TLW

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.

120 years, 18 league titles and five European titles after its birth, Liverpool: The Complete Record is the definitive account of one of the world's most successful and famous clubs. Arnie Baldursson and Gudmundur Magnusson have spent years trawling through the archives to uncover every conceivable fact and figure about Liverpool FC. For the first time in a single volume, they have painstakingly provided details of every game, line up, goalscorer, attendance and result - as well as a plethora of other facts and figures that will delight Liverpool fans of all ages. We've got five copies of this fantastic book to give away. Two will go to winners of a competition on the Members Forum, one will be given away on the next podcast, and we've got another two for any registered forum users (including members). To enter just answer the following question and pm it to TLW: Roger Hunt was the reds' top goalscorer in 1963/64. How many goals did he score? (thats in total, not just league goals) You can buy LFC - The Complete History at Amazon, by clicking here.

Valerenga 3 LIVERPOOL 3 Report by Steve Horton in Oslo Scorer(s) – Andy Carroll, Daniel Agger (2)Half Time - 2-0 Venue - Ulleval Stadium, Oslo Date - Mon 1 Aug 2011 Star Man – Stewart Downing Liverpool had to settle for a disappointing 3-3 draw against Valerenga in Oslo in Monday, an injury time equaliser cancelling out some excellent earlier work that had seen the Reds come from 2-0 down to lead 3-2. Although this match was played in Norway’s national Ulleval Stadium, where Valerenga are tenants, the crowd was made up 80% of Liverpool fans, almost all of them decked out in red. The ‘home’ support took up about half of behind one goal, a small part of which contained the only standing area of the stadium. Given how few I saw on the flight going out and coming back, one of only a handful of travel options, as well as around town (sorry but Scousers in a foreign country are so easily identifiable) I would be surprised if the support from Merseyside reached three figures. Minimum £46 match tickets and £7-8 a pint beer can’t have had many rushing to book this one, and I got a lot of stick from Evertonians about it being about time a Red went to Norway instead of the other way around. It’s impossible not to mention the atrocity that occurred in Norway ten days earlier at the hands of a deranged gunman. Reds chief executive Ian Ayre laid flowers at the memorial site in central Oslo that with its red and white flowers brought back haunting memories for me of the Kop after Hillsborough. After a rousing YNWA then a period of silence that was impeccably observed, each Liverpool player threw a solitary flower into the home stand, a gesture that was extremely well received. Kenny Dalglish started with an eleven that was arguably the strongest available to him, with Pepe Reina, Dan Agger and Glen Johnson all making their first appearances of pre-season. The return of this trio certainly gave us a sterner look at the back, given the jitters that Daniel Ayala, Danny Wilson and Soto Kyrgiakos give when they are on the pitch. However we were to find ourselves 2-0 down after twenty minutes. The first came on the quarter hour when the defence was static, leading to Kone pulling the ball back for Strand to side foot past Reina who gave his defenders a rollicking. The second goal, after nineteen minutes came from a harsh penalty awarded after the referee decreed that Charlie Adam had clipped Kone, the kick being blasted home by Ogude. Liverpool were unfortunate to be two down, as Stewart Downing had been a potent threat, firing a shot just wide and also putting in a dangerous cross that evaded those getting into the box. From then though its as if the heads dropped as Valerenga seized on their good fortune threatening to cause further embarrassment with Kone and Haidar being thwarted by Reina and Agger blocks respectively. The Reds were all over the place at this stage and it was worrying, as even accounting for the fact Valerenga are in mid season they had played the previous Thursday and Saturday and were beaten 2-0 at home by PAOK Salonika in Europe. Andy Carroll looks laid back at the best of times but now he was almost in reverse. As the half drew to a close Liverpool regained their momentum and within two minutes Carroll scored from a Downing cross to give the fans some cheer. For the first time this pre season, no changes were made at half time but the Reds were unable to build on the fact the shape of the team had stayed the same. Twice Adam shot wide from distance when it would have been better to try and find a pass, leading Dalglish to make some changes on the hour mark, Martin Kelly, Jonjo Shelvey and John Flangan coming on for Adam, Johnson and Jack Robinson. Flanagan immediately got stuck right in, showing he doesn’t know any fear or the meaning of the word friendly and will fight for everything. Kelly was an immediate threat down the right