TLW

Two words. Besian. Idrizaj.

Martin Finnan Insua Arbeloa San Jose Yossi Plessis Lucas Riise Nemeth Crouch subs Voronin Darby Spearing Huth Itandje

You should get one specially made for your face. You save more shots with that than your hands anyway :whistle:

For the impatient Norgie.... For exclusive photo's from this game, click here I expect captions now, seeing as how you made such a big deal of it.

Better late than never... http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/news/60258-liverpool-res-3-wigan-res-0-match-report.html Pictures to follow

LIVERPOOL RES 3 Wigan Res 0 Report by Dave Usher at the Academy Scorer(s) Gerardo Bruna, Craig Lindfield, Jordy BrouwerHalf Time – 2-0 Venue – Liverpool Academy, Kirkby Date - Thu 17 April 2008 Star Man – Dani Pacheco Gerardo Bruna’s excellent free-kick was the highlight of Liverpool reserves’ 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic at the Academy in the Lancashire Senior Cup 2nd round yesterday afternoon. In a game played in very strong winds, Liverpool overcame a slow start to produce some excellent football and were full value for the win. Craig Lindfield and Jordy Brouwer bagged the other goals. Gary Ablett used the game to experiment with the use of the 4-2-3-1 system that has served the first team so well of late. Usually the reserves play 4-4-2, although they have occasionally played 4-4-1-1 with Jay Spearing in an advanced role behind the striker. Spearing was left on the bench for this game, along with Plessis and Insua, possibly with the seniors game at Fulham in mind? Krisztian Nemeth was also missing, along with his compatriots Peter Gulacsi and Andras Simon. Presumably they are on international duty. Ablett handed a rare start to Martin Hansen in goal, whilst regular right back Stephen Darby switched to the other flank in the absence of Insua. Martin Kelly was right back, with Ayala and Huth in the middle. The midfield two were Mikel San Jose and Ryan Flynn, with Dani Pacheco in the ‘Gerrard role’ and Lindfield and Bruna either side of Brouwer. In fairness, the first forty minutes of this game was dire. The wind had an effect, but it wasn’t the sole reason for the lacklustre showing. The reds had been dreadful on Monday night when they overcame Prescot after extra time, and they carried on that form into this game. The exception early on was Bruna, who looked lively and was involved a lot more than I have seen him in any game previously. Pacheco was showing some nice touches, but was also giving the ball away a lot. Brouwer wasn’t really involved, and Lindfield never really looked happy on the right. Defensively Liverpool were untroubled, as an inexperienced Wigan had nothing to offer really. Nevertheless, a couple of times they almost got in due to some complacency in the Liverpool backline, most notably from Huth who was caught in possession once or twice. The big lad has had a fantastic season though, so he’s entitled to the odd lapse now and again. The reds had only created one chance of note prior to them taking the lead, that was when Pacheco shot wide after good set up play from Browuer and Bruna. Too often though the final ball into the box was lacking. The opening goal arrived shortly before half time, when Bruna’s run infield was halted by an illegal challenge. Both he and Pacheco stood over the free-kick, with the right footed Spaniard probably the most likely taker given that the free-kick was on the left edge of the box. It as his Argentine team-mate that stepped up and curled the ball over the wall and into the top corner. The keeper got a good hand to it and probably should have kept it out, but there was a strong wind at Bruna’s back so perhaps I’m being a bit harsh. There can be no doubting the quality of the strike however. It was harsh on Wigan, who’d not really been under any sustained pressure throughout. Things got worse almost immediately. Bruna found space in the middle and unleashed a shot from 30 yards that was headed for the bottom corner until the keeper turned it round the post at full stretch. From the corner, Wigan made a mess of clearing it, the ball fell to Lindfield 12 yards out on the volley, and he drilled the ball through a ruck of players into the net. 2-0 flattered Liverpool at half time, but the second half they took control completely and played very well. Bruna continued to show some nice touches, whilst Pacheco really came into the game more and was a joy to watch at times. The introduction of Jay Spearing in midfield for San Jose at half time gave the side an added dimension in attack, whilst Ablett also gave u18 star Steve Irwin a run out at left back as Darby was given a well earned rest. Irwin settled in well, despite not being a natural left back. Spearing had been doing a bit of shooting practice at half time with the other subs, and he wasn’t exactly impressive. He looked like he was playing in someone else’s boots! Three minutes into the second half however, he got a shooting opportunity and stung the keeper’s hands from 20 yards with a fine effort. Liverpool were looking threatening now, and were moving the ball about very well. Some nice play from Pacheco sent Lindfield in, and although he went round the keeper the angle became too tight so he couldn’t shoot. ‘Speo’ had charged into the box and was screaming for the ball, Lindfield spotted him and tried to pick him out but a defender got back well to nip in and clear the danger. Flynn and Spearing were keeping the ball moving well in midfield and Wigan were struggling to stay in the game. A stunning through ball from Spearing completely ripped open their back four and put Pacheco in. He could have gone himself, but instead opted to try and square the ball to Lindfield. A defender managed to get in the way and the chance was gone. Some more good interplay saw Bruna cut through the Wigan defence and pick out Brouwer in the box. He couldn’t get himself into a shooting position under pressure from his marker, but he did manage to toe poke the ball back into the path of Bruna, who dragged his shot wide. Brouwer had not had much joy around the box, but the one clear chance that came his way he took very well. A ball over the top wasn’t dealt with, the defender heading the ball into the Dutch forward’s path. He took it on his chest and carried it into the box, and when the keeper came out he drilled a low left foot shot under him into the net. Good finish. He was brought off almost immediately, with Plessis his replacement. That meant a switch back to 4-4-2, with Lindfield moving up front with Pacheco, and Flynn and Bruna occupying the wings. Pacheco was enjoying himself now and seeing a lot of the ball. Some nice play from him got the ball to Spearing, who’d strong run and well struck shot brought a very good stop from the keeper. Spearing then linked up nicely with Flynn, who got to the byline and put in a perfect cross to the back post where Pacheco was steaming in. He got to the ball and planted a header goalwards from close range, but it crashed against the post and rebounded clear. Pacheco then fed Lindfield, who’s first touch and turn were sublime. He got his shot away, but again the keeper made a fine stop. Wigan’s keeper kept the score down, as Liverpool could easily have added another three or four in the second half. Star man was between Pacheco and Bruna, although I’d also say Martin Kelly was impressive at right back and Flynn worked hard and was neat and tidy. Bruna was the star of the first half, but Pacheco did more in the second half and I’ll go for him I think. The two of them seem to be developing a nice little understanding on the field, and there was one piece of interplay between them on the left touchline that was brilliant. They are both still very young and more than a little lightweight (especially Bruna), but they are talented and hopefully they will continue to progress together and maybe both eventually progress to the first team. It’s a long way off though, and hopefully there won’t be to much expected of them too soon. Next season should see them start more games for the reserves, although Gary Ablett already has a big squad and with all the loanees due to come back it could get even bigger. Competition for places is as fierce at reserve level as it is in the first team now. Some of the lads will have to go out on loan, others will leave permanently, some will stay in the reserve squad and hopefully a couple will move up to the first team squad. I don’t envy those making the decisions, as there are a lot of talented players in this group. For exclusive photo's from this game, click here Team: Hansen; Kelly, Ayala, Huth, Darby (Irwin); Flynn, San Jose (Spearing); Lindfield, Pacheco, Bruna; Brouwer (Plessis):

