KC KO

A 3-1 win away from home was a case of job done. But it wasn't done very cleverly in a bad day at the office for most of the team. We were poor in a poor first half. Hull did well to close us down really quickly. Time and again we were caught in possession or had passes blocked by Hull players. Arbeloa and Mascherano were disappointing for the second game running. The whole team looked a bit rattled by the pressure exerted by Caleb Folan et al. But just before half time Javier broke down field and got a free kick when he fell over. It was really harsh on Hull but got worse when Xabi put it away. His initial effort hit the wall but he cracked the rebound into the bottom corner on the volley. Lovely strike, his fourth league goal of the season. I don't really understand how his passing is so sublime but his delivery from frees and corners is often askew. Strange.

The second half started much better than the first. Once Folen lost the plot and got sent off for a kick on Skrtel, things got easier. Dirk got a touch on a Skrtel shot to make it 2-0. Giovani pulled one back for them to make a little more tense. But Kuyt scored again in the 90th minute to put the result beyond doubt. Game over. Dirk now has 10 league goals which is superb given his position and reputation. He might even improve on that over the next few games.

Insua lost his man for the Hull goal but was much better than our other full back Arbeloa who had a really poor game. It's a pity that the spaniard has lost his form in recent games as he's had a good season to date.We can look forward to the Toon army visiting Anfield next Sunday. Shearer and co will be well up for a fight but are short on confidence. It's one that we really should win and we'll need to if we're going to push Utd all the way.

Could Rafa be interested in signing Man Utd loanee Carlos Tevez? Rafa refused to comment on him when asked in Fridays press conference. Fergie reckons he wants him to stay but we'll see. I think he'll leave Utd but I don't see us signing him, Madrid would be more likely. He'd be a nice addition to our team but we need somebody to compete for the Riera and Kuyt spots, not Gerrard and Torres positions. O'Neil seems to be preparing to let Barry leave this summer. Expect a cut price bid from Rafa given the fact his contract is up in 2010.

Lauri Della Valle scored 2 more goals as the junior reds beat Birmingham 3-1 second leg to seal a place in the FA youth cup final. Alex Kacaniklic scored the other to give an aggregate score of 6-1. They'll face Arsenal to win it.

Jack Hobbs who was part of the 2006 FA youth cup winning team, has sealed a permanent deal with Leicester. The young defender has helped them gain promotion from League one to the championship. I hope he does well in the future.

Done four?

3 defensive lapses cost us against Arsenal on Tuesday. May have even cost us the title, admittedly it was a long shot to begin with. 4-4 may have been good to watch but the result was sickening. We had it in our hands at 2-1 up but we threw it away and had to chase the game when 3-2 and 4-3 down. In the end we paid the price for our poor defending and got one point where three were required and would have been deserved.

We dominated Arsenal for much of the match but we gifted them goals that they didn't deserve. Mascherano, Aurelio and Arbeloa all made bad mistakes which led to Arshavin goals. Fairplay to the lad who took his chances but other than that had a poor enough game if such a thing is possible.

Dirk set up our first two goals for Torres and then Yossi. El Nino scored another and Yossi got the equaliser in injury time. This was the Israeli's best ever performance for the Reds. He revelled in the number 10 role usually occupied by Gerrard. I fear his absence much less with Yossi in this form. He showed great courage to throw his head into the mix for his first goal. A brave player who gives everything.Well done to the Everton fans who showed some merseyside solidarity with the 96 at the FA cup semi final against Utd on Sunday. I was happy to see them win and will be cheering them against Chelsea in the final. Let's hope that these kind of gestures will thaw the atmosphere in the Merseyside derbies which had become poisonous in recent years.

Gerrard is unlikely to be fit for the Hull City match on Saturday according to Rafa. His abductor muscle is still problematic. Yossi will deputise. I think we should be able to win this one despite what motivational miracles Phil Brown might try to pull. Utd don't play until Sunday but Spurs are safe now so I can't see them presenting too many problems for Slur and company.

The guardian are reporting that we could See a King Kenny comeback this summer slotting into a youth development role. Great news if it happens. Sammy Lee is in favour as is Alan Hansen. The King himself is desperate to help the club he loves in anyway he can.

It's great to see that the kids have one foot in the FA youth cup final after a 3-0 first leg win against Birmingham. Della Valle grabbed two goals and David Amoo got the other from right midfield. I expect we'll see quite a few of this team make first team appearances over the next few years.

