Why do I always type a little blurb here? It never really says anything; I just feel weird diving straight into the match results themselves without any preamble. It’s too… impersonal that way. So hello, hi, here we are, so let’s get down to it:

Calcio:

AS Roma Totti 3-1 Bari – Romanisti always repeat one thing when Er Pupone is sidelined: No Totti, no Party. But sometimes we get so caught up in our own negativity that we forget the flip-side of that equation: Totti = party. Er Capitano made his return today against Bari, back from over a month out after going into knee surgery earlier in the season. And just to remind us why we miss him when he’s gone, he scored a hattrick. In the first half hour. The first came on 7′ – a spot kick after Jean-François Gillet downed Mirko Vucinic in the area. Then, only 7 minutes later, Totti launched a searing free-kick into the back of the net to make it 2-0. On 28′, he scored a world-class – and seemingly impossible – goal, beating Bari’s defense, Gillet and firing an acute-angle shot into the far corner. Beauty. Roma did their usual thing in the second half, sitting comfortably back on their large lead and letting i Galletti tire themselves out. However, the visitors finally pulled one back when youngster Marco Andreolli nodded the ball into his own net on 73′. A bit of a blemish, but a pretty good party nonetheless. To Gillet’s credit, he was outstanding for most of the match (those stretches when Totti was not destroying his self esteem), as was Julio Sergio, who was very solid behind the Roman back four. Mirko Vucinic was phenomenal, back to his old self again, while the only real black spot for Roma was Nicolas Burdisso, who was an absolute horrorshow at right-back. Also, the own goal was unfortunate. But all in all, a very good party with Er Capitano back at the helm. I can’t wait until we get Danielino back – then we can really party.

Inter 3-1  Bologna – The Inter Offside webpage referred to this match as a ‘Mortadella Speedbump’ — that pretty much sums it up for me. The reigning champions probably felt as if they could simply stroll into the Stadio Dall’Ara and come back out with three easy points, and their hosts failed to prove them wrong. There was a bit of tension early in the match; Diego Milito put Inter ahead on 22′ off of a corner from Maicon, only for Marcelo Zalayeta to equalize within 60 seconds, smashing the ball past Julio Cesar and into the top corner. The next 20 minutes saw both teams get really into the game, but Mario Balotelli should have put his side ahead when he beat the Bologna backline and dummied ‘keeper Emiliano Viviano – only to waste enough time that Viviano was able to get up and rob him of his much belated shot. One could see Jose Mourinho rise from his bench, flailing in anger. However, Supermario was able to atone for his sins just before the half; another Maicon corner saw the young striker rise powerfully in the air and head home to make it 2-1 for the Nerazzurri. He picked up a knock in the process, however, and was subbed off for Samuel Eto’o, who made a rare start on the bench. The visitors would make their lead more comfortable midway through the second half, with Esteban Cambiasso, who was in excellent form, burying a left-foot strike on 72′. To be honest, the hosts never looked like they were going to get back into the game, and Inter cruised to a comfortable win over the Emiliani.

AC Milan 4-3 Cagliari – It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the San Siro this afternoon, but i Rossoneri came out on top. Clarence Seedorf gave the home side an early lead on 5′, but gli Isolani weren’t interested in falling behind and Alessandro Matri equalized just 3 minutes later. The visitors would take the lead on 30′ when Andrea Lazzari found himself completely unmarked at Milan’s back post and gave his side a 2-1 lead. This time though, it was Milan’s turn to come from behind, as Marco Borriello and Alexandre Pato bagged a pair of goals in quick succession to put their side up 3-2 by the 39th minute. Pato’s goal was particularly nice, a rocket-powered blast into the top shelf which sent the San Siro crowd into an uproar. Milan would further consolidate their lead after the break, with Ronaldinho stepping up to the spot after Borriello had been felled in the area and burying it, sending Federico Marchetti the wrong way. He seems to score all of his goals that way, doesn’t he? More on him later. Cagliari was able to reduce Milan’s lead to a single goal when Nenê beat Dida on 68′, but Milan would hold onto their rather precarious lead and edge their visitors 4-3 in what turned out to be an exciting goalfest. Now, Ronaldinho. He was quite possibly – I’d almost say easily – the man of the match; back to his Barcelona form and full of tricks and flicks. That he only got onto the scoresheet via PK is misleading, as he was the creative force behind Milan’s devastating offense all night. That being said, their defending was quite shoddy, and against a better team (no offense, Cagliari, I like you guys) they might have come away with a rather different result. That being said, an excellent high-scoring match to put il Diavolo into 3rd place. Who says Serie A is boring?

Juventus 1-0 Udinese – Oh that’s right, Juventini say Serie A is boring. Because Juve is boring. I Bianconeri edged, well, i Bianconeri in Turin to keep their Scudetto hopes alive tonight. After the kickoff, it was all Juventus; Diego and Mauro Camoranesi both came close in the first quarter of an hour. After that though, the game went into a bit of a lull, and neither side looked dangerous (or did anything important) before the halftime break – unless you count a Udinese goal rightly disallowed for offside. After the restart, it was once again Juventus who set the pace, and this time it paid off. Summer signing Martin Cácares set up summer signing Fabio Grosso, who beat Samir Handanovic with ease to put the home side up 1-0 on 51′. Udinese fought hard throughout the remainder of the half, and both Handanovic and Gigi Buffon were called upon to make class saves, but ultimately the most exciting thing to happen before the fulltime whistle was Alessandro Del Piero’s appearance as a substitute. Juventino or not, you gotta love that guy.

Football:

A hattrick? No, that was just a warm-up.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic – Stop the press! What in God’s name do they put in the water in Tottenham? The Spurs recorded the second-biggest Premiership blowout in history at White Hart Lane over a hapless Wigan Athletic, with Jermain Defoe grabbing 5 himself in the second half. Peter Crouch opened the scoring for the home side on 9′, and believe it or not, that was it for the first half. Defoe got started right away after the break though, netting on 51′ and 54′, before Paul Scharner (who may have also pulled a Thierry Henry) pulled one back for the Latics to make it 3-1 on 57′. Defoe wasn’t done yet though, and to complete his hattrick restored the Spurs 3-goal margin just seconds later. Aaron Lennon got in on the action with a goal of his own on 64′, and then Jermain Defoe topped off his hattrick with a brace on 69′ and 87′. Chris Kirkland put the ball into his own net on 88′ to make it 8-1, and then Niko Kranjcar scored in the 4th minute of stoppage time to make the scoreline a whopping 9-1. To put this into perspective, didn’t table-toppers Chelsea lose to Wigan this season? Holy shit, dude.

Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton – Speaking of Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti’s men took part in a rout of their own this weekend, though it seems rather paltry in comparison with their London neighbours’ rather excessive beatdown. The Wolves simply had no chance at Stamford Bridge, and with Florent Malouda opening the scoring with a 25-yard strike on 5′, it seemed a cricket score was imminent. Michael Essien furthered that notion, bagging a brace within a 10 minute span by finding the back of the Wolves’ net on 12′ and 22′. The visitors simply had no response to the dominant Chelsea play, and their ill-advised 2-5-3 formation left plenty of gaps for the Blues to exploit. The teams went into the half with the score 3-0, but not before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake forced a class save from Petr Cech. As the game progressed, Wolverhampton reverted to a more solid 4-4-2, it was not enough to stop Joe Cole from scoring his first Premiership goal in over a year, making the score 4-0. Another quite impressive blowout/shutout from Ancelotti’s men, but until they score 9 goals I think they’ll feel that their crosstown rivals have the upper hand. Then again, they’re leading the league, so who cares about the Spurs?

Liverpool 2-2- Manchester City – Every time a Koppite cries, and angel get its wings. Or so I’ve been led to believe. Either way, both the Reds and the Blues (no, no, other Reds. Other Blues too.) dropped points and further away from the top 4 with a 4-goal draw at Anfield on Saturday. Martin Skrtel gave the home side the lead on 50′, only for Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland to respond on 69′ and 76′ respectively to give the Citizens a 2-1 lead. A loss at this stage in the competition would have meant disaster for the Scousers, but luckily Yossi Benayoun cut any Mancunian celebrations short by responding with a goal of his own on 77′ to equalize and make it 2-2. And 2-2 the score would remain. This result is neither a complete disaster for Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez, but you gotta think that the two of them, and their grossly underperforming squads, have gotta be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

Manchester Utd 3-0 Everton – As for the other Reds and Blues of Manchester and Liverpool, a draw was not in the cards. The Red Devils trounced the Toffeemakers at Old Trafford to stay within five points of Chelsea in the table. Darren Fletcher opened the scoring for the homeside on 35′ with a beautiful goal that has been compared (somewhat hyperbolically) to the work of Zinedine Zidane. After the half Michael Carrick and Luis Antonio Valencia would add a goal each, while David Moyes’ men could do little but keep the scoreline respectable. I gotta say, the Merseyside derby is going to be downright depressing this year…

Pictured: Arsenal player not fit for today's match.

