TOMKINS: IT'S A GAP, NOT A GULF Paul Tomkins 25 March 2008
	Whatever happened at Old Trafford, I had already decided that Liverpool are behind Manchester United in terms of talent but closing the gap.
These fixtures tend to take on an all-defining power, but ultimately it's just one game. And one-off games involve luck, the kind Liverpool haven't done well enough at Old Trafford to deserve in recent years, but which has been unfairly lacking in recent home games against United. United also used to win these games when Liverpool were the best side in the world, while the Reds regularly beat United when they were winning titles at the start of the new millennium, so it's important to put them into perspective. United, based on the league table, were always going to still be the better team regardless, but the gap is closing in a season where United have actually considerably strengthened (adding £80m-worth of talent), when their squad was already far more expensive than Liverpool's to start with. The result from Old Trafford, whatever it would be, would only sway my opinion a few percent either way: a draw, and we're where I thought; a win, and we're perhaps 5% ahead; a defeat, and maybe 5% behind. But performance, and ability to deserve more at Old Trafford, would also be important. In the end, maybe that was hardest to judge. I hadn't reckoned with the Ashley Cole factor, and refs cracking down on any form of dissent following his bad foul and barracking of the ref last week. It's ironic that Liverpool hardly ever harass the referee, and rarely get players sent off, and yet pay the price of a clampdown while teams who misbehave more frequently continue to get away with it. Cole's tackle and reaction were far worse, but he got away with it. Ferguson, meanwhile, had put the referee under more pressure before the match. Mascherano was clearly treading a tightrope, and while I understand his frustration at being booked for his first tackle while United players were only getting warnings, he should have kept out of things having already been cautioned and can't have too many complaints. However, if referees are going to give one team all the bookings, and award nonsensical yellow cards, trouble will follow. Torres was being fouled and fouled again, by three United players in three seconds, and when he asked the ref about it, he got booked. Ludicrous, utterly ludicrous. Some refs have admitted letting Wayne Rooney swear at them 20 times or more in a match, and then Mascherano gets sent off for plain dissent following Torres' unfair booking. Where's the consistency? Ten-man Liverpool showed character in the middle of the second half, and that's encouraging. But when United can bring on £60m-worth of talent (Tevez valued at £30m, even if only on loan initially), you can see the disparity in resources as they turned the screw in the last ten minutes. This when Ferguson's starting team already cost £30m more than Benitez's. Unfortunately, it all coincided with Pepe Reina experiencing probably his most mixed game for the club - three wonderful saves, but also a couple of costly mistakes. I still think he's the best keeper in the country, but part of United's success has been down to landing Van der Sar after years with dodgy keepers. Can they replace their ageing Dutchman when the time comes? Much of the constant criticism of Benitez has been that he has never appeared to know what his best team is. I've never seen this as essential in the modern age, when the squad takes on more significance. Isn't it better to have two equally good players competing for one position, where you can't choose your best XI, than one good and one bad, where you easily can? Ideally you'd want a great player in the mix, and few teams have two of those competing for the same spot. One is hard enough to come by, let alone two. When trying to work out United's strongest team, who are their best midfielders? Ronaldo, Giggs, Scholes, Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves, Carrick and Fletcher are those who appear most. You could make a strong case for the inclusion of the first seven names in particular, but only four can start at once. Ferguson chops and changes them, and 'rotates' heavily, all without criticism, even when they lose. If anything, the midfield situation is clearer at Liverpool, particularly since Gerrard was moved into a more advanced role (something Ronaldo also does for United from time to time). The most obvious choices for the two deeper midfielders are Mascherano and Alonso. Lucas is an excellent player for his age, and a handy option at this stage of his career, but is still learning when compared with the other two. The left-wing role is being nailed down by the exciting Babel, who, like Lucas, is also learning. Babel, however, has the ability to be devastating, and that will only increase with experience of the league and maturity. He's improving, but there's more to come. He's at the stage Ronaldo was two or three years ago. It's easy to say 'why didn't Benitez do all this at the start of the season', but that misses the point. First of all, Alonso was injured. That left Lucas, who was not ready to be a regular at that stage, and Sissoko, who had lost his confidence. So Gerrard played in a traditional midfield role; and even had he played in his current position, there's nothing to say the understanding with Torres back then would have been as strong as it is now. Also, Babel wasn't ready to be as consistent; he was struggling to adapt to the pace of the game, and the frequency of matches. It's very hard for a manager expected to challenge for the title to bed in new players straight into the starting XI; there's no patience from outside with regard to mistakes while the adaptation takes place. I feel that Liverpool are now where United were in 2006. Although the Reds finished just one point behind United that season, Ferguson's project was more advanced. He was about to have Ronaldo and Rooney come of age; whereas Liverpool were never going to get that dramatic improvement from the ageing Fowler and Morientes, while Cisse's pace on the wing had its limitations - he was never going to improve in the way Babel, a clever player, has the potential to. In 2005/06, Benitez had some new key elements in place - Reina, Agger, Alonso - but since then he's added Torres, Babel, Mascherano, Lucas, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Aurelio and Benayoun, to name just a few. This collection of players is now starting to blend, but it can improve markedly given the age of the team and its time spent together. Also, United invested even more heavily than Liverpool last summer, building from a position of strength - although they paid around £50m, they added £80m of talent in just four players last summer. How do you close a gap in those circumstances? In Torres and Gerrard, the Reds have a combination to build success around, in the manner United did with Rooney and Ronaldo, before adding a third axis in Tevez. Of course, as soon as Liverpool found the prolific striker everyone said the club lacked, the focus switched to 'Liverpool rely too much on Torres'. Crazy. It's important that Liverpool build on the formula the manager has created. But an avoidance of injuries to key players next season will be crucial; it is to any team. It's not possible to say how much a team relies on one player simply by removing their goals from the equation; after all, if they weren't playing, someone else would be. However, I find it hard to believe United would be doing anywhere near as well had Ronaldo suffered a serious injury in August. Man-for-man, there's not a massive gulf between the two clubs' strongest XIs. But it's about the squad, too. Also, a team is not just a collection of individuals; it's how they gel together, and how much they exceed the sum of their parts. United have the advantage in that sense, having been together longer. They break with such pace and understanding, and that hasn't happened overnight. Liverpool, with Gerrard, Torres and Babel forming a new super-quick attack, are capable of matching them - but in time. They also have players with league-winning experience from 2003 and before, which helped underpin their recent success. Liverpool are closing the gap in terms of team cohesion and unity, but the psychology of two decades without a league title will always be the hardest barrier to overcome. A fit Agger, and Liverpool would almost certainly have been closer to the top three. He was missed in a number of home games in particular. Alonso was also missed. I don't think United had to get by without any key first-choice players for long periods this season, bar Gary Neville, who is not crucial to their cause. Of course, a lot depends on how each of the big teams strengthen over the summer, and how quickly the new additions settle. I just feel that, despite the setback, Benitez is now really close to the side he wants. Will that be enough? With United building upon key elements Ferguson had put in place while Rafa was still at Valencia, it'll be hard. But hopefully not impossible. Time will tell...

