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Tottenham Hotspur 4 LIVERPOOL 0 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Half Time - 1-0 Venue - White Hart Lane Date - Sun 18 Sep 2011 Star Man – Nobody Ouch. Woeful from start to finish. It was torturous to watch and there was no respite from it at any stage during the game. No-one played well, no part of the team functioned even remotely close to an acceptable level and we got our arses handed to us by a Spurs side who aren't even that good. White Hart Lane is becoming a seriously unhappy place for us, bad things always seem to happen to us when we go there. The score looks bad, but the performance was even worse. The only surprising thing was that up until Skrtel stupidly got himself sent off the score was only 1-0. It's understandable that the floodgates opened after that as playing with nine men is nigh on impossible. What went before that though was completely unacceptable. Both red cards were justified, the referee clearly wasn't in any mood for leniency and was certainly a bad jobsworth but much as I’d like to I can’t complain about the two dismissals (had he seen an off the ball kick by Parker on Lucas then Spurs would also have found themselves a man down, but unfortunately he missed it). The ratio of fouls to yellow cards gives cause for complaint, but looking at the incidents in isolation I can’t say I feel particularly hard done to. Adam's first yellow was possibly a little on the harsh side but having already been booked he was stupid to then go in with his foot up. He didn't even see Parker coming and it wasn't a deliberate foul, but you've got to be careful when you're on a yellow and he was reckless. It could even have been a straight red under the letter of the law as it was studs first and knee high. Certainly a yellow and I have no complaints. Defensively Adam is poor, it was a concern for me before we signed him and I've seen nothing to ease those concerns. He'll be an asset for us in 75% of our games but he might turn out to be a liability in the remaining 25%. Better teams can play around him as he's not the quickest, can't tackle and gives a lot of free-kicks away. The Skrtel red card was similar. First booking looked harsh (very harsh in fact but I've only seen one replay of it) but the second one was fucking idiotic and he needs his arse kicking. There was just no need to make that challenge, he just couldn't help himself though. It's his biggest weakness and it's something he's never been able to eradicate from his game. Playing out of position is not an excuse and minutes before it he'd allowed himself to be outmuscled by Jermaine fucking Defoe. Pitiful. To make it worse, he then stayed down on the floor as Spurs attacked.There's your hard man right there. His red card didn't really affect the result, only the margin of our defeat. Going down to nine men made it easy for Spurs to run up the score but it was Adam's dismissal that really ended our hopes of getting anything from the game. We were already 1-0 down and playing awfully. Even with eleven men there was little to suggest we'd get back into it, but going a man down ended any slim chance we had. We'd been sloppy right from the opening whistle and Spurs were right at it. They could have scored a couple in the first few minutes as we were all over the place. When the goal eventually came it was one of those you can't really legislate for. It was an amazing strike from Modric, you just have to take your hat off to him for that. The goal was just one of those things, but I was more concerned with how bad we were when we had the ball, and how easily Spurs were playing through our midfield. We'd started with a 433 formation, yet our three central midfielders were being outplayed by Spurs' two. That simply can't happen. You have three in there so you control the middle of the park, but Parker and Modric took the piss and we didn't get near them. Lucas, Adam and Henderson were beyond useless. That's where our problems started. We weren't great anywhere else either, but it was in the midfield where we lost this game. They didn't protect the defence, they didn't support the attack, and they didn't keep the ball. They didn't do anything. Carroll was rubbish too, even if once again he can point to a shocking lack of any kind of service as a reason for his ineffectiveness and I have some measure of sympathy when I see him sent to the right wing. What's he gonna do out there other than look slow and shit? Completely self defeating having him out there. Suarez looked to be the only hope we had, but he didn't get any kind of support either and eventually became so frustrated it looked like he'd be sent off for dissent. He was booked for sarcastically applauding, and then continued to rant and rave in Spanish at both the ref and linesman. The half time whistle came at a good time for him. It was just brutal all round, topped off by an injury to Agger sustained when trying to prevent Modric's goal. He tried to stay on but eventually had to make way for Coates. Not the kind of situation you'd want a new signing to make his debut in. Coates didn't stand out much either positively or negatively. The only thing I really noticed him do was get done for pace by Adebayor and collect a yellow card for bringing him down. The most alarming thing about this for me is that I had been very confident when I saw the starting eleven. A narrow three in midfield with Downing and Suarez either side of Carroll looked good to me. Skrtel was a concern up against Bale, but Kenny had little choice but to use him there as Kelly and Johnson were ruled out. Flanagan was the only other option but Skrtel had done well in the previous two games and deserved to stay in. He hadn't been up against Gareth Bale in those two games though, and this was a big test. He failed it. Not that he was given much protection. I say 'much' but I should probably say 'any'. I don't know who's job it was to help the full back out, whether it was Downing or maybe Henderson, but whoever it was they didn't do it. After the sending off, we then had Andy Carroll playing right wing. I just couldn't get my head around that at all, it was infuriating. Carroll is big and lacks pace. His technique is decent enough for the kind of player he is (a target man) but he doesn't have the skillset to be able to play on the flank in tight spaces. It reminded me of Egil Olsen's Norway with Jostein Flo on the wing. Why was he out there, it made no sense? It wasn't helping us in any way, and certainly did Carroll no favours. Speaking of which, the white boots don't help either Andy. Try banging in a few goals before you go down that road. Surely Carroll either had to be left up top as the lone forward with Suarez dropping wide, or get him off and put Kuyt or Bellamy on who can both actually play that role. Having Suarez central was probably the most logical move as he was basically the only hope we had of doing anything, so that being the case just get Carroll off. Don't stick him on the right wing and let him struggle. Henderson should have gone off too as he was a total passenger. No-one was getting amongst their midfielders and pressurising them when they were on the ball. The same thing happened at Anfield towards the end of last season actually. I assume the reason Kenny didn't make changes earlier was because there were so many players worthy of getting the hook and he was spoiled for choice. I can't think of any other justification for not doing anything as we struggled so badly. Eventually Suarez and Downing went off, more to protect them for the games ahead than anything else. Downing was anonymous, but then we weren't getting the ball to him because our midfield was so bad. Doesn't excuse his performance, but it does explain it somewhat. There isn't anything remotely positive to take from this. It could easily have been even worse than 4-0, as Spurs had numerous opportunities they didn't take. As for us, it took an hour to even produce some kind of shot. The only effort on target I can remember was a long range effort from Downing. We did have a goal disallowed in the 1st half but Suarez was a yard offside and we can't complain about that. Worth mentioning that had Carroll's touch been better he could have gone himself and Suarez wouldn't have even come into the picture. After three games we were flying and hopes were high. After five games, not so much. Seven points from five games isn't a good start (we're even below Everton who have a game in hand too), but it's still far too early to be judging the side or the new players. What worries me a little is that the teams we have beaten have since been proven to be garbage. Arsenal let in eight to the mancs and just let in four at Blackburn. Bolton shipped five at home to United and just lost to Norwich. We played well and lost at Stoke, but they just got caned by Sunderland. Whilst you can twist these things to suit whatever point you are trying to make, I can't help but be a little concerned. I thought the days of these kind of performances were over, and this was a shock to the system. The two red cards obviously didn't help, but they don't explain the complete ineptitude we witnessed. There are clearly some things that need working out, and the next few games will tell us more about where we actually are as the sample size at the moment is still too small. A couple of weeks ago Spurs were in disarray and we were looking good. Look how quickly things can turn around. One thing that occurred to me whilst watching the game was that when we were playing that great stuff towards the end of last season, some of the players who were influential in that are no longer in the side. Spearing, Kuyt and in particular Maxi all contributed greatly to those performances. I'm not saying we need to bring them all back in and we'll suddenly start hammering teams, but the players who are in the side ahead of them haven't done much to warrant it yet. I can't hide the fact that I'm pretty depressed about it right now. Two consecutive defeats will do that at the best of times, but it's the manner of this one that's really dragged me down. Still, it's a long season and even the best teams can have days like this one. I remember thinking just how bad the mancs looked when we battered them at Anfield last season but they still ended up winning the title. Any team can have a really bad day, the important thing is to make sure they don't happen often and when they do you bounce back quickly. It's up to the players to show that this was just a bad day at the office and to get back on track against Wolves next weekend. That's a game we have to win as the buzz that was surrounding the team after those consecutive wins over Arsenal and Bolton has all but been wiped out now. As we've seen though, things can turn around in a couple of games and if we win our next two then we can put this nightmare behind us. Team: Reina; Skrtel, Carragher, Agger (Coates), Enrique; Henderson, Lucas, Adam; Downing (Spearing), Carroll, Suarez (Bellamy):

Your host 'Numbers' is joined by TLW Editor Dave Usher and Alan Kayll from the Liverpool FC Supporters Club to review the contentious defeat at Stoke and to look ahead to the trip to White Hart Lane this Sunday. In addition, ever wondered what movie roles could be filled by past and present Liverpool stars? No, well the lads discuss it anyway. 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

With Liverpool fans discussing whether Jamie Carragher is still the player he once was, Carra responded by covering more ground in the Stoke game than any player apart from consistent top workers Lucas Leiva and Charlie Adam. Carra has also won every tackle he has gone for and contributed 8 clearances and 2 blocks. Stewart Downing continued his flying form for England by being Liverpool's fastest player, with a top speed of 25.72 mph On the back of his first Barclays Premier League goal of the season last week against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jermain Defoe was the biggest riser on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, rising 260 places to 146th place During last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Stoke City, the Liverpool players covered a total of 121,990m (75.80miles). This was 4,512m less than the total distance covered by the Stoke City players Tottenham Hotspur players covered a total of 118,538m (73.54miles) during last weekend’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers Lucas Leiva was the Liverpool player who covered the most distance (12,335m / 7.66miles) against Stoke City, closely followed by Charlie Adam (12,196m / 7.58miles) Gareth Bale and Niko Kranjcar were the two Tottenham Hotspur players who covered more than seven miles last weekend. Bale covered a total of 12,213m (7.59miles) and Krancjar covered 11,770m (7.31miles)

