Wolves and Trotters

We went to Molineux last wednesday to face Wolves. It was the first of what I viewed as two winnable games, with Wolves being the easier of the two. How wrong I was. We were shockingly bad. The only positive to be taken from the match was that we didn't lose and Gerrard returned to the first team. Other than that, we showed nothing.

Thankfully we moved on with a 2-0 win over Bolton at Anfield on Saturday. Dirk continued his good goalscoring form after Aquilani set him up with a far post header. Insua had swung in the cross and had a great game overall. I'm happy for Emiliano as he's been below par for a while as have most of the defence. What a difference a Greek makes? Kyrgiakos has come in and stabilised the entire back line. He's a no nonsense type who knows what his job is and sticks to it. Not the most cultured distributor of the ball, but one who get stuck in, wins headers and blocks at vital times. He cleared a ball off the line in the first half which could have changed the complexion of the match.Everton are level with Liverpool and Chelsea on 14 points from 18 according to the premier league form table. I'm happy to have Kyrgiakos in there to combat the aerial threat of Cahill and Fellaini. The defence will have a busy day as I'm sure the toffees will be well up for it, as they always are in the derby. This is another massive game, they all are now for us to finish fourth. A win would set us up nicely for the Arsenal match but I suspect we could be heading for a draw.

Not for the first time in recent years, the Liverpool rumour mill went into overtime and the word in the city was that Rafa was going to resign today. This proved to be rubbish, quelle surprise. The boss dismissed the rumours and said he's committed to the club.

In an odd move, promising German full back Chris Buchtmann has been sold to Fulham for £100k plus future conditional payments. I thought that he was rated highly so this is very strange unless the kid is having problems off the pitch.

We've signed a co-operation deal with Genk in Belgium. This will enable us to sign promising players from South America and Africa and let them develop in Genk, where the work permit laws aren't as strict. Arsenal and Man Utd have similar deals with Beveren and Royal Antwerp. I've always wondered why we didn't do this a few years ago.

The Liverpool Echo says that we've offered a pre contract agreement to Milan Jovanovic of Standard Liege as he's on a free in the summer. In the same paper Dirk talks about his Scouse family and their love of fish and chips. Dirk is one of my favourite players. He sounds like a really decent and down to earth bloke. Former target Nicolas Lodeiro won't be coming to Anfield as he's signed for Ajax. If the hype is to be believed, Martin Jol has pulled off a coup here as this kid is going to be a star.

Just as the transfer window was about to slam shut, it seems we managed to slip one through the gap. If some reports in Greece are to be believed, we've managed to sign Greek full back Vasilis Torosidis on loan from Olympiakos on loan. If everything goes well, this will become a permanent deal in the summer for around €7m. I really wasn't expecting us to do any business today so this comes as a pleasant surprise. As to the player himself and his abilities, I don't have a clue. He's good mates with Kygiakos, if that helps. Then again, it could be speculation which comes to nothing.

Back on track?

Does a 3-2 away win get everything back on track? In a way yes. It was important that we went into the international break of the back of a win. As is often the case, we didn't do this the easy way, falling behind twice to scrappy goals. But Glo Jo got the first to leave us level at half time. After conceding early in the second half, we went on the rampage, which became easier once Davis was sent off for a second yellow. El Nino scored after a superb lay off from Dirk and Gerrard added the winner with a few minutes to go. We battered them second half and could have added a few more as Gerrard hit the bar and Torres had an effort cleared off the line. Some fairly measured analysis here from Le Tisier on Sky Sports.

I wouldn't say it's all full steam ahead but it's a definite improvement on the Spurs and Villa matches. But the defence is a real cause for concern at the minute. If we don't get our act together we'll win eff all this year. Kyrgiakos made his debut and did ok. He's clearly good in the air but was sloppy in possession a few times. Carra hasn't been helped with trying to organise a defence with 2 new players and an inexperienced one in Insua. I'm hoping that Aurelio and Skrtel will be back for the next match against Burnely on Sat 12th.

