No luck for me on the job front as yet. It’s been over 20 years since I’ve actually had to find work, it normally comes and finds me, but things are a bit quiet on the employment front over here at the moment. Admittedly I’m a little rusty in the area of job hunting but strangely my tactic of sitting in my garden supping cans of Stella has yielded little success so far, maybe it’s time for a different approach.

Anyway on the football front, there has certainly been no shortage of job offers for Liverpool players recently which is a sure sign that we are going in the right direction. Once Rafa got his own contract signed it was very wise of him to get some of our other senior players sorted out with new contracts, which they were all very keen to sign. Had he not done so then you can bet the mischief-making clowns in the British media would have invented all kinds of transfer links away from Anfield for the likes of Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt and Agger etc.

Even when these stories have no foundation in truth they can still be a pain in the ass and have a potentially de-stabilising effect on fans and players alike. The boss would have to spend the whole summer publicly denying them and privately re-assuring the players, but getting them committed to new contracts has killed off these stories/rumours before they begin.

This is the kind of area where Rick Parry constantly caused us unnecessary problems by dragging his heels on such things but with Rafa now involved we are moving much faster and more professionally and I think the players will appreciate that. But of course Liverpool is far too newsworthy for the media to ignore us and it is noticeable how quickly they have turned their attention to some of our other players. Alonso, Masch, Benny Onion, Arby and Dossena among others have all been the subject of recent press transfer speculation.

In all cases the players in question have said that they are happy to remain at Anfield, but that hasn’t stopped the press vultures from stirring things up. A recent example was the story doing the rounds about Dossena wanting a move back to Italy. What he actually said in an interview a while back was that his first choice was to remain at Liverpool but if he had to leave he would prefer a return to Italy, and of course the press twisted this to read that he wants to leave to return to Italy. It’s this kind of press mischief-making that can make fans, and maybe even some team mates, unfairly question the commitment of a player.

I’m not suggesting there is no truth in any of the press stories but because of their tendency to sensationalise things it’s often difficult to define how much is fact and how much is fiction, so I take everything they say with a grain of salt. That said, there are some clubs splashing around a lot of cash at the moment and there is a possibility that we may lose one or two of our better players.

It is usually about this time of year that we start talking about removing the deadwood from our squad and while in the past there would always be three or four players we would all be glad to see the back of, it’s yet another measure of how far we have come that there are no longer any obvious choices to offload. Let’s not forget that with just a little more luck with injuries to key players or in front of goal, we would be champions, so our squad is already pretty strong.

Peanut is already gone, so apart from Voronin and maybe one or two fringe players all of our first team squad have something to offer, so let’s not be too quick to throw the baby out with the bath water. With the talk of Rafa having to sell players to bump up his transfer budget the three names I keep hearing mentioned the most are Lucas, Babel and Dossena, but I’m not convinced we’d be wise to lose any of them.

Lucas is definitely someone we should keep and I would be extremely disappointed if we let him go. I have to hold my hands up and admit that I’ve been critical of him in the past but the extremely unfair flak he took last season and the character he showed to play his way through it has convinced me he has the heart and the ability to be a big asset to us now and in the future. It’s taken a lot longer than we would have liked but he improved immensely in the latter stage of the season and I would expect a big contribution from him next year.

Babel is like a caterpillar that we all keep expecting to turn into a beautiful butterfly. He definitely has the ability but we’ve only ever seen it from him in brief flashes. As an impact sub he has proved useful to us in the past but playing from the start he tends to either drift in and out of a game or disappear completely. But he does have that all important gift of pace and I hear in training he even leaves Torres trailing in his wake.

Unfortunately, unlike Torres as yet he hasn’t developed the footballing brain to use his pace as effectively as he might do. However, I must say that he is the one player outside of our first eleven that my manc and chav supporting mates genuinely worry about when they see him coming off the bench and they often ask me how come we don’t play him more. Basically if we received a decent fee I would understand the boss selling him but I would hate to see us put so much time and effort into him only for him to come good for somebody else. Next season he will also have the added incentive of trying to get himself into the Dutch World Cup squad, so Flyin Ryan might well be worth another season.

