August Month Review

4W1D and we are sitting comfortably at 4th place with a game in hand, and are through to the Champions League Group Stage. Have Styles not made that stupid mistake we should be on top of the league as well. The team has started in a very impressive way as the competition within the squad is driving everybody to perform well. Even the injuries to Stevie G and Carra cannot stop the momentum.

Players of the Month: (1) Kuyt 7.82 (2) Torres 7.62 (3) Reina 7.40. Kuyt worked very hard each time he was called up and was rewarded with 2 nice goals and 1 assist. Torres proved why he is worth more than 20 million pounds with a beautiful goal in his Anfield debut and Reina is ever consistent and was only beaten twice by two penalties. Other than the above, Stevie G also played extremely well especially with the beautifully taken free kick that secured us 3 points at Villa Park.

September Prediction:
9/1 Derby County (h): Banker game for us.
9/15 Portsmouth (a): We lost there last year and this is now time for a revenge.
9/18 Porto (a): A tough game, but if we can win we will be in an excellent position to qualify.
9/22 Birmingham City (h): Another game that we expect we will win.
9/25 Reading (a): Time for some youngsters to shine.
9/29 Wigan Athletic (a): Wigan is strong at home but we should have enough power to win the game.

Match Report 070828 vs Toulouse: Cruise Control

4-0 and it was an easy win. We never look threatened and should be already 3-0 up in half time. Nevertheless the whole team worked very hard as everybody know they need to play well or else someone is going to take his place. We will be in the Champions League now and every team will hope they will avoid meeting us and get trashed by us.

Now that all 4 strikers opened their account, the competition would be more severe and this could only improve team performance.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Not really get troubled.
Arbeloa: 7.5 A solid display, this time on the right.
Agger: 7.5 Not really tested.
Hyypia: 8 Speedy recovery and was rewarded with a free header goal.
Riise: 7.5 Solid display at left back.
Benayoun: 8.5 Not a winger but more like an attack midfielder, but his influence in the game was great.
Sissoko: 7.5 Another nice display as attacking midfielder.
Mascherano: 8 Human absorber. He cleared every ball and ran all over the pitch.
Leto: 6.5 A solid debut just before his 21th birthday.
Kuyt: 8 Hard working and was rewarded with two nice taken goals.
Crouch: 8 Scored a beautiful goal, but could have score more.

Substitutions:
Lucas: 6.5 A solid debut.
Babel: 7.5 Did well and provided a nice assist to Kuyt.
Finnan: 7 Solid display.

Rafa: 7.5 Would be very happy about the professional performance.

Toulouse: 5.5 Provided no real threats to us. On this performance they may even struggle to go through Group Stage of UEFA Cup.

Man of the Match: Benayoun. Influential with two nice assists.

RIP Rhys

As a way to pay tribute to Rhys Jones, Anfield will play Z Car before YNWA, followed by a one minute applause. May he rest in peace.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156815070828-0944.htm

I am really proud to be a Liverpool fan. And let's hope this is the last time we do this. And no thanks, no need for Goodison Park to play YNWA.

Attack is the best defense

Carra and Stevie G will not be available for this match, but we have enough manpower to win this game. We have a slight one goal lead into this game, and we should try to score an early goal to kill off the game.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Agger
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Pennant
Alonso
Mascherano
Riise
Torres
Crouch

Result 2-0

Match Report 070825 at Sunderland: Hard earned win

2-0 and we have both starting center backs injured. Sami should be OK fairly soon, but Carra is a bit worried. Hope he will be back very soon.

The match also shown where the strength of the team is. In the past we would have drawn or even lose such games, but now the team has enough power to go forward and enough good players to tear off the defense, and the team is willing to go forward to seek the winning goal.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Did well when called upon.
Finnan: 7 Solid display.
Carragher: 7.5 Get well soon, we will miss you.
Hyypia: 6.5 Injured fairly early in the game. We need him back ASAP.
Arbeloa: 7 Another solid display.
Pennant: 7.5 Another good display and was dangerous.
Alonso: 7 Did well in center midfield.
Sissoko: 8 Scored his first and our 7000th goal. What a marvelous strike!
Babel: 6 A very quiet and disappointing performance.
Voronin: 8 Worked hard and was rewarded a goal at the end.

Substitutions:
Agger: 7 Solid display when called up.
Riise/Kuyt: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 7 Would be happy about the result, but he need to settle the central defense very soon.

Sunderland: 6 Second class throughout the match. They should survive this season though.

Men of the match: Sissoko and Voronin. 7000th and 7001th

Let's move on

The Heinze saga is now over and we are back to our bread and butter. 4 points from first 2 games is not bad, but we need to treat every game as if it is the final. Sunderland had a bright start but was crashed last time, so they will be hunger for a win, and we have Stevie G injured. Nevertheless we should have enough talent to win the game.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Agger
Arbeloa
Pennant
Alonso
Mascherano
Riise
Torres
Kuyt

Love letter

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156758070821-1605.htm

Thanks Luis. We always love you.

Luis Garcia, He drinks Sangria..

Match Report 070819 vs Chelsea: 2 points Robbed by Styles

1-1 and this is definitely 2 points robbed by the referee. That penalty should have never been given. Have we win the game we would be in a very good position, although now we are still very much on track, especially after Arsenal and Manchester losing ground as well.