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal – Oh, Arsenal. The Gooners had gone over a dozen games without a loss, but as usual Arsene Wenger’s men got a little too close to the sun and their wings simply burned up. Also, they had a lot of injuries. The Londoners put in an unfocused and ramshackle performance against a determined Sunderland side who clearly wanted the result more. And they got it. Sunderland simply rode out wave after wave of potent Arsenal attacking play, though admittedly, it didn’t seem like the Gunners wanted to do much other than controlling the ball in midfield. On 71′, the home side finally got their chance and Darren Bent buried it to make the score 1-0 for the Black Cats. Wenger’s men had simply no will to get back into the game (perhaps their minds were occupied with thoughts of next week’s clash against Chelsea) and ultimately fell to a steely Sunderland side. This is the second time this year that the Black Cats have beaten a top 4 side – and this time it can’t even be blamed on a beach ball.

Futbol:

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing Santander – Well, Los Galacticos are still without their biggest star – Cristiano Ronaldo – and they’re still not playing as ‘Galacticos’ perhaps should, but they’re finally where Galacticos should be: on top. Gonzalo Higuaín provided the difference that Manuel Pellegrini’s men needed to take down mid-table residents Racing Santander, with a strike from close range on 22′. Both sides had second-half goals disallowed for offsides, with both Karim Benzema and Sergio Canales putting the ball into the back of the net only to be notified by the referee that they need not celebrate. As has been the norm this year, Madrid did not completely convince, but their narrow victory was nevertheless enough to see them go top of the table for the first time this season after Barcelona picked up a similarly unconvincing result in Bilbao.

Because Bear Country is more frightening than Basque Country.

Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao – Treble Champions they may be, but at times this season Barcelona have failed to look the part. They faltered again in their title race during this weekend’s trip to Basque Country. Though many of their starting 11, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were out with knocks, one could still expect Barcelona to produce a result against midtable opponents such as Bilbao. Early in the match, Los Leones put pressure on their visitors, peppering them with corners and free kicks, while Barca looked simply content to play on the counter. Soon however, Barca wrested control of possession from their hosts, and began to look like the side to score, though when it came to finishing they came up empty – at least in the first half. However, after the restart the Blaugrana got off on the right foot, with Daniel Alves running on to the end of a perfect throughball from Xavi and finding the back of Bilbao’s net. Athletic immediately responded by bringing Toquero into the game; a move that would prove very effective as the substitute would equalize for the home side within 10 minutes of coming onto the pitch, running onto a long ball and smashing it home. All that was left to do for Bilbao was to park the bus and ride out the waves of Barcelona attacks – which they did – in order to gain a point and drop the reigning champions down to second place. What has happened to Pep Guardiola’s men?

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Well, Die Roten haven’t sunk any further into their slump, but they haven’t de-slumped either, achieving a draw against league-leading Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz-Arena this weekend. Mario Gomez and Stephan Kießling each netted for their respective sides early on in the match; both goals came within the first 15 minutes of play. Bayern started off energetically, with their aggressive attack leading to Mario Gomez’s opener on 8′, which he sidefooted in on an advantage play after Miroslav Klose was fouled. However, their visitors soon caught up to them in pace and were able to exploit the home side’s defensive weaknesses; Kießling easily beat the offside trap and slotted the ball coolly past Hans-Jörg Butt to make it all square on 14′. Each team had spells of pacy and bright looking attack, but neither could capitalize during those stretches; Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler saved his side time and time again with world class saves to prevent Bayern from getting out in front. Even Thomas Müller, who has so often been Bayern’s ace-in-the-hole this season proved ineffectual, and was subbed in the second half for Ivica Olic, returning from a lengthy injury layoff. The chances petered out towards the end of the game, and a 1-1 draw it would remain – a result that sees Bayer reclaim 1st and Bayern languish in 7th.

Werder Bremen 6-0 SC Freiburg – Poor Freiburg. On more than a few occasions this season they have found themselvesin situations where they are simply out of their depth. The home side suffered a humbling defeat to Die Grün-Weißen in their own Badenova-Stadion, falling 6-0 in an all-out slaughter. Hugo Almeida opened the scoring for the visitors on 33′, Marko Marin added a second on 55′, Almeida doubled his money on 57′, Mesut Özil netted on 67′, Naldo on 73′ and substitute Markus Rosenberg made it 6-0 with 8 minutes left to play. Freiburg once again made a case for having the worst defense in the Bundesliga (they have the highest number of goals against; 30) and sit 13th in the league table, while this victory propels Werder Bremen to second, just a point behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. I guess the English aren’t the only ones who know how to have a good blowout!

Gestern abend stand eines der traditionellen Premier-League-Duelle auf dem Spielplan: FC Liverpool gegen Manchester United. Ich habe mir im «Shamrock Irish Pub» einen netten Nachmittag gemacht, englischer Fußball und Cappuccino sei dank. Während des Spiels entstand in meinem Notizbuch ein kleiner Liveticker, den ich eigentlich schon gestern abend veröffentlichen wollte – allein, es fehlte die Zeit.

[Vor dem Spiel] Steven Gerrard fehlt bei den «Reds», der Kapitän nur auf der Tribüne; dafür kann Fernando Torres spielen. Bei Manchester ist Wayne Rooney überraschenderweise rechtzeitig fit geworden.
Das Duell des Tages wird wohl im Sturm stattfinden: Rooney und Berbatov gegen Torres.

3′ Steilpass auf Rooney. Tor! Aber Abseits.

5′ Manchesters Defensive formiert sich sehr zentral, bei Liverpools Angriffen gibt es auf den Außen immer eine Anspielstation. Sollte auf diesem Niveau eigentlich nicht passieren. (Interessanterweise verfügen Manchesters Flügelspieler bei Ballbesitz über ein sehr gutes Stellungsspiel, aber die Außenverteidiger ziehen sich bei Ballverlust beide in die Mitte zurück.)
Schon jetzt zu beobachten: Beide Teams bemühen sich um eine konzentrierte Spieleröffnung mit flachen und direkten Pässen. Bloß nicht zu früh den Ball verlieren!

10′ ManUtd besetzt die defensiven Außenpositionen wieder nicht. Taktik?

12′ United kontert nach einem Liverpool-Freistoß. Zwar mit wenigen Spielern, aber trotzdem entsteht Druck für die gegnerische Abwehr. Rooney als Anspielstation prägt das Bild der «Red Devils».

16′ Freistoß für Liverpool, van der Saar rettet, Nachschuss Torres, van der Saar ist erneut da. Manchesters Abwehr schwimmt. Aber Liverpool kann im Nachsetzen kein Tor erzwingen. Die Chance war da, Manchesters Zuordnung stimmte nicht. Drei freie Spieler von der Merseyside im Strafraum sind entscheidend zu viel.

18′ Liverpool kontert über Dirk Kuyt, scheitert aber erneut an van der Saar. Ist das der vermeintliche Krisenklub Liverpool? Nur im Tabellenmittelfeld? Nein, das ist ein ebenbürtiger Gegner.

21′ Der erste konzentrierte Angriff von Fergusons Elf. Berbatov, Rooney, dann ist der Ball weg. Vor allem in der folgenden Rückwärtsbewegung zeigen sich im defensiven Mittelfeld von Manchester riesige Lücken – ist das eine Meistermannschaft? Noch einmal: Löcher im Mittelfeld und de facto sechs Innenverteidiger am eigenen Strafraum, aber keine Außenverteidigung.

25′ Nun wird Torres gezielter gefoult. Willkommen in England.

34′ ManUtd inzwischen mit «Kick and Rush», das hart am Liverpool-Strafraum beendet wird. Die Wiederholung zeigt: Eigentlich wäre ein Strafstoß fällig gewesen.

