name at every match? Only one, Kenny Dalglish.

 I'm not saying Kenny should definitely be in charge next season, that should be decided in the summer, but what I am saying is that looking at the bigger picture of what he has done this season gives a different impression to that created by our last six league games.

 Our form MUST improve before the end of the season but it's important to remember in a transitional season results are not the only thing that matters.

Escaping The Rut

 We play Wigan at home tomorrow on the back of yet another defeat. Our cup runs at the moment are taking some of the attention away from our league results and papering over some pretty wide cracks but there’s no excuses for some of our defeats lately. We’ve taken four points from our last six league games, this form over a season doesn’t make a team relegation candidates, it makes them relegation certainties. A draw at home against a Spurs side who, despite so much media praise for their style of play this season, unashamedly played for a 0-0 at Anfield and got it isn’t a great result but it’s far from a disgrace. Losing 2-1 at Old Trafford is again not a result we’d want but it’s hardly a shocker. Arsenal winning 2-1 when they visited us, whilst not what we wanted, isn’t the worst scoreline we’ve ever had. Losing away at Sunderland and QPR shouldn’t really happen but these things do tend to come up over the course of a season. It’s the sequence of results that is scary. We have a squad good enough to have won at least two or three of these matches and there is a danger the players have already got used to losing, and that’s the worst habit in football to pick up and one of the hardest to break.

 What has gone wrong with our league results this season? We have several new signings in the side this term and it was always going to take time for them to gel but surely we still shouldn’t be five points behind Newcastle who have themselves got a fairly new team. I put it down to not replacing Fernando Torres. I know he has been worse than poor at Chelsea but he still scored goals for us, even when he seemed like he’d had enough and was ready to leave. Suarez and Carroll have both had their moments (one more than the other) but neither have stuck the ball in the back of the net regularly. In the past fifteen years we’ve only had a couple of seasons without either Fowler, Owen or Torres scoring regularly for us and we’ve probably taken for granted that we’re Liverpool and we’ll have a 25 goal a season striker. We haven’t got one now and it’s crippling us. Arsenal have scored 23 more goals than us (so far) in the league this season but close analysis of the table shows something more surprising. Believe it or not it would have only actually taken six more goals for us this season, scored at the right times, for us to be sitting in third place right now. Given the amount of times we’ve hit the woodwork and missed penalties this season it’s not impossible we could have achieved that. I’m not saying that our performances have merited us being that high in the table but I can’t help thinking that if we’d broken the bank for Darren Bent instead of Andy Carroll things may be much rosier in our garden right about now.

 Our season started with a missed penalty and a draw at home in a game we should have won and since then has remained pretty consistent. This story has been repeated over and over and we’re stuck in a bit of a rut. If we’re 0-0 with Wigan on Saturday with ten minutes left there’s nothing happened so far this season to give the players or fans belief that we will still win the game. I think we need a dodgy late win more than we need a 4 or 5 nil victory, we’ve shown already we can have more possession, more corners, more goal attempts and more shots on target than our opposition, we just haven’t shown that keeping going until the end will win us the match. Twice recently (Cardiff and QPR) we’ve got ourselves into decent winning positions close to the end of the game but let our opponents back in and turned what looked like victory into something else, but we haven’t been on the other end of that kind of match, we’ve not snatched anything from the jaws of defeat and walked off the pitch with that euphoric feeling that can have such an impact on how you start the next match.

 A home game on a sunny Saturday against the team at the bottom of the league is surely the best possible fixture to kickstart our run in. We’ve put in some decent performances (Arsenal and QPR) lately and lost, this time around the performance doesn’t matter but the scoreline at the end of the game is vital.

Exes And Successes

 A few days on from conceding a Peter Crouch header we face another former Liverpool striker in Djibril Cisse at QPR. I’ve always liked Cisse, he’s a character and he’s unpredictable and very capable of producing something special. He was too inconsistent to truly make it at Liverpool and moving him on was probably the right decision but nonetheless he’s still a player I have a lot of time for. Two leg breaks and playing for a manager who didn’t sign him obviously didn’t help his Liverpool career, and the £15 million price tag created expectations he couldn’t really live up to.

 Facing Crouch and Cisse has got me thinking about other past Liverpool players who didn’t quite reach the levels we thought they should when they arrived. The five that come to mind for me are Jari Litmanen, Fernando Morientes, Harry Kewell, Joe Cole and Robbie Keane. The signings of every one of these created real excitement amongst Liverpool fans and they were all players we couldn’t see failing, they had the quality, experience and track record required to succeed at Anfield and would surely become key to the team.

 Litmanen did well in patches, he showed calmness and quality when needed and made a decent contribution to the side but then we had two games in a row at Anfield against Kiev and Spurs both finishing 1-0 with Jari scoring the only goal and he didn’t start for us again. It’s never really been clear what happened between him and Gerard Houllier but his Liverpool adventure ended quietly rather than with the fireworks he could potentially have delivered for us.