Now that they seem to be over their giant killing spree, it should represent a good opportunity for us at home. They play a fairly open game which should leave space for our stars to exploit. Johnson can continue his fine form and make the right flank of the pitch his own. He's been nothing short of a revelation so far. Long may it continue.The draw for the Champions League group stages was made on Thursday. We're in a group with Lyon, Fiorentina and Debreceni of Hungary. Is Hungary a country? Lyon will be tough enough but we should be good enough to top the group.

Paul Tomkins has a good article on the need for patience. He compares the treatment that different premier league managers receive for the same behaviour. Well worth reading.

Looks like Andrea is going nowhere. Earlier in the summer it looked like he might have gone to Napoli or Juve but at this stage he seems set to stay. Similarly I don't see us selling anybody else as there would be no benifit to doing so. Itandje is off to Kavala fc on loan. Even if Rafa were to get a good offer for him or Babel, he's unlikely to get the money to reinvest. Thanks very much Chris Purslow, Tom and George. A fine bunch of pricks.

WTF?

It's my fault. I have to hold my hold my hand up and accept responsibility for the 3-1 defeat to Villa. I had Johnson, Gerrard and Torres in my fantasy football team. You'd think I'd learn after all these years. When I have Liverpool players in my team, we play shit. You'll pleased to know that I"m going to revert to my usual tactic of not picking any LFC players and loading up with Rooney, Rio and the lads.

Here's a surprisingly balanced report from Football 365 on the result. We created a load of chances in the first 20 minutes but didn't take them. We went behind to a freaky deflected goal and were chasing it after that. That suited Villa who sat back and hit us with pace on the counter. In fairness to them, they did quite well in that kind of game where the onus was on us. Quite a few of our players had off games. Gerrard and Torres both had poor games, El Nino not helped by receiving some elbows to the head. But it was a shitty performance once we went behind. I'm always wary when we play teams who haven't won in ages. They often turn it around against us, ala spurs last season.

Bolton on Saturday gives a chance for revenge. I know it's very early early but we can't afford to slip to far behind and trying to catch up every week. We should batter Bolton but they are the kind of physical team that often causes us problems. If we score first we could batter them like the Stoke game. If we go a long time without scoring then we might start to fret like we did last night.

Babel had want to watch it according to Rafa. He's running out of last chances. His display against Spurs was so pitiful that I'd happily see him leave this summer. Aurelio is back in training. He'll have a job getting his place back from Insua.

Hungarian kid Nemeth is on his way to AEK Athens on loan for a season. It'll do him well to get some first team football on a regular basis. He looks a good finisher but could bulk up a bit as he's not blessed with pace.

Man Utd have shown a bit of class in relation to a fan getting a Hillsbourgh t-shirt printed and are to be commended for it. I would hope that Liverpool would respond similarly if one of our fans got a Munich t-shirt printed. I have no time for those appalling chants and two wrongs never make a right in that regard.

Premier league 80% won?

Three and easy would sum up the Bolton game. Robbie continued his form from the Arsenal match and scored two lovely goals, after Riera had opened the scoring. The boss was back in the stands after his operation, to preside over the beating. We're still top of the table at the halfway point, have the second best goal difference and all is rosy in the Anfield garden. How's that for festive cheer?

The team was set up somewhat differently to recent home matches. Javier sat on the bench and Dirk was put up beside Robbie. Riera and Yossi pushed on from the flanks, assisted by Insua, who was outstanding at left back again, and Carragher from the right. Xabi and Stevie were able to pull the strings in the middle. And it it worked like clockwork. I think this has proved that we need to commit the extra attacker against unambitious teams at home. Javier is fantastic but not really need in these games. I'm sure that he'll be back in the team against Newcastle on Sunday.
Will Rafa feel the need to mix it up with two games in 72 hours? In the past he definitely would have. One change that nobody will argue with is seeing Torres take a place on the bench. Rumour has it that he's ready and raring to go. About time, in fairness. We've missed him in all of our draws but I think the decision to leave him until he was right, was the correct decision. Newcastle lost to Wigan in their last match and they're a bit flakey but nowhere near the pushover that they were before Kinnear came in. He's put some backbone and fight into them. Let's hope that we don't see an Owen headline for the wrong reasons on Monday.

Voronin may make his move to Hertha Berlin permanent. Another player on loan has been doing well for his club Olympiakos. Watch Seb Leto score a great goals when he picks the ball up in his own half and runs the length of the pitch before scoring a belter.

