Liverpool-Kop

Liverpool v Standard Liege: Team Ratings

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:20:00 +0000

After another two hours of torturous footballing tedium interspersed with (inevitable) periods of headless chickenry and a disturbing lack of creativity, here are my ratings for Liverpool FC's alleged 'team'.

Reina – 9

Man of the Match. If not for Reina’s superb saves, Liverpool would be in the UEFA cup right now. A towering performer across both legs and the only player who deserves any real credit.

Arbeloa – 4

Just what *exactly* does he bring to the team? Someone please explain to me what he does on the pitch apart from take up space? For me, Arbeloa is the footballing equivalent of the main character from the Coen Brothers movie ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’ - You know he exists but you can never remember anything of note about him. He always looks miserable and his style of play reflects his overall demeanor: bland and unexciting. Yet again.

Skrtl – 8

Move over Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher – Martin Skrtl is now officially the main man at the heart of Liverpool’s defence. He’s tough, uncompromising, effective and - most importantly - he doesn’t hoof the ball every time he gets it. Skrtl is comfortable on the ball and his distribution during the game was generally very encouraging.

Another thing I like about Skrtl is he appears to have a strong character. He doesn’t seem to fear competition for his place and just gets on with things in an uncomplicated, unfussy manner. Top man and a top performance. Now I just have to decide if he looks like Willem Dafoe or a puny Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Carra – 7

Marshaled the defence quite well but got caught a couple of times. Carra is nowhere near as commanding in the air as Sami Hyypia and if I had to choose a weakness in his game that would be it.

Aurelio – 5

Got forward occasionally but had no end product. Poor crossing for the most part and wasted possession too frequently with hit-and-hopes into the box. Another unexpeceptional player who will do a job at left back but won't really contribute much in an attacking sense. The astonishing thing for me was that Aurelio - otherwise known as 'Mr Glass - got through the game without being injured.

Kuyt – 4

Deserves credit for scoring another crucial goal in the Champions League but that doesn’t change the fact that for 119 minutes he produced a master class in footballing ineptitude, with his consistently poor first touch, poor passing accuracy, poor positioning and lack of any discernable goal threat.

I don’t completely blame him though – I mostly blame Rafa. After all, it is this alleged tactical genius’ decision to repeatedly pick Kuyt and play him out of position on the right.

Benayoun – 5

A poor performance but again I blame Rafa. It is not Benayoun's fault he can't play effectively on the left wing. He is not left-footed and HE IS NOT A LEFT WINGER!! I repeat: HE IS NOT A LEFT WINGER. It’s just another example of Rafa’s maddening propensity for playing square pegs in round holes.

Benayoun definitely does not deserve the abuse he is receiving on Liverpool fan-sites across the net. Ever since he arrived at Anfield he has been played in every position *but* his natural playmaker position. And like Kuyt, he is yet another player on the road to being ruined by Rafa.

If Benayoun was given a run as a Peter Beardsley-type link man just behind Torres or a centrally-based playmaker, I have no doubt he would be one of Liverpool’s most effective players.

This will never happen though under Rafa, which begs the question *why* was he bought in the first place?

Gerrard – 5

Pretty anonymous and typically miserable throughout the entire game. His performance was characterized by misplaced passes, cack-handed corners, wasted free kicks and a stunning lack of discernable leadership on the field.

The excuse this week is that he is ‘tired’ and is suffering from some kind of groin problem. Groin problem? Could that be the LACK OF BALLS on display throughout both legs of this tie? Gerrard’s curmudgeonly demeanor is really becoming tiresome. Inspirational leader? Pffft.

Alonso – 5

Another player almost ruined by Rafa over the last three years. I am not surprised Xabi is struggling for form - he has been messed about so much by Rafa his confidence is clearly shot. Indeed, it is doubtful if he will ever fulfill his potential at Liverpool.

He needs to leave and play for a Manager who doesn’t try and force him to become a defensive midfielder and allows him to do what he does best: dictate the pace of the game in a creative manner.

Torres - 6

Did his best but was fighting a losing battle as a result of the inability of *anyone* in the team to create *one* decent chance for him in over 200 minutes of (anti) football. El Nino’s effort cannot be faulted though and given his superb goal return, he is allowed an off day every now and then.

Keane – 4

How did he miss *that* chance?! The opportunity was signed, sealed and delivered but he somehow conspired to 'do a Kuyt' and completely misjudge it.

Another poor game from Keane but I expected it. I said it at the time and I’ll say it again: 20m for Keane is 20m wasted. I sincerely doubt he will get more than 10 goals this season and at some stage the inevitable will happen and he will be shunted out to the right just like Dirk Kuyt.

Subs

El Zhar – 7

Finally, someone who actually tries to take players on! Liverpool fans have been starved of players with the dribbling ability for so long that it’s almost a novelty to see it happen during a game. If he’s given a run in the team (which he won’t be) I’m sure he could improve and become an asset to the team.

Babel – 4

Good cross for the goal but apart from that he was typically ineffective. I don’t rate Babel at all and for me the 11m spent on him was a complete waste of money. He is Emile Heskey with slightly more skill but the same self-confidence problem.

Like Kuyt, Alonso and Benayoun, Babel is another player on the road to being ruined by Rafa. He is not a winger and should be played as a Striker as that is his natural position.

Team performance: 2/10

An embarrassing, creatively void display of anti-football.

Rafa: 2/10

I can’t be bothered to go into detail as I’ll just be repeating myself. Slightly off-topic, but one thing that continues to bug me is Rafa’s ‘my face will crack if I smile’ perpetual gloom. Has he *ever* smiled or shown a hint of happiness when Liverpool have scored a goal?! Not that I can remember.

And don’t give me the excuse that he’s just remaining calm and retaining his professionalism. In my view, his clinical coldness has a detrimental effect on the team.

Look at Alex Ferguson when Man U score – he jumps up and down with joy. That’s a good thing for players and fans to see. Wenger shows emotion. Gerard Houllier showed emotion, as did Roy Evans, Kenny Dalglish and every Liverpool FC Manager I can remember.

Why must Rafa be so stone-faced *all the time*? We have a cheerless killjoy on the sidelines and a miserable curmudgeon allegedly ‘inspiring’ things on the pitch.

Like Manager, like Captain. No wonder Liverpool FC is a joyless shell of a club at the moment.

Rafa suffering from Houllieresque delusions of blandeur?

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:40:00 +0000

Rafa's latest glowing review of Dirk Kuyt proves that his blind faith in the staggeringly ineffective 'attacker' shows no sign of abating, which is bad news for Liverpool fans everywhere.

Gerard Houllier had illogical blind faith in some of his most ineffective players, most notably Emile Heskey. *shudder*

Like Kuyt, Heskey's goal-threat seriously diminished over time to the extent that he became a liability to the attacking momentum and forward progress of the team.

Much to the chagrin of many fans, Houllier would defend Heskey at every opportunity and sing his praises in the press even when he was playing badly.

With his latest eulogy about Kuyt, Rafa seems to be suffering from the same blinkered favouritism as Houllier:

"He [Kuyt] is a very, very good player for any team or squad. He's a fantastic professional who can score goals, and his work rate is amazing”.

Aaaagh! If I have to hear the 'work rate' cliché one more time! So he runs 10 miles a game and has amazing stamina. BIG DEAL. Where is the end product? Kuyt is supposed to be an attacking player but what exactly does he bring to the team in an attacking capacity?

And I have to take issue with the 'can score goals' part. Kuyt can score goals?! That's news to me. His last premiership goal was on November 24th 2007.

27 games later and he's still drawing a blank, so when exactly are we going to see these fabled goals of which Rafa speaks so highly?

To be fair, Kuyt no longer plays as a striker but his creative return as a wide player is similarly negligible – 6 assists in the last 52 games.

According to Rafa, Kuyt is a player that “any manager would want in his squad”. Really? I guess that explains why every top manager in the world is busting a gut to try and sign this creative goalscoring wonder-player.

At least Rafa is honest about one thing when he says Kuyt is “always the same in every game”. Absolutely right – he is always the same bland, unexciting workaholic who carries no goal threat and brings nothing to Liverpool's attacking game.

I can understand Rafa trying to boost Kuyt's confidence ahead of the Standard Liege game but when is he going to wake up and realise that regularly playing Kuyt is detrimental to the progress of the team?!

I know it's not Kuyt's fault for being picked every week - and I apologise if it seems like I'm being too harsh on him - but there is no room for sentiment when it comes to football.

The plain fact is this: Kuyt is just not good enough. End of story. Rafa should accept this and get rid of him before he becomes a laughing stock for persisting with such a blatantly ineffective player.

The only reason that I can see for Rafa's allegiance to the creatively barren Kuyt is favouritism. As a comparison, look at Rafa's treatment of Peter Crouch. Compared with Kuyt, his creative return was OUTSTANDING, with a ratio of one goal scored/created every two games.

To the detriment of the team, Rafa repeatedly ignored Crouch and played Kuyt in his place when it was patently obvious that Crouch was the better option.

Why?

Favouritism, pure and simple.

Houllier was the same – he would ceaselessly defend his favourites and treat players he didn't like with contempt, even if the players he didn't like were more effective for the team.

With his appalling treatment of the likes of Crouch, John Arne Riise, Steve Finnan and Xabi Alonso, Rafa is going down the same path as Houllier, and the team is suffering – and will continue to suffer – as a result.

Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of football can see that Kuyt is NOT THE ANSWER to Liverpool's right midfield problem!

Alas, it seems depressingly clear that Rafa's enthusiasm for Dirk Kuyt is growing not fading, so we are faced with the galling prospect of having to endure Kuyt's peerless brand of headless chickenry for the foreseeable future.

God help us.

The case for Stewart Downing

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:04:00 +0000

After the drudgery of two awful premiership performances in a row, it is clear that Liverpool need to sign at least one dedicated winger before the transfer deadline. Stewart Downing is once again in the frame but it seems that many fans just don't want him. However, in my view, Downing could be just the player Liverpool need to bring some much needed balance to the team.

What exactly is the problem with signing Stewart Downing?

Whenever I read fans' views about him all I see are empty generalisations about how he's 'not good enough for Liverpool'.

Many complaints seem to stem from the fact that he doesn't play well for England. Well, if that was the criterion for judging a player's quality then Steven Gerrard would be the deemed the worst footballer in England!

Forget England. What matters is Downing's ability to perform in the premiership and whether he has the potential to step up and improve his game.

Downing is undoubtedly proven in the premiership and most importantly he is a *DEDICATED LEFT WINGER*, something Liverpool desperately need.

Downing may not come with an exciting, world renowned reputation but is that necessarily a bad thing?

Take Harry Kewell for example – before the club signed him he had a huge reputation in the game as an exciting, skilful attacking player. Liverpool fans (myself included) were hugely excited at the prospect of signing such a classy player.

And what happened? Kewell failed miserably at Anfield and looked a shadow of his former self.

Perhaps the opposite will happen with Downing; fans are indifferent to say the least and he comes tainted by the failure Steve McClaren's England. However, perhaps he will confound expectations and develop into an important, skilful component of the team.

Yes, I would love to see the likes of Ricardo Quaresma at Anfield but Rafa has wasted so much time pursuing Gareth Barry that there is precious little time left to go out and sign such players.

Who's to say that Quaresma would be a better option that Downing anyway?

I have yet to see any convincing arguments about why Downing is so wrong for Liverpool. For me, he would be a good signing for the following reasons:

1. He is left footed and a dedicated left winger.

2. He would bring real balance balance to the team.

3. He is premiership proven therefore no settling-in period needed.

4. He is skilful, can take players on and is capable of delivering good crosses.

5. He is only 24, which means his best years are ahead of him.

6. He has consistently shone over the last few years in an average Middlesbrough team to the extent that he is now a regular for England.

7. His game can only improve by playing alongside the likes of Torres, Gerrard Mascheranoetc.

8. Premiership stats over the last 4 years: Averaged 28 games a season. Averaged 5 goals and 5 assists a season. Not bad for a someone playing in a poor team not really renowned for creativity. Playing in a better team with better players, these figures will almost certainly improve.

9. Good attitude. Works hard for the team, devoid of arrogance and not someone who will be plastered all over the gossip rags ala Jermaine Pennant.

10. Moving to Liverpool would boost his confidence and make him super-motivated to do well and improve his game.

With the above in mind, Surely Downing has to be a better option than Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun, Ryan Babel and (inevitably) Robbie Keane?!

Downing would bring much needed balance to the team whether Liverpool played 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1. Furthermore, Babel could play on the right and consign Kuyt to cameo appearances from the bench.

442/4411

-------------------- Reina

Carra ----- Skrtl -------- Agger --------- Dossena

Babel --- Gerrard -- Mascherano ---Downing

------------------- Keane -- Torres

4231

-------------------- Reina

Carra ----- Skrtl -------- Agger --------- Dossena

-------------- Masch --- Alonso/Gerrard

-------- Babel --- Gerrard/Keane ----- Downing

--------------------- Torres

If Liverpool invest in a dedicated, creative right sided wide-player and/or another a creative link man in January I can see this team mounting a serious title challenge.

Once again, I have yet to hear any proper explanations as to why Liverpool should not sign Stewart Downing. The only problems I can see are the following:

1. He is played out of position on the right wing. Given Rafa's history of strange selection choices this is certainly a possibility.

2. Rafa forces Downing to defend more than attack, thus neutering his attacking instincts. Again, a definite possibility.

3. The transfer fee. £14m is possibly a couple of million too much. However, I feel that that £14m on Downing is a better investment than £18m on Gareth Barry.

Signing Downing would also fit in with a Liverpool tradition of old that dates back to the Bill Shankly era: signing unfancied players from lower quality teams/leagues and giving them a chance to shine.

Ian Rush was signed from Chester. John Aldridge came from Oxford United. Alan Hansen came from Partick Thistle.

Indeed, some of Liverpool's great wide players of the past came from the lower leagues: Steve Heighway was signed from Skelmersdale United (!). Ray Houghton came from Oxford United. John Barnes came from Watford.

The point is not every player signed has to be a big name – some of Liverpool's most effective players of the past came from nowhere and developed into great team players.

And that is the name of the game: signing players who will enhance the TEAM. In my view, Stewart Downing is definitely a player who will enhance the team and on that basis I hope Liverpool sign him.

It only took 14 years...

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:37:00 +0000

Liverpool have won their opening two premiership games for the first time in a staggering 14 years. Yes, you read that right: 14 years.

The last time the club achieved this seemingly rare feat was back in the 1994-95 season. Roy Evans was at the helm; club legends John Barnes, Jan Molby and Ian Rush were still going strong; Phil Babb and Neil Ruddock were in defence (*shudder*); Kenny Dalglish managed Blackburn to an improbable Premiership triumph and Robbie Fowler scored 31 goals in all competitions.

Oh, and the team eventually finished 4th. Sound familiar?

It really is quite astounding that it's taken 14 years for the club to record such a good start to the season. Not that it really means anything, I mean look at last season – the club was unbeaten in its first 14 premiership games and still couldn't build on that solid foundation.

Liverpool have been fantastically lucky in the first two games – turgid, creatively void performances have been converted into undeserved wins by the club's only two real match-winners.

And as a result, over-optimistic (deluded?) fans are already wheeling out the cliché of clichés : “Winning when not playing well is the form of champions!”

Really? Well Liverpool have been winning games whilst not playing well for years but the premiership trophy is still as far away as ever.

The fact is, Liverpool have struggled against two teams they should be beating with comparative ease.

Any team that is serious about winning the premiership should be brushing aside the likes of Middlesborough at home and Sunderland away. The fact the team made such hard work of these games does not bode well for the tougher games to come.

Winning the first two games is admittedly great and – performances notwithstanding - it's obviously the best the fans could have hoped for. However, the victories merely paper over the cracks of the club's ongoing creativity problem.

The following problems still need to be addressed:

1. Left wing – Ryan Babel is NOT the answer.
2. Right wing – Dirk Kuyt is DEFINITELY NOT the answer.

Liverpool need to build on their good start to the season by signing DEDICATED WIDE PLAYERS before the transfer window closes. That means a left-footer on the left and someone who regularly plays wide on the right.

And if that means signing Stewart Downing and Sean Wright Philips then so be it! At least we'd then have dedicated, premiership proven wide players for once.

Many Liverpool fans seem opposed to the signing of both players – Downing in particular - but they have *surely* got to be better options than Yossi Benayoun, Ryan Babel and the lumbering, creatively bereft Dirk Kuyt?

I just can't face another season with Dirk Kuyt as the club's first choice right midfielder. As such, if Rafa fails to sign any wide players before August 31st then in my view he will be guilty of gross managerial negligence.

Jamie Carragher's defeatism strikes again

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:33:00 +0000

The season is only one week old but Jamie Carragher is already showing signs of the loser mentality that plagued Anfield last season.

Carra was up and down like a yo-yo last season when it came to his public comments about the club One week he'd be high as a kite proclaiming how Liverpool's players were the greatest in the world. The next week, he'd be wallowing in self-pitying pessimism, moaning (repeatedly) about low confidence.

As one of the club's supposed leaders, I accused Carra of presiding over the death of Liverpool's winning mentality and argued that he (and others) were perpetuating a damaging victim complex. Well, with his latest comments it appears we are in for more of the same this season.

Commenting on some observations by Alan Hansen, Carra noted:

"You can't criticise much of what Liverpool teams of the past did when Hansen was playing. Obviously they were the best team around but it was interesting to read him say that sometimes Liverpool won the league even though they didn't have a particularly great side.

"He went on to say that there is no possible way you could do that today. It struck a chord with me and I thought it was a fair point. I'm not saying bad Liverpool teams ever won the league – of course they didn't. But maybe a few years ago you could afford to carry a few players.

"I don't think that's possible now. Every position has got to be filled by a top player if you want to win things on a consistent basis. Look at the other top sides in the Premier League: even the full-back positions are filled with the best full-backs in the world now.

"Years ago you could probably get away with carrying the odd player here or there. It was good for me to hear that from someone who actually played back then rather than it coming from current players, where it'd probably just sound like an excuse.

"Basically what Hansen was saying was that it's more difficult to win the league now than in his day. The standards have been raised much higher over the past five to 10 years, especially with the Chelsea situation and what's happening there”.

These comments appear quite harmless at first glance, but to me they are a self-fulfilling prophecy illustrating Carra's real state of mind, namely he does not truly believe that Liverpool can win the league this season.