but Valerenga suddenly had a golden chance to restore their two goal advantage, only for Reina to save from Ousso who was one on one with him. Downing put in a great cross for Carroll whose header was saved and Shelvey miss kicked when the ball dropped to him, leading to huge gasps of exasperation from a crowd who were sensing that the usual stroll in the park these games had proven to be in the past wasn’t going to happen. With ten minutes to go Alberto Aquilani, David Ngog and Raheem Sterling came on and the Italian made the biggest impact, looking for the ball and directing others, as well as hitting two blistering drives that were well saved by the keeper. It was an introduction like this that made people ask why bids are being invited for him but the reality is away from the high tempo of the Premiership, without the opposition snapping at his heels, he can be an awesome player. He just isn’t up for the physical game. In the 83rd minute the equaliser, which wasn’t undeserved, came from the most unlikely of sources – a corner. Aquilani swung the ball in from the right and Agger rose to head home. As the minutes ticket by the crowd sang a great YNWA with nobody really expecting much more, only for Agger to again convert, this time with his left foot, from another Aquilani corner. But there was no time for celebrations as the Reds switched off, allowing Fellah to drift forward and thump the ball past Reina from the edge of the box to the consternation of the Reds support. In the context of the game a 3-3 draw rescued from being 2-0 down doesn’t seem too bad, but the manner of the equaliser made it like a defeat to the passionate fans and some serious tightening up at the back is needed. Team: Reina; Johnson (Kelly), Carragher, Agger, Robinson (Flanagan); Henderson (Aquilani), Spearing, Adam (Shelvey); Kuyt, Carroll (Ngog), Downing (Sterling):

LIVERPOOL U18 4 Shrewsbury Town U18 0 Report by Dave Usher at the Academy Scorer(s) - Dave Moli (3), Kris PetersonHalf Time - 2-0 Venue - The Academy, Kirkby Date - Sat 30 Jul 2011 Star Man - Dave Moli Dave Moli hit another hat-trick as the reds' u18 side continued their impressive pre-season form with a 4-0 win over Shrewsbury Town at a sun baked Academy yesterday morning. Moli now has seven goals in his last three games, and Mike Marsh's side now have 29 goals from five pre-season fixtures. Jack Dunn was missing through injury and Adam Morgan was also unavailable (possibly rested ahead of the reserve game this week?), but new signing Nacho was amongst the substitutes and Josh Sumner was back after a recent injury. That meant a starting line up of Connor Wearing in goal, Michael Wilson at right back, Joe Rafferty and Matty Regan at centre back and Tom King on the left. Portuguese youngster Baio and Jordan Lussey were the midfielders, with Kris Peterson, Sumner and Sam Gainford behind lone striker Moli. The subs were Nacho, Nathan Quirk, Peter Aylmer, Lewis Hatch, Henoc Mukendi, Tom Walsh, Ryan Crump (GK) and Brad Smith who was back from reserve team duty. It took less than four minutes for Liverpool to take the lead, as Swedish u17 winger Peterson went through for a simple finish. Peterson then turned provider, his run and cross creating an opportunity for Gainford who couldn't keep his volley down and saw the ball sail high over the bar. Almost immediately Shrewsbury went close to an equaliser, as hesitation by Rafferty allowed their striker in. Wearing stood up well though and made a good stop before pouncing on the loose ball. Gainford and Sumner then combined to create an opening for Moli, but his shot was well saved by the Shrews' keeper. It would prove to be a familiar pattern in the first half, as Moli and the keeper had their own personal duel. The next time the two confronted eachother saw Moli make it 2-0. A fine goal it was too. Tom King slid to win a loose ball and sent the ball looping up into the air. Moli and a defender went for it, but the reds' striker did a fine job of holding off his man and then drilled a low shot past the keeper. Baio was bossing things in the middle of the park, and after a rare goal last weekend it looks like he's developed a taste for it, although his shot from 30 yards following a surging run can best be described as 'ambitious'. Peterson then went close, as he ended a long run with a blistering left foot shot that the keeper did well to parry over the bar. Moli then missed an absolute sitter after Gainford dispossessed a defender and set him up. It was one way traffic now, and more good play by Peterson created another opening for Moli, but the keeper was again equal to the task and made the stop. An awful goal kick from the keeper went straight to Moli but the Shrews' number one redeemed himself by making a good save, and just before half time he was on hand to once more deny the reds' centre forward. 