Rafa's comments should be reassuring to Xabi and ensure that there isn't any repeat of last summers shenanigans. I'd be gutted if Xabi left. We know that Tores will leave us one day. I hope that day is far far away and I had assumed it would be to return to Atletico. But El Nino says he would like to try Serie A before Spain. Not what I expected but let's hope it's the distant future.

Alvaro Negredo of Almeria is being linked to Anfield by Setanta. The 23 year old striker has had a great season and has scored 17 goals. Sky sports reckon that we could be in for Mauro Zarate as Lazio only have 2 weeks left to take up their option on him. His agent says that there's been interest from two English clubs. He's a quality player who did well at Birmingham on loan but he'd cost a lot and I'm not sure where he'd fit into the team. If we bought him it could be the Robbie Keane scenario again where he's too good for the bench but no clear place in the team. The Daily Mirror reckon we're going to bid for Roque Santa Cruz of Blackburn this summer. He wants to leave but I can't see us competing with city in an auction for him as it would be too expensive.

Costly defeat

Out of the cup, quel dommage. Good goal by Rodwell for the winner but what an appalling match? Both teams were shit but Everton were better once Luas got his second yellow. While I don't really care too much about the FA cup this year, we'll be counting the cost for a while. Firstly our captain came off injured after 15 mins on Wed. He's out for 3 weeks and the gaffa is worried. Luckily, there is an international break in that time so he should be back in time for the Real Madrid game.

Secondly the players had to play 120 mins which won't leave them feeling fresh ahead of the Portsmouth match on Saturday evening. Torres didn't have a great match but is regaining fitness after his lay off so I'm hoping we see the Chelsea Nino, rather than the Everton one. In fairness to Jagielka, he played well and shackled Torres by and large.

Rafa reckons he has enough attacking options without Keane. That may be true while Torres stays fit but if he breaks down then we're screwed. He did hint that the likes of Nemeth and Pacheco may get a look in at some stage. Degen, not for the first time this year, is injured and dare I say it, not for the last time either. I would like to actually have a look at him play some time. If he can't make an appearance by the summer he should get shipped out.

The myth that our full backs "never cross the halfway line" (TM Andy Gray), seems to have become an accepted fact by the masses. Funny how we saw both Aurelio and Arbeloa rampaging down both wings against Chelsea. Aurelio put in the cross for Torres goal and has four assists in the league which compares favorably with any other full back. I'll wager that this figure would be higher if he hadn't been injured for a while.

It's interesting to hear that we failed in a bid to sign Kerrison in Jan. He's a player that we've been linked to in the past but he has a complicated third party ownership contract which made any transfer very difficult. Spurs tried to offer us one of Jenas, Bently or Bale in part exchange for Robbie. Bently would have been useful as an option for the right but he seems to be a complete knobend and I don't know if he would have fit in. Fans and players don't have a very high regard for him. Anybody who rocks the dressing room boat doesn't last long at Anfield i.e. Bellamy.

Xabi says that he's going nowhere for the duration of his contract. So we can look forward to watching the maestro for the next 3 years at least.

It looks like Rafa is trying to rob Barca. The object of his attempted larceny is none other than Gerard Deulofeu, a 14 year old prospect. He too could follow in Pacheco's footsteps. Speaking of the underagers, Ince, Pepper and co beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA youth cup last night. Let's hope they can repeat the success of Spearing's team a few years back.

Robbieless reds rout rovers

LFC are back to winning ways with a 3-1 win away at Blackburn. At half time I was afraid that it was going to be yet another one of those days where we struggled to break down a packed defence. Pepe had kept us in the game with a superb save from Pederson after 30 mins. But in the second half Blackburn came at us a bit more and gaps opened. We exploited them to take our first win in three league matches, a win which keeps us a point clear at the top of the league. "Everybody's chasing Liverpool" as the commentator said yesterday. If we're still top in Jan I'll let myself get excited, for now it's a case of one game at a time.

Xabi opened the scoring after the hour mark with a shot which he passes into the net. Xabi was back to his best after a few mediocre performances. Yossi added the second after beating Warnock on the edge of the area, he shot past Robinson to place the ball inside the far post. Rafa will be annoyed that Santa Cruz was allowed to pull one back with a close range header for them with a few minutes to go. Stevie G put the icing on the cake after being set up by Riera.