 Morientes arrived from Real Madrid with a fantastic reputation and a style of play that was surely suited to the English game but his goal return was poor. I think the hard work required in the Premier League maybe took him by surprise and he was a little too old to adapt. He is a good example of reputation counting for nothing when you move to a new league and culture, players need to prove themselves over again and need a fire burning inside them or things won’t go as well as they could.

 Harry Kewell arrived as the final piece in the jigsaw (how many of them have we had?) and was immediately played in a different position to where he made his reputation at Leeds. Speed, skill and Premier League experience were his assets when he arrived. Laziness, greed and a tendency to get injured were the attributes he took with him when he left on a free. I think with Kewell he thought signing for Liverpool was a sign that he’d made it, rather than seeing it as a platform to improve his game and his profile. Joining Liverpool is an aim but it’s not the final result – winning trophies with Liverpool should be a player’s true end goal.

 Joe Cole was a talented English footballer who had played as big a part as anybody in Chelsea’s successes in the Abramovich era and his arrival at Anfield was a big deal, we had beaten several clubs to his signature. It was a signing that had everybody talking and was a real note of optimism in what was a dark time for the club, Rafa had just left but the owners hadn’t and the fans needed something to cheer them up. Joe Cole should have been that something but he just never performed for us. Roy Hodgson’s tactics didn’t really play to the talents of a creative midfielder but even so Cole just didn’t seem the same player for us and is still technically out player but has been sent out on loan to Lille where he seems to be doing well.

 Robbie Keane lasted six months at Anfield before being sold back to Spurs where he’d come from. A proven top division goalscorer with plenty of ability and experience who should have fit in perfectly at our club, a Liverpool fan all his life who said all the right things when he arrived and a player many supporters had wanted us to sign for years. Rafa had told the owners he wanted Keane but only if we signed Gareth Barry aswell, he had a tactical plan and a formation in his mind, The owners failed in their attempts to persuade Villa to part with Barry but brought in Keane anyway. He didn’t really fit into the team, Torres was on fire up front and Gerrard occupied the space behind the Spaniard not leaving anywhere for Keane to play. He went back to Tottenham as a flop but most Liverpool fans still have plenty of time for the likeable Irishman.

 Imagine a side with Joe Cole on the right of midfield, Harry Kewell on the left, Fernando Moreintes up front with Robbie Keane and Jari Litmanen playing behind him. Add in an energetic tough tackler like Mascherano and you’ve got a front six that should grace any team in Europe.

 It all goes to show that even the best players and the most well thought out transfers can fail. We have players at the club now who we have brought in for a lot of money, I don’t need to name who they are, that still haven’t got our supporters on the edges of their seats. If they never make the grade at Liverpool they won’t be the first and probably won’t be the last but it doesn’t mean they’re not decent players and they won’t have successful top level careers.

It's A Date

 Just want to say well done to the FA (for once) for getting something right. It’s been confirmed we will play our FA Cup semi final on Saturday 14^th April while the other game will take place on Sunday 15^th. Should Chelsea get past Benfica in their Champions League quarter final tie they will have the first leg of the semi final to play at home on Tuesday 17^th April so I’m sure they’re not happy to potentially be playing two massive matches with very little break in between but that’s what they’ve been given. I’m certain if it had not been us in the opposite semi final the FA would have given Chelsea the Saturday match but when you weigh it up eleven very well paid professional athletes playing two matches in three days with very little travelling involved versus the memory of ninety-six football supporters who lost their lives attending an FA Cup semi final it’s quite clear where the priorities should lie.

 The FA have made not just the correct decision but the only decision in the circumstances and we shouldn’t have to be grateful for this, it should be taken for granted, but with some of their recent nonsensical decisions I wasn’t sure what they would have chosen. Glad to see common sense and respect have won out and for today I am siding with the FA. Let’s see what tomorrow brings….

Downing On The Up

 Scoring the winning goal on Sunday and taking us into the semi final of the FA Cup has earned Stuart Downing the headlines and he deserves them. His performances over the last month have been more on the level we were looking for when he signed than his earlier displays in a red shirt. Although he is clearly a left footed player he also seems comfortable playing on the right aswell, unlike, for example, Harry Kewell who looked out of his comfort zone when he was played on the right of midfield by Gerard Houllier when he arrived from Leeds.

 Kenny Dalglish should take credit for the way our goals came about against Stoke, he chose to play the right footed Maxi on the left and it was coming in from that position he played the one-two with Suarez that created our first goal. And the decision to play Downing on the right directly led to our second goal with the winger coming infield and firing past Sorensen from an angle only achievable by cutting inside in this way. With a right and a left footed winger in the side it would have been easy to put them in their respective natural positions but the choice to swap their sides won us the game. The downside of using the wingers this way was that neither really got to the byline and whipped crosses into the box meaning our six foot five £35 million striker wasn’t really used as a goal threat but we won the game so the tactical choices made by the manager are vindicated.

 Only two players in the Premier League have had more shots than Downing this season and failed to score (Wright –Phillips and Taraabt for QPR who we play on Wednesday, get money on them and Downing to all score in the game!) but failing to convert chances is not a problem limited to our £20 million signing form Aston Villa, our entire team have suffered from it, off the top of my head only Pepe and Carra haven’t missed decent opportunities this term. As long as Downing keeps improving and begins to perform consistently there will be no complaints from Liverpool supporters and he can be a key player for us, taking some of the creative responsibility and pressure off the usual suspects.