LIVERPOOL 3 Blackburn 1 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Andriy VoroninHalf Time - 0-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sun 13 April 2008 Star Man – Steven Gerrard With all the childish public squabbling and media sniping from all of the senior figures dominating the headlines, it’s easy to forget that this has been a good week on the field for us. We progressed to an impressive third CL Semi Final in four years, and we took a giant leap towards securing qualification for that competition next season with a comfortable win over Blackburn to strengthen our hold on fourth spot. Earlier in the season all the boardroom unrest and uncertainty over the manager’s position was used as a reason for our dreadful form and slump in results. Hopefully we won’t see a repeat of that, because if we do then those responsible need to be hung drawn and quartered. Success in this season’s Champions League would perhaps be the most unlikely achievement in our history given the absolutely chaotic mess the club is in at the moment. 2005 was a miracle, I don’t know what you’d call it if we did it again. We’ve a long way to go yet, and overcoming Chelsea won’t be easy, as we know more than anybody. It will be another epic, with hopefully the same end result ad the previous two encounters. However, the five point cushion we have in fourth place does allow Rafa some leeway if he chooses to rest players before, in between and - hopefully - after the two Chelsea games. That’s why this win over Blackburn was vitally important. If we’d dropped points, then next weekend’s game with Fulham would have taken on more significance than it needed to. As things stand, unless Everton beat Chelsea on Thursday, I’d rest our entire first team this weekend, and I’m sure the temptation will be there for Benitez to do just that. After the exertions of the side against Arsenal the other night, Rafa may have considered shuffling his pack a fair bit, but by and large he stuck to the same side. Mascherano was unavailabe, so Lucas came in as a direct replacement for him. Sami was given a well earned rest, meaning Carragher switched to his preferred position and Arbeloa came in at right back, and midweek hero Ryan Babel was handed a start in place of Peter Crouch, who wasn’t even amongst the subs. Blackburn included former reds Ste Warnock and Brad Friedel (both given warm receptions by the Kop at the start of the second half), whilst a lot of eyes will have been on David Bentley, who has been touted as a possible transfer target for us this summer. I watched him closely, and I thought he did well to be fair. He looks a decent player, with a good work rate and nice range of passing. Where he’d fit into our current formation though I have no idea, and for the kind of money he’d cost I can’t see the point of going for him. We didn’t play well in the first half, it was all a bit flat. Most of our best situations came about from winning the ball in midfield and breaking quickly when Blackburn attacks broke down. The pace of Torres, Babel and Gerrard threatened to unlock the door several times, but too often the final ball was poor. We did have our moments though. Torres headed wide from a corner when he should have scored, but it wasn’t at the Kop end so it it was to be expected I guess! Aurelio had a half chance too following a purposeful run forward and one-two with Kuyt. Dirk’s return pass sat up on him though and it was a difficult ball to hit. It’s good to see Aurelio getting forward though, I think he could do it a bit more as he’s got the ability. Gerrard had a chance when Torres and Kuyt led a swift break and Dirk squared the ball to his skipper, but Stevie’s shot wasn’t cleanly hit and it was saved by Friedel. Kuyt then put a free header wide from close range after another good set piece delivery from Gerrard. The captain was involved in everything, and the main talking points of the half were two incidents that put the referee on the spot. The first incident was difficult for the referee, and many refs would probably have given a penalty when he went down under Friedel’s challenge. At the time, I thought it was a blatant dive, and that Gerrard was lucky not to be booked. Having seen the replay, I still don’t think it was a penalty, but it wasn’t exactly a dive either. He left his leg in deliberately, and Friedel caught him. I definitely wouldn’t have given a pen as he was looking for it,. The second incident was definitely a foul, and should have been a red card for Samba. It wasn’t a penalty as it was just outside the box, but it was an obvious foul. I suspect Wiley didn’t give it because of the earlier incident. He wasn’t going to give Gerrard the benefit of the doubt because he felt he had dived. It isn’t right, but it’s understandable in some ways. It’s why Ronaldo often doesn’t get decisions he perhaps should do. Gerrard shrugged off the disappointment and just continued to play his game. He was outstanding, too good for Blackburn and the main reason we won this game. The goal that put us into the lead was brilliant, typical Gerrard. Benayoun’s part in the goal shouldn’t be overlooked either, he had not been on too long but he made an immediate impression. Babel had struggled, adding more weight to the theory he’s better coming off the bench. Yossi gave us a lift when he came on, and it was he that won back possession in the build up to the goal. Gerrard collected it and exchanged passes with Lucas, but it was the touch that slipped the ball through Samba’s legs and into the box that made this goal. It was absolutely world class, and the finish wasn’t bad either. Just a stunning goal, and no more than we deserved. The second goal was good too, and was similar to the first in that the catalyst for it was us winning back possession in the opposition half. Three or four of our players pressed the ball, and eventually a poor clearance was intercepted by Lucas, who cleverly played the ball first time into the path of Gerrard. The speed of Lucas’ pass put Rovers in trouble, and they were outnumbered in the box. Gerrard picked out Torres, but had he missed it (I know, as if!) Yossi was behind him waiting for it. Torres’ header was just class. It wasn’t an easy chance, but he made it look like it was. He’s scored in seven consecutive home games now. Let’s hope he can make it eight next week. The striker was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty as well, when he and Gerrard produced some stunning interplay which was only ended when Emerton brought him down in the box. At first I thought it was a clean tackle, but having seen the replay it was a definite pen as the defender got nowhere near the ball. With the points in the bag and time running down, Rafa gave Torres a rest and introduced the much maligned Voronin. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not really my cup of tea either, but he’s nowhere near as bad as some are suggesting. It was nice for him to get on the scoresheet, and the goal put a smile on my face largely due to the part played by Riise and his one footedness. Yossi’s pass intended for Voronin was almost perfect, but Samba stuck out a long leg and prodded the ball into the path of Riise. He needed to shoot with his right foot, but wouldn’t for obvious reasons. So then he has it on his left foot, but Friedel’s positioning meant there was nowhere for him to put it. To his credit, he realised that and poked the ball inside towards Voronin, who slid in and just about got there first to claim his fifth goal of the season. Riise had earlier been involved in a comical spat with David Dunn in front of the Paddock. Riise was warming up on the touchline as the ball went out for a Blackburn throw in. He let the ball run through his legs to waste a bit of time, and Dunn wasn’t happy, calling him a ‘prick’ amongst other things. Riise just laughed at him, then turned to the Paddock and laughed again, before puffing up his cheeks and making this gesture with his arms towards Dunn that basically said ‘fat bastard’. Made me laugh heartily. Unfortunately Dunn had turned his back and didn’t see it. At 3-0 it was a perfect day, but we went and gave a stupid goal away right at the end. Skrtel was the main culprit for it, as his poor header fell to Santa Cruz who produced a great finish past Pepe. Heading appears to be Skrtel’s biggest weakness, as often the ball goes straight up in the air when he heads it. He’s done well so far, but this is something he can work on, for sure. To be fair, he was fortunate to even be on the pitch at that stage, having pulled back Roberts when he had a clear run on goal. Wiley produced a yellow card rather than red, possibly because he reasoned that although it was a clear goalscoring opportunity, it was Jason Roberts so it wasn’t THAT clear. Skrtel was very lucky though. Star man was Gerrard, with honourable mentions to Kuyt who was busy and bright again, Alonso (not outstanding but steady throughout), Lucas and Yossi, who made a big difference when he came on and gave us a lift that we really needed. Team: Reina; Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio; Lucas, Alonso (Riise); Kuyt, Gerrard, Babel (Benayoun); Torres (Voronin):