Insua made a start and played really well in the absence of the injured Aurelio. He looked at home in the first team and added a lot going forward. He looks a safer bet than Dossena at the this stage. Yossi did well with his goal and could have had another in the first half only for a vital challenge from Warnock. But he is surely a squad player rather than somebody you rely on every week. Babel did alright with a few runs but could have contributed more. Setanta were getting ready to lambaste Rafa for not starting Keane if we didn't win. I'm hoping that Robbie will see this as a warning that nobody is guaranteed a place despite their price tag and step up his end product. It's the final match of the champions league this week and PSV host Liverpool FC knowing that they can't make it through to the last 16. We could do with banging a few goals in to improve our goal difference, which will enable us to finish ahead of Atleti, who face a harder journey to Marseille. The goals haven't really been flowing for us recently so this is a good chance to turn that around with a prize awaiting us if we can. Agger will come back in for Sami as the Finn isn't registered for the Champions league this year. I expect that Keane will be given a start and hopefully will repay that with goals.

It sounds like Gerrard is maturing when it comes to his position on the pitch. He is no longer demanding where he wants to be played. I'm glad to hear it. In the past I thought he was too selfish in trying to dictate where he should be played. That's a decision for Rafa to make, not Gerrard, not Jamie Redknapp, not Andy Gray nor anybody else.

Ince junior helped the youth team to advance to the next round of the FA youth cup by beating Leeds 2-1. It would be great if they could make a run in the competition this year. There are some very highly rated players in their ranks.

Torres has gone to Spain in search for a cure to his hamstring problems. There are mixed reports as to how long he might be out for. One suggests he'll be back in the new year with another saying he could be back for the Christmas programme. While we needs his goals, his long term fitness is more important.

Argentine kid Zuculini won't be making his way to Anfield just yet apparently. English kid Hammill will be coming back in January according to Sky. Maybe Rafa sees him as an impact sub on the left the same way he uses El Zhar on the right at the moment.

Tony Barett in the Echo suggests that Dubai may have dropped their interest in the club as cash for big investments isn't readily available anymore. If this is accurate then we could be in big trouble. The Times has a similar story. There may be trouble ahead.

The FA won't be taking actions against Liverpool over the Michael Shields demonstration. If you want to examine the facts and evidence which is stacked in Michael's favour, I suggest checking out the BBC inside out documentary on him here. Very informative. I'm very happy that the club have taken a stand here and backed one of their own. Unusual to see a premier league club make a decision like that without a financial motive behind it. Lawrence Donegan in the Guardian has a well thought out piece on the subject.

Kop out

And so ends the FA cup dream for another year. Have to say that a) I didn't see the match and b) I'm not that put out. Domestic cups are fine if you win them but never a disaster when you lose in my book. We should have won this easily and created loads of chances according to Le Tisier who watched it on sky. We didn't and they got lucky. Many of them played the game's of their lives. Fairplay Barnsley. Magic, romance, giantkillers etc. As one R Keane said of the history and traditions of the cup, "all of it was bollocks. The Premiership and the Champions League were the only trophies we were concerned about."

I was more pissed off about the FA youth cup defeat to Sunderland last week. We'd fought back a couple of times after being 2-0 and 3-2 down. It finished 3-3 to take it to extra time. But Waghorn, who's played senior games, scored 2 to complete his hat trick and make it 5-3. It's a pity but the achievement of this team in winning the comp two years in a row is a testament to the work Rafa, McAuley, Heighway and others have done. The good news is that the current vintage are almost all young enough to play again next season. Hopefully we'll see some of them make the breakthrough to the senior team in a few years.

Inter loom large on the horizon. This is going to be really tough. Mancini is a good coach who's been given money, never in short supply at Inter, but crucuially, he's also been given time. They have some fantastic players on their books like Zlatan, Stankovic, Crespo and Cambiasso. The tussle between him and Monster Masch should be one to watch. If we can keep a clean sheet at Anfield then we're in with a decent chance. Torres should be back to full fitness now so I'm hoping we can knick a goal or two. On paper they have the better talent but we've the european experience and Rafa is the master of two legged ties. A good result here would do a lot to raise morale. If we lose I fear it may go nuclear.

Chris Bascombe had an article about DIC in the NOTW yesterday. Anfield road.com have some good analysis of the article here.

Hammer blow

Last minute penalties are a killer. I was sickened at the end of the match at Upton Park. We hadn't played brilliantly, but had created some good chances. A draw and shared points probably would have been the fairest result. But the ref could have given us a peno a few minutes earlier when Lucas Neil touched the ball with his arm. He turned us down and then he gave them one a few minutes later on the stroke of full time. If we'd taken our chances then it wouldn't have mattered. We didn't and paid the price as has been the case many times this season.

