TLW

Chelsea 0 LIVERPOOL 2 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Maxi Rodriguez, Martin Kelly Half Time - 0-0 Venue - Stamford Bridge Date - Tue 29 Nov 2011 Star Man – Craig Bellamy We've now won as many games at Stamford Bridge this season as we have at Anfield. If Chelsea were a trophy, Kenny would be entitled to take them home and keep them. Not in his trophy cabinet of course, they aren't worthy of that honour and besides, it's already full to the brim. I'm sure he could find room in the the cupboard under his sink, or maybe in his shed. The point is, Kenny owns Chelsea. This was a great performance, even better than the one a week or so ago. Villas Boas was even gracious enough to acknowledge how superior we were on the night. A far cry from the usual 'best team lost' nonsense spouted by his mentor. We were better than Chelsea in every area of the pitch despite making seven changes from the City game and whatsmore, we did it without Suarez. That's the most heartening aspect of it for me, as I wasn't sure we were capable of playing this well without our talismanic striker. The team selection was more or less what most people expected. There were always going to be a lot of changes, but some of the starters from the weekend would have to turn out too. The question was which ones. One of Lucas and Adam was going to start alongside Spearing, and one of Kuyt, Henderson or Downing would have to play too due to the lack of other options. Kenny opted to start with Lucas and Henderson, whilst Enrique also retained his place. The current squad depth is probably as good as we've seen. Carragher and Maxi returned to the side, Bellamy and Carroll started up front and people like Spearing and Kelly can come in without any drop off in the performance of the team. The one concern I had was Coates who's not played enough yet to earn any degree of trust. He did well at Stoke aside from one error that cost us a goal, and he also conceded a daft pen for the reserves last week. I was worried about him, I'm not going to pretend I wasn't. That worry seemed justified when he lunged in foolishly at Luiz early on. It looked a stonewall pen on first viewing, but a furious Phil Dowd was having none of it and immediately booked the Chelsea player for diving. Looking at the replays, he was right. Luiz left his leg in and played for the pen, but if Dowd had pointed to the spot I wouldn't be complaining about it. Most times that would be given, and regardless of the 'dive' Coates can't be lunging in like that. That moment aside though, Coates was top drawer. I'm not worried about him any more. He will probably continue to make the occasional bad decision, young defenders generally do, but he's no Gabriel Paletta that's for sure. Defensively we were terrific. The back four was brilliantly marshalled by Carragher and protected superbly by Lucas and Spearing. Lucas was a human wrecking ball in that first half. He just kept bullying Chelsea players off the ball, especially Torres. Any time our former number nine got the ball, Lucas steamed into him and took it off him like some kind of unlikely playground bully. It was fucking boss to see. And if it wasn't Lucas doing it, it was Carragher, who caught Torres right in the chops in the first few minutes. Fernando must be getting used to it now, last year he had his clock cleaned by Agger. He's lost three times to us now too. If he isn't wondering what the hell he was thinking back in January, then he fucking should be. The real shame of it all is that he'd probably be devastating in this team Kenny has put together. I thought Andy Carroll played well in this game (penalty miss aside, I'll get to that in a second), but the way we played would have been perfect for someone like Torres rather than someone with Carroll's style. Carroll did everything I could expect of him, he worked hard, he held it up and brought team-mates into the game and defensively he helped out massively in his own box at set-pieces. How many chances did he have though? Not his fault, it's just that his strengths don't match up well with what the team is doing. He didn't get much service from out wide, and without that he's not going to pose much of a threat. When the ball did come in from wide he was a handful. He should have been awarded a penalty when he went to attack a left wing cross and was shoved in the back by Bosingwa. Both hands in his back it was, but Dowd gave nothing. From another left wing cross he did win a penalty when Alex used his arm to clear the ball away as Carroll was about to head it. Again, Dowd wasn't giving it, and I'm not sure the linesman was either. I didn't see a handball at the time, but Carroll's reaction to it was so passionate it was obvious something had gone on. You can't fake that kind of reaction, and Carroll was going mad. Dowd didn't give it straight away, but got a message through his ear piece and pointed to the spot. Who gave that message though? Linesman or 4th official? Whoever it was, they were right as it was a shocking piece of play by Alex. Carroll immediately grabbed the ball, and with no Charlie Adam to take it off him this time he had a free run at the pen. Was there anybody who didn't think it was going anywhere except straight up the middle as hard as he could? Most of the time that works, but only because keepers generally dive out of the way. Turnbull dived late which meant he was able to get his legs in the way. Sums up Carroll's Liverpool career so far, it just isn't happening. At least he had the confidence to take it I guess, but that's three pens we've missed now this season. Can't afford to do that. The first half was pretty cagey, we played well but weren't creating too much. I'm not sure what role Bellamy was supposed to be playing, but not only was he playing very deep but he never seemed to be more than five yards away from the man in possession when we had the ball. He'd get a five yard pass, then give it to someone else and then go and get it again and so on. It wasn't what I expected from him, although there were also some of those trademark runs down the left where he looks for the overlap from Enrique. I'd have liked to have seen him further forward trying to take advantage of the fact three of their back four were on yellow cards, but this had to be a tactical plan. Keep the ball, take the sting out of Chelsea, attack when the opportunity is there but don't do anything daft. It was a controlled performance and we looked very assured, but we didn't create a great deal in the opening half. Chelsea weren't doing much either and unlike us they looked very disjointed. They'd rested plenty of players too and they had a few youngsters in the side, but even so with the quality they had on the field I expected a bit more from them. The only moment of concern for us (penalty appeal aside) was a header by Lukaku that flashed wide. He probably shouldn't have even been on the field at that point, as moments earlier he'd gone over the top on Henderson. Could have been a leg breaker, but fortunately Jordan was able to come back on after treatment. To add insult to his injury, Dowd booked Bertrand for the foul and Lukaku escaped. The second half was a completely different game. It was open more or less right from the start, and the game became very stretched which allowed Bellamy to really come into his own on the counter attack. Chelsea had a couple of decent moments early on too, most notably when Malouda's mishit shot looped up onto the bar and Coates blocked Luiz's follow up on the goal-line with his chest. It was end to end stuff at this point, they'd attack, it'd break down and we'd quickly counter. This kind of game doesn't suit Carroll as much though, and had Suarez been on the pitch I think we'd have torn Chelsea apart. We didn't need Luis though as we scored two goals without him. The first was a beautiful move. Spearing switched the ball quickly to Henderson and with the full back having moved inside there was a nice gap for Henderson to send Bellamy scampering clear of the offside trap. He carried it forward and then delivered a perfect cross to Maxi on the back post who rolled it in with his left foot. That's what Maxi does, he has a habit of taking up positions that lead to him getting goals. Would Downing have been in that position? Maybe, I'd say probably not though as he's a different player to Maxi with different strengths and weaknesses. In a team that struggles for goals though, right now Maxi has to play more often than not, whether it's on the left or the right I don't really care, but he deserves his place. So too does Bellamy, who's made valuable contributions every time he's been on the pitch for any length of time this season. He made the first goal, and then made the second too. He attacked Chelsea down the left and won a free-kick, which he then whipped in perfectly onto the head of Kelly who claimed his first Liverpool goal. He's been on a bit of a tear lately has Kelly, I believe he scored a couple for England u21s a couple of weeks ago too. So he should, he's a big powerful lad and there's no reason he shouldn't be getting on the end of set-pieces. Johnson is going to have to right stay on the top of his game to keep Kelly out of the side. Chelsea made a couple of changes, introducing Anelka and Mata, but it didn't 'Mata' ha ha. (if you haven't read the weekend round up, that will have gone right over your heads, so read it.) They penned us back in the last 20 minutes, largely because we were happy to protect what we had and make sure we didn't throw it away. We also lost Lucas, which was a big blow as he was fantastic once again. The injury didn't look too bad initially. He was in some distress and limped off for treatment, but when he came back on he then crumpled in a heap and appeared to be in agony. I'm no doctor, but it looked like whatever injury he had was made worse by sending him back out there. He left on a stretcher and in a lot of pain. Fingers crossed it's not a long term injury, but in the short term we'll be fine as Spearing is a more than capable replacement and he was terrific in this game too. I can't remember him misplacing a pass all night. The longer it went the more possession Chelsea seemed to have, but the less threatening they looked. Carragher and Coates cleared virtually every ball that found it's way into the box, and we held out comfortably in the end. Once again, I can't fault any player. Everyone played well and made a valuable contribution. I don't think anyone stood out above the rest as there were so many excellent performances. The lads who played on Sunday showed great energy and performed brilliantly, and those who came into the side all gave Kenny something to think about ahead of the game at Fulham. Special mention has to go to Bellamy though. Seeing him in tears before the game during the tribute to Gary Speed was very moving, clearly this has been a really tough time for him but he put that to one side and produced a match winning performance for us. He made both goals and was involved in everything we did. He's fucking class Bellamy. Team: Reina; Kelly, Carragher, Coates, Enrique; Henderson, Lucas (Adam), Spearing, Maxi (Skrtel); Bellamy (Kuyt), Carroll:

LIVERPOOL 1 Man City 1 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Joleon Lescott O.G. Half Time - 1-1 Venue - Anfield Date - Sun 27 Nov 2011 Star Man – Lucas We've had five draws at home so far this season, but this was probably the least disappointing. We were a little unfortunate not to win the game but if I'm honest I'd have taken a draw beforehand so I'm not too downhearted about having to settle for one point rather than three. The performance gives great cause for optimism, and I live in hope that one day a keeper is going to come to Anfield and not turn into some kind of hybrid of Gordon Banks and Lev Yashin. Seriously, can we not just have a keeper come here and make a fucking mistake instead of repelling everything that's thrown at him? Just once? Look at the last four home games. De Gea makes a string of saves late on to prevent us beating United. John Ruddy has the game of his life for Norwich, Worn produces stoppage time heroics to win a point for Swansea and now Joe Hart does it for City. The save late on to deny Carroll was ridiculous, but summed up our season. Games are won and lost on fine margins, and we could so easily be at least eight points better off right now. An inch here, a couple of inches there, and those draws turn into wins. The important thing is we keep doing what we are doing and hopefully we'll eventually get our reward. City will be delighted to be still unbeaten after this, as despite an excellent start by them they were hanging on desperately in the second half. They were penned back in their own half for long spells, and even before they were reduced to ten men they were second best. We have to be encouraged by that, especially coming off the back of a win at Chelsea. Four points from those two fixtures is an excellent return, but it means nothing if we can't go on and beat the likes of Fulham and QPR. It would have been interesting to know what side Kenny would have picked had Bellamy been available. It was perfectly understandable that he wasn't of course, he'll have been affected more than most by the tragic death of Gary Speed. I don't know if the decision was taken by Bellamy or by Kenny, either way it was completely understandable. Given how well we played last week at Chelsea a strong case could be made for going with an unchanged side, but I always felt that we'd see an extra midfielder brought in for this game as going up against City with just Lucas and Adam in the middle is asking for trouble. Silva would have run amoc, so it was no surprise to see Henderson brought in to replace Bellamy. Personally I'd have preferred Spearing in there - he and Lucas were outstanding in this fixture last season - but if Henderson is to play then much better if it's centrally rather than out wide. Downing getting the start over Maxi surprised me a little though and the little Argentinian must be wondering what he has to do to get in the side. The presence of Micah Richards might be a factor in that, he's been playing like a right winger of late and Maxi may have struggled to deal with him? I don't know, there must be a reason for it though. From that perspective, Downing actually did well as Richards didn't get forward much at all and was penned back completely in the 2nd half as we dominated. That was quite a turnaround from the opening period of the game when City looked ominously good. They were moving the ball quickly and the movement of the front players was excellent. It reminded me a little of some of the games we've had at Anfield against Arsenal when they were good. We were struggling to get near them early on as Silva, Nasri and Aguero were all very prominent as City attacked the Kop end. We were living dangerously in the opening 20 minutes. Reina had to be alert to dash off his line and tackle Aguero after an awful backpass from Enrique. Aguero was appealing for something, at the time I thought he didn't like the challenge from Reina but having seen the replay he wanted a handball. The ball did seem to hit Pepe's arm and we maybe caught a bit of a break there, although it was one of those calls that could have gone either way. City were menacing though, and got down the left hand side a couple of times to get dangerous balls into the box that we did well to deal with. Aguero then dropped the shoulder and completely blew by Skrtel, but Agger did enough to put him off and he ran the ball out of play. That came after Adam looked to have been brought down in City's half right in front of referee Martin Atkinson. City were well on top and it wasn't a shock when they took the lead through Kompany. Initially it looked like a great near post header, but the replay showed he was very fortunate to score as he missed it with his head and it glanced off his shoulder and into the far corner. Had we put someone on the post he'd probably have cleared it, but for whatever reason we don't seem to do that. At least we don't bring everybody back anymore and always have someone on halfway. Maybe that's why there's no-one on the back post though. City's fans were in gloat mode now, no doubt expecting the floodgates to open as they have in so many of their other games this season. Who knows, they may have done had we not hit back almost immediately with a fortunate strike of our own. Adam's shot was going wide, but just like against Wolves earlier in the season, it struck a defender and deflected in. From that moment on the game changed I felt. City seemed to lose a bit of their swagger whilst we grew in confidence. We were the better side after that, and Adam was very unlucky not to make it 2-1 shortly after when Suarez and Kuyt combined to create an opening which the Scot sidefooted goalwards only to have Hart make a great save with his foot. The second half was really impressive. Aguero's influence on the game all but disappeared, he was anonymous as Agger in particular did a great job on him. We were enjoying a lot of possession as Lucas and Adam took hold of the middle of the park, and Enrique and Downing began to enjoy a lot of success down the left. I thought we were terrific 2nd half, really impressive. We played at a high tempo and City were knocked out of their stride. When we had the ball we moved it quickly and incisively and all that was missing - again - was the finish at the end of it. Downing almost teed up Kuyt twice. First when his purposeful run and cross was deflected by Kompany and Kuyt misjudged the flight of it slightly and was unable to direct his diving header on target, and then when he met Henderson's deep cross with a volley that flew across the face and just in front of Dirk. He hit that too well, if he scuffed it Kuyt would have had a tap in. He did scuff another effort that looped up and brought a good save from Hart, whilst Suarez almost created a goal when he skinned Kompany and forced a panicking Lescott into a poor clearance that rebounded off Kuyt and nearly into the net. City weren't doing much at all, and it was no surprise when Balotelli was introduced midway through the 1st half. He didn't look interested from the minute he slipped over when it looked like he was going clean through. After that he was just standing around looking miserable, giving the ball away cheaply and conceding free-kicks. His first booking was stupid. He had to know he'd be booked for such a blatant pull back. As soon as that happened I knew he was going to get sent off, I haven't seen anything more obvious all season. I'm just surprised it took so long to happen. The second yellow was beyond stupid. He barged into Skrtel with his arm raised and his elbow struck Skrtel on the side of the head. I've seen it suggested that Skrtel made a meal of it, and Mancini went as far as to say the ref didn't want to book him but the reaction of our players forced him into it. Firstly, those who say Skrtel milked it, maybe he did a little but when someone runs into you and hits you in the head with their elbow raised, there's a decent chance it's going to fucking hurt a little bit, whether it's a swinging elbow or a straight arm. Secondly, Atkinson's hand was going to his back pocket before any of our players got near him, and so it should have as that's as blatant a yellow card as you'll see. It wasn't a malicious foul, but it was a completely braindead one that was begging for the punishment it got. If you're already on a booking why would you make a challenge like that? Why does Balotelli do any of the mad stuff he does? Because he's batshit crazy that's why. I really disliked him when he first came over here, but this season I've really been buzzing off him as he's absolutely fucking hilarious. Going into this game I was just hoping he wasn't going to do something to ruin that and make me go back to thinking he's just an arrogant, petulant little knobhead. I had visions of him scoring in front of the Kop and acting the twat. Thankfully his antics just made me embrace the madness even more. He is unquestionably an arrogant, petulant little knobhead, but he's funny as fuck. A child's brain in a man's body. The standing around looking as though he wanted to be anywhere but on the pitch, the two yellow cards that hurt his team, having to be ordered back to the dressing room by Mancini after he refused to leave the field, and then the coup de grace, attacking the dressing room door whilst Adam and Lucas were doing their Sky interview. The lad is nuts. Gloriously, wonderfully nuts. My favourite non-LFC player right now I think. The sending off didn't affect City too much as he was contributing nothing to their cause anyway. It did present Kenny with the opportunity to introduce Carroll however. Up until then, it was difficult to get him on because you have to be concerned about being over-run by City's midfield. Carroll being on the field means we more or less have to play two up top, and for that to happen we need to sacrifice a midfielder. Dirk made way, meaning Henderson moved out to the right hand side. We lost a bit of momentum for a little while after that, perhaps due to the formation change to accommodate Carroll, or maybe it was down to City trying to baton down the hatches. Either way, it wasn't until stoppage time that we really seriously threatened again. When we did, it almost brought the winning goal. Johnson had been more and more of an influence as the 2nd half wore on, and he clipped in a hopeful ball towards Carroll in the centre of the box. The striker did extremely well to not only hold off the defender and get his head to the ball, but to also direct it towards goal. Hart made a flying save to keep it out, and then also kept out Suarez's well struck follow up. Downing reached the loose ball ahead of the defender but couldn't keep his shot down and it ended up in the back of the Kop and with it went any hope we had of three points. Disappointing that we couldn't win, but encouraging that we outplayed the best team in the country. It was a good team performance in which everybody played their part. Some played better than others, but I wouldn't be critical of anybody as I felt they all made a contribution and there were no passengers. Defensively we coped very well with the most potent attack in the country. Skrtel and Agger impressed again, but it was the midfield duo of Lucas and Adam who stood out for me. Adam has been playing very well for most of the season and has been great in recent weeks. He was class again, but he was eclipsed by Lucas who produced a monstrous display. These are the kind of games where Lucas really shines, at Anfield against the big boys is where he comes right into his own. I don't remember him losing a tackle and he also seemed to win every aerial duel too. He was all over the park pressuring City players and his passing was precise and crisp. Just a top class performance. The only blemish was late on when Dzeko got away from him down the left wing and almost created a goal for Silva (Reina did enough to hold him up and we ended up with three players on the line ready to clear the danger.). Even then, Lucas tried to do the right thing by fouling Dzeko. He tried to pull him back but couldn't get close enough, and he tried to hack him down but again he just couldn't get in range to do it. Aside from that, flawless. We've played all five of the other sides likely to make up the top six at the end of the season (unless Newcastle last the pace, which I very much doubt they will). We outplayed City and United but could only draw. We outplayed Arsenal and Chelsea and beat them both, and it's only Spurs that have looked superior to us on the day. As ever, our problems are coming in the games that we are expected to win. Sort that out and we're in great shape. Days like this show we're headed in the right direction, but they count for nothing if we can't follow it up by beating Fulham next week. That's the challenge facing Kenny and the players now. Team: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique; Kuyt (Carroll), Henderson, Lucas, Adam, Downing; Suarez:

Glen Johnson and Maxi Rodriguez scored for Liverpool in their victory over rivals Chelsea last weekend, both scoring their first Barclays Premier League goals of the season. Johnson has been under pressure for the England right back slot from Kyle Walker and Micah Richards, and with Richards scoring and winning a penalty for Man City against Newcastle Johnson’s brilliant finish is a timely reminder of his talent. Johnson may have attempted just 12 tackles this season, but he has won 9 of them and also made 29 defensive contributions in total including 13 interceptions. Dirk Kuyt was instrumental in Liverpool’s win against Chelsea and covered more ground than any other Liverpool player with 10,994 metres as Liverpool outran their rivals by 105,063 to 103,813 metres. Liverpool now have the joint tightest defence in the league with Newcastle and Man City having conceded just 11 goals so far this season. Leiva Lucas has done more towards this than any other player, making a total of 64 defensive contributions across tackles, blocks, interceptions and clearances, followed by Charlie Adam with 54. As well as completing 223 passes in his opponent’s half so far this season, Adam has made 20 interceptions and won 15 tackles, showing the defensive tenacity that started Liverpool’s sublime passing move for their first goal. Suarez played a key part in a beautiful passing move to set up Maxi Rodriguez for Liverpool’s second goal, but may be disappointed in his own goals return this season. The Uruguayan striker has been incredible in build up play but got a return of just four goals from a massive fifty efforts at goal with 54% on target (a conversion rate of 8%) City remain unbeaten after 3-1 win at Newcastle after Micah Richards starred scoring and winning a penalty. Richards is out to probe a point ahead of Euro 2012, and the defender is ranked 18h in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Richards has won 21 of 28 tackles attempted and also recorded an incredible 5 assists and 147 passes completed in his opponent’s area. Balotelli and Aguero both scored penalties either side of half time, and City have three players now in the top ten goalscorers in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero in joint second with ten, and Mario Balotelli with six. City also have two of the top five passers in David Silva in 3rd place (356 completed in opponents half) and Yaya Toure in 5th (333). David Silva has also contributed an amazing 7 assists, and 24 dribbles, this season. Despite their dominance, Vincent Kompany has still had the opportunity to showcase some incredible defensive performances and has made 63 contributions in total across tackles, clearances, blocks and interceptions.

Chelsea 1 LIVERPOOL 2 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Maxi Rodriguez, Glen Johnson Half Time - 0-1 Venue - Stamford Bridge Date - Sun 20 Nov 2011 Star Man – Charlie Adam If only there were more teams like Chelsea eh? Not only are they generously bankrolling our transfers by signing players to sit on their bench, but Kenny simply can't lose against them. He's never lost against them as a Liverpool manager apparently. Impressive stuff. This was a deserved victory, just about. First half was superb, the second was much more difficult but we withstood whatever they could throw at us (which wasn't much really) and then we kicked on again and won it late on. Made up with this, it's always nice beating them as they're such massive twats aren't they? I loved the intent in Kenny's starting line up. I can't deny that I was concerned about how Lucas and Adam would do against the three man midfield Chelsea employ, but how can you not be excited about what Suarez and Bellamy could do to Chelsea's dodgy backline? As it turned out, the midfield did just fine for the most part and Bellamy helped with that by dropping off and sitting on Mikel to negate their extra man. The most interesting selection was Maxi who hadn't started a league game all season. It was the right call as we've been struggling for goals all season and Maxi is more of a goal threat than those who have been getting selected ahead of him. He showed that once again, and surely he has to keep his place now? Henderson, Downing and Carroll were all left on the bench as Kenny reverted to what had served us so well last season. Maxi was a big part of that with his clever movement and neat short passing game. He's on the same wavelength as Suarez and we play some lovely football when he's on the field. And he scores goals of course. It was a brave decision for Kenny to leave out three of his big money purchases. The two signings who started were the 'bargain buys', meaning £70m worth of Dalglish recruits weren't on the field. It was the correct decision, and until those who were left out do enough to suggest they should be playing ahead of people like Maxi and Bellamy, the bench is where they should stay, regardless of how much they cost. That will bring it's own criticism even if the team are winning, but the results are more important than persevering with players in an attempt to show they are worth the money paid for them. I'm certainly not writing any of them off, they are all good players and I'm happy to have them here, but there's plenty of evidence to support the view that we play better when some of the new boys aren't in the side. The 1st half of this game was just like some of the impressive performances of last season. Quick, sharp passing, lots of movement off the ball and great pressure when the opposition have the ball. Maxi was a key component in that last year and Bellamy has shown in his limited opportunities this year that he's another who helps us in that regard. Chelsea couldn't deal with it in the first half. It looked as though we targeted Luiz and Mikel in particular. Any time they were in possession, we pressed them. Luiz is a really good footballer, but defensively he's a major liability and always looks like he has a mistake in him. He's a snide too, he got Lucas booked by making a meal of a nothing challenge (they're mates too) and he tried to pick fights with Kuyt and Suarez too. Fucking Sideshow Bob looking blert. As for Mikel, he's shite, always has been. He's a fucking crab who brings nothing to the game whatsoever. It's always amazed me how Chelsea have stuck with him all these years. You look at the top midfield players they've had (and still have), and then you look at his big dope. How does he get a game? I don't know, but I'm glad he does as it benefits us. The first goal came about as a result of us pressing him. In Mikel's defence, why is Cech playing the ball to him in that position? Cech trains with him every day, he surely has to know the lad is shite? You don't put him in that situation as it's asking for trouble. Charlie Adam closed him down and applied pressure (probably fouling him in fairness), Bellamy collected the loose ball and exchanged passes with Suarez before fooling everybody by feigning to shoot only to roll it to the unmarked Maxi who's scuffed shot beat Cech. No more than we deserved based on the run of play, although it probably should be said that we didn't test Cech at all despite getting into several promising positions. At the other end Chelsea had toiled without ever looking comfortable, but we did have two close shaves when Mata and Drogba both went close. Mata's cross-shot went right across the face of goal but there were no Chelsea players on hand to convert. Then Drogba's deflected free-kick looked like it had gone in, as it hit the back stantion and rebounded along the back of the net. Chelsea's fans celebrated, and Gary Neville and Martin Tyler both continued to think it had gone in seconds after everybody else had realised it hadn't. Knobs. I have to wonder if they were even in the stadium or whether they were watching on a portable black and white telly somewhere as they got other things wrong too, such as blaming Suarez for a foul on Luiz that was clearly committed by Lucas. Maybe they were sat in the section where Chelsea use to put the away fans? The worst view you'll find in any stadium not named Goodison Park. Unless you're unfortunate enough to be sat in the ten rows behind Steve Bruce's head that is. Despite the lack of goalmouth action, I thought it was an intriguing first half. We played very well, especially the midfield duo of Lucas and Adam who bossed it I thought. Adam was all over the place, winning tackles and putting himself about. He was surging forward too and this might be his best performance in a red shirt. I've said that a few times lately so clearly he's doing well. The only criticism I have of the first half display was our passing in the final third wasn't always the best. Suarez was culpable of this a few times, he was a bit up and down in this game. He must have had about five or six nutmegs on Chelsea players and he never stopped running, but he didn't make the most of some really good situations. The movement with him and Bellamy was giving Chelsea's defence plenty to worry about, and at half time it was looking really good for us as surely we'd get chances on the break as they would have to come at us? Didn't work like that though. Villas Boas withdrew Mikel who'd been one of our best players, and sent on the dangerous Sturridge. That freed up Mata to move inside and get on the ball more, and the midfield mismatch I'd been worried about prior to the game was now starting to happen. We still looked comfortable at the back as Skrtel was all over Drogba like a cheap suit, but they were having more of the ball and when we did manage to get it we weren't keeping it. The pressing game that had been so evident in the first half disappeared, and we started to look a bit passive. I don't know if that was a conscious thing, or whether we didn't have the legs to keep playing at that tempo, or if it was simply a case of Chelsea doing a better job of moving the ball. We were starting to get a bit penned in though, and it wasn't a shock when Chelsea equalised. The goal was spawny, a mis-hit shot by Malouda squirmed across the goalmouth and was put in by Sturridge at the back post. Not great defending, as Malouda had too much time and Sturridge wasn't picked up as our defence appealed for an offside they were never going to get. We had to weather a bit of a storm for the next few minutes, they had their tails up and it needed a great save by Reina to keep us on level terms. It needed changing, and Kenny brought off Bellamy to shore up the midfield by getting Henderson in there. I'll admit I wasn't thrilled about it, as firstly I'd have taken Maxi off before Bellamy as he wasn't getting a kick now with the way the game had gone. Secondly, I'd have put Spearing on rather than Henderson. Kenny got it right though, we began to keep the ball better and were no longer getting over-run. Adam was able to get on the ball more now that he wasn't chasing shadows, and the game became more of even contest again. Chelsea made two more changes, sending on two players who are very familar to us. The stage looked set for Torres to come on and score the winner, probably from a Meireles pass. Things like that tend to happen in football, and it was indeed an old boy who came back to haunt his former club with the winning goal, but you'd have got long odds on it being Glen Johnson. It's easy to forget that Johnson even played for Chelsea. I never associate him with them at all. A bit like Scott Parker really. You don't think of him as a former Chelsea player, at least I don't. The only memory I have of him playing for Chelsea was being torn a new one by El Hadj Diouf at Anfield. Not really something you want on your CV. The goal was great though. Lovely raking pass from Adam, great first touch and then a meg on Cole before keeping his composure and rolling it in the corner. There were still a couple of minutes left plus stoppage time, but this was in the bag. I wasn't the slightest bit worried that we wouldn't win, which is a strange feeling. We could even afford the luxury of taking off Suarez. Carroll replaced him and did himself no favours with an awful cameo in which he repeatedly gave possession away. Thankfully it didn't matter. This was a great win, but it also highlights just how costly our inability to beat the smaller clubs at home has been. We should be six points better off right now, with away wins over Chelsea and Arsenal under our belts. That would be a seriously impressive start. Instead, we're in a four way tie for that fourth spot (although Spurs have two games in hand). Our away record is very good and we're not conceding many goals. Interestingly, nine of the eleven that we have conceded have been in the second half. An anomaly, or an issue with fitness? Something to keep an eye on as the season progresses maybe. Star man is Charlie Adam, just ahead of Skrtel and Lucas. Everyone played their part though, even the subs (not counting Carroll). Henderson helped steady the ship and had one fantastic run down the right that led to another sub, Downing, cushioning a lovely ball into the path of Kuyt who made a pigs arse of it. Typical of Downing's LFC career to date as any time he's done something good to create a chance, one of his team-mates has failed to convert it. He has a fight on his hands to get back in the side and whilst ideally you'd want a £20m signing to be in the side and justifying his selection, the flip side of it is look how strong our bench is at the moment. It wasn't that long ago we were sending on people like El Zhar and even Degen to play on the wings in important games. City are up next, and I'm more confident of us winning that game than I would if we were playing QPR or Wigan. We battered City at Anfield last season but they are a much better side now than they were then. Andy Carroll was the star that night and I remember how excited everybody was about him afterwards. He scored twice that night, and has only scored two more league goals since. Still, it's more than the man he replaced. If I were a Chelsea fan I'd be pretty pissed off seeing Torres laughing and joking with some of our players afterwards. Mind you, if I as a Chelsea fan I'd have to kill myself. Team: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Aggr, Enrique; Kuyt, Lucas, Adam, Maxi (Downing); Bellamy (Henderson), Suarez (Carroll):