2-0 at half time then, and time for Marsh to ring the changes. Off went Wearing, Wilson, Baio, Lussey, Peterson, Sumner and Gainford. On came Crump, Quirk, Aylmer, Hatch, Walsh, Nacho and Mukendi. Moli was always looking to get in behind the back four, and they were having difficulty staying with him. Too often though the ball didn't come early enough and the striker was being caught offside regularly. He had two goals ruled out by a linesman's flag, and several other opportunities curtailed for going a little too soon. Some of the decisions looked tight to say the least though, and on another day he could easily have had six goals. His second goal was very well taken, as he took a fine through ball from Hatch on the outside of his foot on the run, outpaced the defender and stroked the ball into the bottom corner. His hat-trick came not long after, and once again it was an impressive piece of finishing, as he showed that strength again to hold off his man before delivering the finish. He's very raw and clearly has things he needs to work on (as you'd expect from a 16 year old), but Moli looks like he'll give a lot of teams a lot of problems this season. With Adam Morgan likely to be splitting his time between the 18s and the reserves this season, Moli should get plenty of opportunities to play and it will be interesting to see how much he develops throughout the season. He was eventually forced off with a knock, which meant Sumner returning to the game at right back and Quirk moving to centre forward for the closing stages. In the three games I've seen Quirk play this pre-season, he's played in six positions. Mike Marsh will like that, he was a versatile player too back in the day. Smith had come on at left back for King midway through the second half, and spent most of his time deep into the Shrewsbury half. He loves to get forward, and poor old Mukendi seemed to spend most of his time dropping deep to fill in for him as he went rampaging forward. One of those breaks saw him get to the line and whip in a great ball that was missed by Moli but found it's way to Walsh on the back stick. It sat up on him though and even before he hit it you could tell it would go high over the bar, which it did. Moli's departure gave the visitors some respite, and as the reds eased off Shrewsbury began to see more of the ball and were awarded a penalty late on when Sumner was penalised for holding his man at the back post. Crump dived to his left and made a fine save though. It wasn't Shrewsbury's day, and to top it off they hit the crossbar with the last kick of the game. Star man was Moli, with honourable mentions to Peterson, Baio, Hatch and Regan. The lads are in action again this Wednesday when they entertain Macclesfield at the Academy. Team: Wearing (Crump); Wilson (Quirk), Rafferty, Regan, King (Smith); Baio (Aylmer), Lussey (Hatch); Peterson (Walsh), Sumner (Nacho), Gainford (Mukendi); Moli (Sumner):

LIVERPOOL U18 7 Preston U18 0 Report by Dave Usher at the Academy Scorer(s) - Dave Moli (3), Jack Dunn, Henoc Mukendi, Adam Morgan (2)Half Time - 2-0 Venue - The Academy, Kirkby Date - Wed 20 Jul 2011 Star Man - Dave Moli England u16 striker Dave Moli hit a hat-trick as the reds u18 side continued their pre-season goal blitz with a 7-0 win over Preston North End at the Academy this afternoon. Adam Morgan came off the bench to bag another double, whilst fellow substitutes Henoc Mukendi and Jack Dunn were the other scorers. Thats 21 goals in their first three outings of the pre-season for Mike Marsh's side. In the previous two games, trialists Nacho and Villyan Bijev had really caught the eye and been amongst the goals, but both were missing from this game. Peruvian trialist Tapia was still here though, and he initially lined up at centre back alongside skipper Joe Rafferty before miving into midfield later. Michael Wilson was again at right back, whilst Jordan Lussey began on the left side of defence before switching to his more accustomed midfield role midway through the first half. Connor Wearing was in goal, not that anyone would have noticed as the visitors didn't muster a shot all day. In one respect it's easy being a keeper in a side like this, but the flip side is that it's difficult to impress when you never have anything to do. Peter Aylmer and Baio lined up in midfield, with a three of Kris Peterson, Nathan Quirk and Sam Gainford operating behind lone striker Moli. Just as they had done in the previous outing against Stevenage, Marsh's side got off to a perfect start as Moli opened the scoring with a good finish early doors. He'd already had a goal chalked off for offside a couple of minutes earlier, and it was looking like being a long day for the Preston keeper. It should have been 2-0 shortly after, when Gainford did well on the left and rolled the ball into the path of Baio, but the Portuguese midfielder sliced his shot over from 12 yards. He'd started brightly had Baio, but his afternoon came to a premature end when he was forced off with injury after about half an hour. Lewis Hatch was his replacement. Around this time I was joined on the touchline by Damien Comolli, who was stood right