Interesting observations on the Academy problems by DT http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/news/59863-trouble-kids.html

LIVERPOOL 4 Arsenal 2 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Sami Hyypia, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard (pen), Ryan BabelHalf Time - 1-1 Venue - Anfield Date - Tue 8 April 2008 Star Man – Dirk Kuyt How do you do justice to a game like that? I don’t even know where to start. I guess it would have been more surprising if it had been a dull, routine one sided clash that saw either ourselves or the Gunners go through. Anfield on a European night never does dull or routine though. Without fail it throws up tense, dramtic, heart stopping occasions, and invariably it’s the redmen who are left standing at the end of it. This was no different, although for a long spell in the first half, and a very brief time in the second, it didn’t look like it would end up that way. Arsenal had qualification in their sights twice, but they couldn’t get the job done and we picked ourselves up off the floor to deliver deliver two late knockout blows. Just where this game ranks in the Anfield Euro Night Hall of Hame I couldn’t begin to say, certainly not so soon after the event. If we were to go on to reach the final or even win it, then this game will possibly take on St Ettienne type status. If we don’t, it’ll be more of an Auxerre I guess. All I know is that this game aged me ten years. I really struggled to deal with the nerves this time. I should be used to it, we’ve had so many massive games that have frayed every last nerve and ensured fingernails were chewed down to stumps. But I found this one to be the worst yet. I don’t know why that was, maybe I was tired (too many late nights working on the new issue - out this Sunday by the way!), maybe I’m getting old and can’t handle the tension anymore, or perhaps it’s because the fear of losing is greater than it’s ever been. At the moment, the only thing distracting people from the shocking mess our club is in off the field, is the possibility of reaching another European Cup Final. If that is taken away, suddenly there isn’t anything to deflect away from the seriousness of the continuing ownership debacle, and the realisation of jst how bad things are will set in . Whatever the reason, this game drained the fuck out of me and I was a mess afterwards. And that was despite the fact we won! The strange thing is, I was confident beforehand, especially when I saw the team. Me and Rafa have really been on the same page lately. I put up on the forum the team I’d have started with at the Emirates last weekend, and Rafa went with the same line up. I put on the forum this week that I’d play Crouch instead of Babel, and he did it. Shame I gave up on that Fantasy Rafa thing months ago, as I’d have had maximum points these last two games. So when I saw the line up, I was well pleased and convinced we’d blitz Arsenal from the off and get the job done early. What I hadn’t expected though was the way the players lined up. I thought we’d see Torres and Kuyt either side of Crouch with Gerrard in behind. I didn’t expect Gerrard left wing in a 442. Maybe that’s why we got off to such a bad start, and maybe that’s why Stevie was way below par. Personally I’m not so sure. It’s an obvious explanation, and probably the correct one. But who’s to say our bad start wasn’t due to nerves? And who’s to say Gerrard wouldn’t have had a poor game even if he’d been used in his regular position? We’ll never know, but my own opinion is that it wasn’t so much the formation that was our problem, it was more individual errors that led to a bad start and made us nervous. Then there’s the opposition. Arsenal were fantastic for the opening 25 minutes or so. They obviously decided they were coming to attack, and not to sit back and counter attack. That, coupled with our hesitant start, saw them build up a head of steam and begin to pass us off the park. In truth, we couldn’t get near them, and when they took the lead I don’t think it was that much of a shock. I wouldn’t say it had been coming, as they hadn’t threatened that much, but there was a menace about them and they were on top. Fabregas, Hleb and the hugely under-rated Diaby were passing their way through our midfield with an ease that almost defied belief. No-one does that to Mascherano without him being able to get a foot in somewhere, but they did it. Alonso and Mascherano were trying to get close to them to put them under pressure, but by the time they attempted a tackle, the ball wasn’t there anymore and the man had already set off looking for a return pass. It was brilliant football and we were struggling to deal with it. We didn’t help ourselves by regularly giving the ball back to them, and the tone for that was set in the opening minute when Alonso carelessly gave the ball away. He struggled in the first half an hour, but he wasn’t alone. Mascherano, Gerrard and Reina all gave the ball away very cheaply in the opening few minutes, and we looked very nervous. The goal was poor from our perspective. We had chances to clear but didn’t get it away far enough. There looked like a handball from Flamini but it wasn’t given, and no-one picked up Diaby as he ran onto Fabregas’ pass and then drilled a shot past Reina and in at the near post. Should Pepe have done better? Probably. I don’t think he could have reacted to the shot any quicker, as it flew past and he couldn’t be expected to save it. But maybe his positioning was off a little and he left too big a gap? We werein trouble at that point. A goal down and being outplayed, plus we no longer had the advnatage of the away goal from last week. I’m not sure exactly what changed, and how we managed to stem the tide and get back into the game. The goal helped, obviously, but for a few minutes before that I thought it looked like we’d started to get a bit of a foothold in the game. Two things I felt were important in this were Kuyt’s harrying and Aurelio’s composure. We’d been chasing shadows for a while, but eventually Kuyt began to catch those shadows, and tackle them. He was phenomenal I thought. He didn’t give them a second’s