Xabi had an interview in the daily mail which you can read here. Johnathon Wilson discusses our tactics and Rafa's manipulation of space, both at Valencia and now at Anfield. He's an interesting writer and his book on tactics is reputed to be a great read.

The Mirror suggest that Celtic have made a bid for Pennant who Madrid want too. I can't see him going anywhere as he can go for free if he stays until the summer. Meanwhile, the daily Mail think that AC Milan are after Dossena.

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?

No place is safe

Megson was tipping us for the league before the match. After that win we've moved inches closer, but we're still miles away. We're jumping all of the hurdles being put in front of us but there's much of the race yet to be won.

A 2-0 away win sounds routine, and it was. We created a whole host of chances and could have won 6-2. Gerrard, Lucas, Torres and Keane all missed glaring chances to put a gloss on the victory. Thankfully, deadly Dirk struck again and Gerrard headed a fine goal after a sublime cross from substitute Torres. Dirk had another superb game to continue his fine form this season. He took his goal fantastically well, a header from a great Aurelio cross, and saw a venomous shot crash back off the bar. Nicely done Dirk.

Rafa wants the squad to know that nobody is guarenteed a place. That includes Fernando Torres. The battle for a starting spot is really heating up. Nando will have to fight for a place when he returns from International duty. Let's hope he doesn't get injured this time. Gerrard won't be joining up with England as he's injured.

Once the tedium of a midweek international friendly is over, Fulham will be making their way to Anfield. We've a decent record over them in recent years and they tend not to do as well on the road. After that it's Marseille in L4. I'm really looking forward to the game as I'm making my first pilgrimage of the season and it'll be my first european game at the old ground. Can't wait.

Rafa has begun contract talks which is great news. Pennant looks to be on his way out of the club in January. To Bolton perhaps? A former target, Gareth Barry, is being linked with a move to Spurs now. Given the way Xabi has been playing, I hope we don't revive our interest.

Paul Tomkins on the official site has an interesting article on transfers and how long it can take for players to settle and deliver. He has a great list of players who were labeled flops but went on to be huge successes. It should be required reading for those who are writing off Robbie Keane already. A mate of mine told me that "it will all end in tears". I hope and predict that he'll be wrong.

Man Utd fan and former shareholders united member Keith Harris is predicting financial doom for us and advises a ground share with Everton.

Another Man Utd fan, the incredibly nerdy and boring Bill Edgar in the Times, says that we won't sustain a title challenge as we don't have the strength in depth. Has anybody else noticed how much better the Game podcast is this season now that he's been fired from it? Boring fool.

Ian Doyle in the post focuses on the academy and the rift between it and Melwood. This has been discussed by others like Dave Usher on the Liverpool way. It is a bit worrying and would be great if it gets sorted.

We need to talk about Andrea

Rafa felt the time was right to unleash his sinister rotation policy on the Carling cup. I saw this on a Liverpool forum and thought it was perfect. The boss used the opportunity of the Spurs match to bench some of the top players like Stevie, who needs a rest according to Rafa. Unfortunately, the reserves and fringe players took their opportunity with both hands - to show us that they're not good enough. It's only the carling cup so it doesn't hurt much but it's annoying to see the team perform so badly.

Agger said it wasn't good enough. He's not wrong. Not impressed with Dossena. But given how highly the Italians and Don Fabio himself rate him, there must be more to him than we've seen so far. But he has been fairly shit so far. I thought he was gradually improving but he was rubbish last night, as was Degen. If Arbeloa or Aurelio gets injured, which is quite likely in the latter case, we could be in trouble. Insua looks a better bet than Dossena at the moment. Maybe Dossena will go on to prove us wrong, or maybe Rafa will see he's not working here and cut his losses, as he did with Morientes and Josemi, and sell him in the summer.
The problem Rafa now faces is who to select against at right back against Bolton as Arbeloa is suspended. The options appear to be, play right back Degen or Darby, or move Carragher across from the centre and bring Sami in the middle, alongside Agger. The latter is more likely I reckon. If we go for option a, we can expect Bolton to put Davies on Degen/Darby and launch and aerial bombardment. If we have Carra out there then he'd be well able for it. Hopefully Torres will benefit from the run out and look sharper on Sat morning. We should have more than enough to batter them.

