Home finale

I'm very late with my post this week. The weather in Dublin has been great and I got a bit distracted by the sunshine and sights of the city. Maybe my passion for football was drained somewhat by the champions league exit. This is the first time that our season has been effectively over by the end of April under Rafa. Hopefully it won't happen again.
The city match was our last game at Anfield this season. As is the case on these days, the players take their families with them on a lap of the pitch. The funniest part of the day was seeing the two young Carraghers chase each other from end to end. With that kind of work rate and courage, I say stick them in the first team next season, alongside their Dad. The team of Carraghers that we all dream of may not be that far away.

The game itself was nothing spectacular. We played some nice football in the second half and could have scored a couple more. Kuyt was unlucky to hit the bar. Babel could have helped himself to a few. Hart made a great save from a Gerrard strike. When it did come it was courtesy of Torres. He latched onto Dirks flick and beat the defender before slipping it between the keepers legs. Another Fernando classic. That makes it 23 in the league now. Not bad for a player who was said to be unprolific. It was good to see Insua get his chance at left back.

It's Spurs at White Heart Lane this Sunday. Niether team have anything much to play for so I expect it to be fairly drab, as the city game was. We may get to see some more of the youngsters which might make it worth watching. It would be great to see Nemeth get a few mins after the class he's shown with the reserves this season.

Gary Ablett's reserve side won the league final 3-0 against Villa. It's a great result for them and is even more pleasing given the fact that they are such a young team. We've seen Insua, Lucas and Plessis make first team appearances this year and maybe we'll see Nemeth

We've launched a £10m bid for Gareth Barry according to to the liverpool post, but we're facing competition from Arsenal who're trying to replace Flamini. Crouch may go the other way but wages are an issue. Does Barry mean that Xabi is on his way back to eSpain, or maybe Italy? One website has him linked with a move to Juve. But Rafa says that Xabi's going nowhere. Rafa's going to have to add to the back room staff as Alex Miller is off to Japan. Sammy Lee is the front runner at the moment.

We are being linked with a move for Aaron Ramsey of Cardiff. Steve Claridge is a fan but he's an idiot so I wouldn't take much notice of that. Spurs and Utd are after him too apparently. We tried to sign him for £1m last summer but no dice. A young Polish defender called Lukasz Kominiak has been on trial with the club for the last few days. Rafa does love to sign a few 18 year old centre halves every summer.

This is a fairly shameful story, but it's hardly surprising at this stage. I always liked Pongolle and I think that he could have been a good squad player and impact sub for us. But he wanted to play every week and has done really well for Recreativo Huelva over the past two years and is linked to a move to Valencia and Atletico. On this evidence, I doubt he'll be choosing Atletico.

Thanks Kasey

Sometimes second gear is all you need. It was all we needed against Fulham on Saturday. If ever there was a championship team in waiting, Fulham is it. We were able to rest a god few of the first team and we still got a 2-0 win away from home. But the credit here has to go down to one man: Kasey Keller. I thought he was poor for both goals. Pennant hit a nice strike from distance for the first but Keller could have saved it if he made an effort. Crouch managed to slip the second one between his legs which was nice. There were some notable performers in Lucas, Pennant and the ever fantastic Mascherano, but there wasn't really a whole lot to write home about. You did get the impression that Rafa and some of the players had their minds on other things, notably a date with Chelsea this tuesday.

If Fulham were the appetiser, then their west London rivals are the main course. Given that the first leg is at Anfield, we need to make it count. Chelsea have a superb record at the bridge so we wouldn't want to be heading there looking for a result. the fact that Essien is suspended for tomorrow is a boost as he's a fantastic player. It looks like Gerrard, Lampard and Drogba will all start. I expect Rafa to tell us to try and hit them early as we managed to do against Juve a few years back. We were in a similar situation against Inter and too a 2-0 lead into the second leg. It's going to be tough but the vibes coming out of Chelsea don't sound good which might improve our chances. I think that we'll sneak it by a goal but will have some tense moments. Expect it to be tactical, turgid and tense rather than thrilling like the Arsenal tie.