next to me. He was entertaining two trialists, and they were joined by a third not long after. I believe the third was Bijev, he was definitely American but I didn't get much of a look at him as there were people in the way. One of the other lads had his parents with him, they sounded German or Hungarian or something, difficult to tell. I was trying to eavesdrop on what Comolli was saying, but his voice is just so damn soft it was impossible to hear anything. He took himself off shortly after to go and talk to some fella who looked like an agent. Reading it back, none of this info is of any way useful as it's all pretty vague. I don't know who the lads were, where they from or what Comolli was saying to them. It's not easy being a snoop, no wonder all those hacks resorted to tapping phones. In addition to the enforced substitution, Marsh made a couple of tactical changes too. Peter Aylmer switched positions with Tapia and Lussey and Quirk also swapped roles. Despite being moved to left back from the number ten role, Quirk still managed to create a second goal for Moli. He carried the ball into the box and rolled the ball to the striker, who showed good feet to work his way past a defender and finish well. That's how it stayed until half time. Marsh made three changes at the break, sending on Jack Dunn, Tom Walsh and Henoc Mukendi for Tapia, Peterson and Gainford. That meant those three operating behind Moli, with Lussey dropping in to partner Hatch in the middle of midfield. Dunn was the creator of the third goal, his pinpoint pass splitting the defence and sending Moli clear. He outpaced the defence, rounded the keeper and then showed great composure after it looked like he'd over-ran it, as he cut back inside and waited until the space appeared to drill his shot in and claim his hat-trick. The fourth goal was a nice move, started by Wilson who produced a fine first time pass to get out of trouble and put the reds on the attack. The ball was eventually worked back to him as he moved down the touchline, and he picked out Dunn in the centre who scored with a terrific header. Morgan and Matty Regan then came on to replace Moli and Rafferty. Goal number five came when Hatch played a wonderful through ball to Mukendi, who held off the defender and then drilled a low shot past the keeper. The kind of goal we've seen him score before. He's a handful is big Henoc, and he's very difficult to shake off the ball. Preston really struggled to deal with him, and Morgan should have scored after Mukendi charged down a clearance and put him clear. When you see Morgo bearing down on goal like that you'd put good money on him to hit the back of the net, but this time he shot over. Lussey and Wilson were then replaced by u16 duo Nathan Burke and Joe Maguire. Burke went into centre midfield, whilst Maguire slotted in at left back, meaning a third position of the game for Quirk who switched to right full back. Mukendi wasted a good opportunity when Dunn sent him through again, but this time he dragged his shot well wide across the face of goal. Morgan followed suit shortly after, the ball dropped to him on his left foot but he dragged it wide much to his own disgust. He made amends soon after with an excellent goal, as he ran into the box and bamboozled the defender before drilling his shot past the keeper. He added another before the end, capitalising on some comical defending to claim an easy goal. It was far too easy for the reds again, and it will be interesting to see what happens when they step up the class of opposition they are facing. Having said that, this has been far from a full strength u18 side, yet they've been battering teams. It's not just the goals they are scoring, it's just the complete dominance they are showing. Neither Stevenage or Preston managed a shot, but Marsh is playing a number of first year players and even some u16s. I dread to think what the score would be if the likes of Sterling and Silva were involved. Their absence has allowed others the chance to shine, and shine they have. It's difficult picking a star man, as the whole team is functioning very well. Everyone seems totally comfortable with the formation they are playing and the way they are expected to play the game, and you can generally make a case for a number of players being the star man each game. I guess I'll give it to Moli this time as he did score a hat-trick. Jack Dunn ran him close, even though he only played the second half. The lads go to Wigan this weekend, which should represent a tougher task than those they have faced so far, but only a fool would bet against them being amongst the goals again as there's just so much firepower in the side and the system and pattern of play that has been laid down by Pep Segura is reaping rich rewards. Team: Wearing; Wilson (Maguire), Tapia (Dunn), Rafferty (Regan), Lussey (Burke); Baio (Hatch), Aylmer; Peterson (Walsh), Quirk, Gainford (Mukendi); Moli (Morgan):

