Out of the Cup.. now for the rampant optimism.

So that's that then... another presumably trophy-less season for Liverpool. If this season doesn't end trophy-less then I will undoubtedly wet myself with joy and the subsequent World Cup will barely register to me as a thing that is happening as I will most likely be in hospital getting my stomach pumped. 

That is one thing I have never done actually.. celebrated Liverpool winning the League by getting hideously drunk (I was a few weeks short of my 14th birthday the last time it happened). But given my usual reaction to any sort of Liverpool victory (or defeat) then I suspect it will be carnage when it eventually happens.

I'm getting off topic ever so slightly.

Defeat to Arsenal on Sunday wasn't great.. I'm not going to go on about the cock-jockey referee because it changes little other than having something to bitch about in defeat which is handy in a way - Arsenal didn't beat us, Howard Webb did etc. - but it achieves little.

Losing yesterday frees up the schedule although it didn't need very much freeing up in fairness.

Sunderland (h) to be rearranged due to FA Cup.

Liverpool now have 12 games left this season. With a bit of luck, 12 increasingly important league games. If we are still playing very important league games in May - well, this boys and girls is progress. 

So how important they are depends obviously on the results - we have 12 games left and a lot of the trickier away matches have already been played.

We're on 53 points so far. In broad terms this means we need 20 points to get in the top 4 - 70 points usually does it, and for the slightly more optimistic among you 30 points and we're going to very much be in the mix for the league.

If we can actually win all our home games - very tricky with City and Chelsea still to come - that is 18 points.

The away games don't look too taxing with all the games to the other sides in the top 6 already having been played. Now this is a pretty thinly veiled dig at Man Utd, but I can't ever remember looking forward to a visit there with such optimism. Our away form is sketchy, but I do think we can gain quite a few points out of that lot. Say win 3, draw 2 and lose 1 of those 6. That's 11 points, added onto my wildly optimistic 18 home points. Well that's 29 - to put us on 82 points for the season.

That's not very far from winning the league.

With City and Chelsea to play, 6 out of 6 at home is probably a stretch.. especially if Chelsea park the bus, but you've got to dream big. If we are actually going to do this thing then we have to win all our home games. 

It's more likely that we'll have a little wobble (possibly another Kolo Toure inspired wobble), but I think third is definitely achievable, which let's not forget is the actual Champions League qualification spot.

I don't fancy an early season qualifier in Fowler knows where with the potential to fuck next season up before it's begun.

And if we can finish in the top three.. well that gives any potential signings less doubt about which competitions they could be playing in next season.

#FACup 5th Round - Arsenal v Liverpool... can we play you every week?

When the 5th round draw was made, I like probably many of you was a little deflated. If I remember rightly we came out of the hat shortly after Man City had drawn Chelsea. One less of those two to worry about is always helpful in the Cup, especially when it means that Mourinho & Co get dumped out of the thing. But then to immediately get drawn away to Arsenal.... well it took the edge off.

If I'm honest I immediately thought that was that.. I didn't hold out much hope for our progression, but then when it comes to Liverpool FC I am usually a pessimist.

However, that was then and this is now. Since we beat Bournemouth, pretty unconvincingly, in the last  round.. well we haven't done bad at all. The Kolo-wobble at West Brom aside, we eviscerated Everton and put in the most astonishing first 20 minutes of football I have ever seen against Arsenal.

Another Kolo-wobble in the week, but more importantly a win this time and suddenly the Cup seems less significant. There was a gap forming between us and the top 3 and it looked as though the season was going to turn into a straight race for fourth with Everton and Spurs.

Four points off the top in February (been a while since we could say that) and we're starting to speculate/fantasise about winning the league again.

Now we have a little break from all that and our attention turns back to the Cup.

As if you needed reminding how great the FA Cup is.

The FA Cup does not hold the pull that it used to.. and this is something that should be looked at. It is entirely due to the Champions League. Finishing fourth is now somehow better than winning a Cup.. and not just a Cup, THE Cup.

Certainly in terms of financial stability and your ability to attract the top signings you need regular Champions League football, but let's for a moment look at our opponents on Sunday.

Arsenal - as the media delights in reminding us - have qualified for the Champions League every year since whenever it was and this is highly impressive (according to Andy Townsend). However, during this long and illustrious history then have reached the final once in 2006 and the best they have managed other than that is the Quarter Finals when they have to eventually play someone who knows what they are doing.

You've gotta love a nice shiny Cup.

Arsenal have also not won anything since they mugged Man Utd in the 2005 FA Cup.. that one was nearly as funny as when we mugged Arsenal in 2001 with a little help from Stephane Henchoz and that incredibly dull chap who does the commentary now on BT Sport.

The point being whilst modern football is increasingly about balance sheets, it shouldn't be.. Football should be about what it has always been about. Winning shiny cups.