This is a terribly sad and moving story. Let's hope that Liam is able to see the banners unfurled on the Kop tomorrow.

The Liverpool Echo has a first hand account from a fan who survived Hillsbourgh. It's well worth a read for an insight from somebody who watched the tragedy unfold. The Guardian reprinted David Lacey's Hillsbourgh report from 1989.

This report from the daily mail could offer some insight into why it's all been kicking off in the boardroom. Oliver Kay analyses the Hicks spin in the Times. There is some interesting info about DIC in this article as there is here in the Independent. This story isn't going away anytime soon.

Round two: deja vu

What odds on Tuesday night being another 1-1 to complete the hat trick of score draw score lines? This one started slowly. We played well enough in the first half and created some good chances. Crouch made a few for himself and others before putting away from outside the area, just before half time. Even if he does leave this summer, he's made a contribution when he has come in this year. We had to soak up some pressure in the second half but Bendtner was able to rise above the defence and head home from a free just before the hour mark. Pennant had stupidly given away a needless free and was subbed soon after. I think that he's been fairly poor this year and I wouldn't be surprised or sad to see him leave in the summer. Finnan came back in defence and did well as did Arbeloa on the other side.

Rafa's got to be the happier manager after that. He made 8 changes beforehand, with only Pepe, Carra and Skrtel surviving the cull and we still managed to get a draw away from home. Wenger made less changes so won't have as fresh a team on Tuesday night. Some of the players, like Fabregas looked tired both midweek and in this match. This should help us on Tue, especially were it to go to extra time. Wenger didn't look happy at all on the sidelines.At one point, it looked like he was so frustrated that his head might explode. I hope it's the same situation at Anfield.

Rafa and I agree that it was an impressive debut from the boy Plessis. The Guardian match report gave him the mana of the match award. Maybe Plessis is why Rafa was willing to let Momo leave at Christmas.

Souness was full of praise for Crouch after the match. Eamonn Dunphy interviewed Souness on his RTE Radio 1 programme last week. I have more time for him after hearing it.

In our defensive foursome, he's absolutely awesome. Sami signed a new deal this week which is good news. I think that his displays this season have merited his one year extension. At times he was our best defender despite his advancing years. I hope that he joins the coaching staff when he hangs up his boots. He has a lot of knowledge that he could pass onto the kids. Red legend.

David Fairclough was on Today FM radio here in Ireland confirming what I'd heard before about the Mascherano deal. He said that the £17m transfer fee quoted is a red herring as deal includes wages over the duration of the contract. This tallies with info I've read on forums. Good news.

This report says that Arsenal and us are battling it out again but the target this time is Ricardo Quaresma of Porto. He may be available to £5m if they are convicted of match fixing. Could be what we need for the right sided attacking role.

Various papers are saying that we have a deal agreed to buy Rafinha from Shalke for £6m. I think that this has a good chance of going through. He looked good form what little I saw of the barca champions league match last week.

Stamford spoils shared

Not a classic. While I didn't think it was as terrible as some have said in the media, it could be that my emotional involvement in the match makes me more exited than a neutral would be. I thought we played ok without being brilliant. We made a few chances and restricted Chelsea to very few. It was a much better performance that I had been expecting beforehand. With Torres out I didn't think we had a prayer of a draw. As it happened, I think we could have won it. But given that nobody has manager that at the bride in around 4 years, it's not that surprising that we weren't able to, in our blunted state.