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LIVERPOOL 0 Swansea 0 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Half Time - 0-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 5 Nov 2011 Star Man – Jose Enrique Every time it looks like we've cracked it, there's a kick in the nuts just around the corner. This was the worst yet, it's still smarting two days later. You can't get those points back, they're gone and they usually hurt you at the end of the season when you look back and see where it all went wrong. Every year we drop points to newly promoted clubs or teams who go on to finish in the bottom three. Every fucking year. It's not just the two points we dropped that hurts this time, it's that we can't even say we deserved to win or were unlucky. Barring the odd exception, we've been the better side in most games this season and it's been poor finishing and bad luck that's been our problem. Not this time. We certainly weren't better than Swansea, and whilst bad finishing was again in evidence there was nothing unlucky about it. This wasn't like the Norwich game where we should have won 5-2. Games like the Norwich one are frustrating but some days the ball doesn't roll for you. This was different, this was an even contest that we could just as easily have lost as won (both teams missed Kop end sitters). Worryingly, it seemed to me that we were out-thought by Swansea. Tactically they got it spot on and the extra man they had in midfield meant they were able to keep the ball and at times we were chasing them around like a dog in a park. It was embarrassing, at times it was like we were playing Arsenal (only without the crap defending). What went wrong? Quite a bit. Kenny named the same team that beat West Brom so comfortably last week, but it's clear now that Swansea are a completely different proposition to the dis-organised mess that Roy Hodgson sent out against us last week. Any criticism of our own performance needs to be tempered with praise for the Swans. I can't speak highly enough of them, I thought they were fantastic and I don't think they'll have any problem staying up based on what they've shown so far. Having said that, we have to look at ourselves and regardless of how impressive Swansea were, the bottom line is this wasn't good enough. It's partly on the players, but also on Kenny and Steve Clarke for me as I don't think we gave ourselves the best chance to succeed with our tactical inflexibility and use of substitutes. It's difficult to fault the starting line up, those players had a good win at West Brom so Kenny kept faith with them. Can't really argue with that too much, and maybe if Carroll buries that sitter early on we go on to win the game comfortably. The starting line up was understandable, but it was obvious by half time that we needed to change it. We'd played some good stuff but the longer the half went the more comfortable and confident the visitors started to look. Swansea's three man midfield were just passing their way around our two with embarrassing ease. We changed a player at the break, but not the system and the problems we had before the break intensified after it. Lucas and Adam have regularly had problems with this, sometimes when they've only been faced with two opponents so against three they have no chance. It's not a knock on either of them especially, it's just blatantly obvious that when a team has an extra man in there it's easy for them to dominate the midfield area against us. They needed help in there, but it never arrived. I actually thought Adam played pretty well, certainly with the ball anyway. His passing was good and there were two or three beautiful defence splitting passes he played inside the full back to Downing (including the one that led to Carroll's miss). Without the ball he struggled and so did Lucas. It's hardly a surprise though, Swansea's midfield three are all good in possession and very busy. The little number seven was superb, I didn't even know who he was initially. I thought he must have been some Spanish lad who was left over from when Martinez was manager there, especially as he was playing like Xavi. Turns out it was Leon Britton, a journeyman who has played most of his career with the Swans but has had spells at West Ham and Sheffield United too. So he isn't Xavi, we just made him look like it. Joe Allen was very good too and those two and Gower just passed their way around Lucas and Adam with ease. In addition to that, both of their wingers were lively and gave us problems and if they had a better striker they'd probably have won the game. What struck me more than anything was how willing Swansea were to knock the ball about even in tight spaces. Hitting it long wasn't an option, they just refused to do it and everything was short and in to feet. Often they'd be passing it around the pitch from one side to the other and we couldn't get it off them. Every time it looked like we were about to force a mistake or a hurried clearance, they'd find a team-mate. They were very impressive. It obviously needed changing at half time, but the problem Kenny faces is how to set up his team whilst keeping Andy Carroll on the field. With him on the pitch we have to play two up front, and therefore one less in midfield. To have the extra man in midfield, one of the forwards has to be left out and it isn't going to be Suarez. The problem is that not only did Carroll cost a shedload of money, but he is now starting to play pretty well. Whilst he's in decent form you want him in the side so he can maybe get on a bit of a roll and justify the massive investment in him. I want to see him in the side playing well and scoring goals and I really like him as a player. However, I can't argue with those who say the balance of the side is often better when he isn't in it. It's an issue at times mainly because the midfield isn't strong enough to just have two in there, unless we're up against old school 442 sides like Stoke or the tactically inept West Brom (games in which Carroll did very well). Leaving Carroll on the bench isn't going to do him any good, but having him on the pitch sometimes upsets the balance of the side as it makes our system very rigid, which is ok against some sides (see Stoke and West Brom) but hurts us against others. Having Kuyt or Bellamy in the team alongside Suarez gives us various other options to change the system during the game, and I keep thinking back to some of the games at the back end of last season when the movement of Suarez and Kuyt was running defences ragged. We can't do that with the big fella, but having paid so much money to bring him here what do you do? He'd never admit it, and nor should he, but if he could do it all over again….. When Bellamy replaced Carroll late on in this game, we ended up piling on the pressure and had several chances. Co-incidence? Maybe. We certainly stretched them a lot more though with Bellamy moving around all over the place. Carroll did his job to a reasonable standard, he won flick ons and knocked the ball down at the back post a few times, albeit to nobody as we didn't have anyone breaking into the box (not Carroll's fault). The job he did wasn't really beneficial to winning the game though, especially given that he failed to do the main thing he was bought to do - score. The bottom line is he simply has to put that chance away. Just has to. Regardless of whatever else he does or doesn't do in the game, a centre forward has to put that ball in the net and Carroll didn't do it. I've defended him all season and will continue to do so, but he isn't going to win over his detractors missing chances like that. There are a lot of doubters out there, most of my mates included actually. I rate him, but at the back of my mind is the fear that he's a square peg in a round hole. Speaking of which, Jordan Henderson has been doing better of late but this game saw him go back into his shell and revert to the 'safety first' football we've generally seen from him when he plays on the right. He did nothing in the first half and bringing him off was an obvious decision. He's a player with potential, but he should not continue to start games on the right of midfield as even in the games he's played well there he's hardly pulled up any trees. Play him in the middle or not at all, as this is doing him no favours. He's extremely fortunate to be in the side ahead of Kuyt and Maxi as his performances haven't justified that selection. I don't think anyone can dispute that at this moment in time. It's a recurring theme throughout the side actually. I like Downing, but he's not done enough to keep out Bellamy or Maxi, and how many people would select Johnson over Kelly right now? Spearing can also consider himself unfortunate to never be getting on the field given how good he was last season. It's frustrating and I can understand people being baffled by some of the selections. Having said all that, and as bad as this was at times, I still feel we are playing good football and for the most I'm enjoying watching us. Even in this game I thought we played some good stuff. Not enough of it, but there was still some good football. There was a really bad spell in the middle of the second half when we completely lost our way, but aside from that our main problem was when we didn't have the ball and how easy it was for Swansea to play football against us. It's happened before too. The second half against Sunderland for example, whilst despite being fortunate not to get hammered even Norwich were also able to get the ball down and play against us, and Brighton dominated possession in the second half of that cup tie. With the ball we're pretty good (until it comes to actually putting the ball in the net of course) but without it we often struggle, even against the 'smaller' teams. I worry about our fitness levels too. Are we so easy to play against because we don't press the ball enough? Or is it just a tactical issue? It's not all doom and gloom though and I'd like to think it's fixable, but we need to be more flexible and most people seem to think we need to go with an extra man in the middle of the park, at least until Gerrard is able to return. That probably means Carroll missing out which is unfortunate for him, but unless Kenny can find a way of strengthening the midfield without sacrificing the big man then I don't see any other choice as we surely can't carry on with Lucas and Adam regularly being outnumbered in there? Despite the points we've squandered at home, I don't feel anywhere near as disillusioned with this team as I did under Hodgson or in the latter part of the Benitez era. Frustrated, yes. Disillusioned? Not yet, it's too early for that and at least I can see us trying to play pass and move, attacking football. The missed chances are doing my head in and teams seem to have a lot more possession against us than we've become used to, but there have been games in recent years where we've seemed incapable of putting more than three passes together. That's not the case anymore. The problems we have are fixable. I think. I hope. Clearly there are some things that need sorting out. The main one being the lack of goals. We've been unlucky with a lot of the efforts that have hit the woodwork, and we always seem to run into keepers who decide to make a name for themselves at our expense. Look at the lad at Norwich, pulls off some great saves against us and then gets beaten at his near post by fucking Yakubu a week later. Expect the Swansea keeper to fuck up next week too. He turned into Superman in the closing stages of this game, but he'll throw one in next week you watch. Still, even allowing for all that, 14 goals in 11 games is not good enough. Scoring goals wasn't a problem at the back end of last season, but two of the main contributors aren't getting many starts and one of them has been sold to Chelsea. I'm not arsed about Meireles leaving, but I can't help thinking that Maxi is very unfortunate to be getting constantly overlooked and Kuyt is missing out because of the need to get Carroll integrated into the side. Downing, Carroll and Henderson have three goals between them in a combined 29 Premier League starts. Pitiful. Let's say Bellamy, Kuyt and Maxi had replaced them in the side for those games. I'd bet my house they'd have chipped in with more than three goals, and there's a decent chance they'd have that many apiece let alone combined. Of course it's not as straightforward as that and there are other things to consider, but neither Downing or Henderson have done too much else either (Downing has put some good crosses in that should have been converted, but not enough of them). The flip side of it is that they are new signings and it usually takes time to build a team. Kenny put his faith in those players when he signed them, as he did with Carroll. He has to give them the chance to bed in and for the team to gel, but the fans are not all going to like that, especially when there are players on the bench more deserving of a starting place. That's why there's a lot of unease at the moment. A lot of people would like to see Maxi and Kuyt back in the side linking up with Suarez, and personally I'd like to see Spearing drafted in to help out Lucas and allow Adam to get forward more as he's shown he's got goals in him. But Kenny is trying to build a team and he bought those players for a reason. He's in a bind now because he can't drop them and go back to what was working last season, as how will he explain that to the owners? They backed him with money, and he now has to back the players he spent it on. There's a growing number of fans who think a lot of the money spent has been wasted. They may be right, there are certainly alarm bells ringing but I feel it's too soon to make that call. Teams don't always gel right away and it can take time. There will be bumps on the road and we've had a few already. Those bumps might end up costing us our chance of a top four spot, and right now it is looking an increasingly difficult task. Things can change very quickly though, look at Arsenal. After their horrendous start they are now level with us. The worrying thing for me is that this was a run of three games that we should have taken nine points from. We managed just five and now we have Chelsea away and City at home. The table doesn't look great right now, and it could look a hell of a lot worse after the next two games. The more difficult fixtures may actually work in our favour though, and the international break may give Kenny and his staff the opportunity to take stock and come up with a way to solve the problems we've been having. I'd be staggered if Kenny went to Stamford Bridge and played 442 with Carroll up front. He'll draft in an extra midfielder and Suarez will be up front in a 433/451. I wouldn't bet against us taking four points from the next two games, but equally I won't be betting on us beating QPR at home after that. After the way we ended last season and the money spent in the summer, I'm sure most of us expected better than the results we've had. There were boos at the final whistle, and it seems that patience is in short supply these days. As early as 15 minutes into this game there were rumblings of discontent whenever a pass went astray. I guess that's a result of the Sunderland and Norwich games, but I was a little surprised as how edgy people were so early into the game. The atmosphere in general was shite all day. Just goes to show that those early kick offs and Sunday games weren't the reason for it, as even 3pm Saturday games are terrible too these days. I'll go for Enrique as the star man, even though I wanted to strangle him when he wastefully sliced that ball into the Anny Road late on. No-one else played better than him, and this was probably the worst Suarez has played all season. Despite that, he was still the biggest threat we had and it's cause for concern just how reliant on him we are for goals. Reina probably deserves a mention too as he made a couple of really good saves. He also almost got caught dallying on a backpass on his goal-line and then spilled a routine shot straight to one of their players (and redeemed himself by saving the follow up) so that's why I went for Enrique. Team: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique; Henderson (Kuyt), Lucas, Adam, Downing; Carroll (Bellamy), Suarez:

Swansea’s top performer in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index is Welsh international defender Ashley Williams. Williams is ranked 56th in the Barclays Premier League having won 71% of his 21 tackles attempted. Williams has also made 15 clearances and 19 interceptions so far this season, putting him in the top 20 in the Premier League for both, along with 10 blocks, putting him in the top 10. Midfielder Joe Allen is the next ranked player in 74th having scored twice and supplied two assists for his team mates The top two players in the Barclays Premier League for dribbles completed are Swansea players Scott Sinclair (57 completed) and Nathan Dyer (40 completed) Scott Sinclair is Swansea’s top goal scorer so far this season with 3 goals. Sinclair has scored his 3 goals from 29 attempts at goal with 52% accuracy Sinclair is joint 9th in the Premier League for total shots at goal Charlie Adam is Liverpool’s top ranked player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index in 33rd place The Scottish midfielder has two Barclays Premier League goals to his name having had seventeen efforts at goal with 65% on target. He has also broken up play with 19 interceptions and completed 167 passes in his opponents’ area (one every 5 minutes 10 seconds) Liverpool’s next ranked player is Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan striker has four goals to his name, but the unlucky striker has had a huge 41 efforts at goal with 23 (56%) on target. Charlie Adam has also covered more ground than any other Liverpool player, covering 104,702 metres so far this season (121.18 metres per minute) Leiva Lucas and Daniel Agger have clocked up the fastest speeds for Liverpool this season. Both have hit 26.83 mph across ten metres (Lucas against Manchester United and Agger against West Brom)

Yeah, Lucas. That's what I said :whistle:

