My Anfield

Injury situation at Liverpool

2009-11-11T10:27:00.002Z

We lack the squad depth to cope with injuries to several key players at the same time. So it looks like the international break has arrived at the right time to allow some of them to recover.

Riera & Benayoun both picked up hamstring injuries against Birmingham. Agger & Johnson both pulled out of their international squads so they can get treatment on minor injuries. Torres is undergoing 3 weeks of treatment on a groin injury to hopefully avoid any surgery.

Aside from the all that, hopefully the international break will also allow the lads to put behind them the run of poor form they've been going through.

Down but not yet out of the Champions League

2009-11-04T22:33:00.002Z

Just when you thought our season couldn't get much worse, along comes Lyon to equalise in the last couple of minutes. We're not out of the Champions League yet, but we're relying on some serious favours now.

It's a shame that Babels stunning goal didn't give us the deserved win. And apart from a couple of defensive errors, can't really fault anyones performance. As ever it appears that luck has deserted us so far this season.

Realistically we need Lyon to do us a favour and either draw or beat Fiorentina. In addition to that we'll have beat Debrecen and Fiorentina in order to qualify from the group. What are the odds of all that happening ?

Liverpool's poor form continues unabated

2009-11-02T11:14:00.002Z

Are you still in a state of shock over another poor result ? Did anyone think we'd follow up the great result against Man Utd with a 3-1 loss to Fulham ? It's becoming increasingly difficult to defend LFC's run of poor results.

Sure there's some perfectly valid arguments like we've been hit by lots of injuries and some of our key players aren't fully fit. Some might question the decisions of Rafa or point the finger at our fixture list (mostly away games). As ever Tomkins has a very rational look at things (click here to read it).

But excuses don't make our situation any easier to bear (we've now lost 5 league games out of only 11, and our Champions League hopes are hanging by a thin thread). We're nearly a 3rd of the way through the season, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned about our prospects.

Stand out performers against United

2009-10-26T17:15:00.002Z

Apart from a nervy 20 odd minutes towards the end of the match, Liverpool were awesome against Man Utd, there can be no doubting we deserved to win. The following were the real stand performers :-

Carragher was immense and showed us the Carra of old with a domineering performance and never gave United a chance (although he got lucky with avoiding a red card for his challenge on Owen).

Agger surprisingly didn't look a player just back from long term injury. Alongside Carra, he cleaned up everything at the back and treated us to his unique ability to effortlessly play the ball from the back.

Insua stood out for all the wrong reasons. The poor kid seems to be having a crisis of confidence in recent matches, but he still showed some glimpses of talent and I imagine it's only a minor blip in his form.

Mascherano picked up a silly red card, but that shouldn't detract from another excellent performance where he broke up play all over the pitch.

Lucas is looking more and more like a complete player, his energetic display was topped off with superb tackling and passing vision, it's a shame that some people continue to doubt him.

Torres is clearly not fit yet, but his clinical finishing was the crucial difference in breaking down United and giving us the deserved lead.

Ngog must have nerves of steel. Consider what was at stake in the dying minutes of the match, yet he perfectly placed the ball into the corner of the net and the ensuing noise nearly lifted roof off of Anfield.

This was our 3rd consecutive victory over United. In the bad old days, I used to almost fear these matches, now I relish the opportunity to witness Liverpool take them to the cleaners each time.

Video clip of Aquilani's reserve debut

2009-10-22T10:08:00.002+01:00

No doubt most of you are dying to see Aquilani make his debut for Liverpool. Fortunately some enterprising soul decided to upload a clip of his reserves debut on Youtube for the world to see...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri9E2Lsrt6s&feature=player_embedded

He treats us to a clever backheel and some neat passing including a cool cross field pass. Hopefully we'll be seeing a whole lot more of that from him when he makes his first team debut in the coming weeks.