An Unhappy Easter

Written by Ste Speed on March 25th, 2008

Watching Liverpool games live on television has its good points and bad points when you live in Vancouver, Canada. Due to the time difference we watch the weekend games early in the morning and midweek games at lunchtime. If the Reds win it’s fantastic and we get the rest of the day to celebrate. However when they lose it can ruin the rest of the day. Unlike in England, where you only have a few more hours till you can sleep and forget about it, we have an entire day to be annoyed. Such an occasion occurred on Sunday and to make it even worse it meant that Easter was ruined as well.

The defeat at Old Trafford was the fourth in succession since Rafa became Liverpool manager. It was also the fourth in a row that a Man Utd defender has scored. I thought the game near the start of last season was awful but this was even worse and downright embarrassing. There are a number of reasons why we lost the game such as Mascherano’s sending off or the formation Rafa chose. When it all comes down to it, the players themselves let us all down by simply not turning up. The only player that seemed to be getting stuck in was Mascherano but he barely lasted half an hour on the pitch.

I’m not usually in agreement with the words of Tom Hicks but he has suggested that Liverpool’s players have an inferiority complex when it comes to playing Man Utd. Based on the evidence we see every season it’s hard to disagree with these sentiments. I think we can all agree that we have a first eleven that can compete with any team in the world and we have seen plenty of evidence of this. Yet when it comes time to play Man Utd we simply collapse. I cannot fathom why this is and it really bothers me. I do not blame Rafa for this because he publicly talks up our chances before these games and fill us (and surely the players) with plenty of confidence. Yet as soon as the whistle blows we simply allow them to dominate.

Would anybody else agree that Steven Gerrard did not act like a captain on Sunday? I don’t want to start slagging Stevie off here because I am a big fan of the man and he would be in my starting line-up every week without fail. But I cannot excuse the way he goes missing in games against Man Utd. He had one good shot in the second half but other than that he wasn’t really involved in the match. I understand that he played a lot deeper when we were down to ten men but even before that he wasn’t really doing a lot. I would love to know why he wasn’t involved in getting Mascherano off the pitch when he was sent off. As the captain, I feel that Stevie should have run straight over and done whatever it took to get him to calm down. I understand that he may have wanted to set a good example by not getting involved in the argument, but once Mascherano lost control he should have been straight over.