West Brom 0 LIVERPOOL 2 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Charlie Adam (pen), Andy CarrollHalf Time - 0-2 Venue - The Hawthorns Date - Sat 29 Oct 2011 Star Man – Luis Suarez It's doubtful we'll have a more comfortable away game all season than this and it's a little worrying that we only beat them 2-0 given just how completely one sided this was. Still, the performance was good and encouragingly we've won this game at a canter despite having plenty of room for improvement. Three points away from home is never anything to sneeze at. Once again we were guilty of missing easy chances but we did manage to put the ball in the net twice and we didn't make any of the costly errors at the other end that have plagued us so far this season. We were solid at the back, totally bossed the midfield and the front two linked up well throughout. I'd rather us be wasteful in front of goal than not be creating chances at all, but it is still frustrating to watch so many opportunities go begging. One day it will all click into place and we'll batter somebody. I had a feeling it was going to happen at the Hawthorns, but it wasn't to be. Thankfully the Baggies were so inept that they couldn't capitalise on our profligacy. A goal in the last ten minutes would have really made things uncomfortable for us, and that's the concern for me. A game this one sided needs to be put to bed by half time, and Kenny would have been able to then use his subs to give players a rest. He couldn't do that because the game wasn't completely safe even though it was complete dominance from the reds from start to finish. It isn't solely a case of poor finishing, in fact a bigger problem in this game was not taking the right option when we were in promising situations, especially in the second half. The first half was good. We started well and as early as the first minute it was obvious West Brom's defence was going have problems keeping us out. Enrique's superb pass found Suarez in acres of space behind their back four, but for once his touch was off and the ball ran to safety. It was encouraging to see how much space he'd found though. Their defence looked stretched any time we attacked. We had loads of time on the ball, and it was just too easy for us to pass our way down the field into their final third. There was no pressing of the ball, and they were defending too high up the pitch which is a recipe for disaster. You either defend deep and don't press, or press and defend a high line. You don't do what West Brom did, as it's suicide. Hodgson was very agitated and unhappy on the sideline all evening, but he only has himself to blame for how his team approached this game. Referee Lee Mason was the main focus for Hodgson's ire, but I'm not sure why as really he should have been thanking the useless baldy bastard for ensuring the game wasn't over by half time. Mason missed three blatant Liverpool penalties in the first half. Thankfully his linesman spotted one of them and ensured it was given. Hodgson was livid about it, but tough shit. It was a penalty, no doubt about it. It was a very soft penalty, and on first viewing I wasn't even appealing for it. When you look at it again though, there's no doubt. Suarez didn't make a meal of it and he didn't even appeal for a penalty, but he was fouled by Thomas and the linesman got it spot on. It's worrying that Mason needed his assistant to give it though. In the absence of Gerrard and Kuyt, and with Suarez having missed against Sunderland, Charlie Adam seemed the obvious choice to everybody to take the kick. Everybody except Andy Carroll that is, who did his best to get the ball from the midfielder. Adam would not be swayed though, and despite having to wait like what seemed an eternity he eventually stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way. I like that Carroll had enough confidence to want to take it and if Adam hadn't been on the field I'd have no qualms about him stepping up as he's got a left foot like a cannon. He was excellent at Stoke the other night, and he played well again in this game. He was unlucky not to win a couple of penalties himself. First when he was shoved in the back by Olsson when attacking a corner, and then when his header from a superb Suarez cross was blatantly handled by a defender. I'm not one to usually claim penalties for 'ball to hand' incidents, but when the guy's hand is up in the air and blocks a goalbound effort like that, it's a penalty, intentional or not. Shocking decision by Mason as when you look at his positioning he had a perfect view of it. Despite these favours from Mason the home crowd and indeed Roy Hodgson were baying for the official's blood. Every little decision that went against them was greeted with mass derision in the stands and a temper tantrum on the bench. It was like watching a game at Goodison. Hilariously, at one point Hodgson ripped off his coat in frustration and threw it on the floor only to then realise it was a actually a bit nippy and he was going to need it, so he sheepishly picked it back up and put it on again. Fantastic. This year's face rub. Carroll eventually got the goal he deserved just before half time. West Brom had committed men forward for a set play and then gave the ball away cheaply. Lucas released Suarez who played a perfect first time ball into the path of Carroll in the centre. His first touch looked to be a little heavy and Foster was suddenly on him, but Carroll showed good footwork to stroke the ball past the keeper with the outside of his left peg and the ball nestled in the corner. Coming at the time it did it was a real killer for West Brom and it should have given us the platform to run riot in the second half. It never happened though, and not because the home side came out with fire in their bellies and made it difficult for us, because they didn't. They were just as poor in the second half as they were in the first and we were in complete command of the game. We were just so damn wasteful though. Suarez ran amok but didn't have the finish to go with the brilliant approach play. He was unlucky to have a shot blocked after being teed up nicely by Carroll, and he put another couple of efforts off target when he should have done better. Carroll had one fantastic effort beaten away by Foster and another less than fantastic effort go several yards wide when he should have played in Henderson. Enrique had a shot saved and Downing hit the post late on, and there were probably other chances I've forgotten about. In addition to those, there were so many opportunities that went begging due to a poor cross or the wrong decision being taken. Had we been more clinical West Brom were ripe for a proper bumming. We let them off the hook and on another day we could have been punished for it. I'm moaning a lot more than I intended to, as believe it or not I'm actually very happy with things at the moment. We're playing very well, and we're nestled in nicely just one point behind 3rd placed Chelsea. We have depth in the squad and options at every outfield position now. It can't be easy for Kenny picking his team at the moment as there are so many players who will feel they deserve to be in the side. There was no Gerrard, Carragher or Kelly for this game and Bellamy and Kuyt were only on the bench. Skrtel and Agger looked solid despite not really being tested by a feeble West Brom attack sorely missing the talismanic Shane Long. Johnson and Enrique were both very good and supported the attack well. Lucas and Adam bossed the middle of the park and Henderson had another quietly effective game and seems to be growing in confidence. The front two did well, and the only negative for me was Downing who once again just didn't do enough. He could really have done with that late chance going in as he looks like he's in need of a confidence boost right now. Star man is Suarez, who continues to dazzle despite the shite being thrown at him by commentators, media and opposing managers and players. He got booed by West Brom fans for being fouled. He didn't throw his arms up and demand a pen, he was just bundled over and then got up. Yet he was public enemy number one at the Hawthorns (ok, number two behind Mason). It's a joke. Those West Brom fans were in full on Evertonian mode. They booed his every touch and then screamed blue murder wanting him sent off for the crime of slipping over and accidentally colliding with one of their players (who he repeatedly apologised to and kept checking to see if he was ok), and there were several snide remarks by the commentators on ESPN. Then there was the disgraceful hatchet job in the Sunday Mirror yesterday. Bang out of order that, and the club need to come out firing over the shit being flung in Suarez's direction. This all started after the manc game, with Evra's accusation and then Ferguson's snide jibes about 'diving all over the place'. Now every smalltime knobhead is jumping on the bandwagon. Like Paul Scharner for example; "It was a nice dive for the penalty and that got Liverpool well started for the game. He (Suarez) is very good at winning penalties. He's one of the best on the planet, in fact. I had a good view of it. If that's a penalty, then you will find 1,500 penalties are given in every match." Bollocks. Absolute bollocks. LFC should report the stupid cunt for that. And the PFA need to get a grip of him too, as last time I checked Suarez was one of their members and that's a fucking outrageous comment given that it's clear for everyone to see it wasn't a dive, and it wasn't even making a meal of contact. I don't expect any statement from Gordon Taylor though, it can't be easy to talk when you're permanently tonguing Ferguson's balls. As for Paul Scharner, he's a fucking tit. Trying too hard to be 'cool' with his stupid hairstyles. Newsflash soft lad, you're from Austria, it's impossible for you to be cool. I don't wish to offend any Austrians who may be reading this, but it's true. Germany has a reputation for being really uncool, but Austria is Germany's even more uncool little brother. Those multi coloured hairstyles just make you look like you're trying too hard, Paul. People laugh at you. You're like the pensioner in jeans and a baseball cap. Loser. Team: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique; Henderson, Lucas, Adam, Downing; Suarez (Bellamy), Carroll:

West Brom host Liverpool having beaten Midlands rivals Aston Villa in their last Barclays Premier League fixture West Brom covered 110.005km in that game, with goal scorer Paul Scharner covering the most ground in that game with 11.104km West Brom lost their top ranked player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Shane Long, for six weeks in that game. Long had previously scored three goals from eleven attempts at goal with 64% on target. Jonas Olsson scored his first Barclays Premier League goal of the season against Villa, but the Swedish defender has been using his power in the air for more defensive duties so far this season, having made more clearances than any other player (25) Liverpool were held to a draw by Norwich in their last game, with Craig Bellamy scoring his first Premier League goal since returning to Liverpool Luis Suarez saw the post and an inspired performance from Norwich ‘keeper John Ruddy prevent him from getting on the score sheet against Norwich The Uruguayan striker is surely due a change in fortunes, as he has now had 36 attempts returning just 4 goals. Suarez has got 67% of those attempts on target, and is second only to Robin van Persie in both overall attempts and efforts on target. Suarez has had just one fewer attempt than van Persie, but the Dutchman has scored three more goals, while Wayne Rooney has scored 9 goals from 2 fewer attempts than Suarez.

Stoke City 1 LIVERPOOL 2 Report by Dave Usher at the Britannia Stadium Scorer(s) – Luis Suarez (2)Half Time - 1-0 Venue - The Britannia Stadium, Stoke Date - Wed 26 Oct 2011 Star Man – Luis Suarez Have that you pitch shrinking, time wasting, ball wiping, alehouse bastards. Stoke had stolen a win from us once this season and at half time it looked like they might do it again. We battered them, but chance after chance went begging and as soon as we made an error at the other end it was punished with a goal. Story of our season so far that. Then Luis Suarez took matters into his own hands and ensured we got what our impressive performance deserved. Suarez has been guiltier than anybody when it comes to the wastefulness we've shown in front of goal this season, and he'd had several chances in the first half of this game too. It's difficult to hold it against them though, as he's just so fucking ace and he never stops trying. Eventually he was always going to get his reward, and there have surely been few more deserving matchwinners than Luis Suarez in this game, as he just refused to accept defeat and put the team on his back and carried them home. Stoke can fuck off. They deserved NOTHING from this game, and something needs to be done about the amount of playing time that is lost every time they get a fucking throw in. Absolutely ridiculous it is. Throw-in is awarded, their defenders slowly make their way into the box, Delap strolls over and then spends a good 30 seconds wiping the ball with a towel and deciding where he's going to throw it. And this happens over and over. If I wanted to spend half an hour watching a big ugly grock towelling his balls, I'd go the gym. Rory Delap simply can't play football, he only gets a game because of his freakish throw ins, the shit bastard. We were outstanding in the first half. Chance after chance was created, but we just couldn't put the ball in the net. It's been a problem all season, but as I wrote after the Norwich game, part of it is down to bad luck. Little breaks not going our way, like when Carroll's shot was parried by the keeper but just didn't fall right for Suarez and he couldn't direct his follow up effort on target. When things are going well, that falls right into the path of Suarez and he scores. It's also partly down to bad finishing of course. Carroll should have done better with a close range chance on his right foot, but his shot was weak and Sorensen saved. Suarez also should have done better when he burst through the inside right channel just before half time. He was fouled but stayed on his feet and then dragged his shot wide. If he'd looked up Carroll had found acres of space in the centre and would have had a tap in. Some of the football we played was brilliant though, not least the move that ended with Lucas getting in behind and playing a perfect ball across to Suarez who's shot was magnificently kept out by Sorensen. It looked a certain goal, but I'm not sure what Suarez could have done differently. The keeper was on him as soon as the ball arrived and again, this was more bad luck than bad finishing. More specifically, it was great goalkeeping. Stoke had not really done much. There were a few hairy moments from set pieces, including a disallowed goal when Walters flicked in a Delap throw in. I don't know what happened but I do know I heard the whistle before Walters even got his head on the ball. Pulis wasn't happy, but tough shit. He was also upset that Carragher wasn't given a red card for a lunge on Etherington after Spearing had played him into trouble with slack pass. Could have gone either way that one, I'd describe it as a bit worse than a yellow but not quite bad enough for a red. Pulis should just be thankful for the decisions that went their way in the league game and shut the fuck up, the tramp. Stoke were absolutely shocking. Their entire gameplan was about getting the ball into the channels and trying to win throw ins. I accept they have to play to their strengths, and I don't care if they want to play it long or base their whole style around getting set pieces. It's the other shit they do that I don't like. The time it takes them to get the ball in and the way they make sure the game doesn't flow by stopping it as much as possible. Whenever we were building up any kind of momentum, they'd win a set piece and take about two minutes to get the ball back in play. It's so difficult to get into a rhythm against them as they do everything they can to ensure the game doesn't flow and is constantly stopping and starting. And then there's the constant grabbing and holding they do when defending corners. It was happening all night and despite the ref constantly talking to them about it prior to ball being played in, they carried on doing it and he let it go. Having said that, Coates got away with the most blatant one of the game late on when he grabbed Crouch by the arm and hauled him down. The ref saw it, as did all of us behind that goal. He didn't give it though, and whilst he got that wrong at least he was consistent as Woodgate, Huth and Shawcross had been doing that all night. It must be incredibly frustrating to have to play against them but we remained patient, kept playing our football and this time we were eventually rewarded. I'm made up with how we played, I thought we were terrific and on another night we'd have been out of sight by half time. We don't make it easy for ourselves though do we? Aside from the missed chances, we seem to be throwing in one defensive error every game and whenever we do it costs us a goal. Coates clearly should have put the ball into the stands instead of letting it bounce and allowing Walters to dispossess him. That being said, most of the time that leads to nothing. At the moment though, any time we do something like the ball ends up in our net. Walters picked out Jones and his header gave Reina no chance. Right before half time too, a real hammer blow. Presumably Kenny's teamtalk will have been along the lines of 'Don't let your heads drop, keep doing what you're doing and you will win this game." We had to do it without Carragher though, who had picked up a calf injury and didn't come back out after the break. Skrtel came on to replace him and I thought he was fantastic, I was really impressed with him. Coates was decent too, he put his mistake behind him and was solid for the rest of the game aside from the grab on Crouch that he got away with. Everyone played well I thought. Agger was very good at left back, Spearing was superb in midfield (that one sloppy pass to Carra aside) and Henderson was purposeful throughout. The front two were the pick of the bunch for me. Carroll led the line excellently, his link up play was very good and he worked his arse off. He deserved a goal but if he keeps playing like this the goals will come. I hope he keeps his place for the weekend as for me he needs a run of games to get into a groove, and he's starting to show signs of settling in. As for Suarez, what can you say about him? He's just fucking boss, he ran Stoke ragged and that first goal was out of this world. You look at some of the chances he's missed this season and then you see him produce something like that. If he could score the easy ones he'd be scoring 30+ a season easily. The nutmeg was class, the finish was just ridiculous. The ball started out about five yards outside the width of the posts and curled back in. The keeper had no chance, and that's the best goal I've seen a Liverpool player score in years. Probably since Fowler. Genius. We kept pressing looking for the win, and Kenny sent on Bellamy for Maxi. In the first half Maxi had been very influential, but he wasn't as effective in the second half. Bellamy wasted no time getting involved, racing past a defender and laying the ball into Carroll's feet. The big man held it up and gave it back to him, but the shot hit the post. The latest in a long line of shots we've had against the woodwork this season. We kept going but it was looking like extra time was on the cards. Then Henderson spotted Suarez unmarked on the back post, and delivered an inch perfect ball onto the striker's head and we had the lead we deserved. Stoke threw everything they had at us in the last few minutes, forcing numerous throw ins and corners, but we held firm and defended them very well. Admittedly we got away with a blatant pen, but as I said earlier Stoke do that kind of thing all the time. Besides, they were diving all over the place late on whenever there was a set piece so maybe the ref didn't want to give them the benefit of any doubt as he couldn't be sure? I don't care, we got shafted in the league game so if it's balanced out after this then fucking great. We were by far the better team and deserved the win (as I think Pulis actually admitted in fairness). For the most part this season we've played very good football and I'm happy with where we are headed. There's room for improvement, but if our finishing had been up to scratch we'd be riding high in the league despite the lack of clean sheets. There's not much wrong with us that a little change in fortune won't fix. Someone is going to get a mauling from us soon, hopefully it will be West Brom this weekend. As for the League Cup, the draw is on Saturday and the chances are we'll get a tough draw as all the big guns are still in there. Ideally you'd want Cardiff or Palace, but as long as we get a home draw I'll happily take on anyone. I love how we've approached this competition, we've put out a strong team every round but Kenny has still been able to give the likes of Maxi, Spearing and Coates some much needed game time. Whether he'll continue to do that if we draw Chelsea, United or City remains to be seen, but those who have come in have played very well and the side certainly hasn't been weakened by it. Star man Suarez, honourable mentions to Carroll, Spearing, Agger and Henderson. Kenny has plenty to think about ahead of the trip to West Brom, as there are a lot of players who've done enough to deserve a place in the side. I'm not one for making bold predictions, but assuming that Suarez is ok to play then I think we're going to fucking twat Roy Hodgson's side on Saturday. Team: Reina; Kelly, Carragher (Skrtel), Coates, Agger; Henderson, Spearing, Lucas, Maxi (Bellamy); Suarez (Kuyt), Carroll:

1. Grazy 2. Mark 3. Ste Mc 4. Ted 5. Carra D 6. Woo 7. Extremely likely 8.Chris Mul 9. Cris 10. Dave W 11. Dave U 12. John G 13. Rene

LIVERPOOL 1 Norwich City 1 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Craig BellamyHalf Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 22 Oct 2011 Star Man – Luis Suarez Is there a more wasteful team in the Premier League right now than Liverpool? Poor finishing cost us two points against Sunderland, three at Stoke, another two against Manchester United and two more here against Norwich. We should have won every one of those games based on the ratio of chances created compared to our opponents. The only points we've dropped that can't be blamed on missed chances was the drubbing we suffered at Spurs. We're playing pretty well overall, but we aren't finishing off the good work and we're leaving points on the field far too often. Suarez is the biggest culprit, but he's by no means the only one. Carroll and Downing both squandered excellent opportunities against Norwich, Henderson missed chances against Stoke and Manchester United, Skrtel and Kuyt also didn't put chances away in that game with the mancs… I could go on but I won't. Basically it's been the same story every time we've dropped points. Some misses were obviously worse than others, whilst we've also hit the woodwork more often than any other side. It's part bad finishing and part bad luck. Someone is going to get a severe beating from us soon, but that won't bring back the points we've already thrown away unfortunately. This was just incredibly frustrating. Actually no, it was more infuriating than frustrating. We started brilliantly, played some wonderful football early on and created chance after chance. It was ridiculous that we had to wait so long to eventually score, more or less with the last kick of the first half. Suarez, Kuyt and Bellamy in particular were just cutting through the Norwich backline with some incisive football, but the end product just wasn't there. Glen Johnson was back in the side and he got forward well before the break before disappearing in the second half. The chances came regularly early on. Skrtel hit the bar with a good header from an Adam corner, but most of the chances fell to Suarez. The only weakness in his game is that he just isn't clinical enough and fails to convert a high percentage of the chances that come his way, and this game was a perfect illustration of that. He makes a lot of those chances himself through his sheer brilliance and persistence and for that reason it's difficult to be critical of him. The turn he produced to leave two defenders completely bamboozled was genius. The shot he then dragged wide was anything but. You simply have to score there. He was unfortunate with another effort that was pushed onto the post by impressive City keeper John Ruddy. That came at the end of an electrifying move that started with Adam's stunning ball out to Bellamy on the left. Bellamy escaped the full back and cut the ball back to Suarez, and I can't fault his finish as he did everything right. Just a great save by Ruddy. That said, Downing's follow up effort was horrific, he needs to be putting that in the back of the net. Suarez had another chance when Johnson's first time pass found him in the box. He let the ball roll across his body but then dragged his shot across the face of goal. Not an easy chance but he'll feel he should have hit the target. Then he should have done better with a header from a nice Downing cross but he didn't get any power on it. Another chance went begging when Suarez and Bellamy caused confusion in the Norwich rearguard, and Suarez did well to win the ball and drill it across the face of goal but Kuyt hadn't anticipated it and nothing came of it. The goal eventually came just on the stroke of half time. Suarez managed to get in behind the Norwich defence and appeared to have been held back, but Bellamy had ran onto the loose ball and advanced into the box to just about find the net at the Kop end. Not a convincing finish, it went on off the boot of a covering defender, but no-one cared as we'd finally got our noses in front and Bellamy had his second goal in as many starts since his return to the club. Downing's place is surely under threat now, as Bellamy's understanding with Enrique is much better than Downing's at the moment in time. That goal should have given us the platform to go and finish the game off in the second half, but as we've done so many times already this season we ended up making hard work of things due to our inability to put the ball in the net. Even some of the games we've won have been closer than they should have been because of our inability to convert a decent percentage of our chances. Had we put away one of the early chances we created in the second half this would have ended up a comfortable win. We didn't, but there was an element of misfortune involved and we really aren't having any luck at the moment. Suarez produced another breathtaking piece of skill to bring the ball down and nutmeg a defender, but he had no time to set himself as another defender was coming in to challenge. He tried to toe poke it into the far corner but the defender got a touch on it and it hit the post. Can't blame Suarez for that, he was desperately unlucky but it's typical of our season really. Gerrard then went surging through after a one-two with Suarez but his left foot shot was weak and straight at Ruddy. We were getting into some very promising positions but we just weren't taking advantage of them. Bellamy tried to pick out Kuyt with a left wing cross but a defender cleared. He tried again, and this time Downing arrived at the far post and did very well to turn the ball back into the six yard but neither Kuyt nor Suarez were in position to capitalise on it. Norwich were under the cosh but they kept trying to play their football. They knocked it about when they could and had a real pace and purpose to everything they did. They are an extremely well coached team and based on what I've seen so far I don't see any danger of them being relegated. I was very impressed with them, even in the first half when they were getting battered they stuck to their gameplan and kept their shape. They'd had a few half decent attacks without looking overly dangerous, but they certainly looked like they had a goal in them. It wasn't until they sent on Grant Holt that they really offered any serious threat though. Morrison had done his best up there on his own, but he needed help and when Holt came on that the Canaries looked a much more potent threat. At this point it's worth mentioning that aside from our inability to convert chances, the other big problem we've had is making silly errors at the other end. That reared it's ugly head once again, this time Pepe Reina was the culprit. Pilkington's cross was a cracker, and Reina was never getting anywhere near that as it swung away from goal. He shouldn't have come for it, and by coming out like that all Holt had to do was get his head on it and it was a goal. Credit to the striker, he attacked the ball and Carragher and Johnson were powerless to stop him. Pepe should have stayed put though. Maybe he still wouldn't have saved it, but at least he'd have had a chance. We need to cut out these errors, but that's not our biggest issue. You'll always have mistakes, it's impossible to play the perfect game. With better finishing, the mistakes aren't costly. I also think there's an element of bad luck involved here too, we seem to be getting punished for every error at the moment. Norwich's tails were up now though and they could see that Holt was giving us problems with his physical presence. He almost gave his side the lead from another superb Pilkington cross, but this time Pepe had stayed put and was in position to make a smart save. We quickly regrouped and regained control of the game, but we just couldn't put the ball into the net. Kenny replaced Bellamy with Henderson, a move I didn't understand and one that I think weakened the side. Why is Henderson being brought on ahead of the striker we paid £35m for? It doesn't reflect well on Andy Carroll at all. And then when Carroll was brought on, Kenny took off the player who had been signed to provide the ammunition for him! Downing can have no complaints about being hooked, he didn't do enough again and continues to frustrate. He wasn't awful and he still managed to put in three or four very good crosses, but he simply has to do more. He looks a little short of confidence to me and isn't being assertive enough, but that said I'd have taken off Kuyt and told Downing to hug the touchline and bombard Norwich with crosses aimed towards Carroll. I thought Kuyt played well in the first half, but was very poor in the second. Nothing typified that more than a break we had late on when we had three against three. Suarez went to Dirk's left, and Carroll was all alone on the right edge of the box as two defenders converged on the Dutchman. All he had to do was roll it across to him but instead he tried to shoot and the ball looped up into the air. Carroll managed to nod it to Suarez but he put the ball wide. The linesman flagged anyway so it wouldn't have counted, but still, come on Luis put it in the fucking the net. Carroll hasn't had particularly good service for much of his time here, but Gerrard whipped in a great ball that should have been meat and drink to the big fella. He seemed to get a little bit ahead of it though and as a result was unable to get his header on target. He has to score in that situation, and when that didn't go in I knew we were done. There was time for one more opportunity when another great Gerrard cross found Suarez, and although he did everything right and produced a great volley, Ruddy was on hand to make another fine save. It's difficult to take, and it's incredibly frustrating. I was really pissed off after the game, not at the performance but just at the wastefulness we keep showing. I'm enjoying how we're playing and I certainly think we're going in the right direction, I just wish we could put the fucking ball in the net. Is it something we will be able to correct with the group of players we have, or do we need to bring in an out and out goalscorer? That player isn't Luis Suarez, it needs to be Andy Carroll and if it isn't then we're going to have to get someone else in. We could quite easily score six next time out, but the concern for me is that the game after we'd end up wasting a load more chances and drawing a blank. Luck is playing a part too, and if that turns then results like this won't happen. It's incredibly frustrating, but it's not the time to panic. The time to panic is when we stop creating chances and stop playing our football. Still, it's impossible not to look at the points we've dropped at home already, as you just can't do that if you want to be competitive. You have to win at home and you have to beat the teams you're supposed to beat. We've got Chelsea and City coming up soon and we needed to take the three points here to keep pace with the top four as it's not inconceivable that we get nothing from those two games. Dropping points at home to Norwich means you have to make them up somewhere else, against a side that maybe you wouldn't expect to beat. I wouldn't be surprised if we beat City at Anfield or Chelsea at the Bridge, but you certainly can't bank on it and we aren't going to beat anyone unless we start putting away our chances. Star man was Suarez, despite the fact he failed to convert any of the numerous chances that came his way. He made most of them himself anyway, and was a constant menace to the Norwich defence. He also got nothing at all from the referee, and I don't think that is unrelated to the comments made by Ferguson last week. Again, much like last week I didn't see Suarez doing anything wrong and he wasn't 'diving' at all, but Peter Walton just didn't want to give him any decisions. As for the rest, Gerrard and Adam both played well and Bellamy was decent. Team: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Enrique: Downing (Carroll), Gerrard, Adam, Bellamy (Henderson); Kuyt, Suarez:

Last weekend against Manchester United talismanic midfielder Steven Gerrard made his first start in six months following a groin operation and responded by covering more ground than anyone on the pitch with 12.976km, contributing to an overall distance covered of 121.091km by Liverpool. Leiva Lucas had the highest average speed for a Liverpool player with 6.07mph. Lucas has won 92% of tackles he has attempted this season. Jose Enrique is Liverpool’s top ranked player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index in 24th place. The full back has put in 18 crosses and won 83% of tackles entered into this season Norwich have continue to perform above expectations this season and beat fellow Barclays Premier League new boys Swansea 3-1 last week Norwich remain the hardest working team in the Premier League after covering 142.522km in the game Norwich midfielder Bradley Johnson received media plaudits last week for having covered so much ground in the Premier League, and he responded with a lung busting 14.14km distance in the game against Swansea. Miraculously, this was not the most distance covered by a Norwich player, David Fox responded to the challenge and the new that his team cover the most distance overall with 14.286km covered. Russell Martin also covered over 14km in the game (14.067km). The trios achievements are even more remarkable given no player had covered over 14km in a game until this match (although this was assisted with 8 minutes added on) Norwich defender Russell Martin and midfielder Anthony Pilkington both made the EA SPORTS Player Performance index team of the week after their performances in that game Pilkington has scored 3 goals this season from 6 attempts at goal while also putting in 12 crosses and competing 13 dribbles and 66 passes in his opponents half in 7 appearances Marc Tierney continued his rise up the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index to 54th place, making him the highest ranked Norwich City player on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index

It looked like a golden opportunity to turn them over when the teamsheets were handed in. No Rooney, Nani or Hernandez and a midfield of Giggs, Jones and Fletcher? Happy days. The seven on United's bench would probably beat the eleven they put on the field, so there seemed to be a great chance for us to get the win. As it turned out, that team selection did us no favours. Ferguson came to park the bus, and that's what they did. To read the full report, click here.

