Eighth wonder

Ruthless. Liverpool were like MC Ren of NWA last night. 8, that's the magic number. 8-0. Despite all that, Crouch isn't happy. He feels that we should have had more. Greedy bugger.


It's hard to pick out individuals after a performance like that. Almost everyone had a great match. We scored 8 and played some beautiful football. I don't want to be negative but Riise was notable in his inability to join in with the one touch football. But he had his part to play too and set up a fwe goals with his vicious shots which the keeper couldn't save. He did have his usual quota of wayward efforts over the bar though.

Crouch was notable in opening and closing the scoring. He got a bit lucky with the first but reacted well and finished well beyond the keeper. The final goal was a great header after a cross from the wing. I think that he made a telling contribution and put down a marker. It'll be hard for Rafa to drop him for Fulham unless Torres is fit.

Yossi grabbed a hat trick but it was his all round play which was impressive. His first goal was lovely but his second and third were tap ins. He drifted all over the front third and supported the strikers well. Arbleoa provided width and protection on the right, allowing Yossi to go where he needed.

Voronin had a superb game. He linked midfield and attack in a clever manner. His link up play for Gerrards goal was a joy to behold. He did a great job of bringing the likes of Yossi, Babel, Kewell and Gerrard into the game. He didn't grab a goal for himself but he wasn't far off.


The boy Babel done well. His first goal was the pick of the bunch for me. If Rooney or Ronaldo scored that one we would be hearing about it for a long time. He got lucky with the second but was unlucky to see a headed effort hit the bar. Granted it's easier to come on against a team who are already beaten and look good, but this was a cameo of the riches he has. I think that if we persist with him he'll go onto be a star for us.

So we still have to win our two final games in the champions league. I think that we're capable of it but it won't be easy. Porto visit Anfield in the next game. It's a pity that they beat Marseille last night but we know what we need to do. If we win the two games we should be able to go through.

Back to domestic matters this sat when Fulham come to Anfield. They aren't in great form and this is a good opportunity for us to get back on track in the league. Torres might even be fit but I would imagine it'll be a case of him sitting on the bench unless needed again. We don't want him heading off with Spain and getting injured again.

Bring on the cottagers.

A tale of three strikers

Exhibit A - Dirk Kuyt. Dirk had a terrible day at the office on Saturday. He is going through a crisis of confidence at the moment. He had a few chances but couldn't hit the target and when he did, Friedal was more than equal to it. Rafa is a big fan and seems to want to let him play through it. I don't think that he is clinical enough to play up front on his own, as he did on Sat. I like Dirk too but I don't think that he works well with Crouch or Voronin, only Torres.

Exhibit B - Peter Crouch. Crouch came on as as second half sub and almost changed the game. I don't know what he did to annoy Rafa, but he seems well out of favour at the minute. I would like to see him get more game time while Torres isn't ready because he looks like the striker who's most likely to score. I don't know if Crouch has a long term future at the club but I definitely think that he's the man for the moment.

Exhibit C - Fernando Torres. It sounds like the news might be better than had been previously hoped. He was back in training today after his muscle injury and faces a late fitness text for tomorrow. I can't imagine that he'll be risked after the last time but he might get a place on the bench for a last gasp throw of the dice if we need him. We're looking fairly blunt without him.

Harry Kewell was a welcome sight when he came on as a second half sub. If, and it's a big if, he can stay fit for a while, then he could do a huge job for us on the left and nail down that position. Despite his injuries, he's still the best winger that we have in my opinion. He did well in the 20 or so mins that he got on Saturday by stretching the play and taking his man on. I would imagine that he'll be an impact sub for the next few games while his builds up his fitness.

Babel started on the wing against Blackburn. Babel clearly has talent with his pace, power, control and shooting. But he hasn't really been able to put it all together so far. I feel that it might be after Christmas or next season before he beds in properly and makes a telling contribution. Here's what Wenger has to say on new signings.

"When I sign a player I don't judge him at all in the first six months. Never. I give him six months to adapt and don't put any pressure on him because I know what it takes. You have to settle and get the right level. You start to look at him really in January and February."

The draw for the Carling Cup quarter finals was made on Sat and we'll be heading to Stamford Bridge at the end of December. They have a superb home record so I'd be surprised if we get anything out of that one. It is only the Carling Cup though.

Oliver Kay has an article in the Times where he says that we're near an agreement for John Cofie From Burnley. United and Chelsea are after him too but it sounds like we're in the driving seat as he attended the Cardiff match last week. He's 15, plays up front and could cost anything between £250000 and £1m. Lauri Dalla Valle, a 16 year old Finn who I've mentioned before here, is also being tipped to arrive in Jan.

It's do or die against Besiktas tomorrow. It's time to stand up and spout cliches. Win and we have a chance, anything less and we're out. We should be more than capable but then again, I said the same about Porto, Marseille and the Turkish trip.

Here's hoping.