Anybody who watched the game could quite clearly see that Mascherano was always at risk of being sent off once he had received the first yellow card for the foul on Scholes. I counted six occasions in which the cameras caught him swearing or gesturing at the referee Steve Bennett. It didn’t need an expert lip reader to understand that he was f’ing and blinding. Every time I saw him mouthing off I was panicking and shouting at him to ‘please shut up’. As we were already a goal down at that point we probably would have lost the game anyway, but by getting himself sent off when he was our best player, Mascherano clearly cost us a chance of getting back into the game. I just hope at this stage that he doesn’t get his one game ban increased because of his refusal to leave the pitch once he was shown the red card.

We all knew that we would see dissent punished more harshly this weekend after Cashley’s behaviour in mid-week, but it seems that Liverpool were more harshly treated than others. I watched Chelsea vs Arsenal and saw loads of players giving the referee abuse and yet none of their players were given cards for it. Yet when Torres complains about the constant fouling he received without the referee giving the fouls, he is booked straight away. Bennett should have had a quiet word with him as it was a first offence and clearly Torres was just frustrated. Instead he was immediately yellow carded for it. The inconsistencies in refereeing standards seem to get worse with every week, and Steve Bennett’s performance on Sunday was pathetic. Mascherano was booked for a bad foul and Man Utds players were consistently allowed to kick and pull back our players without punishment. Ronaldo clearly dived twice in the game and was he booked? Of course he wasn’t. I’m not suggesting that Steve Bennett was biased, just incompetent to be in charge of a game of this importance.

I know that it’s easy to say this in hindsight but I think that Rafa got the formation wrong, especially once we were down to ten men. Leaving Torres on his own up front was never going to work with Ferdinand and Vidic playing so well this season. It was even harder for Torres when he was getting no service from the wings and with Gerrard going missing we seemed to be simply playing long balls to him and then expecting him to do the rest. Peter Crouch would have been a perfect player to bring on in this game and once again he was sitting on the bench. It’s quite clear that he’s done something bad to offend Rafa this much and despite talk of him signing a new contract, I can’t see him staying at Liverpool after this season.

Looking ahead to the Merseyside derby next Sunday we simply cannot afford to play like this again. We have a two point lead over Everton right now and we need to be increasing it to five points as we look to maintain fourth place. With no Mascherano for this game, Rafa may decide to revert to a 4-4-2 formation, or he may stick with new one and simply replace Mascherano with Lucas Leiva. I would like to see a natural winger like Pennant or Benayoun play on the right instead of Kuyt so that Torres can get some good crosses. With the amount of hard tackling that is expected of this fixture, especially with the amount on the line this time around, Torres may get more chances to score from the wings instead of passing through the midfield. One thing is for sure this game can’t come fast enough for me and doing the double on the Bluenoses will be the perfect tonic to soothe the pain in our hearts that we’ve been feeling since that terrible Easter Sunday.