As for Dossena, he’s a guy who didn’t have the most impressive of starts with us but he came good towards the end and looks as if he might be able to hit the ground running next season, if he’s still around. His dodgy start was understandable given the facts that not only had he to adapt to the faster pace of the English game but in our team he also had to play 15 yards further back from the left wing-back role he had been playing in Italy, so he had to virtually learn how to play in a new position.

But he worked very hard on it and it’s been well documented that he constantly stayed back to do extra training in an effort to adjust his game and I think we saw evidence in his last few games that he was succeeding. So he certainly seems to have the commitment and I wouldn’t be disappointed to see him staying with us. However he does play in an area where we have plenty of cover.

Insua has emerged as a fine prospect, Aurelio is also very useful in that position for us when he can keep himself fit, Dagger recently said that he could play left-back for us if required and in an emergency situation we could also call on Riera who previously played in that position for Man City. So of the three players I’ve mentioned perhaps Dossena might be the most likely to be allowed to leave if we received the right offer.

As I mentioned earlier, there are no longer any obvious choices for us to offload and apart from maybe one or two on the fringes, there could be arguments made for the retention of every player in our first team squad, which is a massive improvement on previous years and a great testament of the work done by Rafa and his backroom team.

We came damn close to the title last season and much has been said about the need for the boss to make the right moves in the transfer market this summer to take us forward those extra couple of steps. But I think it’s equally as important for him to try to retain what we already have, as there would be little point in filling in one hole only to create one somewhere else.

At this very early stage in the transfer window we haven’t as yet made any moves but even by standing still we are in better shape than our main rivals at the moment. With the sale of the Ladyboy to Real Madrid the mancs are now weaker. I can’t stand the petulant little bastard but he did score a lot of goals for them which they will find difficult to replace, and let’s also not forget that his diving and cheating antics also won them many unwarranted free-kicks and penaltys from intimidated officials over the years which they may also find difficult to replace.

Apart from him, Giggs is also finished as a top level player and Scholes and Neville were finished two years ago but Fergiescum was too stupid to notice. I’m not too bothered about the £80 million they received for Ladyboy because even if they hadn’t sold him they would have likely have had at least £50 or £60 million to spend anyway. Besides this, and despite what the media may say, Fergiescum’s record in the transfer market is extremely patchy at best.

Barbie Doll is the most recent example, but there was also Veron, Djemba Djemba, Kleberson and dozens of others over the years. It’s one thing having the money, but spending it wisely is another thing entirely and Fungus head’s record is extremely dodgy to say the least. Even if he does get it right it will take time for new faces to settle in and to get the balance right.

At the chavs Roman Corleone seems to have installed a revolving door on the manager’s office and is determined to get his money’s worth. They have appointed yet another manager and I can’t say I’m too bothered by Carlos Ancelotti. I don’t think he’s as good as Hiddink and despite having a number of big name players at his disposal at AC Milan, they were finishing well behind Inter in the Italian league and they are no great shakes as we’ve seen in the CL over the last two seasons.

He will also have to contend with the various player power factions in their dressing room and a plastic flag waving bunch of supporters who will turn on him as soon as he gets a couple of dodgy results. Besides this, I find it hard to take a guy seriously when he has a surname that sounds like a pizza topping, so I’ll be surprised if he lasts the season. And Arsenal have definitely gone backwards in the last couple of seasons. They will always be dangerous on their day but I think they will lose some of their players over the summer and they will need to spend. In all honesty I think they might struggle to stay in the top 4 next season but a lot will depend on what moves they make in the transfer market.