The infamy of a red balloon

2009-10-19T10:36:00.002+01:00

I certainly wouldn't want to blame that poor kid for throwing the beach ball on the pitch (his school mates might disagree). Sure it was a stupid thing to do, but it was hardly malicious either.

Instead there's a couple of other recurring themes to explain why Sunderland were able to beat us. Obviously the incompetence of the match officials who allowed the goal to stand didn't really help our cause.

But then again Liverpool didn't help themselves with yet another terrible performance. Time is running out for the lads to start performing and we badly need a run of good form to turn our fortunes around.

Agger is back, while Kyrgiakos is out

2009-10-15T19:52:00.000+01:00

We've been waiting a long time for Agger to return and it looks like he's finally regaining his fitness after playing in both of Denmarks matches this week. Plus the timing of his return couldn't be better.

You see Kyrgiakos is after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament and it means the guy faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines (4-6 months). But it shouldn't prove to be a big loss for us now that Agger is back.

Perhaps this might also mean that Ayala gets to play a couple more games for us this season. He looks a decent prospect. Regardless we should have sufficient defensive cover while Kyrgiakos is out.

Lost opportunity against Chelski

2009-10-04T22:23:00.004+01:00

For about an hour, that was very much a typical Liverpool / Chelsea match, with both defences repelling each others attacks. What separated the sides in the end, was a couple of mistakes and some missed opportunities.

Defensive lapses have become a recurring theme for us this season, and sure enough they've cost us another 3 points. Me thinks some players could probably do with a spell on the sidelines once Agger returns to action.

Aside from that we still had plenty of possession but rarely opened up Chelsea. It's a shame we squandered the few good chances we had (in particular Torres open header and Benayouns unbelievable miss at the end).

Losing to Chelsea is hardly devasting but this was a match where we should have asserted ourselves as title challengers. We've another international break now, hopefully that will allow the lads to regroup.

Musings on the Fiorentina match

2009-09-30T09:10:00.000+01:00

At the risk of rubbing anyone the wrong way (not a first for me), I think it would be fair to suggest that Fiorentina deserved to win. They were much better than us in the first half and defended very well in the second.

Best to forget about it. There's plenty of games left in the group for us to recuperate, and we'll probably take them apart at Anfield.

If anything it opens up the group a little bit and makes it more interesting, you wouldn't want us to walk the group now, would you ?

Another 3 points in the bag

2009-09-28T10:13:00.003+01:00

I almost felt sorry for Hull City who we destroyed 6-1. A hat-trick from Torres, a wonder (did he mean it) goal from Gerrard, plus a brace from Babel. It's a great result, which leaves us with the best goal difference in the league.

Also we're only 3 points from the top of the table, thanks to Chelsea's shock defeat to Wigan. Just goes to show how quickly things can change.

Apart from some minor defensive glitches, it really looks like things are coming together for us and we're looking like a team in form. Hopefully people will start cutting Liverpool some slack and stop dismissing our title chances.

Lucas has done well, but Aquilani is coming

2009-09-25T13:36:00.003+01:00

Lucas is maturing nicely and has been one of our better performers so far this season. Should he maintain that form, it's inevitable that he'll end up silencing many of his critics. I like him alot, but...

Rumour has it that Aquilani has been making good progress on his injury and has been pencilled in for a return on the 17th October (the week before our match with Man Utd). He's an exciting talent, and I'm dying to see him play for Liverpool, but at the same time...

Considering how well Lucas has been doing, I don't think Aquilani should just walk straight into the team. It'll be interesting to see how Rafa decides to balance the team once Aquilani is ready.

Sense of impending doom from set pieces

2009-09-21T10:23:00.001+01:00

Every team goes through periods of poor form throughout the season, that's just a fact of life. Certain aspects, such as our attacking play has improved greatly, but our defensive frailties are still being badly exposed.

Zonal defending has worked really well for us in the past (with a better record than man to man marking). But like any system it only ever works when the players put in the effort.