Crouch had a few chances, especially a header and a shot after a good pass from Babel in the first half. Babel himself had a good match but looked fairly knackered in the second half. He always gets subbed but usually looks wrecked after around 60-70 mins. Maybe our fitness coaching isn't as good as it was since Pako left. Mascherano was great again. It was between him and teenage mutant ninja Sktrel for man of the match. I thought himself and Carra were superb at the back. The defence has sorted itself out again now after looking really dodgy for a while there. I fear for Carra once Agger returns. I'm writing him off just yet, but he's going to find it very hard to compete with Skrtel and Dagger. The young lads have pace and passing ability which he lacks.

It's the back to the magic/romance/cliches of the FAmous cup at the weekend. The mighty Barnsley are waiting in the long grass. Do football teams wait in the long grass or is that just a GAA thing? Torres may be fit but I doubt that he'll be risked. I would imagine that he'll be kept in reserve for Inter.

Another Finnish midfielder is on his way to Anfield. This chap is called Simon Scrabb and is only 13. He's highly rated and will make a few trips to Liverpool per year for now and will move over full time when he's older.

There was bad news in the form of an announcement from Barcelona that they are going to sign Garay from Santander. I thought that Rafa might make a move for him in the summer. Our loss is their gain. I think he's going to be a world class player.

Keano crushed

I made my annual pilgrimage to Anfield on Saturday. It was absolutely freezing and I was with my dad so I didn't hang around for the protest afterwards. But I made sure not to spend any cash while I was inside. Better one DIC than two and all that.
Back to matters on the pitch. If I were Sven I would say "first half bad, second half better". Thankfully I'm not Sven and I still have my hair. But it was indeed a case of a poor 45 mins. We struggled to create a genuine chance. While we had the vast majority of possession, we didn't do much with it. But it was a win, three points, three goals and a much needed shot in the arm ahead of the Chelsea.

In the second half, Finnan came on for Aurelio who wasn't good at all. Even though Finnan was playing left back, he added a different dimension to our attacking play. But it was Carra, rampaging forward from the right back bearth who set up the first goal. He's played there in the past but not much since Rafa arrived. Rafa said that he wanted to have some good height at the back to counter Jones and co. It seemed to work as they didn't get too many headed chances.

Skrtel impressed me on his first league start. I know that he was a bit shaky in the cup but that was his first game in a few months since the Russian league eneded. He looked a lot fitter and compsed on Saturday. He looks to be quite fast and is a big lad. His passing was good but he did put a few astray in the second half. We've lacked good passers from defence so I'm hoping that he can help us in bringing the ball out of defence, like Agger does.

Lucas started on the left side of midfield, tucking in to support Javier and Gerrard. I think that Aurelio was supposed to provide the width, coming forward from fullback. But it didn't work for either player. Lucas has looked great in recent matches but looked out of place on Sat. We tried it, but it didn't work so I'm hoping that we don't see him there again. Yossi did well when he came on there in the second half.

Mascherano was superb yet again. I would go as far to say that he's been our best midfielder this season. He's a winner and a leader. If Gerrard or Carra aren't playing then he should be our captain. He's hoping to have a permanent deal sealed this week. I hope so too.
Crouch had a good match. He linked well with El Nino. He scored the first with a header and flicked on for Torres goal. He nearly scored with a scissors kick. I think that he did more than enough to warrent a start on Sunday. Torres did well with his finish. He now has 12 in the league. It would be great if he could get 20 for the season but he's done really well regardless. He wasn't at his best on Sat, or in recent games for that matter. But he still was sharp enough to take on his man and beat the keeper. Pennant had a decent match and put the left back under pressure. Gerrard struck a peno for the third to wrap it up. Could have been more but 3-0 is acceptable given how badly we've been doing recently.

Keane was pissed off with Rob Styles and felt they should have had a peno with the scores are 2-0. Style robbed us of 2 points against Chelsea earlier in the season with an imaginary penalty so maybe Keane has a point and Styles was trying to even things up. Rafa, unlike Keane, was happy with the result. Boss.