Cup Run Goes On But Footy Comes Second

 A good home performance today saw us beat a determined but limited Stoke side with a goal in each half, Suarez and Downing netting either side of a Peter Crouch header. The main story of the day, and the weekend, however was Fabrice Muamba collapsing in the Spurs v Bolton cup tie and suffering cardiac arrest. The reports seem to suggest it's pretty serious and he's not out of the woods yet. Both sets of fans at our game today and indeed fans up and down the country showed their support for the Bolton midfielder and it's times like this that makes you appreciate the 'football family' and just how special it is. Muamba is hardly a household name or a standout player but in these circumstances it's the person and not the profile that takes precedence and it will give supporters of all clubs a lift to see him pull through. Fingers crossed for him and his family and let's all hope for a speedy recovery.

 In another twist of life being far more important than football today's semi final draw has brought with it a possibility of Liverpool meeting Everton at Wembley on the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy. With any other association I'd be certain common sense would prevail and Liverpool will play on the 14th of April not the 15th but with the FA you just can never be sure.

 The team deserves alot of credit for beating Stoke today, it's our fourth meeting with them this season and the second time we've come out on top 2-1. Both sets of players were committed from the off and despite a physical approach the visitors more than played their part in some of the good football on show in the first half.
 We took the lead thanks to a fantastic 20 yard strike from Luis Suarez after a one-two with the mostly quiet Maxi Rodriguez but we were only ahead for three minutes. A corner from the left was headed wide by a Stoke attacker but the ref decided to point for another corner from which Crouch headed in. Pepe Reina was booked for complaining to the referee about being blocked off but in my opinion it wasn't a foul. I think it was Ryan Shotton who was standing in front of Reina and he was in our keeper's way but I don't think Reina made enough of an attempt to actually get past him for it to be a foul. Letting the most obvious target have a free header at goal inside the six yard box is not clever defending and is far more of an issue than whether or not Pepe was fouled. We've won all four FA Cup ties so far this season with no need for any replays but we're still waiting for our first clean sheet in the competition. It doesn't matter how many goals you concede on the way to winning a trophy but it certainly makes it easier if the opposition feel they have no chance of scoring. Stuart Downing made his most significant contribution so far to his new club early in the second half after an accidental one-two with Steven Gerrard when he powerfully finished past Sorenson in the Stoke goal. There were a few worrying moments towards the end as Stoke launched the ball into our box at every opportunity but it was never really heart in mouth time and an equaliser never came close to happening.

 Being in the semi final isn't an aim in itself but is a great step forwards and we've definitely got the most favourable draw of the potential ties that could have emerged from the FA's ball bag. A second Wembley trip of the season is something to look forward to (though does anybody seriously like having the semi finals at Wembley? Surely it should be saved for the final) and we'll all be keeping a very close eye on the Sunderland v Everton replay, probably half of our fans wanting to play the blues with the other half much keener on playing the black cats.

 Well done to all of the players today and a special mention for Suarez dedicating his goal and our victory to Fabrice Muamba. Football is not a matter of life or death, and for that we should be thankful.

Stoking The Fires

 It’s FA Cup quarter finals weekend and we’ve got a home draw, we’ve won the Derby earlier in the week and all is good. By the time we kick off against Stoke on Sunday we will know who is waiting for the winner in the semi final at Wembley, chances are it will be Chelsea, Spurs or Everton so it’ll be a mouthwatering tie and a huge incentive for both Liverpool and Stoke to progress. There is a real danger that as we’re at home and favourites some people will take it for granted we will make it through but Stoke have proved themselves over the last few seasons and we seem to find it tough against them, and we’re not the only ones. We’ve played them twice this season and so far failed to score. Stoke have also made a fantastic gesture to their supporters and paid half the price of every ticket they have been allocated for the game, allowing their fans in for £20. In this day and age that has to be applauded and the fans will have extra reason to get behind their side and help create what should be a really good atmosphere at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

 In the league encounter earlier this year Stoke based their performance on a solid defence and I see no reason for them to change that this weekend, I think we need to begin the game attacking quickly in the manner we tended to start Champions League matches under Benitez. If the opposition are reluctant to commit men forward in the opening fifteen minutes or so we can afford to push on with less risk, and an early goal disrupts the visitors game plan and quietens their supporters. A fast start is a very effective tactic if the players make it work. Our attack has improved since Stoke visited in the league, Gerrard, Suarez and Carroll should start together again, Gerrard on a high from Tuesday and both strikers feeling chances will fall their way with our best passer in the side just behind them. Adam and Kuyt were both left out for the Derby and will be fresh but I see no real reason to change the starting eleven from those who earned us such a good result against Everton.

 It will be good to see Peter Crouch back at Anfield again and I’m sure he’ll get a great reception from the Liverpool supporters. In general we’re good to our former players and, with only a few exceptions, there is never the bile directed at our ex players that you find at most other clubs.