Is Rafa going the “Wenger Way”?
Written by Daniel Preston on March 23rd, 2008

I have heard is being said recently by a few people, and occasionally in the press, that Benitez is following in Wengers footsteps of bringing in all his homeland talent.
Now I don’t doubt for a second that Rafa has maybe gone after a few spanish players when there is alternative talent out there from other countries, you only have to look at the Houllier era and the amount of French talent he brought in, and then his successor rapidly replaced with spanish talent in the form of the now departed Luis Garcia, aswell as Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina, Alvaro Arbeloa and arguably the best forward in the world at the minute - Fernando Torres.
Talent like this may not have been signed if we had a different manager, infact it’s probably a dead cert, but what I don’t think is a fact anyone can argue with is that 3 of the 4 still at the club are up there with, if not the best in the world in their positions. Reina, can probably only be topped by Buffon at the minute. Chelseas Peter Cech is hailed as better than both of them, but he is inconsistent and suffers more injuries than Michael Owen. Xabi Alonso is quite possibly the best holding midfielder in the world. People say he isn’t that great at tackling and defending but that is not what anyone requires of him - his distribution is his best asset, which is why the top clubs in Spain, even though he is suffering a slight dip in form, are still after him for a very decent fee. And to round off the spanish trio, Fernando Torres, who is an excellent player, regardless of nationality. The fact he is Spanish and Benitez is Spanish makes no difference to the fact he might currently be, and definitley will be the best striker in the premiership, if not the world.
Obviously though with singing some great players like this comes some failures, and under Rafa there has been quite a few - but a lot of them served their purpose at the time, the biggest Spanish disappointment I can think of is probably “the other Fernando”, Mr. Morientes, who despite being quite a talented player in La Liga, failed to impress and cut the grade in the Premiership.
Back to my argument against accusations of Rafa going the “Wenger Way”, I think looking at the players he is bringing into the reserves and the youth sides, plus possible summer transfer targets, he is not signing players from his homeland just for the sake of it, any talent he is bringing in is for that reason only, talent. We are seeing players coming in from all over the world. The most recent to date would be in the form of Martin Skrtel, who has proved to be a killer buy after his shakey debut against Havant & Waterlooville, joined also in the first team by talent from northern Europe in the form of Daniel Agger and Ryan Babel, two players I think noone would disagree are the sort of quality this club needs to take us up to the next level.
Benitez clearly likes his South American players, I don’t think there has ever been as many at the club than those that have joined us in the past 12 months, but also I don’t think anyone can argue Brazil and Argentina have two of the most quality national teams, and have produced some of the best players in the world. Lucas and Mascherano are quality players, the former being great potential for the future and captain of the Brazilian U-21 side, who has already showed us what he can do in big-game situations, most notably his substitute appearence in the first part of our local derby with Everton earlier this season, where he came on the pitch to fill the boots of Gerrard in a crucial time of the game - only to practically score the winner, but unfortunatley didn’t get the honour due to Phil Nevilles hand-ball clearence. Mascherano was a key player in the side when he joined us last season, and has come on leaps and bounds this season, he regularly puts in man of the match displays, even though he slightly messed up against Man Utd, agression is a trait of defensive midfielders, you only have to look at their own Roy Keane for a prime example. Also in the team are three Argentine players setting our reserve team on fire - Sebastian Leto and Emiliano Insua down the left, and Gerardo Bruna, who was tipped as “Madrids answer to Messi”.
In the wings for the future are players from Hungary, of all places, in the form of Andras Simon, Peter Gulacsi and the reserve goal-machine Krizistian Nemeth, the Moroccan Nabil El-Zhar who proved he is something to watch out for against Cardiff, Australian starlet Dean Bouzanis who has put in some impressive displays between the posts for the Youth team and the Reserves, and fellow countryman Steve Irwin (no, not the crocodile hunter). The list goes on the further down the ranks we go, Swedish Astrit Ajdarevic, Austrain Besian Idrizaj, Ghanian Godwin Antwi, Finnish Lauri Dalla Valle and Frenchman Damien Plessis was swiped from under the nose of Arsenal on the summer transfer deadline day.
A lot of International talent I’m sure you will agree, but Benitez isn’t ignoring players from our own homeland either, since he’s been here he’s signed Paul Anderson and Jack Hobbs, to add to Jay Spearing, Razor Putterill and co. Infact, there are only 3 Spanish players, Mikel San-Jose Dominguez, Francisco Duran and Miki Roque who are in a position enough to be in with a shot in the next year or two.
Back to the first team you have squad players in the form or Israeli Yossi Benayoun, Ukranian Andriy Voronin and Dutchman Dirk Kuyt, and while people say they are only squad players - it is still very important to have squad players. If anything it’s not a case that Rafa is picking the best Spanish talent for the future, he’s signing the best talent full stop, no matter where it origionates.
Quite fitting that Rafa is celebrating Liverpool being 2008’s “Capital of Culture” with a very continental team, and hopefully Europeans Capital of Culture, will be celebrated with another European Cup.

