God bows out

Anfield's last game of the season was a bit of a party. It wasn't the most amazing game but there were two goals from us and it wasn't a defeat, unlike our last few league games. Plus there is the small bonus that it means we stay ahead of Arsenal and finish third.

The big news of the match that it was Robbie's last hurrah at Anfield. Rafa subbed him off with a minute of normal time remaining which enabled Robbie to get a standing ovation from the fans. Unfortunately it meant that he couldn't score the penalty we were awarded a minute later. Harry put it away for his first goal of the season. Robbie is a red legend of the highest order but everyone can see that he can't cut it at this level anymore. I'm going to do a separate blog entry about him over the next week or two.



So out with the old and in with the new. The new in this case is Lucas. This is one to get excited about. He's the Brazilian under twenty captain, a central midfielder and was voted player of the year in Brazil last season. This deal seems to be agreed and he'll join us in July after the copa Libertadores. The fee is rumoured to be around £5m or so. Rafa has said that he tried to compete for top class young signings like Denilson and Walcott at Arsenal but was financially unable. Hopefully this means that the Hicks and Gillett investment is starting to pay off.



We're also being linked with Alexandre Pato. "The Duck" is an eighteen year old Brazilian striker and is being tipped for greatness. I would be surprised if this happens but we are interested in him apparently. Check out the mad skillz.

With Athens not far away, it reminded me of this quote from Cruyff. "There's not one club in Europe with an anthem like You'll Never Walk Alone. There's not one club in the world so united with the fans. I sat there watching the Liverpool fans and they sent shivers down my spine. A mass of 40,000 people became one force behind their team. That's something not many teams have. For that I admire Liverpool more than anything." Dutch legend Johan Cruyff after Istanbul. Only eight days to go. Good video on the chelsea match using an audio montage from radio merseyside.

I was in Barcelona at the weekend and we visited Camp Nou for the Barcelona v Betis game. Good match even though it finished 1-1. Barca scored early and played some great stuff in the first half and could have easily been 2-0 or 3-0 at half time. But Betis came back into it and scored in the last few minutes. The locals got restless and the white hankies/sheets of newspaper came out which added to the entertainment. I hope that Barcelona can turn it around but it's not looking good considering their form and Madrid are now top of the league.

Kop Idol Carra

Oh what a night? Anfield erupted as the holders were knocked out of Europe. Pity that we didn't score despite all of our chances. We really took them to pieces in the first half and it could easily have been 3-0 at half time. Riise hit the bar as did Momo. Bellamy, Kuyt and Riise all had efforts saved in quick succession with JAR's effort being cleared off the line by Puyol. But because we didn't score, we let them back into it in the second half. Gudjohnson scored to make the last 15 mins really nervous. But thankfully we had Carra and Finnan on hand to foil their efforts. There were some amazing tackles from them both to save us and keep our season alive. I think that we played very well over the two legs and deserved to go through. Ronaldinho could have been sent off for a petulant kick out at Carra if the ref had seen it. Barca can't have any hard luck stories. Rijkaard was magnanimous in defeat. Messi wanted Liverpool when the draw was made but didn't get the result he wanted in the tie. I hope that Barca can recover from this and go onto win La Liga, starting with beating Madrid on Saturday night.


Anfield has a deserved reputation for being special on European nights. This was the case again here. The Kop was full of colour. Even the Rafatollah got an outing. I hope that when we move to the new stadium that we can still create nights like this. It was a fitting occasion for David Moores to bow out as chairman. Similarly, it was good timing by Hicks and Gillett for their first game at Anfield.

Good atmosphere and decoration in the Lotts on Liffey st. Thomas was the lone Barcelona fan in the pub and it was fairly quiet when he celebrated the goal. I hear both sets of fans got on well in Anfield too. Good to see the respect between our two great clubs.

In the draw on Fri, I don't think it matters who we get too much. I don't mean that we're over confident but I mean that they are all hard teams at this stage of the champions league. Lille would be nice. I fear that it'll be an English team given that there will probably be four in the next round. I'm glad that I backed us at 33-1 in December when we drew Barcelona and Paul Merson sniggered. It's not nailed on but we have as good a chance as anyone given that it's a relatively weak season in Europe this year.

Sucker punched

Most days I love football. But today I am disgusted with it. I hate Utd and the only thing that I hate more then them is being beaten by them. To concede a last minute goal to them after dominating the match is about as bad as it gets. And to top it all off, John O'Shea is a boyhood red.