So if we can keep our settled squad together and bring in a couple of quality additions, we will be in great shape. Ideally we need to come out of this transfer window stronger than we went into it but at the very least we need to ensure we don’t become weaker. This is why that it seems to me no matter how you slice it, Xabi Alonso is the key.

He was terrific for us last season and as far as I’m concerned he was our best and most consistent player. If we keep him and strengthen the squad with a couple of good quality signings we will be very strong going into the next campaign and I think we will all be very happy with that. But of course the other situation is that there are a number of clubs with very deep pockets casting envious eyes in his direction and if the right offer was put on the table I think Rafa may be tempted.

Man City are meant to be interested and I’m sure they would offer a shit-load of cash but perhaps the most tempting offer could come in from Real Madrid. They are certainly the most arrogant club in the world, even worse than the mancs and that’s saying something, and in that part of the world I hear they are already reporting that they will have Alonso signed up by next week despite Rafa saying he doesn’t want to sell him.

It would almost make you want to tell them to piss off just to spite them, but let’s not be too hasty. They have already spend about £170 million acquiring Ladyboy, Kaka and Villa but the rules over there state that their squad can only contain 25 players. So basically they need to offload some players and there are a few interesting big names among them.

Despite today’s official announcement from Liverpool saying Xabi and Masch are not for sale, I think if Rafa could get a couple of those players and a decent chunk of change it might well prove to be very tempting to cash in. Don’t get me wrong, I would prefer it if we kept Xabi and no matter how much money we got for him, I think he would be almost impossible to replace.

But these things are never straightforward and given the meagre finances our gaffer has to work with in comparison to his rivals, I could understand it if he were tempted by a big offer. Hopefully it won’t come to that and Alonso will be lining out for us at the start of next season but you just can’t be sure of anything in football these days, so whatever happens I will support the manager’s decision and hope for the best.

Keep the Faith

I always find it a bit depressing when the football season comes to an end, but it’s particularly sad when you also have to say goodbye to a great player. Unfortunately Big Sami Hyypia has called time on his Liverpool career and while I’m very disappointed to see him go, I totally understand and respect his reasons for moving on.

Big Sami has been without doubt the best value for money signing we ever made. In football, £2.6 million doesn’t buy you much these days, maybe Kaka’s little toe or the mancs annual donation to the Premiership referee’s benevolent fund or any three Everton players, but 10 years ago that’s what we paid for Hyypia. Little did we know back then that such a relatively small outlay would yield such an excellent return.

Like most people in those days, I’d never heard of the guy and was actually a lot more enthusiastic about our other centre back signing of that time Stephane Henchoz. As it turned out they formed a very solid partnership for us, which I used to refer to as our Hippy Hedgehog defence. Unfortunately Henchoz tended to pick up a lot of injuries but it was very clear from early on that Hyypia was a colossus.

In his decade of loyal service to the club, he was always rock solid for us at the back and has put in many man of the match performances for us over the years. In my opinion his finest moments came in the 2000-2001 season when injuries to Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Fowler meant he was given the captaincy of the side and he went on to led us to three trophies that season. He turned out to be a great captain, perhaps not the most vocal but the type who leads by example and I’m desperately hoping Rafa and Gerrard will allow him to wear the captain’s armband one more time in our final game of the season on Sunday.

In recent seasons I’ve heard some fans and pundits being critical of his lack of pace, which is something that always makes me smile because he was never fast to begin with. Big Sami was blessed with many fine qualities as a centre back but speed was never one of them, in fact I think if he had, had more pace he would probably be regarded as our greatest ever centre back.

A lack of pace would generally be seen as a fatal flaw in the make up of any centre back in the modern game but while most teams would try to get their pacy forwards into a position to expose this perceived weakness, how many times have they succeeded over the years? Very, very rarely. This is because one of Sami’s great strength’s is his excellent reading of the game and this would enable him to use either his power or positioning to take away the attackers advantage.

