To the Maxi

Atletico beat us 1-0 in Madrid on Thursday night to put them firmly in the driving seat of this two legged tie. In truth, it wasn't a great game or performance from either team. Forlan did well to beat Pepe but it was a scrappy goal that we should have cleared. This was compounded when Yossi scored a legitimate goal minutes later which was disallowed for offside. Ngog struggled up front and couldn't hold the ball up on his own. Atleti will be happy that they managed to prevent us from scoring and will fancy their chances at Atfield on Thursday given they'll have Aguero back, we're missing Torres and they have a lead to protect. Not good. We can do it but Atleti are deserved favourites.

We finished the week with a 4-0 away win over Burnley. The first half was crap and we only got going with a deflected goal in the second half. Gerrard's strike wrong footed the Jansen when it took a deflection off a defender. His second was a sweet strike from distance, the kind of goal which he made his name with. Maxi scored his first goal for Liverpool, not before time. He's been a superb signing since he arrived and you can see how his technique, passing and movement help those around him. I expect him to bag a lot more goals next season.

Aquilani had a good game and reveled in the space available to him. He managed to set up three goals which is a pretty good return regardless of the opposition. I would like to see Alberto get an extended run and build on it with a full pre season behind him next season. Rafa has said he could play in the hole more regularly rather than in central midfield.
Some of the UK Press have been linking Torres with a move to City. I think this is unlikely and if he does leave us in the future, it will not be to another English club from theses quotes. I'd hate to see him leave but if he does, I could accept him playing for FC Barcelona a lot easier than City or Chelsea. He is also very complimentary about Rafa and his man management style, not something you hear very often in the press.

We've opened out summer spending with a move for Charlton midfielder Jonjo Shelvey. It a done deal now for around £1.7m rising to £3m and it's connected with an arrangement with Charlton. He's only 18 but has been talked about as a talent for a few years. The Mail suggest we're signing 15 year old Swede Kristoffer Peterson who's been on trial at the Academy.

Probably the best sponsorship deal in the world?

That's more like it. 4-0 at home and a job well done. After a nervy opening 20 mins we settled down and Yossi hit the opener after a pass in from the right by GloJo. The Israeli was on top form and completed his hat trick in the second half. He cut the Burnley defence to pieces time and again with his running between the lines.

Gerrard had a crucial role to play especially in the third goal. He was unlucky not to score himself when he beat the keeper but hit the post. Himself and lucas formed a tasty midfield partnership in Mascherano absence. Food for thought given that Javier is unlikely to stay beyond this summer.

Dirk scored the other, his second of the season. It will be great if he could repeat his feat of last season is getting 12 league goals from midfield. It's great to see players other than Torres and Gerrard getting goals for when our two match winners have off days. I'm hoping that Aquilani will bag himself a few when he gets going. He remains 2-3 weeks away from fitness.The defence held firm for the second time this season and Rafa says those calling time on Carra are premature. Tony Cascarino in the Times suggests that Carragher is the source of our early season defensive frailties. Skrtel came back in place of Kyrgiakos and I expect those two to be the first choice for the season baring injury. Agger will have a hard time displacing one of them. Aurelio and Insua will be an interesting battle for the left back spot as the season progresses. Insua has done well but Rafa's a big fan of the Brazilian and he gives us an option with free kicks.

West Ham were beaten yesterday and will want to bounce back against us in the late kick off on Saturday. Zola has them well organised and playing some nice stuff but we've a bit of confidence back now and we should be able to win it. This is the type of game that we might have drawn last year so I'd like to see us show we're different now and go for the three points.

Is seems we'll be saying goodbye to Carlsberg and hello to Standard Chartered as our £80m record equaling sponsorship deal was agreed this week. I did quite like the fact that we've had Carlsberg for many years but financial reality means we need to go for a more lucrative option. It could well mean more money for the Americans but that may mean less taken from Rafa's budget.

Pepe was asked if we could win the title and replied "I think so but there are other teams that are very capable of winning it", which is a fair enough assessment. It's going to be very tough. Rafa has tried to clarify Reina's comments.

Can I direct your eyes here? Top class from the Off the Ball team, Eoin and Ken. Cohen is a despicable human being. Great to know that he's off the air.

I'm disappointed but not surprised to read that Crewe are going to report us for tapping up one of their talented youths. 15 year old Max Clayton could head to Anfield but it might come at a high price. We've previous in this regard with Ziege a few years ago. I know that this happens a lot but I never like to see young players poached from their clubs for a small fee ala Macheda, Fabregas, Flamini and now Kakuta. Another young lad, Michael Ngoo has signed from Southend. 101greatgoals has a good feature on our Finnish boy wonder Lauri Delle Valle.

It was great to see that justice was done in the Michael Shields case as he was given a pardon. Better late than never but it'll be hard for the poor fella to rebuild his life after so long in jail for a crime he didn't commit. He wrote a piece in the Observer today which is worth a read.

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.