The season is only 6 games old and we've already conceeded 8 goals from set pieces. No doubt Rafa is focusing on this with the lads, but for now set pieces have become a slightly nerve wracking experience. It seems like such a simple fix, and will greatly improve our title prospects once resolved.

Disappointing scoreline against Debreceni

2009-09-16T23:07:00.000+01:00

Surely none of you really thought that Debreceni were going to present Liverpool with any obstacles. For the vast majority of the match it was all one way traffic against the whipping boys of the group.

Yet that didn't translate into us scoring lots of goals. Lucas, Kuyt, and Benayoun all had very good games, but it was a lacklustre performance from the rest of the lads. I guess it was just one of those nights.

The important thing is that we've got our Champions League campaign off to a winning start which is all that really matters.

Musings on the Burnley match

2009-09-13T12:50:00.000+01:00

Despite a nervy opening several minutes from Liverpool, once the first goal went in, it was highly unlikely that Burnley were going to add us to their list of high profile scalps (Everton & Man Utd)...

Obviously Benayoun had an excellent game, topping off his high work rate and intelligent play, with a superb hat-trick. But that shouldn't overshadow the contribution of Gerrard who was immense and completely controlled the game, plus he had a hand in all 4 goals.

Carragher, Kuyt, Riera, Lucas and Insua, also deserve a mention for how well they played. If this game was anything to go by, I think we can forget about all those lazy performances of last month.

Smart or tacky shirt sponsor for LFC

2009-09-11T22:50:00.006+01:00

LFC will be announcing a new shirt sponsor to take over from Carlsberg next season. George Gillet says it will be a sponsor that fans will be pleased and surprised to be associated with Liverpool...

There has been a bunch of strong rumours that it could possibly be a financial company, but I can't think of any cool ones. Plus if you consider that Gillet says we'll be pleased and surprised, implies it's not one of those.

Having a really cool logo like Apple would look great, but as long as it's nothing tacky looking we should be happy.

EDIT:- LFC has now confirmed that Standard Chartered have sealed a 4 year deal worth £80 million.

Another international break is over

2009-09-10T23:01:00.000+01:00

International breaks are usually long and tedious affairs where we await news of potential injuries to our players. Thankfully this one passed without incident and none of them got injured.

Mascherano will probably be rested this weekend as he had to travel halfway round the world to play a couple of matches. It wouldn't be worth risking his fitness as we should be well able to beat Burnley without him.

We've had a rocky start to the season but the next 5 games should be relatively easy and allow the lads to build up some confidence before the big games with Fiorentina and Chelsea.

Liverpool's Champions League squad 2009

2009-09-06T16:18:00.003+01:00

There's no real surprises here, but it's interesting to note that Kelly got the nod over Degen for the group stages. Aside from that, it's business as usual and there's just 10 days left before we start our campaign.

Goalkeepers - Reina, Cavalieri, Martin

Defenders - Johnson, Agger, Insua, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Kyrgiakos, Darby, Kelly, Dossena

Midfielders - Aquilani, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Riera, Benayoun, Babel, Spearing, Plessis

Forwards - Torres, Kuyt, Voronin, NGog, Amoo, Eccleston

The problem with Babel

2009-09-03T11:56:00.003+01:00

Babels latest outburst is that he feels that Rafa has broken promises to give him more playing time, and he now wants to go out on loan to Ajax. Which makes a mockery of his talk about fighting for a place at LFC.

It's disappointing that Babel doesn't realise that he's responsible for his own actions, and that Rafa has been exceptionally patient with him. It's his own fault that he has repeatedly failed to take the opportunities given to him.

A couple of months ago I was praising Babel for his potential and supposed improvement in his attitude. Seems like I was being overly optimistic, and I now doubt if he will ever have the right mentality to make it at LFC.

Sweet FA are a funny little lot

2009-09-01T19:23:00.001+01:00

When you've got millions of viewers witnessing some very incompetent refereeing decisions during games, is it really all that big a deal for a manager to point it out also ?