 Our cup games have gone pretty smoothly this season (apart from Cardiff) and history teaches us things are never easy so I have a feeling for a draw on Sunday and a replay. Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong and we’ll turn in a good performance and make it to Wembley again for the semi final easily. If we win it brings real excitement to the rest of the season for us. However if we lose there is really very little else to play for and our last ten games won’t carry much significance so the motivation is there to win on several fronts.

Superman 3

 The battle of good versus evil has had many installments, the latest takes place on a floodlit battlefield as the sides fight for control of the City. Onlookers hold their breath, the result of this war will affect their lives immeasurably.

 In a small dressing room in the bowels of the stadium sit those chosen to represent the good. The defenders, Pepe Reina, Jose Enrique, Martin Kelly, Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel. The attacking forces of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. The midfielders, the heart of the battle, Stuart Downing, Jordan Henderson, Jay Spearing and Clark Kent. These men are all Heroes and have proven themselves in earlier battles, but do they have what it takes to defeat the SuperVillains and keep the City in safe hands? Or do they need somebody beyond mere Hero status to lift them to victory? Time will tell. The leader of the Heroes, King Kenny, gives last minute instructions to his troops, words of wisdom gained from decades of experience in such battles, these words could prove vital.

 Meanwhile, in a quiet corner of the dressing room, the most significant event of the night takes place : Clark Kent gets changed.

 The siren sounds and the battle commences. After thirty five minutes of combat Tim Howard falls at the feet of Martin Kelly and the ball runs loose. Howard and Phil Jagielka look up to the skies and see something over their heads. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Whatever it is they can’t stop it and the first blow in the battle is struck. Do the SuperVillains still have an evil plan up their sleeves?

 The troops take a short break form hostilities. As they walk off the battlefield Superman shows the effects of injury, could this be what the evil forces need to inspire them to a victory? Does it spell trouble for the Heroes?

 The siren sounds again and the fight restarts. Superman shows no signs of his battlescars slowing him down. After ten more minutes of intense sparring Luis Suarez evades the clutches of a hoard of villains deep inside of their own territory, leaving Superman once again staring into the eyes of Tim Howard. Faster than a speeding bullet Howard is beaten, there are some forces that simply cannot be stopped. Another key blow has been struck but is it to be a killer one?

 With the SuperVillains fading fast it seems the battle is nearing an end. Superman again surges towards enemy territory, more powerful than a locomotive and, ably assisted by his sidekick Luis Suarez, delivers the knockout blow that signals the end of the fight. The Heroes celebrate, the Villains drop to the floor knowing they have been well beaten. This has been the first time Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll and Superman have stood and fought side by side and the omens look good.

 Superman leaves the battlefield with the spoils of victory tucked under his cape.

 The scene empties and the citizens return to their homes. The good people of the City can sleep soundly in their beds knowing the rebels have been vanquished, sent back to their wooden lair, there will be no uprising tonight.

NB. This script has been a work of fantasy, though any similarities to persons either living or dead is purely intentional.

No Charge

 The Liverpool supporter arrested over the alleged racial abuse of Oldham Athletic's Tom Adeyemi in our FA Cup 3rd round clash has been released without charge. The CPS has investigated the matter and after taking into account many witness statements and making full use of technology, including sound isolation and enhancement software, decided there is insufficient evidence to bring any criminal charges.

 There is no suggestion that Tom Adeyemi has made anything up or invented a story of being abused, it was clear at the time he genuinely believed  he had been on the receiving end of something very out of order. The lack of charge seems to relate to whether he was called a 'black bastard' or a 'manc bastard' and there is not enough evidence of either to make a decision. In short common sense has prevailed. I'm not saying I particularly approve of anyone calling a complete stranger any sort of bastard but one is clearly far more offensive than the other. In light of the climate at the time and the fact that the incident happened in a noisy stadium makes it very possible Adeyemi was convinced he heard the word 'black' and if this is true he was totally correct to report it. It is refreshing to see a case where there is not enough evidence either way being left at that, there is no guessing what happened and punishing somebody accordingly, it has been made clear in the statement released by the CPS exactly what the situation is and nobody is left in any doubt.

 It was this incident at Anfield that led to some massive overreaction from people in positions of influence and it will be interesting to see how they react to today's news. There was a picture in one of the tabloids of a Liverpool crowd with photoshopped KKK hats on, this was sensationalised and out of order whether or not a guilty verdict arrived, but to come out with this before an investigation had even taken place was disgraceful. More of note than this was the reaction of Piara Powar, the chief executive of FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe), an organisation backed by UEFA, FIFA and the European Commission so when it speaks it carries alot of weight. The following are quotes directly from Powar's Twitter account after the Oldham game, before any investigation had taken place - "I'm afraid there is no question that the club's approach has stoked this affair, and there is now a highly charged atmosphere around the issue. The Suarez T-shirts surely no longer have a place at Anfield. This has done alot of damage to Liverpool FC and in many people's eyes to English football. We have a young footballer in Tom Adeyemi who was abused quite badly at Anfield. Young footballers do not get that upset without due course. The abuser has been charged and it is for the courts to decide the context of it"

 And then - "The obvious thing for LFC today must be to come out as a club -owner, manager, captain- and start to undo some of the damage, including addressing their fans. Go onto the LFC website and there is not a single expression of regret about what happened last night. Are LFC fans going to do this at every game, support the mistakes made by their own man by abusing others? 25% of PL players are black. That's alot of players to abuse". From somebody in Powar's position with his influence these comments were dangerous, inflammatory and, it has now been shown, incorrect.

 Innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt is an important part of our society and this is another recent case of somebody within football not acting how we would in the everyday world. We often cite football as being a tool with which to educate society, maybe we should also use society as a tool to educate football sometimes.

The Blues Under The Floodlights

 Tuesday night sees Liverpool V Everton under the Anfield floodlights and it should be a great spectacle. Liverpool home games are traditionally just better in the evenings, the atmosphere is kicked up a notch and the excitement and anticipation has had all day to build, not like the lunchtime kick offs that have generated some fairly flat occasions over the last few years. I think the Merseyside Derby is definitely the one that neutrals look out for, due in no small part to the fact that there have been more sendings off in this fixture than any other in Premier League history and let’s face it, who doesn’t feel a red card or two really spices up a game?

 It’s a long time since Everton won at Anfield but we have to be honest, they’re going into Tuesday’s game in better from than us, we’ve won only one of our last eight league matches while they beat Spurs on Saturday in a hard fought encounter. On current form it will be a very difficult game and we will need our strikers to be something they haven’t really been all season – clinical in front of goal. Our chance conversion rate is worse than awful and that is in no small part responsible for our low points total so far. Derbies aren’t known for generating a huge number of goalscoring chances so if we fail to put away what does fall our way it will come back to haunt us. They say in a derby match you should always bet on a draw, and given our home results this season that’s not a bad call for tomorrow.

 The game comes at a strange time with, for once, neither team really having a lot to play for. We will say we’re still chasing fourth place and Everton will say they’re after a UEFA Cup spot but neither is a particularly realistic target, we won’t catch Arsenal and Everton won’t overtake Chelsea and Newcastle. Also both teams have a realistic chance of FA Cup success this season and this fixture has been arranged for immediately before the quarter finals so avoiding injuries and suspensions (not something either side typically does in these games) will be at the back of everybody’s minds.

 The spice for this particular derby is the gap between the two teams in the league, currently only two points. An Everton win would see them climb above us which is unusual for this late in the season and will provide their supporters and players with a real incentive to give everything for a victory. The opportunity to open a five point gap between the clubs should provide our lads with all the motivation they need aswell. We have a lot of players who still have plenty to prove at Liverpool and what better time to do it than against the neighbours? Also Luis Suarez has had huge amounts of support from the Liverpool fans this season and owes a big thanks to everybody, a derby winner would be a good way to start that.

 Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher should both start, possibly Jay Spearing aswell so we should have a good Scouse presence in the team in addition to people like Pepe Reina, Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy and Martin Kelly who are well aware of what the game means. The likes of Downing, Carroll, Adam, Enrique and Henderson will probably find it to be the noisiest atmosphere they’ve experienced in a Liverpool shirt and the support they will get from the home fans means there can be no excuses. It is a game in which to stand up and be counted and the perfect opportunity to get our season back on track and ensure there is no implosion of form in our final games. YNWA.

Black Cat Crossed Our Path

 I don't like playing Sunderland away. I have already mentioned this and it will probably come up again next season aswell, it's just a fixture I'm not keen on. Yet again we lose there to a lucky and bizarre (though this time perfectly legitimate) goal, a tame long range shot hitting he post, bouncing against Reina's head back onto the post and into the path of a player who misses so many of his chances he might aswell be playing upfront for us!

 I've didn't watch the game live and certainly didn't fancy the highlights so I'm not really in a position to talk about who played well and what went wrong so instead I'll look at other aspects of the defeat. Certain matches this season like the Fulham away match and Arsenal at home last weekend have seen us defeated by late goals, this is painful but in a way understandable as when a side concedes so late there is little time for an equaliser to be found. But yesterday we conceded early enough to provoke a reaction and the fact we didn't really come close to scoring despite having well over half an hour knowing we needed a goal is disapointing and says as much about our mentality as it does about our ability.  We have seen the team go through spells over the last decade or so when we have almost needed to go a goal behind to kick start our performances but that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment. We had a season under Rafa where we were the comeback kings winning a large number of our games despite going behind, the need to score meant we had to push forward and lose any inhibitions which in turn created some fantastic results. A place in the top four is almost certainly beyond us now for the season so we need another reason to turn up and put in decent performances. For me that reason is the fact that the players wear a Liverpool Football Club shirt every week and have huge amounts of money deposited into their banks every month. Liverpool is a club that belongs at the top end of the table but finishing behind Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and even Spurs is understandable in the short term, finishing below Newcastle, Sunderland and Everton is not.