‘Crunch’ time for Reds
Written by Craig Rimmer on March 21st, 2008

A colossal two and a bit weeks in a hugely eventful season is almost upon us. This run of five successive games, starting with the trip to Old Trafford on Sunday lunch time, could make-or-break Liverpool’s season in every sense. A much improved run of form in the last six weeks or so has given the whole club a long over-due lift, on the playing front at least, and has made the end of season run-in appear much more palatable than it may potentially have been.
5 consecutive league victories, accompanied by largely impressive performances, have followed the Barnsley debacle. And of course there’s been another monumental European triumph against the mighty Inter Milan to add to the ever-bulging scrap book. Whilst the victories over Inter acted to reaffirm the Reds elite status in European competition; the impressive domestic form has been achieved against sides that Liverpool should be beating – although of course this all too often isn’t consistently the case. Now comes the test of continuing the league form against the toughest opposition, and juggling this with a formidable quarter-final encounter with Arsenal.
It would perhaps have been more desirable if so many high profile games hadn’t occurred in such a short space of time, but with confidence flowing throughout the squad this tough sequence of games could in fact be beneficial. With the big players all on top form in time for the end of season; particularly Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, whose partnership is looking better with every game, and Javier Mascherano, whose been almost unsurpassable in recent weeks. Add to this some promising performances from the likes of Martin Skrtel, Ryan Babel and Fabio Aurelio and the whole club should be confident heading into this decisive stage of the season.
The timing seems perfect for Liverpool to prove that they are capable of defeating their main domestic rivals; something which, aside from a few exceptions, has thus far eluded the club under Benitez’s reign. Matches of this magnitude are so often surrounded with such hype and tension that they rarely live up to their billing and are more often than not tight, unspectacular games. The top teams are of course very evenly matched, both in defence and attack. It comes as no surprise that the teams who have scored the most goals (Man United 61, Arsenal 58, Tottenham Hotspur 58, Liverpool 55, Chelsea 53) and conceded the least (Man United 15, Liverpool 21, Arsenal 22, Chelsea 22) are the teams competing at the top of the league, with the exception of Spurs whose fans must have gained the most value for money if nothing else this season. But these games also seem to be so tight because of the cautious tactics employed by the managers, with neither side willing to gift a yard to the opposition. It would be interesting to see what would happen if a side were to abandon such cautious tactics. It generally therefore takes one mistake or one moment of inspiration/quick thinking to win one of these matches, something which Liverpool have more often than not failed under Rafa even in matches which they have dominated against Man United in particular.
So, just which of the two up coming games against the old enemies is the biggest and most significant?… In my opinion the greatest rivalry and hatred is always reserved for the Mancs. Of courses there’s the rivalry with Everton which comes with the territory when the clubs exist so geographically close (and the ‘Bitter Blues’) seem to take this rivalry particularly seriously). But, aside from the derby matches, I always get the sense that Everton are more the mildly irritating, less successful brother; whereas out-doing the arch enemy from across the East-Lancs road is most satisfying. Given the choice between a victory at Goodison Park or a win at Old Trafford (preferably via a last minute G Neville own goal in his first match back from injury) and, although it would be a close call, I’d have to choose beating the Mancs – and you get the sense the feeling is mutual. Perhaps that’s because such a win comes around far less frequently and also Man U have been competing with Liverpool at the top of the table far more regularly than Everton. Or just maybe it’s a general dislike for all things related to Man United!
This season the situation is slightly different however. Everton are of course much closer to the Reds in the league and the upcoming fixture will therefore hold significance far beyond local pride. The way the team is playing at the moment we should beat Everton at home fairly comfortably, but whether that is the case we shall have to see. A good result at Old Trafford will always be a highlight of any season and a United victory on Saturday could go along way towards helping them move one title closer to our precious record. So, it would seem that the match at Old Trafford this Sunday remains the most significant. Although wins in both games is what we will be aiming for, which would set us up very nicely for the ‘triple-header’ against Arsenal! Or is that just a little too optimistic?!…
If the current form of Torres, Gerrard, Mascherano and co. does continue into this crucial ‘crunch time’ of the season and results go our way then the prospect of a late impact on the title race is even a possibility! Although that of course is a big ‘if’. But just imagine how different the table could have looked at this stage ‘if’ a few of those mid-season draws could have been turned into wins. A victory over United on Sunday would go a long way towards rectifying that.