36′ Die letzten Minuten gehörten eindeutig Manchester, die Statistik spricht von 77% Ballbesitz. Nun ein Lebenszeichen von Liverpool, Kopfball von Fabio Aurelio aus kurzer Distanz, aber van der Saar ist schnell unten.

40′ Nun ist auch die Abwehr der «Reds» nicht bei der Sache – aber Berbatov schießt Reina an.

46′ Berbatov hält Kuyt im Strafraum, aber auch Liverpool wird der Strafstoß verweigert. Eigentlich zwei klare Szenen.

Halbzeitfazit Liverpool dominierte 20 Minuten lang und schläft dann plötzlich ein, während Manchester allmählich ins Spiel kommt, aber vor allem von Rooneys Gefährlichkeit lebt. Unmittelbar vor der Halbzeit ist der von ManUtd aufgebaute Druck am größten, Liverpool fällt mehr und mehr ab. Besonders dem anfangs sehr agilen Fernando Torres scheint in den letzten Minuten die Kraft ausgegangen zu sein.

53′ Liverpool kommt besser aus der Kabine, hatte schon zwei, drei gute Angriffe. Gelingt mit neuer Konzentration endlich ein Tor?

56′ Angriff über Berbatov und Rooney, der von Lucas gelbwürdig gestoppt wird, aber mit einer Verwarnung davonkommt. Ryan Giggs zieht den folgenden Freistoß scharf auf Berbatov, aber Torres ist zuvor am Ball.

60′ Mascherano und Agger bedrängen Valencia. Giggs zieht den Freistoß wieder gefährlich in den Strafraum, aber Michael Carrick köpft Johnson an.
Wirkliche Gefahr strahlt ManUtd in der zweiten Hälfte vor allem über Standards aus.

65′ Tor! Liverpool überbrückt schnell das Mittelfeld. Steilpass, Querpass, Steilpass – und dann lässt Fernando Torres Rio Ferdinand stehen und hebt den Ball über Edwin van der Saar. Großartiger Spielzug! Torres ist mit neun Treffern nun auch wieder alleiniger Anführer der Premier-League-Torschützenliste.

68′ Freistoß für Manchester 25 Meter zentral vor dem Tor – aber Rooney hämmert den Ball in die Mauer. Liverpool zieht sich weit zurück, will sich jetzt kein dummes Gegentor einfangen.

70′ Neill Lucas stößt in Manchesters Abwehrlücken und geht auf das zweite Tor – aber er scheitert.

71′ Distanzschuss Mascherano.

72′ Wieder Lucas, diesmal nach einer Ecke. Jetzt drückt Liverpool!
Kurz darauf Gelb für Mascherano. Insgesamt eine gute Leistung von Liverpool, in der Abwehr konzentriert und im Sturm spritzig. Sieht gut aus!

74′ Doppelwechsel bei United: Michael Owen für Berbatov, Nani für den unauffälligen Paul Scholes.

75′ Gelb für Nemanja Vidic, der den auf rechts startenden Fernando Torres im Mittelfeld foult. Liverpool zieht sich jetzt weiter zurück als vor der Führung und spekuliert auf Konter.

77′ Nani zieht aus 11 Metern ab, Reina hält.

78′ Guter Angriff der «Reds», aber Torres will am Strafraum zu lässig den Ball durchstecken und bleibt hängen.

81′ Wechsel Liverpool: David N’Gog für Torres.

82′ ManUtd wirkt verzweifelt, probiert es erneut mit «Kick and rush».

84′ Valencia hämmert vom Eck des Fünfmeterraums den Ball an die Latte – knappe Sache.

87′ Gelb für Carragher. Nur gelb.

89′ Gelb-Rot Vidic. Dirk Kuyt ist an der Mittellinie durch, Vidic reißt ihn um. Klare Sache.

90′ Liverpool hat verständlicherweise Zeit ohne Ende, Manchester kann es nicht schnell genug gehen.

91′ Großartig: Johnson läuft Rooney den Ball ab.

92′ Wechsel Liverpool: Martin Skrtel für Benayoun.

94′ Gelb-Rot Mascherano. Der Liverpooler geht den herausstürmenden Edwin van der Saar hart an. Eine klare Entscheidung.
Liverpool zieht sich jetzt komplett zurück. Nur kein dummes Gegentor!

96′ Inzwischen ist das Spiel ein wildes Gebolze, Manchester versucht aus dem Chaos Chancen zu kreieren. Im Gegenzug ein feiner Angriff von Liverpool über Dirk Kuyt und David N’Gog, die locker die United-Abwehr aushebeln – und N’Gog erzielt das Tor! Das war’s, damit machen die «Reds» den Sack zu und sichern sich die drei Punkte.

97′ Abpfiff. Eine turbulente Nachspielzeit endet. Der FC Liverpool besiegt Manchester United. Spielerisch war Liverpool tatsächlich etwas besser, größtenteils sah man aber ein Duell auf Augenhöhe. Mit den drei Punkten könnte Liverpool einen ersten Schritt unternommen haben, um die zwischenzeitliche Krise zu beenden.

Mann des Tages war für mich Neill Lucas (Liverpool), der mit einer konsequenten Defensivleistung und gefährlichen Vorstößen viel Aufsehen erregte.

Its with a heavy heart that I write this post and I’d be tempted to not write it at all if I wasn’t slightly OCD when it comes to blogging.  I’m going to have to force my way through it.  I wasn’t feeling too confident going in to the match, but this could have been misleading as I feel anxious before every game these days.  After the disappointing performance against Fiorentina last week, the Reds really needed to up their game.

It was a pretty even first half and chances were limited, it was the usual case of two top teams cancelling each other out. I did feel that the referee was a bit harsh towards Liverpool on quite a few decisions, but maybe I’m just being biased.  Liverpool could have had a penalty when Drogba pulled down on Skrtel’s shoulder at a corner kick, but it wasn’t given.  I think it was technically a penalty, but they’re rarely given in that situation.

The second half continued to be a balanced contest, until, sickeningly (for me), Anelka scored on the hour.  The goal was created by an excellent cross from Drogba; you do have to wonder why a player with so much talent has to spoil himself with constant play-acting.  It’s actually unbelievable how much he does it and it starts to spoil the game; given the current furore over diving, I believe he should start getting booked.  Andy Gray and Martin Tyler seemed to treat it as a joke, for some reason, but they don’t take ’simulation’ so lightly in other circumstances and I can’t see any real difference.  It must be frustrating even for the Chelsea fans.

Benayoun came on for Riera on 66 minutes to try and freshen things up, but Chelsea looked quite comfortable.  The Reds eventually built up a little pressure and it resulted in Johnson blazing a shot over the bar from a good position, on 73 minutes.  Torres fluffed a good chance on 80 minutes, but he had to take the shot from a slightly awkward position.

As Liverpool pushed for the equaliser, Malouda got the second Chelsea goal at the beginning of injury time.  Straight from kick off, Benayoun then missed a virtually open goal after initially creating the chance with a  great piece of control.  It might not have made any difference to the result, but it would certainly made things uncomfortable for Chelsea in the last couple of minutes.

Sadly, the bad feeling I had before the game came to fruition.  I’m sure that the  media will now use this result to write Liverpool off, but they’ll fail to mention how close the game actually was.   Fair play to Chelsea, they did just enough to get the win.

• Manchester United defeated Manchester City, 4-3, thanks to a late stoppage time goal from Michael Owen.  There’s been a lot of debate that the ref allowed too much stoppage time, but you learn when you are five to play to the whistle.  The United win spoiled Man City’s perfect start to the season, but clearly Man City has the ability to compete with every team in the league.
• Chelsea remains the only team with an unblemished record (6-0-0).  The Blues have looked nothing less than stellar so far this campaign.  They’ll face their first big test when they host Liverpool on Oct. 4.
• Speaking of Liverpool, what the heck is going on with the defense?  I really didn’t think the back four would be a such a weak spot for the team this season.  Jamie Carragher had a terrible game against West Ham on Saturday.  The center partnership of Carragher and Skrtel is lacking in the basic skill of communication (as evidenced by their head-to-head clash opening weekend).  The Reds were able to mount a comeback thanks to a pair of sweet goals from Fernando Torres, but against top-tier competition, they are going to need to solidify that back line.
• Poor Pompey is still without a point six games into the season.   Supposedly, they aren’t going to try to buy any new players til the summer.  At this rate, they’ll be looking for Championship players.
• This upcoming week, we have Premier League on the weekend and then the Champions League group stage continues Tuesday and Wednesday.  I love mid-week soccer.  It makes work so much better.

