That is one small squad (Liverpool 1-1 Hearts and Liverpool 0-2 Arsenal)

Oh dear oh dear...what on earth has happened at Liverpool since my last blog. During the Liverpool vs Arsenal game which (un)fortunately I managed to catch the subs appeared on the screen and I thought 'there is not one striker on the bench, not one'. I inevitably thought 'I wonder who's injured' but then realised 'oh my god, we don't have any more!'. I'm not necessarily blaming Rodgers, I'm not blaming anyone as such, but what on earth was that transfer window about? Regular readers will know I'm not a Carroll fan, but he provided something and was a striker. We now have, in terms of strikers and I mean strikers not wingers who have been fielded in a vaguely strikerish role - Borini and Suarez. That is it. I guess also young Adam Morgan who played against Hearts if you're being picky but that is literally it. The Strurridge move never happened nor did Dempsey although again I would call him a winger. He's gone to Spurs for £6 million which FSG were apparently unwilling to pay...you can probably predict my next sentence. Why so so so so much money on all that dross last season and not £6million on a proven quality player who scored 23 goals last season and was beaten only by Van Persie and Rooney I believe.

On one level, I like Rodgers attitude which has been to cut losses. Let's face it, we bought ridiculous players that were always going to fail because they're not very good and we paid ludicrous, outlandish and frankly shameful sums for them. To think what we could have bought with that £100 million spent last year and we ended up with Downing, Henderson, Carroll, Suarez, Adam, Coates and Enrique. Barring Suarez, of that list, only Enrique ever convinced for a period of time and he has gone way off the boil and yet to recover while Coates has certainly shown promise but is not yet the finished article and nowhere near. I really do think they were the worst raft of signings by Comolli (let's face it, we all know it was him) in the club's history. One thinks back to the Evans, Houllier and Benitez eras and there were undeniably very bad buys but actually they made more sense financially and footballing wise than that pile of crap. For instance Heskey had one superb season and other good moments, Smicer played his part in the European cup win, Biscan likewise and even the loathsome El Hadji Diouf undoubtedly had talent, just a complete lack of attitude and ability to make the most of it. But why did everyone get so excited about Downing and co thinking we were going to be title challengers? Deluded.

Anyway, like I say Rodgers attitude has been to get them out. Sod the losses, just get them out as he has with Adam for instance. And he has wisely seen that Liverpool perform a lot better without Henderson and Downing because they're shite. But whoever's fault it was, our lack of reinforcements in the window has been catastrophic and a look at our squad list is beyond terrifying. I know this might seem like a knee jerk blog after my words of encouragement from the Man City performance but I didn't expect us to have no players to choose from by the next game!

Our list of defenders is not too bad, not amazing but not bad. An improving Coates alongside Agger, Skrtel and Carragher is not a bad selection of centre backs and if Enrique could recover his form and Robinson and Flanagan fulfill their vast promise then alongside the defensively dodgy but undeniably useful Johnson and Kelly it's not a bad selection of full backs either. But take a look at our midfield. Having been overloaded with midfielders (admittedly all of them crap, but still) we now have so few it is deeply worrying. Lucas is out and may never return to his best after such an unlucky run of injuries. Joe Cole has been a disaster and again will surely never return to what he was at Chelsea even after he comes back from injury. Of the rest Spearing's out on loan and has perhaps been shown to be out of his depth against the best anyway, Downing and Henderson are awful, Shelvey while deserving of great credit for his progress is not exactly a world beater and Sterling while a mouth watering prospect is 17 and should not have his career jepoardised by being played too much too young (echoes of Michael Owen). Sahin of course is new and of good pedigree so that remains to be seen. That leaves Joe Allen who has made a seriously impressive start I think and the one and only Gerrard who while past his peak is undoubtedly still a superb player. But he gets injured and where are we then?

As for up front, it's so bleak given that none of them is a proven goalscorer. Suarez is undoubtedly a world class talent and scores outstanding goals as he did against Hearts but in that game he also missed easy chances which pretty much sums him up. I'm not writing off Borini, it's early days, but I gather even he is not an out and out goalscorer generally speaking. Morgan for all his hard work against Hearts, hardly looked like the next Michael Owen although again I'm not writing him off.

And just to sum up our misery, even the ever reliable Pepe Reina has had a nightmare week with three mistakes, two of them terrible. He is still a goalkeeper of undoubted world class talent, but his current malaise just makes it all the worse.

So what do we do then? We have to have something. I've seen the rumours about Michael Owen and I think screw it just get him. He can shoot, he's free, get him. We have to have more than three strikers especially one is 17 and played one senior game! To be fair Owen also scored 17 in 52 games for United which really is not bad when you think how many of those games came from the bench. Get Carroll back in January and for god's sake get some players in! Drogba is Drogba, I'd have him. I'd take Anelka as well and even former player Sinama Pongolle I believe is available. He's not great but he's something.

Anyway better report on the games. Hearts was a really depressing night. To toil and struggle against a mediocre team from a terrible league just sums up the present problems. Anyway here's the ratings:

Reina - 5
Awful howler for the goal, although otherwise ok.
Kelly - 6
Worked hard as ever.
Carragher - 7
Good to see him still going strong.
Skrtel - 7
Solid.
Gerrard -7
At the hub of most good things as usual.
Henderson - 5
Loathsome.
Downing - 5
About the same.
Allen - 7
Along with Suarez, best player.
Shelvey - 6
Toiled hard but struggled to create.
Suarez - 7
Full of tricks and a wonder goal, but wasteful too.
Morgan - 5
Looked nervous.

Subs:
Sterling - 7
Lively again.
Borini - 5
Struggled.

Arsenal really was depressing. Liverpool were comfortably outplayed and were desperately poor from start to finish.

Reina - 5
Another howler, oh Pepe come back!
Johnson - 6
Good going forward...you know the rest.
Enrique - 4
Desperately bad.
Agger - 6
Tried hard but little he could do about the attack he was facing.
Skrtel - 6
As with Agger.
Sahin - 5
Anonymous.
Gerrard -6
Hard working as ever but unable to exert too much influence.
Allen - 7
Impressive signs.
Sterling - 6
Lively and tricky but overawed.
Suarez - 6
Isolated.
Borini - 4
Struggled to get involved at all.

Subs:

Downing - 3
Not sure there are any words.
Shelvey - 6
Tried hard and had a couple of long range shots.

All in all, current mood is depressed.

Liverpool 2-2 Man City

Well the season is underway and Liverpool began in utterly atrocious fashion with a wretched performance against West Brom. Fortunately I didn't see it live so I shall report instead on a far better performance. It was an excellent game for the neutral against Man City and I think most would acknowledge that Liverpool played extremely well and were narrowly the better side. The fact is we played the best team in the division and bar two mistakes, the latter very bad, would have beaten them reasonably comfortably. I was also encouraged by Rodgers' positive approach with three going forward and finally got shot of Henderson and Downing and it showed.

Ratings:

Reina - 7
Helpless for the goals and as ever was dependable and kick started attacks well
Kelly - 5
A fine player but not his finest day and at fault for the first goal
Skrtel - 6
Great goal, good performance but horrible mistake for the second goal
Coates - 7
Looking better
Johnson - 7
Good going forward especially
Lucas - 6
Off injured early, hope it's not serious
Gerrard - 8
At the hub of most things going forward
Allen -7
Very encouraging home debut
Sterling - 8
What a prospect!
Borini - 6
Toiled hard but needs time to get into the English game
Suarez - 8
Superb goal and lively

Subs:

Shelvey - 7
Really improving at the moment
Enrique - 6
Solid enough
Carroll - 6
Little time but almost scored towards the end

No Beckham - so what?