We controlled the game but and Torres had opened his account with a very well taken goal, although he also shown us his evil side. The most obvious thing is that now we have the confidence to win every game. And we will be pushing very hard for #19.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Not much to do.
Finnan: 7 Solid display and was unlucky to have deemed to concede that penalty.
Carragher: 7.5 Lead the troops well.
Agger: 7 At times he seem to be out of position, but in general he did well.
Arbeloa: 7 Effective display.
Pennant: 7 A good display with some dangerous crossing provided.
Gerrard: 8.5 An all-round performance and provided the killing pass.
Alonso: 7 Did reasonably well apart from a few mis-passes.
Riise: 7.5 With a few dangerous shots but was only close.
Kuyt: 7.5 Very hard working performance.
Torres: 8 Scored a neat goal that shown his skill.

Substitutions:
Babel: 7 Did well and almost scored.
Crouch: 6 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 7 Robbed 2 points. His new look Liverpool is really convincing, and we will not drop too many points this season.

Chelsea: 6 Completely out-classed and was only helped by the 12th man.

Man of the Match: Gerrard. He's attacking, he's helping the defense, and he's everywhere.

Build up the advantage

After a labouring afternoon in France we are now back to the league and will play Chelsea. The team is now stronger than ever, and if we can avoid making any mistake, at the end we will come up on top of them.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Agger
Arbeloa
Pennant
Gerrard
Mascherano
Riise
Torres
Crouch

Result 2-0

Match Report 070815 at Toulouse: Professional job

1-0 and we finished the job in a professional manner. Under the hot weather and the bad pitch the player performance are affected, but we still manage to nick a goal and come back home with an away goal.

As expected Rafa made 6 changes to the squad. Players have some problem in this hot weather, but at the end of 1H Veronin scored a goal from nowhere and shown us why Rafa rated him.

The job is not done yet, as we still need to play them in the second leg 2 weeks later, but we will be in full confidence.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Not much to do, but when he's call on he delivered.
Finnan: 6.5 An average game.
Carragher: 7 Calm as usual.
Hyypia: 6.5 The heat is certainly affecting him.
Arbeloa: 6.5 Another good game.
Babel: 7.5 Played better on the right than left.
Gerrard: 7 A good game and hope his injury is not that bad.
Mascherano: 8 Very impressive display.
Benayoun: 6 Had a quiet debut.
Veronin: 7.5 Scored a goal from nowhere. Shown us his creativity.
Crouch: 7 Created the goal for Veronin.

Substitutions:
Riise: 6.5 Played better than Benayoun, and with him onboard, it allows Babel to play on the right.
Sissoko: 6.5 A solid display.
Torres: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 7 Would be happy with the team performance.

Toulouse: 6 One season wonder? But we still need to give them our full respect in order to go through.

Man of the Match: Mascherano. We definitely need to buy him when his loan ends.

Champions League

We begin our quest to another European journey today, starting at Toulouse. It won't be an easy match, especially as the weather is extremely hot, but the players would be ready after training in Hong Kong.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Agger
Riise
Babel
Gerrard
Alonso
Benayoun
Kuyt
Crouch

Result 2-0

Match Report 070811 at Aston Villa: Stevie G saves the day again

2-1 and it was not until Stevie G put the ball into the net that we secured 3 points in the season opener the first time under Rafa. That goal was simply beautiful - and beyond any goalkeeper's reach. The win also made us the 4th Premier League team to win 1000 points.

We started the match brightly and controlled the game, but similar to last season we just somehow can't kill off the game. Carra's penalty was a bit harsh, but at the end, the Captain came for our rescue again, and we fully deserved the 3 points.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Did very well especially at the end to gain us the 3 points.
Finnan: 6.5 A bit quiet.
Carragher: 7.5 Solid at the back and saved us many times. Was unlucky to concede the penalty.
Agger: 7 A solid performance but at times can't compete with the big man Carew.
Arbeloa: 7 A solid performamce.
Pennant: 6.5 Didn't do enough to support the attack
Gerrard: 9 What a goal! And he looks very fresh too.
Alonso: 7 A good performance.
Riise: 7 A good performance as midfielder.
Torres: 7.5 A good debut despite unlucky not to have scored.
Kuyt: 8 An all-rounded performance and his hard work lead to the first goal.

Substitutions:
Babel: 7.5 Almost scored from his first shot. Very lively.
Veronin: 7 Controlled the rhythm well.
Sissoko: 6 Do nothing but losing the ball.

Rafa: 7.5 The new look team looks very sharp. He would be happy with the flow, but still works need to be done to convert chances into goals.

Aston Villa: 6 Was never into the game except for the first 15 minutes.

Man of the Match: Gerrard. Goal of the season contender.

Kickoff

It's the big kickoff again and we will start the season away at Villa. After all the transfers the expectation for the team is high. Now that Rafa has more options to attack, we need to score more goals especially away from home. With a little bit of luck, we may finally launch #19.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Finnan
Carragher
Agger
Riise
Pennant
Gerrard
Alonso
Benayoun
Voronin
Kuyt

Result 2-0

Season Preview

We finished our friendly games unbeaten (in 90 minutes, anyway) and unscratched, and now we have 5 days to go for the new season. No doubt we are stronger than last season, and with the friendly games arranged, the team is fitter and get more familiar with each other.

Rafa had built a very strong squad with more than one player chasing a spot. He will rotate the team as usual based on the opponents, but one good thing is that with the new players coming, he is now able to play Gerrard more in the central role, which is what we lacked before. Whether this means a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 will depends on the opponents.

We are very strong in the defense and central midfield, and if the wingers can do well and cross more better quality balls, and the strikers able to improve the goal per shot ratio, we will pose a strong challenge to #19.