Ærefuldt nederlag; igen!

Weekendens kamp mod Liverpool endte som så ofte før med et ærefuldt nederlag til drengene i claret’n'blue. West Ham gjorde ellers en glimrende figur mod Rafael Benitez’ mandskab, men i sidste ende blev Fernando Torres’ klasse udslagsgivende.

Ikke desto mindre startede West Ham kampen rigtig fornuftigt: Efter kun 2 minutter hamrede Zavon Hines bolden på stolpen efter at have snuppet den fra Jamie Carragher på kanten af feltet.

Efter omkring tyve minutter bragte Torres i stedet Liverpool foran efter flot at have sat James Tomkins og fra en spids vinkel hamret bolden op i målet i Robert Greens korte hjørne. En situation hvor Tomkins kom til at se temmelig tung ud, men hvor man på den anden side også måtte undre sig over hvor i alverden højrebacken Faubert befandt sig. For at føje spot til skade udgik Matthew Upson med en skade efter at have forsøgt at tackle Torres i sidste øjeblik. Den engelske landsholdsspiller fik kort efter selskab af stakkels, stakkels Valon Behrami som måtte udgå fra sin første kamp fra start efter et halv års pause som følge af en knæskade. Heldigvis er meldingerne foreløbig at begge deherrrer snart vil vende tilbage. Ind kom i stedet Danny Gabiddon som stadig blot er på vej tilbage efter sine to år på sidelinjen og Radoslav Kovac. Førstnævnte imponerede enormt med mange gode indgreb i centerforsvaret alt imens Kovac igen viste at han fungerer godt som stopklods men elendigt som offensivt indslag på midtbanen. Herita Ilunga gjorde i øvrigt comeback på venstrebacken, hvor den normalt så rasende sikre congoleser havde visse startvanskeligheder, men ikke desto mindre var en markant fremgang i forhold til de forskellige vikarer.

Kampen markerede også Alessandro Diamantis første start for West Ham, og den italienske angriber gjorde da også et hæderligt indtryk, omend det var ganske åbenlyst at tempoet var meget højt for ham. Han markerede sig imidlertid rigtig positivt efter 29 minutter. Zavon Hines fortsatte sin svingom med tunge Carragher og løb let fra ham på kanten af feltet, hvilket fik Liverpoolforsvareren til at skubbe Hines omkuld i feltet. Dommeren pegede på pletten til Carraghers store fortrydelse, omend den langsomme gengivelse tydeligt viste at Carragher bruger hele armen til at verfe den tydeligvis for hurtige Hines væk. Liverpoolfansene på puben følte sig dog stadig mægtig uretfærdigt behandlet da Diamanti gik til pletten, snublede, og glidende på røven fik sat bolden i kassen midt i målet. Sidenhen er der ydermere bygget en beskyldning op, om at den snublende Diamanti rammer bolden to gange ingen den får netmaskerne til at blafre; italieneren skulle således sparke bolden med den ene fod via den anden, hvilket er i strid med reglerne. Den langsomme gengivelse kunne tyde på at der er noget om snakken, men skideværd med det: 1-1.

Liverpool svarede dog hurtigt igen, da Dirk Kuijt reagerede kvikt ved bagstolpen efter et hjørnespark, og rettede Steve Gerrards hovedstød i mål bag en sprællende Robert Green. 41 minutter spillet: 1-2.

West Ham var dog ikke tilfredse med denne udvikling, og svarede prompte igen. Mark Noble lagde et perfekt hjørnespark ind i et forvirret Liverpoolforsvar hvor Carlton Cole steg op mellem tre forsvarsspillere og pandede bolden i kassen helt ude ved stolpen. 2-2 efter 45 minutter. En morderligt underholdende første halveg, hvor Liverpool havde haft bolden mest og skabt et par store chancer, men hvor West Ham anført af en sprudlende Scott Parker og en dybt imponerende Zavon Hines hele tiden så farlige ud. Skrtel brugte således flere gange noget der mindede om værtshusslagsmålsteknikker til at stoppe det lille, hurtigte academy-talent, mens Carraghers kvaler allerede er beskrevet.

I anden halveg blev forskellen på toppen og resten af engelsk fodbold tydeligere. West Ham spillerne begyndte at hænge, og det høje pres som havde virket rigtig godt i første halveg kunne ikke fastholdes. Man forbandede i sit stille sind de to skader i første halveg, som gjorde at kun en frisk mand kunne sættes ind, alt imens West Ham mødte Liverpools angreb længere og længere tilbage på banen. Da der var spillet cirka en time smed West Ham Kieron Dyer ind for den fuldstændig færdige Diamanti, alt imens Liverpool skiftede Ryan Babel ind. Førstnævnte spillede rigtig, rigtig dårligt, mistede flere dumme bolde og gjorde ikke noget særligt for at vinde dem tilbage, alt imens sidstnævnte blev afgørende for kampens udfald.

Med et kvarter tilbage forsøgte West Hams bagkæde således at spille bolden ud af forsvaret efter et massivt Liverpoolpres. Zavon Hines fik desværre ikke fat i en sløset aflevering på egen banehalvdel. Tidligere hammer Glenn Johnson forsøgte sig fra distancen, Gabiddon blokerede, bolden havnede hos Babel som tog et par træk og sendte den perfekt ind i panden på Torres som eminent headede den i kassen.

Mod slutningen forsøgte de smadrede West Ham spillere at skabe noget, men rigtig farligt blev det aldrig. Ikke mindst fordi Carlton Cole åbenbart begår frispark hver gang han går op i en hovedstødsduel. Men der skal ikke lyde dårlige undskyldninger. Liverpool vandt kampen ganske fortjent, omend West Ham spillede godt nok til med en hvis berettigelse at kunne have håbet på et point.

Ærefuld nedrykningskamp; igen?

Status i tabellen er nu noget værre lort. West Ham har fire point for 5 kampe, og har ikke vundet siden sæsonpremieren mod Wolves. Både kampen mod Tottenham, Wigan og Liverpool kunne med lidt mere held have givet point, og i stedet ligger holdet nu næstsidst i tabellen (delt med Blackburn, Bolton og Hull). Sæsonen er selvfølgelig lang endnu og alt det, men der skal helst snart nogle point på bordet, hvis ikke den skal komme til at føles rigtig, rigtig lang. Hvis et hold først bliver trukket ind i nedrykningskampen kan det ofte  være meget svært at komme fri igen.

Næste kamp byder på en tur til City of Manchester Stadium, mens programmet for oktober heller ikke ser videre behageligt ud: Her venter kampe hjemme mod Fulham og Arsenal og ude mod Stoke og Sunderland. City og Arsenal er der ikke nogen grund til at tro der bliver taget point imod, omend Citys angribere nærmest alle pusler med skader eller karantæner. Kampene mod Fulham plejer at kaste mange point af sig, mens det aldrig er sjovt at skulle til Stoke eller Sunderland. Sidste år vandt West Ham dog på Britannia på et brag af et frispark af store tykke Tristan. I år kan Diamanti passende vise prøver på sin højt besugne sparketeknik.

På tide med et cup run; igen!

Zola har udtrykt stor tillid til at pointene snart kommer. Sidst han sagde det – efter en serie på ni kampe uden sejr – begyndte holdet at spille drømmebold. Forhåbentlig det sker igen. I aften er der Carling Cup-kamp ude mod Bolton. Endnu et stadion hvor West Ham sjældent får noget med hjem. I aften er forhåbentlig en undtagelse. Bolton har fået en (lige så) dårlig sæsonstart, og Gary Megson er lige så upopulær som nogensinde før på Reebok Stadium.

Guillermo Franco kan få debut på toppen for West Ham, ligesom det forventes at Manuel Da Costa, Jonathan Spector, Radoslav Kovac og Kieron Dyer skal spille en rolle. Ikke videre opløftende perspektiver. Carling Cup’en er imidlertid en turnering der er al mulig grund til at tage seriøst, da det kan vise sig at blive en relativt ukompliceret genvej til Europa. Guderne må vide, at ligaen ikke ser ud til have sådanne perspektiver for West Ham i år. Det er også ved at være på tide med et cup run…

Come on you irons!