On a subconscious level, Carra is basically getting his excuses in early for another premiership failure. I can imagine at the end of the season if Liverpool finish 4th, he would say: “Well, we tried our best but with the Chelsea situation, it's almost impossible to win the league now”.

Are these the comments you would expect to hear from a real winner? NO. Who cares what happened in the past? Who cares if things have allegedly become tougher? At the end of the day, on the pitch it's eleven v eleven and the first step to success is absolute self-belief.

Liverpool need strong, positive leaders focused on constructive improvement, not fickle pretenders with a collective victim complex who repeatedly make it clear in public that they lack self-belief.

Even if Carra thinks things are tougher than ever, he should keep it to himself; such comments just make Liverpool look weak and clearly illustrate a lack of confidence, something upon which other teams will capitalise.

People will undoubtedly feel I am being too harsh but after last season, I feel I am being more than fair. Liverpool simply cannot afford another season of public pessimism from its high profile players.

Fans and the media are always going on about how Carra and Gerrard are the 'heart of Liverpool FC' and waxing lyrical about their leadership abilities – well, this season it's time for them to prove it.

As Bill Shankly said: “A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are.”

Truer words were never spoken. Liverpool's current crop of players need to present a strong, united front and stop the public pessimism that blighted last season. And this means an immediate end to the following:

1. Moaning about how confidence is low.
2. Moaning about how off-field events affect on-field performances.
3. Moaning about how tough things are and how difficult it is to win the league.
4. Moaning about how tough it is to adapt to the premiership
5. Moaning about fixture congestion and how other teams are better off
6. Moaning about 'struggling' in the league.

With off-field problems continuing apace, it is up to senior players to instill self-belief in the squad. If they can't do that, they are not the leaders Liverpool FC needs.

I never thought I’d say this but hoorah for Hicks and Gillett

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:56:00 +0000

Liverpool FC owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have finally vetoed Rafael Benitez’s inglorious pursuit of Gareth Barry, and for the first time in their tenure I wholeheartedly agree with one of their major decisions.

Everyone in the world – except Rafa- can see that £18m is way too much for Barry, especially since the club’s pressing need for quality wide players supersedes the need for yet another central midfielder. Speaking on behalf of the owners, Rick Parry was emphatic on the subject:

"It is obviously the selling club's prerogative to put whatever price they want on the player, but on this occasion Liverpool think the price quoted is too high."

Liverpool fans seem to be up in arms with this statement but what exactly is the problem? Barry is over-priced - End of story. But as per usual with Rafa it is not just about one position, it is about ‘options’, as he explained after the turgid victory over Lazio:

“(Barry) can play in three different positions and that’s a positive thing but I am talking about one player. And I will try to improve the team and the squad if I can”.

I am so sick of Rafa’s pigheaded obsession with buying players who can play in 20 different positions. Whatever happened to buying specialists who excelled in one position and enhanced the overall team with their positional expertise?

Take wide players for example - Rafa is in his 5th year at Liverpool and he STILL hasn’t solved the club’s winger problem; he still prefers to play square pegs in round holes and one week from the start of the season, we are faced with the dispiriting prospect of having failed striker Dirk Kuyt as the club’s first choice right winger.

This is a pathetic state of affairs and Rafa has to take the blame. The ‘Rafa can do no wrong’ brigade will come up with all types of lame excuses, the most popular of which seems to be: ‘but there just aren’t that many quality wide-players in world football today'.

What?! To contend that in five years Liverpool FC’s network of scouts could not identify a few quality wide-players is just intelligence-insulting twaddle.

What about Ricardo Quaresma? Joaquin? Vicente? There's always an element of risk when buying non-premiership players but with those three, the potential is definitely there.

And what about Rafael van Der Vaart, Samir Nasri and Amantino Mancini? All three moved clubs for comparatively low transfer fees in the last three months. Why did Liverpool not move heaven and earth to sign these players?! Why were Liverpool not even in the running to sign these players?

Even the likes of Stuart Downing and Shaun Wright-Philips (not my favourite choices) could do well on the wings. At least the club would have some dedicated premiership-proven wingers!

Liverpool could have signed Van Der Vaart and Mancini for the same overall price as Gareth Barry! Granted, both may be unproven in the premiership but at least they are proper wide players with real skill and ability.

Surely either one (or any of the eight players I mentioned above) has got to be a better option than Dirk Kuyt or (inevitably) Robbie Keane?

Rafa has deliberately failed to prioritise the wide-areas of the team, something that is tantamount to managerial negligence in my view. In a rather ironic twist though, now that the club has put the stoppers on the Barry deal, Rafa has suddenly become concerned about his options on the left:

“Clearly we have problems on the left. We’ve lost Riise and Kewell, Aurelio is injured, Leto has no work permit and Babel is at the Olympics and could come back injured. So we need to improve in this area”.

As a justification for spending 18m on Garth Barry, this is a tenuous argument at best. The thing that irks me here is the fact that Benitez is complaining about things he has had *plenty* of time to fix.

He should have been planning for the losing Riise and Kewell before the end of last season. Aurelio is always injured so Rafa should have factored that into his transfer planning. The Sebastian Leto affair has been dragging on since Christmas and Rafa should have been prepared for the most probable eventuality.

And how long has it been public knowledge that the Olympics were starting in August?! In any event, Olympics aside, Ryan Babel is clearly not a viable solution for either wing.

So - instead of making the signing of two top-class wide men his priority over the summer, Benitez has spent the majority of his time pursuing a player Liverpool do not even need, especially given the fact Xabi Alonso is still at the club.

And if Alonso is staying then why is Benitez *still* trying to buy Gareth Barry?! To play him at left back or – god forbid – left wing?! He is not a winger! Just because he’s left footed doesn’t make him a left winger.

I just find it maddening that the creative side of Liverpool's squad is constantly ignored in favour of adding unnecessary players to over-subscribed areas of the team.

The warning signs were there last season, with Rafa playing Peter Crouch on the wing in several games! And now in the current pre-season, £20m man Robbie Keane has been made to play out on the left. How long will this spurious selection policy be tolerated?!

Now, with barely a week till the new season begins, Liverpool are scrambling around for wide players, with David Silva being mentioned as a possible target. Rafa should have been on his trail seconds after the Euro 2008 final ended, but he’s probably left it too late now after wasting his time trailing Gareth Barry.

I doubt the club will get Silva at this late stage, which probably means Rafa will sign some Jermaine Pennant-esque non-entity as a stop-gap…and we’re back to square one all over again.

Last season, Rafa publicly accused Hicks and Gillett of not understanding the English game. Well, I find it rather worrying that these two footballing neophytes have a better understanding of Liverpool's current player requirements than the club's own Manager.

If they can see that Liverpool's priority should be wide players and Rafa can't - or refuses to see - then this is surely something to be concerned about, is it not?

I should just reiterate that I am not a fan of Hicks and Gillett in any way. However, in this instance I applaud them for trying to save Rafa from himself.

Why Rafael Benitez is to blame for the downfall of Xabi Alonso

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:48:00 +0000

Rafael Benitez's complete mismanagement of Xabi Alonso is the main reason the talented Spaniard is on his way out of Anfield.

****I originally posted this article on the 5th February 2008 in response to what I believed were obvious signs that Xabi Alonso was being mismanaged by Rafa. In light of the current uncertainty surrounding Alonso's future, I feel compelled to re-post the article.

I'd been arguing for months before that Alonso was slowly being pushed out of the door and that he would probably leave at the end of the season, something that now looks very likely.

Alonso is a true Liverpool-type player; if Rafa had used him properly instead of subjugating him and marginalizing his role in the team, things could have been very different.*****

----------------------------

When is Rafael Benitez going to learn that club affairs, whatever they may be, should be conducted behind closed doors?! The recent public spat between Benitez and Tom Hicks made the club a laughing stock and made a mockery of the Liverpool way of doing things.

Benitez should have learned from that farcical situation, but his latest comments about Xabi Alonso prove that he hasn’t learned a thing. Quite simply, Benitez's recent public comments about Alonso are graceless and completely unacceptable:

"Xabi needs to step it up. When you are not 100 per cent fit, you want to play every game because you need to play more games to build up your fitness. But if Gerrard, Mascherano or Lucas are playing well, it means there is competition for places, which is good for the team. Xabi knows he needs to work harder if he wants to have a place in the team."

What possible benefit does Alonso gain from these needless comments?

And if, as Benitez states, 'Xabi knows he has to work harder' then why is it necessary to say the same thing in public?

Benitez has repeatedly proven that he is woefully lacking in man-management and motivational skills, and it’s no surprise if his idea of motivation is publicly criticizing players.

In my December 2007 article ‘Has Rafa’s Rush Job Inadvertently Ended Xabi Alonso’s Liverpool Career’, I argued that Benitez’s handling of Alonso would lead to the gifted Spaniard leaving the club.

Well, with new reports indicating that Alonso is set to leave Anfield at the end of the season, it seems I was right, though, of course, no one would accept my contention at the time.

What makes all this worse is the fact that Benitez himself is arguably to blame for Alonso’s demise, for the following reasons:

1. Failing to utilize Alonso properly and play to his strengths.

2. Shunting Alonso around to accommodate Gerrard.

3. Forcing Alonso to change his game from skilful, creative playmaker to defensive midfielder tasked with doing all the donkey work for Gerrard.