So you can compare the two.. Do you want to finish fourth or win the Cup? And from a pragmatic point of view it is more beneficial to finish fourth. But specifically in terms of our season, well let's look at what is achievable.

No.. I'm a little teapot. 

If we can get through this round.. the prospects of this happening have improved after last Saturday. I cannot
imagine the Mertesacker / Koscielny partership has been sleeping too soundly in their presumably separate beds at the prospect of facing the SASASAS on Sunday.

As I mentioned only one of City or Chelsea will progress.. along with presumably the eviscerated Everton and maybe Southampton from the realistic end of the Premier League. It starts to open up doesn't it.

A point that should also be made is that we have benefited from not playing in Europe this season.. and whilst it has helped our focus in the league, form and momentum is not something that you can turn on and off like a tap.

Imagine what a win at the Emirates would do for confidence and morale in a squad that doesn't seem to be too lacking in that department. And I think we can handle the rigours of an extended cup run, after all with a bit of luck we could be talking four games here. If we cannot handle that then we probably aren't going cope too well if we do actually get back in the Champions League next season.

Liverpool v Arsenal - Good job we're not facing Luis Suarez today.

As if we needed any further confirmation, the results of the past weekend have pretty much confirmed what we knew all along.. this season is about one thing and one thing only... Finish fourth.

It got quite excitable for a time when we were still bouncing round with Arsenal at the top of the league just before Christmas but it was never too likely that we'd stay there. Decent, but ultimately fruitless, performances against Man City and Chelsea and the more recent curious West Midlands blind-spot (an odd hangover from last season) has not helped matters.

With Chelsea's surprise win at City a very definite gap has now appeared between the top 3 and the rest - Six points now between us and Chelsea a further two to City at the top.

What the hell was that?

Frankly though I'd have been delighted with being in this position going to February if you'd offered it me at the start of the season. In more recent seasons we've been 15 or so points off the top by now which isn't too clever.

This weekend is going to give us a better idea of where we stand in terms of the battle for fourth. At present we're only two points above Everton, with Spurs a point behind them. Kolo Toure's monumental fuck up against WBA on Sunday really didn't help.

We have the visit of Arsenal to look forward to on Saturday, but rather helpfully Spurs play Everton on Sunday.

Our recent record against Arsenal is not too clever.. the last time we beat them in the league at Anfield was with the help of a Peter Crouch hat-trick (click on the link) in March '07. We beat them in the Champions League at Anfield after that (April '08) but not in the league since. Not too promising really.

We have won at the Emirates since then and how we didn't win there last season was something of a mystery, but we need to improve on this if we are serious about a top four spot. The two games either side of that 2-2 game last season were less than inspiring. Two 2-0 horribly straight-forward defeats in which we never looked liked getting anything.

However most of this recent history was happening during some pretty iffy times for Liverpool and as I said we're getting back up towards the pointy end so I don't think we need to dwell on that too much. We were pretty shit around the whole Hicks / Gillett / Hodgson debacle, now we seem to know what were doing.. a bit more at least.

£40,000,001 - What the actual fuck?

Of course the Arsenal games do have a certain edge to them this season... their frankly laughable pursuit of Luis Suarez didn't help matters. £40,000,001 - I mean seriously - what was that all about?

I think we can probably agree that if Luis Suarez pops up with one of his usual hat-tricks on Saturday then Wenger might start to think that faffing about like that in the transfer market perhaps wasn't a brilliant plan.

It has the makings of a classic.. by which I mean both sides are going to struggle defensively. We didn't really pressure Arsenal at all in the game at the Emirates (not a good sign with the upcoming FA Cup), but at home we have a bit more about us going forward.

Bearing in mind the 6-3 defeat Arsenal suffered at City, well it doesn't sound too much like a water-tight defence. And in Suarez, Sturridge and Coutinho.. well it's not too hard to draw comparisons with City.

Seriously.. he kicked the ball about 6 times that night.

I'm not saying we're going to score six. We might let in three, but if we do there's a fair chance we won't lose. Although another 4-4 might be pushing it. Mertesacker and Koscielny have never really impressed me and if Suarez clicks on Saturday they are in trouble. 




As far as Tottenham v Everton.. well Spurs last home game they lost 5-1 (their 2nd worst home defeat of the season) and Everton lost 4-0 the last time they played away (their worst result of the season, home or away). So maybe they'll both lose on Sunday.. finger crossed.

In the reasonably likely event that this doesn't happen, at least one of them is guaranteed to drop points. Best case scenario Liverpool win and Spurs and Everton get a point each. That'd be us four points clear of fifth... not too shabby compared with recent seasons.

Now just comes the tricky bit of getting the points.

Steven Gerrard - Water Carrier?

Gerrard converts a "Uruguayan" penalty.

