Round 2, and we will win

The second game vs Chelsea in a row, and if we keep up the performance as on Wednesday, we will win. With Graham Poll as the referee a lot of cards will almost be guaranteed, and if there is a penalty call, he will definitely give it.

Rafa need to change a bit in this game, probably introducing Sinama Pongolle or Zenden on the pitch to provide better service to Crouch. Cisse is good, but he is not a winger and it would be better to utilize his pace when Gallas is tired.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypia
Traore
Alonso
Hamann
Sinama Pongolle
Gerrard
Luis Garcia
Crouch

Result: 1-0

September Month Report

Although we remain unbeaten in September, the results in the league were far from satisfactory as we drew all 3 league games. In CL it is a better position as we took 4 games from the first 2 games. Should we win the next 2 games we will then qualified. We still need to find ways to score goals, and there seems to be a leak in the defense as highlighted in the Birmingham game. Rafa need to fill this hole ASAP.

Players of the Month: (1) Carragher 6.9 (2) Crouch 6.8 (3) Luis Garcia 6.7. Carragher was as usual a rock at the back and Crouch shown some good signs although we need to supply him more often. Luis Garcia scored 2 great goals, and we need him to produce at a high level more.

October Prediction
10/2 Chelsea (H) Round 2 and we should win.
10/15 Blackburn Rovers (H) Win it for Cisse - and let him score a hat trick.
10/19 Anderlecht (H) Win this and we will be very close to qualification.
10/22 Fulham (A) Remember Biscan's goal last season? Fulham is in bigger trouble this season and we should win this game easier.
10/25 Crystal Palace (A) Youngsters to have a great game.
10/29 West Ham United (H) They played quite good so far this season. Time for them to stop it.

Match report 050928 vs Chelsea: Another 2 points lost

0-0 again and we have 3 penalty claims denied. The handball was obvious, so we are forced to share the points.

In fact both teams do not have many clear chances although they should be the team that feel happier with the result. Anyway, the game on Sunday will be more important and Rafa need to think of ways to win the game.

Player Rating:
Reina: 7 Apart from an early scare dealing with crossings, he was very commanding.
Finnan: 6.5 Do well defensively but not as effective going up.
Carragher: 7 Excellent at the back as you always expect from him.
Hyypia: 6.5 Exploried by Robben on one occasion because of his slow speed, otherwise he had a good game.
Traore: 6.5 He was beaten a few times from high ball crosses but otherwise he was solid defensively and even go up for attack on several occasions.
Cisse: 6 Can't get through Gallas...
Alonso: 6.5 The early yellow card may have took off a few cutting edge from him. A sluggish game.
Hamann: 7 Patrolled the midfield very well.
Luis Garcia: 7.5 Very lively but unable to find a clear chance.
Gerrard: 7 Stevie G as usual, but his freekicks were not spot on.
Crouch: 7 He created lots of troubles to the Chelsea defense. Maybe they will start Huth on Sunday?

Substitution:
Sinama Pongolle: Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 7 He proved again he is the one who will always be there to spoil Chelsea's party. He has exploried Chelsea's weakness on facing Crouch but we need to find a way to put the ball into the net.

Chelsea: 6 Not really created any danger to us.

Man of the Match: Luis Garcia. Keep it up on Sunday!

Strangely, this is a game we can afford to lose

Yes, as the first 2 in the group will qualify, we can even afford to lose both legs against Chelsea - as long as we win the remaining 4 games. Chelsea will no doubt be the team that want to win this game, but if you ask me to pick, I will rather lose this one and win the League game on Sunday if we can only win one game. But of course we love to win both.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypia
Warnock
Luis Garcia
Hamann
Alonso
Riise
Gerrard
Crouch

Result: 1-0

Math Report 050924 at Birmingham City: Another 2 points lost

2-2 and another 2 points lost. Our clean sheet streak has ended along the goalless streak, and the most worrying thing is that defense seems to have a leak. Hope this is just a one off thing.

On the plus side, Luis Garcia repays his debt to Rafa's faith by scoring a wonderful goal from substitutions. Cisse also scored one confident penalty equalizer. But for the coming 2 games, defense seems to be the key.

We now seems to be very confident as a team and controlling the rhythm. The key is for someone to starting scoring.

Player Rating:
Reina: 5.5 Should have yell for the 1st goal conceded and should have parry the ball away for the 2nd goal. Hope it is a one off game.
Josemi: 6.5 A steady game.
Carragher: 7 Should have scored the equalizer but Kilkenny parried it away with a well deserved red card.
Hyypia: 6.5 Solid performance.
Warnock: 5.5 Last game he was MoM but this game he scored an own goal... Should be more consistent.
Sinama-Pongolle: 6 A steady game without much impact.
Gerrard: 7 Hit the post in 1H and provided 2 assists in 2H (although Carra's goal was parried away). Geared up before the big games.
Alonso: 6 Not much impact as he should have.
Hamann: 6 Not as effective as before. Is he getting old or just not enough match fitness?
Zenden: No impact. Still need to adapt to the team.
Crouch: 6.5 Should have done better in scoring a late header. Maybe the teammates need to adapt in crossing the ball as he is so tall.