Let me start this blog by saying that I have immense respect for David Beckham in lots of ways. He is one of the finest crossers of the ball I have ever seen and no-one should doubt his immense commitment to excellence as a footballer and his workrate and professional conduct can hardly be faulted. That said, I cannot understand the wave of criticism directed at Stuart Pearce for leaving him out of the olympic squad.

The man is 37 and is playing in a poor league and has been doing so for a fair few years now. He doesn't get back into the England squad so why would he be one of three overage players allowed in the team GB squad. I don't know that I'd select Ryan Giggs either, but the fact is Giggs is playing in the Premiership for the runners up and plays a pivotal role, still. David Beckham, for all his stirling qualities, is not and the olympics is a tournament that people want to win. Why pick a player on sympathy and respect for a tournament? That's what testimonials are for, or final games of seasons for an emotional send off in front of the fans. When Robbie Fowler left Liverpool second time around he was rightly left out of the European Cup final because he was not as good as the other options but was given an emotional send off in the final Anfield game of the season. That's the right way round.

Spain the best ever?

Well the Euros are over and Spain's final triumph was majestic and magnificent. The tournament was certainly a vast improvment on the tedium of World Cup 2010 and was a showcase for great football. So are Spain the greatest international side of all time? For me perhaps the biggest moment in defence of that argument was five minutes from the end of the final they had clearly already won and on comes Juan Mata for his only appearance in the Euros. Now Juan Mata is a bloody good footballer. A seriously amazing footballer in fact who would get into any international team one would think...except spain have six midfielders better and therefore a world class player was not required until five minutes from the end of a final they'd already won and they were essentially giving him a runout. And just to prove it further...he scored! Their depth is truly astounding.

I always find the argument of whether a team is the best ever utterly pointless yet I can't quite resist it. I mean when you consider that different eras mean completely different football in terms of pace, fitness etc and these teams don't get to play each other. You can't compare Brazil 1970 with this Spain team. I mean you literally can't but even analysing it is relatively pointless. But as I say I do enjoy the debate so I would hedge for Spain on the grounds of their ability to keep the ball and their ability to score the kind of team goals that other teams can only dream of. That's what defines greatness for me, the ability to do something different. I always rate Thierry Henry as the most remarkable player I've ever seen (I include Messi in that) because of his ability to do anything, almost anything.

England out

Well another tournament over for England and yet again they were exposed as what they are: a thoroughly average side leagues below the best. I say the best, Italy were not exactly amazing but they dominated possession and chances to a frankly embarrassing level. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this will happen every time until grassroots training changes and that will take time. Germany fell apart towards the end of the 90's with a dramatic world cup exit to Croatia, an awful euro 2000 and of course a certain 5-1 humbling to England a year later. They sorted it out and over time they've developed into arguably the tournament favourites.

England deserve some credit for their graft in the tournament. They worked hard and battled for their lives and fair play to them it's the first time that's been obvious in years. But the truth is, as I said in my last blog, the expectation just because they didn't do quite as badly in an average group as expected was just daft. England cannot keep the ball and haven't been able to for years. Technically and tactically they are hopeless. I would never have chosen Roy Hodgson - England played like Roy Hodgson they were dull and hopelessly limited if hard working and well organised. To be fair, I don't know that a better manager would have done better. England are so poor that a Hodgson approach was probably the only option.

Hope for the future? I'm sorry I can't see where from. Gerrard was England's best player and he's 32 and has probably had his last competition. The fact is they battled their way through to a quarter final not looking convincing and were murdered by a superior team. They played outdated tactics with a one dimensional manager because that's all they were capable of. I don't think Hodgson got all his picks right - Crouch, Richards and Adam Johnson should definitely have been in and there was no need for the frankly risible Stewart Downing or a need to persist with Ashley Young who deserved his place in the squad on the back of his club form but was atrocious in the euros. And Wayne Rooney. Why is it he has to be picked? He had a good tournament in euro 2004. Not a lot since and England looked far better balanced with Carroll and Wellbeck up front. But these are just nit picks - the truth is England would have gone out at this stage no matter what because they're just not very good.

Ratings v Italy:

Hart - 8
Did very well against an onslaught.
Johnson - 7
Battled hard and almost found a way through.
Cole - 6
A truly awful penalty in the shootout but didn't do too badly in the game.
Terry - 7
Worked hard against an onslaught.
Lescott - 6
Like Terry.
Milner - 6
Grafts hard but offers little in creativity terms.
Young - 5
A terrible performance in an awful tournament.
Parker - 7
As ever plenty of hard work.
Gerrard - 6
His quietest game of the tournament, in the shadow of Pirlo.
Welbeck - 5
Isolated and not yet up to this standard, but a decent euros.
Rooney - 5
Frankly terrible.

Subs:

Carroll - 6
Offered more than the other strikers but not a lot.
Walcott - 6
Unable to get into the game.
Henderson - 6
Did nothing wrong but under the cosh.

Sweden and Ukraine games

Apologies for the delay to this blog entry, I had issues with logging in which have now been resolved.

Well everyone's getting very excited about England's performances. I would ask for a bit of perspective - the draw against France as I blogged was commendable, but beating Sweden and Ukraine is hardly the work of world beaters. Still, there's no question that Roy Hodgson's teams are usually boring as hell and hard to beat and so it proved in the mind numbing dullness that was the Ukraine game. The Sweden game was exciting and the fact that England came from behind was encouraging but there should be concerns about the sloppiness of the Swedish goals from a defensive point of view, unusual for a Hodgson team. Encourgaingly Terry seems to have rediscovered his old form and stayed out of trouble thus far, Walcott turned in an unlikely match winning cameo and Steven Gerrard has been superb finally free from the shackles of playing with Lampard in every tournament, and whatever Lampard's merits as a player, we all know they never worked together. Parker has been an excellent all action defensive midfielder allowing Gerrard the freedom to do his creative stuff. The other question is Rooney - I'd love to see a manager brave enough to leave him out. There's no denying his talent but Carroll and Wellbeck both scored and worked well in Hodgson's not very attractive football. Do England need Rooney? I felt they gelled far less well against Ukraine but who knows?

Anyway here's what I made of it v Sweden:

Hart - 6
Not as convincing as normal but solid for the most part.
Johnson - 6
Sloppy defensively (makes a change...) but good going forward.
Cole - 7
Good.
Terry - 7
Poor on the goals but otherwise solid
Lescott - 7
As with Terry.
Milner - 7
Hard work as ever.
Young - 6
Rather anonymous in the tournament so far and this was more of the same.
Parker - 8
Endless graft as ever.
Gerrard - 8
His best displays in an England shirt this tournament.
Wellbeck - 8
Very classy goal and tireless.
Carroll - 7
Great header for the goal and worked hard, especially for him.

Subs:
Walcott - 9
Never been his greatest fan but that was a match winning cameo.
Oxlade - 6
No time.

v Ukraine

Hart - 7
Played well.
Johnson - 7
Good going forward...you know the rest.
Cole - 7
Love him or loathe him, he's a good player.
Terry - 7
Solid enough.
Lescott - 6
Solid.
Milner - 6
Offered little in terms of creativity.
Young - 5
Again virtually anonymous.
Parker - 7
All action hard work.
Gerrard - 8
Excellent again.
Wellbeck - 6
Saw little of the ball.
Rooney - 6
Scored but did little else.

Subs:
Walcott - 6
Not much this time round.
Carroll - 6
Not much time.
Oxlade - 6
No time.