Now I appreciate that quoting Eric Cantona might not go down too well, but with Brendan Rodgers playing Steven Gerrard in a deeper role in recent games, it looks like that might be the way things are going.

So far he seems to be struggling. Liverpool were over-run in the first half yesterday and I don't think it's a coincidence that Liverpool's best period during the match came with the introduction of Lucas at half-time. That he was only on the pitch for 20 minutes was one of the factors behind us not winning the game in the end. In the end another soft-ish penalty helped us out.

In modern football, you need a holding midfielder. A player that makes the rest of the team tick. Lucas can wobble on occasion, but when he's on form he is excellent at this job.

You almost don't really notice how much they actually do when they are playing, but it's when they aren't and it all turns to shit that you realise that they are what hold's it all together. Didi Hamann was a good example of
this.. didn't seem to do all that much. Win the ball, pass it 6 yards.. well that's pretty much it. But when they aren't there and the opposition is strolling through your midfield at will (1st half yesterday) that's when the alarm bell's start ringing. Gerrard isn't immediately suited to this role (1st half yesterday). He has spent his career on the front foot. He's been the player the "water-carrier" looks to to make something happen.

Gerrard is one of the best players of his generation. I have often made the pub argument that a keeper plus 10 Steven Gerrard's would beat a keeper plus 10 anyone else's. Certainly in his prime that was true. But he isn't in his prime anymore. He's 34 now. If he's going to stay playing regularly then he is going to be less dynamic and the deeper midfield role is an obvious way to prolong his career.

However, so far it doesn't look like he's very good at it. This frankly comes as something as a surprise. In the last two games where he's been asked to play in this role Liverpool have conceded 5 goals and on reflection getting 4 points out of 2 games when you let in that many isn't too bad.

Perhaps getting him used to the role whilst we've still got Luis Suarez making things a little easier isn't such a bad idea. You can get away with letting a few in if you've got the best striker on the planet demolishing teams at the other end.

However, whilst that might work more often than not, you don't win trophies like that. Just ask Kevin Keegan. If your plan is just to outscore the opposition then ultimately you will fail. It makes for entertaining football, if your winning (or losing) every game 4-3, but when it get's to the pointy end of the season you will come up against teams who know what they are doing, who can defend properly and they will pick you off.

You don't win games by outscoring the opposition, you win games (and more accurately trophies and titles) by controlling games.

And this is where your water carriers come in.

Is Steven Gerrard good enough to play in this role? Certainly, although he's taking some getting used to it.

Do we have an effective alternative? Not really. Beyond Lucas, we don't have anyone who is going to play there long term.

So what is the solution? Persist with Gerrard and hope he get's the hang of it? We might not have a choice depending on the extent of Lucas' injury. If the rumours of him being out for the season are to be believed then we only really have one option.

We must strengthen the squad in the next couple of weeks. We were in need of back-up in this area anyway and if Lucas is out then this becomes vital.

We do not have enough strength in depth. Part of the problem in recent years has been employing players in that role who aren't familiar with it when Lucas has been injured. Charlie Adam being the prime example of this - I mean seriously, he has the tackling ability of Paul Scholes, although not quite any other Paul Scholes abilities which is probably why he is at Stoke now.

We're conceding too many goals and part of the problem for this is in the midfield. When Arsene Wenger found he had this problem he signed Patrick Viera and Emmanuel Petit and that seemed to work out quite well for them.

This shouldn't be too difficult. Signing a player of Vieira's standard is admittedly unlikey, but it's not like we need to sign a goal-scorer. We have the bases covered on that score.

There are rumours Yann M'Vila, but the asking price seems to be the sticking point, as it usually is with these things. I don't know too much about him, but signing a bit of muscle for the midfield shouldn't be too taxing and if Lucas is out and Gerrard effectively out of position, they need for new blood is vital.

Basically we need to sign a beast to strengthen things up a bit - that shouldn't be too much to ask.

Was the European Cup easier to win before 1992?

It's an interesting question. On the evidence you would suggest that it was. No team has retained the 'Champions League' since the European Cup was rebranded in 1992. Prior to 1992 that was pretty much the norm.

But it really depends how you look at it.

'Back in the day' you didn't get any second chances in the European Cup. If you lost a game you were pretty screwed unless you could turn it round in the second leg. These days it's a little more forgiving. If you get drawn against someone pretty handy in the group stage and they give you a bit of a kicking then so long as you can beat the other two sides in your group then you'll be OK. Just look at Man City getting taken apart by Bayern last season. Although they very nearly did actually turn it around, and perhaps could have had they been able to do their sums.

You couldn't have gotten away with that pre 1992.. losing 3-1 at home pretty much meant you were out of it, it still pretty much does once you get to the interesting bit after Christmas.