Turkish despair

You may be wondering why updates have slowed down. Well I've been busy in work but the real reason is that I bought Football Manager 2008. Beware, this game is highly addictive and will take over your life. But I've managed to tear myself away so here's a quick update.

The Besiktas game wasn't great, was it? Hyypia didn't do well and I think that his lack of pace is making the defence sit deeper and it seems to have injected a lack of confidence throughout the defence. Even Carra and Finnan aren't playing well now. We went 2-0 down but Gerrard got one back. He had tow other good chances and we could have nicked a draw. We did create a good few chances but without Torres up front we seem to lack that cutting edge to finish off chances. We'll now need to win all of our remaining games to get out of the group. It's going to be tough but we can do it. Lawro thinks that we will which is a bad omen as he's usually wrong about everything.

The Arsenal match kicks off at 4 today. I'm worried. I don't fancy Sami against Adebayor and the pace of Walcott if he plays. But we are at home and have a good record against Arsenal in the league at Anfield. Xabi should be back which is a boost. Our midfield hasn't looked as calm and efficient since he got injured. Torres was training this week and might play. Pennant will be out for a few weeks so we might see Gerrard on the right if Xabi starts. Agger doesn't seem to be ready yet, which is a shame. We really need him ASAP. I know think that Rafa should have had a backup plan for centre back when he went for Heinze. Sami will need replacing in Jan.

So here's to a victory against the arses today. Fingers crossed.

Derby delight

It's that rotation policy again. Rafa takes Gerrard off and brings Lucas on, who is awarded the match winning penalty. When will he ever learn?

It was amazing. I'm still a bit horse. Memories of the Gary Mac derby in 2001 came flooding back. To win the Derby is sweet. To win the Derby in injury time after being 1-0 down is even sweeter. To hear David Moans and the rest of the bitter blues giving to is the icing on the cake. No doubt the conspiracy theorists will be out in force now. But while the Lescott penalty shout at the end looked fairly strong, we had an offisde goal chalked off that should have been given. Veronin also had a penalty claim early on. We were by far the better team and created loads of chances. They only had one effort on target all match. I think that if Torres was playing we would have won handy enough. Voronin had a couple of chances where he would have done better. Riise had a superb chance where he blazed over the bar. Momo had a fantastic chance with a few minutes to go. Overall I was much happier with the performance than in recent games.

At half time I predicted a draw so I was thrilled when we won. Notable performers were Kuyt, Yossi for a time and Lucas when he came on. Dirk has been getting a lot of stick from some fans, as they see him as a new Heskey in so far as he tries hard but doesn't score enough. I don't agree. I've been a big fan of his since he arrived. Put your hands up for Dirk Kuyt. He was our top scorer last season and 4 in all comps so far this year. He had a really clever and unselfish game yesterday. He showed bottle to take his two penos and could have had a hat trick of assists if his team mates had finished better. His father passed away during the summer after a long battle with cancer. I do like Voronin too but I think Dirk will go on to prove the best partner for El Nino.

Gerrard was much improved too. Some knobs in the press, like Andy Grey, will try to make a big deal out of the fact that he was subbed. I think it was more a case of him having played two England matches and we have two important matches coming up this week. Lucas changed thing when he came on and would have won the match for us if it hadn't of been for Nevilles "save". It's a pity for the lad but we got the result which is the main thing. Seeing Neville and Hibbert walk was a bonus.


It's a pity that our rivals, Arseanal, Utd and Chelsea all won. After the Besiktas match on Wednesday, we face Arsenal at Anfield. They are playing well at the moment, better than us, but we've a great home record and hammered them 3-1 at Anfield in March. I was at Anfield that day and it was very one sided. Crouch was amazing and the best player on the pitch by a mile. Even though he's not playing much and seems to be out of form, I wouldn't be that surprised to see him play for this one. Van Persie is out which good news for us.

Alan Stubs cleverly got a dig in before the match. Good motivational tactic from him.

Tony Barett of the Echo had a good article on rotation reprinted on the official site. So it seems to me that when Fergie rotates his squad it doesn't count. It remind me of the Brass Eye episdoe about good aids v bad aids. It seems that Man Utd practice good rotation while we practice bad rotation. Rotation is a stick used by the press to beat Rafa when we're losing along with zonal marking when we concede goals and Cup/Lucky manager because we haven't won the league. It seems that it's not very hard to be a journo or pundit these days. Just use the same old tired cliches and misconceptions and you'll be hailed as a genius.

There has been a good bit of talk linking us to Fernando Amorebieta of Athletic Bilbao. He's a versitile young spanish defender, the kind of player that Rafa finds hard to resist so expect him to be on his way here in January.

The echo had some good news in relation to a fall in football related arrests at Anfield despite a rise nationwide. It goes against the percieved wisdom in some sections of the media.

Will Buckly in the Observer had a good article on the inane punditry on Sky. Offside doesn't count if it's Rooney apparently. How does Jamie Redknapp have a job?