Bolton – West Ham – 0-1

0-1: 89. Selvmål.

Game : West Ham vs Liverpool ( September 19)

Current score :- West Ham United 2-2 Liverpool ( HT)

West Ham United 0-1 Liverpool ( Fernando Torres )

Great goal from Torres. The Spanish international beats Tomkins for pace, and then fires past Robert Green at the latter’s near post.

West Ham United 1-1 Liverpool ( Alessandro Diamanti pen)

Like Tomkins, Jamie Carragher struggles to cope with the pace of Zavon Hines. He tugs in a vain attempt to slow Hines down, and the referee points to the spot. Diamanti converts the resultant spot kick, but not after nearly making a mess of it.

West Ham United 1-2 Liverpool ( Dirk Kuyt)

Stevie G to Liverpool’s rescue again. The captain rises to meet Benayoun’s corner, and Kuyt tucks it away from close range.

West Ham United 2-2 Liverpool ( Carlton Cole)

Cole silences Liverpool at the stroke of half time by heading home. This one is shaping out to be a wonderful game.

Nummer 2: Liverpool FC: There’s always next season…

Stiftet: 1892

Stadion: Anfield Road (Kapacitet: 45.362)

Kælenavn: Reds

Seneste tre ligaplaceringer (07/08/09): 3/4/2

Første fem kampe: 15/8 Tottenham (U), 19/8 Stoke (H), 22/8 Aston Villa (H), 29/8 Bolton (U), 12/8 Burnley (H)

Manager: Rafael Benitez (siden juni 2004)

Det er efterhånden fem år siden at den spanske træner gennemførte the rafalution på Merseyside. I Benitez’ første sæson på Anfield Road blev det til et Champions League trofæ, og pludselig lugtede man tiltrængte nye tider i storklubben. Den ultimative succes er imidlertid udeblevet, og denne sæson markerer tyve-året for Liverpools sidste engelske mesterskab. At ærkerivalerne fra Manchester United så i denne periode har indhentet og udlignet Liverpools placering på toppen af mesterskabsrekordlisten gør ikke panderynkerne mindre blandt de højt besugne fans på the Kop.

Benitez havde i sine første år i klubben ofte svært ved både at spille med i ligaen og i diverse cup-turneringer, og Liverpool sæson i mesterskabskampen sluttede ofte skuffende tidligt, alt imens holdet nærmest har været fast bestanddel i de afsluttende runder af Champions League under spanieren. At holdet i samme periode også har været udsat for et turbulent ejerskifte til de amerikanske rigmænd Hicks og Gillette har ikke gjort det lettere for Benitez at få sammensat et hold med den nødvendige slagkraft til for alvor at slås om mesterskabet. Spanieren har flere gange været i mere eller mindre åben krig med ejerne om transferbudgetter og spillersalg, og flere gange har der været rygter om at andre trænere skulle være kørt i stilling til jobbet i Liverpool. Benitez er der dog endnu, og i sidste sæson så holdet ud til at være tættere på mesterskabsudfordringen end meget længe, og holdet sluttede på en andenplads. Den bedste ligaplacering under Benitez.

Truppen generelt: Stærkt, men med væsentlige mangler

På kassen står spanieren Pepe Reina, og det gør han sikkert og glimrende. Vikaren hedder Diego Cavalieri, og har kun optrådt fire gange på førsteholdet.

I forsvaret er Emiliano Insua og Fabio Aurelio to gode alternativer til venstrebacken, og særligt førstnævnte kan spille sig op i den absolutte elite på pladsen. Her prøver også middelmådigheden Andrea Dossena at gøre sig gældende. I centerforsvaret er den næsten legendariske (kun et skifte til Manchester United over Everton kan vel ændre på dette?) Jamie Carragher vanvittig populær, ganske kompetent og desuden velsignet med en konstant straffesparkfri zone omkring sig. I mine øjne er Martin Skrtel og Daniel Agger dog begge mere kvalificerede til pladsen i det lange løb. Sidstnævnte skal dog først overvinde sine obligatoriske 28 skader per sæson. På den anden back råder Liverpool blandt andet over schweizeren Phillip Degen som fik sit første år i klubben totalt smadret af skader.

Venstre midt besættes af spanske Albert Riera som alt i alt fik en rigtig god debutsæson i engelsk fodbold. Det skal blive spændende om at han i denne sæson kan hæve sit spil yderligere. På den anden kant er Premier Leagues måske allergrimmeste spiller Dirk Kuijt altid garant for en 100 % arbejdsindsats, og selvom hollænderen ikke har lavet så mange mål i Liverpool, som man måske havde håbet da man hentede ham, så er han en vigtig og undervurderet del af Liverpools hold. Kanterne kan alternativt besættes med den generelt skuffende Ryan Babel og den stærkt spillende Yossi Benayoun som fik sit Liverpool-gennembrud sidste år.

På den centrale midtbane behøver Steven Gerrard ingen videre introduktion. Manden er Mr Liverpool. Han kan det meste med en fodbold, giver aldrig op, og er vanvittig vigtig for holdet. Til at tage sig af det mere beskidte arbejde på midtbanen (ikke at Gerrard selv er nogen kostforagter i den henseende) råder Benitez over en af de bedste i verden til netop den opgave: Javier Mascerano. Også den vanvittigt upopulære Lucas Leiva kan bruges her.

Helt fremme er Fernando Torres stjernen, og den sikre starter. Det er også altsammen meget godt, idet der ikke findes mange angribere i verden på hans niveau. Hverken den returnerede lejesvend Andriy Voronin eller det formodede stortalent David N’gog har vist noget der berettiger at Torres skal føle sig utryg ved konkurrencen.

Væsentlige transfere: Et skridt frem og to tilbage

Netop nævnte Andriy Voronin er vendt tilbage efter et særdeles succesfuldt ophold på lån i Hertha Berlin. Den tidligere fiasko i Liverpool hænger dog stadig i en tåge over ukraineren. Ind er ligeledes kommet højrebacken Glen Johnson fra Portsmouth. Den engelske landsholdsspiller anslås at koste omkring 18 millioner pund, og kommer til at bidrage med rigtig meget i offensiven for Liverpool, men måske for lidt i defensiven. Ud er til gengæld røget det normale førstevalg på højrebackpladsen i form af Alvaro Arbeola som er taget tilbage til Real Madrid der i sin tid fandt ham for let efter at have givet ham sin fodboldopdragelse. Med sig har Arbeola taget en af de seneste års bedste og vigtigste spillere på Liverpools hold; midtbanestyrmanden Xabi Alonso. Sidstnævnte menes at have indbragt i omegnen af £ 30 millioner, mens førstnævnte nok har kostet kongeklubben cirka en tiendedel. Som direkte afløser for Alonso har Benitez været et smut i Italien og hentet Roma-spilleren Alberto Aquilani for cirka £ 20 millioner.

Ind er også kommet den græske forsvarsspiller Sotirios Kyrgiakos der mest af alt skal agere backup efter at veteranen Sami Hyppiaa besluttede sig for at afslutte karrieren hos Bayer Leverkusen i Tyskland. Ud af bagdøren er også smuttet Jermaine Pennant som fortsætter karrieren i Real Zaragoza

Forventninger: Close but no cigar…

Da Liverpool solgte Xabi Alonso til Real Madrid var der mange som mente at de lige havde sendt det engelske mesterskab med fly sydpå for ussel mammon. Dette udsagn er selvfølgelig problematisk. Liverpool havde under alle omstændigheder fået kam til deres hår, men faktum er at Alonso bliver svær at erstatte. Hans evne til at holde på bolden, altid finde en medspiller når han er presset og altid være spilbar har reddet mangt en storm af for Liverpool, og bevaret mangt et pres mod hidsigt kæmpende modstandere. Aquilani kan meget vel blive en stor succes på Anfield Road. Guderne må vide han har de nødvendige kvaliteter, men om han udfylde Alonsos rolle hurtigt og effektivt nok til at det ikke kommer til at koste en del point i sidste ende er usikkert. Først og fremmest skal han i det hele taget være kampklar.