In 1978 Liverpool drew Nottingham Forest and got beaten 2-0 in the away leg, and that was that. Two successive European titles and the run was halted by the first game of the season.

From that point Forest didn't look back.. winning it that season and keeping it the following year. Nottingham Forest did that.. won the European Cup and kept it. Pretty compelling evidence for it being easier then.

And this is also the reason "We hate Nottingham Forest.." always sounds a bit weird that these days. Especially how they get top billing over Everton and Man Utd.

It was almost the polar opposite to now.. teams were able to dominate then. From 1971 until 1980 only 4 different teams won the European Cup, but perhaps more significantly they took it in turns keeping it. Ajax 71 - 73 (three times), Bayern 74 - 76 (three times), Liverpool 77 -78 (twice), Forest 79 - 80 (twice).

So it does beg the question what changed?

Well it's pretty obvious that there are more stronger teams in it. When you consider England, Spain and Germany put in four sides each plus 3 Italians.. well there is just more stronger opposition now.

Before you could have got away with just meeting one or two from those countries.. these days to win it there's a fair chance that your road to the final is going to feature a few from Europe's stronger leagues.

Teams do still seem to have periods of 'domination' but there just not quite as... well, dominant.

It looks as though Bayern are wrestling the domiination away from Barca at the present, a 7-0 aggregate win is pretty compelling evidence. Barca did dominate.. no question. Beating Arsenal ('06), Man Utd ('09 and '11). And before them it was Milan.. winning in '03 and '07 and another less successful final appearance in '05.

Maybe we just have to redefine what counts as domination.. but that doesn't really answer my question. What has changed?

It seems to be a matter of the edge that teams gain by being in the European Cup. When Liverpool dominated (just for example), they had an advantage over the other teams in England by being able to test themselves against the better teams in Europe. Learning new tactics and it made them a more attractive proposition for potential new signings.

Now the same is true these days.. being in the Champions League males you a better proposition, but you are in there with 3 other teams from your country. So less of an advantage. Imagine for a moment (now bear with me, this is going to get horrible) that Man Utd had dominated in England with the European Cup in the old format.

With pretty much a monopoly on European Cup football amongst the English sides... like Liverpool had in the 70's and 80's then it is entirely reasonable to to assume that they would have won a few more European Cups as well.

Indeed it is only their misfortune to have the best Barcelona team in history to play against.. they would most likely be on 5 European titles and Ferguson would have actually achieved his mission to de-perch Liverpool.

But they didn't and the world is a happier place for it.

But there is a flip-side to all this... it does seem that these days you can blag your way to a European Cup.

Just look at Liverpool in 2005. Pre '92 that side wouldn't have come close to a European Cup. Finishing 4th in '04, getting through the group stage by the skin of Gerrard's right boot. Losing to Graz at home, Monaco and Olympiakos on route.

It picked up after Xmas when it turned back into a more old school competition.. but a side containing Igor Biscan and Djimi Traore wouldn't have got a look in previously. Largely because you had to be a much better side to get in it in the first place.. a side that finished fourth in the league wouldn't have been that close to European football.

So it's a bit paradoxical. It seems easier to win, because you don't have to be as good as you used to to win it. 

But that's also the reason why it is harder to win - or at least to keep. Because they just let anyone in it these days, there's more competition.

This theory of course will most likely be blown out of the water when Real win 11 and 12 in the next two years.   

(International) football is rubbish.

The debate between club and country is never far away around the time of the (usually quite pointless) friendlies.

This was highlighted again when Daniel Sturridge played the full 90 minutes against Germany this week. This despite him struggling with injury, to the extent that he wasn't even available for the other game against Chile.

Given that the papers were full of Roy Hodgson stating he'll pick Sturridge if he likes... well it comes across as a power struggle with the only risk being to Sturridge and his club. Now, as Sturridge's club also happens to be my club, well this causes me concern. And given Hodgson's recent incompetent history concerning Liverpool, well I am concerned... but I already said that.

But this whole thing raises a more general question, for me personally at least. I seem to be losing interest in the national side. I am not sure why this is exactly.There are a number of things that this could be caused by.

I have been away with England a couple of times.. to the Euro's in Portugal and a couple of years later to the World Cup in Germany.

That was maybe the start of my general apathy.. I went to Frankfurt where they played Paraguay in a group game and touts were wanting hundreds of Euros for a ticket. Considering the stakes involved it seemed excessive. I didn't much mind that.. it was more of a general birthday piss-up anyway, but it would have been good to go to an actual World Cup game, but never mind about that.

I did go to the England v Croatia game in Portugal, and this does weaken my argument slightly as I had a far better time of it watching England play there than when I went to same ground to see Liverpool in 2006, although that had more to do with the respective results. Although I did end up having to pay ticket touts on both occasions.. firstly, well with England games it's pretty much the only way you will be able to get them.  for the Benfica v Liverpool, well that was more my fault. 