peace, and when he started getting amongst them and getting some tackles in, others began to follow suit. Once we began doing that, we took over the game. The first half an hour was Arsenal’s, the rest of the game was ours. Aurelio’s composure on the ball helped us settle. He was a good outlet as he doesn’t panic when he has the ball, and he always looks to pick out a pass rather than just get the ball upfield. He produced our first shot of the game when he chested the ball down on the right corner of the box and blasted over with his right foot. Had it been on his left foot it might have been a different story. We were beginning to settle at that point, and it was more incisive play from the full back that led to the equaliser. The Brazilian played a superb one-two with Gerrard, and his deflected cros saw Almunia claw the ball away at full stretch to concede a corner. Even though our corners are invariably shit, I still always get my hopes up whenever we get one, although it’s nothing compared to the level of dread I feel when we concede one! Generally we let in goals from set-pieces, but don’t score many. So seeing Sami lose his marker and plant a glorious header into the top corner was especially sweet. Arsenal had scored from a corner last week, and we once again were subjected to the ‘zonal marking’ debate. I await a full and frank media investigation into the pitfalls of man to man marking after the way Senderos lost Hyypia. Or maybe not, as you can be sure it won’t be mentioned. Had that been us conceding a free header like that though... I say free header, but that’s doing Sami a bit of an injustice. Free header it may have been, but he had a gap of about two square foot in which to put that ball, and he wasn’t exactly close in either. It was a brilliant header, and from my seat in the Main Stand I had a glorious view of it. It looked like it was going wide initially, as I was right behind it and it started out past the far post and curled inwards. It seemed like everything suddenly went into slow motion as the ball traveled goalwards. Had Fabregas been a few inches taller he’d have cleared it. But then if he’d been a few inches taller he wouldn’t have been guarding the post. The goal was a huge relief, and remarkably it was the third time Big Sami has scored in a CL quarter final. That man is a 100% bonafied Liverpool Legend. Arguably as good a defender as we’ve ever had, he’s also a great pro and a great ambassador for the club. They broke the mould when they made Sami Hyypia. A word hasn’t yet been invented for how great Sami Hyypia has been for us. The goal settled us down, and knocked the stuffing out of them a bit. We took control of the game and they weren’t finding the time and space they were before. Mascherano and Alonso got a grip of the midfield, and Hyypia and Skrtel began to boss Adebayor. I was still really worried at this point, because the a second away goal would put us in real trouble as we’d need to score at least two more. At 1-1 Arsenal were favourites, as they only needed one goal to ensure we had to score two. Still, at half time I still had confidence we’d do it, but we’d need to play better and we’d need a lot more from Steven Gerrard. He struggled in the first half, and seemed to be caught in two minds about where he should be playing. A few times I looked at him when there was a stoppage in play or something, and his head was down. He knew he wasn’t playing well (and fair play to him for saying so afterwards), but he never hid and was always looking for the ball. Nothing was going right for him though. Torres was quiet too, but there was still a menace about him. The partnership with Crouch wasn’t as effective as we’d have liked, but I’d say that was more down to us not ‘controlling the game’ enough, and Gerrard not being on his game. Crouch played well, he did nothing wrong, he just didn’t get the kind of service he needs to be a goal threat. His presence though gives us an option that we can’t have unless he’s on the pitch, and it proved decisive in Torres’ wonderful goal that put us in front. He got the merest of touches to flick the ball into the path of El Nino in the penalty area. Calling it an ‘assist’ is stretching it a bit, as when Torres got the ball there wasn’t even half a chance at that point. One quick swivel of the hips later and suddenly there was space for a shot, and the outcome was never in doubt. Phenomenal goal from a phenomenal player. Cue most of Anfield ‘bouncing’. The goal put us in the driving seat, but even so it could all change around completely with just one goal from them. Whatever happened now, there would be no extra time and penalties. That was one thing to be thankful for I guess. We were on top, and they looked tired to me. They didn’t look like they could put us under any sustained pressure, as we were closing them down and not giving them time on the ball. But it would only take one swift exchange of passes and they’d be in. Its what they do, and they are always a danger because of it. One such example of it should have brought the equaliser from Adebayor. I don’t even remember how it came about, just that there were a few passes exchanged on the left and a ball was played behind our defence to the big forward. He’s had a great season and scored plenty of goals, so naturally I assumed he would finish it. It was a heart stopping moment as he shaped to shoot, but immediately when he struck the ball it was obvious he’d fluffed it. Major let off. They’d brought Walcott on to give them fresh legs and extra pace, and Rafa followed suit by sending on Babel for Crouch. The big man was clearly disappointed to see his number go up, but it was the sensible decision at the time, and it was proved even more so by what followed. But Crouch can be pleased with his contribution, and the decision to bring him off was purely to do with us needing pace on the counter attack. Arsenal had to throw men forward, and Babel is a better bet to exploit the gaps than Crouch. It was the right decision to start Crouch, and it was the right decision to bringhim off at that time. Defending a one goal advnatage at that stage of the game, the last thing you