Derudover råder Liverpool over et generelt set utrolig stærkt hold. Der kan stadig stilles spørgsmåltegn om bredden på enkelte pladser; navnlig helt fremme, hvor ingen af de spillere som pt er i truppen har vist klassen til at kunne erstatte en skadet eller karantæneramt Torres. Retfærdigvis vil meget få spillere kunne gøre dette, men Liverpools alternativer er fra langt fra Torres’ niveau. Ryan Babel har på mange måder højden og drøjden, men har til gengæld ikke overbevist når han har fået chancen. Alt i mens viste Voronin at han kan lave mål på samlebånd i Bundesligaen i sidste sæson, men det er langt fra sikkert at han kan gentage bedriften i England.

Hvis Liverpool imidlertid undgår skader til stamspillere, og får mulighed for at trække på den samme centrale akse gennem hele sæsonen kan de spille med mod de bedste. Salget af Alonso og den manglende backup for Torres udskyder dog det forløsende 19. mesterskab med endnu et år.

Tip: Forventet placering: Nummer 2 Supersæson: Nummer 1.

Liverpool will play Aston Villa on their 3rd game of the season today. Last time they met, it was Steven Gerrard who stood out with his first Premier League hat-trick.

but all eyes will be mainly on Glen Johnson. He migt aswell be nominated for the team of the season right now. Skrtel is a doubt, while other signing Alberto Aquilani is still out injured. Apart from that, Rafa Benitez has a fresh squad to choose from, including suprise player Lucas. The Brazilian shown he can play well, and also got  call up from Brazil.

Likely line up: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Ayala, Insua, Lucas, Mashcerano, Kuyt, Benayoun, Gerrard, Torres

Score last season: Liverpool 5-0 Villa

Likely Score: Liverpool 3-0 Villa

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LFC News Weekly…in bullet points is a new thing to LFC Fan Club. There is a new one every Friday, but only 10 of them. Here’s part 1 of 10.

• Skrtel is injured due to a broken jaw
• Liverpool F.C got off to an O.K start, losing to Spurs but beating Stoke
• We laughed at Man Utd following their 1-0 loss to Burnley
• The Rafa quitting story is FALSE
• Κυργιάκος is now an official Liverpool F.C Defender.

The Reds defender will be out of action for two weeks, according to his representative.
Martin Skrtel picked up a jaw injury during Liverpool’s game against Tottenham Hotspur this weekend following a collision with Jamie Carragher.

The Slovenian played on despite visible discomfort, eventually being withdrawn due to the pain. The good news for Liverpool fans is that the jaw is not broken so Skrtel should only miss a few games, according to a report on Sky Sports.

“It [the jaw] is not broken, just heavily cracked,” Skrtel’s agent, Karol Csonto, told SITA.

“According to the doctors, Martin should be back in action within two weeks and he should be wearing a special mask.

“I hope that they will find or create a new one for him.”

Slovenia face Czech Republic in a World Cup qualifier on the 5th September, and Skrtel’s agent revealed his client was eager to play in that game.

“He is not admitting the possibility of not playing in that game,” Csonto affirmed.

Goal

Well, Liverpool start the league campaign with a loss, and I have a horrible gnawing sensation in my stomach: Welcome back football.  I have a long standing belief that there is no enjoyment in football, and that even the highest highs never quite outweigh the regular lows.  But maybe that’s just me.

I was a little nervy before the match, we’ve not always done as well against Spurs as we should have, and there was the added pressure of the rest of the ‘big four’ winning over the weekend.  With Carragher, Skrtel and Gerrard passed fit, the team looked as you would expect, perhaps apart from the inclusion of Ryan Babel ahead of Benayoun and Riera.

The opening period of the first half was extremely scrappy, largely due to Skrtel and Carragher attempting to undo all the medical staff’s hard work and wiping each other out of the game.  The central defenders had a nasty clash of heads, on 16 minutes, and it took them both a long time (and 12 staples in Carragher’s head) to settle down afterwards.  Skrtel in particular struggled to shake it off, and was forced to take painkillers.

Liverpool’s play remained disjointed for the rest of the half, but Spurs seem to grow in to the game.  On 30 minutes, Robbie Keane missed a golden chance to go ahead, as Reina made an impressive save from close range.  He then made another great save from Keane, just a few minutes later, with Defoe immediately spurning another chance, flashing a header wide.  41 minutes in, Keane blazes another good chance high over the bar.  Despite the Tottenham chances, I still felt fairly comfortable, until, after 44 minutes, Benoit Assou-Ekotto scored with a great strike from the edge of the box.  To be fair, the shot was pretty much unsavable, and there wasn’t a lot that the defence could do.  Liverpool upped the tempo for the few minutes until half time, but it finished 1-0 at the break.  A frustrating half of football, made worse by listening to Glenn Hoddle and Jamie Redknapp saying how much better Tottenham’s squad is than Liverpool’s.  It’s not like Sky Sports’ pundits to jump to conclusions after 45 minutes of football, is it?

The second half started pretty much the same as the first ended, until on 54 minutes, Glen Johnson was brought down in the box by the goalie, following a brilliant attacking run.  Steven Gerrard slotted the resulting penalty away to make it 1-1.

On 58 minutes, done for pace by Defoe, Jamie Carragher brought him down with a clumsy tackle.  From the resulting free kick, Spurs’ new boy Sebastien Bassong scores with a header, 2-1.  I won’t mention the dodgy technicality that meant that Bassong only served one match of a two match ban, and meant that he was available for this game.

67 minutes, and Yossi Benayoun replaced Ryan Babel; Benayoun was one of Liverpool’s star performers towards the end of last season, so it looked to be a positive move.  Babel did little to justify Benitez’s faith in starting him, but I wouldn’t hold it against him, as the whole team were struggling.  Skrtel was finally replaced on 74 minutes, by Premier League debutant Daniel Ayala.  No pressure then for his first game!  Liverpool’s final throw of the dice came on 78 minutes when Andriy Voronin replaced the usually untouchable Dirk Kuyt.

The substitutions made something of a positive impact and Voronin was unlucky not to earn a penalty on 85 minutes.   Sammy Lee got a red card on 89 minutes, for complaining about the ungiven penalty, and it pretty much summed up the frustration of the whole game.  Despite a slight improvement, Liverpool never really got going, and Spurs were definitely the worthy winners.  The match finished 2-1.

I’m not sure that I can take any positives from the game, and I have tried.  About the best I can come up with is that the media will have now already written us off for the title race, and at least that’s a bit less pressure to deal with.  Small comfort.  As much as I struggle to defend today’s performace, I do hope that any media reports on the match highlight the massive impact that the clash of heads had on Liverpool; it totally disprupted the team.

I had written, in my season preview Season’s Greeting, that I was feeling apathetic to the football season.  Sadly, I can report that it is now longer the case; I really wish I didn’t care right now.

Yesterday I wrote a post describing my apathy towards the impending football season (Season’s Greeting), and was beginning to wonder if anything could re-light my fire (so to speak).  Later that day, I found my spark.

As I was driving to my mate’s house last night, I listened to a Premier League preview on Five Live, featuring Pat Nevin and Perry Groves.  They were talking about Spurs when I tuned in, and my ears pricked up when I heard them start to discuss the chances of Liverpool winning the league.  Within a few minutes I was swearing at the radio and trying desperately not to crash, as I attempted to control my rage.

I’ll attempt to convey to you some of the drivel that they were coming out with.  I apologise now if I misrepresent anything that was said, as I am trying to remember it from last night and was annoyed by everything they said (I might well be biased).  I am also not sure which of the pundits said what, so I can’t help you decide which of them is worse.  Here we go:

Benitez has made a massive mistake in selling Alonso.

I can understand the argument that selling Alonso has weakened the Liverpool team, but can the blame for this really be assigned to a Benitez mistake?  Rafa made no secret of his desire to keep Xabi at the club, and insisted on Real Madrid stumping up a massive transfer fee before he’d even speak to them.  Alonso himself made no secret of his desire to move, even (allegedly) putting in a transfer request.   Can you really keep a 27-year old player who doesn’t want to stay, when you have a chance to get a huge fee for him, a fee that you’ll never get again? I can only say that you can’t.

Liverpool are TOTALLY reliant on Gerrard and Torres. If either of them get injured then Liverpool are stuffed.

