Reading and Stoke

The sporting week has been pretty crap for me as I was supposed to attend the Spurs match at Anfield only for it to be cancelled. This left me disappointed and out of pocket.

It continued with a dismal F.A. cup exit at the hands of Reading on Wednesday night. Watch this if you dare. We were shocking and Reading deserved to go through. To make matters worse, we lost our three most attacking player to injury. Torres is out for six weeks, Gerrard for a fortnight and Yossi three or four weeks.

So we travelled to the Britannia without Gerrard, Torres, Yossi, GloJo and Agger who got injured before Saturday. This meant a reshuffled team built for Stoke's aerial bombardment, and it very nearly worked. Kyrgiakos was drafted in at the back, to head away the artillery fire. He had a great game and did a passable impression of Sami H. He even managed to score the opening goal after some confusion in the box. Maxi got a run out in the second half. Unfortunately Huth scored at the death to level it. 1-1 was rough justice for us but you don't always get what you deserve in this game, especially with shit referees like Lee Mason around. We could have had a peno when Lucas was taken down but he booked the Brazilian instead and then gave a goal kick. If he believes the defender got a touch on the ball, how is it a goal kick? Kuyt and Ngog laboured up front and Dirk hit the post in the closing minutes. A few inches from salvation.Next up Spurs visit Anfield on Wednesday for the rearranged match. This is going to be really tough. I would expect that we'll see some of the guys who were rested yesterday get a start, like Riera, Maxi and Aquilani. I don't know whether we'll go with Kuyt or Ngog up front but it will probably be Kuyt. I'm hoping that Agger is back for this but there doesn't seem to be any easing up of the injuries at the minute. It's going to be messy and I don't see us getting much more than a point.

Watch this bit of madness to try and cheer yourself up. It probably won't work but it's worth a try.

Dossena has completed a €5m switch to Napoli. If for nothing else, Dossena will always be remembered for this and this. The less fondly remembered Voronin also completed a move this week. He's off to Dinamo Moscow for £2m. The Liverpool Echo suggest that we might be in for Jeremy Menez at AS Roma after he fell out with Ranieri.

Pacheco is thankful for the help he's received from Torres. It must be great for the young Catalan to have Nando there to help him settle in L4. Our younger youngsters had a great victory in the FA youth cup this week. They beat a much fancied Leicester team 5-1 to go through to the next round. Lauri Della Valle, our fab Finn, was the hero on the night with a hat trick. You can watch highlights here including an interview with Rodolfo Borrel the Academy manager.

Tom Hicks Jr got himself in a bit of hot water this week with an abusive e-mail to a Liverpool fan. Silly boy. You can read what the Guardian had to say about it here. It resulted in Hicks Jr resigning his position on the board. Rafa gave further news of how shit things are under the Yanks. If a substantial bid comes in for our top players this summer then we'll have to consider it. Let's hope the club is sold or there is some investment in the meantime.

Johnson's magic

It's hard to remember a better debut than Glen Johnson's last night. He scored one goal, was instrumental in others and kept a clean sheet. If he can do that every week, we'll have some player. He himself said it was a perfect night. He was good against Spurs but this was a whole new level. £17m is starting to look cheap. We've found ourselves an English Danny Alves after Rafa failed to buy the Brazilian one when he was at Seville.

4-0 was a decent way to get our Anfield account off to a flying start. Lucas was good in the middle again, El Nino opened the scoring and looked a little sharper. It may take him time to get back to full fitness after a short summer off. Yossi was vastly superior to Babel and should be there every game for now. Himself and Riera will scrap it out for that spot on the left but the Israeli gets my vote for now. Gerrard was pretty deadly and the build up to Kuyt's goal was a great team move, but a sublime touch from Gerrard capped it all. Young Ayala did nothing wrong at the back and kept it simple. It will have done him the world of good to have that clean sheet under his belt.We've a few days off until the Villa match next Monday night. It won't be easy as they've had a mediocre start to their season and will want to show the league that they're still contenders for a European spot. Skrtel should be back in action then, maybe wearing a mask. Riera could be in contention for the left midfield but that would be really hard on Benayoun. I'm expecting our injury crisis to ease in the near future.