Substitutions:
Luis Garcia: 7.5 Made a great impact. He is capable in producing a few good games in a row, so it is a good start.
Cisse: 7 Scored a very confident penalty. His coolness may even surpress that of Murphy's.
Riise: Not enough time to make an impact.

Rafa: 7 Nice call to call on Luis Garcia and Cisse, but he need to make sure the leak in defense is filled before the 2 big games coming. He probably had rested Sissoko for the games as well.

Birmingham City: 6.5 Not really deserved to have 1 point... but we gifted them.

Man of the Match: Luis Garcia. Shows what he can do.

Time to start scoring

With 1 goals scored and none conceded with 4 games, it is now time for us to start scoring. Away at Birmingham did not bring much happy memories in the past, but Rafa has bought Crounch for this kind of games. And the teammates must respond well to his passes this time.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypia
Warnock
Sinama-Pongolle
Gerrard
Alonso
Riise
Cisse
Crouch

Result: 1-0

Match Report 050918 vs Manchester United: It's more like a 2 point loss

0-0 and we have every reason to feel this is a two point loss. As Rafa said, our gap with Manchester is now closer. Rooney and Ronaldo did not have a single shot among themselves, and they only have a few free kicks and a tame header from the horse face to cheer for.

We now have a very compact and tight defense but the problem still lies on the attack side. With only 1 goal scored in 4 games, we definitely need to have the goals flowing in. This time, Luis Garcia was very wasteful but somehow Rafa keeps faith in him and did not let Cisse play. Crouch seems to adapt very well, and when the teammates start to understand him more, no doubt plenty of goals will flow in.

Player Rating:
Reina: 6.5 Not much to do as we have a tight defense.
Finnan: 6.5 Good game in general but a lapse of concentration led Carra committed a foul and earned a yellow card.
Carragher: 7 Played very well as usual.
Hyypia: 7 Much better performance than the previous game.
Warnock: 7.5 His best game for us so far. Probably secured a place in the England 22 (if they qualify...).
Gerrard: 7 Doing most of the attacks for us. A free kick in 1H almost bent in, and a 30 yard shot almost get in if the goalkeeper is not good.
Alonso: 6 A very quiet game in his high standard.
Sinama-Pongolle: 6.5 Worked very hard.
Luis Garcia: 5.5 Once again, he failed to deliver in the league... His only contribution is probably slided into Roy Keane which earned him a 2 month injury.
Riise: 6 Did not provide too many attacking for the team.
Crouch: 7 Won almost all high balls send to him. Unfortunately the teammates were not alert and wasted a lot of chances.

Substitutions:
Sissoko/Cisse/Traore: Not enough time to shine. For Traore, however, his reckless challenge earned him a yellow card and a moment of scare for us from the resulting free kick.

Manchester United: 6 As Gerrard said we probably shown them too much respect. We need to take the game at Old Trafford now.

Rafa: 6.5 Failed to find a way to score goal. And he seems to have blind faith on Luis Garcia and Traore...

Man of the Match: Warnock. Well deserved.

The first big test of the season

Liverpool vs Manchester is always the biggest game in the planet, and everybody will be fired up for this game. They have lots of injury problems, but Rooney will be fired up after his recent red card. We still need to be at our best to beat them.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypia
Riise
Cisse
Sissoko
Gerrard
Alonso
Luis Garcia
Crouch

Result 2-0

Match Report 050913 at Real Betis: A nice start

2-1 and we achieved this with ease and Rafa even rested Gerrard, Finnan and Riise. The Crouch impact is obvious, and with 2 goals within 15 minutes, we seems to be slow down and let them control 2H and scored one. Nevertheless this is a fine start to the defense of the title.

Player Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Have many saves to keep the score. A much better performance than the Spurs game.
Josemi: 6.5 An OK performance that let Finnan take a break.
Carragher: 7 A nice assist and as ever commanding at the back.
Hyypia: 6 Responsible for the Betis goal. The need for a cover for him is obvious.
Traore: 7 A very good game, and Djimi need to play like this more.
Sinama-Pongolle: 7 A nice taken goal but his impact faded very quickly. Need better match fitness.
Sissoko: 7.5 Controlled the midfield in 1H, and in 2H mainly doing the defensive works.
Alonso: 6.5 A bit too quiet.
Zenden: 6.5 A nice assist but do nothing other than that.
Luis Garcia: 7 Very comfortable at the man in the hole, and scored a nice goal.
Crouch: 7 His impact is obvious. And his pass to Zenden that let to the 2nd goal is very well taken.