Like every team in world football, if you lose your two best players, then you won’t be as good.  That’s not exactly rocket science, is it?  But did they bother to check how many times that Stevie and Nando played together last season? I’m guessing not, since the answer is 14 games.  So Liverpool had one of those two players injured for nearly two-thirds of last season and finished second.  I think someone should reconsider their comments.

Numbers 1 to 11, Liverpool are good.  The rest of the squad are hopeless.

It could well be argued that there are weak spots in Liverpool’s squad and that some of the fringe players don’t offer too much.  But are there only 11 good players at Liverpool?  People from opposing clubs debate who is a good player, and who isn’t, almost endlessly on football forums.  The definition of who is a quality player is so subjective as to be almost meaningless.  The only measure that I can think to use is to list players who Rafa will regularly start as part of his rotation system.  The players who I think fit this description are: Johnson, Aquilani, Agger, Gerrard, Torres, Riera, Aurelio, Benayoun, Kuyt, Mascherano, Lucas, Insua, Carragher, Reina, Skrtel.  Now, I don’t expect you to think that all of those players are ‘world-class’ (they’re not), but they did all regularly start for the team that came second in the league… and there are 15 of them.  Outside of those 15, we have a decent backup goalie in Cavalieri, two full internationals in Babel and Dossena, and Ngog, a 20 year old striker with only one season in a new country, who still managed to score 3 goals in a smattering of appearances.  Now, I’d never try and argue that the ’second 11′ is anywhere near good enough, but they’re not as bad as the black&white merchants would make out.

Aquilani won’t work at Liverpool because he’ll run in to the same space that Gerrard does.

This comment is almost too stupid to comment on.  Yes, Liverpool will have to adapt to Aquilani’s style of play in contrast to Alonso’s.  The key word is ADAPT.  Morons.

Anyway, that concludes my rant.  In the cold light of day, perhaps the comments they were making weren’t as stupid as I am portraying.  It can be very difficult to see what is actually true as a football fan, as you are intrinsically biased.  I do think, however, that these examples do illustrate the one-dimensional thinking that plagues 99% of football pundits working in the media today.  They simply don’t deal in facts, but get an idea based on a gut feeling, and spin it out in to a fully fledged theory, which is stated as fact.  In last night’s programme, the fact that Ngog and El Zhar aren’t established, prolific strikers lead to the conclusion that Liverpool only have 11 decent players.  The lesson that the broadcasters need to learn is that being an ex-player, and not being brain dead, doesn’t  make you a good pundit.

Looking on the positive side though, the anger roused in me last night has got me all fired up for tomorrow’s match. Come on you Reds!

Torres Signs new improved contract with Liverpool

25 year old striker Fernando Torres has finally put pen to paper after agreeing the terms of his new improved contract back in May.  Torres was tied to the club after signing a contract that will keep him at Anfield until 2013 when he originally signed back in 2007.

His new and improved contract now includes an option to extend his time at Anfield for a further year until 2014 and now earn him £120,ooo a week.

Carragher and Skrtel Injury updates

Jamie Carragher limped off following a knock to the ankle during Liverpool’s last pre season friendly with Atletico Madrid and Skrtel has been suffering from a hamstring injury after playing Thailand.

News of their improvement comes as a major boost to Benitez, who is likely to be without the injured Daniel Agger this weekend.
Benitez said at the pre match press conference “Skrtel trained yesterday and hopefully he’ll be fit. Carragher has been working with the physios today and we think he’ll be available. Agger is also working with the physios but it will be more difficult for him.”

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Benitez - Confident

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is confident the injury crisis in Liverpool`s defensive line-up will be sorted before the weekend. Liverpool lost their final pre-season friendly on Saturday losing 2-1 to Atletico Madrid in front of a 44,000 sell-out crowd.  He also insisted that new signing Alberto Aquilani was never going to make the season start.

Jamie Carragher and Fernando Torres picked up ankle problems, and will be carefully monitored this week ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tottenham. Benitez, who has lost Sami Hyypia and Alvaro Arbeloa this summer, also has injury problems over defenders Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Fabio Aurelio with which to contend. Aquilani, who was able to convince Liverpool after a stringent medical, that his ankle injury is not a long-term worry, will miss the first four to eight weeks of the campaign.

Benitez in a press conference said: “Jamie’s injury is not serious, just a twisted ankle. But with our injury problems which include Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel, we felt we needed to take him off as a precaution, just in case.  We will keep an eye on him for two or three days to see how he reacts, but I feel he will be okay. Hopefully, Agger or Skrtel will be fit too.”

Injury worry for Martin Skrtel

Not a good start to the new season with an injury worry for Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel. The 24 year old Slovakian international pulled his hamstring whilst playing Thailand in the 1-1 draw last Wednesday. It is reported that he will be out for a minimum of 3 weeks.

Meanwhile in the same game 22 year old striker Nabil El Zhar also limped off the pitch after spraining a medial ligament in his right knee. El Zhar is reported to be out the game for a minimum of 4 weeks.

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One tiny little goal scored in this week’s Champo League semis may seem a paltry morsel compared to the veritable KFC Family Feast of football we’ve been served up in recent weeks, but for me it represents a comforting return to the stolid tactical fare that is normally dished up, particularly on the European stage.

Don’t be mistaken, I like goals as much as the next fan. And I have slurped up the recent action like a greedy toddler with his milkshake. But my entertainment is laced with strange brand of paranoia. That the current pandemic of defensive incompetence is part of a hideous conspiracy to make football a more palatable prospect to a global audience.

The inane defending from normally solid yeoman such as Terry, Vidic and Skrtel suggested that they were now beholden to a restraining order stating that they are not allowed within ten yards of a would-be attacker. And was an electric circuit wired around Petr Cech’s frame which completed when he laid two hands on the ball thus delivering an unpleasant shock?

Similar thoughts resurface every time there is a freakish upsurge in goal-scoring – which happens more regularly than you think. I am never quite sure who is responsible for these sinister edicts but this is paranoia. It’s not supposed to be rational. It wouldn’t be paranoia otherwise. It would just be thinking.

Happily, normal order was resumed this week. The plot has failed, and cagey football has won through again.

Or maybe it was simply a failure with the circuitry on Cech’s electrokit.

What you missed while making sure your kids get to daycare…

• Fabio Capello to Wayne Rooney: “You’re a crazy man.”
• Liverpool’s center backs like to talk about Manchester United.
• Genoa says that Tottenham’s 10 million offer for Diego Milito “would only be enough for his ear”; Walter Sobchak can get you a toe for way less than that.
• Cuauhtemoc Blanco will definitely be leaving the Chicago Fire at the end of the season.

Where in the world did that ridiculous Liverpool squad come from?  They put on a jaw-dropping performance against Real Madrid in a 4-0 drubbing to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League (5-0 on aggregate).  They could’ve scored a couple more too.   I really don’t think I’ve ever seen them play as well as they did today.  It was amazing – they pushed the pace and put pressure on Madrid’s defense from the get-go.  Fernando Torres almost put one past Madrid keeper Iker Casillas after an other-worldly turn that made Fabio Cannavaro look like a complete idiot.   Casillas had to make another save on a long shot from Javier Mascherano moments later.  With the way things were going, it was only a matter of time before Liverpool put one in the back of the net.

After a botched clear by Pepe, Dirk Kuyt squared to Torres in front of the goal, who easily scored to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.  The Liverpool pressure continued as the Reds were the first to every loose ball and seemed one step ahead of Madrid.  The Reds got a little bit of a lucky break on their second goal – the ref awarded a penalty after the ball appeared to hit Gabriel Heinze in the arm – but replays showed it actually hit his shoulder.  Tough break for Madrid, but Steven Gerrard didn’t waste the chance and buried the penalty for a 2-0 Liverpool lead.

Gerrard got the second half off to a wonderful start  when he put a rocket shot past Casillas off a cross from Ryan Babel.  The Reds didn’t dominate the second half quite as much as they did the first, but the defense did a fantastic job of keeping Madrid off the board.  The center back duo of Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher completely shut down the Madrid attack.  With the game well in hand, Liverpool was able to take off Xabi Alonso, Gerrard and Torres to rest them for Saturday’s huge clash with Manchester United.  Liverpool completed the embarrassment of Madrid as substitute Andrea Dossena scored on the counter attack in the 88th minute.

An incredible overall performance from Liverpool – notice is now served to the rest of Europe that they are a team to be reckoned with.  Hopefully, they will be able to take some momentum from this game into the Premier League match against Manchester United.  If the Reds play like they did today, they can beat anyone.  