LIVERPOOL U18 8 Stevenage U18 0 Report by Dave Usher at the Academy Scorer(s) - Villyan Bijev (3), 'Nacho' 2 (1 pen), Jordan Lussey, Adam Morgan (2)Half Time - 5-0 Venue - The Academy, Kirkby Date - Sat 16 Jul 2011 Star Man 1st half - Villyan Bijev Star Man 2nd half - Adam Morgan New coach Mike Marsh saw his side make it 14 goals in their opening two pre-season games, as poor Stevenage were thumped 8-0 yesterday afternoon on a windy day in Kirkby. Just as they had done in the 6-1 win over Tranmere in midweek, young trialists Villyan Bijev and 'Nacho' got themselves amongst the goals and did their chances of securing a move to Anfield no harm whatsoever. Last year's top goalscorer Adam Morgan returned to action as a second half substitute and picked up where he left off last season with a double blast that included a spectacular long range strike, whilst another young England star Jordan Lussey grabbed the other goal. The reds lined up with Connor Wearing in goal, and a back four of Michael Wilson and Tom King as the fullbacks and Joe Rafferty and Tapia - a trialist from Peru - in the centre. Portuguese youth international Baio partnered Lussey in the engine room, with Nathan Quirk on the right, Nacho in the hole and Henoc Mukendi left. US teenager Bijev was the lone striker. Bijev wasted no time in making his mark, opening the scoring seconds after the kick off following good work by Mukendi on the left wing. The American was the creator of the second goal minutes later, when he latched onto a great through ball from Wilson and rounded the keeper who dragged him down. Nacho scored easily from the spot. It was 3-0 very quickly, and brilliant goal it was too. Lussey collected the ball in his own half, exchanged passes with Quirk, then laid it inside to Bijev who's instant back heel fell perfectly for Lussey to burst into the box and score. He's a very good player, a proper footballer in the middle of the park. It was looking like it was going to be a long day for the Stevenage defence, and before the quarter hour mark had passed it was 4-0, Bijev going through again and finishing in some style. Nacho then shot just wide after good build up play involving Bijev and Mukendi, and Bijev was a whisker away from a hat-trick when he nut-megged a defender and went clear, but the keeper made a fabulous save to tip the ball just wide. He didn't have to wait long to get his treble though, finishing from close range after Stevenage had failed to deal with a cross from Quirk. A real poachers effort. 5-0. Bijev had absolutely run the visitors ragged, it was a complete mismatch. He looks a very good player, although that praise has to be tempered somewhat given the poor standard of opposition coupled with the fact that he's an u19 player and therefore a little older than everyone else on the field. Still, he's certainly got a bit about him and knows where the goal is. Stevenage will have been delighted to see him withdrawn at half time as Mike Marsh rung the changes. In addition to the American youngster, Mukendi, Lussey and Baio were also withdrawn as Dave Moli, Lewis Hatch, Peter Aylmer and Sam Gainford entered the fray. The changes affected Liverpool for a little while, and Stevenage enjoyed some temporary respite from the peppering their goal had taken. Respite is not something you get when Morgan is on the field though, and after he replaced the excellent Quirk the reds began to threaten regularly again. The visiting keeper was easily their best player, and he produced a great stop to keep out Morgan after the England u17 frontman turned brilliantly on the edge of the box and ran through on goal. He could do nothing to prevent Nacho grabbing his second with a clever dinked finish to make it 6-0. The Spanish youngster was fairly quiet on the day and nowhere near as influential as he'd been against Tranmere, but there were some flashes of quality and it will be interesting to see if the reds pursue a deal. The goal was his last act, as he was immediately replaced by Jack Dunn. Rafferty was also replaced by Matty Regan. Dunn and Regan had been part of the England u17 squad that competed in the World Cup in Mexico this summer. Raheem Sterling was also part of the squad, and he was here watching. Sam Gainford was beginning to see more and more of the ball on the left wing, and it was following good work by him that Aylmer almost made it 7-0. Once again, the Stevenage keeper came to the rescue. Gainford then curled a shot inches over from 35 yards as the wind continued to be a factor. The wind had nothing to do with Morgan's stunning first goal however. He collected the ball on halfway, advanced a few paces and then struck a blistering low drive from around 40 yards that flew into the bottom corner. Great goal from a player who looks like he could go on to big things, and possibly very quickly. 