 Tuesday night's game is bigger now as a result of our current league position. It doesn't matter that it's Everton visiting Anfield, it could be anybody, but when a team is only two points behind you a win is massive as it opens up a decent sized gap, especially with the end of the season in sight. Our supporters and our manager will not settle for anything less than 110% in the derby and if certain players repeat recent efforts on the pitch when the blues come visiting their cards will be marked. Anybody who can't motivate themselves for a match such as this has no business at our club. I'll preview the derby in a little more depth on Monday but one glance at the league table tells you all you need to know about how important a win is, never mind the fact we have only won one of our last eight league games and need to find some momentum as soon as possible.

Away At Sunderland

 This weekend is our annual trip to the Stadium Of Light, a fixture which we won 2-0 last season. I'll be honest, since Middlesbrough were relegated no Liverpool fixture excites me less than Sunderland away. I'm not sure what is is about the game, the empty seats, our usually dull away kits, the home side playing for a draw, the beach balls, it could be all manner of things but it's one of those matches I just want to get out of the way, would take a scrappy 1-0 win from and move on to the next game. We've had some decent and some shocking results there since the stadium was built and it's not an easy one to predict. Sunderland are missing a couple of regulars through suspension while we should only really have Lucas and Agger out so on paper we are favourites but it never works out as easily as it should.

 The team selection will be interesting but as it is away I would expect Kenny to pick Suarez up front on his own, the defence picks itself so that just leaves midfield. If Gerrard is ready to play 90 minutes it will probably be him alongside Adam and Henderson with any two from Kuyt, Downing and Bellamy playing wide. Kuyt and Downing have both been in improved form in recent games while Bellamy is a good experienced player to have in your side going into an away match such as this so it's not an easy selection but whoever the boss chooses is capable of delivering. We have a few players, Henderson, Downing, Carroll and Enrique with plenty of North East football behind them so this may influence the managers thinking but it was proved at Wembley sentiment isn't part of Kenny's first eleven choices so Carroll may well have to settle for a place on the bench again.

 Like I've said, I don't really like this fixture so I'd be happy to come out of it with no new injuries or suspensions ahead of Tuesday's derby and a sloppy 1-0 win but it would be nice to see some good football along the way. Going into the derby we need confidence in our play so a decent performance on Saturday is an important step. It's not often we have the opportunity to play for six points in the space of four days and two victories would help our league standing no end so let's hope we're well focused and we find our finishing boots and come home with all three points.

A Good Interview

 Found a good interview with Glen Johnson in the Daily Mail of all places, some interesting points about recent Liverpool events and a good insight into a lad who gives few interviews. Read it here.

To Move On Or Stand Firm?

  Today has seen fresh stories of a possible PSG bid for Luis Suarez and with the rumours comes the question should we sell him or try our best to keep him?

 There's no doubt that PSG have the sort of money that could tempt us into a deal, they've spent vast amounts over the last year and seem to have almost limitless finances. There would be demand for Suarez not just from Paris but other places too, Juventus are also thought to want him so Liverpool could easily sit back and allow a bidding war to take place and get alot more money for him than they paid in January 2011. But should we take the money or keep the player? Suarez is a fan favourite and is one of the most gifted footballers we have seen in a red shirt in a generation. And he's still young and can only improve with time and the right coaching. Recent events may not have improved his reputation on these shores but they have certainly raised his profile worldwide, it's often been said that any publicity is good publicity though I'm not sure I'd always agree with that.

 If we received an offer in the region of £35 to £40 million for a player with a modest goal record who has, rightly or wrongly, put our club in the spotlight for the wrong reasons it would be irresponsible to dismiss the offer out of hand, it must be considered. I think if an offer comes in we need to see who else is available and make a decision, if we could exchange Suarez for a goalscorer like Cavani or Lavezzi from Lazio or even Darren Bent who has regularly scored Premiership goals it could be a good trade. Sometimes the bigger picture needs to be looked at.

 The arguments for keeping our Uruguayan forward are easy to put forward. As I've already mentioned he is very talented and still in the early stages of his career and he definitely has the potential to become a world superstar. He's the kind of player potential transfer targets want to play alongside and he makes a difference when it comes to attracting new signings. Also Liverpool, and especially Kenny Dalglish, have put their neck on the line in their support of our number 7 which has certainly in some quarters harmed reputations so to sell him after that would almost be pointless. Why put yourself through all the negative press and then sell when you could have just sold in January and put a positive spin on it in the media?

 All in all I think it's not an easy call to make, there are some supporters who would be devastated to see us sell one of our highest profile players and others who would probably prefer it if he went and took all the controversy that surrounds him along with him. In my opinion a sky high bid would require our manager to have a long think about exactly what Luis Suarez contributes to the team and see if the money could be used to make a better contribution or not.

Where From Here?

 Saturday’s defeat leaves us really struggling to qualify for next season’s Champions League, in order to finish in the top four we need Arsenal to go on a bad run (not impossible) and we need to go on a long winning run ourselves (not impossible but the frequency with which we’ve drawn games makes this look unlikely). Finishing 5^th results in Europa League qualification but we already have this from out Carling Cup win so realistically it makes no difference if we finish 5^th or 8^th and in this scenario it is easy for players to lose motivation and a team’s season kind of drags slowly to a close.