However I think there is little doubt that Hyypia’s greatest attribute is his towering aerial ability. In defence he has been an absolute giant for us who would put his head on to a Skud missile if it was launched into our penalty area. In attack he has also been a huge asset to us over the years. Not only has he scored nearly 40 goals himself but his towering presence would often cause panic in our opponents penalty area and has indirectly led to many more. Liverpool fans have been obviously very well aware of his importance in this area and any corner or free-kick we have been awarded over the last decade would often be greeted with shouts of “get up there, Sami!”

On and off the pitch he has been a total professional and a great ambassador for the club. Recently we’ve heard of him making a sizable donation towards the building of a unit at a local children’s hospital and he’s always been willing to stop and sign a few autographs and have a little chat with the fans, as I’ve seen first-hand for myself on several occasions. Which just shows that as a player and a man he is a giant for more reasons than just his stature, but where does he stand in the overall scheme of things?

The simpletons who support the mancs and the clowns who run the show at Sly Sports, seem to like to pretend that football only really began when the league rebranded itself and became known as the Premiership. But if we were to look at things just over that period of time then I think most Liverpool fans would have Hyypia placed somewhere in their top 5 of our most important players since the foundation of the Premiership, and probably our number one overseas player.

If we look back over our entire rich history, there have been many great players. In terms of centre-backs, I would judge Hansen and Lawrenson to be the best that I’ve seen and while he was before my time, from everything I’ve heard I believe Yeats would also be a strong contender for a place in our greatest eleven. Hyypia may not be quite up there, but he has at least earned the right to be spoken of in the same breath as those guys.

It’s always difficult to compare players from different generations but I think that a good rule of thumb is to consider what would Shankly and Paisley have made of them, if they’d been around in their era? I’ve no doubts that they both would have loved Hyypia and he would most definitely have had a place in their teams, which is probably the finest accolade I can pay to any player.

So Big Sami will play his final competitive game in a Liverpool shirt tomorrow and I’m sure the crowd will give him a mighty big send off. He will leave us with many happy memories but perhaps more importantly he will also leave behind another small but significant legacy that I think is worth mentioning.

I’ve noticed that, particularly in recent seasons under Rafa, any young centre back trying to take their first steps in our first team would often be partnered with Hyypia. I would imagine that in those nervy first few games it must have been a great relief for them to have his calm presence next to them, talking them through the game. All of them, including the likes of Palleta, Hobbs and others that didn’t quite make it, have spoken of their gratitude to Hyypia for the help and time he had given them both in games and in training, which explains why Rafa had him ear-marked for a coaching role.

We’ve had a great progressive season in the league with a record number of points and our first real challenge for nearly two decades. Next season we will be hoping to go one better but to do so our defence will need to be rock solid. The three men at the heart of that defence will be Carra, Dagger and Skrtel. All three, particularly Carra, could be referred to as the Sons of Sami because they have served an important part of their apprenticeship, in games and in training, alongside Hyypia. So while the Big Finn has played an important role in our successes of the past, his influence may also play an important part in our successes of the future.

Regardless of the pro’s and con’s of Hyypia’s game, he has definitely been one of my favourite Liverpool players of all time. I’m predicting a 2-0 win for us in our final game of the season against Spurs at Anfield tomorrow and I will be absolutely over the moon if Big Sami can sign off with a goal.

Thank you Sami and all the best in the future from everyone here at Kopblog.

Keep the Faith

Before I get started I thought I’d just let you know that I’ve got another competition, sponsored this time by the good people at Liverpool Airport Parking , coming up towards the end of this blog so be sure that you don’t fall asleep halfway through! Anyway moving on to football matters, who do you think has been Liverpool’s best player this season?

I’ll get to my top ten shortly but I’ve been thinking about this during the week and I reckon that if we gave ourselves a lobotomy and used the same criteria that saw Ryan Giggs named PFA Player of the Year last weekend, then the choice for our player of the year would surely have to be Sami Hyypia. I certainly do not mean any disrespect to Big Sami who has given our club some fantastic service over the years, but of all the players in our squad his stats for the season are the closest to Giggs.