want to do is concede a goal on the counter attack. It’s the cardinal sin in fact, and Rafa will have been furious about it. We were looking for the killer third goal, and had plenty of players forward when Gerrard completely missed his kick on the edge of the box and the ball broke to Walcott. Aurelio was on hand to deal with it, but Walcott got away from him. My first reaction then was to call for Aurelio to foul him. In fairness, he tried, but Walcott was too fast and too elusive and he wriggled away. Mascherano chased him the length of the pitch and tried to bring him down, but ended up running into Hyypia as Walcott went past both of them. After a run like that, I think we all knew how it was going to end. The ball was cut back into the middle, behind Skrtel, and right into the path of Adebayor who slotted past Pepe. Heartbreaking, and I doubt I was alone in thinking that we were going out. Adebayor’s celebration pissed me off big time. There’s celebrating a goal, and there’s rubbing people’s noses in it. It’s a fine line, and I think he crossed it. Still, his joy didn’t last long. Babel picked up the ball, and turned into John Barnes. He burst past Fabregas, who pulled him back, knocking him off balance as he continued into the box. Then Toure had a little tug at him as he ran across his path, and Babel went tumbling. The contact from Toure alone probably wouldn’t have been enough to fell Babel, but when combined with the foul from Fabregas there was no way Babel could stay on his feet. The referee instantly pointed to the spot, and I began to feel sick. I saw Gerrard collect the ball, and I just thought about how the game had gone for him. He was going to miss wasn’t he? I almost didn’t watch, I think I was having some sort of panic attack as I was shaking and felt ill. I was freezing, which may have contributed to the shaking, but I wasn’t handling it well at all. “Do I just look at the floor and wait to hear the crowd’s reaction, or do I watch?” In the end, I did a combination of both. I had my head down a little, but I was sneaking a peak at the goalmouth too. I saw the penalty fly in the top corner, and didn’t really celebrate - I just closed my eyes, clenched my fists and felt relief flow through my entire body. Of course, another goal for them and we were in the shit again, but the only way they were going to score was from a corner or free-kick, as they had nothing left in the tank. As long as we didn’t let Walcott have a run at us again, and we didn’t concede any corners, we’d be fine. We were doing a pretty good job of keeping the ball down their end, largely thanks to the endless energy of Kuyt. Arsenal looked beaten, and the last throw of the dice came when they were awarded a free-kick in their own half. Fabregas stole around 15 yards, which ironically ended up costing him, as when Kuyt hooked the ball forward towards Babel, the Spanish midfielder couldn’t get there in time. If he’d taken it from the right place he’d have been deeper and might have been able to defend it better. As it was, he still had a few yards on Babel and I thought he’d get there first. But Ryan was fresh, Fabregas wasn’t, and an impressive burst of pace and power saw him beat Fabregas to the ball and head off towards goal. He reached the edge of the box, and Fabregas once again grabbed his shirt, but Babel wasn’t to be denied and he rolled the ball into the corner of th net that Almunia had bizarrely left completely unguarded. That was the first time since Arsenal’s first goal that I was actually able to truly enjoy anything that had happened in the game. Our other goals were tempered with the fear that Arsenal could still come back with another goal that would knock us out. Now though, it was game well and truly over, and I fucking love saying that. There were heroes all over the park. Few people will single out Aurelio, but the one incident with Walcott aside I thought he was excellent. Hyypia and Skrtel were superb, and Carragher had a brilliant game at right back, both in defence and also getting forward. Hell of a performance from him I thought. The midfield duo recovered from a bad start to have good games, and although Gerrard was out of sorts, he deserves all the credit in the world for shrugging that off and burying the penalty. There was an enormous amount of pressure on that, but then he’s been in that situation before in the CL and FA Cup finals, as well as in the semi with Chelsea last season. Still, I don’t think that is a feeling you can ever ‘get used to’ and it takes balls of stel to be able to do what he did. Torres was a handful, and scored a fantastic goal, whilst Crouch did the job required of him. The match winner was undoubtedly Babel though. He was terrible in the 1st leg, but more than made up for it with tis 15 minute cameo. I don’t know how he’s going to end up, because he’s either going to stay as he is, a talented, but often erratic and frustrating player, or he’s going to become a superstar. The raw ingredients are there, and hopefully he’ll kick on and become the player we all hope he will. My star man though, just as it was in the first leg, was Dirk Kuyt. Yes, he’s got limitations, and by and large he’s had a poor season. But the change in formation seems to have re-invigorated him. Against shit teams, we need someone with more pace, guile and creativity than Dirk. In games like this though, when you need flat out, lung busting commitment and work rate, there’s no-one to match him. He was an inspiration all night, and his stamina levels are unrivalled. He never stops, and that’s what you need when it’s backs to the wall. He’s come in for a lot of stick this year, a lot of it justified to be fair, but how can you not love this guy? Probably the hardest working player ever to pull on the shirt. Sometimes hard work isn’t enough, but on nights like this it’s the most important thing. We’ll need more of the same in the semi finals too, but right now I’m still getting over this epic, I’ll worry about Chelsea when the time comes. Team: Reina; Carragher, Skrtel, Hyypia, Aurelio; Kuyt (Arbeloa), Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard; Crouch (Babel), Torres (Riise):