TOMKINS: WE'RE NOT JUST A CUP TEAM Paul Tomkins 20 March 2008

Myths about Benitez and his Liverpool side continue to be dispelled. Slowly but surely, some critics are getting the point, although plenty still need to open their eyes. To my mind the 'boring'/'defensive' tag has always been inaccurate, but now, as manager of the country's top scorers, there are hard facts to back it up. I've argued since the day he arrived that he wants a perfect balance, not dour defensiveness nor reckless attacking. He wants the version of perfection he had at Valencia. And there was the nonsense that Benitez's system or style of football, or indeed management techniques, hampered his strikers; clearly, it was just about finding the right forward and supplementing him with the right providers. It also took Rafa time to find a prolific scorer at Valencia, but Mista fit the bill in the manager's third season. What Benitez won't do is pander to a goalscorer whose inclusion disrupts the balance. With progress to the last eight of the Champions League secured for the third time in four years, there is bound to be more naval gazing about the apparent disparity between the Reds' league and cup form. I've been arguing for more than a year now that while more is craved, there is no shame in finishing 3rd or 4th in the Barclays Premier League, given that each year the league appears to get stronger and stronger when judged against European standards. As an example, Man United, winners of the title last season and semi-finalists in Europe, went and added Tevez, Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani, and lost no-one of any note. Chelsea added Anelka, Alex, Belletti and Malouda, while Ballack finally 'showed up'. Meanwhile, Arsenal added Sagna and Eduardo, but more importantly, key players suddenly came good, including £10m Hleb after two mediocre seasons, and Adebayor. While Liverpool have also added a lot of excellent players this season, the Reds were always going to be more reliant on them, and in greater need of them quickly adapting. Hence some of the shortfall in the early stages of the season. In 2004 we'd all have jumped at the chance to consistently being one of the four best teams in Europe; the difference now is that you could perhaps argue that the best four teams all appear to be from England. That skews all analysis of Benítez's league improvement. Mix league and European form - because a season is not solely one nor the other for the big four - and you could argue that Liverpool are virtually on a par with any team in the land. The gap isn't that great. So clearly the term 'cup team,' also labelled at Liverpool, is an insult. Yes, it's always the most open route for success for any team working on a lower budget, but there's a lot more behind the Reds' continued European success than the ability to rise to the one-off occasion or to 'get lucky'. Indeed, it's actually quite the opposite: in any one game, the Reds can come unstuck, as we saw away at Reading and West Ham earlier in the season, as well as against Marseilles and Barnsley at home. But two games against virtually any opponent sees Rafa's men come out with overall 'aggregate' superiority. The problem is that the domestic league system (as with the FA Cup) punishes the one-off slip-up more harshly than the European two-legged tie, where home and away scores are combined for one overall result. Take West Ham as an example of how the league punishes the Reds' off days more harshly than the European system. In the Premier League, despite doing enough to earn at least a draw at Upton Park, Liverpool came away with nothing from a 1-0 defeat; soon after, the Reds demolished the Hammers 4-0, leaving just three points gained from a possible six. Had that been in the knockout stage in Europe, Liverpool would have won 4-1 on aggregate and got 'all six points', metaphorically speaking, by progressing. These games were of course played as one-offs, and not two-legged ties, and therefore approached differently by all involved. So it's not an exact science. But even so, few teams can manage an 'aggregate' victory over the Reds from two games. It can actually be seen most clearly in the Champions League. The Reds came unstuck against Marseilles and Besiktas in narrow defeats and drew at Porto, but hammered them all in the return to make aggregate scores of 4-1, 9-2 and 5-2 respectively. Losing two out of every six Premiership games and drawing a third would constitute failure. In two games against almost every European opponent, no matter how impressive their reputation (i.e. now including Inter Milan), the Reds have prevailed. This season, Liverpool's worst score over two games against any opponent is a three-goal winning margin. Indeed, it was the 2005 and 2007 finals where the results were unfair: in one-off games that in the first instance allowed an outplayed Liverpool to win, and two years later, allowed an outplayed AC Milan to fluke their revenge. Perhaps there's even a lesson in the Premiership 'exception that proves the rule', and which shows how difficult it is for the top sides to juggle their resources. Yes, the big four have bigger and better squads, but when you look at the timing of Liverpool's two league games against Reading (4-3 'defeat' on aggregate, although a 7-6 'win' if you include the Carling Cup), you see the necessity for such squads. Just days after the first game, Liverpool had a win-or-bust game in Marseilles; Benitez's hands were somewhat tied by the importance of that absolutely vital European game. And this weekend's encounter came just days after a trip to Milan to face the best team in Italy. Had Liverpool not been in their best form of the season, winning Saturday's game after going a goal behind (to a ludicrous free-kick decision) would have been a tall order against a team who were inferior but, to even things up, much fresher. Just look at how Everton came unstuck in that sense this weekend. What we're now seeing is this Liverpool team ending the season in the form people expected it to ease into from Day One and maintain, but which, with so many new players, wasn't realistic. Perhaps the good start misled people, and I'm as guilty of getting my hopes up as anyone. But now we're seeing what has been noted so often in the past: new imports only reaching their best in the new year, and that teams take time to gel. Torres whetted our appetites in the autumn, but actually scored 'only' seven in his first 14 league games as he adapted; despite the continued media myopia, only twice was he rested in the league, and only one of those led to a bad result, and he even played 30 minutes of that 0-0 draw. (He was actually rested for as many Champions League games back then –– Toulouse home and away). His problem finding consistency was more about adapting, and overcoming two injuries sustained with Spain. Rather than give Benitez credit for having the foresight to sign Torres, to develop a way to play that suits both him and the team, and to handle him in such a way that his transition was fairly smooth, he still gets criticised by some pundits for not playing him enough earlier in the campaign. In his last 13 league games Torres has scored an astonishing 13 goals, and at least some of that has to be down to not being overplayed early on. He now has 27 in all competitions, all from open play; unlike Owen and Fowler before him, he hasn't taken any penalties either, so his tally is even more remarkable - in an age when high totals are harder to come by. His understanding with Gerrard has blossomed with time - something you can't cut corners on - and that's a massive bonus. Elsewhere, Ryan Babel's level has improved dramatically as the season has progressed. Yes, he clearly prefers his right foot, but for all the people who tell me he's predictable in that sense I ask how many defenders actually stop him cutting inside and getting a shot away? Where he's unpredictable is in precisely when he will shoot; he reminds me of Patrik Berger in that he moves the ball so quickly after dummying to shoot, to work the space he needs. And every now and then he goes on the outside, to flummox the full-back. Lucas has grown into the midfield anchor role, from looking a little shellshocked to start with; again, he needed time, and of course, still needs to develop further. Mascherano's form is improving week by week, from impressive to monstrously good. And after several months out, Alonso is finally finding his old sharpness, while the return of Agger next year will be a massive boost; he's been sorely missed. The aforementioned midfielders and a number of defenders continue to be heavily rotated, but has that stopped a winning run of seven games or six clean sheets in the last ten? And now the pacy and uncompromising Skrtel has been added, Hyypia, who continues to shine, can be rested. Skrtel, like Torres, appears to have settled quickly, but you still have to allow all new imports time. What's clear is that the new-found understanding - of the league, of their team-mates and of the manager's methods - by this season's new additions will automatically be in place in August, when it wasn't present at that stage last year. I said some time ago that to judge the team solely on its winter league position was to miss the point about how good the side really could be: it has needed time to gel and grow; it has had to perform amid constant media stories that will hopefully be a thing of the past come next season; it has continued to defy expectations in Europe as more expensive outfits are humbled; it has had to overcome some damaging injuries, particularly to two passing players from the spine; and it has now, despite all this, managed to score more goals than any other English team. Cut out just half of those occasional costly league slip-ups that this season occurred both with and without Torres, and perhaps anything will be possible.