By my reckoning he has started 15 games, 3 more than Giggs, he has scored one goal, the same as Giggs and he has given the club more than a decade of loyal service. That may not be quite as long as Giggs has given to the mancs but there again these awards, we are told, are meant to be about a players performances over a season not their careers, so longevity shouldn’t make any difference.

So there you go, conclusive proof of why Sami Hyypia has been our best and most important player of the season, or at least he would be if we were like the lobotomised members of the PFA! Don’t get me wrong, Big Sami has played an important role for us this season as he has done in every season he’s been with us, but our player of the season? I think not and I dare say even the man himself would agree.

I don’t have a problem with Giggs and loyalty, even if it is to the mancs, in the modern game is certainly something worthy of acknowledgement but to confuse this with naming him not just the best player at his club but in the entire league over the past season is quite clearly ludicrous! In allowing this media driven sentimental bullshit to cloud their judgement, I think the members of the PFA have forever tainted this once important award and diminished the achievement of the many great players who have won it in the past.

But all this talk about best players etc got me thinking that although there is still some football to be played before this season ends, I’ve already pretty much made up my mind on my top ten Liverpool players of the season. I don’t expect there’s much going to happen in the remaining games to affect the placings, so without further ado and a little earlier then I’d originally planned here’s my Top 10 Liverpool Players in season 08/09.

10. Hyppia: The big Finn just keeps on going. He has now completed a decade at Anfield and in that time his bad games would barely reach double figures. He would now be our fourth choice centre back but when we’ve needed him this season he’s come in and done a great job, particularly in our game at the Theatre of Illusions when he was called into the team just minutes before the kick off but took it all in his stride and never put a foot wrong. I’m not surprised to hear that other teams are still anxious to sign him but I will be definitely sorry to see him go.

9. Arbeloa: At the start of the season I had my doubts about him as our first choice right back but I think he’s grown into the role. Thanks to the medical miracle known as Degan, we’ve been a little short of cover in the position so Arby’s had to play a lot more games this season than perhaps was originally planned but for the vast majority he’s done very well.

8. Skrtel: He’s proven to be a great signing. A very solid centre half who is sure to be at the heart of our defence for many years to come. He’s had a few dodgy moments recently as have the rest of our defence but he’s had a great season overall. I just hope he can find a way to add a few goals to his game and be a bit more of a threat when he comes up for corners etc.

7. Benny Onion: He wasn’t overly impressive in the first half of the season but since the turn of the year, and particularly recently, he’s been terrific. If he can maintain this form he will be a great asset to us in the remaining games and next season.

6. Carra: He’s had a good season although not his best in my opinion but he is still the rock at the heart of our defence.

5. Reina: In my opinion he is the best goalkeeper in the Premiership and one of the best in the world. I don’t know how many goals his excellent distribution has been responsible for or how many points he has been worth to us this season but it’s a lot that’s for sure.

4. Torres: When fully fit and in form our number 9 is the most lethal striker in the game. He is an awesome player who just oozes class and is already being talked about in the same breath as some of the other great strikers who have played for the club in the past. He would definitely be higher in my list but he’s missed a lot of games this season through injury. Even so he has still managed 13 goals in barely more than 20 games so who knows where we would be now if he had been available for more.

3. Deadly Dirk: I’ve never seen a player who works as hard. He runs his bollocks off from the first minute to the last of every single game he plays in. Tiredness is never a factor for Kuyt, he rarely picks up injuries and tends to score some very important goals. He’s played a lot of games this season and been very consistent so he well deserves a place in my top three.

2. Gerrard: You run out of superlatives to describe our captain but in my opinion he is the best player in the world. There are some other great players around but none of them have as many strings to their bow as Gerrard. When he is on form he is almost unstoppable and he has developed a brilliant partnership with Torres in attack. He only misses out on my top spot because like Torres he has unfortunately missed a lot of games this season with various injuries.