 We are three wins away from a domestic cup double, we have a home draw in the quarter final of the FA Cup and Arsenal, Man City and Man Utd are all out of the competition. With Chelsea unimpressive this season and Spurs having a few poor results lately everyone left in the cup must feel they have a chance of winning it and we are no exception. The question can be asked what would Liverpool consider a successful season? Both domestic cups and a 7^th place finish or no trophies but finishing 4^th? Not an easy decision but in my opinion there’s no point being in a competition unless you want to win it so it’s trophies every time. Long term our league placing must improve otherwise serious questions have to be asked but in a season where we have had a lot of disruptions with injuries and suspensions to key players aswell as bedding in more new signings than normal cup success has to be looked on favourably. It would be a boost for the club’s fans and finances if we reached the Champions League but on this season’s form how would we have fared? It’s anybody’s guess but after seeing how the other English sides have done it’s difficult to imagine we could have offered much more to the tournament.

 After next week’s derby we haven’t really got any big league matches left, only the visit of Chelsea late on, so Kenny has a big job on his hands keeping the players focused. The majority of our first team have reasons to impress, whether still trying to win over new supporters and team mates or trying to prove to the management they are worthy of a place at the club there is an incentive to perform well for almost everybody. There’s no doubting we have a squad packed with ability but the rest of our season should provide a good indicator of who has the mental strength required to succeed at a top level club and who needs to be moved on. It’s interesting comparing players like Henderson and Spearing, it’s obvious Henderson has more ability and has played some decent passes this season. He’s not fully found his feet yet but he has shown talent on more than one occasion. But he doesn’t seem to quite have that drive needed at Liverpool, that never give up, any ball is winnable thing that all the greats have. Spearing on the other hand has ability but not to the levels of Henderson, he can pass the ball simply but doesn’t have that creative edge. But he has grown up around Liverpool Football Club and has been a part of it for many years and has the attitude that is expected of a Liverpool player and as a result he is being given the time and the opportunities to improve and develop his game and he has been important for the first team of late. Henderson looks like being given the time to work on his game at Anfield but it’s the mental side as much as anything that he needs to get right. Andy Carroll is another in the same category. It’s easy to say we need to give these players time and it’s quite likely true that the rewards will come but for a team trying to climb it’s way up the table it’s difficult to accommodate as many of these players as we are currently having to.

 I think for the rest of the season Kenny needs to choose a fairly settled side with players playing in positions they are suited to and see where that gets us. Due to injuries at the back end of last season the first eleven more or less picked itself for a run of matches and we had a decent winning run up until out final two games and the manager found out a lot about a good number of his players. We need to play for the present while we still have something to play for but playing for the future could bring us greater rewards over the coming seasons.

Finishing Clinic

 Another home game, another bucketload of chances, yet another failure to win. We played well over the ninety minutes and on the balance of play and chances certainly didn't deserve to lose against Arsenal yesterday but we were far too wasteful in front of goal again while Robin Van Persie did what he has been doing all season and stuck his chances away. It's easy to say if we play like that every week we'll win far more than we lose but we do seem to play like that every week but the wins just haven't come along at Anfield. Maybe a defeat will help waken up a few of the players and make them realise just how costly those misses are, though it may be too late as catching Arsenal for 4th place is now going to be a very difficult task that will probably prove beyond us for this season.

 Another England friendly and another game Gerrard missed through injury, his drive and leadership would've proved vital in yesterday's match and his presence could well have inspired us to victory. Not that anybody in a Liverpool shirt particularly disgraced themselves yesterday but we just lack that mentality without Gerrard, that magical thing that turns draws into wins. Suarez and Kuyt up front played well, their movement and effort was good and at no point did the Arsenal defence have them under control. But forwards are there to score and they both missed good chances, as did Martin Kelly who mis-kicked when he had a fantastic opportunity to get his first Premier League goal. I'm not going to go into Kuyt's penalty too much, it just seems we have a mental block when it comes to spot kicks now, whoever steps up seems to expect to miss rather than score. The award of the penalty was contested but just about correct, there's no doubt whatsoever that Suarez A: was looking for it, and B: exaggerated the contact. But there was contact, shin to shin, so it was a foul. Arsenal used exaggerating injury as a tactic on several occasions throughout the game forcing us to put the ball out of play when we had momentum so if they are going to bend the rules they can't be too critical when there opponents take a similar approach.

 Two fantastic passes and two top quality, but unmarked, Van Persie finishes took the points from us in a game we shouldn't have let slip. We restricted a confident Arsenal side to very little attacking play but our players need  to be shown a DVD of the game as a perfect example of what happens if you take your chances. We should have taken three points yesterday and improved out goal difference but we have only ourselves to blame for not doing. We've done it before this season but this time it could prove too costly, we needed to make up the points on Arsenal, plain and simple. Time to re-focus and sharpen up ahead of a very tricky trip to Sunderland next weekend, take the positives from Saturday's game but really look to improve on where we fell short. And do all we can to persuade Steven Gerrard to retire from international football.