Which is your preferred LFC line up?


Version 1 ?

-------------------------Reina--------------------------
--Carra--------Skrtel------Hyypia---------Riise--
-----------------Alonso-----Masch------------------
---------Kuyt----------Stevie---------Babel---------
------------------------Torres--------------------------

Version 2 ?

-------------------------Reina--------------------------
--Carra--------Skrtel------Hyypia---------Riise--
-----------------Alonso-----Masch------------------
-------Gerrard---------Crouch---------Babel---------
------------------------Torres--------------------------

Version 3 ?

-----------------------------reina------------------------------
arbeloa-----------carra------------skrtel---------aurelio
----------------------masch-----xabi---------------------
-------kuyt----------------gerrard------------babel-------
-----------------------------torres----------------------------

Take you pick!

All eyes on Easter Sunday
Written by Max Munton on March 19th, 2008



It’s potentially the biggest Premier League ‘Grand Slam Sunday’ there has been for a while. Fourth place Liverpool travel to league leaders Manchester United, whilst third place Chelsea are at home to second place Arsenal.

As of Wednesday afternoon, just eight points separate top from fourth with United at home to Bolton and Chelsea away at Tottenham Hotspur tonight.

It is worth noting that Liverpool’s odds of winning the title have slipped dramatically from 450/1 to just 80/1 in the last two weeks as Rafael Benitez’s side enjoyed seven consecutive victories to put their season back on course.

Even the usually critical Steve McManaman admits results this week could see Liverpool move back in title contention, leaving a four horse race at the top of the table.

Speaking to Setanta Sports, the former Liverpool winger said, “If Liverpool beat Manchester United they’re back into it at the weekend. They’d still be only four or five points behind and you never know what’s going to happen with Chelsea and Arsenal.

“I think, at the moment, it is a three-horse race but, this time next week, I might change my opinion.”

Now, however, comes the most testing run of games for the Reds with all of the next five games, domestically and in Europe, against top five Premier League opposition. The run consists of: Manchester United (A), Everton (H), Arsenal (A), Arsenal (A) and Arsenal (H).

This Sunday Benitez looks for his first league victory over Alex Ferguson’s men since taking over from Gerard Houllier at Anfield in the summer of 2004. Benitez’s only scalp of the arch-rivals came en-route to the 2006 FA Cup success; Peter Crouch’s header the only goal of the game in a tense 1-0 victory for Liverpool at home.

Liverpool legend Ian Rush believes the form that Liverpool are in at the moment will give them the momentum to go to Old Trafford on Sunday and take three points.

“Liverpool are on a fantastic run of form at the moment, having won their last seven games – but their trip to Old Trafford on Sunday is the biggest test so far,” said Rush.

“Manchester United are going for the title and they have some wonderful players, particularly in attack. But I honestly believe Liverpool can go there and win because I think they are playing well enough to beat any team in this country and the rest of Europe at the moment.”

Similarly, Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso believes the good form an spirit within the team at the moment could help propel the Reds to an important victory this weekend.

“We are in a good moment, playing well and scoring goals, and now we have to think of the next game against Man United,” said Alonso.

“It is going to be a big game, playing at Old Trafford, we know their qualities but we are really looking forward to it.”

Wearing High Heels : The Facts

The secret to our success
Written by Tetteh Otuteye on March 13th, 2008


Much has been made of Torres’ goal scoring, and Gerrard’s resurgence in his free role behind El Nino in Rafa’s apparently strongest formation (4-2-3-1), with Babel beginning to look dangerous, and Kuyt not seeming as terrible as he seemed earlier in the season in some people’s eyes.

We’ve discuseed the immensity of our monster Masche, and the impressive Lucas, and though Xabi hasn’t been at his normally top level this season, we’ve seen glimpses of his top quality touches since his return from injury.

But wherein lies the secret to our success? Is it our “best midfield int he world”? Or is it in attack where Gerrard and Torres are drawing comparisons with some of the greatest strike partnerships our club has ever had?

I put it to you that it’s none of the above. It’s in the heart of our defense. It’s on the shoulders of our 2 young centre backs, Agger and Skrtel, that our success will be built, and it’s in the stories of these two gems that Rafa has unearthed that this season’s roller coaster ride finally makes sense.

We began this season in good form, reaching the top of the table relatively early, and looking like we might be able to put in a run for the title - dominating chelsea at home and putting away the likes of Derby and Toulouse with 6-0 and 4-0 scorelines that we haven’t seen for sometime. There was some confidence in the team, and our possession was better and more stable.

Then Agger got injured.