Former Rangers defender Kyrgiakos is on his way to L4. I can see this happening as he'll be coming in as a cheap 4th choice centre back who's good in the air. A Sami replacement for those games where the ball is bombarded into the box. We'll need him as Agger had surgery on his back and will be out for 6 weeks. Leaving on loan will be Mikel San Jose who's off to Bilbao on loan for the year. Fair play to you boy.

Tony Barrett in the Times raise the slim possibility of a bid for Van Der Vaart from Real Madrid. He's a player that we've been linked to in the distant past but I can't see us having the cash now. The only way it could happen would be a loan deal with an option to buy next year. He'd give us great cover in the attacking positions. I don't see it happening in reality.

A bad day away from the office

Not quite what I was expecting. If we're going to win the league we need to improve on these kind of results. A 2-1 defeat against Spurs isn't a disgrace but with the other teams at the top winning, it's not ideal to be dropping three points on the opening day. As many have said, you can't win the league in the autumn, but you can lose. Not that I think we have, but I don't want us to spend the season playing catch up and relying on other teams to slip up again.

Obviously it's way too early to press the panic button but we need to get back on track ASAP. How can we change this for the Stoke clash tomorrow night? Hopefully Skrtel is fit to start alongside Jamie after their clash of heads, Rafa will make a late call on his fitness. Carra had a poor enough game by his standards. Young Ayala did nothing wrong but I wouldn't want to see him starting this game. I would expect Yossi to come in for Babel who was quite poor on the left flank as he nearly changed the game when he came on. Riera may have recovered from an ankle injury and could start. Babel was pretty shit. He's running out of last chances and doesn't look like he knows what to do with the ball. Unfortunately, Aquilani won't be ready for a few weeks yet so I suppose the majority of the team will be as it was on Sunday. Being in front of an expectant Anfield should gee up the team. Given that Stoke managed to take two league draws last season, there should be an appetite to exact some sweet revenge from the Potters. It appears the Adam Hammill has signed a permanent deal with Championship club Barnsley. He was highly tipped at one stage but hasn't been able to transform his talent into a first team spot. Another talented teen, Danny Pacheco, has signed a new deal which will keep him at the club until 2012. The former FCB striker did well in pre season and might get a look in during cup games this year. He was impressive last night as a young Liverpool XI beat Bohemians 2-0 in Dublin.

Japanese midfielder Keisuku Honda has been linked by Sky Sports. He's based in Holland with VVV Venlo. Dynamio Kiev defender and Sengalese International Pape Diakhate is a target if you believe this. The man himself is flattered by the link. The Sundays reckoned that Hertha Berlin have made a new £3m bid for Voronin. I think he's fine as a back up player but I'd prefer to see him go and give one of the younsters a go, as they're on lower wages. Tony Barrett in the Times today suggested that we only have around £2m to spend so it does look like Voronin and maybe others will need to be shipped out to provide funds. It seems that Rafa isn't happy with the amount of cash available to him at the moment. At the moment, we're breaking even rather than the boss being given a transfer pot, like in previous years.

Rafa rages amid Stoke stalemate

That was a bad weekend at the office. In the run up to the match, Graham Poll backed up Rafa's comments on Fergie, which was all over the news. Those wise after the event will say that it cost us points and maybe the title. Bullshit I say. We've come out with rubbish performances all season, long before Rafa said anything about the incontinent Scotsman. There was nothing in his statement that I have a problem with. Many in the media such as Alan Green and Oliver Kay have backed him up. By coming out with his rant Rafa has set and changed the news agenda. All of the talk last week was of Steven Gerrard. Not anymore. Was Rafa trying to take the pressure off his captain?

The Arseblog has a post on limited teams playing for a draw which is worth a read. I think that Stoke were good value for their draw here. They played to their strengths here and tried to frustrate us. It worked and very few of our players came out with too much credit. Lucas was ineffective coming in for Xabi. But he was well worth his place after some good performances recently against Bolton, Newcastle and PSV. Dirk laboured but didn't create a whole lot. He really should have done better with his header from a Riera cross at the start. Stevie nearly won it at the end when he hit the woodwork twice. Rafa came in for loads of abuse for his selection but this is almost the same team that hammered Newcastle in the last league game. He gets stick when he rotates and stick when he doesn't.

