Madrid done four

How's that for shit on a stick? How did a negative manager like Rafa manage to beat Real Madrid 4-0? It must be because Liverpool are shit. Couldn't be anything to do with Liverpool being good. Given that Boro beat us 2-0, does that mean they are 6 goals better than Madrid? Probably.

A great performance on a great night. We bullied them from the off. Gerrard superb all night but Torres put them to the sword. He looked as fired up as I've ever seen him. Unstoppable. He gave Cannovaro and Pepe the run around, turning and leaving them for dead at will. As Stevie said, "we were awesome".

It was a brilliant team performance. Only for Cassillas, we could have won by a lot more. He made a string of amazing saves. But he was unable to stop El Nino when Kuyt set him up from the right. Then we got lucky with a peno against Heinze. It was harsh in the extreme but Gerrard made no mistake from the spot. When the second half started we picked up where we left off. Babel fed Gerrard after beating Ramos down the left and the skipper hit a sublime volley. Real gave it a bit more of a go after that. Lucas and young Jay Spearing came on for Torres and Gerrard. Spearing put in an impressive cameo. Then Dossena scored the final goal after coming on as a late sub, his first goal for the reds. Nice one baldy.

I don't think we'll worry about facing anybody in the quarters. Bring them on. We've proved our Euro pedigree over the past few years and nobody will be thrilled about drawing us.So it's the short journey to old toilet on Sat. If we play like we did on Tuesday, we'll give them a good going over. I expect that Utd will be a harder test. They're in decent form. I hope the ref doesn't take the piss like he did in the corresponding match last year. It's going to be tough. I think we'll draw. A win would be great but I think it's beyond us.

Paul Jones in the Times has an article on the disgraceful booing of Lucas at the Sunderland game. It was shameful. Tony Barrett in the Echo has a similar article. Speaking of the young brazilian, he could be on his way to Atletico in the future.

Paul Tomkins on the official site exposes the sky propagated spending myth. Read this if you can handle the truth.

The daily Mail is linking us with a move for Aaron Lennon. He seems to have improved this year and Rafa has been linked with him in the past. He'd give us much needed pace on the flanks but he would cost a fortune due to the english player tax.

Paul Kelso in the mail has a sobering article on the revenue gap that has opened between LFC and the other top four clubs. This is why a new stadium is vital.

Yoss we can!

LFC got back on track with a routine 2-0 home win. Sunderland did their best to frustrate and kept it goalless at the break. But Yossi said "I'm not having that" and ran at them until they gave in. I've been so impressed with him since Christmas and he's been head and shoulders ahead of the rest. He caused the black cats no end of problems and even managed to grab a poachers goal when Fulop fumbled a N'Gog effort. He linked up well with Kuyt, Gerrard and N'Gog and is clearly relishing the extra attacking responsibility he's been given with Torres out injured. Can we beat them? Yoss we can.

Sunderland parked the bus looking for a draw, after seeing so many teams stifle us effectively this year. It was up to us to break them down and Yossi took the lead in that department. David, or Charles as Jamie Redknapp likes to call him, scored his first premiership N'Goal for the club and put in an impressive performance. Riera sent over a lovely cross from the left for Gerrard to head back into the danger area and N'Goals finished from 6 yards out. How refreshing to take the lead in a match rather that having to chase a game? I wouldn't say he looked like the second coming but he showed some of the potential that the staff have invested in. He has a nice touch, decent pace and links up well with others. He still looks a bit slight and could do with some work in the gym this summer.

Javier Mascherano was pretty deadly at right back. Sky and Setanta were perplexed by the decision but he's played on the right before for River Plate. He's quick, reads the game superbly and is a great tackler. He made a few marauding runs up field and even hit the side netting with one shot. The next time that we have three right backs injured, Arbeloa, Darby and Degen, we should stick him in there. Maybe he would have been a better option there against Boro.We have a week off until the next Madrid game. I'm hoping that some or all of Torres, Arbeloa will be back fit by that stage. I'm sure that they're undergoing intensive treatment. We do have the away goal lead which is huge but it means nothing unless we keep a clean sheet. Javier had a great match in the first leg and we'll need him to be at his best again here. That's why we'll need Arbeloa fit so Javier can return to his usual post. We're in pole position but it isn't over and we can't take anything for granted.

Raul Albiol is being linked again with the fee being £13m. Arbeloa is yet again being linked with a move back to Spain, with Atletico willing to pay over £7m for him. I think he's improved on last year and has been steady if unspectacular. He's quicker than Finnan but doesn't cross as well. If he does go, I hope we get a top quality replacement in.

Adam Hammill is trying to impress the boss while on loan at Burnley. Seb Leto's loan at Olympiakos could be in trouble after a training ground bust up.

Rafa raids Real

Liverpool only won because Real are in fact shit, according to the pundits. Despite the fact that they were on a superb winning and goal scoring run, beating all comers, it only took Liverpool 90 mins at the Santiago Bernabéu to expose them as the muck that they are. Poor Andy Gray was inconsolable on Sky after the match.

The talk beforehand had Gerrard to start. As it happened, he only made the final few mins. Torres took a knock in the first few mins and didn't really get into the game afterwards. It was down to the supporting cast to make the headlines.