"I took steps. I told him to stop it. He followed my advice." That's a Martin Skrtel quote isn't it?

http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/news/59746-irwin-strike-secures-point.html DT went, and is going to a report on it later tonight or tomorrow morning. I haven't done the Arsenal report yet as I had to get the mag finished, but that's done now so I'll do that report tonight. As you were.

http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/news/59544-best-since-rob-jones.html

Arsenal 1 LIVERPOOL 1 Report by Mark Ingram at the Emirates Scorer(s) – Dirk KuytHalf Time - 1-1 Venue - The Emirates Stadium Date - Wed 2 April 2008 Star Man – Dirk Kuyt Yes ok we were lucky. Very lucky indeed in fact. 1-1 probably flatters us a bit but the advantage to be taken into the second leg could not be any more slim, if it had been eating celery and throwing up after every meal. The game was always going to be a very cagey affair. There was too much at stake for Arsenal in terms of the away goal, so they were never going to fly into the opposition side like they often do in the premier league. Rafa knows his Euro onions and he knows how much it pays to be cagey away from home. Many people claim that the away goal rule dictates that teams will immediately play more conservatively throughout the tie, which makes the latter stages of the Champions League more tedious to watch for the neutral party. I’d challenge this view on two counts. Firstly, it certainly starts things off in a cagey manner and in some cases this can manifest itself as an overly paranoid defence fest that really is dull to watch for all parties, let alone the neutral. However, when the first goal is scored, it opens things up immediately and it makes things that much more interesting when the next goal counts double for the away team. Secondly, balls to the neutral, this is about fans of the clubs involved and it is incredibly tense exciting stuff that we love to watch, although no one can ever claim that it’s easy to do so. The game was absorbing from start to finish without being full of fancy dan manoeuvres for Mr. Neutral to applaud. Rafa set the team up as he has done consistently for the last month or so with Mascherano re-claiming his place beside Alonso holding the midfield. Carragher was at right back which always worries me enormously, purely because he’s been the best centre half in Champions League football over the last few years and he’s the master at bums against the wall defending which is always going to be needed at times in Europe. The opening goal came from a corner which is annoying in itself, but it was nodded in by a completely unchallenged Adebayor on the six yard line. Why was no one marking the tallest man on the field? and is that really the same bloke that lumbered around for Monaco at Anfield a few years back looking more awkward than Frank Lampard in an Anorexics Anonymous meeting? The noise in the stadium rose considerably but within minutes it was back to the days of the Highbury Library when Gerrard skinned Flamini and Toure, avoiding the temptation to take an easy dive when he got a tap and slid a menacing ball across the six yard box for everyone’s favourite Dutchman to poke in to the net. The travelling fans went mental as the gooners looked on in utter disbelief. It was a classy piece of work from the Liverpool skipper, showing yet again that he gets his balls out in the big games and makes decent opposition players look very ordinary indeed. I love it when Dirk Kuyt scores. I love it on so many different levels, but most of all I love it for Dirk, himself. Yes, ok, if we’re being honest here, he’s not what you’d call a great footballer and no one would ever put him in to an all star eleven. But Rafa has identified the need for workhorses like Dirk to enable the superstars to do their thing. I’ll openly admit to being just as frustrated with him at times this season but you simply can’t argue with his work rate and you also can’t argue with his goals against Inter and now Arsenal. In the words of my brother in the form of a text half an hour after another text had called him all the names under the sun during the Inter Milan home leg: ‘Dirk, mate, I take it all back’ I wonder how many people have uttered these words in the last month. The rest of the game was just pure torture. I hate to think how many times I checked the time and I’m in need of some severe fingernail replacement surgery today after they took over an hours worth of proper munching. The remainder of the game focuses purely around two major incidents which will be the major talking points for the papers until next Tuesday’s game. So let us deal with these talking points shall we? Firstly, the penalty claim. At the time I naturally thought he’d dived, but I was looking at their feet and there wasn’t any contact. TV replays clearly show he tugged him back and, as a modern day footballer does, he went down. It’s difficult to argue anything other than a penalty and you’d have to say that over 80% of the idiots that ref the domestic league would have given that penalty, straight away. We were very lucky. Secondly the ridiculous Bendtner incident on the goal line where by not jumping in the air he not only proceeded to actively interfere with play in an offside position but he actually stopped the ball from rolling into the net. At the time, I didn’t know what the hell was going on and for a bizarre second I thought I was actually looking at their goal mouth and they were defending our attack. Then I snapped back into reality and realised that I’d just witnessed the most ridiculous display of malco-ordination I’d ever seen. The replay actually made me laugh out loud. What the hell was he doing? No wonder Adebayor wanted to hit him not so long ago. What a donkey. That was far more lucky than the penalty incident and the two together mean that yes, everyone, we should hold our hands up and freely admit that we are a lucky bunch of buggers. Since the game, I’ve heard the usual crap from other fans of other clubs claiming that the ref was scouse and that Rafa’s tactical genius is actually just a massive amount of luck. Fools, the lot of them. Yes we were lucky, and yes we’ve been lucky before in this competition, but there are plenty of times that we’ve not been lucky. Inzaghi scoring with his arse wasn’t very lucky for us in the final last year. I mean how far do we want to go with this ‘you’re just lucky’ rubbish? Yes we’re lucky the ref didn’t give a penner, we’re lucky we’re not Everton fans, we’re lucky we’re not Dale Winton (apologies if you’re reading, Dale), we’re all lucky that when our dad’s swimmers gave it their all a few years back, that ours was the one to sneak in first. I can handle being a bit lucky. I just hope we can stay lucky for the next four Champions league games this season. In some ways the score line makes it difficult for the second leg because there’s a temptation to defend for 90 minutes. If we do that against this Arsenal team then our luck is sure to run out. Rafa’s men will need to play extremely well on Tuesday to get through, this tie is very finely balanced and the Gunners will be all guns a blazing that’s for sure. Star man was easily Dirk Kuyt, although it was a decent team performance with the possible exception of Ryan Babel who irritated me intensly with his nervous cluelessness. He has days when you think he’s going to be Thierry Henry but them he has days like this when he’s got these rabbit in the headlight eyes on and he just doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing. Saturday’s game seems almost irrelevant now in comparison, but that’s far from the truth. Another draw would do the trick. Crossed fingers then will take another chewing on Tuesday as the game that will end either our season or theirs takes place. Team: Reina; Carragher, Skrtel, Hyypia, Aurelio; Alonso (Lucas), Mascherano; Kuyt, Gerrard, Babel (Benayoun); Torres (Voronin):

Good time to bump this actually. Well done Zig.

aws is in big trouble when his missus sees that picture of him with that bird who wrote the Harry Potter books.