Sunderland visit Anfield tomorrow. We are in crap form at the minute but this could be the perfect opportunity to turn it around. Sunderland have terrible away form with only 2 points from 36. Jones will cause us problems but their defense is pretty crap so we should be able to win. Surely we have enough to put he black cats away? I think we'll do it. I'm going to this match so I'd love to see us bang in a few goals and get the season back on track.

Momo completed his move to Juve this week. I hope that it works out for him and he goes on to have a great career. A letter from him was published on the official site today. As Rafa would say, "a nice boy".

The news that Opare, a young Ghanain defender we've been tracking, has opted for Real Madrid is dissappointing. The fact that he was with our feeder club, Ashanti Gold, is even more annoying.

We drew Barnsley at home in the FA Cup. It's a decent draw and we can't say fairer than that really. There are only six premiership teams left in the cup and United and Arsenal playing each other, we have a decent enough chance of going all the way.

The youth team beat Arsenal in the FA youth cup on Tuesday. The team is a young one and only has a few members from last years victorious team. When you consider that we're going for three in a row here, it's a great testament to Steve Heighway, Hugh McAuley and Rafa. Pako Ayestarán was at the match which is interesting but may not mean anything in itself. He recently left his job with Real Sociedad.

Joe goal

It was bad. Very bad in the first half but we improved after the break. Given how well Chelsea played and how many chances they created, I think that we were quite lucky to only lose 1-0. Only for Reina it could have been a lot worse. It's a shame that Finnan wasn't fit as it meant that Arbeloa had to play right back, Riise on the left and Zenden played left mid. I think that we all know that Zenden isn't really good enough for a game like this but we don't have a host of options on the left given the injuries and he did as well as could be expected of him. He managed to beat the Chelsea right back but couldn't cross to great effect. We can only hope that Finnan is fit for next weeks return leg at Anfield.

We have it all to do. Our passing was terrible in the first half and I thought that we looked a bit nervous on the ball. I think that it'll be different on our home patch with the crowd behind us. We'll need to start quickly and try to get an early goal. I hope that Agger and Carra can do a better job on Drogba who caused panic all night. Drogba is an amazing player so there's no shame in it but they've managed to keep him quiet before and I have faith that they'll be able to do it again on Tuesday. He was up to his old tricks of feigning injury and looking for frees. Agger took exception to it gave him an earful.

Before all of that we have the thrill of a visit to Fratton park. Portsmouth have given us problems in the past and I wouldn't be surprised if they do so again on Saturday. Expect Rafa to rotate and rest as many as possible. We might even see Harry Kewell come off the bench.

In the FA youth cup, Liverpool trailed 2-1 going into tonight's match at old Toilet. Utd had the best of it in the first half but we struck back in the second half and Robbie Threlfall scored to take the game into extra time. That took the game to extra time where there were no further goals. In the penalties, Roberts saved a penalty and then Sam Hewson, the Utd captain sent his penalty over the bar in front of the stretford end, to ensure that Liverpool retain the trophy. We're only the fifth team ever to achieve this feat. The future's bright, the future's red.

G Unit

A second half "double-pack" from Stevie G was all that was needed to put Boro to the sword. Southgate's team didn't look all that bothered and at half-time I feared another 0-0 might be on the cards. Thanksfully, Gerrard popped up with a long range effort from nowhere to give us the advantage. Then we were aawarded a penalty when Crouch was standing in the box. I didn't see what it was given for but Poll was the ref so it's hard to know. Stevie stepped up to slot it away. Mascherano was unlucky to hit the bar with a header from a cross. Pennant had another good match and gave the Boro left back a torrid time, particularly in the first half. It was good to see the team play with confidence and get back to winning ways after the dour draws with City and Villa recently.

Gerrard now got 7 league goals this season which is a lot less than last year. Overall, I don't think that he's been playing as well compared to the high standards that he's set himself and I was a bit surprised when he was voted on the PFA shortlist by his fellow professionals. I fully expect Ronaldo or maybe Drogba to win it. Either would be a worthy winner.

Anfield will host Wigan this Sat while Arsenal travel to Spurs. We should be well capable of putting Wigan to the sword and hopefully Spurs might do us a favour. We're two points ahead of Arsenal at the moment and we should be able to hold on to third. Like I've said before, it's not hugely important, but it's a bit more prize money plus it's a marker for next season that we'll be closer to the leaders.

The first round of the FA youth cup was played on Monday and our team was beaten 2-1 by Man Utd. It's a pity that they lost after going ahead in the first half. But it's only the first leg and away goals don't count so they're still in with a chance when they go to Old Toilet next week. It would be great to see them win it there, on enemy territory.