Did have a ticket for that one but the Police took it off me after they breathalysed me on the way in. Quite why they felt the need to do that wasn't clear as I'd spent the day drinking in Lisbon and the effects were pretty obvious. Also, why they felt it was a good idea to send all the people too pissed to go into the away end off to find their own way into the home end something I never really figured out, but since when have coppers been that switched on.  

But my point was this, you can't really go away with England unless you go everywhere and that seems ridiculous. But more than that, more recently at least.. the point is I just don't really give a shit anymore.

I missed one of the qualifiers against Moldova.. mainly because it was painfully predictable. Think I watched Scotland v Belgium that night actually.

He seems quite pleased with himself.

I also missed Sturridge's goal against Montenegro because I'd got bored of the game by that point. I can safely say I've never switched off a Liverpool game early because I was bored we were winning so easily. It was the same in the game this week against Germany. Ended up watching France v Ukraine as there was actually something on that game.

International friendlies really are the most pointless thing in football that isn't Andy Townsend. One of the dullest games I ever went to was a friendly.. a nil-nil draw with Holland at Villa Park. I haven't been to another one since.

Quite why they feel the need to have a pile of friendlies every time there is the opportunity is beyond me. Spain played Equatorial Guinea (119th in FIFA rankings) the other day.the reasons for which are detailed here (link). I'm sure they learned a great deal.

That is one game that Fernando Torres would have undoubtedly got injured in had he still been playing for us.. it was ridiculous. He got injured every single time he went away with Spain.. fact. Not an actual fact obviously, but it seemed like it to me and that's good enough.

The main reason for my general sense of apathy is the general predictability of it all. Watching England is generally quite dull. If you don't particularly care about the result in a game of football and it isn't a particularly good game then it's really fucking dull. 

It doesn't particularly matter how good a Liverpool game is because it will hold my interest regardless.. it has held my interest since the age of 7, that's nearly 20 years ago (ahem). 

I am now going to show you now how predictable watching England is..

The World Cup is coming up next year. See I told you, how predictable. Actually there is more, but it's about as predictable as that.

England will scape though the group stage.. probably with two draws and a win against whoever the shit ones are in the group. If they get one of the big teams in the group then they will maybe go through with four points.

Come the first knock-out round will progress and everyone will get a bit excited if we manage to draw someone a bit shit. If they get anyone who know's what they are doing then they will lose.

If they do get through the first knock-out game they most likely will get someone who knows what they are doing and England will lose.

I suppose technically Belgium count as a decent side now.

The moment England get a half-decent team then we fail. If you don't believe me look at the record in World Cup knockout games since 1966. England have won 5 of these games. Against Paraguay (1986), Belgium (1990), Cameroon (1990), Denmark (2002) and Ecuador (2006). That's it. In 48 years. 

During the same period Germany have been to as many finals, winning it twice.

It's getting to the stage now where I hold the England football team in the same regard as I hold the England cricket and rugby teams. Take a bit of an interest when they are winning, less so when they aren't. The only difference being that England football games never clash with Liverpool games

Now don't get me wrong, I'll be watching the World Cup.. you kind of have to. It's the World Cup, and it's in Brazil. And if there is one thing that Brazil does well it's football. Well football, police brutality and corruption, but for the purposes of this we'll stick to the football.

It will actually be a relief to watch one with the incessant whine of vuvuzelas in the background, although the ever present whine of Andy Townsend will still have to be suffered presumably.

When it boils down to it what do I want to happen more... Steven Gerrard picking up THE trophy for Liverpool in May or one for England in July?

I'll get back to you on that one.

Approaching 10 games in... time to assess the possibilities?

....anything is possible.

As it was drummed into us during the days of Rafa... We have many possibilities. Although this was probably more to do with his favourite English phrases when a camera was shoved in his face.

It's still very early days, but a couple of iffy results aside, we're doing pretty well so far. The Newcastle game was disappointing. It seems strange to be talking about two points dropped after equalising twice away from home, but this was against 10 men for 50 minutes and no disrespect to Newcastle (prepare for disrespect to Newcastle) it was only against Newcastle. A team we ground up into mush (without Suarez) only 6 months ago.

But let's not dwell on that.. largely because we didn't win so it's best forgotten.

It's usually about this time you get to see how the various teams are shaping up and where we are likely realistically end up, and sadly usually revise out expectations for the season.

The rather horrific reality is that quite a lot of you reading this won't actually remember the last time Liverpool won the league.. basically if you're under 30 you'll probably struggle. I've never actually thought about it in those terms before. That really is depressing. I'm just going to go and have a bit of a cry. I shall be back in a minute.......