LIVERPOOL 1 Man United 1 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Steven GerrardHalf Time - 0-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 17 Oct 2011 Star Man – Charlie Adam It looked like a golden opportunity to turn them over when the teamsheets were handed in. No Rooney, Nani or Hernandez and a midfield of Giggs, Jones and Fletcher? Happy days. The seven on United's bench would probably beat the eleven they put on the field, so there seemed to be a great chance for us to get the win. As it turned out, that team selection did us no favours. Ferguson came to park the bus, and that's what they did. We found it very difficult to play through them and the game only opened up late on when they had to come out of their defensive shell and introduce their attacking players. When that happened, we created a load of chances. We couldn't put them away though and had to settle for a point. Frustrating, and yet at the same time encouraging. Steven Gerrard's return was always going to make Kenny's team selection interesting. I was happy to see us go with a three man midfield as I believe that plays to the strengths of all three. Lucas and Adam as a pair hasn't really convinced even though I'd say both have played fairly well individually. Adding Gerrard to the mix should, in theory, help both of them as well as the skipper. The problem is that if you go with the extra man in midfield, someone further forward misses out. Suarez is an automatic selection, so it's any two from Downing, Kuyt, Carroll and Bellamy. This time Kenny opted for Kuyt and Downing, with Carroll unfortunate to sit it out after scoring in the derby last time out. United went with the same system, and both teams cancelled eachother out for most of the first half. They only had one chance, when Evra got to the byline and crossed to the back post where Jones headed wide. We only had one clear chance ourselves, Suarez shooting straight at De Gea after collecting a ricochet following Adam's driving run and shot. Basically the first half was crap, there weren't even any tasty challenges going in. It was pretty dull stuff, and I'd put the blame for that squarely at the door of the mancs. They set out to stifle us, their team selection proved that and the way they played was further evidence. And we weren't good enough to overcome it. When Reina was in possession, they pushed up to mark all of our players and prevent us building from the back. Adam and Gerrard were man marked whenever they dropped deep to try and get on the ball, and United showed virtually no ambition other than to keep us in check. Of course it's up to us to get past that, and for the most part we didn't look capable of doing it, so Ferguson will feel his shithouse approach did the business for them. We knocked the ball around a bit but we didn't get enough from wide areas and most of our play was in front of their defence. Suarez should have done better when he failed to get on the end of a brilliant ball in from Gerrard and he then tried his luck with a shot from inside the centre circle that he didn't quite catch flush and it drifted wide. Not particularly threatening though, and I wouldn't even describe them as half chances. The one time we did get a good sight of goal was from Adam's surging run from deep that took him past a couple of players, but even then it took a fortunate rebound to create the opening for Suarez. He dummied well to make space, but his left foot shot was straight at De Gea. The biggest disappointments of the first half for me were Lucas and Downing. This is the kind of game that Lucas usually thrives in. Not this time, he looked a bit off the pace right from the start, perhaps due to the travelling he'd done in midweek. His passing wasn't as crisp as usual and he just didn't seem to be himself. The harsh booking he collected didn't help either, and he'll now miss our next game through suspension. The rest might not do him any harm actually. As for Downing, he wasn't terrible, but he just wasn't assertive enough. He wasn't trying to get by Smalling on the outside enough, and his understanding with Enrique was off for most of the first half. If Kenny sticks with the 433 system, Downing will have to step it up quite a bit as Bellamy has done well on the left whenever he's had an opportunity. In fairness, Downing got better after the break though I thought. As did the rest of the team. The second period started in much the same vein that the first had. Very tight, not much in the way of chances and stalemate written all over it. As so often happens though, once you get to around the hour mark, the game starts to get stretched and you get chances. Kenny acted fairly swiftly to change things, bringing off Lucas after 57 minutes and sending on Henderson in his place. Lucas had conceded a couple of free-kicks early in the second half (one of them incredibly harsh when Young ran into him) and that may have had a bearing on the decision, as he was probably one more foul away from a red card for persistent offending. Spearing would have appeared to be a more logical replacement, but Kenny went for the more adventurous option of Henderson, with Gerrard dropping a bit deeper to fill the gap vacated by Lucas. It worked well, with Henderson and Adam both getting forward to good effect. We had a decent penalty shout when Kuyt's header struck the arm of Evans. Seen them given, but it's not one I can kick up a stink about as you can't just make your arm disappear. Not much Evans could do about it as his arm was more or less by his side, but if it had been at Old Trafford and it was a Liverpool player…. The deadlock was finally broken with a little over 20 minutes left. I'm not going to say it came in contentious circumstances, because I don't believe it did. The only thing contentious about it was whether Ferdinand should have been sent off for a second yellow. He probably should have but again I'm not overly upset about it. I've got no doubt he caught Adam and despite a lot of talk to the contrary I don't think Adam went down too easily. Why would he go down? His next act would have been to get a shot away as he still had control of the ball and was running into the area. I don't see why he'd go down unless he had to. The contact was minimal, but it looks like he stood on Adam's standing foot which will usually bring you down when you're running. His fall looked pretty natural too, and if it was a dive (and only Adam will know) then he must practice that a hell of a lot as it looked convincing enough to me. Ferdinand's sense of injustice was compounded when Gerrard stepped up and put the ball through the wall and into the bottom corner. Great to have him back, the big fucking leg. Ferdinand was bitching about it on his twitter afterwards, but fuck him. For years he's kicked lumps out of our strikers without any recourse. Torres got some terrible stick from him that usually went unpunished, and the camel faced twat was trying to kick lumps out of Suarez all day as well. You look at some of the cheating bastards he's lined up alongside over the years, and he's got some balls on him calling Charlie Adam out. He should be calling out Giggs, who moved out of the way of the free-kick like a little girl who didn't want to get hit by the ball. Fanny. Ferguson responded by sending on Nani and Rooney. Strangely, Rooney went to a centre midfield position. He was taunted unmercifully by the Kop. "Who's the scouser in the wig?" and "your hair isn't yours, you baldy bastard you hair isn't yours" Whilst I admit I was pissing myself, I was also thinking it might be tempting fate a bit, especially as we had started to sit off them and looked like we were just trying to hold what we had. They came right into it and were seeing much more of the ball than they had been previously. Ferguson played the final ace up his sleeve, sending on Hernandez as they threw everything they had at us. They forced a few corners, but Pepe hadn't had to make a save and we were defending well. Then from one of those corners, Wellbeck got away from Carragher to flick the ball across the face of goal, and Hernandez escaped the attentions of Skrtel to head it in from close range. It's easy to point the finger at our centre halves, but it's incredibly difficult staying with people who are moving around in a crowded penalty area. Wellbeck cleverly shoved off on Carra to give himself some space, and the only way Skrtel would have been able to stick with Hernandez would have been to grab hold of him, which he tried to do and ended up falling over and losing him. How do you stay touch tight to a player who is running around in between other bodies in the box? It's nigh on impossible, you just have to get as close as you can and hope the ball doesn't fall to them. Unfortunately for us, it fell perfectly for United. It was a soft goal to give away, but we had lost the momentum we'd been building before we scored and we paid the price for that. Maybe Kenny should have made some changes, but I could see why he didn't. At 0-0 I'd have definitely been looking to get Carroll and Bellamy on for Downing and Kuyt, but once we went in front suddenly Kuyt becomes much more valuable. I'd have still sent Bellamy on for Downing, mainly because United were having to commit men forward which meant space to counter attack. Kenny opted to stick with what we had, and once United drew level he may have felt changing things then could have unsettled us. I don't know why he didn't change it, but given how the rest of the game played out I'd say he got it right because we pummelled them after that equaliser. I had feared the worst when they equalised and expected us to go on and lose. But we regrouped and looked like the only team trying to win it by the end. Almost immediately after they scored Downing whipped in a stunning cross that Kuyt did well to get on the end of, but his shot went straight at the diving De Gea. Henderson was next to be denied by the keeper, his clever lob being clawed away when it seemed headed for the top corner. Just needed another six inches on that and he's a hero. We then went close from a couple of corners. First when Downing did well to turn the ball back into the middle from the back post only for United to just about scramble it away. Then another when United failed to clear the danger and Adam found himself in behind and nodded the ball across goal towards Suarez. It looked a certain goal but Rooney managed to outjump him and nod it away as far as Skrtel, who ballooned his volley high over the bar. That seemed like it would be our last chance of the game but it wasn't. We continued to pile forward and Downing put in another great cross that found the head of Henderson, but he couldn't direct his header well enough and it dropped onto the roof of the net. Should have done better, but I liked what I saw from Henderson in this game. Playing central with the freedom to get forward, he did very well. We really should have won the game as we were the better side and De Gea was by far the busier of the two keepers. It's frustrating that we couldn't take the three points, but we need to take heart from the performance and make sure we go on to beat the teams we should be beating. If we do that then we'll be in good shape. Having Gerrard back will hopefully give us a huge boost in the coming weeks, it's fantastic having him back and fitting that he scored on his return. Star man was a toss up between Adam, Kelly, Carragher and Suarez. I'm going for Adam as this was his best game for us and I thought he was excellent in everything he did. The way he'd shield the ball when in possession to compensate for not being the quickest was very impressive, and I'd like to see more of him carrying the ball forward like he did on a couple of occasions in this game. Good to see him playing like this and hopefully now that Gerrard is back we'll see more of the three man midfield and therefore more of Adam as an attacking force. I've not mentioned the Suarez / Evra thing as far too much is being said about that at the moment. Let's see how it plays out, I've got my thoughts on it but I'd rather wait and see how this all comes out in the wash before commenting. I will comment on Evra's manager though, the purple nosed, bacon faced cunt. Hate is a word that is much overused in football. I use it far too often myself about people who in reality I don't actually give two shits about in the grand scheme of things. We all do it, "I hate that Jon Walters dickhead" or "I can't stand that Neil Warnock". Really though, it's bollocks isn't it? I do actually genuinely hate Alex Ferguson though. With a burning passion. I despise the man. He's just a massive, malignant, spiteful cunt. Hearing him talking afterwards about 'the boy' Suarez 'diving all over the place' wound me up no end to the point where I was wishing things that I'm really not proud of. I guess I'm not alone in that either. He brings out the worst in people. Just why did BBC have to inflict him on us again, that's what I want to know. Non-Utd fans have been perfectly content not having to look at him and listen to his warped, hypocrital, one eyed views for the last few years, but now they go crawling back to him and we have to suffer that kind of attack on a player who actually did nothing wrong whatsoever in that game. There was not a single dive from Suarez in that game. Not one. So why that attack on him? The vile old bastard is jumping on this bandwagon that was started by Everton a couple of weeks ago. Make sure Suarez gets a reputation so refs think twice about giving him decisions. It's obvious what he's up to, and I bet it works too as most refs are so weak they are influenced by that bullying cunt. He's got previous too, as he did it last year when he had a go at Torres and called him a diver. Torres had become a big thorn in United's side and they'd had people sent off for fouling him. It was obvious what he was up to then, and it's obvious what he's up to now. Roy Hodgson was pilloried for not sticking up for his player, and rightly so. I doubt that Kenny will allow this to go without response, and nor should he. Tell Ferguson to get his own house in order before sticking his purple nose into our business. Team: Reina; Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Enrique; Gerrard, Lucas (Henderson), Adam; Kuyt, Suarez, Downing:

LIVERPOOL U18 2 Man United U18 1 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) - Adam Morgan, Matty ReganHalf Time - 2-0 Venue - The Academy, Kirkby Date - Fri 14 Oct 2011 Star Man - Matty Regan First half goals from Adam Morgan and Matty Regan gave the reds u18 side their first home win of the season today as they edged out Manchester United 2-1 in a tight game at the Academy. Having thrown away some points this season through a lack of concentration, it was important for the lads to be able to see out a close game and hopefully it will stand them in good stead for the remainder of the season. There were no real surprises in Marsh's side. Tyrell Belford was in goal behind a back four of Lewis Hatch, Joe Rafferty, Regan and Tom King. In the continued absense of Jordan Lussey the midfield pair was Peter Aylmer and Baio, whilst the three behind Morgan were Kriss Peterson on the right, Jack Dunn on the left and Josh Sumner in the hole. Nick Barmby's kid was playing centre forward for United. Makes you feel old that, doesn't seem that long ago Barmby was playing his part as we won the treble. His kid looks quite useful and scored a cracker in the second half. Liverpool got off to the perfect start when Sumner's superb cross from the right found the head of Morgan, and he doesn't miss those. Two minutes gone and the reds were 1-0 up. The early exchanges saw Liverpool well in command. Sumner picked out Peterson with a raking crossfield pass and the Swede showed nifty footwork to get away from a couple of chances and create a shooting opportunity, but his effort was blocked. Sumner picked up the rebound but his shot was surprisingly disappointing, he's usually lethal from the edge of the box. Morgan then intercepted a pass across the United backline but his attempted chip didn't get off the ground and drifted well wide. United almost drew level when a free-kick was awarded after a handball by Dunn. It was whipped in low and spilled by Belford, but King was on hand to hack it away before any United player could capitalise. Ten minutes before half time Matty Regan doubled the lead, outjumping the United keeper as well as a couple of defenders to head in a high hanging cross by Peterson. Good work by Regan, but there's no way he should be scoring in that situation and he probably couldn't believe his luck. United weren't offering much in attack, but then a fortunate ricochet of Rafferty saw their gangly forward go clear, but his shot from a tight angle was easily saved by Belford. Dunn had been quiet, he's much more effective centrally than out wide, but just before half time he collected a throw in and then produced a stunning, dipping volley out that hit the crossbar. A great strike, especially as it was on his right foot and Dunn is predominantly left footed. Peterson was harshly booked before half time for a nothing foul, and early in second half Baio was booked for repeated fouling. He didn't really catch the United player, but only because the lad saw it coming and got out of the way. He wasn't happy about the decision but it had been coming. United were starting to come into the game a bit more in the second half, and it was no great surprise when they pulled a goal back through Barmby. It was a bad ball from Aylmer that presented the United striker with the ball, but the run and finish were extremely impressive. Marsh then brought Sam Gainford on to replace King, meaning Dunn had to go to left back. Gainford gave the reds attack a different dimension with his willingness to get down the outisde. Some persistent play down the left by the substitute saw him win possession and cut the ball back to Morgan who took his shot first time but hit it straight at the keeper. Gainford had a good chance to score himself with 15 minutes remaining when he latched onto a terrific through ball by Regan. Unfortunately his lob didn't quite have enough on it and was saved by the keeper. Seconds later Morgan brought a fingertip save from the keeper with a piledriver from at least 35 yards out. Mike Marsh then sent on Dave Moli for Sumner, who's influence on the game had waned considerably after a bright start. The reds were looking to get the killer goal and were pushing forward in numbers looking for it. Baio got himself into the box and looked certain to score but his shot was charged down by a defender. United immediately went up other end and their substitute went clean through the centre. He took too long to make his mind up though and Hatch got back really well to block him twice and the danger was averted. The u18s have given up a couple of late goals this season, including an equaliser last week against Everton with the last kick of the game. This time Marsh was not taking any chances, he made a change to eat up some time, bringing on defender Michael Wilson for Peterson, and both Moli and Morgan did their best to take the ball to the corners and ensure there was no repeat of what happened last week when they lost possession trying to get another goal and paid the price. All in all a good performance and a much needed win. There were some good individual displays but it's difficult to pick one person out. The midfield competed well, Morgan was dangerous, Sumner started well before fading and Hatch had a good game at right back. Both centre backs did well too, and I'll go with Regan as the star man as not only was he solid in defence, but his distribution was good and he scored the winning goal. Team: Belford; Hatch, Rafferty, Regan, King (Gainford); Aylmer, Baio; Peterson (Wilson), Sumner (Moli), Dunn; Morgan:

Liverpool defeated one of their great rivals in their last Barclays Premier League game. Liverpool covered 107.6km in the game against Everton compared to the Toffees 106.4km. Martin Kelly covered more ground than any other Liverpool player with 11.6km while Leiva Lucas had the highest average speed with 5.47mph Jose Enrique is Liverpool’s top ranked player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index in 21st place followed by Luis Suarez in 21st place Suarez has now hit 4 goals in the Barclays Premier League, joint 4th in the goal scoring rankings with a shots on target percentage of 57% Leiva Lucas has been anchoring the Liverpool midfield this season and has won 96% of tackles he has attempted so far. With 23 tackles won he is ranked 6th in the category in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index Manchester United made it 6 wins out of 7 games with a 2-0 victory over Norwich in the last round of games United have 4 players in the top 10 in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Wayne Rooney remains in top spot with midfield duo Oliveira Anderson and Ashley Young in 3rd and 4th place respectively United covered 122.9km in the game against Norwich with Darren Fletcher once again covering the most ground with 12.2km, while Ji-Sung Park showed typical industry in a rare Premier League start by covering the second highest amount of ground with 11.98km Wayne Rooney remains the Premier League’s top goal scorer with 9 goals this season. Rooney has had an incredible 32 attempts at goal this season, one every 18 minutes, getting 59% on target Nani has been a revelation for Manchester United this season. He is their top passer with 185 passes, one every 3 minutes 22 seconds and also the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s top dribbler having completed 32 dribbles. He is also ranked second in the Index for delivering crosses with 29 this season, just 1 behind Damien Duff who has 30 Ashley Young’s stats are another great example of United’s delightful attacking football this season, completing a pass in his opponent’s half every 4 minutes 24 seconds, completing 30 dribbles, and delivering 25 crosses Rooney has gone on the record recently as saying that United are now defending from the front like Barcelona, and the stats show he is right. Rooney, Nani, and Young have won 6, 9 and 5 tackles respectively this season. This is especially impressive when you compare it to cross city rivals Aguero and Dzeko who have each won just one tackle.