We face a daunting trip to Stamford Bridge this weekend. Finnan says he's ready. Chelsea haven't lost at home since Ranieri was the manager. The fact that Lampard, Drogba, Terry and Essien are out or away is good news. Given that, we should be able to get something from this but we're not in great form so I reckon the best we can get is a draw. I fear Joe Cole and his flukey deflected goals. They got the rub of the green with their Ref invented goal earlier in the season. Maybe we are due some of that back. I would gladly take an imaginary peno if it gave us the three points.

Lucas and co visit Dublin this week to play in Croker. I would have liked to have gone to this one but my bank manager advised against it what with my viist to Anfield for the Sunderland match last weekend and a trip to Paris for the Rugby this weekend. Two sporting trips per week is my limit now.

There was a hint of some good news on the investment front over the weekend. The Echo had a story saying that DIC could join up with Gillett to buy out Hicks. Wait and see. I don't expect anything to happen soon with this.

Let's give Chelsea the blues.

Hawks downed

While the media might have us believe that the greatest upset of all time was close yesterday, I don't know if the result was ever really in doubt. I heard some of the match on the radio and saw highlights today. While they gave us problems in the first half, I think that we were always going to crush them in the end, and rightly so considering our relative positions. But fair play to them for putting it up to us for 45 mins. Some of the fringe players who had a chance to impress didn't do themselves many favours which is a bit disappointing. Lucas had a good match form what I saw and scored a cracking goal. If Momo does move, I hope and expect to see him play a bit more. He looks to have a good future ahead of him. Yossi got his second hat trick of the season. He seems to be filling the Garcia role of drifting inside and scoring. I don't know if he'll ever be a nailed on starter but he's a very useful player to have in the squad. Always good to see Crouch score, even if it was offside. Pennant put in some nice crosses from the right but Crouch and later Kuyt didn't really make the most of them. Skrtel made his first start and had a nervous first half but made some nice passes and improved in the second. You can read a full match report form Dave Usher of TLW here.


After the distraction of the cup it's back to the "bread and butter" of the league. The cheeky chappies, the 'appy 'ammers are our opponents on Wednesday night. It's clear that we're in shit form at the moment and it's not the easiest ground to travel to. Given that, I wouldn't be surprised to see us draw yet again. Our away form has been better than our home form so maybe we can break our drawing streak but I wouldn't bet against the points being shared.

Tom Hicks was on the excellent BBC Sportsweek programme on radio 5 live. He was saying that the club and his shares aren't for sale. Gillett is notable from his absence this week when the announcement about the refinancing deal and the 71000 seater stadium. The Daily Telegraph reckon that the DIC deal is still on the cards. Duncan Castles in the Obeserver has similar observations about the lads from Dubai. Christ Bascombe in the NOTW says that Parry and Moores could be in danger of being removed from the board by the Americans. Foster Gillett has cleared his desk and left Liverpool to return to the states which may be significant. Some of the reports during the week said that Mascherano would now be signed to show the faith that Hicks has in Rafa. Pablo Aimar was also linked in some papers. AImar is a genius and one of my favourite players but he's 28 now and has been injured a bit in the last few years. He's currently out for the next two months so I'd say that this link is mailnly press speculation but the fact that Tony Barrett has an article in the echo about it suggests there may be something in it.

I'm going to Anfield next weekend for the Sunderland match and I don't have any tickets as yet. I know it's a long shot but if anybody reading this has two spares, I'm more than happy to take them off your hands. Any help greatly appreciated.

Villa vindicated

Well it finished 2-2 but you won't see a more one-sided match. We battered them for 70 mins and then they scored 2 goals, the second of which was a flukey deflected OG. But it's been a recurring theme this year that we dominate teams, but don't turn our chances and domination into goals. We need more top class players to do so. Kuyt had a great first half but was dire in the second. Yossi did well for his goal and had a decent match. We were so in control at the start of the second half that it seemed a question of how many would we win by. But then the defence seemed to go to sleep and Harewood hooked one in after the ball was headed back across goal. It really shouldn't have been allowed to happen and I'd imagine that Rafa went apeshit when he saw it. The second goal was a freak occurrence when a shot rebounded off Aurelio and went in past Pepe. The team were in shock for a minute but then stepped it up again. Skrtel came on for the injured Arbeloa and did well enough. Crouchie came on and put himself about. He did well to finish from a cough angle, through a crowd of players. Well done big man. He obviously had his nachos.