Stoke City 1 LIVERPOOL 0 Report by Dave Usher at the Britannia Stadium Scorer(s) – Half Time - 1-0 Venue - The Britannia Stadium, Stoke Date - Sat 10 Sep 2011 Star Man – Charlie Adam "I think we have been respectful to the referees. But more important than being respectful to the referees in their campaign is having respect for Liverpool Football Club. And if I feel they are suffering in any way, shape or form, then I think I'll just need to go the same route as some other people go and see if we can gain some benefit from that. I'll speak to the owners first and see what they say, because the last thing I want to do is have my behaviour to impinge on the club's success in any way, shape or form." Very strong words from the King, justified too in my opinion as this was really hard to take. Usually when we go to Stoke we're garbage but this time we went there and basically dominated the game. Not quite from start to finish, but certainly for at least three quarters of it. I don't like using referees as an excuse, but sometimes it's impossible to ignore it. Kenny's right, the difference between the two sides was Mark Clattenburg. I'll certainly concede that we didn't help ourselves with some poor finishing, but essentially we lost this because of a penalty that never was, and two or three that probably were but Clattenburg ignored. It's not just sour grapes, it's a fact. If you're going to give a soft penalty like the one awarded when Walters dramatically flung himself to the floor the second he felt Carragher's arm go around him, then you can't suddenly become Mr Lenient when Stoke's players decide to start playing basketball in their own box. Three times there were strong appeals for handball. One was an absolute stonewall penalty, one could have gone either way and I haven't seen any replays of the third one so cant really comment. Dalglish has every right to feel aggrieved. His comments were basically a case of "I've tried keeping a dignified silence, but that's not working. If the owners are ok with it maybe I'll go down the Alex Ferguson route and just bully officials to the point where this doesn't happen to us anymore" Stoke never looked like scoring, they didn't cause us any problems and they couldn't even get out of their own half after the break. It was completely one sided, but until the final twenty minutes or so we really didn't do enough in the attacking third. Clattenburg is the reason we lost, but he isn't the reason we didn't win, if that makes any sense? That's on ourselves I'm afraid, for leaving it too late to really turn the screw and for wasting the clear opportunities we created. I guess what I'm saying is Stoke wouldn't have scored without that gift from the official, but it's our own fault that we didn't then do enough to get back into it. I didn't particularly agree with the side we went in with, but I understood it. The team played so well last time out against Bolton that it's understandable Kenny chose to stick with them. That included Skrtel at right back, and once again I thought he did pretty well. Defensively he was fine, and he did his best to get forward whenever possible. The end product wasn't always there, but that's ok as to be fair he's no Steve Nicol or even a Glen Johnson. He did about as well as could be expected I'd say. My main gripe with the team was up front. I thought Andy Carroll was a certainty to start this one. Firstly there's the height aspect. Him coming back for set pieces would have helped neutralise their main goal threat. Secondly, after the week he's had in terms of bad headlines (through no real fault of his own this time) it would have been just like Kenny to put him in there and say 'go and show 'em son'. Instead Dirk kept his place alongside Suarez. As it turned out, we didn't need Carroll to deal with their set plays as they hardly had any and those they did have we dealt with comfortably. In an attacking sense though, it didn't work. Usually as a pair they combine really well, but it just didn't happen for them in this game and Kuyt was fairly anonymous before he eventually made way for Carroll. The first half was scrappy, as you'd expect against Stoke. They don't play football, and it's difficult to play any against them. Not because of their style of play, but because of the pitch. Funny how teams only seem to have difficulty passing the ball against Stoke in games at the Brittannia. We don;t have problems at Anfield, but going to their place is usually a different story. I lost count of the number of times passes played into the feet of our players came up just short and were intercepted. I didn't think anything of it at the time, I was just frustrated with the team. It was only afterwards when I heard it mentioned that they deliberately allow the grass to grow longer to make it difficult for passing sides that it clicked. Enrique, Lucas and Adam in particular struggled with this a lot before the break I thought, and there were far too many for it to be a co-incidence. The second half was better as the player's adapted and put a bit more fizz into their passes. We started brightly enough, Suarez put a shot over from 25 yards early on and we were on the front foot in the opening exchanges. Stoke were looking for Crouch at every opportunity but he wasn't really getting any kind of decent service and Agger and Carragher were coping easily enough. Then out of nothing they were awarded a pen. The way I saw it from behind that goal, Walters barged Carra who lost his balance as a result and put his arm around the player in an attempt to steady himself and stay on his feet. Walters flung himself to the floor, and my first reaction was that the ref would blow for a free-kick in our favour. I couldn't believe it when he pointed to the spot. Having seen the replays, I stand by that view. It wasn't a penalty, it was either a free-kick to us or 50-50 and you let it go. Walters is a big lad, it should take a hell of a lot more than that to put him on the floor. A clear dive, and I hate all this justification of it by commentators and pundits. "He felt the contact so he's entitled to go down". Really? That's acceptable now is it? If players are 'entitled' to hit the floor any time a defender puts a hand on them, then we're going to see fifty penalties every game, half of them against Martin Skrtel. Walters is one of those players who seriously grates on me, but until this game I had no particular reason for it other than I think he's dogshit and I don't like his face. He's just a big bruiser, a slightly less shit version of Shefqi Kuqi if you like. I didn't appreciate him shushing the away end after scoring a pen that he'd cheated to win, and it offends my footballing sensibilities that he now has a winning goal against Liverpool on his CV. He joins a not so elite club that includes such luminaries as Ian Marshall, Helder Postiga, Tommy Mooney and Kevin Lisbie amongst others. Clattenburg may as well just have awarded a goal instead of a pen, as the days of Pepe saving spot kicks are in the distant past. Players are clearly now just smashing them up the middle as they know he's diving before they take it. There was a time when his goalkeeper coach would be pointing that out to him. Not any more it would seem. It's too easy these days. I say again, can we not bring back Xavi Valero? We didn't deserve to be behind, especially due to the nature of the goal, but there was still plenty of time to turn it around so I wasn't unduly worried. We lost our way a little bit after the goal though, and passes were going astray too often. Charlie Adam was one of the biggest culprits, but I was ok with it as it was Adam that was constantly trying to get on the ball and get us playing. He never hid and became more and more influential as the game wore on. One thing I have to give Stoke great credit for is the blocking by their defenders. Every time it looked like we had a clear opening a body would appear from nowhere to charge down the shot. The best opportunity we had before the break was a shot over the bar by Skrtel when he arrived late in the box to get on the end of a Suarez cut back. Apart from that, every other shot we had seemed to be blocked and they really did defend superbly. There was also a clear handball that wasn't given. I couldn't see it at the time as it was down the opposite end, but when you see the replay it was a definite pen. There's always that grey area of ball to hand and whether it was 'deliberate' or not, but you can't stick your arm out and then palm the ball with your hand. Penalty all day that. Clattenburg didn't want to know though. I felt it it was obvious at half time we needed to change things, as did most of those around me. Kuyt had not done anything, neither had Henderson and Downing had been largely disappointing too. In Downing's case I felt we just weren't getting him enough of the ball. He was up against Huth, and that's a match up I'd expect him to win more often than not. He can't do it if he doesn't have the ball though. Kenny did it change it at the break, but not with the use of substitutes. He switched Downing and Henderson, which was a bit puzzling. It was probably worth having a look at Downing on the right, but I couldn't see Henderson doing much on the left other than cutting inside or passing the ball backwards to Enrique. For the most part that's what he did, but there was one break through the centre that should have turned the game on it's head. I don't know how come he ended up in so much space but when Enrique sent him clear he simply has to score in that situation. I didn't have any confidence that he would though, and when I asked a few mates afterwards they said the same. I don't know why, but I fully expected him to miss. Too much time to think about it, and he just bottled it. The tame shot straight at the keeper was straight out of the Emile Heskey handbook. Henderson was fortunate in that he got a second bite at it as the rebound fell nicely to him. He missed that one too, not getting enough height on his shot and allowing the keeper to save again. The third effort was well blocked by a covering defender but Henderson then did well to get the ball to Adam. His first shot was blocked yet again but he showed great composure to take the ball goalwards and looked to have done everything right until the finish, which was saved by Begovic and scrambled to safety. Part of me knew then we weren't going to get anything from this game. There was still plenty of time and we were well on top, but when something like that happens you do start to wonder if it's one of those days. Henderson put another presentable opportunity high over the bar from 18 yards, and was hooked shortly afterwards. He probably felt like shit, I felt sorry for him. Kuyt went off too as Carroll and Bellamy entered the fray. Bellamy made an immediate impact, twice playing Enrique in on the overlap as the reds piled on the pressure. One Enrique cross found Downing on the far post but his header was saved. The other was looking for Suarez but was cut out by a defender. Suarez wanted a corner and flipped when he didn't get it. He was getting more and more frustrated and had earlier gone nuts at Henderson when he missed that great chance. Suarez's temper snapped completely when his cross struck Upson's outstretched arm but no penalty was awarded. From behind the goal it looked a blatant penalty and the travelling fans went nuts. So did Suarez, who ran over to harrass the linesman, cursing and baring his teeth like a rabid dog. A yellow card was inevitable but merely rubbed salt into the wounds. The move that had led to the 'handball' was superb, as Suarez and Downing combined to slice through Stoke. Downing was becoming more and more involved, and was very good in the last half hour of the game. He produced a series of good crosses that came to nothing, but he also blazed a shot over when he should have at least hit the target. Johnson also came off the bench to replace Skrtel but had only been on the pitch about a minute when it appeared he'd injured himself again. He was running back but seemed to be treading water and got completely left by Kenwynne Jones. After that he wasn't going forward much and it was clear he'd done something. He tweeted after the game his hamstring went again. Looks like Skrtel will be keeping that job next week then. Bellamy headed wide from a Downing cross and Suarez went close when he ran through several challenges and dragged a shot just wide. The final opportunity of the game fell to Suarez as Begovic flapped at an Adam cross and the ball dropped at the feet of the Uruguayan, but he failed to hit the target as the ball rolled agonisingly wide. He was distraught, as were the fans behind that goal. This was our first defeat of the season and it was an undeserved one. It was really difficult to take and it was just an incredibly frustrating afternoon. "We're Stoke City we'll play how we want" sing their fans. Fair enough, I don't mind them going long ball and playing for set-pieces. Doesn't bother me if that's how they want to play. Letting the grass grow bothers me, as does the gamesmanship shown by Upson when he went down with an 'injury' a yard from the goal-line just to try and kill our momentum. Clattenburg should have told him to step off the pitch for treatment, instead he stopped the game and let the physio on, the dick. No surprise that Upson was fine to continue. I hate him too, he's just a fucking head on legs. Begovic also feigned injury to try and get Lucas in trouble. There was minimal contact - if any - but he went down clutching his face demanding the referee do something about it. Shithouse. We'll batter Stoke at Anfield, but it won't make up for the points we lost here. I don't know if I'd have rather we'd been outplayed or not. It would have been easier to accept the result but then there wouldn't have been anything positive to take from it. Not that it's easy to take anything positive from a kick in the bollocks, but all I can say is compare it to the game at the Britannia last season. We lost that one too, but the difference in the performances was night and day. We weren't great this time and we can certainly improve on what we saw, but to go to Stoke and completely dominate them as we did is not something you'll see too many teams do. Take away Clattenburg's contribution and the wastefulness in front of goal, and we win this easily. Look at the stats for possession, shots on goal etc Completely one sided game. We just didn't make our superiority count. You have to be pleased with how comfortably we dealt with their aerial threat. That was in large part due to not letting them get near enough to the goal to pose any problems, and I can barely remember them having any long throws either. That was encouraging, the lack of end product wasn't. You can't miss chances like those Henderson and Suarez had and expect to win games away from home. Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if we went to Spurs next week and won comfortably. Hopefully this result was just a little bump in the road. An undeserved bump, although some players will feel they weren't at their best and certainly didn't perform to the levels they did against Arsenal and Bolton for example. Enrique's standards certainly slipped from what he's shown so far, although I thought he was much improved second half. Carragher had a day to forget too. The penalty was unfortunate, but he hit too many long balls and more to the point, they weren't particularly accurate. Lucas wasn't himself either, at least not in the 1st half. Usually he rarely wastes a pass, but a few went astray in the opening 45 minutes. Carroll was frustrating when he came on as too often he wasn't getting in the box when the ball was out wide. We don't want you showing for a five yard pass from Downing out wide, we want you busting a gut to get on the end of the crosses he'll be putting in!! Kuyt was poor, Henderson didn't play well and looked devastated when he went off, yet despite all this we still dominated for most of the game. I guess that is a positive, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. I mean if we can completely boss a game against Stoke despite having numerous players below their best, we should be pretty good when everyone plays well. Referee's permitting, of course. Team: Reina; Skrtel (Johnson), Carragher, Agger, Enrique; Henderson (Bellamy), Lucas, Adam, Downing; Kuyt (Carroll), Suarez: Update: Turns out that Walters is an Evertonian: "My dad is from Liverpool, but it's a Blue family so we're all happy. My brother was up there in the stand, and he's a Blue as well. Most of my family are Evertonians apart from the wife's father who is a red, but most of them will be happy and so will I because I'm a blue". And suddenly it all falls into place. That'll be why I couldn't stand the fucker despite not having any really good reason for it. I can smell them a mile off, it's like a sixth sense.

Given that you've both posted from the same computer I'd say there's a decent chance you know eachother.