Right, I did have a point earlier but it was lost for a moment. Well it was this, it took a long time for the hope to be eroded. It was always going to be "our year" when very few occasions this was ever a remote possibility.

Bob Paisley.. quite good.

It used to be that Liverpool's expectations could be summed up in this rather elegant quote from Bob Paisley - "Mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year we came second!" Now that was a while since as we have established. The goal-posts have shifted somewhat. Quite what the likes of Shankly and Paisley would have made of the clamour for fourth place is anyone's guess. Contemplating pretty much anything involving modern football would be enough to make their heads spin.

But it is what it is.. finishing fourth is now apparently an achievement regardless of whether you actually achieve anything when you get there. Just ask Arsene Wenger. Seventeen (ish) consecutive appearances in the Champions League is impressive, although less so when you consider they have only got past the quarter-final stages once.

It looks like that we might actually be in the mix for for the top 4 this year. Admittedly we've not exactly had the toughest run of games, but then neither have Arsenal and they are now apparently the greatest side in Europe because they beat Norwich at home.

But we have been picking up the points and we are only a couple off the top which frankly makes a refreshing change. Normally by this point we're about where Man Utd are now.. "well maybe if we have a good run, and there's always the cups"... and really where Man Utd isn't really a good place to be.

Phillipe Coutinho... (life size)

We do have pretty brutal run around Christmas. Spurs, Man City and Chelsea all away and it would have been handy to have some of those around the European games, but you can't really pick and choose your games.

The most promising aspect of the upcoming games is the thought of Coutinho linking up with Suarez and
Sturridge. If those three can hit form together, preferably around those Christmas games then I'd be pretty confident of us beating anybody.

In the end I think it will come to how well we can keep momentum going. If we can keep our first 11 more or less together then we will still be in the mix when it gets towards the pointy end of the season. Actually it's not even the first 11.. Suarez, Sturridge and Coutinho. If we can keep at least 2 of those fit we have a decent crack at the top four. If we can keep them all fit, well we might even be in with a shout of having a decent season.. in Bob Paisley terms* and you never know.... siempre es posible.

(* Please excuse the rather wild optimism.)

#LFC - So far, so good.

It's early days... very early days. But the signs so far are promising. I know it's only four games in, but if Liverpool can beat Southampton on Saturday, we will go four points clear (briefly).

I know you can't really pay too much attention to it just yet, but given that by this stage of the season we're usually looking over our shoulder into the relegation zone.. well, OK not actually looking at relegation, but lurking about in 14th or worse.

We're currently on 10 points from four games.. It took us 9 games to get to 10 points last season. Nine!! Now that is relegation form.Although we were a bit unlucky early on, we were also pretty shit on occasion as well.

After a season to bed in and get used to the place, Brendan Rodgers seems to be finding his feet. The fact that the press haven't been banging on about Suarez quite so much is proof of that. You can imagine what it would have been like if we had been 14th about now. "Suarez will be off in January" etc.

If you're sat at the top of the league, then the players who aren't playing don't appear to be all that important all of a sudden. Bill Shankly used to deal with injured players in a similar fashion, if you weren't playing then you weren't of much relevance to the next game. I can imagine Luis Suarez being handled slightly differently back then.. or perhaps when Graeme Souness was a player rather than sat in a TV studio. Actually if been about when Souness was in charge, we'd have barely noticed Suarez antics among the general wreckage of the team... I'm getting off topic.

The fixtures from now until the trip to Arsenal at the start of November look winnable, especially if the current form continues. Arsenal's fixtures up until that point don't look particularly threatening either, so there is the possibility of that being a top two clash.. Even then it'll still be early days, and we do have a history of wobbling in November, but we are operating at the pointy end for once and long may it continue.

One thing that does need to be addressed is our habit of switching off in games. We have taken the lead in the first half of every game we have played so far this season. And we have been relatively comfortable in those first halves.. more or less. Average possession stats for our first halves this season is apparently 55.6%.. now I don't generally set too much by Sky obsession with possession stats, but this one is telling. Our average possession in the 2nd half of games is 37.4%!!!

That is not a team controlling games.. admittedly we have been leading for pretty much all that time, apart from when Swansea equalised, but this is something that Rodgers' needs to address urgently. Whether it's fitness, or more likely confidence.. backing off to hold what we have, I'm not sure. But when the likes of Notts County can put you on the back foot to the extent that they did, then questions need to be asked.

One possible solution could be the return of Suarez...  if we carry more of a goal threat then teams will back off. If we have Suarez and Sturridge in form then the prospect being better off than 1-0 up is very real. Even with the loss of Coutinho for a few weeks, hopefully Suarez's return will mean that is less of an issue.

We need to rack up as many points as possible, pretty obvious I know, but it starts to get trickier around Christmas, but if we're keep up momentum then anything possible.