We then went through a spell of bad form from mid-september through October that nearly put us out of the CL. Fortunately for us, the impending doom of an early exit from the CL, brought about some urgency, and we found another gear in November to dispatch Besiktas (8-0), Newcastle (3-0), Porto (4-1), Bolton (4-0), and Marseille (4-0) in a brief blip of good form that really only puncuated our dip in form since Agger’s injury. The fact was, faced with the possibility of an exit from europe (which may have led to Rafa’s dismissal), the fans ignited in a show of support for the team and it’s coach, and the team found a higher level of performance.

But soon thereafter, we returned to our poor form, with Mid december bringing back to back losses to UTD and Chelsea, and a narrow win to Derby, and a dissapointing draw away to City. The poor results carried on into January, with 4 draws in a row.

We then thumped Luton for 5.

Then Skrtel made his home debut, in which after a shaky start (both for him and for the team), we won 5-2 to beat Havant and Waterlooville 5-2.

Since then, we have won every game that Skrtel has started (with the exception of a pleasing goalless draw away to chelsea). (Note - our loss to Barnsely was in Skrtel’s absence, of course, along with the absence of Torres and Gerrard).

Now I know some of you are wondering if I seriously believe Skrtel has made such an impact on our results, and if I’m discounting Torres’ prolific goalscoring in the last several matches in favour of a rookie defender’s contribution.
The answer is yes, and no.

If you recall, prior to Skrtel’s arrival, one of our major crticisms of the team was the lack of composure on the ball in defense. All too often, teams would arrive at Anfield to defend, putting their strikers on our 2 central midfielders (Masche and Lucas/Xabi or Gerrard), and their wingers on our full backs, and marking everyone else in their half, knowing that Carra and Hyypia would inevitably hoof the ball forward and they’d have as good a chance at winning it back as we would. They’d sit back and we’d pass the ball around - square pass, square pass, hoof - all game, and have little to show for our possession.

What Skrtel and Agger bring to us is a certain composure on the ball at the back - something Alan Hansen offered the Liverpool of yesteryear, and Terry and Carvalho offer Chelsea, and Rio offers Utd, and Toure offers Arsenal.

That composure on the ball, and ability to carry it forward, and make a quality, precise pass up field to a striker or winger (as opposed to Carra and (to a lesser extent) Hyypia’s more trademark hoofs), has changed the way we play. In possession, teams can’t just leave our CBs unchallenged because they can contribute to our attacking possession.
Having to mark our CBs, our CMs are freed up a bit more to receive the ball unpressured, and move the ball around from wing to wing and to Torres and Gerrard.

Most notably, Gerrard doesn’t have to drop into deep midfield to bring the ball forward. Against UTD, Gerrard had to do this. Against Man City, Gerrard had to do this.
The result was our attack was isolated, and Gerrard couldn’t contribute in the final 3rd.

It is no coincidence that Gerrard and Torres seem to have suddenly gelled, now that we have Skrtel in centre back, and if not bringing the ball forward himself or making good passes to our players rather than hoofing it up, then at least forcing oppoenent’s strikers to challenge him and thereby taking some pressure of Masche and Lucas and Xabi, allowing us to keep the ball moving forward, and allowing Gerrard and Torres to receive the ball going forward and not with their back to goals as before, when the entire opponents’ team could just camp in their own half, knowing our CBs weren’t a threat.

Also the extra speed that Skrtel has, has allowed him to cover for Hyypia’s tiring legs, and this has strenghtened us in an area that we were really struggling in.

Hyypia is better with the ball than Carra is, and this is why Carra has found himself at RB. Make no mistake - Carra is a rock, and his defensive instincts will help both Skrtel and Agger improve for years to come. But our problem hasn’t been conceding too many goals, it has been in turning defense into attack, and using our possesion. In this regard, Carra falls behind Skrtel when in possession.

Ironically, with Finnan’s form below par this season, and Arbeloa not quite contributing in attack as he seemed able to last season, Carra has (as usual) filled that position superbly, contributing in attack with good crosses from right back, and still fulfilling all of his defensive duties at right back. If I remember correctly, he’s even recently gotten an assist or two from a well placed cross.

In conclusion, I’m really looking forward to Agger getting fit, as we’ll have two fit CBs who’ll be able to bring the ball forward to good effect, allowing us to use the ball far better than we did when Agger was injured and before Skrtel arrived.

Torres and Gerrard may be getting all the glory for their brilliant work infront of goal, but much of this wouldn’t be possible if we were still finding ourselves hoofing the ball upfield from defense, and Skrtel deserves a lot of credit for bringing some cool-headed possession to our play. (Rafa also deserves much credit for signing Skrtel, and having the confidence to put him in so early - even displacing the rock of ages himself Jamie Carragher - and it seems to have been for better for the team).

25 Tips for a Healthy Heart

I love to have this car ___ 2008 Mugen Fit F154SC Concept