Liverpool is joined in the quarterfinals of the Champions League by Chelsea (3-2 aggregate over Juventus), Villarreal (3-2 aggregate over Panathinaikos) and Bayern Munich (12-1 [!!!] aggregate over Sporting – talk about a beating).  The other four quarterfinalists will be decided tomorrow.

Today’s Results

Liverpool 4 (Torres 16, Gerrard 28 pen, 47, Dossena 88)
Real Madrid 0

Juventus 2 (Iaquinta 19, Del Piero 74 – pen)
Chelsea 2 (Essien 45+1, Drogba 83)

Panathinaikos 1 (Mantzios 55)
Villarreal 2 (Ariel Ibagaza 49, Joseba Llorente 70)

Bayern 7 (Poldoski 7, 34, Polga-o.g. 39, Schweinsteiger 43, Van Bommel 74, Klose 82 – pen, Muller 90)
Sporting 1 (João Moutinho 42)

The Barclays Premier League drama continued in week 25, with title hopefuls Liverpool suffering only their second defeat of the season, allowing Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United juggernaut to maintain their seven-point lead at the summit despite not even playing. But how did the Merseysiders’ 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough affect their players’ index rating? Many Reds’ fans cited Benitez’s bizarre selection of Martin Skrtel in an unfamiliar right-back role at the Riverside as a main reason for their side’s humiliating defeat and the Slovakian defender’s poor performance is reflected in this week’s Index. He finished on -13 points and dropped 14 places to 223rd in the overall standings. Below-par performances from Fabio Aurelio, Xabi Alonso and David Ngog all contributed to Benitez’s squad dropping a total of 91 places in this week’s Actim Index.

Boro’s heroics eased their relegation fears and also presented Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea the chance to sneak into second place – and they seized the opportunity courtesy of their late 2-1 win against Wigan. Once again it was midfield talisman Frank Lampard who rescued his side as he scored a last-minute winner to ensure he jumped above Gabriel Agbonlahor and into second place behind team-mate Nicolas Anelka in the season’s overall standings. Lampard recorded a season’s-best match index score of 49 to reign supreme as the week’s top points scorer – narrowly pipping close friend, team-mate and fellow goalscorer John Terry to the accolade by three points.

Elsewhere, former Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock inspired Blackburn to a crucial 2-1 victory at Hull’s KC Stadium. Warnock scored one and made the other three minutes later to earn him a season’s-best score of 38 to boost him 35 places up to 65th in the Index as his team moved clear of the relegation zone for only the third time since week 13. The 27-year-old is fast becoming a fans’ favourite at Ewood Park largely due to his attacking attitude, and that is reflected in the Index – providing 30 crosses, including three direct assists, and hitting 12 shots, four of which have hit the target.

However, the week’s biggest mover was promising Chelsea and England centre-back Michael Mancienne, 21, who put in another performance beyond his years as he moved 137 places up the rankings. At the other end of the spectrum, hapless West Brom striker Luke Moore tumbled the most places as he dropped 42 places to 355th despite hitting the crossbar in his side’s 2-0 defeat at Everton. The former Aston Villa striker has just one goal to his name this season as Tony Mowbray’s Baggies continue to struggle for goals at the foot of the table.

Stoke continued to show their battling qualities as they came from 2-0 down with two minutes to go to salvage a draw at Aston Villa. One player who has epitomised the Potters’ fighting spirit this term is Ryan Shawcross. The bruising former Manchester United defender displayed his Old Trafford pedigree as he netted the first goal to set Tony Pulis’ men on their way to a remarkable point at Villa Park. Shawcross finished the game with a match index score of 18 to move up 14 places and prove his value to Stoke’s battle against relegation this season.

Match-winners and goalscorers dominate week 25’s Team of the Week with Terry, Lampard, Warnock, Tim Cahill, Jack Collison, Keith Andrews, Tuncay Sanli and Louis Saha all hitting the back of the net. Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen was at the top of his game to deny Newcastle as he kept a clean sheet at the Reebok Stadium while Everton’s defensive duo Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka were in typically uncompromising mood as they shut-out a plucky West Brom outfit at Goodison Park. But it was West Ham’s fledgling midfielder Collison who stole the show with another eye-catching display as the Hammers beat Manchester City 1-0 on Sunday. The 20-year-old evoked glowing praise from boss Gianfranco Zola for his overall gamely as he scored the winner at Upton Park and this week’s Actim stats justify Zola’s comments. Collison has hit the target with 13 of his 18 shots this season, scoring three of them to enhance his burgeoning reputation as an attacking midfielder but his defensive stats stand out too; making 23 tackles, three interceptions and four blocks in what is proving to be a monumental season for him.

Frustration for Liverpool.

Stoke 0, Liverpool 0 – A frustrating draw for the league leaders who had Steven Gerrard hit the post TWICE in the last ten minutes.  A rather poor effort overall though for Liverpool.  If Chelsea wins tomorrow, they will only be one point behind Liverpool.  On a positive note for the Reds: Fernando Torres made an appearance and Martin Skrtel is back in the starting lineup.

Arsenal 1, Bolton 0 - Nicklas Bendtner scored a late winner for the Gunners to keep them in fifth place.

Everton 2, Hull City 0 - Marouane Fellaini got Everton on the board early with a goal in the 19th minute and Mikel Arteta added a second just before halftime.  Everton is now just three points back from Arsenal.

Middlesbrough 1, Sunderland 1 – Afonso Alves scored for Boro right before half, but Sunderland’s Kenwyne Jones tied the game at one apiece in the 82nd minute.  

Newcastle 2, West Ham 2 - The hosts took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute on a Michael Owen goal, but Crazy-ass Craig Bellamy leveled ten minutes later.  West Ham took a 2-1 lead on a Carlton Cole goal.  Andy Carroll then scored his first Premier League goal to tie the game in the 77th minute.

Aston Villa 2, West Brom 1 - Curtis Davies scored the first goal for Villa.  West Brom goalie Scott Carson gave the home side a 2-0 lead going into half after screwing up royally.  James Morrison pulled one back for the Baggies just after halftime, but that was as close as the visitors got.  Villa is now THIRD.

Portsmouth vs. Manchester City - called off due to frozen pitch

Fulham vs. Blackburn - called off due to frozen pitch

Title-chasing Liverpool had a thumping 5-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday and as a result they dominate the Actim Team of the Week, with four players making the XI. Skipper Steven Gerrard racked up 45 points thanks to his hat-trick and he now moves into the top 10 of the overall standings, claiming eighth place. Goalkeeper Jose Reina provided the assist for Albert Riera`s second goal and both men join Gerrard in the week`s best XI, along with defender Martin Skrtel.

Ryan Shawcross was the highest scoring player of the week after his match-winning exploits for Stoke. The defender helped keep a clean sheet and netted the only goal of the game in the Potters` vital 1-0 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday. That performance saw him amass 52 points, by far his best points return of the season – and the impressive haul saw Shawcross climb 35 places in the overall standings into 56th place and sees him breathing down the neck of Thomas Sorensen, who is Stoke`s highest-placed player, five places above him in 51st.

Peter Crouch`s two goals earned Portsmouth a 2-1 victory over Everton on Saturday and also gave him his highest points haul of the season. The England striker posted 49 points, the second highest amount of the week behind Shawcross, and duly takes his place in the Team of the Week climbing up to overall 26th place in the process.

Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka is a sitting duck at the top of the overall standings after picking up an injury in Chelsea`s 1-0 defeat at Tottenham. The Frenchman retained his place at the summit, despite a poor haul of just 13 points, but is almost certain to be overhauled by Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard during his three-week absence. Lampard also had a poor week, registering a score of -2 and is 20 points behind Anelka, while third-placed Gabriel Agbonlahor sits a further 41 points adrift after a disappointing tally of just two points in Villa`s thrashing at Anfield.

Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega was the biggest mover of the week following his performance in the 1-0 win over Hull. His 19 points was his highest score since joining the Latics in January and moves him up 136 places in the Index to 454th. However, it was a week to forget for Middlesbrough as their 1-0 defeat at Stoke contributed to Mohamed Shawky slipping 36 places to 417th after an Index score of -12, and Tuncay Sanli registering the lowest score of the week with a damaging -22.

View the latest Actim Index >