Neil Mellor talks Olympiakos, Arsenal and life after Liverpool as well as discussing the NextGen Tournament and who of the current crop of youngsters have caught his eye. Your host 'Numbers' is then joined again by TLW Editor Dave Usher and Alan Kayll from the Liverpool Supporters Club as they recap Exeter, Bolton and transfer deadline day before looking ahead to the weekend's game with Stoke at the Britannia. 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 though, 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 U18 2 Derby County U18 3 Report by Dave Usher at the Academy Scorer(s) - Jack Dunn, Adam MorganHalf Time - 1-0 Venue - The Academy, Kirkby Date - Sat 3 Sep 2011 Star Man - Jack Dunn Jack Dunn scored a cracker and Adam Morgan notched his second of the season but the reds u18s suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat at home to Derby today. Dunn's brilliant strike had given the reds the lead at the interval, but Derby equalised within 15 seconds of the restart before scoring twice either side of Morgan's goal in a crazy four minute spell to condemn Mike Marsh's side to their first loss of the campaign. Despite having several players unavailable, including recent signing Nacho (no international clearance) skipper Joe Rafferty (played for the reserves the other night), England u18 full back Brad Smith and Swedish winger Kris Peterson (both injured), Marsh was still able to name a strong side with plenty of quality. Jamie Stephens was in goal behind a back four of Peter Aylmer at right back, Tom King on the left and Matty Regan and Michael Wilson in the middle. Jordan Lussey and Lewis Hatch were in midfield and the three behind lone striker Morgan were Josh Sumner, Dunn and Henoc Mukendi. The reds came close to opening the scoring within the opening ten seconds, as Sumner got in down the right and his cross was spilled by the keeper in the direction of the lurking Morgan, but a defender managed to clear the danger before the prolific reds' frontman was able to pounce. Derby then had a couple of decent opening themselves, and it was obvious from early on there'd be goals in this one. Sumner then released Aylmer on the right and his deep cross was nodded down by big Henoc into the path of Morgan, who's blistering drive was parried behind for a corner by the keeper. Less than a minute later the keeper was again having to get down to make a stop to deny Morgan, and this was all in the first five minutes. The opening goal arrived in spectacular fashion after quarter of an hour. Derby only partially cleared a corner and the ball dropped to Dunn about 16 yards out on the right side of the box. He almost had his back to goal but somehow managed to turn his body and unleash a fantastic half volley that flew into the corner leaving the keeper with no chance. Wonderful technique. Derby almost hit back immediate though as a free kick was whipped in from the left wing and the centre forward got a glancing header on it that had Stephens scrambling. The ball drifted just wide of the post though. 22 minutes in and it should have been 2-0 to the reds. Morgan picked out Mukendi with a fine pass and he brought the ball down and struck a powerful low shot that hit the base of the post. The rebound fell invitingly to Morgan seven or eight yards out but he somehow managed to put the ball over the bar. It was on his weaker foot, but still you'd back Morgo to put that away 99 times out of 100. The visitors continued to pose a threat themselves, and went very close twice in a minute, with both attempts going just past the post. Seven minutes before half time Dunn had another opportunity when Morgan raced clear down the right and picked him out in the box, but the ball arrived at a difficult height and Dunn couldn't get anything on his volley. He looked to have injured himself in the process and was hobbling around for the remainder of the first half. It didn't stop him producing a classy little 'around the corner' pass to send Morgan through to go around the keeper and score, but a linesman's flag ensured that one didn't count. So half time and the reds lead 1-0. I take a stroll over to the other pitch to see how the u16s were getting on, and watched them for about 10 minutes (for those who are interested they were 1-0 down but came back to draw 1-1 thanks to a Callum Pilkington goal). I got back round to the u18 game a minute or two after they'd restarted, only to discover a few minutes later that Derby had equalised about 25 seconds after the restart. Haven't seen the goal, but apparently it came from a left wing cross and was finished by their big number nine, Ball. Mukendi should have done much better not long after when more good play by Dunn sent him clear, but he sliced his shot wide of the near post when he needed to go across goal or to roll it into the path of the supporting Morgan. Marsh made a double change on the hour mark, introducing Yalani Baio for Hatch and Sam Gainford for Mukendi in like for like substitutions. Derby went in front from a set piece that was beautifully converted by Ball who whipped a shot over the wall and past Stephens into the far corner. Terrific strike but I thought the award of a foul in the first place was harsh, as although Wilson came over the striker's back to win the ball it looked to me like the forward was backing in and there wasn't much else the reds' defender could do. The lads didn't let their heads drop and hit back very quickly, as Baio won the ball on the corner of the box and curled in a perfect cross for Morgan to head the ball in off the underside of the bar. Great cross, great header, game on again. Morgan and Dunn were anxious to retrieve the ball and get the match restarted, but the Derby centre half was having none of it and some verbals ensued. I think the defender was then rightly booked by the ref, and the momentum was with the reds at this point. Nathan Quirk came on for Sumner in a straight swap immediately after the goal as Marsh looked to inject some further pace into our attack and try to strike whilst the iron was hot so to speak. Then amazingly Derby took the lead again. Picking up a loose ball in the middle of the park, their midfielder played a ball in behind Regan to send the striker racing clear. He cut the ball across the box where England schoolboy winger Kwame Thomas had a simple finish. Really frustrating for the reds, who looked to have done the hard part by getting back on level terms only to fall behind again so soon afterwards. It was crazy stuff now, it like watching an NBA game where it was just going from end to the other. The madness almost continued as the reds were within a whisker of equalising again almost immediately afterwards. Baio found space in the box and forced the keeper into a terrific save, and as Quirk closed in on the rebound it looked a certain goal but the keeper was up quickly and got enough on the substitutes shot to deflect the ball over the top. From the corner, Dunn pulled the ball back to Lussey 25 yards out and the midfielder showed great technique to control his first time side footed shot but the ball flew inches wide. It really was a fine attempt as hitting a first time shot on the run like that is a very difficult skill to master. Would have been a fantastic goal had it gone in. Quirk and Morgan then combined to almost fashion an equaliser but Morgan was just about crowded out and Quirk couldn't quite reach the loose ball before a clearing defender. Dunn and Morgan both had shots comfortably saved and despite seven minutes of stoppage time the reds couldn't get the goal their play had deserved. A draw would have been a fair result, and as Mike Marsh pointed out afterwards it's a long time since many of these players tasted defeat as last year's u16 side were virtually unbeatable. They paid the price for a couple of lapses of concentration and for not being as clinical as they should have been in front of goal. There were some good performances though, not least from Dunn who although not in the game as much as Marsh probably would have wanted, made things happen whenever he got on the ball and looks a class act. I thought Baio was very good after coming on too, but Dunn is clearly the star man. One final observation. I've commented before on how beneficial it has been with the Academy and reserve sides all using the same 4-2-3-1 system and how the players all now know it inside out. It's been a key part in the recent success of our Academy sides, but there are times when it is also hindering them slightly I think. There's no flexibility in it, as the system is never changed, only the players are. That poses a problem in games where we are behind and you'd like to get another striker on. It happened in the NextGen defeat to Sporting the other week, when Morgan had to make way for Ngoo as without changing the system there's no ideal way of having them on the field together unless you play one of them out of position. It's the same for the 18s, as Morgan and Dave Moli can only play together when one of them - usually Moli - is out wide, where they are nowhere near as effective. The first team have a flexibility about them as Dalglish is not averse to changing the system and often does it several times within the same game. It could be a 442, 433 or one up front and three behind in the 4231. The reserves and Academy sides are very rigid however and never seem to stray from the 4231. I wonder if it's something that we may start to see happening, in particular with the reserves? I'd like to see how Morgan and Ngoo played together as a pair, and for that matter I'd like to see what Morgan and Moli could do together. I don't know if it will happen, as the system being used now is very effective and the players are extremely comfortable in it. I've got no issue with it as for the most part it works extremely well. I just think it restricts you to only being able to have one out and out forward on the pitch, and given that we have two very good goalscorers in the u18 squad that can occasionally be a drawback, especially when we're chasing games. I don't know, it's just something I've been thinking about a bit recently. Team: Stephens; Aylmer, Wilson, Regan, King; Hatch (Baio), Lussey; Sumner (Quirk), Dunn, Mukendi (Gainford); Morgan:

The reds' second string got their season off to a losing start, as a mad five minute spell in the middle of the 1st half proved their undoing. Leading 1-0 through Conor Coady's early strike, a mistake by Stephen Sama gifted Swansea an equaliser and minutes later Emanuel Mendy conceded a penalty and was red carded. The home side converted the spot kick and despite a valiant second half effort the young reds couldn't get back on level terms. To read the full report, click here.

Swansea City Res 2 LIVERPOOL RES 1 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Conor CoadyHalf Time - 2-1 Venue - Parc-Y-Scarlets, Llanelli Date - Wed Aug 31 2011 Star Man - Raheem Sterling The reds' second string got their season off to a losing start, as a mad five minute spell in the middle of the 1st half proved their undoing. Leading 1-0 through Conor Coady's early strike, a mistake by Stephen Sama gifted Swansea an equaliser and minutes later Emanuel Mendy conceded a penalty and was red carded. The home side converted the spot kick and despite a valiant second half effort the young reds couldn't get back on level terms. Swansea fielded a very strong, experienced line up and this was a good test for Rodolfo's young side. Nathan Eccleston provided some senior experience for the reds, but David Amoo had to settle for a place on the bench as 16 year old Raheem Sterling and 17 year old Toni Silva filled the wide berths. Liverpool were without a number of players due to international call ups, including John Flanagan, Jack Robinson, Andre Wisdom and Jonjo Shelvey who are on England duty. The reds lined up with Tyrell Belford in goal and a back four of (right to left) Joe Rafferty, Mendy, Sama and Matty McGiveron. The midfield duo were Coady and Suso, with Krisztian Adorjan joining Sterling and Silva behind lone front man Eccleston. It was a dream start for the away side, as Swansea failed to clear an Adorjan free-kick and Coady had a simple tap in at the back post. It was almost two not long afterwards when Silva skinned his man and got to the byline before picking out Eccleston, but he couldn't quite direct his shot inside the post and it flew inches wide. The reds were looking quite comfortable if a little wasteful in possession, but then out of nothing Sama failed to cut out a cross and Beattie was left unmarked for a simple finish. That was quickly followed by a moment of madness from Mendy as he recklessly brought down Beattie from behind in the box. The ref had little choice but to award the pen and send Mendy back to the dressing room. The experienced Cotterill made no mistake from the spot and Borrell's lads had a mountain to climb. Coady dropped back into defence and Michael Roberts was brought on to replace the unfortunate Adorjan who had to be sacrificed. Swansea dominated the rest of the half and went close to adding to their lead a couple of times but the score remained 2-1 at the break. The second half was shaded by the ten men, they created the most chances and played the better football. Sterling was involved in most good things, he worked tirelessly up and down the flank and had the beating of the full back. Swansea were doubling up on him most of the time but even then he still got away a few times. The arrival of Ngoo in place of Eccleston gave the side a boost as his presence and persistence began to cause Swansea some problems. It wasn't always pretty from Ngoo and he looked like Bambi on ice at times, but he ruffled some feathers and for the final twenty minutes of the game the reds were on top. Sterling had a left foot shot saved by the keeper and then a great run saw him somehow wriggle away from two defenders but his attempted cut back didn't reach Silva. Swansea had a number of defenders back and Silva was the only option for Raheem to pick out. Really good play though. Silva was then replaced by Amoo who wasted no time making his presence felt, forcing a save out of the keeper after a terrific ball by the excellent Roberts sent him racing clear. He had options in the centre but it's difficult to criticise him for going himself as it was a good shooting opportunity. Sterling went very close with a low shot from the edge of the box that skimmed the post and Suso almost released Ngoo but the striker was challenged just as he was about to get his shot away. The goal just wouldn't come though as Swansea bounced back from a heavy defeat to the mancs last week to record the victory. A disappointing result and not a great first half even before the five minute meltdown, but the second half was encouraging given the circumstances. Suso and Roberts did well in midfield, whilst the full backs were both fairly solid. Star man for me though was Sterling, he was the best hope of getting his side back in it and also worked hard defensively too. I think this may actually have been Raheem's first start in the reserve league, which is surprising given how well known he is at such a young age. Given his talent he probably won't be in the reserves for too long, but he'll certainly be fun to watch whilst he is. Team: Belford; Rafferty, Mendy, Sama, McGiveron; Suso, Coady; Silva (Amoo), Adorjan (Roberts), Sterling; Eccleston (Ngoo):