Steven Gerrard - The Greatest?

You will all have seen the comments from Steven Gerrard this week leading up to his testimonial game with Olympiakos this weekend.

Comments, focussed largely (as much seems to be lately) with the likely outcome of the Luis Suarez transfer saga. Gerrard questioned Suarez's curious fixation with Arsenal. Now, this isn't going to be about Luis Suarez (much) but the timing of this game does highlight the lack of loyalty there seems to be in the modern game.

Now Gerrard is better placed than most to comment on this area. Back in 2004 and again in 2005 he seemed to be on the verge of signing for Chelsea. We prayed that he wouldn't and in the end sanity prevailed. I actually met Steven Gerrard in 2004, just after he announced that he would be staying at Liverpool. My recollections are sketchy as I was a little the worse for wear at that point, as you can see from the photo (I'm the one in the Jamie Carragher no. 16 England shirt). I do recall however telling him that "If we don't win the league this year it would be your fault." 

I was quite mortified when I remembered this the next day, but in fairness he held up his end of the bargain (sort of) by winning us the Champions League that season instead, which on balance I probably would have accepted at the time.

Now, the Gerrard and Suarez situations are different. Luis Suarez isn't playing for his hometown club. I suspect if he was he wouldn't be on quite the same money as he is these days. And it probably isn't true to say of Suarez that "A league title won in Rome Liverpool is the same as 10 won anywhere else." I may have borrowed that one from Francesco Totti.

But as Gerrard more or less pointed out - why the fuck would you want to go to Arsenal? He's better than that. Certainly if he stays, has another good season and doesn't bite anyone else, then he probably will be able to take his pick.

The crowd reaction to Suarez coming on against Olympiakios was interesting. Unsurprising really given the current state of affairs. Whilst, I can't imagine many Liverpool fans being too happy about the way he has handled himself over the past few weeks, he is still a Liverpool player and we'd quite like him to stay that way. Or at least sign for pretty much any other club apart from Arsenal (or Spurs). If the reaction had been less than positive then that would have made his mind up, if it hasn't been already.


Enough about Luis Suarez. This should really be about one man. A man whose Liverpool performances over the years I think were best described by Gordon Strachan - "I think he get's changed in a phonebox."

Steven Gerrard, has not won the title with Liverpool (yet - there is still time, although probably not enough) but he has won everything else. The only man to have scored in Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup finals. A man directly responsible for quite a lot of the happiest moments of my life. Now it's fair to say that I'm not married or have kids yet - but they are going to go some to beat some of the levels achieved during 2005. Like for example, the reason we're playing Oympiakos today (click here for the link). 

Less so in 2006 as I managed to miss the 30 yard screamer (and another video here) as I was having a piss, but that was probably a little more information than you needed at that point.

The greatest player in Liverpool history? I'm not sure. He's certainly up there with Dalglish and Rush. For me it's always going to be Rush, but that's because he did this in 1984 and I've been a Liverpool fan ever since (link).

He is certainly the best all round player Liverpool have ever had, and probably anyone has as far as I can remember. Ask yourself this.. you get a keeper each and put 10 Steven Gerrard's against 10 whoever else you like. Who would win? This is particular favourite pub conversation of mine.. and as has been pointed out to me frequently, it is a bit stupid. But what has not been pointed out to me is someone who would beat him - I'm reasonably confident a team of Carragher's would get battered.

He is head and shoulders above anyone else to have pulled on a Liverpool shirt for some time.. and sadly, probably for a while to come yet. But you never know.. there might be a couple of kids coming through the ranks to fill his boots, if they're not too busy playing FIFA.

I've had just about enough of Luis Suarez now.

The increasingly complicated transfer merry-go-round is grinding into gear. And once again, seemingly controlling this half-arsed machinery is Real Madrid. Well I suppose 'controlling' is something of a strong term for what they seem to be doing, but it is what it is.

Basically everyone wants a new striker. Liverpool haven't been doing well enough to keep their best one so

Maybe we need some kind of gag. 

everyone else wants to sign him, despite his bitey tendencies. 

Well, by everyone else this seems to be Real Madrid and Arsenal, but there's no doubt a few others in the fray who for some reason don't want to conduct transfer negotiations on the back pages of newspapers, like it must be said a certain Mr Suarez seems to be keen on.

For someone with such a stated issue with the media, he does seem to spend an awful lot of time talking to them.

Arsenal seem to gathering their pennies together for a £40m bid for Suarez, which triggers some kind of clause in his contract. Presumably along the lines of us having to tell him about it and him the having to put in a transfer request if he wants to actually go. Which will also cost him money if he does indeed go, if he walks out of the door rather than being pushed.

Now this could all work in our favour IF Real Madrid do actually want to sign Suarez. Nothing like a bidding war to ramp the price up a bit. If we can get up to £50m for him then this would be a decent amount to play with, certainly in terms of getting a replacement or two.