4. Signing Javier Mascherano and Lucas, thus marginalizing Alonso’s role in the team and making the competition for midfield players too intense.

5. Rushing Alonso back from his early season metatarsal injury.

The last point merits further analysis, as I believe Benitez's poor decision to rush Alonso back after his injury has contributed to his stuttering season and inability to find form or consistency.

Let’s recap briefly: In the first months of this season, Alonso had already been an early victim of Benitez's rotation policy, starting 4 games and warming the bench for 3, including being an unused sub in two Champions League encounters with Toulouse.

With Gerrard out injured against Derby, Alonso seized his chance and proceeded to run the show as Liverpool battered the rams, with Alonso scoring 2 of the 6 goals that day.

Then disaster struck: Alonso was injured against Portsmouth on September 15th 2007 - a devastating blow for the Basque maestro, who was clearly high in confidence after his Derby heroics.

So Alonso was injured. It happens to most players at one time or another, so need for alarm. The fatal blow came 43 days later, when Benitez inexplicably rushed him back from injury and put him in the starting line up against Arsenal.

It was gamble by Benitez that spectacularly failed to pay off. Alonso aggravated the same injury he had suffered against Portsmouth and was forced off. Just for the sake of clarity, here is the proof that it *was* the same injury:

Portsmouth Injury Report: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/archivedirs/news/2007/sep/20/N157043070920-0839.htm

Arsenal Injury Report: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/archivedirs/news/2007/oct/29/N157487071029-1303.htm

Alonso was rushed back after just six weeks, which was a major mistake considering every player in world football who has had the same injury has taken much longer to recover. Examples: Wayne Rooney - 14 weeks. Steven Gerrard - 10 weeks. Daniel Agger – almost three months!

Xabi Alonso was rushed back into the team after 6 weeks.

As a result of that catastrophic decision, Alonso missed a further 5 weeks of the season, and since returning from injury, he’s been in and out of the team, with precious little time to build up any rhythm or consistency.

So, given the circumstances, for Benitez to come out and criticize him in public exposes a dispiriting lack of class – something I never previously associated with Liverpool’s Manager.

Benitez is developing a habit of negative public comments about players. Indeed, earlier in the season, he accused Steven Gerrard of ‘not playing with his brain’ and scolded Peter Crouch for not having ‘the right character and mentality’

Whilst I agree with the Gerrard comments, both were unacceptable public criticisms, and given the destabilizing period recently undergone, negative public comments should be the last thing coming out of the club.

The name of the game is UNITY at the moment. Public criticism of players has never been the Liverpool way, and Benitez should know that.

Far from having a positive, galvanizing effect on Alonso, I am sure Benitez's comments will just hasten his departure.

It would be a tragedy to lose Alonso, as he is one of Benitez’s finest signings and is blessed with an essential skill that Steven Gerrard just does not possess: the ability to intelligently dictate the pace of play.

He is a quintessential Liverpool-type player, cut from the same cloth as the likes of Jan Moby and Ronnie Whelan – an exquisite passer of the ball and an asset to any team serious about challenging for honors

The sad truth is this: Benitez has a depressingly cautious, defensive mentality, with the emphasis on not losing and preference for defensive-minded players. Javier Mascherano is symbolic of this, which is why he is the current midfield flavour of the month.

Conversely, Alonso is the opposite of Mascherano, and represents flowing, creative, expansive football, i.e. EXACTLY what Liverpool FC should be about. Such a style of play is, however, the antithesis of Benitez’s painfully dull Liverpool team, which is why Alonso will be forced out.

Ultimately, Alonso leaving will be a good move for the player; in fact, I would argue that it is essential for the further improvement of his game, because what is plainly evident is this: no creative player with creative instincts can thrive in a Benitez team.

And that is the most depressing thing of all.

Why Liverpool cannot and should not sign David Villa

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:09:00 +0000

Liverpool are apparently waiting in the wings to snap up Spanish striker David Villa if - as recent reports suggest - a reputed move to Arsenal falls through. Capturing Villa would be a dream acquisition on a par with Fernando Torres, but unfortunately, the Steven Gerrard conundrum means that signing any top quality striker right now would be a recipe for disaster.

The Villa story has been popping up regularly in recent weeks, with The Telegraph recently reporting the following:

“Villa has regularly partnered Torres for the national team and, were Arsenal or Chelsea to fail to agree a deal for Villa then Liverpool would be alerted to his availability”

Villa himself seems positive about the idea of coming to Liverpool, and clearly relishes the prospect of teaming up with Fernando Torres:

"It is great playing alongside Fernando. We understand each other totally and we get on brilliantly off the park."

Alas, as great a signing this would be for Liverpool, with Steven Gerrard at the club, it will never work…and I will explain why.

Quite simply, Liverpool are incapable of playing 4-4-2 successfully with Gerrard in the centre. Everybody is always going on about how Gerrard’s best position is central midfield, but if that’s the case, why does not play there for Liverpool or England?

The answer is simple: Gerrard has proved that he cannot form a *consistently* successful midfield partnership with anyone - for club or for country.

Whether it’s Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Momo Sissoko, Lucas Leiva or Frank Lampard, Gerrard just does not function successfully in a midfield two.

The main reasons for this are his positional indiscipline and hero complex. Basically, Gerrard always wants to do everything himself, which means he abandons his position on a frustratingly regular basis, leaving holes for others to exploit.

As a result of this, the Liverpool team has been chopped and changed in every conceivable way over the years in an attempt to accommodate Gerrard; the 4-2-3-1 formation that Liverpool currently plays is the only formation that suits him.

What about playing on the right? That’s a no-go too as Gerrard has made it quite clear that he doesn’t want to play out there, even though it would probably be the best thing for the team.

So – we’re left with his current position - playing behind the striker. In Liverpool’s current system, this is the only place Gerrard can play, and for him to be successful, he needs two midfielders doing all the donkey work for him.

And therein lies the problem: The whole team is set-up to get the best out of Gerrard, which means that if Liverpool buy another top quality striker and accommodate him *regularly*, the formation would need to switch to 4-4-2. This means we’re back at square one again, i.e. trying to fit Gerrard in somewhere that not only benefits the team but satisfies his ego.

If Liverpool were to sign David Villa - or a striker of comparable quality - such a player is not going be happy sitting on the bench waiting for Crouch-like cameo roles. A player like Villa needs to play regularly and should play regularly, or what’s the point of spending all the money?

Furthermore, Fernando Torres is not going to be happy sitting on the bench regularly to accomodate someone else, and Liverpool fans wouldn’t stand for that anyway, so what is the solution?

Unfortunately, the solution is that Liverpool cannot and should not buy another Torres-quality striker whilst Gerrard is at the club.

Of course, none of this would be an issue if Gerrard could successfully function in a midfield two, but that truth is, he cannot.

If Liverpool's current formation is the template for the future, then buying another top quality striker would just create unfair competition for places up front.

And as we’ve seen over the last year, intense competition for places causes friction and recrimination. For example, in midfield, we had a ridiculous situation where 5 midfielders were competing for 2 first team slots.

This unfair competition forced out Momo Sissoko and caused Xabi Alonso to seriously consider his future. Indeed, Rafa was lucky that Alonso was injured for so long earlier in the season, otherwise the selection headache in midfield would have been even more acute.

The same goes for the striking roles this year - With Rafa favouring one up-front, Dirk Kuyt has been converted into a right midfielder and Peter Crouch has been stuck on the bench for most of the season

If someone like Villa was to sign, and Liverpool continued to play with one up front, it would be a recipe for disaster. Somewhere along the line, either Villa or Torres would become dissatisfied with warming the bench. Alternatively, Rafa could try and accommodate both strikers by playing 4-4-2, but this would cause the team to become unbalanced again for the reasons I’ve outlined above.

An example of this imbalance is the recent Liverpool-Arsenal Champions League game at Anfield. In a break from the usual formation, Rafa played 4-4-2, with Crouch and Torres up front and Gerrard on the left.

By his own admission, Gerrard put in one of his worst performances in a red shirt! If Villa or some other top striker was to come to the club, these poor performances from would (in my view) be a regular occurrence, especially if Gerrard was played in a position he dislikes.

A team with a 4-4-2 formation with Villa and Torres together could line up like this (Using the current squad):

------------------------ Reina

Arbeloa --------- Carra --------- Agger -------- Aurelio

Pennant ------ Gerrard ------ Mascherano ----- Babel

--------------- Villa ------------- Torres

The Gerrard-Mascherano partnership *does not work*. For proof of this, just examine the games in which the partnership has been utilized and then look at the results and the turgid performances that came out of it.

In any event, as discussed above, Gerrard in the center *consistently* is a non-starter.

The 4-4-2 formation *would* work if the team lined up like this:

---------------------- Reina

Arbeloa --------- Carra --------- Agger -------- Aurelio

Gerrard ------ Alonso ------ Mascherano ----- Babel

------------------ Villa -------- Torres

Everybody with any objectivity and sense knows that the best position for Gerrard in a 4-4-2 is on the right, but the incredible sulk will never allow this to happen.

So choices are thus: Play 4-4-2 with Gerrard in the center or play 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard behind Torres.

Surely the answer is to stick with what works? Rafa has *finally* hit upon a winning formula in the premiership after 4years of trying - it would surely be madness to change things now...wouldn't it?