Javier Mascherano was immense last night. Stevie had something of a quiet night but El Jefe made up for it and was the driving force in midfield. At times it looked like Villa couldn't get past him, no matter what they did. He is absolute quality and was always available. We really need to buy this guy in the summer. But given the current board situation, I wouldn't hold out too much hope.

The mighty Havant and Waterlooville visit Anfield on Saturday. My pulse is definitely not racing. Hope we see some of the kids getting a run out. This would be one to watch with the sound down to avoid the endless cliches of magic of the cups, David v Goliath, Giantkillers etc.

The boardroom saga rumbles on. Dion Fanning had a fantastic article on it in the Sunday Indo. Talk over the weekend suggested DIC are about to launch a bid for somewhere in the region for £350-500m. But then Hicks said that he doesn't want to sell his shares. This may mean that Gillett will decide the future of the club. Al Ansari, the CEO of DIC is a lifelong Liverpool fan and often attends games at Anfield which is a good sign, I suppose.

It looks like we've failed with a £400000 bid to sign an 18 year old Croatian player called Vida. He's decided to stay in Croatia and play for his club rather than sit on the bench with us. Fair enough. Sure he might change his mind in a year or two.

Of interest to Irish reds is the news that Steve Finnan is to retire from International duty. I suppose that it's good news for Liverpool as he won't be going away during international breaks and will get more rest. It is definitely bad news for Ireland though.

There were rumours that Leto and El Zhar might be on their way to Racing Santander for the rest of the season. It now appears that they will both be staying here. It's hard to know if either has a future with us in the first team. Probably not.

Let's get DICed.

Crouch walks

Crouch runs wild on Mikel. Peter Crouch was sent off for a two footed challenge on Mikel. He said that he had no excuses. It was very unlike him but he got a bit frustrated with Mikel and the Ref. I hope that he's learned his lesson and we won't see it from him again. He made a very difficult match even harder by seeing red.

It wasn't a great display as we were beaten 2-0 but there were a few positives to be taken form the match. Babel was fairly good and caused Chelsea some problems. Itandje made a couple of great saves and it could have been worse if he hadn't of been in form. He might have doen better with the second goal though. Momo had a much improved here as he's been largely rubbish this season. I've no problem with him being sold as long as we're getting Mascherano for good. Aurelio passed well and got through 90 mins. Xabi got through an hour before he was taken off. Lucas did ok in the middle and might have scored after a good move in the first half. Overall, we didn't put out a first strength team so no big swing. As Rafa said before, "I didn't come here to win the Carling cup".

Next up is Portsmouth at Anfield at the weekend. I expect us to win this one on the back of two defeats. Gerrard should be fit again and I expect Torres will start. Portsmouth started very well but seem to have hit the skids somewhat recently. Good opportunity for us to get it back on track.

Could Tomas Ujfalusi be one of Rafa's Bosman signings in the summer? His agent says that we're interested. He's a good player and would provide much need cover and experience at the back.

Rafa says that he wants to stay and sign a new deal at the club. I'd be very happy if it happened but I don't think that it will. I still fear that Rafa will quit or will be pushed out in the summer. I hope that I'm wrong.

Trotters trounced

Whisper it softly, but Liverpool are on the march. Another good victory, another four goals and another clean sheet. We had two efforts cleared off the line which could have increased the margin. No doubt we'll be told that Bolton are rubbish, but didn't they beat Utd 1-0 last week? We're picking up wins and playing well. It couldn't really get any better at the moment, unless Fulham could beat Utd tonight.