Whether Arsenal are serious about Suarez and if they are just trying to force Madrid's hand over their proposed signing of Higuain remains to be seen. It may even piss Madrid off completely and they won't want to do business with them at all.


Personally I can't see Suarez being happy wth a move to Arsenal. Granted, he seems to be burning his bridges at Anfield reasonably effectively every time he opens his mouth, but it's hardly a massive step up in class. 

Reaching the Champions League Quarter-Final and going out the moment you face anyone half-decent is hardly the stuff that dreams are made of. Even if they do sign Suarez they will still have Per Mertesacker in defence. An interesting coincidence, but Mertesacker is actually German for wardrobe *.

* I'm not sure if this is a fact, but I am just going to assume that it is.

Enough of Arsenal. How does this all affect Liverpool?

Well, we seem to bringing a squad together and hopefully not too recklessly any more. 

We need rid of Suarez sooner rather than later. Incredible that I should be saying this, but his attitude since the end of the season stinks and we do not need that around the club coming into a new season. 

We need him out - preferably out of the country - quickly. Possibly to Real Madrid, and if they want to send us Higuain as part of the deal to piss Arsenal off, well it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. But with more cash than the Higuain plus £10m rumblings I heard.

Real Madrid's increasing valuation of Higuain leads me to think that this may be what they are angling for and it would have the added bonus of us getting a decent replacement striker out of it as well.

It is still only July - and you never know. The grim realisation that he might actually have to go and play for Arsenal might bring a grovelling apology from Suarez for his actions over the summer and he may stay at Liverpool after all.

Frankly though, I think it would be better all round if we just get rid.

Luis Suarez... making it up as he goes along.

I read today, with some amusement that Arsenal are still sniffing round Luis Suarez.. and whilst you cannot believe everything you read, or in the instance of the British press (especially regarding transfer rumours) anything you read, the story seems to be rumbling on.

Take for instance this from the Independent (click here for link)

Now it seems a little curious for them to describe this £30m bid as being welcomed by Suarez when the only actual quote from Suarez relating to this in the article is  "clubs are still assessing players on their ability which means I could go back and do things well over there"

Rather flimsy grasp of the the words "welcomes bid" and you don't usually get such nonsense from The Independent, but that's not really the point.

The facts are as follows. Luis Suarez has stated previously that he wants to leave Liverpool, not because he wants to leave the club as such, but it is all the fault of the British press. Now amongst Liverpool fans this is keeping it as much on safe ground as you can, whilst still saying you want to leave the club.

However, and I may be being a bit naive here, but he hasn't referred back to his previous comments when being asked about the Arsenal bid. If his actual reason for leaving was that he wanted to leave England, then you would have thought he would have said something along those lines. Although I do appreciate that a player with itchy feet doesn't want to be burning any bridges, especially when he's not actually put in a transfer request as yet. Although he is still on holiday, on his tour of the radio stations of Uruguay... popular tourist attractions I'm lead to believe.

The fact remains that he wants to leave. Now these days, that seems fair enough with player power as it is. But don't just make shit up and start changing your story to suit.

I'd have much more respect for the man, if he said something along the lines of.. "I'm at a time in my career when I need Champions League football and that is something that Liverpool cannot give me at the moment."

Now it's not something we want to hear, but it would at least be true.

I suspect the Arsenal bid has more to do with their own bid for Higuain, trying to force Real Madrid's hand as is often the case in these transfer merry-go-rounds. I'm sure they'd love to sign Suarez, but there is certainly an element of cheek about the whole thing.

One of the worrying thoughts I had about this whole transfer mess concerns Luis Suarez's 10 game ban. Now he's only served 4 games of it so far, with 6 games to go into the new season. Now if Suarez cannot play for anyone until October then why would they want to buy him now?

If I were in Real Madrid's position I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want to spend £40m on a player that cannot play until October just yet. Sign him nearer the deadline day and you save yourself a month or so in wages and you have a player with a two game ban by the end of August. 

"I've been expecting you"

Now this makes sense if you're Real Madrid, if a little risky, but what that would do is fuck our season right up. Now £40m plus is a decent chunk of change to spend on players, but you cannot do anything with it in September and we'd be back to where we were this time last year with a striker or two light. And we all know the perils of shopping in January when everyone knows you're desperate. Christ, we'll probably end up spending the £40m on Papiss Cissé.

We're not quite in the same place, as Rodgers does seem to have been doing business strengthening the squad, but it remains to be seen how strong he is making it at the moment. Attacking options like Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas may prove to be effective, especially if they click with Coutinho. But if
Suarez does leave than there will be a very big hole to fill, and unless we want to be flapping around in seventh again come next April, it needs to be filled by kick-off in August.