Not for the first, and probably not for the last time this season, profligacy in front of goal has cost us dearly. It's no good dominating against a team if you can't convert your dominance into chances. But we don't seem capable of learning this lesson. We had Utd on the rack for most of the game but didn't put them away. We restricted them to one shot on target all match, John O'Sheas. Crap. "It was a fantastic result," said Fergie. "We had a lot of narrow escapes and Liverpool upset our rhythm. They will feel very unlucky and they deserve to." But I have to grudgingly say fairplay to them for sticking with it and keeping the faith for 90 mins. It reminded me to when we played them off the park last season only for Rio to score from a set piece with around 5 minutes to go. I get really annoyed when we concede late goals.

Utd will win the league now and I feel they deserve it. They've been the most consistent team. They have been very lucky with injures and haven't been playing well over the last few games against us, Lille and Fulham. But critically they've managed to win all three games that they deserved to lose. When you see that happen it's hard to see the league title going anywhere other than old toilet.

It's time to clear the heads in preparation for Barca's visit on Tuesday. I expect the atmosphere to be incredible and I'm very envious of those going to the match, like Sergi. As I've said before, this tie isn't over by any means. FCB on form are well capable of scoring two away goals. If we can score the first goal then I think that it will be over. I expect Momo to have another legendary game as he did in Camp Nou. He wasn't up to his usual standards on Sat but I think he'll be better against the Barca midfield. Bellamy had a great game in the first leg and his pace and aggression seemed to unsettle the Barca defence. More of the same on Tue Craig. Think of your club, not your golf clubs. You can expect to hear many more poor puns if he scores a goal.

Camp Wuhoo

Satan was just on the phone. Apparently hell has frozen over. Funny that it coincided with Riise scoring with his right foot.

What a night? What a match? What a comeback? What a payback for Rafa for his faith in Bellamy and Riise? What a perfect way to put the headlines from Portugal behind us? I was impressed with the show of teamwork and unity. This team is never beaten as we've shown in Cardiff and again in Istanbul. Barca had the best of the first half and we were looking in danger at one stage. But we never let the heads dropped and kept hope in our hearts. Barca on the other hand seemed to lack spirit and lost heart when they conceeded the second goal.

It was superb to see Craig Bellamy score after the week he's had. I'm not a fan of his off the field antics but it now seems that the reports from Portugal were greatly exaggerated. After the match he said "You know what our gaffer is like and how strict he is, if it was a bigger problem I wouldn't be playing here, don't worry about that." Rafa is a disciplinarian and if the tabloid reports were accurate I don't think Bellamy would be at the club now. I shouldn't be surprised by English tabloids blowing stuff out of all proportion and neither should you. Bellamy ran and harried the Barca defence all game and unsettled them. His pace was a constant threat and a useful outlet when we were under pressure. His goal and assist were the perfect riposte to all his critics.

Momo was absolutely massive tonight, man of the match for me. He is a monster of a player and gave Barca no time to get their passing patterns going in midfield. It just goes to show how much we've missed him while he's been out. Remember that he's only 22 and if he improves his passing will be a world beater. Apology accepted Thomas, Momo was injured and not faking it. Hope that he's ok now and not out for any time now.

Riise was poor tonight. But i forgive him as he did it when it counted. And with his right foot, I can't say that I expected that. It's usually only for standing on. Maybe Bellamy was knocking it into shape with his golf club. I still think that we need to buy a left back this summer, unless Insua looks like he'll be able to make the step up next season.

I think that Rafa's tactics worked down to a tee. Gragham Hunter was on newstalk 106fm saying as much after the match. Arbeloa and Finnan by and large did good jobs on Ronaldinho and Messi. Was impressed with Arbeloa. Pretty good debut. Xabi was often the deepest of the midfielder and mopped up in front of the back four, before releasing the ball forward. Momo, Gerrard and Riise in front of him all hassled and harried the Barca team.

Our high tempo pressing style will have to be repeated in the second leg. We may be in the driving seat but there is no way that this tie is over now. Barca need to win by two clear goals but we can't get complacent as they are well capable of scoring two. But their defence didn't look rock solid so I think that we can score at Anfield. Wasn't that impressed with the ref who was very fussy and gave far too many frees.

Sheffield Utd in the league on Saturday seems boring in comparison to this. But it's another three points and we need to keep picking them up if we want to stay in third place. We often took our eye off the ball in the league in '05 after European games. Hope that isn't the case on Sat.

Good to hear that Mascherano has finally been given the green light by the premier league. I wonder if we'll see him against Sheffield Utd?

I watched the match in Keatings with Thomas, Al and a crowd of Catalans from the Catalans a Dublin website. Sergi and his mates provided a great atmosphere and it made a good match even more enjoyable.