The A Liverpool thing blog has a feature on Fracisco Duran. Insert your own 80's joke here.

Riera has discussed the Spanish players and their use of English. Rafa seems very insistent on this and rightfully so. Speaking of Rafa, Stan Collymore doesn't think that Rafa deserves a new contract. Stan for manager. Tool.

Torres has reiterated that he has no desire to move anywhere else. He's a committed red and is staying here for a long time to come. Great news.

Investment banker Keith Harris reckons that the Americans may be forced to sell in January. Let's hope he's right.

Stop. Babel time

When he got going on Saturday you could see that the boy Ryan was thinking "u can't touch this." I reckon this was his best game yet for the Reds. He tormented both of the right backs and was a constant threat. He scored one goal and could have had another two or three. He is doing well in his wide left attacking role, similar to where he played for Ajax and Holland. It seems to be working well away from home where teams leave gaps for Babel and Torres to exploit with their pace and skill. He still needs to work on his stamina and tends to drift out of games after 60-70 mins. If he continues to improve then we're going to have a quality player on our hands.

In the end it was a routine victory but we looked quite nervous and under pressure at the start. Bolton had us under the cosh for the opening 10 mins with their usual corners, frees, long through ins and punts from the back. We didn't look to clever defending the high ball all match. It could be a case of Skrtel not being used to the zonal system yet. This will come with time. Maybe it would have been easier for him with Carra, rather than Sami beside him.

Once we got the flukey opener, it was a lot easier for us. Bolton pushed on which left gaps for the forwards to exploit and we could have had a few more by half time. Jussi made a few good saves from Babel and made sure that Bolton weren't dead and buried at half time.

Babel struck the all important second with a lovley near post strike after Dirk hit the post. His acrobatic celebration was one for the soccer am fans. Aurelio hit a sweet half volley for the third. A fine strike from a player who's improved over the last few weeks after getting regular starts. I hope that's not the kiss of death as he's been very unlucky with injuries once he puts a run of form together.


This Wednesday it's the turn of the 'appy 'ammers to visit Anfield. They were hammered (opps) by 10 man Chelsea on Saturday so here's hoping that they're panicking after that. It's an important opportunity for us to reclaim fourth and put pressure on Intertoto cup applicants Everton. Rafa may decide to rest Torres for this match or for Newcastle on Saturday give the number of important games that we have coming up.

The takeover speculation continues to drag on. The latest rumour is that Hicks is attempting to get finance or a partner to buy out Gillett's share. Given the current financial climate and lack of available credit, he may find it hard. This image appeared on RAWK. I like the work.


The official site had an interview with Paco De Miguel, our fitness coach. I hope he does as good a job as Pako, his predecessor, did.

Check this shit out. Good interview with our newly signed world class Argentine ace, Javier Mascherano. His english is impressive. It's about time that we've got him tied down. It's a relief that he is now ours and not owned by MSI anymore. Maradona said: "Of all the youngsters to have come through in recent years, the one who impresses me most is Javier Mascherano." Boss.

Good to see that Momo is fitting in well at Juve. Why didn't he ever do this for us?

Nice of UEFA to admit that they made a mess or things in Athens. No turnstiles is asking for trouble.

Can you score for fun, Fernando?

The answer is yes. An unremarkable match was lit up by the brilliance of our number 9. 3-2. Job done. There have been many days when we deserved more than we got but failed due to bad finishing. Here, we finished well without playing well. Boro might feel that they could have gotten a draw but the finishing of the kid proved the difference.

Torres helped himself to three and could have ad four only for a superb save from Swartzer in the second half. The Boro defence were semi sucidal in their back passing and indecision. I think that the pressure and presence of El Nino caused them to panic and make errors. Arca headed back towards his keeper for Torres to latch onto and score his first. His second was a beautiful shot from distance after good work from Babel and Aurelio. Pick of the bunch. For his third, he closed in on a through ball from Kuyt. The keeper and defender managed to collide and Fernando took full advantage to finish them off. That's 15 in the league for the season. I'm sure it would have been more if he hadn't missed a few games with injury. Where are those who were saying in August that he was over rated and we'd overpaid at £18m?