LIVERPOOL 1 Everton 0 Report by Dave Usher at Anfield Scorer(s) – Fernando TorresHalf Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 30 March 2008 Star Man – Steven Gerrard Whilst it’s always satisfying to put one over on the blues with a league double, once again I found myself feeling more than a little unfulfilled at the final whistle. Yes, we won, and the three points are vital, but this was a team that were there for the taking, and once again we let them off the hook. Beating them isn’t enough, I want to see us absolutely rip them to shreds and embarrass them by banging in a bagful of goals. For a time during the first half, I thought it might happen, only to be let down as we went into a defensive shell after the break and allowed them back into the game. Some credit for that goes to Everton, I thought they dug in and give it a good go in the second half, but the lack of attacking options available to them made it fairly comfortable for us at the back. Having said that though, it would only have taken a set piece or freak goal to make us pay for our lethargy, and we’d have only had ourselves to blame. I know I’m sounding like a right moaning git, but it really pissed me off the way we let them off the hook. In the first half we were brilliant. We were snapping into tackles, we were first to every ball and Torres absolutely terrorised them. Any time the ball went near him they didn’t know how to cope. Gerrard was making his presence felt, and Babel was looking lively down the left. We scored one, hit the post, and wasted several other good openings. And then the half time whistle went and we simply stopped playing. Maybe they changed their tactics and we found it more difficult, but to me it looked like it was us who changed our tactics. We seemed to drop 15 yards deeper all over the park, and we allowed them to get a foothold in the game. Up until the final third, I thought they played pretty well. They never had us under the cosh as such, as Pepe had little to do, but they did have enough of the ball to make me uncomfortable, and any time there was a set piece I feared the worst. It needn’t have been like that though. In the first half we were so superior to them it made a mockery of the league table and the ‘battle for fourth’. Torres - who else - gave us an early lead, and Anfield was (literally) bouncing. It seems that around this time of every year we get a new song that starts to take off, and the Torres one is this year’s anthem. Hopefully we’ll be bouncing away in Moscow next month. The sheer volume of it at Anfield after his goal was spine tingling, and for the next ten or fifteen minutes or so I was beginning to think we’d rip them to pieces. The atmosphere was great all afternoon, but if we’d managed to take them to the cleaners it would have been something else entirely. Anothe goal at that point and maybe we would have. Gerrard had a chance to add a quick second after Torres had been scythed down on the edge of the box by Carsley. Howard Webb - who was exceptional throughout -produced a yellow card but it could quite easily have been red given that Carsley went over the ball and his studs went right into Torres’s shin. It was a carbon copy of a challenge made by Hibbert on Garcia a couple of years ago, you remember, the one where Stubbs & co accused Luis of diving? No doubt Torres would have had the same accusation levelled at him had the big nosed prick still been an Everton player. The challenge was similar to the one that sidelined Eduardo, the main difference being thankfully Torres’ foot wasn’t stuck in the turf as contact was made. That said, at the time I didn’t think it was a red and even now a case can be made for it only being a yellow. Tackles like that are common place, and most of the time the player stays on the field. Carsley continued to persistently foul throughout though, and he was rarely more than five yards away from the refs side all afternoon. Howard Webb isn’t Steve Bennett however, as he’s not an egomaniac and he possesses common sense. It makes it all the more galling to think that Webb was supposed to be taking charge of the game last weekend before he was strangely ‘rested’. I say rested, as that was the reason given, but strangely he took charge of a match the day before. We got lumbered with ‘Homer’ Bennett and the rest is now history. Webb’s performance was so uncontroversial that not even the blues could blame him for this defeat. Everton were struggling to batton down the hatches in the first half. Torres was beating Jagielka in the air and on the floor, whilst Babel was posing considerable problems for the human rat Tony Hibbert down the left. We put some great balls into the box but too often the player on the end of them -usually Babel or Kuyt - just failed to get there. Kuyt had a shot blocked after good set up play from Torres, and he forced a save from Howard with the rebound. He also shot wide after more good work by Torres. The closest we came to a second was a brilliant volley from Gerrard that bounced back off the post. Given the usual gauntlet of abuse he took from the blues it would have been sweet for him to score, especially if rumours of him being ready to unveil an “I’m the Daddy” t shirt were true. My cousin was sat in the Main Stand, on the very end seat next to their fans, and he reckons the only songs that came from their end all day were about us. “Murderers” “The Baby’s Not yours” “Michael Shields how wide is your arse”.. the list goes on. Thing is, they sing these things every week, not just when they’re playing us. We’ve not even attempted to hit back at them until now, but this was the day where the Kop clearly decided they’d had enough. “Joleon Lescott - the Elephant Man” is a little cruel perhaps, but it’s not in the same league as the Gerrard stuff. Then there’s Yakubu. “You’re just a fat Purple Aki” and “Feed the Yak and he’ll get fat”. Again, cruel and unnecessary even given that we’ve got no reason to have a problem withYakubu, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary and you worse at most games around the country. I’d rather we hadn’t chanted these things, if only because it’s given them the ammunition to laughably attempt to take some sort of moral high ground. But they were hardly ‘shameful’ chants. They’ve got some nerve though having a go at us given how their fans have conducted themselves in derbies for years now. The one thing I do agree with is that the treatment allegedly dished out to Phil Neville was bang out of order. There are claims he was spat at and punched in the back as he prepared to take a throw in. If that’s true then it’s a disgrace. Why would anyone feel that level of hatred for Phil Neville? Is he even significant enough to feel strongly about? He’s harmless, and doesn’t deserve the stick he gets from us. He’s never slagged us off the way his brother has, he’s not very good, and he’s helped us out in quite a few derbies. What’s to hate? I just don’t get it, and the reaction towards him from our fans whenever he went over to take a throw in was baffling and embarrassing. Leave that kind of behaviour to them, it doesn’t become us. Leaving all the ‘unsavoury’ stuff aside, the visiting Everton fans were taunted with a number of quality piss take songs, that they simply have no answer to. They reveal a banner ‘welcoming Liverpool supporters to Merseyside’, and we respond with ‘Fuck off to Kirkby, the City’s all ours”. Then there’s “We’re all going to Moscow, you’re all going to Tesco”. What can they say to that? Nothing, so they revert to ‘Murderers’ ‘Michael Shields’ etc Of course we’ve got our share of knobs too. I haven’t heard it myself, but if reports