As long as Gerrard is at the club, Rafa should stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation and spend any transfer funds on creative right and left wingers/midfielders and pacy, creative fullbacks.

Ultimately, there is no point in signing a striker of Villa’s calibre if Rafa plans to continue with the 4-2-3-1 formation. I don’t want to see another top quality player wasting away on the bench, just like Peter Crouch has been wasted this

A player like Villa will not and should not play second fiddle to anyone. He - or indeed any top striker – should only be signed if Liverpool are going to play 4-4-2 with Gerrard on the right.

Of course, there is a third option: Sell Gerrard and buy a midfielder who can function successfully as part of a midfield two...

*Cue mass hysteria and Liverpool fans collectively foaming at the mouth*

This article was first published in April 2008. Reposted in June during Euro 2008 to coincide with increased David Villa speculation.

Steven Gerrard displays his lack of class once again

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:26:00 +0000

Steven Gerrard’s graceless and deliberately public attempt to tap-up Gareth Barry has once again highlighted his complete lack of class and professionalism.

In an over the top public eulogy designed specifically to appeal to Barry’s ego, put pressure on Aston Villa and indirect pressure Liverpool’s board, Gerrard disregarded all standards of professional courtesy and went for straight for the jugular with his attempt to ‘persuade’ Aston Villa’s captain to join Liverpool.

Gerrard fawned: "I want Gareth Barry to become a Liverpool player. I am desperate for us to sign him. He's a good player. I want Liverpool to be as strong as possible and Gareth Barry will certainly make us stronger. You talk about improving the team, the starting XI and the squad, and Gareth will certainly help Liverpool to become a better team".

Liverpool’s captain then backpedalled into irony, of which he was clearly unaware:

"We can't be disrespectful to Villa. He is still their player and we will see what happens. Naturally, they are going to try and keep hold of him, and rightly so because he is one of their star men. He has been a fantastic servant for them over many years”.

‘We can’t be disrespectful’? What planet is Gerrard on? His comments are nothing but disrespectful. When it’s obvious Aston Villa are fighting to keep hold on to their ‘star man’ and club captain, Gerrard has no business trying to exert pressure in this way. It really does betray a lack of class on the part of a man who is supposed to represent everything good about Liverpool FC.

The ultimate irony is that a few years ago, Chelsea were trying to snatch Gerrard away, and Liverpool fans spat bile and venom at anyone who even dared to encourage Gerrard to leave. Now Liverpool are doing the same thing as Chelsea – i.e. trying to snatch away the captain of a rival club – and suddenly it’s okay!

And quelle surprise, the very same fans that were foaming at the mouth over Chelsea’s attempts to prise Gerrard away are now apathetic over his one-man mission to ‘persuade’ Gareth Barry to come to Anfield.

Pure hypocrisy of the highest order.

If Gerrard had just made an off-the-cuff comment in response to a spontaneous question then I wouldn’t have a problem, but that is not what happened; Gerrard’s statement was calculated and manipulative, as the following comments illustrate:

“I am sure Gareth will find it hard to leave Villa. He has been fantastic for them but, in football, sometimes opportunities come along where you can better your career. I think Gareth is 27 now and he needs to play Champions League football. In my opinion, he needs that now”.

Gerrard plays on the fact that age is against Barry and time is running out for him to play at the highest level. The chances of Villa getting into the CL are slim at best, so Gerrard has picked the one thing that he knows will get to Barry on a psychological level.

Gerrard also makes it sound like Liverpool’s interest is a once in a lifetime opportunity that should not be missed. This of course is true (!), but he should not be saying all this in public. Indeed, Gerrard makes light of the fact that he ‘knows all about’ Barry and that off the pitch, they are ‘good friends’.

If they are such good friends, why couldn’t Gerrard tell him all this face to face? This is not just about Gerrard making a personal plea to his mate, there is more at play here, and once again, Gerrard is up to his old tricks, namely trying to exert indirect pressure on the club.

Reading between the lines, he is using his inflated status to force the club to sign Gareth Barry. Just look at the language he uses: He is ‘desperate’ for Liverpool to sign Barry. He ‘wants’ Barry at the club.He’s ‘good friends’ with Barry.

His whole statement is a blatant warning to board: 'Sign Gareth Barry now. Why? Because I said so'.

Anyone who has followed the Steven Gerrard’s career for the last 10 years knows that he has regularly made public comments in an attempt to indirectly influence the club. Anyone who fails to acknowledge this is in serious denial.

There was no need for Gerrard to make his ‘I love Gareth Barry’ statement and in my view it is inexcusable. Of course, people will accuse me of being over the top, but the apathy and shrug the shoulders acceptance of Gerrard’s comments just highlights the incredible hypocrisy of Liverpool fans.

Liverpool fans would be raging till the cows come home if, say, Deco at Barcelona said the following: ‘I am sure Steven will find it hard to leave Liverpool. He has been fantastic for them but, in football, sometimes opportunities come along where you can better your career. I think Steven is 28 now and he needs to play at the highest level. In my opinion, he needs that now”.

Whether Gerrard intended it or not his comments represent a fundamental and tasteless lack of respect for Aston Villa. It’s a classic case of big-club arrogance: Gerrard sees Liverpool as the bigger club so he thinks it’s okay to belittle Villa. After all, they’re a smaller club with no chance of Champions League football, so why should he bother according them the proper respect?

This is a viable interpretation of Gerrard’s comments, and even if there is truth in what he says, he shouldn’t be saying it in public. Rafa Benitez also showed Villa a lack of respect when he tried to publicly make a monkey out of Martin ‘O Neill a few weeks ago, also over Gareth Barry.

Quite simply, I don’t want players and managers associated with Liverpool to behave like this. Benitez’s spat with Martin O Neill was embarrassing in itself, and Benitez was clearly in the wrong. Gerrard’s comments are equally embarrassing, yet entirely predictable give his history.

Anyone reading this and asking themselves the question ‘what’s the big deal’ really needs to ask themselves one question: What do you really want? A club where things are done with class, dignity and respect for traditions built up over decades...or a club of unprincipled egotists with no respect for anyone and where underhanded tactics are the norm.

In other words, a club like Chelsea.

The funny thing is, when Chelsea were chasing Gerrard, no one at Stamford Bridge stooped to make a fawning and manipulative public statement designed purelyh to exert pressure and turn Gerrard's head.

No Chelsea player went to the press and said 'Steven needs to be winning trophies, so it's time for him to come here'.

It seems that even for a soulless corporate zombie like Chelsea, some things are beyond the realms of decency!

In fact, I challenge anyone to show me one instance – just one – in the history of the premiership where a player from any team has made a statement even remotely similar to Steven Gerrard’s insipid plea.

You won’t find anything like it because such statements are tantamount to tapping-up and are rightly anathema in the world of football.

But not for Steven Gerrard, apparently.

But I don’t blame him. Stupid is as stupid does. I blame Liverpool fans for continually deifying him and becoming an enabling force for his constant ill-advised comments.

The fact is, no matter what Gerrard says and does, the sycophantic and hypocritical fan-base who think he walks on water will always decree that it’s okay, whilst criticizing the *exact same things* in other players.

But who cares, right? It’s only Aston Villa.

Tactical naivete, inexplicable decisions and irrational stubbornness - how Rafa's mistakes cost Liverpool against Chelsea

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:34:00 +0000

Lady luck has lavished Liverpool with good fortune throughout this season’s Champions League, but it wasn’t bad luck that struck in the semi-final second leg against Chelsea – it was a series of catastrophic mistakes by Rafael Benitez that ultimately condemned the club to defeat.

Dodgy refereeing decisions have eased Liverpool’s path through the knock out stages of this season’s competition, with the club benefiting from crucial decisions against both Inter Milan and Arsenal.

As such, Chelsea presented the first real test of Liverpool’s European credentials; the players had a chance to prove they could progress without a helping hand from the referee, but sadly, over the two legs, it just didn't happen.

Rafa is often lauded as ‘the most tactically astute manager in Europe’ for his track record of outwitting top clubs in Europe, but last night’s defeat to Chelsea has, in my view, tarnished his reputation as Europe's premiere footballing tactician.

Let’s just take a look at some the decisions Rafa made that directly contributed to Liverpool’s downfall.

Baiting Didier Drogba

In the build up to the game, Rafa decided that he would have a go at Didier Drogba, and basically called the Chelsea striker a cheat in public. Drogba in turn issued a public retort rebuking Benitez for his comments – something he was well within his rights to do in my view.

Many Liverpool fans predictably slated Drogba for stating he’d ‘lost respect for Benitez’, but why should just stand there do nothing whilst he’s publicly ridiculed? Indeed, Rafa never wastes any time threatening people with court action whenever things are said that he deems to be offensive.

Rafa’s attack was totally unprovoked and completely unnecessary. Irrespective of whether he was right, his comments lacked class – a quality Liverpool fans have come to expect of the Spaniard.

It transpired that Rafa’s lame and counter productive attempt at pre-match psychological warfare failed dismally. Drogba was clearly fired-up by the personal affront and put in an excellent performance, which was capped off with two killer goals that basically dumped Liverpool out of the tournament.

Failed Formation

When is Rafa going to learn? The 4-2-3-1 formation DOES NOT WORK AGAINST TOP DEFENCES! The Gerrard/Torres partnership only works against inferior opposition, and this has been proven time and time again this season.