1. Alonso: In my opinion this has been his best and most consistent season for us, he’s been brilliant. The fact that he almost ended up at Juventus last summer is a stick that some people have tried to beatRafa up with but the truth is that before this season he’d been very inconsistent for about two years. The close call of a move away seems to have inspired him to produce his best and he’s been excellent for us this season pulling the strings in the centre of our midfield. Let’s hope for more of the same from him next season.

So that’s my top ten. There are of course some notable omissions and while the likes of Masch, Aurelio, Lucas, Babel, Dossena and Riera have all had their moments this season, they haven’t produced them often enough to make my top ten. Insua has also been great for us but he hasn’t played in enough games.

In other matters I am obviously hoping that Boro can do us and themselves a favour against the mancs. Having watched some of their games this season it seems unlikely, but they have upset the mancs in the past so you never know. But no matter what happens in that game we’ve got to beat Newcastle on Sunday.

I’ve seen some of the Looney Toons games this season. Quite frankly I think they are the worst team in the Premiership and Shearer hasn’t really made any difference to them. You can’t afford to be over confident or take anything for granted in football but if we play anything close to our best we should beat them without too many problems and I’ll predict a 3-0 victory for The Reds.

Which brings me to our competition and as I mentioned earlier, this time it is sponsored by the good people at Liverpool Airport Parking and in terms of us getting these prizes it would be useful if you click on that link and check out their website. Once again we’ve come up with a prize that is equally as useful to our great overseas fans as it is to locals and this time we will be giving the lucky winner £50 in Amazon vouchers.

It’s a great prize and perhaps you can use part of it to buy my latest book, Great Everton Footballing Legends. It’s a postage stamp edition which has the unique quality of having more words in its title than it does in its content! Anyway you know the format by now. In the comments section of this blog have a guess at the time of the first goal in our game on Sunday and in the event of a tie-break I will also need your score prediction and Liverpool goalscorers. If it finish’s 0-0, and I hope to Christ it doesn’t, we will roll the prize over to the next game. Good luck everybody.

Keep the Faith

I’ll get to our old friend Peanut later in the blog but I like to get my business done before I take out the trash! So it’s almost time for our second Merseyside Derby of the week and as far as I’m concerned this is another must-win game for us. At the start of the week I think everyone would have regarded a win in the league game to be the most important but the fact that our performance on Monday was as flat as a witch’s tit meant that we could only manage a 1-1 draw and that result has only served to increase the importance of tomorrow’s match, for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, it’s The Derby and it’s always important for us to do everything we can to win these games no matter what the circumstances, but there are also other incentives for us in tomorrow’s game. A win for us would shut our wee neighbours up for another season and end any faint hopes they may have had of silverware this season and leave them with only the dubious merits of a UEFA Cup place to play for in the remainder of the campaign. I say dubious merits because I find it amazing how these teams make so much out of qualifying for the UEFA Cup and then treat it as a nuisance and field weakened team throughout the competition.

But perhaps even more important than this is the badly needed injection of confidence a victory would give us. In recent weeks we’ve had a lot of off the field stuff going on, our form on the pitch has been indifferent to say the least and the mancs have overtaken us at the top of the table. All of this has meant that the mood around the club is a little bit down at the moment so a win against our wee neighbours tomorrow would give fans and players alike a much welcome lift.

There are some who feel that the gaffer should make wholesale changes and rest a lot of our players ahead of our upcoming all-important league games at Wigan and against the chavs next week. I understand the argument but I think at this stage confidence is just as important as fresh legs, probably even more so. Whatever happens in the game you can bet it will be the headline story on the back pages of all of the papers on Monday morning. So I think the benefits we would get from the kind of confidence the likes of Gerrard and Torres would get from contributing to a victory and perhaps even scoring the winning goal tomorrow would be much greater than the possible benefits of them resting their legs on the bench.