of a chant about Carsley’s kid are true then that really does make me feel sick. Unlike the blues, it’s only a minority with us at the moment, and I pray it stays that way because the day I hear our supporters singing vile filth like that at the same volume as the blues chant about Gerrard, that’s the day I give it all up. But back to the football, and at half time I was definitely a little worried. We’d been so comfortable and so muc h in control in that first half, yet we only had one goal to show for it and it made me nervous. I didn’t think we’d come out and play as badly as we did do though, I was more nervous that we’d continue to create chances and waste them. I didn’t think we’d come out and hardly create any more chances, but that’s what happened. The second half was shit. We dropped deeper and deeper and stopped doing what we’d done so well in the first half. Why did that happen? I have no idea. It could have been Rafa instructing the players to keep it tight and make sure they don’t give away what they have, but equally it could just have been the players taking their foot off the pedal. I think our main problem was the centre of midfield. We missed Mascherano desperately. Lucas was taking too long on the ball and regularly got caught in possession. The speed of the game was to much for him at times, but more surprisingly it was happening to Alonso too. I thought they were both poor, especially after the break, and that was why we weren’t ‘controlling the game’ the way we should have been. It meant Torres was starved of service, and Gerrard was having to go looking for the ball more than he should have had to. I wrote on the blog on Friday that I’d have played Crouch rather than Lucas, and gone with a 4-4-2. It didn’t surprise me that Rafa chose not to do that, but I do think with half an hour or so left he should have made that change. Lucas was struggling, whereas Gerrard was having a great game and was really putting himself about. He needed to be more in the thick of the battle though rather than being stranded on the outskirts. I’d have dropped him in with Alonso and got Crouch up there to help Torres. From what I’ve seen, I honestly don’t think Alonso likes playing with Lucas. They get in each others way far too much and there’s no understading there yet. It hurt us in that second half, and it allowed Everton to get a foothold in the game. Given the number of forward players unavailable for them, I think they did as well as they could have. Moyes made the only changes he could do, but it was all dependant on Yakubu doing something. He did nothing because Hyypia and Skrtel were both outstanding. Benitez once again had moved Carragher to right back, which isn’t something I’d generally agree with. In this case though, he surely did it to combat the threat of Lescott? He’s Everton’s best player in my opinion, and he gave us a lot of trouble at Goodison by charging froward from left back. By using Kuyt and Carragher on that side, we nullified that threat completely. Carra didn’t lose out in any duel all afternoon and Dirk once again simply never stopped running. With three of our back four in such commanding form, that only left Riise for Everton to try and expose. They couldn’t do it, because he was rock solid at the back and very good going forward (in the 1st half anyway). When he plays like this Riise is a great option to have, the problem is these performances haven’t come regularly enough in the past couple of seasons. The only sniff of a chance I can remember them having is an Osman header from a set piece that was narrowly wide. That’s how easily it can all go tits up though if you sit on a one goal lead. Had Osman’s header been the other side of the post, this could have been two more points thrown away and it would arguably have put Everton in the driving seat to finish fourth. We go to Arsenal next week whilst they host Derby. A draw here, and they could have gone above us next week. That’s why I had mixed feelings at full time. I was delighted we got the points, but more than a little disappointed at how we went about it. I guess I just want to see us go for the jugular and try to humiliate them. They were there for the taking here, and we let them off the hook. It’s not a big deal as we held on, and if it means we have kept something back for the trip to Arsenal on Wednesday then great. It’s just that it’s a long, long time since that ‘Rush scored one, Rush scored two, Rush scored three and Rush scored four’ match and I’d like us to produce another of those results some time soon. Star man for me was Gerrard. He is often accused of going into his shell when we play the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and the Mancs, but there’s something about derby games that brings out the beast in him. He’s always up for these games, sometimes too much so, but I love the Steven Gerrard that faces Everton. It’s how I’d like to see him approach every game, as when he’s a mean bastard like this he’s very intimidating. He crunched Lescott by the touchline with a perfectly timed challenge, and then there were two brilliant tackles on Jagielka in the space of a few seconds. Jagielka’s reaction was priceless, he looked to the referee and I thought he was gonna cry. Old school Gerrard that was, and I love to see it. It set the tone for our first half performance, and it wasn’t his fault we were poor after the break as he continued to do his bit. He went close to a spectacular strike right at the end, which would have really capped a great day for him. Skrtel and Hyypia ran him close, they were both brilliant and didn’t give ‘the Yak’ a sniff of anything all afternoon. One tackle from Hyypia in the penalty area was sublime, whilst the dive from Yakubu was ridiculous. ‘Dees cheatin foreigners’ eh Stubbsy? A five point cushion looks good at the moment, but this is far from over and next weekend it could easily be down to just two points again if results go the way they usually would in those fixtures. Everton have four of their last six games at home, whilst we have only two. This win was crucial, but we can’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s over because it can turn around very quickly, especially as we have the distraction of the Champions League. Hopefully we’ll have that distraction for a number of weeks yet, and at least we’ll have a fresh Mascherano chomping at the bit on Wednesday night. Team: Reina; Carragher, Skrtel, Hyypia, Riise; Lucas, Alonso; Kuyt, Gerrard (Crouch), Babel (Benayoun); Torres (Pennant):

I wanted to avoid it saying 'April 1' on the title of the thread. So I did it a minute earlier. I didn't really think ANYBODY would be taken in by it, despite the groundwork I laid on the forum 20 minutes previously. I just did it for a laugh. I'm amazed that some fell for it though. I'm also a little offended, do people think I'd sell out that easily!!! Then again, some people fell for the Everton Way last year....

Errrrrrr http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/news/59289-welcome-our-new-site-owners.html

Fuck me, they need to lighten up over there, the serious feckers.

Rash might combust when he sees it.

Text him or ring him and tell him to get on and have a look. Act all concerned and say 'what the fuck is Dave doing?' I bet he falls for it.

Not Cain? I always knew he was the smart one out of you two. I think it's the glasses.

Should know better? Better than what?

What do you mean 'imagine'? Have you not seen the home page and top banner?

I love the new top banner, me and Tom look so happy. Tommy looks a bit down, but that's probably because he feels threatened at how well me and his dad have hit it off.