You can read a short BBC article about Rafa being charged by the FA and also view the video of his interview if you click here.

It's all good and well for the sweet FA to make up rules but those rules should be applied to all managers. In reality though it appears that certain managers (Fergie) can get away with saying virtually anything but others (Rafa) have to walk on eggshells.

Musings on the Bolton match

2009-08-31T00:02:00.002+01:00

Set piece defending is still a problem area for us as we continue to leak goals. This is because of certain players not pulling their weight and not because of zonal defending as the media would have you believe.

Notable performances were from Kyrgiakos who looked comfortable on his debut and of course Johnson who rescued us with another great performance. Lucas also had a good game and is starting to control play more often.

This win should help settle the nerves of many fans. The lads produced a high tempo game in the 2nd half and were unlucky not to score more than 3 goals, but they were also truly awful at times. I think the international break has arrived at the right time to break up our run of poor form.

Our opponents in Group E

2009-08-28T10:12:00.003+01:00

Lyon are probably the trickiest team we'll face. For the first time in 8 years, they didn't win their league last season, but they still have some dangerous players (Bastos, Gomis, and Lopez).

Fiorentina may have been lucky to qualify, but they're a disciplined side with a couple of dangerous strikers (Mutu and Gilardino).

Debrenci are the only team in this group to have won their league last season, but the odds are they'll end up the whipping boys of the group.

We've got 2 tough teams, yet we should be more than capable of winning the group, plus we get to start and finish the group at Anfield.

The enigma of Voronin

2009-08-26T21:29:00.002+01:00

Voronin is certainly someone who flatters to deceive. His form in the Bundesliga proves he has the basic ingredients to be a decent striker, but he hasn't carried that form over to the Premiership.

It's no secret that most fans would like to see us sign another striker. Essentially when you really want someone to make a positive impact, seeing Voronin coming off the bench doesn't exactly inspire great confidence.

'Studs Up' have a humourous take on our dearth of quality strikers, click here to view it. All joking aside, Voronin claims he really wants to fight for his place. What's needed now is for him to prove that by making the effort to become a productive player for us.

Musings on the Villa match

2009-08-25T00:18:00.002+01:00

The harsh reality is that this was yet another poor performance for us. Even though we dominated the play, we were wasteful in possession and lacked the creativity required to break down a Villa side who played well.

Obviously the rather unfortunate Lucas and Gerrard incidents proved to be vital turning points in the match. But sometimes these things just happen in football, and I wouldn't want to blame either of them for this loss.

Losing 3-1 sucks, and hurts even more because it's our 2nd defeat in just 3 games. It's not exactly an encouraging start to the season, but it's still very early days, with plenty of time left to turn things around.

Musings on the Stoke match

2009-08-20T09:54:00.001+01:00

There was a very stark contrast between our 0-0 draws with Stoke last season and last nights emphatic 4-0 victory. Also it was the perfect response to the disappointment of losing to Spurs.

Johnson impressed on his Anfield debut with a superb goal and assist. He looks like he's going to settle very quickly with LFC, and it's clear that we've got ourselves a special player who gives us that extra attacking verve.

It's not just the result that mattered, but the manner in which we won. The lads have shaked off the cobwebs of pre-season and we finally look like a team who can perform well. Which is a good thing because next up we've got Aston Villa who will give us a much sterner test.

Surprise signing of Sotirios Kyrgiakos

2009-08-18T22:30:00.003+01:00

Hands up if any of you really thought we would sign Sotirios Kyrgiakos to shore up our defense. Nah, I didn't think so. None of us saw it coming.

According to SkySports, a £2.5m fee has been agreed and it's just a question of a medical to be finalised. You can read this wikipedia article if you want to find out a little more about the big 30 year old.

Kyrgiakos will never be a world class defender (and he doesn't need to be), but I do hope he'll prove to be a solid enough option at the back.