Substitutions:
Cisse: 6 Very quiet as we were mainly doing defensive works in 2H. Need to improve his communication with the teammates.
Riise: 6 Doing a bit of defensive work as Betis was pressuring us in 2H.
Gerrard: 6 We needed his presence for the last quarter of hour to sail through.

Real Betis: 6 The lack of CL experience is very obvious. Let's hope they will recover and beat Chelsea for us.

Rafa: 7 A bold move to rest Gerrard, Riise and Finann and succeeded. We need to trust him more.

Man of the Match: Reina/Sissoko. Both doing well to keep us win.

Champions League defending starts here

We are finally in the Group Stage and despite it is a tough group, we should be able to go through. Real Betis is a tough opponent but Rafa knows them well. And Crouch should provide something different for us.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypia
Warnock
Cisse
Alonso
Sissoko
Luis Garcia
Gerrard
Crouch

Result 1-0

Match Report 050910 at Tottenham Hotspur: A game of disallowed goals and offsides

0-0 but it can be 3-3 with both teams have goals disallowed and lots of offsides. Spurs proved to be very strong especially the new players seem to be very well adapted. We played very poor in 1H but much better in 2H. At the end a draw is a fair result for both teams, but it can be 3-3 as well.

So after 3 games, with only 1 goal and yet concede any, should not be too down hearted. But of course we need to find someone to start scoring. The Crouch Cisse partnership looks quite good, but more games are needed for them to know each other more.

Player Rating:
Reina: 6.5 Shaky in the first 30 minutes but gradually regained confidence. How he (and Robinson at the other end) kept a clean sheet is really a mystery.
Finnan: 6 Not much in the front.
Carragher: 6.5 Had a few critical interceptions that helped the clean sheet.
Hyypia: 6 Conceded a dangerous free kick that almost lead to a goal from the resulting corner, but fortunately the assistant referee was spot on.
Warnock: 6 A reasobable game that ended with an injury.
Luis Garcia: 6 Sometimes his trick does not work. Need to let the players understand him. The volley was great but unfortunately Robinson was well alert.
Gerrard: 6.5 Dull 1H but much better in 2H. It's a pity his corner to Crouch was out of bound, otherwise it will be a great goal.
Hamann: 5.5 A poor game in his standard, and it ended with an injury as well.
Riise: 7 Improved a lot in 2H and almost scored in 2 occassions.
Crouch: 6.5 Shown why Rafa buy him, if he can gain understanding with team mates more, he will definitely be a great success.
Cisse: 6 Very inconsistent. Should have scored but failed.

Substitutions:
Sissoko: 7 He is quickly become a commanding midfield in the team.
Alonso: 6.5 Rested for the Real Betis game, but did not shine after he was on.
Traore: Back from injury, and doing OK.

Rafa: 6 Failed to find a way to score. Need to heal this ASAP.

Tottenham Hotspur: 7 Played well and will be our biggest threat for the 4th place. A European place is almost guaranteed.

Men of the Match: Riise and Sissoko. Both doing well in 2H.

A tough away game

Away game at Spurs won't be easy, and we are a bit short of strikers now with Nando injuried and Cisse another injury scare. But Crouch is back, and Rafa is expected to play a 4-5-1. A draw won't be a bad result, but let's target for a win.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Hyypia
Warnock
Cisse
Sissoko
Gerrard
Alonso
Zenden
Crouch

Result: 1-0

The Owen saga

I am glad it finally ended. Although we "missed out" the opportunity to sign him back, but I do believe in Rafa's decision.

1. Owen turned his back to us last season, hoping to win more medals. He picked the worst timing to leave so that we can only get 8M (10M if you added Nunez) back. Now he wants to coming back, but not for Liverpool, but for his own England career. He is too selfish.

2. Although he may guarantee 20 goals (or can he?) a season, but it only works in a 4-4-2 formation. Rafa prefers a 4-5-1 formation and to accomodate him we need to make a lot of changes. This is just not worthwhile.

3. If he really wants to join us, he should not accept the bid from Newcastle. Real Madrid will be forced to sell him on August 31 to us at 10M if he is not going to Newcastle, as they need to save some payrolls.

4. If bring him back means selling Cisse, it will be stupid. Cisse has a bigger Liverpool heart, and he is now approaching to his top. We need to have confidence on him.

5. Carra and Gerrard may have publicly said they want Owen back, but they do believe Rafa's decision is the right one. And if Rafa can bring us CL trophy, you have to believe in him.

And finally, let's give Cisse a cheer and start to adore him louder, he deserves more from us.