'Morgo' was one of the younger players in last years group, but this season there will be lads even younger than him, and with his experience at international level he'll be one of the more senior players in Marsh's squad. Just how long he'll be in that squad will be interesting to see, as if he continues what he was doing last season he'll surely be in the reserves before long, and maybe even higher than that. It was noticeable how he was talking to his younger team-mates and encouraging them, especially the young left back (Joe Maguire, an u16 player) who replaced Tom King midway through the second half. Always good to see that kind of thing, it's one of the things that made Jay Spearing and Conor Coady stand out at this level. You can never have too many leaders on the field. Morgan made it 8-0 with another nice finish, and it seemed inevitable that the reds would hit double figures as they were creating chances at will now. Aylmer hit the post after Moli had outstripped the Stevenage defence, and Morgan couldn't believe he wasn't celebrating a hat-trick when he followed up after Gainford's effort had been saved. I'm not sure how it didn't go in actually, I think it may have been blocked by a defender but it could have been the keeper. It all happened really quickly. It was a ridiculously one sided game, and I can't remember either Liverpool keeper having to make any kind of save. Defensively the reds were very comfortable, and all the lads at the back did their jobs well. The trialist was the only player to stay on the field for the entire game, and he didn't put a foot wrong. The back four weren't tested at all though, Stevenage were completely out of their depth, just as Tranmere had been the other day. With that in mind, it's difficult to judge the lads on trial, and I'd imagine the staff will mostly be basing their opinions of them on what they do in training against out own players. For example, Tapia will be tested far more against Morgan on the training pitch than he will be in any of these games. Same goes for Bijev, who will find it more difficult against a Matty Regan or Joe Rafferty than he would against Stevenage's youngsters. Even taking into account the low level of opposition, it's hard not to be excited by what's happening at the Academy. You see what the lads have done this week, and this is even without people like Brad Smith, Raheem Sterling and Toni Silva who are all still eligible for the u18s, and it's pretty scary. The teams are all playing the same system too, which makes continuation through the ranks much easier for players as they are comfortable with what they are being asked to do. Exciting times. Team: Wearing (Fulton); Wilson (Burke), Tapia, Rafferty (Regan), King (Maguire); Baio (Aylmer), Lussey (Hatch); Quirk (Morgan), Nacho (Dunn), Mukendi (Gainford); Bijev (Moli): leB53tS2iV4

LIVERPOOL RES 4 Brentford Res 4 Report by Steve Horton at the Academy Scorer(s) – Suso (pen), Nathan Eccleston, Nabil El Zhar, Michael NgooHalf Time - 3-3 Venue - The Academy, Kirkby Date - Tue Jul 13 2011 1st Half Star Man – David Amoo 2nd Half Star Man - Michael Ngoo Liverpool Reserves played out an entertaining 4-4 draw with Brentford’s Development Squad on Tuesday afternoon at The Academy, as signs of rustiness showed in their first friendly of the pre season. The Reds played a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Nathan Eccleston as a lone striker and Suso playing off him, supported by David Amoo and Nabil El Zhar on the flanks. Michael Roberts and Krisztian Adorjan were the holding midfielders, with Emmauel Mendy, Stephen Sama, Matthew McGiveron, Adam Hadju across the back and Jamie Stephens in goal. Liverpool took the lead within five minutes, Suso sending the keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot after Eccleston had been brought down. However from the kick off Brentford attacked and Emmauel Oyeleke picked up a fortunate rebound before hitting a fierce shot that Stephens could only help into the net. Both sides then had a period of sizing the other up, not getting forward too much although Amoo did look dangerous on occasions and had a good cross into the box that nobody connected with. The visitors took the lead after nineteen minutes through Maison McGeechan’s half volley from just outside which Stephens will be disappointed not to have saved. The Reds almost equalised straight away when Sama headed Suso’s corner just wide, but they were fortunate not to go 3-1 down after some sloppy play by El Zhar. The Moroccan gave the ball away inside his own half leading to a dangerous ball into the six yard box but Mendy was on hand to hook clear. He soon showed why he has managed twenty Premiership games though and will be useful to somebody,collecting Suso's raking pass before beating a man and curling in a shot from the left hand corner of the area to make the score 2-2 after 26 minutes. The Reds stepped up the pressure and Eccleston should have scored two minutes after drawing level. Suso played a great diagonal ball to Eccleston on the right of the box who then rounded the keeper, but for reasons known only to him he didn’t shoot, instead he held on to the ball, cut in to beat a defender then blasted over