Examples: Inter Milan home and Away; Man U at Old Trafford; both Arsenal games at the Emirates; Both Chelsea games at Stamford Bridge this season. The list goes on.

I argued before the game that Liverpool needed to play 4-4-2 with Peter Crouch up front if they were to have any chance of winning. As per usual, Rafa’s irrational stubbornness led to yet another unacceptable snub for Crouch and persistence with a failing system.

Partly as a result of the formation, Steven Gerrard’s legendary positional indiscipline reared its ugly head again during the game, as he repeatedly deserted his post to go roaming for the ball in midfield, leaving Torres isolated up front.

Not that it mattered, considering Claude Makalele had Gerrard under his thumb for pretty much the entire game.

The system has to take some of the blame for Gerrard’s failure to register an impact in bother Chelsea games, but the fact the always seems to go missing against England’s top clubs should also be considered.

It took almost 4 years for Rafa to finally admit that his rotation policy wasn't working; Is it going to take another 4 years of playing the failing 4-2-3-1 formation before he finally admits it doesn't work?! Let's hope not!

Failure to play Peter Crouch

Given the FACT that the 4-2-3-1 formation has repeatedly failed against top opposition this season, Rafa’s refusal to play Peter Crouch is nothing short of dereliction of duty in my view.

Chelsea hate playing against Crouch! John Terry has admitted this, and whenever because whenever Crouch plays he causes Chelsea problems. Rafa should have capitalized on this, but instead he delivered an ignominious snub to a player who has score or created 41 goals in his last 46 starts.

I repeat:

41 goals scored/created from the last 46 starts.

What is wrong with this picture?! Why did Rafa ignore Crouch once again, especially when Liverpool needed goals? There is no logical or acceptable reason.

Coming into the Chelsea game, Crouch had scored 3 goals and provided 1 assist in his previous 4 starts. He was on fire and confident, yet once again, Rafa failed to utilize this.

In the quarter final second leg against Arsenal, Rafa played 4-4-2 and paired Crouch with Torres. Liverpool won 4-2, albeit with assistance from the referee.

The point is, the formation worked during the game; Crouch caused problems and even provided his customary assist. The Crouch/Torres partnership WORKED, but this was not good enough for Rafa, who for some maddening and inexplicable reason, does not rate Crouch.

As I said above, this is management negligence of the highest order, but when it comes to Crouch, this kind of behaviour should be expected from Rafa.

And it is not the first time Rafa has scandalously ignored Crouch in a massively important game. Liverpool were crying out for Crouch in the CL final against Milan last year, and Rafa ignored him until the last few minutes.

It could fairly and reasonably be argued that Rafa's problems with Crouch are not related to football, because on a purely footballing level, Crouch ticks all the right boxes.

Perhaps it's personal? Who knows. What is clear however is Rafa's treatment and management of Crouch this season has been a disgrace.

Taking off Fernando Torres

The official explanation is that Torres had some ‘trouble’ with his hamstring. Well, believe that and you’ll believe anything. As a matter of indisputable FACT, Torres did not signal to the bench at any time to inform them that he had a problem.

So how did Benitez know that Torres had an alleged hamstring problem? Telepathy?! One look at Torres’ seething expression as he left the pitch is enough to confirm the truth: Rafa’s decision was tactical. For what tactical end I have no idea, but I firmly disbelieve that Torres was injured.

Even if he *did* have a slight problem, why take him off? Torres proved during the game with his excellent goal that he only needs the slightest chance to deliver the goods. Taking off a Striker who has scored 31 goals in the most important match of the season when the team *needs goals* was a suicidal decision.

I would almost go as far as to say that in the history of catastrophic Champions League decisions, it ranks up there with Gerard Houllier replacing Dietmar Hamann with Vladimir Smicer in the 2002 CL quarter final against Bayer Leverkusen – a decision that cost Liverpool a semi-final berth against...Manchester United.

Taking off Yossi Benayoun

With Gerrard neutered by Makalele and no other player providing any kind of creative threat, the removal of Yossi Benayoun was a major mistake. The Israeli provided a sublime assist for Torres and could have done the same thing again as the game wore on.

Many Liverpool fans have criticized Benayoun’s performance, but I can’t see why. Actually, I can – the fans don’t want to blame golden boy Gerrard for his latest no-show, so someone has to take the blame, and Benayoun (along with Xabi Alonso) is the chosen one.

Benayoun played much better than Gerrard, provided the assist and rarely gave the ball away. Furthermore, he is one of Liverpool’s more technically proficient players; and in the pouring rain, he was surely a much better option that ‘non-deadly’ Dirk Kuyt, who offered absolutely NOTHING for the entire game.

Wingers and no Strikers?

So Rafa took off Torres and Benayoun and brought on Ryan Babel and Jermaine Pennant, who are both (ostensibly) wingers.

WHY PLAY TWO WINGERS WITH NO STRIKERS ON THE PITCH?!

It is beyond ridiculous. Playing Babel and Pennant with no Torres or Crouch defeats the object of having wingers in the first place! To whom was Pennant supposed to cross?! Who was the target man - Dirk Kuyt?! A player who has singularly failed to offer any goalscoring threat for the majority of the season?

This is why Peter Crouch needed to be on the pitch. At least then, the likes of Pennant and Babel have someone to aim for. And after The Pennant/Crouch super-show against Birmingham - which prompted Crouch to publicly sing Pennant’s praises - the partnership was definitely worth a shot for the final phase of the game.

Failure to buy first team wingers

Expanding the point about wingers – Rafa has been at Liverpool for 4 years now and the club still has no first choice wingers, i.e. specialists, not square pegs in round holes. Liverpool lined up with Kuyt on the right and Benayoun on the left, neither of whom were playing in their natural positions.

If Rafa had actually addressed this issue at any point over the last 4 years then the Liverpool team that lined up against Chelsea would have been far more balanced, and would not have been relying on a failed striker to provide a creative threat.

We also had the usual Gerrard no-show and lack of real leadership when it mattered, but I’ve explored those issues at length recently, so I won’t do the same here.

All of this was compounded by the pre-match arrogance of Liverpool’s players, something that has become worryingly epidemic this season.

I am so sick of the boasting and inflated self-importance of Liverpool players. I want a return to the quiet dignity and modesty of the past, but I just can’t see that happening.

There are other things that contributed to the defeat, but Rafa’s mistakes are the main reason Liverpool are out of the Champions League.

If only Rafa had kept his mouth shut before the game, made sure his players did the same and played 4-4-2 with Crouch and Torres up front, then I am sure that today, we would all be looking forward to a once in a lifetime game against Manchester United.

Nice one, Rafa! Your stupid Drogba mind games have backfired

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:20:00 +0000

Half time: Rafa's pointless comments about Didier Drogba's diving have come back to haunt Liverpool, with the Chelsea striker scoring the goal that may knock Liverpool out of the Champions League.

Drogba is obviously fired up by Rafa's comments, as emphasised by the fact he sprinted over to the Liverpool dugout and took great delight in celebrating right in in front of Benitez.

Overall, Chelsea look like they're really up for it, and they've no doubt been motivated by Liverpool's cocky arrogance leading up to the game.

And quelle surprise, Steven Gerrard has been anonymous against Chelsea again, but that's no suprise, is it?

And Rafa has gone with the 4-2-3-1 formation that has never yields results against top defences.

Ridiculous decision all round, Rafa.

having said all that, if Crouch comes on, Liverpool still have a chance. The big man's hold up play alone will be worth his introduction, as so far, Liverpool's hold up play in the final third has been sub-par.

Peter Crouch must start against Chelsea tonight if Liverpool want to win the game

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:25:00 +0000

Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1 formation must be dropped if Liverpool are to achieve the impossible and beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

It has been proven time and time again this season that Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1 formation - with Steven Gerrard playing behind Fernando Torres - does not work against good defences.

Against the likes of Bolton, Newcastle, Wigan and other poor defences, it works like a charm, but against the world’s top defenders, Gerrard and Torres are regularly squeezed out of the game.

Liverpool need to throw a curve ball and play Gerrard on the right and have Crouch partner Torres. In the last round, Liverpool switched to 4-4-2 and ended up beating Arsenal 4-2.

The same thing can happen again against Chelsea. And whenever Crouch has played against Chelsea, he has made an impact.

Gerrard by his own admission had one of his worst games for Liverpool in the 4-2 victory against Arsenal.

The team does not need to rely solely on him to beat Chelsea, and for the sake of the balance of the team, Gerrard should play on the right tonight.

I would choose the following team:

------------------------------ Reina

Finnan -------------- Carra --------- Skrtl---------- Riise

--------------------------- Mascherano

Gerrard -------------------- Alonso ----------------- Babel

--------------------- Crouch ------ Torres

Crouch has been superb for Liverpool this season, and as I’ve been arguing endlessly all year, if you start Crouch, he will invariably score or create a goal.

Just look at his stats - 41 goals scored/created in the last 46 games! In his last 4starts alone, he’s scored 3 goals and created 1 goal!

Rafa made the right decision to start Crouch against Arsenal, and tonight he needs to make the same decision again.

Playing 4-2-3-1 tonight will be madness, and if Liverpool line up that way, the game will be lost.