Hyypia opened the scoring after a Gerrard free kick. Sami is doing fantastically well in recent games. I really feared for him when we were going through our bad patch. But since then the international break he's looked much better and not as past it as I'd feared. It now sounds like Dagger won't be back this side of Christmas. While we'll miss him, Sami's resurgence alongside the impressive cameo from Jack Hobbs yesterday when Carra came off, makes me less worried than I was a few weeks back.

It could have been different if Anelka had of put away a chance when he had an open goal in front of him. Carra had run into Reina and taken him out of it. Anelka was clean through and only had to slot it in to level the match to 1-1 but he put it wide. I don't know how the hell he managed it but I was thankful. Maybe he's still a red at heart.

Torres goal was the pick of the bunch for me. Gerrard sent an amazing ball forward and the kid latched onto it as he drifted between two defenders. He accelerated and went one on one with big Juusi in the Bolton goal. He deftly chipped the keeper with a sublime finish. It was the type of goal that Owen used to score when he was the one latching onto Gerrard passes. I think that Torres has more to his all round game than Owen and while his finishing isn't quite as clinical yet, I think that he'll go on to be one of our greatest strikers of all time.

Gerrard had a stormer as he did against Newcastle. He set up two goals and scored a peno. He's now scored 8 in 9 games. His combination with Lucas worked well in the centre. We're often told that he doesn't play well in the centre. Not on this evidence. I've no problem with him playing on the right but he's well able to perform majestically in the centre of a 4-4-2.

Babel came on and helped himself to a goal. He showed good strikers instincts to make sure he was on hand to pounce on the rebound from Dirks effort. He is being used as an impact sub by Rafa at the moment. He comes on when his pace and power can stretch a tired opposition. It's working quite well, thank you very much.

It'll be a Royal Rumble when we visit Reading on Saturday. Copell's teams are always well organised and usually do quite well at home. But in the form we're in at the moment, I fancy us to win this one.

One of the members on RAWK posted a translation of an interview with Torres. Anybody who doubted his talent is having those doubts shoved down their throats. His fee of €26m (£18m) now looks like a bargain. The more I read about him off the pitch, the more I like the kid. He's humble and down to earth despite his incredible ability. We have a star on our hands.

Paul Tomkins has a good article on the press reaction to the results so far this season. I tend to go along with what he says even though it might sound a tad paranoid.

Daniel Carvalho, a Brazilian attacker at CSKA Moscow is being linked to us at the moment. His contract is up in 6 months and there is some speculation that he is one of the players that Rafa was trying to get in on a free. Let the trial by youtube commence.

The Rafa getting sacked story seems to have died down a bit now. The Sunday tabloids still reckon that he's a dead man walking. I think that it's blown over for now. Parry was coming under fire from some quarters last week and it doesn't sound like he helped the situation. Foster Gillett's return to Merseyside should help as will the face to face meeting next month. But I still reckon that he'll walk or be let go in the summer. I expect Rafa to have a similar row with the Americans over finance and communication come the end of the season. I hope I'm wrong but I think their relationship has been badly damaged, probably irreparably so.

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.

Marseille massacre

That was terrible. I haven't been able to bring myself to write a post on it until now. As Rafa himself said, that's as bad a performance as we've put in at home since he arrived. We were unlucky to see El Nino hit the post at the end but it would have been unfair on Marseille who were by far the better team. We were shocking.

Only Pepe, Finnan and Aurelio can come out of that with any credit. Only for them we could have lost by a few more. Momo was awful. I really like Momo but he's been shit this season. But he's not the only one. Our entire midfield was useless on Wed night. I think that the lack of Agger and Alonso has hit us hard. We haven't passed the ball well since they got injured. I'm hoping that they will be back in training once the international break is over. We'll need them badly for the Everton and Arsenal matches.

El Nino revealed that he's a bit manic to the official site. Fair enough. As long as he keeps scoring, let him continue with his rituals.