England 1-1 France

Finally, a performance by England that showed heart and graft. Was it exciting? No, not very. But as I have said many times England are not a great side and I felt it was a good result against a very good side that was well worked for. It doesn't alter the fact that England are going to seriously struggle to ever win a tournament and I strongly suspect that similar performances against Sweden and Ukraine are not going to go down well because they are not top sides. But that's what you get with Roy Hodgson, it's not going to be pretty and he ALWAYS plays the same way but that is undeniably quite effective against superior sides but underwhelming against worse. Anyway this blog is about this game and I salute a hard working performance. On the debit side, besides Milner's golden chance there was little in the way of goalmouth activity and the goal came from a set piece.

Ratings:

Hart - 7
Unusual error for the goal but overall a typically commanding display.
Johnson - 6
Full of running and defensively not as bad as normal but if anything lacked a bit of his usual creativity going forward.
Cole - 8
Great performance.
Lescott - 8
Terrific header for the goal and defended well.
Terry - 7
Looked solid.
Milner - 7
Tireless but missed a good chance and created relatively little.
Oxlade-Chamberlain - 6
Worked hard and handled well but looked a little short of ideas at times.
Parker - 8
Typically combative and hard working.
Gerrard - 7
Again worked very hard and did what was asked to do.
Welbeck - 7
A lot of running in a hard role.
Young - 5
I thought poor and anonymous.

Subs:
Defoe - 6
Looked lively.
Henderson - 6
Really?
Walcott - 6
Too late for any impact.

Rodgers for Liverpool

So just when we all thought it would be Martinez...it's not. As you know, Kenny going would not have been my choice but what do I think of our new appointment? It's a gamble, no doubt about that. Firstly, I have to say I thought Swansea were an absolute joy to watch and an asset to the Premiership last season. Their football was wonderful and hardly with a crop of great players either. I think a bit of a myth is developing that positive football = good manager. That's not the case, and it's difficult to tell whether Rodgers can handle a higher expectation club because he's never managed one. Therein lies the gamble. Like Dalglish, he believes in positive play and it's encouraging that he achieved that from relatively modest players. He also seems like a man with discipline and could well be a shrewd choice. Time will tell.

England Squad

It's not exactly the squad I would go for. To be fair to Hodgson though, it's very easy to go well the squad's a bit thin in central midfield or up front (which it is) but then you try and think who should be in instead and the options are so limited it's tough to say. I was pleased to see Oxlade-Chamberlain in I think he could give the team a real drive and energy and creativity, far more in fact than the limited Theo Walcott and the even more limited Stewart Downing. The latter would not have made my squad, I'd have definitely gone for Adam Johnson whose only fault at club level is his attitude but has far more to offer on the pitch. Courtesy of Glen Johnson's defensive liability I feel very sorry for the mysteriously overlooked Micah Richards as well.

Anyway here's what I reckon player by player:

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart
The only choice between the sticks. If he's injured we really are screwed.

Rob Green
One example of why we're screwed if Hart's out.

Jack Butland
Who?

Defenders

Leighton Baines
An excellent and solid left back and good backup to Cole.

Gary Cahill
Growing in stature, would make my starting eleven but has an error or two in him.

Ashley Cole
We all hate him but we all know he is one of very few truly world class English players. A no brainer, in more ways than one...

Glen Johnson
Defensively a nightmare but does offer a lot going forward.

Phil Jones
An outstanding prospect and may find himself in midfield. Would be in my squad.

Joleon Lescott
Never been quite the same since leaving Everton but amongst limited options would probably make my squad as well.

John Terry
Out of form, over the hill...and a cock. Wouldn't have picked him.

Phil Jagielka
Solid and unspectacular but plays it safe. A good choice.

Midfielders

Stewart Downing
A lousy choice. A poor season where he was exposed as not Liverpool class let alone international class.

Steven Gerrard
Not his old self but used well and finally away from Lampard, he might just excel and give us something to remember.

Jordan Henderson
A poor season and a poor choice for the squad.

James Milner
Industrious but hardly a world beater. I would have picked him because you'll always get 200%.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Glad to see him in. Could come on and give a bit of unexpected pace and creativity.

Scott Parker
An awesome season but doubts remain over his fitness. Hope to god he's ok.

Theo Walcott
Never been a fan. Undeniably quick but not a lot else.

Ashley Young
On current form, a must pick.

Strikers

Andy Carroll
A surprising burst of form towards the end of the season meant he scraped a place, but I'm not expecting a lot.

Danny Welbeck
Ok but I remain unconvinced of his ability to reach the top level.

Jermain Defoe
A decent finish on him and I would have picked him but again I'm not expecting much.

Wayne Rooney
No doubt he'll get sent off when he does finally play.

Kenny's Gone

Well the review of the Premiership season will have to wait after the news today that Kenny Dalglish's second spell as Liverpool manager is at an end. I have to confess I'm extremely disappointed with the news. This season was remarkably odd and the league campaign was undeniably a disappointment with a quite dreadful second half, but I can't see how a manager who has won a cup and reached the final of another deserves to go and isn't onto something good. Kenny's king status is not even that relevant for me, I honestly think to sack a manager with that record over a season is harsh in the extreme.

Then we come to those mitigating factors in the league. Over 38 games, if you finish 8th you have to say you deserve to finish 8th. But the amount of times we hit the woodwork was truly astronomical, way way above the nearest side (the title winners) and the amount of missed penalties was also in double figures. I also think there were a great many games, particularly in the first half of the season, where Liverpool totally dominated and unlike in many of Benitez's games they created a lot of clear chances. I'm not making excuses, you have to take your chances, I'm just saying it wasn't a total right off in terms of performance.

So what did go wrong? Three words spring to mind - Henderson, Downing and Carroll. £75 million on those players was quite simply a joke. Henderson appears utterly incapable of being a top class player and was an outrageous gamble for someone who had, at best, shown some promise in half a season for Sunderland. Downing has proved what surely everybody always knew, he just hasn't got that extra quality to make him a top player and in his late twenties does not even have youth on side. As for Carroll, I've been his biggest critic all season and I remain unconvinced he will really come good in the long run but to give him his due, he was superb in two recent games against Chelsea to the point where I wondered for a second. But £35 million was truly bizarre for such an unproven player.

And one has to say the amount of goals scored, chances squandered and home wins was simply not good enough. There was no question the league campaign was disappointing and dreadful in the second half of the season and one could argue that Kenny signed the bulk of the players and bar Suarez, Enrique and Bellamy most were disappointments. I remain dubious that Kenny was the sole reason for the signings and suspect Comolli played his part, particularly in terms of the huge fees for which he has something of a track record from his time at Spurs.

But he has gone, so who replaces him? Martinez has been mentioned as have Lambert and Rodgers. I worry that they would have a similar problem to Hodgson and not be so suited to a big, high pressure role but I guess you don't know til you try and to be fair to all three, the football played their sides this season has been an asset to the league. But for today, let's just pay tribute to King Kenny. The man was arguably the club's greatest ever player, a wonderful manager first time around and you know what the second time around he won us a trophy and rescued a season from real utter disaster. I don't think that's too bad a record. King Kenny, farewell. You're welcome anytime and of course you'll never walk alone.

Chelsea games

First things first let's review the FA Cup final and the league game against Chelsea. I will be writing a big review of the whole Premier League season in the next couple of days.