LIVERPOOL 3 Bolton 1 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Jordan Henderson, Martin Skrtel, Charlie AdamHalf Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 27 Aug 2011 Star Man – Lucas Looks like we learned from the Sunderland game then. Just like on opening day, we produced a wonderful first half performance but had just a one goal lead to show for it. Thankfully there was no second half horror show this time though as we stepped it up even more and made the game safe with plenty to spare, ensuring that when a defensive lapse occurred this time the only damage it caused was to the pride of the captain. It's difficult not to get carried away after this, as it was really, really good. Bolton are one of those middle of the road sides who can cause you problems if you aren't on top of your game. A bit like Sunderland really. If a top six side plays well, they'll always beat a Bolton, Stoke or a Sunderland etc, but if they aren't at it then it's very easy to drop points against them. Owen Coyle's men were completely out-matched at Anfield though, as every one of our players hit form and some of the football produced was scintillating. They didn't stand a chance, and unlike Sunderland they didn't have Phil Dowd to bail them out. Having said that, this ref was shite too and we're fortunate that his errors didn't cost us. There was one surprise when Kenny's team was named, only a mild one, but I'm sure there will have been the odd Ancelotti style eyebrow raised when Andy Carroll's name was omitted from the starting XI. I don't think it's unfair to say that Carroll's absence from the side and the wonderful football we produced on the day are not entirely unrelated. As I've said before I'm an Andy Carroll guy, but since he's been here we've played most of our best football with him on the bench or in the stands and Kuyt in tandem with Suarez. I don't think it's Carroll's fault as such, but it is a fact. Ideally I want to see Carroll in the side, but I can't really put up any kind of argument with anyone who says it should be Kuyt alongside Suarez. It's up to Andy to do enough to prove he's got more of a claim to the shirt than Dirk, and right now he hasn't done it. It's that simple. I think he will eventually do that, but the great thing for us is that we can wait because we aren't reliant on him as we can cope just fine without him. At the back end of last season when we had Kuyt and Suarez paired up top we began to look really good. When Carroll came back in, we didn't look quite as free flowing (the one notable exception being the Man City game). Since then we've added people like Downing, Henderson and Adam to the mix, and whilst it's going to take time for that to gel properly it's impossible not to be excited by how all of those players performed against Bolton. Two of them scored, and Downing has done just about everything but get on the scoresheet so far. Every game he's gone close and he's slotted into the side seamlessly, forming an exciting combination down the left with the mightily impressive Enrique. That left hand side was just too much for Bolton to deal with, especially when Suarez joined the party with his regular forays out there. He and Downing linked up very well on a number of occasions, and it's very encouraging to see those two starting to strike up such an early understanding. Gerrard is really going to love playing with them when he gets back too. The opening goal was a thing of beauty and originated down that left flank. Downing moved inside taking the full back with him whilst Suarez ran into the space down the channel dragging Cahill out of the centre. Suarez received the ball from Enrique and then played possibly the pass of the season so far in to Downing with the outside of his right boot. Downing's first time volley was top drawer and deserved a goal but that tramp Jaaskelainen made a fine save. Kuyt picked up the loose ball and fed Henderson and although his first shot was blocked he then curled one into the top corner with his left foot. Great finish. Henderson has improved with each game so far. This was easily his best performance, and it appears that Kenny is going to keep playing him even though a lot of us would still have Meireles or Maxi (who'd be my personal preference) in the side over him. His technique is sound, his touch and control are generally excellent and he showed good crossing ability at times too. My Mackem brother in law text me after the goal saying 'enjoy it, he doesn't get many'. That's the challenge facing him though, he needs to find the net regularly because both Maxi and Raul have shown they can do that. I still think he has been playing things safe a bit too much when he has time to try and do something more positive (understandable for a young lad in a new team), but there were definite signs of that changing in this game. He was demanding the ball much more than he has previously and he clearly enjoyed himself. If he plays like this every week then he'll more than justify his place in the side. It's only one game though so let's see, but it's great for him to break his duck so quickly. Henderson was involved in most good moves in the first half, including the first real opportunity of the game that started when a Bolton corner was cleared to Suarez in the centre circle. He wriggled away from his marker and was cynically taken out of the game but play was correctly waved on as Henderson seized on the loose ball and released Downing. Unfortunately the winger's touch was too heavy and a defender got back to clear. No yellow card for the defender who took Suarez out though. Great to see us hitting teams like that though, and it's a direct result of a change that Kenny has made that I've been calling for since the days of Evans. Evans, Houllier, Benitez and Hodgson all brought everybody back for corners, and it did my fucking head in. If you leave one up, not only do they have to keep two - sometimes three - back, but you also have someone to hit when you clear the ball which means it doesn't always come straight back. Kenny leaves Suarez up, and we're much better for it. Henderson created another opportunity for Kuyt with an absolute peach of a cross that the Dutchman just couldn't get anything on. A corner was awarded so perhaps a defender got a slight nick on it to take it away from him. It was great to watch though, fast, incisive attacking football and we were coming at them from all angles. Adam was heavily involved too, and he picked out Suarez with the kind of pass that helped persuade Kenny to sign him, but Luis couldn't quite gather it when any touch would almost certainly have led to a goal either for him or the supporting Kuyt who was all alone in the centre. Suarez then should have done better when he was put through by the influential Henderson, but his audacious chip landed on the roof of the net. The only criticism that can be levelled at Suarez - and I hate levelling any criticism at him at all as he's rapidly becoming one of my all time favourite players - is that he isn't always as clinical as he should be. Having said that, if he was then he'd be in the top three players in the world as everything else is ridiculously good. We had strong appeals for a penalty when Downing collected another brilliant Adam pass and knocked the ball past Steinsson who deliberately handled. The ref gave a free kick right on the edge of the box and booked the Bolton full back. I couldn't tell if it was inside from where I was sat, but turns out the ref got it right. Probably more through luck than good judgement based on his second half display. Kuyt then blasted a shot just over following another good build up. Bolton's only effort of the first half was a stinging volley by the lively Petrov that was punched clear by Reina. The only negative of the opening 45 minutes was another injury to Martin Kelly. It didn't look too serious, but it's a further indication that the lad has a touch of the 'Daniel Aggers' about him. Thankfully he's not quite a 'Fabio Aurelio' (not yet anyway), but he does tend to pick up a lot of injuries and it's the only knock on him as otherwise he's a top, top prospect. With Glen Johnson still not fit and Jack Robinson preferred to John Flanagan on the bench, Kenny had no other right back to call on. When Skrtel was brought on I imagine that like me most people assumed that Carragher would be moved to full back. That's what would have always happened in the past so it was therefore surprising to see Skrtel go to full back, especially given what happened the last time he played there when he was given a chasing by Downing at the Riverside. It proved to be an inspired move as Skrtel was outstanding. Carragher and Agger are playing well as a pair and keeping them together meant that there was very little disruption to the backline, especially given how well Skrtel slotted into right back. With the impending arrival of the highly rated Sebastian Coates (who was watching from the stands), Skrtel has done himself no harm here by showing another string to his bow. The first half had been brilliant and the crowd were well into it. I've just realised that I haven't even mentioned the best player on the pitch yet either. Whilst Suarez, Kuyt, Adam, Downing and Henderson were posing Bolton all manner of problems, Lucas was earning most of the plaudits from the crowd as his constant pressurising and strong tackling set the tone for our dominance. Whether he was winning headers against Kevin Davies, or snapping into challenges against Re-Coker, Lucas seemed to be everywhere in the first half. He wasn't as dominant after the break but he didn't need to be as we put the game to bed fairly early on. This kind of display is becoming the norm for Lucas under Kenny's management. He'd been playing well for a while before Kenny took over but he's gone up quite a few notches since. He's probably now not far off the standards Mascherano set when he was here. With Spearing also coming on in leaps and bounds we're in good shape in that position. For all our dominance and flowing football though, there was only one goal in it and I couldn't help but think back to that Sunderland game a couple of weeks ago. Would Kenny be telling them not to make the same mistakes as last time, where we came out flat after the break and just got flatter? How would we approach the second half? And would Scruffy Jaaskelainen snub the applause of the Kop like he usually does? Well yes, he did, the fucking skidmark. Can't stand him. Him and that Dean Kiely gobshite who used to play for Charlton. Ungrateful turds. Whatever Kenny said in the dressing room worked, as if anything we raised the tempo even more from that impressive first half. Bolton just got blown away as wave after wave of attacks descended on the Kop end goal. Adam had a shot deflected just wide, Downing cut inside but shot well over and there was a real momentum building. Bolton couldn't get out of their own half, and the crowd were right into it too. It was great stuff. Suarez continued to torment poor old Zat Knight and should have had a penalty when he went past him on the right flank as he entered the penalty area. He looked to have ridden Knight's attempted tackle but then crumpled in a heap after he'd seemingly gotten away. My first reaction was it had to be a penalty as why would Suarez have gone down when he was in the clear? My second was that I didn't really see much contact and it looked like he'd gone down a bit easy. From my seat in the Main Stand my view of what happened was obscured by the large frame of the prone Bolton defender, and it was only after the game I heard that Knight had grabbed Luis' foot and pulled him down. Given that the linesman had a similar view to me I can't blame him for not seeing it, but the ref needs to be in position to give that. He got it wrong, but if he thought it was a dive then why didn't he book Suarez? Thankfully we didn't have much time to dwell on that injustice as Adam whipped in a delicious corner that Skrtel gleefully powered into the net. He's usually got a head like a 50p coin but he met this one perfectly and it was a cracking goal, the kind of which we rarely seem to score. Adam's delivery was so good though it was just begging to be finished off. We were on a roll now and Anfield was rocking. Within no time it was 3-0, as Kuyt fed Adam and he fooled everyone by not cutting back onto his left foot, instead rolling a shot into the bottom corner with his right peg. That's what he brings to the side, goals and assists from midfield. We haven't had enough of that down the years, and if Adam could notch double figures from the middle of midfield that would be massive for us. He's started his Liverpool career quite well without being especially spectacular, and like Henderson this was his best game so far. It's really exciting to see the new players all settling in and making their mark so quickly. It's even more exciting to think how good we'll be when they've had more time to bed in properly and when we have Gerrard and Johnson back on the pitch. Mind you, could Enrique 'bed in' any more than he already has? He looks like he's been here for years. He's been flawless so far, at both ends of the pitch too. Often full backs are either good going forward and suspect at the back, or good defenders who offer little going forward. On the evidence so far, Enrique is one of the few that is equally good at both. It's still early days and it's probably best to wait a dozen games or so (I still remember being fooled by Josemi), but he really looks the part doesn't he? Defensively he's been impeccable, he's good in possession and he showed in this game that he can get down the line and whip quality crosses in. He's strong as an ox and I didn't realise how fast he was until the second half of this game, when twice he turned on the afterburners and blew by Bolton players who had several yards start on him. Given the fee we paid, he might be the best bit of business we did this summer, and he's probably the one I had the least expectations of too. He looks way better than I thought he'd be, I just hope he keeps it up. At 3-0 Bolton were all over the place, and Suarez was causing mayhem. He was desperate to score and started getting really pissed off with himself and his team-mates. He went mad at Henderson when the midfielder broke clear but didn't play the pass early enough. Suarez had pulled off into space and had been screaming for a pass that didn't come, and he was livid. If he was angry then, I thought he was going to assault someone when Jaaskelainen picked up a backpass from Robinson and wasn't penalised for it. Suarez had been chasing it down and almost got there too, but the keeper just bent down and picked it up. It was the most clear cut decision of the game, yet the ref and liner both let it go. I was dumbfounded by it, and still am now. Even if they thought that Suarez possibly got the first touch on it before the keeper handled, there's no way they could have been sure of that and given that the keeper made no attempt to go for it with anything other than his hands, why would you give him the benefit of the doubt there? Replays confirmed Suarez didn't touch it, and this might be the worst decision we'll see at Anfield all season. Thankfully it didn't matter. The linesman also showed he wasn't paying proper attention to what was going on when Henderson and Adam worked a clever corner only to have it pulled back. Henderson went over to take the kick, but then made out he was leaving it to Adam who was walking over. Henderson had actually taken it though as he nudged the ball out of the corner box, and Adam collected it and ran towards goal before being pulled back because of the linesman's flag. Adam and Henderson weren't impressed, as it was clearly a training ground move. Good to see us trying that kind of innovative stuff. Suarez was becoming increasingly agitated as he tried to maintain his record of having scored in every game. He overhit the ball as he tried to go past a defender and then berated himself even more than he'd done Henderson. It was funny watching him. Funny and endearing. He's just so desperate to do well, and Kenny must have been tempted to leave him on so he could get his goal. Zat Knight will have been desperate to see Suarez depart, the poor fella was run ragged all afternoon, to the point where he almost tied himself in knots as he controlled the ball by the Main Stand touchline simply because he knew Suarez was in the vicinity. Much as I'm sure we all wanted him to stay on, the prudent thing to do was to bring him off. The game was won, and although we don't have another game for a fortnight, Suarez has been called up by his country I believe so any rest we can give him will hopefully see us rewarded later in the season. He was replaced by Carroll and once again we didn't look as good with Suarez off the field. Of course in the interests of fairness you have to factor in that the team eased off a bit at 3-0 up, but still, it would have been nice to see us knock in a couple of goals with Luis on the bench. In truth we probably should have. Downing put a sensational cross in that flew across the goalmouth just begging to be finished off, and then Enrique produced two more similar efforts. All three came to nothing as Carroll - and to a lesser extent Kuyt - failed to get in there to finish them off. I've regularly defended Carroll due to the lack of service he's had, but I can't complain about service this time as he could have had a couple of tap ins today if he'd gone into the areas a centre forward is supposed to go into. John Aldridge made a career out of getting on the end of the kind of crosses that Carroll stood and watched yesterday. Kenny could do worse than put on a DVD of all Aldo's goals and show Carroll how it's done. Aldo is the player Carroll should be looking to emulate. Comparisons between Carroll and Drogba are unfounded, as Drogba has much more pace than Carroll. Aldridge was a different type of player to Carroll too, he wasn't as physically imposing or technically adept as Carroll, but the big man could learn a lot from the positions Aldo would take up and how he led the line in a side containing the likes of Barnes, Beardsley and Houghton. Comparison's between Suarez and Beardsley are obvious, whilst Henderson's current role isn't too dissimilar to that of Houghton in that he doesn't have to stick to the touchline and has freedom to play further infield and get into the box. Downing is no John Barnes (who is?), but against Bolton he was playing the same role that 'Digger' excelled in and that ball he whipped across the face of goal late on was vintage Barnes to Aldridge, except 'Aldridge' was caught on his heels and didn't anticipate it. I'm not suggesting Kenny is trying to replicate that side, but there are certainly some comparisons that can be made in how the team is set up and the style of football they are trying to play. Carroll can be a big part of it, but he has to do better and he also looks like he needs a confidence boost too. He's about the only one you can say that about, as the rest of the side look very assured and confident in what they are doing. The goal at the end was frustrating, and only happened because we were 3-0 up and cruising. 99 times out of 100 Carragher clears that ball with his right foot into the back row of the Main Stand. With a comfortable lead he decided to try and bring it down with his left foot and let Petrov in. Carra did remarkably well to get back at Petrov and nick the ball off him, but could only divert it into the path of the clinical Klasnic who buried it past a furious Reina, who you can hear yelling when you watch it on TV! I don't think I've ever heard a goal at Anfield greeted by complete silence before. Even when we're playing some tinpot Eastern European side who only have 20 fans in the upper Centenary, you still hear SOMETHING. Bolton's fans are a joke. They took a pitifully low allocation anyway for a fixture that's only 45 minutes up the road, and they didn't even sell that. Their corner looked about half full, and those that had bothered to stay til the end couldn't even muster an ironic half arsed cheer. Awful fans. As for us, we've started the season well and given the complete mess both North London clubs seem to be in, a top four spot looks to be there for the taking. We look like a good side now, and there's every reason to think we will improve further when everybody gets to know eachother better through playing together more often. Unfortunately we've now got to wait two weeks to play again because of yet another shitty international break. At least we're going into that break on a high, imagine how long these next couple of weeks are going to seem to Spurs and Arsenal fans. *sniggers* Star man could have been any one of about six or seven, but I'll go for Lucas based on his phenomenal efforts in the first half. Could just as easily have been Suarez. Or Downing. Or Enrique. Or Skrtel. Or Adam. You get the picture. Team: Reina; Kelly (Skrtel), Carragher, Agger, Enrique; Henderson (Maxi), Lucas, Adam, Downing; Suarez (Carroll), Kuyt:

Job done. This is how it's supposed to be isn't it? A far cry from the shambolic exit to Northampton last season and other cup horror shows like Barnsley and the battering we took at the hands of Spurs' second string. Kenny got the balance right and picked a strong side - including our most important player - but he was still able to give run outs to a couple of youngsters and to other key members of the squad who needed playing time. To read the full article, click here.

Exeter City 1 LIVERPOOL 3 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Luis Suarez, Maxi Rodriguez, Andy CarrollHalf Time - 0-1 Venue - St James' Park, Exeter Date - Wed 24 Aug 2011 Star Man – Luis Suarez Job done. This is how it's supposed to be isn't it? A far cry from the shambolic exit to Northampton last season and other cup horror shows like Barnsley and the battering we took at the hands of Spurs' second string. Kenny got the balance right and picked a strong side - including our most important player - but he was still able to give run outs to a couple of youngsters and to other key members of the squad. Good job he did play Suarez actually, as without him who knows what the outcome may have been. The talismanic Uruguayan scored one and made two. He's been involved in every goal we've scored so far this season. There are some star players who may look at a wet night at Exeter in the League Cup as being a bit beneath them. They mightn't fancy it. Not Suarez though, it doesn't matter who he's playing or where, he just approaches every game the same way, whether it's the Copa America Final or the 2nd round of the so called 'Micky Mouse Cup'. He's just fucking boss, I love him. His importance to our chances of doing anything this season just can't be under-estimated. With him on the pitch we can look great. With him off the pitch.... well, we don't look great. Our play dropped off significantly when he left the field, but then we were 3-0 up and cruising so that's understandable. I'd have liked to have seen us bang a couple more in without Suarez though just for peace of mind, as I do worry a little about how we'd look if we had to do without Luis for any period of time. That's why the prospect of a return to Anfield for Craig Bellamy really appeals to me, in fact I'd be absolutely made up with that. We need another option up front, someone with pace who can work the channels, and the narky little Welshman fits the bill perfectly in my opinion. Apparently Kenny is interested and Bellamy wants to come here, but I can't see City making it easy as I'm sure they'd much prefer he went abroad or back to Cardiff. Fingers crossed though, as I'd be a lot happier if we had another forward on board. At least Carroll is off the mark for the season. Great goal too, he's got a real sledgehammer for a left foot hasn't he? Apart from that strike though, his performance was, shall we say, patchy. That's probably being generous, but I'm an Andy Carroll guy and believe he's going to be a real asset to us. He did some good things, but also some really sloppy things too. Once again though he hardly had any decent crosses to attack and we still need to figure out how to play more to his strengths. He has to be better too though, there's no question about that and I'm sure he will be. Fitness wise he's looking much better this season than last and whilst I can understand why a lot of people are worried, I'm still a believer. Whilst it wasn't the plan, I'm glad Carroll got such a long run out as the more games he plays the better in terms of getting him sharp. I'm sure Kenny wasn't planning on him coming on until the last half an hour, probably for Suarez, but the King's hand was forced when Meireles went off with an injury to his collar bone. A real shame that, he was looking lively and had played some lovely one touch passing early on. Hopefully he won't be out too long, but Maxi is more than capable of stepping in to take the minutes that Raul has been getting so it's not a huge concern. The squad is steadily starting to look much stronger now. The deadwood is being shifted, not much left now actually, and in people like Maxi and Spearing we have good players who can step in without any real drop off in the quality of the side. In recent years when we've rested players and given the 'squad men' a run out, there'd be a few players in the side who realistically shouldn't have been anywhere the team. Degen, Ngog, El Zhar, Kyrgiakos etc This time there wasn't one player in the 18 who I looked at and thought "I wish he'd fuck off". We had a lot of first choice players in there, but there was also Skrtel, Wilson, Maxi, Spearing, Flano and Jack Robbo. Then you have Raheem Sterling sat in the stands (and complaining about it on twitter, silly boy) and people like Johnson and Gerrard still to come back from injury. Things are looking up, especially with another centre half on the way in and hopefully Bellamy or some other striker before the window shuts. Exeter gave it a good go though and tried to play football rather than just launch it and defend in numbers. That played into our hands a bit, and the first half saw us play some lovely stuff. Skrtel missed the target at the back post from a superb Adam corner, whilst Adam himself had a shot saved by the keeper following a well worked short corner that caught Exeter on the hop. Adam then should have done much better with a shot from the edge of the box after being set up by Carroll. The goal came from a well worked move that ended with Henderson trying to pick out Carroll in the centre. The keeper got a hand to it to take it off the striker's head, but Suarez collected on the back post and drilled a low shot through the legs of the keeper and also the defender on the goal-line. Suarez then broke away superbly down the right and produced a wicked low cross that Maxi just couldn't get anything on. Brilliant play by Suarez though, who was running poor Exeter ragged. Far better defenders than theirs have been and will be put to the sword by our number seven though, and they have nothing to be embarrassed about as they actually played pretty well. Just before half time Luis showed he is human after all by putting one over following great set up play by Spearing and Maxi. Would have been a fantastic goal if he'd finished that off, as it was terrific football. Exeter hadn't really been able to threaten at the other end, but within seconds of the restart ex manc Nardiello got away from our defence and forced Reina to come charging out of his goal. Nardiello got there first and lobbed the ball over Pepe, but thankfully it went wide of the post. A let off, and a reminder that 1-0 is nothing and can be wiped out in a second. Within ten minutes, 1-0 became 2-0 and we had our cushion. Henderson broke and released Suarez, but his initial attempted cut back to Carroll was blocked. Suarez showed great awareness to collect it again and pull it back to the onrushing Maxi who slotted it home. Aside from Suarez, Maxi may just be the biggest goal threat we have these days (with the possible exception of Kuyt I guess). He's had a new lease of life under Kenny and always seems to pop up in dangerous areas. It was soon to be 3-0. Suarez megged an opponent for what seemed like the tenth time in the game, and then found Carroll on the edge of the box. Suarez wanted a return pass but Carroll was unable to play it early enough and was almost dispossessed. He adjusted his feet well though and leathered an unstoppable shot into the top corner. He didn't look particularly happy about it mind, and he seemed agitated all night actually. He's probably a little low on confidence, but hopefully this helps and he can build on it. Suarez was immediately withdrawn with the game won, and Downing came on to replace him. He's gone close to scoring in both games so far, and will have fancied his chances of getting off the mark in a game that the reds were now in total control of. But for a good save by the keeper he would have, as he cut in from the right and hit a rasping low drive that was parried behind for a corner. He had another chance late on too, as a counter attack from a corner saw him sent clear. It looked like he would just run through and get his shot away, but he somehow didn't get properly into his stride and was caught from behind, forcing him to try a chip that was easily saved. With the reds now in cruise control, Exeter came back into it a bit more and grabbed a consolation goal when the otherwise dominant Skrtel stuck out a leg and needlessly tripped Nardiello. He picked himself up and drilled the penalty down the middle as Pepe dived to his right. Seems a long time since Pepe saved a pen now. Can we not bring back his old coach who used to tell him where all his opponents like to put their pens? The rest of the game was fairly uneventful and there were no further dramas as we booked our place in the next round. Overall, a good performance with some players really excelling. None more than Suarez of course, who was head and shoulders above everybody. Take him out the equation though and Speo would have been my star man, I thought he was really good and kept things ticking over nicely. Henderson was ok, a bit up and down again I thought. He did some nice things but still plays it a bit too safe too often for me. He was also involved in the most contentious incident of the match, when it looked like he'd been brought down for a penalty only for him to be yellow carded for diving. Weird one that, as there was definitely contact even though Henderson left his leg in there waiting for it. That kind of thing usually gets you a pen, but Henderson had no complaints about it and accepted his booking with good grace, which suggests he knows he was in the wrong. I was pissed off about it, not because I thought it was a pen, but because he should have been looking to score. Trying to win a penalty was a cop out, he should have been confident enough to just go on and score, but you can see that he isn't totally confident yet and is still feeling his way into the side. I'm not as confident about him coming good as I am with Carroll, but there is definitely a player in there and technically he seems very sound. He just needs to be more assertive I think, and hopefully that will come as he begins to feel more comfortable here. It was good for the two young full backs to get more playing time, and Robinson had a fine game I thought. Flanagan wasn't at his best again though, and was sloppy in possession a few times. Up until the second half of the Sunderland game 'Flano' had been pretty much flawless, but all young players go through this and it's all part of the learning curve. Nice for Wilson to see some playing time at centre half rather than left back. As a full back, he's pretty poor I think, but I like him in the middle. There's shades of Agger about him in his style of play, but he really needs to get out on loan somewhere and play some games if he's continue his development. A good Championship side, or even a lower Premier League one would be ideal for him, especially with Coates coming in. The longer we stay i the League Cup the better it is for people like Wilson and Shelvey, but I get the impression that Kenny will pick his teams based on the level of opposition. If we get a strong opponent, I don't see Kenny picking too many of the younger players as he'll be as desperate as we are to win a trophy this season. Team: Reina; Flanagan, Skrtel, Wilson, Robinson; Henderson, Spearing, Adam (Shelvey), Maxi; Meireles (Carroll), Suarez (Downing):

