Midterm Report

We played 35 games in the first half of the season, 4 games more than the same period last time. We have 22 wins 8 draws and 5 defeats, which is a big improvement than last year. In the league we won 12 matches, drawn 5 and lost 2 with 41 points and sitting in 3rd place, 17 points behind leader Chelsea (2 games in hand), 3 points behind 2nd place Manchester United (1 game in hand). In Champions League we are in last 16 but was already out of the League Cup. With 19 league games remaining the highest we can get is 98 points.

Departmental Comments:
Goalkeeper
Reina is a big rock in the goal although at times he was nervous. But with 22 clean sheets in 35 games you cannot say he is poor. Dudek did not get a chance to play and he may want to leave to save his World Cup dream, but Rafa may have a second thought. Carson also featured in 3 games.

Defence
Carragher and Hyypia are just two magnificant giants at the back, although Rafa will still look for backup for them. Finnan also played very well and was the unsung hero. With Kromcamp coming there will also be a good backup and provide some competition in this area. Warnock, Riise and Traore all featured as left back and looks like Rafa will continue to rotate among the three, with Riise the obvious first choice. If needed, we will have Whitbread and Ravan to be called up from the reserve and they may yet feature in the FA Cup.

Midfielder
Our strongest department and lots of goals scored here. Stevie G is getting better and better and even shines at right midfield. Alonso and Sissoko provided solid support in the middle, with Xabi sitting back as a quarterback and Sissoko doing all the Hamann jobs. At the two franks Luis Garcia played quite well although at time still suffer from inconsistency, and Harry Kewell is getting better and better. It was a pity that with Zenden started to gel into the team, he got an injury and we missed him for several months. Rafa may still need to improve by adding a right midfielder.

Attackers:
Crouch is scoring for fun recently and Cisse and Morientes also played well, although not as good as people think they should be. Apart from the big three Sinama-Pongolle also featured a few games, although he has not proved to provide a big impact yet. Rafa probably will not buy or sell any player in this department.


Player Rating (Games played, Minutes played, Goal scored/conceded, Assists/cleansheets, MoM, Rating)
Goalkeepers
Reina: 32G 2910M 16GC 22CS 0.5MoM 6.69
Carson: 3G 270M 3GC 1CS 0MoM 6.33
Dudek: 9 unused substitutes

Defenders
Carragher: 32G 2874M 1GS 2A 3MoM 6.92
Finnan: 28G 2473M 0GS 2A 0MoM 6.57
Hyypia: 34G 3053M 0GS 0A 1.5MoM 6.62
Josemi: 12G 832M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.39
Medjani: 1 unused substitute
Raven: 1G 90M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.00
Riise: 29G 2051M 1GS 4A 1MoM 6.75
Traore: 14G 815M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.28
Warnock: 18G 1322M 0GS 0A 1MoM 6.31
Whitbread: 3G 216M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.33

Midfielders
Alonso: 29G 2305M 3GS 4A 5MoM 7.07
Baragan: 1G 12M 1GS 0A 0MoM n/a
Gerrard: 30G 2351M 15GS 9A 10MoM 7.33
Hamann: 18G 1320M 0GS 1A MoM 6.56
Kewell: 16G 827M 0GS 3A 0MoM 6.93
Le Tallec: 2G 148 0GS 1A 0MoM 6.50
Luis Garcia: 33G 2027M 7GS 3A 4MoM 6.71
Potter: 7G 400M 0GS 0A 0MoM 6.42
Zenden: 17G 1095M 2GS 2A 0MoM 6.60

Attackers:
Baros: 2G 38M 0G 0A 0MoM 6.50
Cisse: 31G 1687M 12GS 2A 2MoM 6.78
Crouch: 27G 1832M 6GS 3A 3MoM 6.79
Morientes: 24G 1574M 6GS 2A 2.5MoM 6.66
Sinama-Pongolle: 14G 490M 1GS 0A 0MoM 6.45

Players of the 1st half season (1000 mins or above):
(1) Gerrard 7.33
(2) Alonso 7.07
(3) Carragher 6.92
(4) Crouch 6.79
(5) Cisse/Sissoko 6.78

Rafa: 6.74 Rafa had successfully planted his team concept to the players and we now have a very solid and difficult to beat team. The 10 games winning streak is an evidence of it. The defense look very strong and nobody question the zonal system anymore. Although the forwards may at time be quesitioned for lack of goals, but with goals flying in from everywhere, who cares?

2H Result Prediction
League:
1st-6th place teams (Chelsea A, Manchester United A, Tottenham H, Wigan Athletic A, Arsenal H/A) 3W3D0L
7th-10th place teams (Bolton H, Blackburn A, Manchester City H, West Ham A) 3W1D
11th-15th place teams (Newcastle A, Aston Villa H, Charlton H/A, Fulham H, Everton H) 4W2D
16th-20th place teams (West Bromwich Albion A, Portsmouth A, Birmingham City H) 3W0D0L

Total for 2H 13W6D0L 45 points
Total for the season 86 points

Champions League: Same comment as last season, and same result?
Another good draw and we should be able to go through to quarter final. As the strong teams are playing each other in final 16, with a bit luck we can get a good draw, and who knows where we will end up to be?

FA Cup: Luton away should not poise too much problem, and Rafa will learn from last year's mistake. With a bit of luck in the draw we will win this.