FA Cup Final: Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool

A disappointing day for Liverpool, with Pepe Reina's rare mistake (although he has a mediocre season by his high standards) allowing Ramires to score and a team performance that was lifeless until, of all people, Andy Carroll sparked the team into life. If they'd started like they finished Chelsea wouldn't have had a prayer. What I want to know is where the hell has that Andy Carroll been all season?! He was magnificent, sparking the team into life with a superb goal and an awesome performance. I thought Kenny got the team selection very wrong - Suarez has never been a lone striker and was left far too isolated while Spearing and Henderson were far too inexperienced a pair to be anchoring the midfield. The former was overwhelmed on the big day, looking out of his depth while the latter is just not all that good I'm afraid. It seemed daft to start with Bellamy then not play him up front with Suarez. Downing capped a hugely disappointing campaign with another anonymous display while perhaps more sadly, Gerrard just couldn't find his magic touch and while he certainly didn't have a bad game, did perhaps prove that the days of hoping he'll come up with a virtuoso game winning performance have to be over. As for Chelsea, overall they deserved it and bloody Drogba yet again was the winner curse him! An awesome talent though, whatever you may think of him.

Ratings:

Reina - 5
Poor for him, bad mistake on first goal
Johnson - 6
Please god teach him to defend
Enrique - 5
A strange deterioration in form this season was capped with a poor display
Agger - 6
Solid-ish
Skrtel - 7
Good, almost scored late on
Gerrard - 7
Lively but lacking his old drive
Henderson - 5
Got to go and be written off as a costly mistake, good riddance Comolli
Spearing - 5
Sadly, as I love this guy, not a good performance and looked a little out of his depth
Downing - 5
Yawn...
Bellamy - 6
Worked hard as ever, but contributed relatively little
Suarez - 7
Excellent once Carroll had come on, isolated before that

Subs:
Carroll - 9
Far and away without a shadow of doubt, his best performance in a Liverpool shirt. I've been so critical of him but more of this kind of performance and he might just convert who knows?
Kuyt - 7
Should have been on from the start like he always should.

Cech - 7
Ivanovic - 7
Cole - 7
Bosingwa - 7
Terry - 6
Ramires - 8
Lampard - 7
Mikel - 6
Mata - 8
Drogba - 8
Kalou - 6

Subs:

Meireles - 6
Malouda - 6

Liverpool 4-1 Chelsea

In stark contrast, this was a great performance and Carroll built on his impressive cup final cameo and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. Chelsea were beyond atrocious to be fair, but a good result nonetheless.

Ratings:

Reina - 6
Little to do but did it fine
Johnson - 7
Good going forward and wasn't needed to defend too much thankfully
Agger - 8
Good goal and great performance
Carragher - 7
God bless him, a good display
Skrtel - 8
Superb as he has been this season
Maxi - 7
For him, quite effective
Henderson - 6
He scored, but he's still shite
Shelvey - 7
Well taken goal
Downing - 6
What a pile of crap and who thought he should take a penalty?!
Suarez - 8
Lively
Carroll - 8
Again, excellent. Who'd have thought it?

Subs:

Kuyt - 7
Hope to god he doesn't leave
Sterling - 7
A lively prospect and a lively performance

Hodgson really?

Oh the FA. You've got to love them...before I talk about the choice of Hodgson himself, let's talk first about the shambles that is the FA's selection process. They decided to 'leave it til near the end of the season' to 'avoid disrupting any club's season'...well clearly that worked with Spurs didn't it? Their form hasn't suffered at all from everyone assuming Harry Redknapp would get offered the job. That's good. Is it financially motivated appointing a manager who is out of contract? Almost certainly I would imagine, but the sheer stupidity of all of this is not appointing the manager til so close to the Euros thus giving him precious little time to figure anything out at all. Nice work FA.

In regard to the selection, much was made of Harry Redknapp. I have said in a previous entry that Harry probably would have been my choice although this would not have guaranteed any English success, for reasons outlined in that same blog entry. Given they were so determined to appoint the boss so late, I think Redknapp would have been the more sensible choice given that he has that way of transforming a team so quickly (Portsmouth, Spurs and even Southampton to start with) and is a motivator supreme. That said, Hodgson worked instant wonders at Fulham and WBA so I suppose that argument kind of cancels itself out, but Hodgson certainly did not have the same effect at the two genuinely massive clubs he's managed (Liverpool and Inter).

I hope this does not come across as a view biased entirely by his miserable reign as Liverpool manager, but I think the choice is most definitely the wrong one. Hodgson is undoubtedly a very good English manager if what you want is an average or struggling team transformed into a well organised, battling side who will stay in the Premiership and make their way up to mid-table. His performances at Fulham and West Brom were undeniably successful and for that he deserves credit. But Roy Hodgson, almost by his own admission, is a one-dimensional manager. In his own words at Liverpool, he said he played his way and that was it and his way, I'm afraid, is dull in the extreme. Route one, tedious, maybe well organised but totally unsuited to any team other than a mid-table one. He was hopelessly out of his depth at Anfield and the media pressure did not agree with him...so good job he's in the England job then...

Liverpool 0-1 Fulham

Oh for christ's sake! This was a seriously desperate performance and Fulham deserved their win. What a weird season!

Unbelievable Suarez

Well a disappointing one first:

Liverpool 0-1 West Brom
A bitterly disappointing defeat and I'm frankly bored of typing the same things on this blog. So much wastefulness and so many missed chances and so many hitting the sodding woodwork. I didn't watch this (fortunately) so am unable to give more detailed ratings but suffice to say this was not good...and more proof that Glen Johnson can't defend.

Norwich 0-3 Liverpool
I did watch this. Much was made of this victory but in truth Norwich were poor and the difference was a bit Steven Gerrard but mostly of course Luis Suarez who delivered three astounding finishes, the latter a serious contender for goal of the season. Suarez's audacious play makes him borderline unstoppable when on form and while his finishing can occasionally be wayward and unneccesarily elaborate (an example was a pointless attempt at a chip in this very game) he can be lethal. Otherwise this was a reasonably unremarkable game but a good result.

Ratings:

Reina - 7
Little to do but solid as always.
Johnson - 6
As ever, good going forward and lousy in defence.
Enrique - 6
His alarming end of season slump didn't really abate in this game.
Carragher - 7
Very solid display.
Agger - 7
Good going forward and at the back.
Henderson - 5
He played?
Downing - 5
Not his best at all...which is not good.
Shelvey - 6
I remain unconvinced that this guy is anything special at all.
Gerrard - 8
Provided the creativity apart from Suarez.
Bellamy - 7
Full of running.
Suarez - 9
Almost a 10, an outstanding display.

Subs:

Kuyt - 6
Little time to make an impact.
Coates - 6
No time.

Scholes: I stand corrected

I posted some time ago that the return of Paul Scholes was a little desperate and unlikely to be a success given he had faded some time before his retirement. Well I have been proved monumentally wrong! Scholes has been arguably the player of the season since his return and has been one of the main reasons for Man United pulling away from City in the title race (that and all the overpaid planks spitting their dummies out of course).

His ability to pick out a pass is of course beyond the comprehension of most and he seems to have been utilised very well in a slightly deeper role where he can dictate the whole shape of the game in the manner that Alonso did for Liverpool (before we annoyed him to the point where he wanted to leave so we could not sign Gareth Barry). He also seems to have refound his shooting boots after a dwindling goal record before his retirement. Maybe the guy was just in need of a rest I don't know, but even as an ardent Liverpool fan I have to admit I have enjoyed seeing him back in the league because he is quite simply, an outstanding footballer.

Technology etc

Ah technology, the never ending debate that goes through football...of course it doesn't have to anymore but that would involve FIFA updating anything...the ludicrous Chelsea 'goal' against Tottenham in the FA cup semi-final was just the latest example of the breathtaking stupidity of still fighting against using technology. On this particular goal by the way, I do have to comment on the poor refereeing by an official who has not exactly covered himself in glory this season. Often I defend refs in this situation because the job that they do is next to impossible and I don't blame them for getting decisions wrong, but on this occasion there was no need to award the goal. It was clearly guess work as no-one could possibly see it well enough and the Chelsea players didn't even appeal and let's face it if John Terry doesn't surround the ref you know something's fishy. In addition, there were people lying on the goaline and it hit them!