Our defence has had better games. I don't think that Arbeloa does as good a job at centre half as he does at full back. As a result our defensive line wasn't as sharp as usual. But Carra is back for the next match so we should be back to our usual solidity. Masherano did his usual stirling work in the middle. He's fast becoming my favourite Liverpool player. Babel did a decent job and set Kuyt up for a good chance in the first half. He seems to be benefiting from getting a run of starts. Gerrard was ok but hit a lovely free which Swartzer could only knock onto the post. With the race for fourth as close as it is, the points are more important than the performance at the moment. If we play badly and win for the rest of the season, I won't be complaining.

It's a short trip to the Reebok on Sunday. Bolton are doing ok, bar a 4-1 hammering today, and had a good result in the Uefa cup during the week. I thought Megson would be shit and take them down but they look like they might survive due to the teams below them being worse than them. So we'll have to go there and be up for it. These are the kind of games that we've been drawing and losing this year. I predict a draw.

It appears that there was some drama after the match yesterday. Tom Hicks son walked into the Sandon pub and was met with a hot reaction from the Reds inside. There seems to be some debate over what actually happened but I don't think that he was met with open arms. Can't say that I'm surprised. He was badly advised if he expected otherwise.

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.

Porto pasting

I've been slow writing a report on the Porto match as I haven't felt well over the last few days. I've finally gotten around to it now that I'm feeling better. By the time you read this it'll be time for the Bolton report. Sure I never get a minutes peace.

Porto looks like it was a walkover on the face of it. 4-1 sounds like a one sided hammering. In reality it was quite close until 15 mins to go. El Nino scored the opener in the first half when we were on top and he mach looked like it was going to be easy. They had a good spell for 15 mins either side of half time. After they scored, while the game was 1-1, it could have gone either way. Then Rafa brought Kewell and Crouchie on. Kewell set up Torres and Crouchie scored with a header from a corner. Gerrard scored a peno. Job done. Now it a case of getting a win in the Marseille match to make sure that we go through to the next round. I feel that we're more than capable of doing what needs to be done.


Bolton visit Anfield tomorrow. Again, Xabi and Dagger aren't ready yet. They are taking their time coming back but it's better not to rush it this time as we discovered the last time.

Rick Parry denied that Tom Hicks is interested in selling his share of Liverpool. One of the tabloids suggested that Sheik Maktoum was interested in buying out the Texan. It seems like this is pure speculation.

Trot on Trotters.

Bolton battered

The second half performance today was possibly our best of the season so far. Jermaine "asbo" Pennant had his best game ever for us. I was starting to get worried about the lad but if he can show this kind of form on a regular basis then he should be confident of staying at the club. Himself and the always impressive Finnan formed a great double act down the right. Gonzaléz wasn't as effective but both players stayed wide to strech the bolton play and pin them back. Kuyt was a dutch master again today. He scored one and set up another. I am glad that he scored. He is a fans favourite already but hasn't really gotten the goals that his play deserves. He's been unlucky with hitting the woodwork numerous times so it was great to see him get back amongst the goals again today. I would hope that he can score around 15 in the league this season. Crouchie got another of his overhead specials. His heading wasn't what it can be today but he made up for it with this spectacular effort here. As a commentator in America once said, that goal was as electricifying as a hairdryer thrown into a bathtub.

Our goals for and against is now 17-1 in our last seven games. The defence has really stepped up and is getting back to the form of last season. Sami was recalled today which didn't surprise me. He is still our best player in the air and is very useful against teams who like to pump it into the box. Isn't it surprising that there is no talk of zonal marking now that we are keeping clean sheets left, right and centre?

Next up is Arsenal in the FA cup and then the carling cup match against them. I would like to win both but I have to say that I wouldn't be that put out to see us drop out of one of the domestic cups. We're fighting on all fronts and could do with a few fixtures less. Winning a cup is great, as we saw in Cardiff last may but Europe is the big prize as we saw in Istanbul. I would trade a FA Cup and a Carling cup for another night like that legendary one we had 18 months ago. Check out my favourite youtube clip here if you need refreshing on the best match ever. Still brings a tear to my eye.