Alan Kayll from the Liverpool Supporters Club and TLW Editor Dave Usher join your host 'Numbers' to talk about victory at Goodison, the Rodwell sending off and subsequent appeal and then take a look ahead to the big one this weekend as the mancs visit Anfield. Also, what a difference a year makes. 12 months since the takeover, the lads share their thoughts. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below. To listen in a new tab, click here. Alternatively, you can download it to your computer by clicking here. Podcast Powered By Podbean

Everton 0 LIVERPOOL 2 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Andy Carroll, Luis SuarezHalf Time - 0-0 Venue - Goodison Park Date - Sat 1 Oct 2011 Star Man – Jamie Carragher Merseyside derbies eh? Never a dull moment. It was a pretty safe bet Martin Atkinson would be the name on most people's lips after the game, I'm just glad it wasn't us getting shafted by him this time. The red card was clearly a contentious decision, in fact it was equally as controversial as the decision to not show one for a typical Tony Hibbert lunge. I'm sure David Moyes will have pointed that one out too, being the fair minded good egg that he is. What's that you say? He didn't mention the Hibbert challenge? Well I'll be damned. In fairness, he does have a blind spot where 'Hibbo' is concerned. Selecting him over Phil Neville is proof of that. As my cousin Al said the other day, "Hibbert is Moyes before he found the ring". He's right you know, just look at his face, Hibbert is the Smeagol to Moyes' Gollum. Moyes accused Atkinson of ruining the game with the sending off of Rodwell. Speak for yourself bogeyes, it didn't ruin it for me. I'd say it contributed greatly to my enjoyment of the occasion. I think he got it right too. It was a bad challenge and Suarez is fortunate he wasn't injured by it. Hopefully the FA look at it and increase the ban from three games as frankly that's isn't enough. If the FA are serious about stamping out violent, dangerous play then they need to start handing out stiffer punishments. Of course, I'm taking the piss. Much as I'd like to try and justify the red card, it was clearly a God awful decision. It might actually turn out to be the worst sending off decision we'll see all season in fact. It may have cost them three points or it may not have. No-one knows how this game would have turned out had Rodwell stayed on. No-one. At the time, it was an even contest, a typical derby in fact. Most of these games are like this, high tempo stuff with not much in it until one team scores. Neither side were on top, but that doesn't mean it would have stayed like that. Of course we'll never know because Atkinson's mistake put Everton on the back foot and they remained there for the rest of the game. Did it help us win the game? Hell yes it did, and it makes the win even sweeter just for the comedy element of it. We'll be hearing about this for the next twenty years I expect. Poor old Clive Thomas might start feeling a little neglected. And don't forget about Collina the Kopite. It's not easy having to play in derbies a man down, we should know as we had to do it two seasons back when Atkinson harshly sent off Krygiakos (we still won, so it's not quite the 'game ender' that Moyes would have you believe). As I said in the opening paragraph, I'm just glad we weren't the ones on the receiving end of his incompetence for once. These games are very difficult to referee, but until that decision the game was nothing out of the ordinary with not a bad tackle in sight. He made a rod for his own back after the red card though, as it whipped the mob into a frenzy and they were baying for our blood even more than usual. I thought our players then did a great job of not allowing Atkinson to even up the score. There were a few moments where it looked like one of our lads would go into a 50/50 before they thought better of it, and I'm sure there will have been instructions from the bench for them not to take any risks by going into tackles that could give the ref the chance to 'rectify his mistake'. Atkinson couldn't nail any of our players, so instead he opted for leniency on theirs. Fellaini caught Lucas with a studs up challenge on the edge of the box that was far worse than Rodwell's, whilst Hibbert's lunge on Adam didn't even result in a free-kick, let alone a red or yellow card or even a talking to. That was a potential leg breaker, whereas I didn't even think Rodwell's was a free-kick let alone anything else. That's Martin Atkinson for you though. In fact, that's referees for you. They're all terrible these days and it's getting worse every year. Before Rodwell's dismissal it was shaping up to be an interesting game. We should have scored through Suarez following outstanding play by Kuyt, but seconds later Reina had to acrobatically tip over a header from Cahill. The Aussie is a one trick pony who offers little else other than an aerial threat, but he is unbelievably good at that 'one trick'. Never ceases to amaze me how good he is in the air. Great save by Pepe too. Distin then shot over after showing nifty footwork to go past Skrtel and Enrique, and Saha curled a low shot a foot wide. It was a good even contest at that point, then Rodwell flew in on Suarez and all hell broke loose. I don't know what Atkinson thought he saw but his reaction was immediate, there was no hesitation. Lucas and Adam were both on the spot complaining, but they weren't demanding a red card. It was a typical reaction to a strong challenge on a team-mate, I'm sure they were as surprised as everybody else when Rodwell was sent packing. They did nothing wrong, but I can see why Evertonians would be upset about it. I've noticed Suarez getting criticism too for his part in the incident, but the bottom line is nobody knows how much or how little that hurt. There was certainly contact as Rodwell's knee caught Suarez's ankle on the follow through, and Suarez was limping around for a bit afterwards. He may or may not have been milking it, I don't know and neither does anyone else. The only person to blame for that red card is the referee, it's not the fault of Lucas, Adam, Suarez or Rodwell for that matter. He went in hard and got the ball. His follow through caught Suarez, but it wasn't with his studs it was with his knee. In terms of being dangerous, I don't think it was. Hard, yes. Dirty, absolutely not. It was borderline as to even being a free-kick I thought, never mind anything else. Evertonians don't need much to send them into a seething mass of frothing at the mouth, bile spewing, booing neanderthals, and Atkinson's action was the equivalent of waving a red rag to a bu... well, an Evertonian. The rest of the game saw them booing, screeching 'aaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy' any time one of our players went within five yards of a blue shirt, and of course the usual demands for 'handball!!!!!!!!' whenever a Liverpool player controlled the ball with any part of their anatomy that wasn't their foot, and sometimes even when it was. And that's without even mentioning the 'corner flag mob' and their contorted with rage, hate filled faces (more on them later). Their players were losing their heads too. Cahill was booked for catching Adam (I didn't think it was too bad but was worthy of a booking), Fellaini did Lucas (nasty challenge) and there was the shocking Hibbert assault. They couldn't get on the ball and we were completely bossing it now in terms of possession but they were defending well, especially the centre backs. Suarez shot into the side netting instead of trying to cut it back to Carroll and Adam hit the bar with a terrific strike. The best chance of all came from the penalty spot when Suarez was clumsily chopped down by Jagielka. Stonewall pen, didn't stop the blues from chanting 'cheat' at Suarez though. Dirk is normally the main man from the spot, especially against the blues. Not this time though. It wasn't an awful pen, he just didn't hit it hard enough and Howard got down to make a superb save. Unfortunate for Dirk, he played well I thought. By and large we weren't creating as much as I'd have liked. What we did do was keep the ball and make them work. That would pay off later on. It's not easy when the opposition have nine men behind the ball, but it was difficult to imagine Everton being able to keep us at bay for the entire game a man down and on such a sweltering hot day. They were going to run out of steam, and we had Gerrard and Bellamy to call on. At half time it was difficult to see anything other than a Liverpool victory, but the penalty miss and the shot hitting the bar was weighing a little heavy on my mind. One those days? The way the second half began did little to ease those concerns. Everton looked to have regained their composure during the break and they did ok for a while. More than ok actually, they did about as well as could be expected I thought. Saha had a couple of shots and they got some decent crosses in too. Our back four held firm though, every one of them performed well with Carragher and Enrique especially good. For us, Andy Carroll twice went close with towering headers from corners. One was cleared off the line, the other was deflected and brought a good save out of Howard. It was starting to have stalemate written all over it until Kenny played the aces up his sleeve. Bringing on Gerrard and Bellamy was a no brainer, the only decision to be made was who should go off. Downing was an obvious choice as he'd done nothing. He wasn't doing much wrong, he was just anonymous. I've been saying that most of the season about Henderson, but this time it was Downing who was Mr Invisible. Very disappointing, especially as he was up against the awful Hibbert. I think he's played quite well so far for the most part, but this wasn't good enough and he has to contribute more. Did he even put in a single cross? I can't remember any. The other change wasn't as straightforward. I guess most people would have taken Carroll off, and if it had been 11 v 11 then maybe Kenny would have, we'll never know. Looking at it now, it was a masterstroke by Dalglish leaving Carroll on as obviously he scored. More than that though, I like it because of the intent it showed. I don't think Adam did anything wrong, he played fairly well but they were down to ten men so we got as many attacking players as possible on there. They'd have been happy to see Carroll go off as it would have been one less attacking threat for them to worry about. The mancs have won so many games with that approach, keep sending on attacking players until you break them down. Suarez, Carroll, Kuyt, Bellamy and Gerrard. That's a lot for ten men to handle, especially in that heat. It didn't take long to pay off either. Bellamy and Enrique had shown some good signs of an understanding at Stoke, and it was evident again here as the Welshman collected the ball and the Spaniard flew past him on the overlap. Bellamy's pass was perfectly weighted, Enrique's cut back was cleverly ducked under by Kuyt and Carroll buried it in front of the Gwladys Street. Massive relief, not just because we'd finally broken the deadlock but also because it will hopefully get Carroll going and silence the ever growing number of doubters. Those doubts are justified as he has struggled for the most part but some of the things written about his 'lifestyle' certainly aren't justified. Kenny probably went a bit overboard afterwards and he's more than a little defensive about any questions relating to his number nine. If it helps to get Carroll firing and playing well I don't care how prickly he is in interviews and I'm sure Carroll really appreciates the backing he's getting. The goal was a relief, but we needed another to make it safe and it came when Suarez took advantage of a mix up between Baines and Distin to gleefully side foot past Howard. That tipped some Evertonians over the edge. The goons by the corner flag had earlier been hurling abuse at Adam whenever he took a corner, but now they were yelling more than insults, they were throwing whatever they could get their hands on. Coins, plastic bottles, pies... We're no angels and you occasionally see this from our fans too, usually when Rooney comes to town. It also used to happen to Gary Neville (who brought it on himself and in fairness never complained about it) and I remember some dickhead spitting on Phil Neville when he was taking a throw. Generally it's a rarity however and it's reserved for only the most reviled of opponent. Not excusing it by any means, but as a rule there has to be some history there with the player and it simply doesn't compare to the gauntlet ALL of our players have to run at Goodison. It's just weird I think. I can't imagine being driven to that kind of rage just at the sight of say, Seamus Coleman or Bilyadel… Billyaladi.. Bil.. that Russian lad they have taking a corner at Anfield. I can understand their hatred for Gerrard and Carragher, I can see why they despised Torres and now Suarez as they are/were all seen as symbols of the club. I can't relate to how they can get themselves into a slobbering vitriolic mess over Charlie Adam though, who's only been here five minutes and has done nothing so far to offend their sensibilities other than don the red shirt. Just look at the faces in the crowd when Adam is taking a corner. So much hatred. I've been at Goodison and sat in with the home fans whilst they were hurling all kinds of insults at people like Josemi, Diao, Mellor and Pongolle. It's anyone in a red shirt, no matter how crap or inoffensive they are. I mean Josemi??? Really blues fans?? You want to abuse Josemi? You should have been buying him drinks, not yelling abuse. With Adam off the field, their new target was Craig Bellamy who just stood there laughing at them. He loves that kind of shit, he's in his element. One whopper was screaming insults at Bellamy whilst filming him on his phone. Bizarre. It probably made Bellamy's day seeing how they reacted to him. Suarez also had to deal with it and was hit by a coin (insert your own joke about David Moyes' transfer kitty). His response was to take a brilliant quick corner to Kuyt who was desperately unlucky to hit the post. Would have been a memorable goal that, brilliantly worked between them. * I don't know who to credit for the fantastic gif you see to the right, but whoever it was who produced it, top work. * Gerrard had also come within a whisker of scoring, pity that didn't go in as I'd have loved to have seen his celebration. Kenny gave Lucas a well earned rest late on, sending on Henderson to partner Gerrard in the middle. Lucas was on a yellow card so it made sense to get him off. His little fist pump to the away end was class too. We won 2-0 at Goodison with a team that is still bedding in. It wasn't perfect, but we're only seven games in and we're doing ok. We've got 13 points which is decent but should be better, and we've got four of the most difficult away fixtures out of the way. We've got Gerrard back and Carroll is off the mark for the season. And of course we've got Suarez. I thought this was his worst performance of the season, but he still scored and won a penalty. All in all, I'm happy. I know there's things that weren't especially great but I'm not going to nit-pick over it. I'd rather just savour the moment rather than worrying about how many times Andy Carroll touched the ball in the opposition half or what Charlie Adam's pass completion ratio was or why Craig Bellamy isn't starting etc I understand a lot of the concerns people have, and those concerns may well prove to be justified. I just think it's far too soon to tell and I'm trying to stay positive as on the whole things look promising. Certainly a lot more promising than the last time we visited the Pit anyway. So those concerns can wait for another day. We've got a two week lay off, so for now I'd rather just enjoy the win. We got the three points, Everton got a ready made excuse for losing and something to complain about, so Bonet de Douche, everyone's a winner. My glass isn't overflowing, but it's definitely half full. Team: Reina; Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Enrique; Kuyt, Lucas (Henderson), Adam (Gerrard), Downing (Bellamy); Suarez, Carroll:

Liverpool’s Charlie Adam is the player from either side to be currently ranked highest on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Adam is currently in 23rd place while Everton’s highest ranked player is Phil Jagielka in 75th place Adam has one goal in 507 minutes of Barclays Premier League action this season and has hit the target with 66.67% of his 12 total shots this season. Adam has also won 72.73% of all the tackles he has entered in to this season Stewart Downing has had 7 shots on target (58% of all shots) without scoring this season The Liverpool players covered a total of 112,645m (69.99miles) during their 2-1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend Lucas Leiva was the Liverpool player to cover the most ground (11,900m/7.39miles) during the game against Wolves, closely followed by Charlie Adam (11,637m/7.23miles) and Stewart Downing (10,636m/6.61miles) The Everton players covered a total of 115,703m (71.89miles) during their 2-0 loss at Manchester City last weekend Marouane Fellaini was the Everton player to cover the most ground (12,611m/7.84miles) against Manchester City, followed by Leon Osman (12,112m/7.53miles) and Jack Rodwell (11,099m/6.90miles) Leiva Lucas has won 21 tackles this season, behind only Wigan's Maynor Figueroa and Chelsea's Ashley Cole in the tackles won category of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index Jagielka also has one Barclays Premier League goal this season and has won every one of the eight tackles he has entered in to this season. Jagielka has also made five clearances and six interceptions for the Everton cause already this season The two goalkeepers, Tim Howard and Jose Reina, facing up on Saturday have 462 Barclays Premier League appearances between them, conceding 238 goals (Howard) and 186 goals (Reina) respectively. Between them, they have only received one red card, Reina’s in the 2005/06 season Everton's Sylvain Distin has now won 12 tackles without conceding a single foul this season, making him the cleanest tackler in the league (in comparison Lucas Leiva has conceded 9 fouls from 21 tackles won)

In the first of two podcasts this week, Charlie Adam joins us to talk about life at Anfield, the start to the season and how he thought the chance to join the reds had passed him by last January. Your host 'Numbers' is also joined by Dave Maddock, the Merseyside Correspondent for the Daily Mirror, to preview this weekend's Derby at Goodison. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below. To listen in a new tab, click here. Podcast Powered By Podbean

LIVERPOOL 2 Wolves 1 Report by Paul Natton at Anfield Scorer(s) – Roger Johnson O.G., Luis SuarezHalf Time - 2-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 24 Sep 2011 Star Man – Luis Suarez Prior to kick off yesterday afternoon there was some bewilderment amongst fans - and possibly a little consternation too - regarding Kenny’s selection for this match. After the debacle of the previous league game when we were embarrassed by a far superior Spurs team on the day, the manager had rung the changes for the midweek league cup tie away to Brighton and reaped clear dividend for doing so, even if that game also raised some performance-related question marks in its aftermath. However, the continued selections of Bellamy and Kuyt had seemed certain after their fluid and attack-minded displays on Wednesday night when they linked up well with Suarez. The fact that they reverted to the bench for this encounter was a surprise, therefore. That said, it needs reiterating that this is still pretty much a brand new Liverpool team and Kenny’s selection decisions will be based as much on the need to integrate players as to respect the maxim that you play on merit. In that context, I was surprised to see that, with 30 appearances, Martin Kelly of all people, has more experience in a Red shirt than over half the other players who started the game, including the integral Luis Suarez. Such considerations don’t remove doubts however and I felt a little concerned about playing so many players who are looking for consistent form in a match where - already - the three points were looking very important. To that end, my concerns were born out by a slow start from Liverpool with Wolves putting us under a little early pressure and aided by silly errors from Adam, with an errant downward header that handed dangerous possession to the opposition, and Lucas with the concession of a free kick. This was then followed up by a poor pass back to Pepe by Carra from over on the right hand side that Wolves failed to capitalise upon and all of these early errors served to mute The Kop from the fine voice it had been in during the last home match against Bolton seemingly an age ago. Things began to pick up a little for Liverpool soon after with Pepe looking to re-create the understanding he had with Torres in a succession of decent long passes either directly to Suarez or indirectly via the head of Andy Carroll. Indeed Carroll was involved in the build up to the first goal as he made a nuisance of himself (arguably illegally) in the Wolves box when challenging Roger Johnson for a high ball leaving the centre half poorly positioned for his attempt to head out Charlie Adam’s shot the edge of the box and conceding an own goal in the process. The advantage on the score board clearly settled the players a little and the crowd responded to Luis Suarez’ increasing dominance of the Wolves defence with both gasps and laughter when he tormented Berra down the left flank, forcing him into an air kick before conceding a corner. From that Carroll had a decent headed attempt and soon after another long ball from Pepe led to another moment of Suarez magic when he back-heeled the ball around Johnson before darting past him to try to find Downing bursting forward into a crowded six yard box. The second goal came on the 38 minute mark and it was, unsurprisingly, the result of yet another moment of inspiration from the superb Uruguayan. Darting on to a ball over the top from Enrique, he beat the ponderous Wolves off-side trap and took possession on the left side of the penalty area where a quick double change of feet bamboozled both defender and goal keeper to open up the merest glimpse of an opening at the near post which he duly exploited with a vicious finish from a reasonably narrow angle. Brilliant. The first half ended with yet another moment of Suarez magic in the opposing box as he jinked past several opponents to flick a shot just wide and the interval came with the score looking comfortable even if our all-round play as a team had been far from impressive (the excellent Suarez notwithstanding). Mick McCarthy responded to the deficit with a bold pair of substitutions, sending on the half-fit Fletcher to double his contingent of strikers and also handing a debut to a teenage defender for the second half. This resulted in an almost immediate response from his side as they exploited a fortuitous deflection from Enrique’s attempted clearance of Henry’s cross from the right with a cut back by Hunt to the menacing Fletcher who buried his chance leaving Pepe with no hope of a save. Liverpool almost immediately charged back at Wolves as Downing worked a cross for Carroll to challenge Hennessy for. The ball fell to Suarez who pulled the trigger from almost point blank range only to find the Wolves keeper directly in front of him again for a great blocked save with his body. Enrique and Downing then linked up effectively together for (strangely) the first time in the match in order to put a cross in for Carroll at the back post who rose to head powerfully, but slightly inaccurately against the upright. Soon after, a counter-attack at pace saw Adam feed Downing in the inside left channel but his shot produced another good save from Hennessy. For the next few minutes, Liverpool began to seem nervy with a couple of minor errors from Pepe resulting in half chances for Wolves. However the introduction of Dirk for the largely anonymous Henderson injected a much-needed degree of purpose into proceedings and this was notably supplemented when Steven Gerrard returned to the fray at Anfield for the first time in six months in place of the ovation-receiving Luis Suarez (who nevertheless displayed his frustration at being substituted with an unbecoming show of petulance). From almost his first touch, the captain showed a reassuring freedom of movement and previously lacking display of his trademark aggression and attacking intent. Certainly, there was nothing tentative about his cameo which bodes well both for his state of body and state of mind. The final throes of the game saw him involved in a couple of half chances, the latter of which (coming after a timely defensive tackle from Lucas to break down a Wolves attack) saw Andy Carroll receive the ball in the Wolves area and twist and turn this way and that before the chance finally came to nought with the whistle sounding immediately after. When I came out of the ground I felt a sense of deflation at the lack of fluency and aggression in our football as well as what appears to be a growing issue around the keeping of clean sheets. Furthermore, I fixated on a perceived inability to win second balls and a somewhat relaxed demeanor from Carroll to conclude that things had been pretty poor. However, on reflection - and with the benefit of reviewing the match on TV - I think my initial thoughts were too harsh. Certainly, whilst hardly putting in a world-beating display, Andy Carroll was far better than I initially gave him credit for. In his touch, link up play, positioning and understanding with Suarez, this was an encouraging performance; albeit one that should be regarded as a mere starting point for sustained improvement. I also feel that I was too critical of other elements of our play without giving due regard to the embryonic nature of this team that Kenny is building. Don’t get me wrong: this was no barn-stormer of a match that set Anfield alight. However, nor was it a shambles either. Rather, it was three points earned in slightly tricky circumstances in spite of the fact that we’re still learning how to play with each other after a summer revolution of the playing staff. With the derby up next, we absolutely must find more cohesion throughout the team especially between the various new partnerships we’re building; furthermore, a bit of defensive obduracy can’t come soon enough for my liking. That said, this was a match that saw us come through unscathed with maximum reward and a few small steps taken on the road to full form and confidence. Let’s hope that continues next week at the pit. Star man was Luis Suarez. Team: Reina; Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Enrique; Henderson (Kuyt), Lucas, Adam, Downing; Suarez (Gerrard), Carroll:

Brighton & Hove Albion 1 LIVERPOOL 2 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Craig Bellamy, Dirk KuytHalf Time - 0-1 Venue - Amex Stadium Date - Wed 21 Sep 2011 Star Man – Craig Bellamy We're in the hat for the next round and the Spurs game is out of our system. Bellamy is back amongst the goals and Gerrard was back on the field. All in all, a satisfactory night despite being outplayed for long periods of the second half by a Championship side. The first 40 minutes were superb, we played some great stuff and should have been out of sight. We didn't take our chances though and to be fair Brighton were fantastic in the second half. Whilst it is a little disconcerting seeing a Liverpool side being outpassed by a team from a division below, the important thing is we got the win and progressed to the next round. We're taking the competition very seriously and once again Kenny named a strong side. He was still able to give some bench players some much needed game time, but the core of the team was still there with Reina, Carragher, Lucas and Suarez all starting. Bellamy and Suarez hit it off immediately, ably assisted by Kuyt who was heavily involved in the first half when we were so dominant. The movement of the three was great to watch, as was some of the one touch passing between them. We played very well early on and the opening goal was a cracker. Great movement by Bellamy, perfectly weighted pass by Suarez and a nice finish. Suarez should have added a second not long after when Kuyt's brilliant first time ball round the corner sent him in but he put his shot inches wide of the far post. Should have scored though, his finishing is possibly one of the weakest parts of his game. Not that it's bad, but it isn't as good as other areas of his play. The only thing keeping this from being a rout was the woodwork. Suarez saw a header clip the post, Bellamy smacked the bar with an amazing strike from distance and Spearing saw a fine low shot tipped onto the post by the keeper. At the other end Brighton hadn't done much at all until half time drew near and suddenly they came to life. Their left winger Craig Noone had gotten a fair bit of publicity prior to the game as he's a lifelong Liverpool fan and he'd done some work on Gerrard's house when he was a part timer playing non-league. He looked useful throughout and had a great chance to score five minutes before the break but he hit his shot too close to Reina. Pepe made a meal of it though and it looked like their centre forward would have a tap in but Kelly came to the rescue with a terrific clearance. That gave Brighton hope and they never looked back from that. The second half was all the home side, they were outstanding to be fair. Not the usual 'up and at 'em' lower league stuff either, they just passed us off the park. At one point a stat flashed up on the screen showing they had 61% possession in the 2nd half. I doubt Spurs even had that on Sunday when we were down to nine men! Really impressive stuff from Gus Poyet's side. Noone was superb and was within a whisker of scoring a dream goal when his dipping effort from 25 yards hit the bar. That came after an inexplicably bad pass by Coates across his own box. I wasn't overwhelmed by him, but I'm not particularly bothered about it as it was always going to take him time to adapt. He did ok, but missed a few challenges and positionally seemed to be too close to Carragher a few times. Very early days though and the outing will have done him a lot of good. As well as Brighton played, you still have to look at how we allowed it to happen. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what our problem was. It looked like we just stopped doing the things we'd been doing well in the first half. Lucas and Spearing had bossed the game before the break, but they were barely in it 2nd half. Maxi all but disappeared until he had a hand in the second goal, and Suarez was way below his best. Defensively we were did ok and Bellamy looked sharp all night. We needed that second goal though, especially as Gerrard's introduction was dependent on the game being safe. Had we got a second or third goal the skipper would have come on sooner, but Dalglish had to be cautious if there was any possibility of extra time. Eventually it was time to send him on, and it was no surprise to me that it was Suarez who made way. It makes sense to rest him any time it's possible, and besides, he was playing second fiddle to Bellamy on the night anyway. The crucial second goal eventually came from a quick counter attack. Bellamy collected it down the left and played an inch perfect ball into the path of Maxi who didn't have to break stride. A defender got back at him so he couldn't go on is own, but the ever willing Kuyt had made a great supporting run to his right and collected the pass before finding the far corner with a perfectly placed finish. As it turned out, that goal would prove decisive as Brighton got the goal their performance deserved when a mistake from Spearing resulted in Carragher bringing down Vicente in the box. Pepe's run without saving a pen continued but this was a perfect penalty, you don't save those no matter who you are. The late goal took the shine off things somewhat, especially for Spearing who will be kicking himself over the error. We are making too many mistakes in defensive areas, but I don't expect that to continue and I'm sure we'll tighten things up as the season progresses. Kenny will have some selection headaches ahead of the game this weekend though. Bellamy has surely played himself into the starting line up and it would be harsh on Kuyt if he had to drop back to the bench too. It's also going to be interesting to see who makes way for Gerrard when he's ready to play a full game again. Overall, more positives than negatives but we can't afford a repeat of that second half when we're playing Premier League opposition as we'll be made to pay. Star man was Bellamy, he was head and shoulders above everyone else (insert your own 'no neck' joke here). Team: Reina; Kelly (Flanagan), Carragher, Coates, Robinson: Kuyt, Lucas, Spearing, Maxi; Suarez (Gerrard), Bellamy:

The Liverpool players covered a total of 99,775m (62.00miles) during last Sunday’s 4-0 loss at White Hart Lane. This was 9,359m less than the total distance covered by the Tottenham Hotspur players. The Wolverhampton Wanderers players covered a total of 115,400m (71.71miles) during their 3-0 home loss last weekend. This was 3,376m less than the QPR players covered during the game. Karl Henry and Jamie O’Hara led the way for Wolves during the game covering a total of 12,002m (7.46miles) and 11,150m (6.93miles) respectively. Lucas Leiva was the Liverpool player who covered the most ground (11,833m / 7.35miles) during the game, followed by Jordan Henderson(10,563m / 6.56miles) and Andy Carroll (10,236m / 6.36miles). Stewart Downing may be cursing his luck – the winger has completed 102 passes in the opponents half, put in 14 crosses, and completed 12 dribbles, yet remains without a goal or an assist to his name this season. Wolves defender Richard Stearman is the only player in the Barclays Premier League to have already been shown three yellow cards this season. Stearman and his defensive partner, Christophe Berra, have won 18 and 17 tackles respectively this season. Only Ashley Cole (20) and Maynor Figueroa (18) have made more than them. Liverpool striker Luis Suarez is not known for his defensive qualities and has only won 14.29% of the 14 tackles he has entered in to this season. He is the only player in the Barclays Premier League to have lost more than 10 tackles this season. Wolves midfielder Jamie O’Hara has won every single one of the 16 tackles he has entered in to this season, the most of any midfielder in the Barclays Premier League.