So we're still top, but for how long? If Utd win their games in hand they will go top. We can still do it but it's looking less likely. We'll probably have to win at the theatre of prawns now which isn't going to be easy. And we need to get back to winning ways against the BS in the derby this weekend. Hopefully Torres will be fit to start this time. He looked a bit rusty against Stoke but the extra week of training should help him. They will be without Fellaini and any sort of strikers. Moyes has a terrible record against us with only 2 wins in 9 matches since Rafa's arrived. Hopefully that trend will continue at Anfield.
Xabi wasn't fit enough for the Stoke game but should be ok for the Derby, which is a boost.
Stoke midfielder and former Red Salif Diao is a big Rafa fan.

Olly Kay in the Times chairs a debate on Rafa's genius. The opinion in these kinds of articles tends to vary wildly depending on the most recent results.

Guillem Balague has an interview with El Nino on his website. Whatever you think of Balague, I think a pinch of salt is needed with whatever he says, he gets good access to players and managers. Balague suggests that Glen Johnson won't be making his way to Anfield. He also reckons that we are not interested in Angel Lafita of Deportivo, who's been linked to us in the Spanish press. Another youngster that we've been linked to is Grenoble playmaker Sofiane Feghouli. Utd are after him now so I would imagine that is the end of that, given that we don't have the finances to compete with them. German teen Marvin Pourie is leaving the Academy to return to his homeland and has signed a deal with Schalke 04. I hope we secured a percentage of his future sale clause because he was quite highly rated. Voronin could also seal a permanent move back to Germany soon, which would swell the coffers by a few million. Renato Agusto of Leverkusen is being linked with a move to Anfield. I can't see us having the £10m+ required to buy him unless we manage to sell a few players soon. Very unlikely. Setanta suggest El Zhar could be on his way to Malaga on loan.

Could Theo Walcott be on his way to his boyhood club next year? I can't really see it happening as Arsenal would surely sell him rather than let him go for free in 2010. The kid is a boyhood red and would be a perfect fit for the right hand side but this all pretty hypothetical as I think Arsenal will sign him up to a new deal soon.

Just as he was establishing himself as our first choice left back, Insua has received the call from Maradona and is heading off with the Argentine under 20 team for the South American youth tournament. On the topic of left backs, Rafa says that Dossena is going nowhere. Some reports have been linking him with a return to Italy but the boss says that's a non starter.

Tony Barrett in the Echo finds flaws in Stan Collymore's logic. Not too hard to do.

It seems that Hicks and Gillett have secured a 6 month extension on their bank loan. I don't think this is much of a surprise as word was out before Christmas that they would be able to get extra times from the banks.

Ian Ayre has been looking into an Indian academy and having a tie in with a reality tv show. Sounds like a bit of a publicity stunt but it should boost our popularity with the billion or so in the subcontinent. There may even be a decent footballer or two among them.

Reds dump Deepdale

2-0 and through to the next round is the headline but there are some interesting sub plots.

First, after being clinical against Newcastle and Bolton, we returned to our normal form this season where we create lots of chances but refuse to take them, letting the opposition back into the game. We made countless chances in the first half and should have been out of sight. I'm afraid to say that Keane was the main culprit here and had a string of embarrassing misses. It's not the the first time this year and I won't be drawing any conclusions from it but it's about time he got his act together and started taking simple chances. But, as he himself has said, let's judge him at the end of the season in May.

Secondly, Torres returned with a goals after coming off the bench. Good man Nando. Stevie unselfishly set him up after Babel had released the pair on goal with a flicked header. Great to see El Nino back in competitive action.

Thirdly, Alonso came off injured with his leg in a cast. There is no word yet on how long he'll be out for but it didn't look good. Luckily Lucas stepped into the breach and did well, but while he's improving, he's no Xabi. Who is?

Lastly, there were contrasting performances from the wingers. Riera was superb after a slow start and was a menace down the flank. He took his goal really well and set up Keane for what should have been another. In contrast, Babel was quite ineffective. I'm starting to think that he's finished at Anfield. He hasn't progressed this year and I fear Rafa will move him on in the summer. He doesn't appear to have the desire to stake a claim to a spot in the team and I can't see Rafa picking a half hearted player ahead of a less talented but more committed player like Dirk. I hope Ryan proves me wrong. We've drawn Everton in the next round which is a bit of a kick in the teeth but we've shown we are capable of beating them easily enough over the last few seasons. To be honest, I would swap a cup exit for three points against them in the league at Anfield the week before.