Yossi won it 1-0 for us with a header from a superb Aurelio free. The Israeli has really come into his own in the last few months and was superb last night. Playing in behind a lone striker really suits him more than playing wide. Man of the match for me but there were others who ran him close.

Dirk had another huge Champions League showing. All of the defence did well and restricted Real to a few chances. Pepe did well when called upon. Xabi and Javier were brilliant. Xabi tried one of his trademark efforts from his own half. Iker managed to scramble back and turn it over.

It was a huge result to get the away goal and keep a clean sheet. I do fancy or chances to go through and I fancy our chances against any team in Europe. I think that we have an aura and reputation that scares the opposition. They know that Rafa is the master of the two legged tie. Our reputation precedes us and works for us the way it does for Utd in the premiership.It's off to the Riverside on Saturday afternoon. They are never easy opposition for us and are one of those teams that we struggle against. I fear that we may be looking at another draw what with Torres out injured. At least Gerrard will be back to start then.

Ben Blackmore on the Setanta site posts a top article on Rafa. Contrast that with this shit. Matthew Sayed in the Times has an article praising the contribution of Gerrard. According to him, it's all down to Gerrard and Rafa has had nothing to do with our trophy haul since his arrival. What bollocks?

Transfer fiction writers Tribal football are linking us with a move for Raul Albiol in the summer. He's a young player who'd be an addition as he can play in defence or midfield but it raises more fears of an Agger departure. Kerrison revealed that he rejected a few moves to Europe. Was one of them from us?

Anfield Road.com have a great article on why it's best not to believe everything that you read in the press. That's been emphasised this week with all of the Rafa to quit rumours amid talk of bookies suspending betting. The boss quashed all of that rubbish with his post game press conference.

Red Robbie guns Gooners

Good man Robbie. Not bad for the €20m flop that he's been labeled. It was an astounding finish, not one from a player who has looked out of form and short on confidence at times this year. Together with van Persie's strike, there were some great goals on show for the neutral. 1-1 keeps us top but with Chelsea facing Everton, we'll need the toffees to do us a favour in order to stay there.

With Rafa back on his sick bed after his operation, Sammy Lee was the boss. He was disappointed with the draw. As was I Sammy. The win was there for the taking after the red card to Adebayor. John Giles on RTE said that the red card was fully justified for a studs up over the ball challenge which would have broken Arbeloas leg if it had made full contact. Graham Taylor on BBC 5live said it should have been a straight red. But our team seemed to respond negatively to the boon and Arsenal fought like Lions to preserve parity. Fair play to them but I think we could have caught them if we really pushed hard enough. We had them on the rack for most of the second half. We were the better team overall and created some great chances but as per usual this season, we didn't make them count. I do feel that if we had a fit Torres then there would clear daylight between us and the chasing pack rather than a point or two.

Aurelio was still injured as was Dossena so Insua took the left back berth and made it his own. He was superb and my man of the match. It was a really impressive display from the 19 year old. He raided down the left and delivered some great crosses. I would be quite happy so see him get a run of games there now.

Another who stepped up was Lucas in the midfield. Javier was struck down with flu so the Blonde Brazilian came in and put it up to the Arsenal midfield. He did have a few hairy moments in the first half but improved as the game went on. He will be happy with himself after that. It probably helped him that Fabregas went off injured at half time. You do need to have a squad of quality players in order to compete at this level and Lucas is improving as our fourth choice midfielder. I hope the crowd give him a chance.It's time to bash Bolton on Stephen's day. They are the kind of team that we should be able to put away easily but we've struggled badly against this season. I expect Javier will be back but we could have an even great boost if El Nino is fit enough for a place on the bench. It's very important that he's right when he does return so I wouldn't be in favour of rushing him back for Bolton.

Slovak hero Martin Skrtel is back in training. Be prepared for premier league defenders to develop sudden injuries before kick off at the thought of facing mighty Martin. He could feature against Bolton on Stephen's day.

Riera admits that we've been nervous at Anfield this season. This is an area in which we really need to improve if we're going to win the league. We need to make teams fear us rather than us fearing dropping points against inferior opposition.

The Mirror speculates that Pennant may be on his way to White Heart lane in a player plus cash deal for Aaron Lennon. Given that he can leave for free in the summer, Pennant isn't worth much more than about £2-3m now. Glen Johnson is due to be sold in January as Portsmouth have massive debts and has been linked with a move to L4. He would be a good signing for us and would provide cover and competition for Arbeloa. He's improved since he went to Portsmouth and seems to have left his toilet problems behind him. Plus the fact that he's English helps with the law changes for homegrown players.

The Champions League draw matches us with Real Madrid for the first time since the 1981 final. This is a classic tie against two European heavyweights. It won't be easy but Real aren't in great form now. Ramos may make a difference and they seem to be spending a lot of cash in Jan.

This is why the Keane to Spurs speculation is rubbish. It goes against Premier League rules. That seems to have slipped the minds of some of the hard working journo's who've been stirring this story recently.

Richard Williams has a really badly written piece in the guaridan on Rafa's tenure at LFC, full of half truths and speculation. Does anybody else feel that standards are dropping at the Guardian or is it just the sports dept?