1. Roger 2. Mark 3. Woo 4. Nige 5. CMuller 6. Algeo 7. Ged 8. Dave 9. John 10. Al 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Swedish u18 winger Kris Peterson checks in to talk about life at the reds' Academy and his hopes for the season, whilst 'Numbers' is again joined by TLW Editor Dave Usher and Alan Kayll from the Liverpool Supporters Club to discuss the start to the season and to look ahead to the next couple of fixtures. 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. IMPORTANT: Please note that due to the growing popularity of the podcast we have had to switch to a new host, which means if you are already a subscriber you will need to re-subscribe by clicking the above link which will subscribe you to our new feed. THE OLD FEED WILL NOT BE UPDATED WITH NEW EPISODES. This also means the podcast that shows up in the itunes store is no longer working as it's on the old feed. We've submitted the new feed for approval but that may take a few days, so a search in itunes won't show the new episodes until then. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes though, 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

Arsenal 0 LIVERPOOL 2 Report by Dave Usher Scorer(s) – Aaron Ramsay (own goal), Luis SuarezHalf Time - 0-0 Venue - The Emirates Stadium Date - Sat 20 Aug 2011 Star Man – Jose Enrqiue They say good things come to those who wait, and also that good things often come in threes. Well we had to wait 70 minutes yesterday, and then we got the triple whammy in the long overdue red card for Frimpong closely followed by the arrival of Luis Suarez and Raul Meireles. I felt the game was always tilted in our favour on the balance of play anyway, but those three things were too much for Arsenal to overcome and ensured we came away with our first ever victory at the Emirates. Perhaps some of the shine is missing from the win due to the number of absentees from the Arsenal ranks, but I don't really care about that. A win is a win, and Arsenal are one of the sides we'll have to overhaul to get back into the top four, so this was very important. We played well, we got three points, that's all that matters. I'd have been disappointed had we taken anything less than three points given the state Arsenal are in right now due to numerous factors, but that doesn't mean I'm not thrilled about the win. It wasn't perfect and there were still some things we should be doing better, but we never looked under any pressure and overall I'm sure Kenny will be very pleased. This represented our best opportunity in many a year to get a win at their place, even allowing for the fact we are still bedding in several new players to the team. With that in mind, it was very frustrating to see Suarez starting on the bench. Is it because he's not fully fit right now, or because they are being careful to ensure he doesn't have problems later in the season? Given what we've seen from him so far it looks to be the latter to me. Put it this way, if he's not fully fit now then God help the rest of the league when he is. No, it seems to me as though Kenny is being careful, probably on the advice of the Sports Science people. There's two schools of thought on what to do with players who you don't think can play 90 minutes. One is to start him and hope that he wins you the game so you can then bring him off after an hour and give him his rest that way. The other is keep him on the bench and bring him on late if you need him. Last week Kenny opted to start him. It didn't work out, mainly because Phil Down didn't do his job properly. Suarez scored and he also won a penalty (which he of course missed) that should have seen the opposition reduced to ten men. A red card for Richardson so early in the game probably puts us in a position where we could get two or three goals and give Luis a rest with the points in the bag. It didn't work out that way though, and we had to bring him off with the game still in the balance. This time Dalglish went with the second option and it worked perfectly. Carroll didn't have too much joy - largely due to Vermailen turning in a fantastic performance - but what defender is going to want to battle with Carroll for 70 minutes and then have to chase Suarez around for the last twenty? Carroll did go very close with a good header that was well saved by the Szcziesny, and for the second week in succession we had a goal ruled out after he was penalised for the crime of putting his hand on an opponent who was about to collide with him. Last week's decision was bad, but this was even worse. The defender was moving backwards and was about to bump into Carroll, who simply put his arm up to prevent the contact. He nods it down, Stewart Downing drills the ball into the net and once again we see a cheap foul given against the big forward. Carroll doesn't get free-kicks when defenders do that to him, but the second he touches anyone he's penalised. Same thing used to happen to Crouch too. Funny thing is, I remember listening to someone who worked with him at Newcastle (either a former manager or coach, can't remember who it was now), and he was asked what are Carroll's best attributes. One of the things he said was that unlike most big strikers he hardly ever gives away free-kicks when he challenges for the ball in the air. Maybe he didn't get penalised at Newcastle, but you can see already here that the second he even farts in a defender's direction the whistle comes out, and it's cost us two goals in as many games. Having said that, Szcziesny didn't appear to make much of an effort to save Downing's shot as he'd clearly heard the whistle. Overall Martin Atkinson wasn't too bad, but he got that wrong and he also could have cost us a goal when he allowed Arshavin to throw Kelly to the ground before rolling the ball to Van Persie who's shot was just about kept out by a furious Reina. Look at the Carroll incident and then look at that. Ridiculous. It doesn't matter because we won, but it could easily have cost us the game had Van Persie not scuffed his shot and allowed Pepe to make the save. The biggest decision Atkinson had to make of course was the sending off. Clearly he got that right unless you want to argue that he should have produced a straight red and not just a second yellow, but that could have gone either way and he probably went with the more lenient option just to be on the safe side. He knew the player was having an early bath so if he had any doubt as to whether it was a straight red he'll have just gone with the second yellow. This is was the first time I've ever seen that Frimpong and it took about 90 seconds for me to mark his card as a bad knobhead. The reckless foul on Agger with just over a minute gone, and his 'hard done to' reaction to it pissed me right off. He then got into a little spat with Henderson that earned him the yellow card he should have got earlier, before yelling 'FUCK OFF!!' in a linesman's face despite the fact the decision was clearly correct. I can sympathise with players who show dissent when they know they are in the right, but when you see player's going nuts at an official when they are completely in the wrong, that's unacceptable. Remember that Fulham player giving it the v's to the ref last year after he blatantly hacked down one of our players on the touchline? I can't be doing with that shit. There won't be a bigger inevatability in the Premier League all season than Frimpong getting that red card. I knew after about ten minutes there was no way he was getting through 90 minutes. I'm surprised it took as long as it did, but the tackle on Lucas was awful, and dangerous. He's not going to be a stranger to the referee's notebook that lad. Another twat off the production line, you have to hand it Wenger he keeps churning them out. We had players booked too, but they smacked of Atkinson trying to appease the home crowd who were annoyed at Frimpong's early yellow. Carroll was stupidly booked for putting the ball in the net after the whistle. It's a soft booking, as he wasn't attempting to waste time or gain any advantage, but the rule is there and Carroll knows about it so he shouldn't be putting refs in the position where they have to punish him. Lucas was also booked for what may have actually been his first foul. That was the point he and Agger were making to Atkinson. It's a sad indictment of the standard of refereeing these days that this may well prove to be one of the better displays of officiating we'll see this season. A couple of notable errors aside, Atkinson wasn't bad, which is unusual for him. It was a good game and he tried to let it flow as much as possible. We started quite well and at no point did I ever think Arsenal were on top. The problem for us was we were often poor in the final third. This was especially frustrating given that Arsenal had to send on a rookie centre half when Koscielny hobbled off. We never really tested him, largely because Vermailen was just so damn good. He cleared virtually every ball played into the box. We kept the ball well, we defended stoutly, but we just didn't create enough chances until Suarez came on. The first half was relatively even, but we looked more dangerous. Carroll's header from Enrique's cross was the first threatening moment from either side, whilst Henderson also had a header saved after good work by Kuyt. Charlie Adam hit a shot from halfway that had Szcziesny scurrying back towards his goal, but the ball sailed just over. At the other end, Arsenal's best moment was a shot by Frimpong that Reina dived full length to tip around the post. World class save that. Nasri also had a shot from outside the box that went narrowly wide, but for the most part our back four kept the Arsenal frontline in check. Enrique was especially impressive impressive in dealing with Walcott, who was completely anonymous. The Spanish full back looked good going forward too, and the early signs are very encouraging from him. The second half began with Adam trying another shot from his own half, this one was clutched by Szcziesny underneath his crossbar. He'll probably score from his own half this season if he keeps striking them as well as the two he hit in this game. Adam was a whisker away from playing Carroll in following a quick breakaway by the reds, but the pass sent the striker a little too wide. He did well to cut it back into the path of the marauding Kelly though, but his drive smacked against the outside of the post. I thought Adam played well. Not outstanding, but good. Our midfield play in general was impressive, we kept the ball and knocked it around well. Lucas had a fantastic second half, whilst Henderson was efficient if not spectacular. The game was screaming out for Suarez, especially when Frimpong got his walking papers. The question was who would make way. Most people probably felt it would be Henderson, but Kenny opted to bring off Carroll. He also replaced Kuyt with Meireles, and the impact was instant. Suddenly we were swarming all over Arsenal. We were more incisive, we were finding space and Suarez was getting on the ball and causing problems. I'm sure the extra man advantage played a part in that, but there's no denying the improvement that the substitutes brought to us. It was exciting to watch, and you could sense a goal was coming. Downing brought a smart save out of Szcziesny after a lovely Adam pass set him in, and the former Villa man was a livewire throughout. He put some good crosses in and was always looking to get on the ball. He's a good outlet and there is a lot of promise in his partnership with Enrique on the left. His first goal won't be long in coming on the evidence of what he's shown in his first couple of games. Meireles should have broken the deadlock when he found space on the right of the box but sliced his shot wide when he should have at least made the keeper work. You expect better from him as he's such a clean striker of the ball usually. There's been a lot of speculation about his future, with reports he is looking to leave after the new regime failed to honour promises of a pay rise made by the old guard, but his attitude was spot on and I don't think there are too many out there who would be disappointed if he was still here when the window closes. With 13 minutes left the goal finally arrived. Suarez showed remarkable awareness to play a reverse pass into Meireles, and immediately set off looking for the return. Meireles' attempted ball was snuffed out by the covering Arsenal defenders, but the young Spanish centre half's clearance hit Ramsay in the chest and looped over Szcziesny. A fortunate goal, but not undeserved. Wenger claimed it was offside, and he may be right. However, if it was off it was literally by inches, and given that officials are supposed to side with the attackers when decisions are that tight, the linesman got it right. Meireles missed another opportunity before Suarez made the game safe in the last minute. His deft flick and turn left Miquel blowing for tugs as he tried to stay with him, and although the initial pass didn't go to him Meireles rolled it back across goal where Suarez had a simple finish. Again, Wenger says it's offside, but he would, wouldn't he? Straws. Clutching. At. The travelling fans were buzzing and could be heard loud and proud all the way through. The Arsenal fans on the other hand were even more silent than usual. They couldn't even be arsed with that annoying 'Hoof' crap we normally have to put up with from them. It looks like Arsenal have no fight left in them, they're in a bit of a mess. Half of them fucked off because it was raining and they were getting wet. Wenger probably wished he could do likewise, as he sat there like a drowned rat furiously rubbing his head like Roy Hodgson. Arsenal clearly have problems, but this is still a big win for us. After dropping two points last week in a game we'd expect to win, we're back on track now having picked up three points from what is traditionally a difficult fixture. We're still a work in progress though and there is plenty of room for improvement. The good thing is that the new signings are bedding in nicely, with Enrique and Downing especially having fitted in seamlessly. Martin Kelly was back in the side too and caught the eye at both ends of the field. Capello was watching and made some favourable comments about Kelly afterwards. Good for the player, not so much for us given the injury history Kelly's had. The fewer 'unnecessary' games he has the better for me, but it's going to be interesting to see what happens - for club and country -when Glen Johnson is fit again. Star man could have been any number of people. Carragher and Agger were excellent and will be delighted with the clean sheet, Lucas had a terrific second half, whilst Suarez basically won the match for us with his 20 minute cameo. In the end it was between Downing and Enrique, but I'll go for the Spaniard who was faultless aside from one small error in the first half when he needless conceded a corner. Team: Reina; Kelly, Carragher, Agger, Enrique; Lucas, Adam; Kuyt (Meireles), Henderson, Downing; Carroll (Suarez):