Anyway, that's kind of beside the point. The main crux of the technology argument for me is it doesn't even have to be that technical. The fourth official currently does little besides tick off managers for not being statues and holds up a board telling us how much stoppage time is to be added which whilst useful and important could quite easily be indicated by someone else. My argument is that the fourth official would be far more useful if he was sat in a box, watching the game on the TV with the ability to speak to the referee (they already have these devices).

Perhaps to explain my argument, it's actually best to argue against the usual defences of maintaining the status quo. 'It would slow the game down'. I'm sorry, it won't. Let's face it all that happens at the moment is the players surround the ref for a while and complain and by the time we've finished watching three replays they're still complaining. You can watch a replay that gives you the answer in about ten seconds flat so I believe that is a daft argument.

'It wouldn't be the same for people just playing in the park'. Erm...so what?! With respect to them, the top league followed by millions and the international tournaments are kind of a little more important sorry...'It would take out all the debate' is another one. Oh well wouldn't that be a shame if we all talked about football players and teams instead of bad refereeing decisions yes that would be such a bugger...

The only postscript to this I guess is that there does need to be a definite decision on which decisions could be affected by this. Well the amount of ludicrous red cards we've had, the number of daft penalties given when Ashley Young practices his vaulting, the number of phantom goals....tell you what how about the refs use common sense and any big decision he gets a little bit of help from someone watching a TV. One of the most farcical things I've ever seen was in the last World Cup when Harry Kewell was sent off for Australia in a daft decision and then watched the replay on the big screen with the ref, pointed out how wrong the decision was...but the ref still had to send him off. I rest my case.

Andy Ruddy Carroll...

Well...what can I say. The player in the title is not my favourite as any readers will well know but two winning goals...he's still shite but at least he's done something now. I was pleased to see the back of Commolli, I couldn't help but be dubious that Kenny really wanted those over-priced, frankly not very good players and I share many English fans' concerns about the director of football role however it's termed.

Anyway 1-1 against Villa was disappointing, another typical display with domination, poor defending and missed chances. Still we got a point, but really should have won against a dismal Villa side.

Blackburn 2-3 Liverpool, regrettably I had to miss most of this thanks to work but managed to catch the end and Carroll's dramatic winner! A remarkable game by all accounts though and a gritty, hard earned win even if it was against a poor side. I've never been a Maxi fan but to give him his due he has scored his share of goals in recent times despite rarely appearing. Henderson had probably his best game so far although the competition is not fierce. And of course Carroll...

Liverpool 2-1 Everton
Well would you believe it he did it again! The miss of the century followed by a well taken goal although eclipsed by Suarez's sublime finish. Disastrous defending for the first goal of course, dear dear dear. It was a funny game and we weren't great in the first half but I thought we did very well in the second and deserved the win although Everton missed some good chances.

Oh dear

Well things aren't exactly going all that well lately. A dominant performance against QPR and a 2-0 lead somehow turned into a ten minute capitulation resulting in a dismal 3-2 defeat. There followed an utterly wretched home performance against Wigan and a 2-1 defeat and then an arguably equally bad display at Newcastle losing 2-0. Thankfully I wasn't able to watch any of these three games but clearly things are seriously wrong. That said, I stand by this: Kenny should not go. Every team has a poor run, and don't get me wrong this has been shocking in the exteme but sacking the boss is not always the solution. The fact is we overspent vastly on squad players: Henderson, Downing , Carroll and Adam have not worked basically because they're not good enough. In fairness to Downing, I can't fault his work ethic but the other three are just dire although Adam did better earlier in the season. I was watching Milan last night and when Aquilani came on I thought why on earth did we buy Adam when he is still our player?! Hey it's not good, but I do like the way we play under Dalglish and as I've said before there's no doubting we have dominated a lot of games this season and not got the results we should have done because of a lack of goals. We badly need a competent, preferably pacey striker in the Bellamy mould but younger and able to play week in week out. We also need creativity on the wings then we can look at a leap up the table. I never thought that the aforementioned disappointing players were going to win us the title or be the solution to our problems but I would love to know whether Kenny or Commolli were the real driving force behind those transfers. Let's not sack the boss, but let's get the right players.

Reports: Sunderland, Everton and Stoke

Sunderland 1-0 Liverpool

Thank the lord I wasn't able to watch a game. A shocking performance and result though from all that I heard and read about it and saw from the highlights. It was deeply worrying how little was created and how little pressure was exerted on a determined and well organised but hardly particularly good side. This continued a run of disappointing performances and results.

Liverpool 3-0 Everton

Thank God for Stevie G! Liverpool's inspiration was once again the man for the occasion. He might not be quite the force he once was but he still has it in him as was shown in this truly awesome performance. All round, the team performance was very good as well and a welcome return to form and good to see a few goals go in at home for once this season. Liverpool dominated and the team had a rhythm and continuity that belied their recent poor form. Suarez was also superb it has to be said.

Ratings:

Reina - 7
Solid as always
Kelly - 8
Excellent both offensively and defensively
Enrique - 7
Another good performance
Carragher - 8
Hang on he's not quite done yet, marshalled the defence well
Skrtel - 7
Solid
Henderson - 5
He's not played well lately, could be because HE'S NOT A WINGER and WHY THE HELL ISN'T KUYT PLAYING EVERY GAME?!
Downing - 6
Worked hard
Spearing - 8
Very tidy and grafting performance
Gerrard - 9
What can one say?
Carroll - 6
Seriously what can one say?
Suarez - 8
Always a threat

Subs:
Kuyt - 7
Should be playing every game

Liverpool 2-1 Stoke

A hard working performance and a hard earned win here. It lacked the finesse and fluidity of the performance against Everton, Liverpool seemed to struggle to get into the flow of things but to be fair they are far from the only side to find this against Stoke. Finally, Stewart Downing produced a defining moment in his Liverpool career. I remain, I'm afraid, utterly unconvinced he'll ever properly 'come good' as a signing but hey he took the goal well. Maxi delivered another reminder of his lack of effectiveness and the fact he's probably the only utterly ineffective Argentinian international midfielder there is. So glad we've got him...

Ratings:

Reina - 7
Coped pretty well with the heavyweights of Stoke except on the goal where he was being obstructed
Kelly - 7
Very good job well done
Enrique - 7
Did the sensible thing well as ever
Carragher - 6
Struggled at times but generally pretty solid
Skrtel - 7
Good to have a bruiser against Stoke!
Maxi - 5
He played?
Downing - 6
Good goal but otherwise toiled to little effect
Spearing - 7
Solid and hard working
Gerrard - 6
Didn't have one of his best days
Saurez - 7
Our best player, lively but maybe a bit greedy at times
Carroll - 5
Didn't do much..surprising...

Subs:

Kuyt - 7
As ever injected energy
Coates - 6
Not really on long enough to make a difference
Henderson - 6
Likewise, although I'm sure he wouldn't

A couple of myths that need clearing up

There are two things in football that seriously blight the game at the moment. While I am glad that the horrific chopping, scything tackles from yesteryear are quite rightly ruled out of the game I think most would surely argue that it's gone too far. The myth that I refer to here is the idea that every high or two footed tackle is a dangerous, red card tackle. Some of the dismissals I've seen this season I regard as scandalous. If a player is obviously going for the ball, and gets it, where is the problem?! Even if he narrowly misses it...I mean you get the idea. I just think we're in danger of turning the game into a non-contact sport and eliminating what is an immense skill: the art of the sliding, crunching, but fair tackle.

