The Reds in the Burgh all liked ‘Sergio’ Garcia as a player, despite his frequent habit of giving the ball away in dangerous areas, because he played with passion, and was capable of the unexpected and delivered on the big occasion. Nevertheless, Miguel named him ‘the nephew’, as his undroppability (is that a real word? who knows, it is now) suggested to us that he had to be closely related to Rafa. Since Garcia’s sale we have had to look for another nephew, and Momo seems to be filling that role…

I know that I am in many (indeed almost all ways) not qualified to criticise Rafa for tactical decisions. After all, he is the manager for good reasons, and has demonstrated again and again that he knows what he is doing. However, yesterday evening I was bored (and pished) enough to be watching ‘The 100 greatest Champions League Goals’ on ITV3004, when a goal by Rafa’s Valenica against ‘pool in 2001 appeared. I immediately wondered why we aren’t scoring that sort of goal, neat passing pulling the opposition out of position, with the final player having a simple finish. One of the fundamental things that you need to do as a team if you want to manoeuvre the opposition into a weak position is to use the full width of the field. Goals are normally scored when a forward player can get the wrong side of a defender in the box. To do that you need to pull defenders wide, get behind them and deliver a decent cross. Even if you don’t actually use this to score, the knowledge that width can be used will keep the defence spread out, giving room to pass through or beyond them. The team, on paper, for this evening looked as though it might have that ability, playing two nominal (and supposedly skillfull) wingers in Benayoun and Babel. In practice, they played inside at every opportunity, never once looking to go outside the last defender and stretch the play. The result was a congested central midfield, with ‘pool being held up in pointless sideways passes just short of the box. Only when we were desperately pushing forwards in the last few minutes, with Kewell (a real left winger) actually playing wide, and attempting and succeeding in beating players, did we look like scoring. Where did Rafa think that the goal was going to come from before he put Crouchigol on? Kuyt works really hard, but he spends so much time dropping off to pick up the ball from midfield that there is no chance of him ever being in the box, even if there was a chance of someone putting the ball in there. With Momo playing, SG spent far too much of the game coming back into central midfield to cover his mistakes and pick up the ball, so that Kuyt was completely isolated. This was obvious in the first 20 minutes, but there was no attempt to change the system, and in the end, although we had some excellent chances in the final minutes, we were very, very lucky to get away with a draw.

The only good thing to come out of the last few games is that SG looks to be getting his form back, and he was unlucky not to make it 4 in 4 games. However, this does mean that at the moment we are once again relying on SG to pull us out of the shit, and great player though he is, that is not the sort of position that Liverpool Football Club should be in. I know that this looks a bit like a single long whinge, and that in many ways given that our actual number of points at this stage in the season is not bad, especially given recent years, it may seem a bit excessive. However, it is the way that the team is playing that is the issue, and the feeling that the results are more luck than anything else (note that Blackburn had the ball off the bar and post tonight, just like the Arse last week). Our luck cannot hold, better play is required, and for that we need a different team to be selected (a strange thing to be saying, given Rafa’s prediliction for rotation).

I’ll leave you with a Joke…

DOING IT SCOUSE STYLE…

A Scouser found himself in London and decided to approach a prostitute down in Soho
He asked her, “How much do you charge for an hour?”
“100 pound,” she replied.
“Do you do Scouse style?” he asked.
Not knowing exactly what this was, she refused.
He tried to sweeten the deal and said, “I’ll pay you 150 quid to do it Scouse style.”
Again she declined.
Being the persistent type, he laid down a final offer. “I’ll give you 200 quid to go Scouse style with me! What do you say?”
Finally, she agrees, thinking, “Well I’ve been in the game for over ten years now. I’ve been there and done that, and had every kind of request from weirdos from all over the world. How kinky could Scouse style be?”
After an hour of every possible way and position, she turned to him and said, “That was fantastic, but I was expecting something perverted and disgusting. Where does the ‘Scouse style’ come in?”
The Scouser popped a can of lager and replied, “I’ll pay you next Thursday when I get my dole money.”

Derby, whilst Chelsea go down 2 – 0 at Villa Park.

No, it’s football not hand ball Terry.

meanwhile Drogba stays upright!

Owen does a days work for Newcastle

Xavi Opens the account

And Torres strikes again

The new football (soccer in the US) season kicked off this weekend, and already I’m very excited. My beloved Man Utd are playing Reading today. If you’re not rich enough or lucky enough to be able to watch games live on TV, either because you the games no being broadcast in your country or for another reason, then this guide is for you.

http://www.onetipaday.com/2007/08/12/how-to-watch-football-online-for-free/

http://www.livesportontv.com/sportindex.php?id=1

For any updates

Wednesday 15th August
15:30    Setanta Sports 1    Toulouse v Liverpool        UEFA Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round 1st Leg
Sunday 19th August
16:00    Sky Sports 1         Liverpool v Chelsea        Premier League
Saturday 25th August
12:45    Sky Sports 1         Sunderland v Liverpool        Premier League

More at http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156670070813-1200.htm

Royston Drenthe opened the scoring in the first half by tucking in a rebound but Steven Gerrard finished from an acute angle late on.

Pepe Reina saved a late penalty which was incorrectly awarded for a handball when the ball actually struck Alvaro Arbeloa in the face.

Several players were booked and both Drenthe and Gerrard, plus Feyenoord defender Theo Lucius, were lucky not to be dismissed for fighting at the end of a match that saw some tough tackles draw aggressive reactions.

Reina also made a good save from a Giovanni van Bronckhorst free kick deep into injury time, while Dirk Kuiyt saw a shot rebound off the crossbar and over the goal-line in the first half, although the officials missed the goal.

Agger dagger cuts into Chelsea, putting Liverpool 1 – 0 and level at 1 – 1 on agg

Liverpool cleared out the rubbish as predicted by JC back in April. Winning 4 – 1 on penalties

How the penalties played out

Zenden Scored. He sends Cech the wrong way. (Liverpool 1 – 0 Chelsea)

Robben Missed. Reina saves, diving to his left. (Liverpool 1 – 0 Chelsea)

Alonso Scored. Cech guesses correctly, but can’t quite reach the low shot. (Liverpool 2 – 0 Chelsea)

Lampard Scored. He smashes it down the middle. (Liverpool 2 – 1 Chelsea)

Gerrard Scored. He coolly slots it to Cech’s left. (Liverpool 3 – 1 Chelsea)

Geremi Missed. Reina saves to his right. (Liverpool 3 – 1 Chelsea)

Kuyt Scored. He drills it low to Cech’s right. (Liverpool 4 – 1 Chelsea)

Although it came down to Pens on the night, we did have a second goal dissallowed.

These pictures are for the special one or should that be the deluded one!

Liverpool won the FA Youth Cup after beating Manchester United 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out at the end of the second leg at Old Trafford.

Liverpool secure FA Youth Cup win

RAFA DELIGHTED FOR YOUTH CUP HEROES