Let's Deliver

 Anfield is famous for not just the fan and the atmosphere but also for the unforgettable matches that take place on the hallowed turf. This season we’ve had great results against the two Manchester clubs in cup competitions but so far in the league we’ve not really had any standout home games or results. A high number of draws hasn’t helped, we remain undefeated but we’ve only beaten Bolton, Wolves, Newcastle and QPR, the Newcastle game wasn’t bad but was hardly a classic by our standards.

 The next couple of weeks sees us welcome both Arsenal and Everton to Anfield giving the players and the fans the chance to deliver that season defining match, the game you remember most clearly when you look back on the season. Liverpool don’t have to win the game to make it memorable for us (4-4 draw against Arsenal) but it certainly helps (4-1 against Arsenal, Crouch’s perfect hat-trick). These two fixtures both have a history of throwing up exciting memorable matches and hopefully this season will be no different.

 We have a few first team regulars still bedding in aswell and what better opportunity to become a real part of the club than such big games? A chance to become heroes for a day and buy themselves more time to win over the supporters. I wonder if Lucas’ Liverpool career would have taken a different trajectory if Phil Neville hadn’t handled his shot in the last minute of the Goodison derby a few seasons back. Kuyt scored the penalty anyway (back in the days when we actually scored them) and we won the match but surely a last minute derby winner on Lucas’ CV would have endeared him to our fans in a far shorter time than it has taken for us to appreciate him.

 Liverpool fans have turned out in their numbers home and away this season as they always do and the players owe us something to remember. Let’s begin on Saturday and then carry on against Everton a week on Tuesday.

Shooting At The Gunners

 The weekend following our Carling Cup win sees Arsenal visit Anfield in what is usually a very exciting encounter. Both teams should be full of confidence after their successes on Sunday, Arsenal winning their derby handsomely and us bringing home our first trophy in a few years. I think of the two performances last weekend it was quite clear that Arsenal were far better going forward than we were but our defence looked far more organised than theirs, this Saturday lunchtime could be a very close game and it’s not so easy to predict a winner. Indeed it’s so close that, added to our home form this season, it’s hard to see anything other than a draw at the end of the game. If last season is anything to go by don’t stop watching until the final whistle blows though…….

 In the fixture at Anfield on the opening day of last season ten man Liverpool under newly appointed Roy Hodgson looked to be heading for a 1-0 win until a last minute Pepe Reina own goal gave Arsenal a draw. The meeting at the Emirates saw the game at 0-0 well into injury time until a very late penalty for the Gunners and an even later one for us meant another 1-1 draw. We beat them quite comfortably in London early on this season but despite a few notably bad results since then they have improved drastically and our 2-0 victory back at the start of the season will have little bearing on Saturday’s match. It’s a shame that after winning a trophy last weekend the majority of the players have been away on international duty all week and couldn’t use the time to train at Melwood in the positive atmosphere the victory will have brought to the club.

 The international fixtures have given our captain yet another chance to pick up an injury with England, hopefully nothing serious but it’s still annoying. His injury record over the last eighteen months hasn’t been good and Stuart Pearce’s decision to start him in the friendly match against Holland two days after he played 120 minutes against Cardiff didn’t make sense. Maybe decisions like that are why Pearce isn’t a genuine contender for the job full time. Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson have also picked up injuries and we’ll have to wait until Saturday to see exactly who is fit. Kelly and Carragher are more than capable replacements and it is Gerrard who would undoubtedly be the biggest miss for us.

 Andy Carroll has had a full week to train for the game and should be ready and motivated to deliver a performance, especially after being overlooked for the England squad, he has a point to prove to more than just Liverpool fans and I will be disappointed if he has an ineffective match. The Arsenal centre backs are ideal for somebody of Carroll’s physical stature to play against and if Dirk Kuyt can provide the kind of service he did for Huntelaar on Wednesday our number 9 can be the matchwinner for us. Carroll hasn’t really stepped up for us in the big games since he arrived but we know from watching him at Newcastle that he is capable of scoring regularly and it’s time he delivered. Listening to the Arsenal fan’s treatment of Theo Walcott recently Carroll should realise the Liverpool fans have been very supportive of him. It’s true he has been complained about in conversation but within the stadiums on match days he has had support and he owes us decent performances for the rest of the season.

 It’s never an easy game against Arsenal and I’m sure they would say it’s never an easy game against us, both teams are capable of excellent displays and results but they are also both prone to losing concentration and losing matches they would be expected to win. If we can turn up fully focused and play to our potential we have a good chance of winning but any lapses and we will be punished. The gap between us and Arsenal is currently 7 points but we have a game in hand. If we can make up three points on Saturday and win our extra game we will be in with a good shout of finishing in the Champions League places. Sunday’s cup final and the upcoming Merseyside Derby shouldn’t take the focus off just how important this game is to us. Champions League qualification would be massive for Liverpool and in order to achieve this we really need to deliver on Saturday. YNWA.