The other thing is diving. Now of course everyone is getting immensely irritated with diving and simulation but the myth that needs clearing up for me is the idea that 'oh it's ok if he goes down if there was contact'. Do you know what - it isn't. Watching Tiote go over in the Tyne-Wear derby after being lightly touched by the arm of Sessegnon was embarrassing. Was it a deserved red for the Sunderland man? Yes absolutely. But my argument is why wasn't Tiote booked for such blatant over acting? Liverpool's own Suarez is also very guilty of this, as was shown in his reaction to the penalty incident at Anfield on Saturday. He should have been booked as well for such blatant overacting. Only then will this nuisance be mildly decreased.

Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal

Oh for f**k's sake! Another excellent home performance that was for the most part dominant and we need the opposition to score for us and just our luck we have to come up against the most in form striker in the division who punishes us with two sucker punches. It really was the story of our season, too many missed chances. We badly need good wingers and more importantly a goalscoring striker!

Little more to say...
Ratings:

Reina - 6
Little to do but maybe could have stopped one of Van Persie's goals
Kelly - 7
As usual a solid display
Enrique - 7
As with Kelly, good both forward and back
Carragher - 6
Good but lost Van Persie for the first goal
Skrtel - 7
Rock solid as ever
Henderson - 4
He's not a winger seriously
Downing - 6
Improved generally of late but this wasn't his best
Spearing - 7
Busy display
Adam - 6
Little in the way of creative breakthrough
Kuyt - 7
As ever tireless
Suarez - 7
Dangerous

Subs:

Bellamy - 6
Brought on curiously late with little time to make an impact
Carroll - 5
No time to make an impact

Liverpool 2-2 Cardiff (3-2 pens)

Well that was a bit tense! Firstly, hats off to Cardiff for a magnificent performance. I thought they were outstanding and I felt incredibly sorry for them at the end of it all. I have to add as well I heard on 5live much criticism of Liverpool's performance which I personally felt wasn't wholly merited because I feel Cardiff played so well and deserve the credit for stifling Liverpool. I didn't feel Liverpool were bad but yet again they failed to provide an end product to too many moves. I felt a lot of this was caused by the team selection - Henderson was truly dire but in his defence he just is not a winger and shouldn't play there and certainly not over Kuyt. Downing had a busy game and made more of an impact than normal but was mystifyingly moved to the right in the second half which meant his crosses were not as good as he was on the wrong side. And of course the odd omission of Bellamy from the starting lineup was not popular while I also feel Gerrard and Adam is not a good combination because it leads to Gerrard playing deeper and I'd rather he was further forward because let's face it it's Gerrard! And on that subject, I think he is beginning to lose that ability to run box to box understandbly. Given the outstanding uselessness of Carroll I wonder whether he could be played in a more advanced role. I've never understood the nonsense of 'Gerrard should be played in central midfield not as a second striker' given it conveniently forgets that in that role just behind the striker Gerrard scored 25 goals a season...

Ratings:

Reina - 7
Commanding as ever.
Johnson - 8
Excellent going forward.
Enrique - 7
Solid and busy.
Agger - 6
One or two dodgy moments but generally ok.
Skrtel - 8
One of the best players this season and another good performance.
Henderson - 4
Truly dire.
Downing - 8
Worked hard and was unlucky to be put on the wrong side in the second half...this was his best performance in a Liverpool shirt.
Adam - 6
Worked hard but created relatively little. A truly dire penalty!
Gerrard - 8
At the centre of most good things as ever.
Suarez - 7
Lively.
Carroll - 5
Poor.

Subs:

Bellamy - 7
As expected livened things up.
Carragher - 7
Solid.
Kuyt - 8
Should have started.

Liverpool 6-1 Brighton

Well that was an own-goal-tastic game! Poor old Brighton, it was difficult not to feel sorry for the two lads who scored the own goals, one of whom was excruciatingly unlucky and the other scored a truly spectacular howler of one near the end. The quality of opposition must be taken into account but there were promising signs in this game although again it took a long time to break them down before the floodgates opened. On a positive note, Carroll at least did what he was supposed to do even if I remain utterly convinced he is the right man for us. It was also encouraging that we scored from flowing moves a few times later on rather than just set piece headers.

Ratings:

Reina - 6
Little to do but well done.
Johnson - 7
Did well going forward.
Enrique - 7
A good overlap as ever.
Carragher - 7
Solid enough display from the club legend.
Skrtel - 8
Solid as a rock and got a goal as well.
Henderson - 6
Virtually anonymous.
Gerrard - 8
Immense.
Downing - 8
His best display yet.
Adam - 7
Did ok.
Carroll - 8
Well played for once!
Suarez - 8
Lively.

Subs:

Shelvey - 6
Didn't do much.
Kuyt - 8
Awesome.
Maxi -5
Who?

The Suarez Evra debacle

Oh dear god aren't footballers bloody idiots! These pair of planks showed less maturity than a cabinet meeting. Should he have shaken his hand? Yes of course he should. Should Evra have run around creating more trouble at the end? No of course he shouldn't. As I said in my previous blog about this, I don't think Suarez is 'a racist' although that is only an inference because at the end of the day no-one but the two of them know what was said that fateful day a couple of months back. The only thing I'd say in defence of Suarez is if he genuinely believes someone has accused him of being a racist when he isn't, I can understand not wanting to shake that person's hand. I also think it must be added that the only people to find him guilty are an FA panel of non-legal judges. I'm not saying they were wrong, just that their word is hardly gospel, it is the FA after all.

But basically...footballers should grow up.

Man United 2-1 Liverpool

Oh there was a game? It wasn't just about handshakes? I see...I'll blog on that seperately after this one. For this one I'll just stick to the match report. It was awful. What a ruddy awful game that was. United deserved the victory but weren't great, Liverpool were shat.

Ratings:

Reina - 7
Not much he could do about either goal.
Johnson - 4
Shambolic at the back...again.
Enrique - 6
Not bad.
Agger - 5
Not his best game.
Skrtel - 6
The most solid of the defence.
Gerrard - 6
Grafted but very quiet.
Henderson - 5
He ain't worth £17million yet that's for sure.
Spearing - 4
A very poor game for him, shame as I think he's a good player.
Kuyt - 7
Liverpool's best player as much for his graft as anything.
Downing - 4
He played?
Suarez- 6
Tried but hardly his best game.

Subs:
Bellamy - 7
As ever injected some energy.
Carroll - 5
As ever, he didn't.
Adam - 6
Not much time to make an impact.

Man Utd:

De Gea - 6
Rafael - 6
Ferdinand - 7
Evans - 7
Evra - 7
Valencia - 7
Giggs - 6
Scholes - 7
Carrick - 6
Wellbeck - 5
Rooney - 8

Liverpool 0-0 Tottenham zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well wasn't that dull? Good god. Anyway another home draw, with no goals, it really is something of a worrying feature of this season. It's different from when we used to draw so much under Benitez. Then it was a case of all the possession with few chances but now it seems to be plenty of chances but poor finishing. Last night was just a poor game, and to be fair we were up against a top side, but Carroll and Suarez missed golden chances. Still there it is.

Ratings:

Reina - 6
Very little to do, but a good save from Bale late on.
Kelly - 7
Another solid and enterprising display.
Johnson - 5
Poor defensively...again...
Agger - 6
One or two clumsy challenges but mostly untroubled.
Skrtel - 7
A good solid defensive display.
Gerrard - 6
As always involved but not his most productive game.
Spearing - 5
I love this little guy but he had a very poor game with quite a lot of misplaced passes.
Adam - 6
Battled hard but created little.
Kuyt - 7
The best performer, tireless workrate as ever.
Bellamy - 5
An off night.
Carroll - 6
Worked hard to be fair, and at least did what he is supposed to do, be big and hefty and win headers.