Cometh the hour, cometh the predictable cocky overconfidence

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:53:00 +0000

The most important game of the season is upon us, and as per usual with this Liverpool team, the days leading up to an important game have been saturated with the usual pre-match routine of endless public pronouncements proclaiming the team’s apparent superiority.

Self-important overconfidence is not the Liverpool way, and never has been, but of course, none of that matters in the egocentric world of modern football.

It is disappointing to see the current Liverpool team increasingly adopting a "we’re the best so bow down at our altar" attitude, but it's been this way all season, and whilst the build up to today's game is not as bad as some examples earlier in the season, it's a growing trend that I feel needs to stop.

Why can’t Liverpool players and management just keep their heads down and let their football do the talking on the pitch? Why must *every* important game be preceded by tiresome boasting in the press about how Liverpool are the best and are certain to win?

Let’s start with Rafa – surely a humble, low key approach from him? No. After the CL semi at Anfield game, he said:

“It was clear that we had the better chances, had more control and played better than them. You can see we were clearly better than them”.

That may be the case, but why say this in public? Added to this we have Rafa’s blatant antagonism of Chelsea, with his remarks about Drogba diving and obvious Alex Ferguson-like attempts to try and influence the referee.

This is the kind of behaviour I expect from Chelsea (!), not Liverpool; from Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson, not Rafa Benitez. Clearly, it's a case of if you can't beat them, join them - a policy, incidentally, that Steven Gerrard has adopted when it comes to Didier Drogba and diving.

On the subject of Gerrard, he clearly agreed with Rafa's view about the first leg: "We were on top for most of the time [in the first leg] and Chelsea scored their equaliser without really producing anything. We know their weaknesses. We know how to beat them”.

Liverpool know how to beat Chelsea? Well, if that’s true, and as Gerrard says, Liverpool know Chelsea’s weaknesses, how come the club hardly ever beats Chelsea?! It’s a conundrum.

Gerrard went on to slam Stamford Bridge: "Stamford Bridge is a big stadium, but it's got nothing of the aura that Anfield has".

Alvaro Arbeloa chimed in with his belief that Liverpool have a ‘psychological edge’, and like Benitez, he was emphatic about the outcome of the game:

“We have confidence. We beat Inter Milan, we beat Arsenal and we will now beat Chelsea”.

Jamie Carragher and Gerrard have also piled the pressure onto the shoulders of Fernando Torres, suggesting that the reason for Liverpool’s long running failure to score at Stamford Bridge is the club's lack of a player like Torres. Gerrard said:

“We may not have scored or won at Chelsea in four years, but we haven't been there with Fernando in the team before”. Carragher added:

“A lot of people are talking about the fact that we haven't scored at Stamford Bridge for a few years but, as Stevie (Gerrard) said after the first leg, we've never been there with Fernando Torres. He has been the stand out striker in world football this season and he is capable of scoring against anyone at any time."

So what happens if Liverpool lose and Torres doesn't score? One of the reasons Torres left Atletico Madrid was the fact the everybody put pressure on him to make sure the team was successful. Is this pressure from Gerrard and Carragher any different?

It’s probably just me, but I do not see the point of any of the above comments or strategies. Indeed, this kind of posturing is unnecessary and counter-productive.

For example, Didier Drogba has publicly defended himself against Benitez’s diving claims, which means he will probably be even more fired up to score in the game tonight.

And Chelsea’s players will be even more motivated to win after all the comments from Liverpool players about being the best. Chelsea already have the advantage, and given Liverpool’s atrocious record at Stamford Bridge, was there any need to rile Chelsea up even more?!

Contrast Liverpool’s comments with those of Chelsea and there is a big difference. There has been no goading or boasting from Chelsea players or Avram Grant, just typical, nondescript comments that do not attract attention or allow tabloid hacks to create hyperbolic headlines.

Once again, it appears that I am living in the past, clinging onto the Liverpool tradition of humility and respect for opponents. At the height of the club’s powers in the 79s and 80s, there was none of this self-congratulatory garbage.

Players were respectful towards other clubs and did not boast about being the best before anything had actually been won.

And even when trophies were won, the club remained humble in victory. This is no longer the case, and the conduct of the club this season has consistently proved that to be true.

The ultimate irony comes from perennial press-whore Dirk Kuyt, with his contention that it is Chelsea who are afflicted by misplaced overconfidence:

“When the final whistle blew I think some of them were thinking they had already reached the final".

Yes, Dirk. And I suppose if Liverpool had scored an away goal in the 95th minute of Champions League Semi-Final you would have been completely calm...

Rafa slams Drogba for diving but Steven Gerrard is just as bad. And here is the proof.

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:46:00 +0000

Rafael Benitez has slated Didier Drogba’s diving antics ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League trip to Chelsea, but perhaps Rafa should have taken a closer look at the behaviour of his own players before launching his hypocritical tirade.

On the subject of Drogba’s predilection for diving, Rafa said:

“With Drogba, it's important to have a good referee.You can't do anything, but I will say it because it was so clear. He is amazing because he is massive.

“It's very impressive. I have a lot of clips of him from over the years and he surprises me. After four years, I expected it. We've played against Chelsea 19 games and every time I have collected some clips of Drogba”

Whilst Rafa is undoubtedly correct about Drogba's tiresome histrionics, Liverpool have a player who is just as bad when it comes to diving, and that player is club captain Steven Gerrard.

I will inevitably be slated and ridiculed for once again casting Gerrard in a negative light, but it sickens me that Liverpool’s captain is such a blatant diver.

What makes it worse is he has the gall to actually publicly criticize other players for diving, whilst doing exactly the same thing himself!

This season alone has been filled with examples of Gerrard diving. Against Everton at Goodison Park earlier in the season, Gerrard dived in the box after minimal contact with Tony Hibbert and Liverpool got a penalty.

What makes this incident worse is that Gerrard moaned at the referee and ended up getting Hibbert sent off. As the video clip below illustrates, Mark Clattenburg had the yellow card ready; then Gerrard walks past him, says something, and Clattenburg pulls out the red instead. Take a look:

Liverpool's recent victory against Blackburn at Anfield was marred by more examples of Gerrard's diving. On three occasions, Gerrard threw himself to the floor looking for a penalty. I’ve only managed to find clips for two of them, but they’re both laughable attempts at simulation.

This first one is embarrassing – Brad Friedel pulls himself out of the way, and Gerrard deliberately pushes his leg into the Blackburn keeper to create the contact, then goes down like a sack of potoatoes:

This second clip shows Gerrard trying to con the referee by diving after an innocuous challenge from Christopher Samba:

Gerrard doesn’t just dive for Liverpool, he dives for England too. Below is a clip of his blatant dive against Andorra, and you’ll notice the Andorran keeper has a go at him afterwards:

Below is a short compilation of Gerrard dives, including the most infamous dive of all, which came against AC Milan in 2005's Champions league final. How anyone can argue that it is *not* a dive is beyond me. Where exactly is the contact?!

Gerrard is a hypocritical diver, pure and simple. The question is, why do so many fans accept it and even praise him for it? Liverpool fans never pass up the opportunity to ridicule the likes of Ronaldo and Drogba for diving, yet when it comes to Gerrard and Torres, they’re conveniently overcome by selective blindness.

Take the Milan dive for example: If Gerrard had not dived, it's conceivable that Liverpool may not have gone on to win the game. Because Liverpool *did* win the game, fans think it's acceptable to overlook the dive and everything is forgotten.

I don't see it that way. As fantastic as the Milan game was, it was a phyrric victory in many ways. I can never take pleasure from blatant cheating, and that's what Gerrard did when he dived.

Of course, my attitude means I can't be a real fan. If I was a real fan, how could I highlight these things about a Liverpool captain? Well, for me, being a real fan is about acknowledging the truth and not allowing bias to cloud judgement.

And if you want an example of what 'real' fans think about Gerrard's diving, take a look at this video clip, where fans on the Kop actually encourage Gerrard to dive. At one point, you can clearly here someone say 'You should have dived there Stevie and won a penalty':

The fact is, many fans and pundits do not have the balls to tell it like it is, lest they be castigated by Liverpool's rabid 'superfans' for not being 'real supporters'. Winning is clearly more important than playing the game with honesty and integrity.

A prime example of this kind of spinelessness is Jamie Redknapp’s defence of Gerrard after the Blackburn game. Instead of being objective and telling the truth, he displayed breathtaking bias in his lame attempt to justify his mate Stevie’s actions:

There's nothing noble about defending a player when they've done something obviously wrong. Refusing to be objective because of bias and personal preference is just weak, and does not make someone a better fan.

Anyone who dives in football is cheat. End of story. There is never any excuse for it, and the diving epidemic is just indicative of the corrupt, self-serving nature of the modern game.

I don't care what Drogba and Ronaldo do - I don't want to see Liverpool players diving, and I definitely do want to see the captain of the club cheating to gain an advantage.

So Rafa - before having a go at other players for diving, why don't you make sure your own players are conducting themselves in a way the befits the history and traditions of Liverpool FC?

Gerrard may not writhe around on the floor like he's been shot a la Drogba, but his diving is still an embarrassment to the club.

And it needs to STOP.

Video: Phil Thompson's priceless reaction to John Arne Riise's own goal against Chelsea

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:58:00 +0000

Liverpool legend Phil Thompson was not impressed by John Arne Riise's own goal against Chelsea last night, as the following video clip shows!