Barca watch

I went on a LFC scouting mission last night. This involved sitting in the Lotts with my friend Shay and watching the Valencia v Barcelona match at the Mestalla. I wasn't that impressed with Barca on this display and I definitely think that we can get at them at the back. Valencia managed to hit them with two quick counter attacks. Could be a game for Gonzalez and his pace plus the fact that he's played against them before. Olegeur and Edmilson look vulnerable at the back to me. But Leo Messi was amazing when he came on for 30 mins. Barca looked far better with him on the right rather than Iniesta. I hope that he doesn't start on Wed but I fear that he will. I don't fancy our chances if Riise is left one v one with Messi. Aurelio/Gonzalez will have to get back and help him whenever possible. Click Forca Barca or The beautiful game links on the right to read Barca fans opinions on the match.

Voronin looks set to arrive on a Bosman Free transfer from Bayer Leverkusen this summer. He's 28 and a Ukrainian international with a lot of experience. I assume that this means he'll take Robbie's place when his contract finishes in the summer.

In respect of the tabloid rumours of the fracas in the Algarve, here is some info from the Liverpool Echo. It's hard to know exactly what happened and I doubt it's as bad as was reported. Nonetheless it sounds like there were a few of them involved including Dudek, Pennant, Riise and Bellamy. I know that they've all been fined but it may have placed their Liverpool futures in doubt. I don't think Rafa likes these type of headlines but he was very annoyed that it was leaked to the press and not kept in house.

Good to see another win for the kids who are now into the Youth cup semi final, which'll be a two legged affair against Newcastle. It would be an incredible achievement if we were to retain the trophy. Last season was only our second victory in the competition.

Toon triumph

Again a lack of finishing and penetration costs us the three points. Nice goal from Bellemy who had a good game overall but should have had a hatrick. He was unlucky to hit the bar later on too. Kuyt tried but wasn't as effective as he has been earlier in the season. Pepe made a mistake for their goal but I wouldn't be too critical of him as he's been superb again this season after a shaky start. Good to see Momo back in action. Was hoping that Mascherano might have made his debut given that Xabi was suspended but no such luck. The premierleague dragged their heals and we probably won't see Javier play int eh league for another two weeks when Sheffield Utd visit Anfield on the 24th.

Rafa has taken the team off to the algarve for some sun and training ahead of the Barca match next Tuesday. I expect they might even manage to fit in a game of golf or two while they're there. I wonder if Crouchy needs to get special clubs made for him? Barca had good news at the weekend in their win over Racing. Eto'o was back on the bench and Messi came on as a second half sub. You can read more about this match by clicking on the link for Forca Barca or The Beautiful Game on the right. Good news for them is bad news for us.

The most interesting, and unbelieveable, transfer rumour that I heard this week involved Barcelona. We were linked to their 17 year old wunderkind Giovani Dos Santos. I really can't see this happening. Barca have been bitten a few times over losing class talent to England when they lost Fabregas and Merida to Arsenal. I can't see them letting this happen again. This kid is supposed to be something special and was a star for Mexico in a recent youth tournament. I hear that his brother is rumoured to have even more talent.

Until next tue, keep it gangsta.

Perfect weekend

We win 3-0, Utd lose and Everton lose. Add in the fact that Arsenal drew at home with Portsmouth and it doesn't get any better than that. We've moved a point clear in third and I expect us to stay there give that we've a handy enough run over Christmas. Our next five league matches are Watford (H), Blackburn (A), Spurs (A), Bolton (H) and Watford (A). I think that we should be able to get 11+ points from that. As I've said before, the league is well gone but the closer that we finish to Utd & Chelsea the better.

Good to see Bellamy score again. His confidence seems to be back now and he looks a lot happier with his game. Himself and Kuyt are forming an effective partnership. Bar rotation it'll take some performances by Crouch or Robbie to repace them. The defence had another fairly easy day out. In our last three games we've scored 11 and conceded none. Long may it continue.

And so to the Champions league draw. Barca is the hardest draw that we could have gotten really. They are the one team that I wanted to avoid when it was made. But the more that I think about it the more excited I get. I relaly can wait for Feb to roll around. It's a mouth watering clash. I think that it suits us to be underdogs as we demonstrated against Juve, Chelsea and Milan two years ago. Obviously Barca are favourites, and rightly so as they are the best team in Europe. But the fact that we have the second leg at Anfield is a major boost. Momo is back then so I can see us going for a 0-0 in Camp Nou and take them back home with it all in our hands. Bring it on. For a Barca fan's perspective have a look at what TQ has to say about it here.

I expect to see a fair bit of rotation for the Arsenal match on Tuesday. Since we're at home and Arsenal aren't in great form I would expect us to win. If we lose I won't be that put out. Nice to win the carling/worthington/league cup but never a disaster to be beaten.