Subs:

Suarez - 5
Looked rusty but hope he returns to his best soon.
Downing - 5
Just not very good.

Tottenham:

Friedel - 7
So glad we thought David James was better all those years ago...
Walker - 6
Solid enough.
Assou Ekotto - 6
Some serious hair...not much else to report.
King - 6
Solid enough.
Dawson - 7
Battled hard.
Kranjcar - 6
Doesn't work that hard, good player though.
Bale - 5
A real off night for the danger man.
Modric - 6
Didn't create much but always a threat.
Parker - 8
Best player on the pitch, an awesome display.
Livermore - 7
Promising young talent.
Adebayor - 5
Not much involvement, isolated.

Subs:

Saha - 5
Oh he came on?!
Rose - 5
No time to make an impact.

Match reports

Liverpool 0-0  Stoke
So since my last entry...things started phenomenally badly with a thoroughly depressing 0-0 draw at home to Stoke, typical of many of the problems this season. I say that, what was considerably untypical was Dalglish's quite bizarre team selection. Why you would play 5 defenders and 1 striker at home to Stoke really is a mystery quite frankly and dear old Kuyt, for me a vital first team player, is not and never has been at Liverpool a successful lone striker. The game rather reinforced my view that that creative player with an ability to unlock a defence who 'parks the bus' is missing. Yossi Benayoun did a great job on this in his time at the club and we need the likes of him again even if he unfortunately is not exactly excelling at Arsenal after an injury hit time at Chelsea.

Bolton 3-1 Liverpool
Next up was an even more depressing display, an abysmal 3-1 defeat at Bolton. This really was a truly awful performance from which only the remarkable Craig Bellamy emerged with credit. For what it's worth:

Reina - 6
Hardly his fault
Johnson - 5
Still can't defend
Enrique - 5
His worst performance of the season
Agger - 5
Poor
Skrtel - 6
The best of a poor defensive display
Gerrard - 6
Worked hard but not his best
Maxi - 5
What does this guy actually do?
Henderson - 5
Not good
Adam - 5
Really not good
Carroll - 6
Certainly not his worst display to give him his due
Bellamy - 7
The best of a bad bunch

Subs:
Kuyt - 6
As always workrate guaranteed
Downing - 5
As always no creativity whatsoever

Liverpool 2-2 Man City (Carling Cup)
This was a really creditable performance with superb workrate and excellent football against a far superior side in terms of quality players. Hats off must go to the bargain of the season Mr Craig Bellamy as he was colossal, a truly awesome performance. Liverpool did admittedly benefit from the quite amazingly awful Stefan Savic in City's defence who is turning out to be one of the transfer disasters of the season. All in all this was an excellent performance with an outstanding performance from Hart in the City goal preventing Liverpool from winning convincingly although I must add I thought the penalty was harsh on City.

Reina - 6
Not much he could do about either goal
Johnson - 6
A good attacking threat
Enrique - 8
An excellent return to form
Agger - 7
Solid
Skrtel - 7
Solid as well
Gerrard - 8
What can you say? I like having him back
Henderson - 6
Worked hard
Adam - 7
Some good creative moments
Downing - 6
Not much in the way of creativity but worked hard
Kuyt - 7
He goes back in every time for me
Bellamy - 9
Outstanding

Subs:
Kelly - 7
A very late entrance but helped out defensively
Carroll - 5
A very late entrance but didn't

Man City:

Hart - 8
Richards - 6
Zabaleta - 6
Lescott - 5
Kolarov - 5
Savic - 3
Barry - 6
Nasri - 6
Silva - 7
De Jong - 7
Dzeko - 6

Subs:
Aguero - 6
Johnson - 5

Liverpool 2-1 Man United
An excellent, hard working display. United had much of the possession in what was for the most part not a great game but I felt that Liverpool had more chances and just about deserved the win. There was something terribly satisfying about beating United with a late winner after their previous triumphs in this way! I was very pleased to see Kelly and not Johnson start the game. I certainly wouldn't have opted with Carroll to start up front on his own, if at all, and remain utterly convinced he's not the right player to take Liverpool forward but credit where credit's due I thought he worked really hard. I wouldn't have started with 5 at the back either but what I like about Kenny is his flexibility and his willingness to change mid-game and bringing on Kuyt for Carragher was the difference in the end.

Reina - 6
Played well with not much to do
Kelly - 7
Good solid display
Enrique - 7
Another good game
Carragher - 7
The old warhorse did very well
Agger - 7
Some good moments going forward as well as in defence
Skrtel - 6
Good
Gerrard - 7
The odd surprisingly misplaced pass but always a presence
Maxi - 5
He doesn't do anything
Henderson - 6
Worked hard
Downing - 6
I remain unconvinced but he worked hard
Carroll - 7
His best display so far

Subs:
Kuyt - 8
Changed the game
Adam - 7
Did well
Bellamy - 6
A quiet cameo but a good crowd pleaser!

Wolves 0-3 Liverpool
A good workmanlike win against a poor side. Again god bless Bellamy although I thought Kuyt and Adam did really well which was encouraging. I love Kuyt and for me he goes back in every time but he hasn't been at his best this season but is really finding his feet again it would seem.

Reina - 7
Made a good save in the first half
Johnson - 6
Did ok
Enrique - 7
Another good performance from an excellent signing
Agger - 7
Not much to do but did it well enough
Skrtel - 7
Same as Agger
Henderson - 7
Played well
Spearing - 7
Good to see him back in the side, a combative display
Adam - 8
A creative force, good to see
Carroll - 7
Well he got his goal. Marvellous.
Kuyt - 8
His usual colossal workrate
Bellamy - 8
As with Kuyt, what a signing!

Subs:
Carragher - 6
Did ok, not much to do
Shelvey - 6
Limited impact in a short time
Aurelio - 5
Too late to make an impact

Man City 0-1 Liverpool

After the sheer awfulness of the performance in the equivalent league game this was undeniably encouraging, especially a first half display that was dominant. It's hard to name negatives when you've beaten the league leaders away, but again it was disappointing not to score more goals in that first half and one raises the eyebrows slightly at such a blatantly defensive second half, although I guess you could say it worked and it certainly did its job. It must also be mentioned that Man City were absolutely dire throughout but you can only do your own job.

Player ratings:

Reina - 6
Virtually nothing to do but dependable as ever
Kelly - 7
The most underrated young player in the Premiership? Another excellent display
Johnson - 7
Unusually defensively sound as well as good going forward although lucky to escape punishment for a two footed tackle
Agger - 7
Coped well with any threats
Skrtel - 6
A very occasional lapse but by and large a good show
Henderson - 6
Solid if unspectacular
Downing - 6
Still lacking a crucial creativity
Gerrard - 8
Immense, god we've missed him!
Spearing - 7
Did well until his injury
Bellamy - 7
Another lively game, what a nightmare to play against
Carroll - 6
Not his worst game this season and to be fair was heavily isolated in the second half

Subs:
Adam - 7
Lively and combative
Jose Enrique - 8
Excellent defensive work
Carragher - 7
I've always quite liked Carra as a defensive midfielder and he really added some solidity when he came on

Man City:

Hart - 7
Richards - 6
Lescott - 5
Savic - 4
Clichy - 6
Milner - 6
Johnson - 5
Barry - 5
De Jong - 6
Aguero - 5
Balotelli - 3

Subs:

Nasri - 5
Dzeko - 5
Kolarov - 5

The return of the best

There's often a hysterical reaction, one way or another, to a club re-signing an old legend. As a Liverpool fan I remember the return of Robbie Fowler was greeted with such unadulterated joy by many fans who believed he would return fully to his former greatness as well as derision by fans of other clubs who gleefully taunted Liverpool for looking to the past and signing a 'has-been'. To be fair, the answer was probably somewhere between the two as Fowler's return was very much a positive thing with flashes of his old magic but he never looked like being the 'old' Fowler.