Thommo's reaction

It was obviously a nightmare goal for Liverpool to concede, but from an objective standpoint, it was one hell of a finish! I mean, he gave the keeper no chance ;-)

Steven Gerrard goes missing against Chelsea once again...

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:35:00 +0000

After the recent victory against Arsenal in the Champions League quarter final at Anfield, Steven Gerrard labeled his performance as one of the worst he’d ever put produced in a Liverpool shirt. Two weeks later, Gerrard should hold his hands up again and admit that his non-performance against Chelsea last night was arguably even worse.

What is it about Gerrard and England’s top teams? Whether it is Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United, he never seems to perform. When was the last time Gerrard actually inspired Liverpool against any of the aforementioned teams? A cursory examination of Liverpool’s dire record against the top three during Raga’s reign reveals the disappointing answer.

Against Chelsea, Liverpool’s supposed ‘Captain Fantastic’ was typically anonymous and operated on the periphery of the action – misplacing passes, running around like a headless chicken and generally avoiding responsibility.

His only contribution to the game was a great volley near the end of the game, which was saved by Petr Cech. Liverpool fans may be satisfied with one positive contribution in 95 minutes of football, but I feel someone who is supposedly ‘world class' should be offering more in such an important game.

So why did Gerrard play so badly? The main reason has to be 4-2-3-1 formation – it works against rubbish defences, and Gerrard has prospered in the hole against inferior defences this season.

However, whenever Liverpool have played that formation against a top class defence, it has come up short. Examples of this include the two recent games at the Emirates against Arsenal, the defeat to Man United at Old Trafford and both games against Inter Milan.

It’s not only Gerrard who suffers against top defences in that formation – Fernando Torres also struggles to make an impact, which was definitely the case last night.

The fact is, against good defences, 4-3-2-1 does not work. Gerrard does not have the footballing intelligence required of a world class link man, and he often seems unsure of his position.

Furthermore, in a 4-3-2-1, Gerrard is crowded out by defenders and defensive midfielders, and does not have the guile and genuine craft to prosper in such a crowded environment.

Liverpool should have played 4-4-2 at Anfield last night, with Crouch and Torres up front and Gerrard on the right. Against Chelsea, this is what is best for the TEAM.

And Rafa should have seen that the Gerrard/Torres partnership has been ineffective against top opposition this year and made the relevant tactical changes.

What makes it even more galling is the fact that Chelsea were there for the taking! I can’t remember seeing a worse Chelsea performance against Liverpool in the last 4-5years.

Nothing was coming off for them and their big players looked jaded. Liverpool needed to capitalize, and the likes of Gerrard needed to turn up and do the business.

That Liverpool played well at times is a testament to excellent performances of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, the opportunism of Dirk Kuyt and the defensive solidity of Sktl and Carra.

They all did their jobs on the night, but Gerrard was a no-show.

Every player is entitled to a bad game now and then, and Gerrard has been superb for Liverpool at times this season, but when is he going to start doing the business against England’s top teams? When is he going to stop hiding and step up and put in a performance worthy of his inflated reputation?

It’s all well and good doing the business against the poorer teams, but I would trade in his goals and assists against Cardiff, Bolton, Luton and Sunderland for a bigger contribution against Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea.

Gerrard has a chance to redeem himself against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next week, and he will have to be at his best if Liverpool are to progress.

Another non-performance will surely not be acceptable...?

Having said that, I'm sure there are many fans who gave Gerrard man of the match against Arsenal and again last night. As they say, love is blind.

My team to beat Chelsea would be:

------------------------------ Reina

Finnan -------------- Carra --------- Hyypia ---------- Aurelio

--------------------------- Mascherano

Gerrard -------------------- Alonso ----------------- Babel

--------------------- Crouch ------ Torres

Liverpool's greatest Scandinavian/Eastern European XI

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:22:00 +0000

Some superb Scandinavian and Eastern European players have turned out for Liverpool over the years, making a considerable contribution to the club’s success. But who makes the best ever XI?

I wanted to have separate best XIs for Scandinavians and Eastern Europeans, but there just weren’t enough players to go around, so I had to combine them:

--------------------------------- Jerzy Dudek

Veggard Heggem --- Sami Hyypia (c) --- Daniel Agger --- Stig Inge Bjornebye

-------------------------------------- Igor Biscan

Vladimir Smicer ---------------- Jan Molby -------------- Patrik Berger

--------------------- Jari Litmanen ----------- Milan Baros

Subs

Michael Stensgaard
John Arne Riise
Glenn Hysen
Bjorn Tore Kvarme
Oyvind Leonhardsen
Torben Piechnik

I chose Stig Bjornebye over John Arne Riise at left back because, in my view, Stig offers more going forward. He was a vastly underrated player for Liverpool, and was regularly the club’s top assists maker when he was fully fit. And who can forget that superb cross he provided for Robbie Fowler to head the winning goal against Newcastle in the second 4-3 thriller in 1997?

I almost chose Glenn Hysen as Sami Hyypia’s partner at the center of defence, but I had to go with Daniel Agger in the end, as Hysen is arguably too similar to Hyppia. It was a tough choice, especially considering Hysen was a great defender in his own right, and helped Liverpool win their last league championship in 1990.

At right back, the choice was between Veggard Heggem and Bjorn Tore Kvarme, which means the choice was simple! Kvarme came to Liverpool with a good reputation but was frequently prone to costly errors, the worst of which came in 1997 against Everton, when he lost the ball to Danny Cadamarteri who proceeded to score the winning goal.

Heggem was not the greatest right back in the world, but he was solid and functional for the most part. Converted to a full back from a winger, the attacking side of his game was very good, and I’m sure many fans will remember a superb solo goal he scored against Middlesborough in the lat 90s.

The much maligned Croation Igor Biscan would be the holding midfielder, a role he excelled at whenever he played there for Liverpool, most notably in his first ever game against Manchester United, and in memorable Champions League performances in 2005 against Deportivo La Coruna, Juventus and Chelsea.

If there was anyone else to put on the right of midfield, I would have chosen them over Vladmir Smicer. A great professional but never really did the business for Liverpool, though his contribution to the club’s Champions League victory over Milan can never be forgotten. I have him on the right for the sake of balance.

Patrik Berger is the only choice for the left side of midfield. I’m a huge fan of Berger, and remember how exciting it was when he first signed and proceeded to set the club alight with a series of stunning performances, including scoring 2 goals on his debut v Leicester and another 2 on his Anfield debut against Chelsea.

Pulling the strings in midfield is the one and only Jan Molby. The thought of Molby combining with Jari Litmanen and Milan Baros is a mouthwatering prospect.

Litmanen was a scandalously mismanaged By Gerard Houllier, who frequently chose the leadenfooted Emile Heskey ahead of him, despite Litmanen performing brilliantly almost every time he played. His touch, technique and creative impact were exactly what Liverpool needed at the time, but this was completely wasted by Houllier.

To a certain extent, the same goes for Milan Baros. Houllier (and later Rafael Benitez) insisted on playing him as a lone striker, which was a mistake. Baros was frequently superb for the Czech Republic when playing with another Striker, yet Liverpool’s management failed to play to his strengths on a regular basis.

The substitutes bench is a little short of real quality, and it’s clear that this squad lacks strength in depth. Oyvind Leonhardsen was a plodding, functional player and was not Liverpool quality, and the less said about the likes of Kvarme and Torben Piechnik, the better!

John Arne Riise and Glenn Hysen would be able deputies for anyone in the first team though, and if team clicked, it would be a force to be reckoned with.

Other greatest ever teams:

Best Scottish XI

Best World XI
Best Ever XI

Ray Kennedy: Steven Gerrard would not get into the Liverpool team of the 70s

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:10:00 +0000

Liverpool’s all conquering team of the 70s and early 80s was blessed with an amazing array of talent, so much so that club legend Ray Kennedy believes that Steven Gerrard would have struggled to get into the first XI.

In a recent interview, Kennedy stated: "Liverpool have some great players. I really like Steven Gerrard, he is one of the best midfielders I have seen. He would have struggled to get in our team, mind”.

Given the fact Kennedy played with the likes of Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness, Emlyn Hughes, Alan Kennedy and Terry McDermott, it’s hardly surprising he feels the way he does about Gerrard.

Bill Shankly signed Kennedy from Arsenal in 1974 – the great man’s last signing before leaving the club. As a striker at Arsenal, Kennedy scored 71 goals in 212 games over 5 years.

At Anfield, he was converted into a midfielder, and went on to win five league titles and three European Cups in his eight years at Anfield, scoring 51 goals in the process.

Even if Kennedy doesn’t think Gerrard would cut in the 70s team, he’s supporting Liverpool’s captain and the rest of the team to the hilt this year in the quest to recapture the European Cup:

"I watched the team win the 2005 European Cup on television; it made me so proud to see them with that trophy again. I hope they do it again this season. That would make my year."

Sadly, Kennedy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 22 years ago and is now housebound as a result. Liverpool fans are doing everything they can to raise much needed money for Ray via the Ray of Hope appeal,

You can read about the Ray of Hope Appeal here: http://www.liverweb.org.uk/rayofhope.htm

Pledges can be made to rayofhopeappeal@hotmail.co.uk

Cheques can be sent to the Ray of Hope Appeal c/o HSBC account 21817299, sort code 40-03-27.