Rumour has it that Crouch may be on the way in January. I don't claim to have any inside track here, I'm just reporting what I've read on the forums. Word is that he is pissed off with his lack of games so he'll be sold with Klaas Jan Huntelaar as his replacement. I've been a big fan of this kid since I saw him fillet Ireland in Lansdowne road last year. While I"d be sorry to see RoboCrouch go, I'd be happy to see us replace him with pure Klaas. Think of all of the crappy puns I could come up with if he signed.

Spurs match tomorrow should be interesting. They're in worse form than us, which is handy. Robinson in goal could be our ace card. Rafa should tell all of the midfielders and strikers to shoot on sight. This guy is one of the worse keepers in the league and can't save long distance shots. Their defence is quite porous so I would expect Torres to be able to take them apart. A moral boosting win is needed after the debacle of Wednesday night. A win here would set us up nicely going into the international break. I'm hoping that we'll come back from it refreshed and rejuvenated. The last break really fucked us up as we were flying before it but haven't played well since. I'm hoping that this one will have the opposite effect and put us back into form. I was hoping that Spurs didn't lose last Monday as Jol might have been sacked. They drew 4-4 and he kept his job. If we win tomorrow, he might lose it. If we lose, I might lose it.

Peter the great

Why don't I take my own advice? I pointed out the fact that Crouch was great value for Champions League top scorer at 33-1 but I failed to put a bet on him. I then successfully predicted the winners of the four quarter final matches but again failed to put a bet on. I'm going to bet the house on everything in future.

As regards the PSV match, there isn't a whole lot to say really. Another goal by Crouch takes his champions league tally to 7 and makes him joint top scorer with Kaka and Morientes. Given that one of these players is already out and the other could soon follow, I think that gives Crouch a great chance. He took his goal well last night and could have had another with a header in the second half. Pennant had another good game, especially in the first half. He's really come on recently and I've changed my mind on his long term prospects at the club. If he was half a yard faster, then he'd be a world beater. Rafa took the oppertunity to rotate as the game died a death and we saw Paletta get a run out. He had some poor games earlier in the season but he's still young and has great examples to learn from in Agger, Sami and Carra.

So it's Chelsea in the next round. The war of words has started already and we can expect to hear a lot of talk from Jose in the next few weeks about Garcias goal in the 2005 semi final. It's a pity that we don't have Garcia fit for this stage of the competition as his ability to pull a goal out of nowhere in europe is invaluable. He is one of the few players in our squad who can do that. Kewell may be back shortly but I don't expect him to be match fit given how long he's been out. It's going to be really tough over the two legs but having them at Anfield for the second leg is a bonus. Hopefully they might get a few injuries in the meantime. I think that we can beat them, but I don't know if we will. I'll go for us to shade it, maybe on away goals. In the other tie I think that the youth and vigour of Utd will overcome a fairly toothless Milan. Don't see where the goals are going to come from for Milan beyond Kaka.

Back to the bread and butter of the lague on Sat with Man City at Eastlands. City are safe enough in 12th place so don't really have a huge amount to play for. We shuold be able to win this but I have a slight fear that our league campeign might peter out somewhat as we concentrate on Europe. I would like us to finish as high up the table as possible and as close to Chelsea/Utd as possible but if we finish third or fourth then it doesn't really matter I suppose.

Dirk delivers

What a difference a sub, or two, makes? It really looked like we were heading for a score draw at Reading. But with five minutes to go, Pennant came in from the right wing and beat the full back on the edge of the box. He delivered a sweet cross with the outside of his right boot which hung in the air long enough for Kuyt to meet it and power his header downwards into the net. It was great play from two of Rafas subs.

It was good to see Dirk score as he's looked a bit tired and short on confidence recently. He has 10 goals in the premiership this season which puts him one behind AJ at Everton and two behind Rooney. It would be great if he could get a few more over the next few games and finish his first English season with 12-14 goals.