I mention this because two surprising returns have happened this week, the most staggering of which is the coming out of retirement of Paul Scholes before Man United's game against City on Sunday. Scholes was unquestionably a superb player in his time, but I think most would acknowledge that that time had gone a reasonable time before his 'retirement' at the end of last season so to bring him back aged 37 for a few months, when he's been out of the game for eight months seems a little baffling. Of course he can't be judged on one game, but he looked very rusty indeed against City and I can't see the move being much of a success.

As for the other significant return, he of course made quite a considerable impact in his first outing back. Thierry Henry, his handball against Ireland aside, is in my opinion one of the most difficult players to dislike I've ever come across. Of course he is ridiculously cool in the Will Smith kind of way, he is a player with a big heart and I defy anyone (apart from Leeds fans) not to feel a certain happiness to see him score in an Arsenal shirt again. But of course first and foremost, he is quite possibly the greatest player ever to grace the Premiership. In the opinion of this writer, he is undoubtedly the best. He brought the term 'fantasy football' to mind in his first spell at Arsenal; Kanu was around at a similar time who I always found fabulously entertaining for trying outrageous, cheeky trickery even if it was not exactly successful every time. The outrageous thing with Henry was this stuff actually worked! He was quite simply on another planet and he had absolutely everything as a player, a sheer phenomenon and he scored goals that no other player could come close to. To see him back is great, time will tell what kind of impact he'll really have in this brief return, but nothing can ever take away his status as one of the all time greats.

The Luiz Suarez Affair

Ok then I guess I'd better comment on 'that' situation. I have to say I find myself questioning my club and manager's (legend though he is) conduct. I think it was naive in the extreme to blindly defend Suarez on such a serious allegation whilst openly admitting that he didn't know the details of the incident and I think a 'no comment' approach, which Kenny is normally very good at, perhaps would have been wiser. I also wonder whether it was wise for all the players to wear the Suarez t-shirts in support of him - as I say this is a serious allegation and all of them had no idea whether he'd done it or not. I suppose you could argue that they were sticking up for their colleague and saying if he said he didn't do it, he didn't...but I think it was a bit unwise.

As for the incident itself, do I feel he should have been punished? Unfortunately yes. He admitted that he said what he said and in this day and age, quite rightly, you can't. Was it harsh? Maybe but I think any proven racist remark has got to be treated very seriously. I do think though that a seperate question needs to be asked which is 'is Suarez a racist?' I really don't think he is and I do think that social context has got to be taken into consideration. Suarez comes from a background where it is commonplace to address someone in that way and I do think he deserves credit for owning up to what he said and being helpful during his hearing. I'm not saying this means he doesn't deserve his punishment, but I do think it's different from John Terry for example. If the latter is proved to have said what he allegedly said, the same allowances cannot be made.

The most underrated manager in the league?

You'd have thought that a record of two successive promotions with a club in serious trouble, taking a mid-table second tier side to mid-table Premiership finishes and two trophies, reaching a European final with a Scottish club and winning titles and taking a club from near relegation to successive 6th place finishes would ensure you quite a reputation as a manager. Yet somehow Martin O'Neill seems under appreciated.

Still, his loss is Sunderland's gain - they are already reaping the rewards of the O'Neill effect which has been felt at every club he's ever managed. As a Liverpool fan I wanted O'Neill when Houllier left and while Rafa confirmed himself as an outstanding manager, I still wonder what may have happened under his stewardship. What staggers me is how shockingly underappreciated he was by Aston Villa fans - they finished 6th in successive seasons with virtually no money after being nearly relegated several times...and where are they now?...

But as I say his loss is Sunderland's gain. Look out Premiership.

Creative forces needed?

Well since my last blog, Liverpool have had a mixed set of results but for me there's a decidedly worrying theme that runs through nearly all the games - lots of chances, not enough goals. Suarez is now absent for a considerable period (I'll go into all that in the next entry) and of course Gerrard is only just coming back to fitness and without them I worry about who is going to make something special happen. Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll frankly convince me less by the day and given I thought they were lousy signings in the first place that says quite a lot. Maxi has never really convinced me that he's anything other than an ok squad player and for all Dirk Kuyt's stirling merits, he's never going to be the man to provide something out of the ordinary. Charlie Adam has had his moments, but I'm not sure they're enough.

I don't want to sound unduly negative. It's great that we seem to dominate most games we play (tonight against Man City being a quite emphatic exception) and I very much like our playing style under the King, but we've been so dependent on Suarez for magic moments and even he is not the most reliable finisher at all. He'd be great alongside a proper goalscorer...but we don't have one of them.

We have the best defensive record in the league and I guess you can't really complain too much about that. Despite his howler tonight, I believe Reina to be the finest keeper in the division while Agger and Skrtel have flourished this year while Enrique has been an excellent signing. I still have major doubts about Johnson defensively despite his exciting attacking play and would like to see Kelly become the first choice right back. I also remain concerned about our suspect marking at corners but I can't really lay any great claim to why that is..it's just a personal feeling when I watch us.

Anyway let's have an update on the games:

Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool (Carling Cup)

This was an excellent and efficient performance against an admittedly poor Chelsea. Craig Bellamy once again proved why he's arguably the bargain of the summer but it was disappointing to see the loss of Lucas to injury and the continued uselessness of Andy Carroll.

Fulham 1-0 Liverpool (League)

A thoroughly disappointing result and a good example of my above concerns although to be fair they did hit the woodwork a good few times, so this one could perhaps be termed unlucky more than anything. The sending off of Spearing was frankly ludicrous though.

Liverpool 1-0 QPR (League)

Just about got the three points but again a good example of our problem this season. All the possession and a lot of corners etc but struggled to force the keeper into too many saves. Maxi was poor in front of goal as was Kuyt.

Aston Villa 0-2 Liverpool (League)

A confident and efficient performance although again, it was disappointing not to score more and it's worth noting that both goals came from poorly defended set pieces although I'm pleased that we did make something of these situations. Villa were seriously dire.

Wigan 0-0 Liverpool (League)

I managed to watch this one live! I kind of wish I hadn't...Liverpool had control of the game until the missed penalty but they really struggled afterwards and I felt Wigan deserved their point. All in all it was disappointing stuff.

Ratings:

Reina - 6
Not much to do but as ever he did it well
Johnson - 6
Good going forward, unconvincing in defence. Doesn't sound like him...
Enrique - 6
Solid
Agger - 7
Played well and created some good moves
Skrtel - 6
Mostly ok with the odd dodgy moment
Maxi - 5
Ineffective and I was relieved to see him brought off
Henderson - 6
Worked hard but provided little
Downing - 4
Really poor and uncreative
Adam - 5
Not his best display and a poor penalty
Suarez - 7
Moments of menace but not his best
Kuyt - 5
Far from his best form at the moment

Subs:
Bellamy - 6
Injected some energy but created little
Shelvey - 5
Did he play?
Carroll - 5
Not much time to make an impact...he didn't.

Liverpool 1-1 Blackburn

Another disappointing home display that should have been won.

Liverpool 3-1 Newcastle

Steven Gerrard reminded us why he is such an important player. A great goal, great energy and creation and good deliveries for Carroll. He reminded us why he's not very good...

Man City 3-0 Liverpool

We were shocking.