with a completely open goal in front of him. Amoo then put in a good cross but again nobody was there to meet it. After weathering this storm Brentford asserted their authority again, giving Sama and McGiveron some awkward moments. Both central defenders let a ball over the top drop to the floor instead of attacking it and Luke Hacker fired a shot across the face of goal. The Brentford forward was causing problems again a minute later when he turned past McGiveron but his shot clipped the post. As half time approached there was no let up in the play by either side. Eccleston went down in the area but his appeals for a penalty were waved away, then a minute before half time he headed the Reds into the lead from Amoo’s cross. Brentford again equalised almost straight from the restart, Roberts played a poor ball across the pitch 35 yards from goal and it was intercepted by McGeechan who fired in a great shot to make it 3-3 and complete the first half action. As expected both sides made a number of changes at half time, with Amoo, El Zhar, Eccleston and Adorjan all coming off for the Reds to be replaced by Craig Roddan, Toni Silva, Kristjan Emilsson and Michael Ngoo. Chances were less after the break, with both sides defences being stronger. Suso came closest for Liverpool when he hit a shot over, before Hacker made it 4-3 to the visitors when he scored from a penalty after being brought down by McGeechan. The Reds looked to be heading for defeat, especially after Emilsson fired straight at the keeper but Hajdu set up Ngoo, who turned cleverly and fired past the keeper to make the score 4-4. Liverpool pressed for a late winner but Middleton saved from Emilsson and Silva headed over, leaving the Reds to rue some lapses in concentration during the game. Full credit has to be given to Brentford though who included a number of trialists, they put in a very good performance in what was their development squads first game together. Later Nathan Eccleston tweeted “not a bad result still a lot to improve but it’s expected as it’s pre season” Team: Stephens; Mendy, Sama, McGiveron, Hajdu; Roberts, Adorjan (Roddan); Amoo (Silva), Suso (Amoo), El Zhar (Ngoo); Eccleston (Emilsson):

CONOR COADY PROFILE by Dave Usher Date of Birth - 25/02/93 Nationality - English Position - Defence / Midfield Squad Number - 35 Club Hons (Lpool) - Intnl Hons - England u19 Highly promising youngster who is making great strides with club and country. Conor is a natural leader and captained both the reds and England through various youth levels. A strong player who is equally at home in defence or midfield, he has a fine range of passing and a blistering shot from distance. Conor captained England to u17 European Championship success in the summer of 2010, and followed that up with an excellent season for his club, where he almost led the u18s to the league title, Rodolfo Borrell's lads missed out on the final day when they were held to a draw at home by Wolves. Conor also impressed in the youth cup, although that campaign ended on a sour note when he was sent off after a flare up with a Manchester United player in the reds' 3-2 defeat at Anfield in the quarter finals. Kenny Dalglish's appointment as first team boss gave all the young players a boost, and the King wasted no time in promoting some of the Academy players to train at Melwood Conor was one of the first to get the nod, and was also an unused substitute for the senior side on a couple of occasions. 2011-12 proved to be a frustrating season for Coady. Having been so close to a senior debut the previous year many expected the young scouser to be pushing for a regular place in the squad, especially after he impressed in pre-season, even getting himself on the scoresheet in a game against Guangdong FC. It never happened though. The reserves got off to a slow start and Coady was unable to build on the progress he'd made the previous year. Conor is highly thought of at the club and Rodolfo Borrell named him as captain of the reserve side for the 2012-13 season. Video Clips of Conor Coady in action oVHBeYSln0o 1G7Q2dKAbOQ ZchW7MBe6OA KVVB9nngJZc

CRAIG RODDAN PROFILE by Dave Usher Date of Birth - 22/04/93 Nationality - English Position - Midfield Squad Number - Cost - Undisclosed Club Hons (Lpool) - Intnl Hons - Other Clubs - Good all round midfield player who formed a fine partnership with Conor Coady at Academy level after joining the reds from Wigan Athletic in 2009. Craig has a good engine, an impressive range of passing and loves a tackle. He turned in a string of fine performances during the FA Youth Cup run in the 2010-11 season and also played at reserve level, whilst he was a fixture in the u18 side that were only denied the league title when they were held to a draw on the final day of the season. In 2011/12 Craig was a regular in the reserve matchday squad but didn't start as often as he would have liked due to the presence of the more experienced Michael Roberts. Video Clips of Craig Roddan in action KVVB9nngJZc