Pennant has improved over the last six or seven games and had a great match against Arsenal. He made a telling impact here when he came on. I would like ot see him get a start against PSV so that he could grab a goal or a few assists.

Arbeloa had another great game and capped it with a stunning goal that you would surprised to see coming from a striker. He ran from his own half before exchanging a one two with Crouch. He was then through on goal with only the keeper to beat and he curled a beautiful shot around the goalie, in a manner that Michael Owen was fond of. Arbloa has been really impressive ever since his debut against Barca, where he marked Messi out of the match.

It was great to see Utd lose to Portsmouth at the weekend. It will make for a really interesting title run in now. Chelsea can do it if the win at Stamford bridge and utd lsip up again. But I still think it's more likely that Utd will hold on to their lead and stagger over the finish line, like students after happy hour.

The race for third got a bit more exciting after Arsenal were beaten by West Ham. We're now five points clear but they still have a game in hand. Arsenal have now lost three league games in a row for the first time in years. They play Newcastle today, and I for one, will cheering on the Toon. There is a real chance now that Arsenal could miss out on the champions league next season. I have nothing against them but it might make it easier for us to attract top class signings if we're not competing with them. Have a look here for an Irish Arsenal fans opinions on the "fuckin' excellent" Arse Blog.

It's hard to get too excited about the PSV match on Wed. Given that we're 3-0 up, I can't see Rafa taking too many chances. There is likley to be a lot of rotation and some of the fringe players like Zenden and Robbie will get a start, I would imagine. It might be interesting if some of the kids get a run out.

Crouch is 16-1 with Ladbrookes for top scorer in champs league and might be worth a punt. He was 33-1 before the PSV match. Paddy Power generally have poorer odds than their competitors in my view.
http://www.oddschecker.com/football/champions-league/champions-league/champions-league/top-goalscorer

Crouch Classic

I have seen the light. On Saturday I was privilaged to witness the power and the glory that was the Peter Crouch show at Anfield. The Sunday Times said that he "played like Marco Van Bastin" and they weren't far off. As the losing manager said:

"He was superb," said Wenger. "Everything he did was intelligent. He has the size of a basketball player but the skill of a real football player. If you had put a real basketball player in, Kolo and Gallas would have had no problem."

It was a classic hat trick in the classic sense. A right foot near post strike in the first half, a towering heading, and a superb individual effort for the winner which was the pick of the bunch. Everything he did turned to gold and he could have had a couple more. In form like this he is unstoppable. Hopefully he'll be able to keep it up for the rest of the Premiership and the Champions league.

He wasn't the only star performer though. Mascherano, Pennant and Aurelio all had very good matches. Gonzalez put in some quality crosses. I think that the 4231 formation gave Pennant and Gonzalez room and liscence to move forward and support Crouch. I'm hopeing that the two of them can push on and make up for poor starts to the season.

PSV tomorrow night won't be a walkover. Koeman is no mug and has a couple of impressive results against English teams with Benfica and now PSV. We tend not to do as well when we're billed as favourites. But the fact that Alex and Kone are out injured should help. An away goal or two would make it a lot easier at Anfield.

Ron Deco rang me on Thursday afternoon to say that he had two tickets for me which was amazing. It was great to know that they were sorted and we weren't going over not knowing if we were going to get into Anfield or not. Our tickets were for the main stand, on the left side, near the Anfield road end, where the Away fans sit. This meant that we got to hear all of the banter between the fans. It was all good natured and quite entertaining when chants were composed and exchanged. My Dad is an Arsneal fan but I think he was happy that Liverpool won, for me. The last time we went to a game Chelsea hammered us 4-1 at Anfield. Needless to say, I wasn't on great form after that. This time I was much happier after the game. Here's a picture that I took with my phone. The resolution isn't great but you can get an idea of what a privilage it is to sit at Anfield.