The latest rumour doing the rounds on the new stadium is that it'll be built as planned with a 61k capacity. But the difference is that it'll now be expandable to a 77k stadium. The new Kop will be single tier with 18k seats which is a large boost on the current one. These are still rumours for now as they haven't been confirmed by the club yet.

Liverpool TV was announced this week. It will broadcast 7 days a week and I would imagine that it'll be subscription based. Maybe Hicks and Gillette think that there will be individual rights in the future so they're setting up a TV station now.

More after the pie-eaters visit on Saturday.

City stalemate

A most unremarkable match, all things considered. I feared that our league season might go out with a damp squib rather than a bang and that now appears to be the case. Given that Bolton failed to beat Arsenal yesterday it looks like the top four will remain as is and all qualify for the champions league. Whether we finish third or fourth isn't going to make a hige ammount of difference in the long run. Both spots mean that you have to pre qualify for the group stages and the champsions league TV money for each spot is 15% of the total for England.

I was surprised that Crouch didn't start given his recent good form. When he did come on, it was a bit late to make much of an impact. Kuyt did ok and put in a hard shift as usual, but didn't threaten that much. Pennant had a good first half but I feel he might have done better with Crouch to aim his crosses at. He had the beating of the left back Ball and gave him a torrid time. Roose didn't offer as much on the left and maybe Gonzalez would have been a better bet to try and stretch the game with his pace. Mascherano had another good game doign what he does best.

Anfield will entertain Boro on Wed night. Boro aren't a particularly entertaining team and I could see them being happy with a point away from home and playing a defensive 4-5-1. Given that we don't seem to be pushing ourselves in the league, with one eye on Chelsea in europe, we can expect another dour 0-0.

Tomorrow sees the first leg of the FA youth cup final between us and Utd. It would be amazing if we coudl retain the trophy, becomign the first club to do so. Doing it against the mancs would even more special. I would like to see Ryan Flynn do well as I met his dad before in Liverpool.

Lots of transfer rumours doing the rounds, as usual. We've been linked with Eto'o again and he might be up for the deal. He's been making a lot of favourable comments about us recently but it's still unlikely that he'd want to swap Barcelona for Liverpool. Plus he would cost a fortune and I don't know if Rafa would be willing to spend that much on one player. I think Barca may sell one of Ronaldinho/Eto'o, but not both. Alves continues to be linked and I do think that we'll make a serious effort to get him this summer. Ribery has been liked to us a lot and would do a good job on the left in my view. But it's probably more likely that he'll go to Arsenal.

Enjoy the sunshine and the remainder of the weekend.

Bore draw

The Villa game on Sunday was one of the worst games that I've seen in a long time. I feel sorry for anyone who had to sit through it. Reina had nothing to do and the only real save that Sorensen had to make was from Fowler's header at the end. Our defence had nothing to do but our attack was incapable of getting through Villa's five man midfield. As has happened a lot of times this season, we've struggled to break down a team with a deep defence and a massed midfield. Xabi coming on earlier might have helped if he could have played a ball in behind for Bellamy. But the Villa defence were sitting so deep that there wasn't too much space in behind. As I've said in previous posts, we lack the top quality wingers needed to break down a massed defence. I'm hoping that we buy a top class winger this summer, preferably for the left so that we can stretch the play and make the difference in tight matches like this. Luckily for us, Everton managed to beat Arsenal so we gained ground on them in third and there is only one point in it now even though they have a game in hand. At this stage I would imagine that they will probably finish thrid as it means more to them. Their season is over while we still have the champions league to play for.

I head Andy Gray was bleating on about Gerrard playing in the centre again on Sky the other night. Gerrard hasn't been as good this season as last year, no matter where he has played. I didn't hear Andy complaining last season when Gerrard scored 23 goals, mainly from the right.

No game until Arsenal visit Anfield on the 31st. I hope that our attacking play has improved by then. Remember that you can send me on any spare tickets that you might have for this match as I'm going over and I need two.

Well done on the youth team who beat Newcastle 3-1 in the second leg to go through 7-3 on aggregate to the FA youth cup final. They will play either Utd or Arsenal in it. It would be a great achievement for them to retain the trophy.

There has been a lot of talk this past week about extending the capacity of the new Stanley Park stadium. The original plan was for a 61k seater stadium but this is now under review and we could end up with of 70k or more. I'm not that surprised by it considering that we have around 56k fans on our season ticket waiting list. I hope that it does mean that it will be easier to get hold of tickets as it's currently very difficult to get tickets if you are going over on a day trip.

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.