It's back to the bread and butter of the league when the leaders visit the potteries to face Stoke this Saturday. They managed to frustrate us with a scoreless draw at Anfield and I'm sure Rafa and co will want revenge. This time we should have Torres back in the saddle. The fact that United face Chelsea at the weekend if a huge boost for us. A draw there or even a Chelsea win would please me greatly.
Pennant wants to go to Spain. To Atletico perhaps? I'm happy enough to see him leave for any club as he won't contribute anything for the rest of the season.

Lucas thanks Rafa for backing him. As mentioned above, the kid has improved a lot in recent games. He'll have a good chance to build on this in matches to come if Xabi is badly injured.

Icelandic midfielder Victor Palsson who plays for Aarhaus is being linked with a move to L4. It should get sorted sometime over the month.

Stoke and Crewe

Stoke was a stinker of a game. When I read that it was 0-0 at half time, I had an idea that it would end that way. After seeing the highlights, I think that the Gerrard goal should have stood. But besides that, we should have been well capable of beating a team like Stoke at Anfield. We created the chances but didn't take any. Some of the players are looking tired, like Dirk and Javier, who didn't play here. Others are off form like Robbie and Torres, who hasn't got into his grove so far. It'll come. This was disappointing in so far as we could have gone top of the league and we need to be taking these opportunities. We drew far too many games last year and I don't want us to go down the same route this year. Teams will come and sit 10 behind the ball. We need to be cleverer about how we break them down, be it Albert and Ryan on the wings or Yossi on the edge of the box.
The sparkling spectre of the Carling Cup has rolled around again. Against Crewe, we played Sami and some of the youngsters. The average age was 22 if you removed our Finnish veteran. Unfortunately for Phil Degen, he broke a few ribs on his debut so will be out for a while. This could be an opportunity for local right back Steven Derby. We knew that he had a history of injury so this was him living up to his rep. Another player making his full debut was Diego Cavalieri. The goals came from an Agger free and a header by Lucas from a pennant cross. The bonus was that we got to rest some first teamers while giving some of the youngsters some valuable competitive experience.

Sat morning sees us visiting Goodison for the first Derby of the season. They'll be well up for it, as usual, and we'll need to match them. Moyes has a shite record in these games against Rafa so let's hope that continues. The senior players will have benefited from the midweek rest and should be full of energy. I think reds everywhere would be happy if this were the game that Robbie manages to get off the mark in this one.

Pepe reiterated his desire to stay with LFC. I hope that he doesn't move any time soon. He's a superb keeper and is improving each season. It's not by fluke that he's won the golden golden gloves three times in a row.

The Guardian have an interview with our former midfielder Igor Biscan. I wonder if Igor still looks like he just got out of bed?

Valuable velodrome victory

A Marseille fan flares a box of matches to celebrate their short lived lead.

What a goal? Absolute stunner. I don't think he'll score a better one this season and maybe not any other season either. Incroyable as they might say in Marseille. Added to his penalty, it wasn't a bad contribution from the skipper in his first start since his double groin op. Hopefully he's put his injury probably behind him and will be fully firing now.

Overall we weren't great. We looked quite good going forward but quite vulnerable to pace at the back. Our normally efficient offside trap failed to spring a few times and through balls were snapped up by Marseille's nippy forwards. Cana managed to score against Pepe on one such instance but our keeper stood tall and made a couple of vital saves. Only for him it could have been a draw or worse. But it's a very important win against a very good team, away from home. That was the second hardest match we'll have to play in the group. I expect the visit to Madrid to be even tougher.
Pepe has a great quote in the guardian about the feeling in the camp at the moment.
"The atmosphere is special at the moment and we don't go out thinking about anything else but winning," said Reina. "We are Liverpool and we are favourites. We are in the business of having to win."
I like the sound of that. We're favourites and we accept the pressure that goes along with it but we're going to win regardless. With that in mind, we should be able to beat Stoke handy enough. It would be a disastrous slip if we got anything other than 3 points at Anfield on Saturday. Given that Chelsea play Utd at the bridge on Sunday, it's a good opportunity for us to put some distance between us and them. Let's hope we take it and stay at the top end of the table.