MAXI RODRIGUEZ 2010-12 by Julian Richards Date of Birth - 02/01/81 Nationality - Argentinian Position - Midfield Games - 73 Goals - 17 Club Hons (Lpool) - 2012 League Cup Intnl Hons - Argentina caps Other Clubs - Newell's Old Boys (twice), Real Oviedo (loan), Espanyol, Atletico Madrid Maxi, Maxi Rodriguez runs down the wing for me, der der der der der, der der der der der. In possession of one of the best player songs in recent years I loved Maxi Rodriguez, he was a pleasure to watch when he was here. It didn’t really start out like that for him however. When he was signed on a free transfer by Benitez in January 2010 the Benitez era was drawing to an acrimonious close and it seemed like Maxi was going to be another one of those iffy free transfers that Benitez had taken a liking too. It wasn’t really until the King came in and, crucially, the club signed Luis Suarez that Maxi really started coming into his own and looked a credible threat when he was in the team. Maxi and Suarez (like Kuyt and Suarez) struck up an instant rapport and the movement and interplay between the two of them was a joy to watch at times. The end of the 2010-11 season, when we sold Torres and bought Suarez and played with a wonderful freedom, was great to watch. We had the King back in charge, new owners, a shiny new pair of strikers and the pressure was off the players for the remainder of that season. Maxi started banging in the goals and scored two hat tricks in the space of a month (the latter against Fulham being a particular highpoint). Maxi brought something to the team that we lost when both he and Kuyt left and that was an unerring ability to make runs into the box and be in the right place for loose balls. Both of them were masters of it so it was strange to see Maxi relegated to a more peripheral role the following season following the acquisition of Stewart Downing. True Downing had more pace and was younger but Maxi brought that professional nous that comes with playing at a high level for your country (remember that strike against Mexico in the 2006 World Cup?) and with playing in multiple countries at the top level. In the end Maxi outscored Downing in his first season here and made it look effortless. Downing could have learnt a lot from Maxi and how he played in and around the box. Maxi went back to Argentina to play for his boyhood club, Newell’s Old Boys, at the start of the 2012-13 season and he went with best wishes from most fans. Maxi wanted to go home and the club, rightly, didn’t want to play a fringe player the money associated with a free transfer, although I thought we should have kept him around purely for morale as Suarez loved him and they seemed to get on very well off the pitch. Maxi played a small part in Liverpool history but he was a good, honest pro who just got on with the job. Plus we’ll always have that song to remember him by. Altogether now, Maxi, Maxi Rodriguez runs down the wing for me…

ANDY CARROLL PROFILE by Dave Usher Date of Birth - 06/01/89 Nationality - English Position - Forward Squad Number - 9 Cost - £35m Club Hons (Lpool) - Intnl Hons - England caps, Other Clubs - Newcastle, Preston (loan), West Ham United (loan) Video Clips of Andy Carroll in action HdUCpwa_FGA pMMiP1HCmGE xtkP3MxqaD8 Z258UPOSybg

LUIS SUAREZ PROFILE by Dave Usher Date of Birth - 24/01/87 Nationality - Uruguayan Position - Forward Squad Number - 7 Cost - £23m Club Hons (Lpool) - Intnl Hons - Uruguay caps, 2011 Copa America Winner Other Clubs - Nacional, Groningen, Ajax Video Clips of Luis Suarez in action aTKOfiuo0SM sKl7KeYytUQ m502RSpIlL4 _5H8oJ5LZtU

JORDAN HENDERSON PROFILE by Dave Usher Date of Birth - 17/06/90 Nationality - English Position - Midfield Squad Number - 14 Cost - £13m Club Hons (Lpool) - Intnl Hons - England caps Other Clubs - Sunderland, Middlesbrough (loan) Video Clips of Jordan Henderson in action xrFxj8wm1q0 W2CHIQcG0CA TkFshpjG2GI 83-_upzwi2w

LIVERPOOL 0 Sporting Lisbon 3 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Half Time - 0-2 Venue - Anfield Date - Wed Aug 17 2011 Star Man - Raheem Sterling Sporting Lisbon's youngsters gave their Liverpool counterparts a lesson in finishing as the Portuguese outfit ran out 3-0 winners after a hugely entertaining game at Anfield in the NextGen tournament. The scoreline doesn't do justice to the efforts of Rodolfo Borrell's side, who gave it a good go and on another night could easily have gotten something from the game. Sporting took their goals superbly and look to be a very good side, but Liverpool's players will feel they could have made this game much closer had their finishing matched some of the build up play. The key moment for me came midway through the 2nd half when substitute Krizstian Adorjan missed a sitter at the Kop end with the score at 2-0. The reds were piling on the pressure at that point, and had they pulled a goal back then they would surely have fancied their chances of grabbing an equaliser. Unfortunately the Hungarian's shot came back off the post and with that went any hope Liverpool had of getting back into the game. Borrell had named a strong side, with Jonjo Shelvey and Jack Robinson both in the starting line up alongside exciting attackers such as Raheem Sterling, Tony Silva and Suso. Conor Coady skippered the side, with Andre Wisdom used at right back in the absence of John Flanagan (who was part of this group last season before his promotion to the senior set up). I heard yesterday that Sporting were missing a number of players due to call ups to the Portuguese youth side. If that's true, they must have some side when everyone is available as there were some very impressive individuals in their ranks. The first half wasn't great from a Liverpool perspective. It wasn't awful either, but the lads never completely got into their stride and the longer the half wore on the more comfortable the visitors began to look. The reds were first to show though, and both Sterling and Silva looked lively on the flanks and had the beating of their markers. Neither keeper was exactly overworked though, and I may be wrong but I think Sporting may have opened the scoring with the game's first shot on target. It was a class goal though, as a lovely back heel by Coelho sent Teixera through to finish at the Kop end. Nice goal, and it was greeted by warm applause from the fans on the Kop. But Teixera milked it a little too much and the applause began to turn to jeers. Liverpool tried to hit back quickly, and Silva turned his man inside out before rasping a shot just over from a tight angle. Borrell had started the game with Shelvey playing behind Adam Morgan and Suso partnering Coady in midfield. Not sure what the thinking behind that was, but it didn't work and Shelvey never really got into the game and it was no surprise to see them switch midway through the first half. Suso wasn't ever really able to stamp his authority on the game either, but he did show plenty of flashes of what he can do and worked very hard throughout. A raking ball from him out to Sterling ended with Raheem beating his man again, getting to the line and cutting the ball back to Morgan who's shot rolled into the side netting. Lovely move though. Sporting would go one better though, incisive passing helped them slice through the left side of the reds backline and centre forward Coelho finished it off to make it 2-0. Not looking good for the reds now, but seconds later they had a glorious opportunity to pull one back, as Morgan's persistance got him away from his marker and he picked out Suso with a perfect cut back. The goal was gaping but Suso was on his weak foot and he blazed over. A goal then and who knows. The second half saw Liverpool playing a noticeably higher tempo. They closed down better, and they got the ball forward quicker down the flanks. Sterling ran his full back ragged but more often than not Lisbon managed to get enough players back to deal with the danger he was posing. Sama saw a goalbound effort inadvertently blocked by his own team-mate Silva, and I did start to wonder if this was just going to be one of those nights were nothing goes right. It needed changing, and Rodolfo had good options on the bench in the form of Adorjan and Ngoo. The problem is who do you take off? Ideally you'd want Morgan to stay on, but Rodolfo very rarely strays away from the 4231 system which means one of Ngoo or Morgan playing wide, which suits neither. Adorjan needs to play in the hole as he ineffective anywhere else, so despite the talent available it was not a straightforward decision for the reds' coach. He made a triple change, with left back Tom King joining Adorjan and Ngoo as they replaced Robinson, Shelvey and Morgan. Presumably it had been agreed beforehand that Robinson and Shelvey would not play the full game, but based on what I'd seen I'd probably have taken off Shelvey anyway. He wasn't bad, but given how much more experienced he is compared to everybody else on the field I would have expected him to stand out and look like he was too good for this level. He didn't do that, he was just one of the crowd. As for Morgan, I'm one of his biggest fans if a change of formation was out of the question then I'd have subbed him too. He did ok and didn't get a great deal of service, but Ngoo offers a different set of problems for defenders and it was time for something different. I really like Ngoo, he seems to get better every time I see him play. He made a big difference to this game, as did Adorjan to be fair. The reds were completely bossing it but the goal just wouldn't come. Sterling had a shot saved, then saw another deflected inches wide. Ngoo then played a 1-2 with the increasingly spritely Suso, but couldn't keep his shot down and it sailed into the Kop. Then came the moment that should have changed the game. Sterling knocked the ball into space for Ngoo, who powered away from the centre back and drove into the box before rolling a perfect ball across the six yard box to Adorjan at the back post. The goal was gaping, and although the angle wasn't great everyone on the Kop prepared to get to their feet to celebrate the goal only for the ball to strike the post and rebound to safety. Massively deflating moment. Adorjan then sent a free-kick just over the top, before he was denied by a terrific stop by the keeper following more mesmerising play on the left by Sterling. It just wouldn't go in for Liverpool, but their second half performance had been excellent. Rosa wrapped things up for Sporting late on with an absolutely wonderful curling effort from 20 yards after he seized upon a sloppy pass by the otherwise solid Wisdom. A disappointing start then, but the game will hopefully be a good learning experience for the lads. It's very rare they will have come up against opposition of the quality Lisbon have, but I don't think they were overmatched by any means and the difference between the two sides was finishing. Sporting took their chances, Liverpool wasted theirs. I wouldn't be surprised if the lads went to Portugal and won, and I'm not too downhearted by this. There were some very good performances, none more so than Sterling who was excellent from start to finish. Others, such as Coady and Suso, came more into it in the second half whilst Adorjan and Ngoo made impressive contributions from the bench. It was good entertainment, and I'm looking forward to the next game. Just hope we bring our shooting boots next time. Team: Belford; Wisdom, Sama, McGiveron, Robinson (King); Coady, Suso; Silva, Shelvey (Adorjan), Sterling; Morgan (Ngoo):

STEWART DOWNING PROFILE by Dave Usher Date of Birth - 22/07/84 Nationality - English Position - Winger Squad Number - 18 Cost - £18-20m Club Hons (Lpool) - Intnl Hons - England caps Other Clubs - Middlesbrough, Sunderland (loan), Aston Villa Video Clips of Stewart Downing in action H5LT7eNdov0 iLx9wo392W8 ctuj6y2elt8 WdhCYZS9N8k

LIVERPOOL 1 Sunderland 1 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Luis SuarezHalf Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 13 Aug 2011 Star Man – Daniel Agger Rarely has the old cliché of 'a game of two halves' been more appropriate. For 45 minutes it was all going according to plan. The returning Suarez had overcome an early penalty miss to carry on where he left off last season (and indeed in the Copa America), Charlie Adam had displayed the prowess from set pieces that had helped get him here, Downing had the fans on the edges of their seats with a stunning run and shot against the crossbar and all in all we were pretty happy at half time. And then it went tits up. The second half was possibly as bad as anything we've seen in recent years, and in the end we were probably a little fortunate to hold on for a point as they had a couple of chances on the break that they didn't make the most of. Better opposition and we may have paid a heavy price for that. It's difficult not to look at this and say 'here we go again'. Since our last title win, the thing that has held us back the most is the inability to take maximum points from the games we should be winning. Equally, this is the thing that has separated the mancs from the rest in recent years. If you win the games you should be winning, you won't be far away at the end of the season. After one game, we're already two points down on what we should be, and you could sense the disappointment on the fans faces coming out of Anfield yesterday. Our chips were well and truly pissed on. But it is just one game, and perhaps it shouldn't be much of a surprise. After all, we had four debutants in the side and we've had a disjointed pre-season where the team has not really had a proper chance to gel as we've been giving run outs to a number of players who have no future here (look at how many of them didn't even make the 18 man squad). It's going to take some time for it all to come together, and we still have to overcome the problem of how to utilise Andy Carroll properly, without resorting to the lazy 'hit up to him and hope' approach that blighted some of the games he started last season and reared it's ugly head again in the last half hour of this game. Also, you have to give some credit to Sunderland for upping their own game and making things difficult for us. Steve Bruce's record against us is seriously starting to get on my tits now. We've won just five out of 18 league games against sides he's managed. It's not like he's managed Chelsea, United and Arsenal either. With a record like that, there's a danger he'll develop a big head. Sunderland aren't bad, they've strengthened over the summer and looking around the league there's actually only a handful of teams who you'd say are poor. Clubs like Stoke, Sunderland and Wolves for example all have plenty of good players these days. This means all the teams at the top will be dropping points throughout the season, just as they did last year. So whilst this is frustrating, it shouldn't be too damaging really. We just need to get better, and dare I say fitter too? There seemed like a significant drop in the energy levels of the side during the 2nd half, and that for me was what allowed Sunderland to get back into it. That and Phil Dowd. I'm loathe to start on referees after just one game of the new season, but it's impossible not to point to the massive helping hand the Mackems got from Dowd and his assistant in the first half. The decision not to send Richardson off for the most blatant of red card offences was infuriating, especially as Suarez then compounded it by producing arguably the worst penalty I can remember seeing at Anfield. His run up was reminiscent of a rugby player kicking a penalty, and the outcome even more so. I assume I wasn't the only one wondering why Charlie Adam wasn't taking it? In the absence of Kuyt and Gerrard, I'd imagine Adam will be next in line from now on. Suarez had won the penalty with all his own work, charging down a clearance and running through on goal. I thought he should have shot early rather than go round the keeper, but that doesn't alter the fact he was tripped from behind by the last defender. He'd gone round the keeper, and his next act would have been a shot at an empty goal. Richardson's trip prevented that, but Dowd presumably didn't want to be the ref who sent a player off five minutes into a new season. Suarez had scored from the spot at least once for Uruguay in the Copa America, so confidence won't have been an issue, but that kick was truly woeful. He looked both stunned and gutted. You can't keep a good man down though and he wasted little time in making amends, nipping in to convert a dangerous ball in from Adam. Much has been made of the extra quality Adam will bring to our set pieces, and this was the first of what will hopefully be many assists by the former Blackpool man. All good at this stage, despite Sunderland wrongly still having eleven men on the field thanks to Dowd. The officials would intervene on Sunderland's behalf again before the break. Carroll brought the ball down and finished superbly, and it should have been 2-0. But no, the linesman decided Carroll had fouled the human baked bean, Wes Brown. Absolutely fuck all wrong with that goal, and had it stood then I doubt Carroll would be getting scrutinised as much as he has been by the fans since this game ended. For what it's worth, I thought Carroll played quite well overall given the way the game went. I don't blame him for what happened in the second half, and like I say if you take away that stupid decision by the linesman then we're all talking about what a great goal that was. I'm more annoyed by that than I am the lack of a red card for Richardson to be honest. Had it gone 2-0 I wouldn't have bet against four or five, but at 1-0 it's always on a knife edge. Carroll needs to get amongst the goals early and this would have been a great start to the season for him. Speaking of great starts, imagine had Downing's shot been two or three inches lower? What an early impression that would have been. He'd not had much joy on the left because Sunderland had clearly decided they would double up on him any time he got the ball. After switching to the right though he collected the ball in his own half and saw he had plenty of space in front of him so he took off. He went past two or three would be tacklers and then thumped a shot from 20 yards against the bar. Had it gone in, there's your goal of the season right there on opening day. It was an enjoyable first half, as despite being under pressure Sunderland did look to get numbers forward when they had the ball and their front two of Gyan and Sessignon were very busy and battled for every ball. Carragher and Agger had to be on their games to keep them quiet, and Carra was booked for catching Gyan high and a fraction late. Flanagan was fortunate not to escape a booking too for a mistimed challenge, whilst for the Black Cats Cattermole was predictably yellow carded after a typically 'robust' challenge. He'd gotten away with a worse one earlier on as Dowd waved play on after he'd gone through Adam. There were other bookings too, but there were so many I lost track of them and what half they came in. I think Lucas and Adam both got booked, and Adam in particular seemed to struggle without the ball. It wasn't too much of a problem 1st half though as we were on top and playing well. It was interesting to see that the side was made up of five left footers and five right footers too. I can't remember the last time that happened. The only negative from the opening 45 minutes was that we only had a one goal to show for our efforts. You can never feel comfortable with only a one goal lead, no matter how 'on top' you are. A set piece, a deflection, a refereeing error or just a rare attack from the opposition and you can see all your hard work wiped out in a flash. Our play had merited at least a two goal lead, which we would have had but for the incompetence of the officials. I don't want to use that as an excuse though, as it wasn't the officiating that caused us to stop playing at half time. As good as we'd been in the first half, we were equally as bad in the second. Why was that? I don't think there's any one specific thing that can be pinpointed, it just looked like the wheels completely came off physically and mentally. I'd say we started to look leggy, players stopped showing for the ball as much, we stopped closing them down and allowed them to play. We also seemed to lose confidence - especially after they scored - and didn't appear to have any idea what we were trying to do. It was alarming how clueless we suddenly looked. Downing was used in about four different positions during the game, and I don't think that particularly helped him or the side. Suarez going off really hurt us too, because he was the outlet ball down the channels whilst he was on the field. When he went off, that outlet ball then became the big punt to Carroll, as he can't run the channels in the same way Suarez does and can't be expected to. It's easy to criticise the defensive players for going that route, but for me it's more on the midfield as they just weren't showing for the ball and dictating the game as they were in the first half. Lucas was very good before the break, and non-existent after it. Adam was similar, he seemed to run out of steam a little to me but maybe I'm reading too much into that because I've heard so much about how he would fade in the last quarter of games for Blackpool? He didn't disappear completely and still had some forward runs late in the game, but it looked to me like he had spells where he was 'catching a breather' maybe and wasn't coming to show for the ball quite as much as in the first half. I felt we lost the midfield battle after the interval, and personally I'd have got Spearing on there early in the second half. He demands the ball, he closes people down and harries them in possession. Lucas does that too, just not in this second half for whatever reason. Having Speo in there to share the load would have helped both Lucas and Adam and I'd guess there's a pretty good chance he'll be in the team at Arsenal next week. Jordan Henderson was not contributing anything and may as well not have been there. He was like an extra in a soap opera. Stood at the bar in the Rovers or playing the fruities in the Queen Vic, supping his pint whilst the viewers are focusing on what the main characters are doing. He didn't stand out for anything he did wrong, but he just didn't do anything and seemed reluctant to stamp his authority on the game. He was pretty anonymous. I didn't really expect much else to be honest. Had he been been playing central I'd have been looking forward to seeing what he was capable of, but when I heard he was playing on the right it's fair to say I had little expectation. It's difficult enough making your debut for a new team, but when you are just 20 years old and cost a lot of money, and you are playing against the side you have just left (and the team you've supported all your life) then it's even more difficult. You really want to be playing in a position that you are completely comfortable with, and Henderson didn't have that luxury. I know he's played on the right before, but that's not the same as actually being a natural wide player. He was just ultra cautious when he had the ball and didn't try to do anything remotely positive. It was as though he was focusing on not making mistakes rather than just playing his own game. Apparently some Sunderland fans were chanting "Thank you very much for buying Hendo" as they made their way back to their coaches. From their point of view I understand that, especially as many of them will be under the illusion they got £20m for him as that's what was reported in a lot of the papers. He wasn't a player that they felt they couldn't afford to lose, as he isn't the finished article by a long way and we've basically paid for potential. I imagine it was a bit tongue in cheek though, as he's one of their own and I'm sure they'd like to see him go on to do well (especially as there are plenty of 'addons' in the deal!). From our point of view, it shouldn't be a huge surprise that he didn't set Anfield alight immediately. Whereas Downing and Adam will be expected to come in and contribute straight away, Henderson is clearly a longer term project. He's someone that Kenny will try and mould into an important first team player, but he's not going to play every week and I certainly don't think he'll be playing right wing in a 442 too often. At least I hope not. He needs time to settle in, find his best position and his role within the team, and I'm sure he'll get better as he begins to feel more comfortable. He has a great attitude by all accounts, and is always working on improving his game. He will hopefully prove to be a very good acquisition, but it won't happen overnight as he's still just a young lad learning his trade. I'm surprised he started actually, as the day before he thought he was going to be on the bench based on the final training session of the week. I was a little shocked to see Dirk on the bench and Maxi not even in the 18. For me, in a 442 Maxi is the best option we have on the right, especially at home. Even more surprising was the inclusion of Flanagan over Kelly. I don't think many expected that, but Kenny rightly has a lot of faith in young Flanno. He didn't have the best of afternoons though, and the second half was pretty torrid for him. He'd done well enough before the break, but like most of his team-mates he fell off a cliff after half time. He was caught in possession early in the half, and Reina had to make a fairly routine save to prevent his error costing us a goal. After that he seemed to lose some confidence, which can obviously happen with inexperienced players. It wasn't helping that whenever he had the ball there seemed to be a serious lack of options for him (Carragher and Agger also experienced the same difficulties), but this is all part of the learning curve and I'm sure he'll be better for the experience. We all want to see young players brought through and given a chance, and Kenny has shown he is willing to do that. The trade off though is you have to be prepared for them to have the occasional bump on the road and that's what this was for Flanagan. I haven't seen Sunderland's goal on TV yet, but I assume 'Flano' was partly responsible as Larssen seemed to have far too much on the back post and that's where you'd expect your right back to be. Presumably he got sucked too far into the middle. I'd also have to question how easily they were allowed to get the cross in too, but I'd need to see it again to be sure. When it went to 1-1, we seemed to panic, especially when Suarez departed. Kuyt replaced Henderson but went to the left initially as Downing moved over to the right. Meireles came on for Suarez and he was then sent out to the left, as Downing went to play behind Carroll and Dirk went to the right. At one point it even looked like Downing was briefly playing in a midfield three with Lucas and Adam. Kenny certainly wasn't afraid to examine all his options, but nothing he tried made any difference. Our confidence and belief seemed to have drained away, and Carroll was cutting an increasingly frustrated and isolated figure up front. I just felt that Raul was not going to give us anything from the left wing. I'd have preferred to see him trying to get up in support of Carroll and Downing told to just stay out on the left and whip crosses in. Carroll was feeding on scraps, whatever crosses did come in were usually a bit behind him where he had to generate his own power. In those situations, even small defenders can make it difficult just by leaning into him as he's in the air. There was one header late on where I felt he should have done much better, but he headed it wide of the far post. In general though, the service he got from out wide was poor. So clearly we have work to do, but it was probably naive of me and anyone else to think we'd hit the ground running and sweep Sunderland away with a display of flowing football. With new players generally comes some teething trouble, and we had four of them, plus Carroll and Flanagan who'd not played too much either. The result and second half performance were disappointing, but there's a long way to go and plenty to be positive about. Suarez is back and scoring, Downing has the kind of pace and directness we've been lacking and that will be particularly useful away from home when he'll have space to run, whilst Enrique looked very steady and solid at left back. Next week's trip to Arsenal gives us a good chance to claw back the two points we dropped here. We're certainly capable of doing it, but we'll need to see more of the first half football and a lot less of the second. Star man was far from easy. Suarez was dangerous until he got tired, Enrique was pretty good and Downing did well. Carragher and Agger both defended stoutly and I reckon I'll go for Agger just ahead of Downing. Team: Reina; Flanagan, Carragher, Agger, Enrique; Henderson (Kuyt), Lucas, Adam, Downing; Suarez (Meireles), Carroll:

Issue 78 of the fanzine will be on sale outside the ground before and after the Sunderland game tomorrow. You can pick it up from the usual people in the usual places. We will also be selling it at the next few home games, but if you can't get to Anfield it will be available to buy in both outlets of WH Smiths in Liverpool City Centre some time next week. If you aren't local, fear not, you can order your copy online in our webshop, or subscribe for 5 or 10 issues. For those who already have subscriptions, your copy will be sent out over the next few days. To order your copy from our shop, click here. To subscribe for five or ten issues, click here.