Of course there is always the chance of injuries but these can happen at any time and you don’t win any prizes for finishing the season with the freshest players, so I think it would be a chance well worth taking. Besides all of this and the whole confidence thing, there are sound practical reasons why a win on Sunday is also very important to us.

There’s no doubt we’ve been wobbling a bit in the league lately and let’s not forget that we also have Real Madrid waiting for us in the Champions League. So we face big challenges in both competitions but they are the kind of challenges that we as fans relish and we know that they can be overcome. However, things don’t always go according to plan and having the FA Cup as a back-up would be very useful indeed and a good victory tomorrow and a favourable draw might see us with one foot in the quarter-finals.

So all of that is my long-winded way of saying that although there is room for a couple of changes, we should field a strong line-up to ensure we win the game and avoid a replay. I’m sure that Carra and Gerrard will be desperate to play and I daresay Torres will be also keen to build on his recent performances and I think we should start with all three.

In the blog before the last game I said that I thought Rafa might revert to our tried and trusted 4-2-3-1 formation but we went with a 4-4-2 which was understandable but it just didn’t work for us on the day mainly because we couldn’t seem to get any quality delivery into our two strikers. So once again I would favour a return to our 4-2-3-1 for this one. At the back I think we could give Arby and Dosser a run out in the full back positions, move Carra back into the middle as I think he would have more nounce to handle Cahill and leave Big Sami in there for his aerial presence to counter their threat for set-plays.

In midfield I think Masch will play because he didn’t play in the last one and this would be just his type of game. I would prefer to see Alonso alongside him but I suspect the boss might be looking to play Lucas. The lad has done well in most of his games recently and I don’t really have a problem with him but when he and Masch play together we seem to suffer from the lack of vision and creativity from this area that we normally get from either Alonso or Gerrard when they play there. So ideally I’d prefer him to be playing alongside one of those two and besides this he does tend to give away too many free-kicks which is the last thing we would want in this game.

Other than that I’d revert to the attacking foursome who did well for us in this formation last season, Babel, Gerrard, Kuyt and Torres. The Toffee’s defence seemed to have Riera sussed in the last game and he didn’t get a lot of joy so maybe it’s time to give Flyin Ryan a go and while Kuyt also didn’t seem to play particularly well on Monday, he does seem to excel in this formation. It was around this time last year that we switched to this system and it served us very well for the remainder of the season so even though it wouldn’t suit everybody in our squad, maybe it’s something worth considering for this campaign.

Of course it’s very possible the boss might decide to stay with a 4-4-2 formation because even though we didn’t play particularly well on Monday we still really should have won the game and so logic would dictate that if we used that system again but played closer to our true level we would win the game. But if we go this way again we would badly need to be more creative and give our strikers better support so I would like to see us change things and bring in Babel and El Zhar in the wide areas. No matter which formation the boss goes for I think if we can play anywhere close to our level we will win the game and my money’s on 2-0.

In other matters I notice our old friend Jermaine Pennant aka Peanut has been running his mouth in the press now that he has moved Pompey on loan. Reading what he had to say reminded me of that old saying, better to keep your mouth shut and be thought of as a fool then to open your mouth and confirm it! The lad just isn’t very bright, in fact he almost sounds like an experiment in artificial stupidity!

But I better be careful what I say because calling him an idiot might be an insult to stupid people so let’s just look at some of the stuff he’s said. Firstly he says that he was surprised that he wasn’t in the manager’s plans this season but he seems to forget that during the summer the club accepted at least two bids for him but he refused to leave and if that didn’t give him a big clue that he wasn’t in the manager’s plan’s then I don’t know what would.

He then talked about not being given a chance by the boss and pointed out that he had only made two appearances this season but with his next breath he pointed out that he had played 34 times last season and had also played in a Champions League final two seasons ago, so isn’t this and the fact that the boss signed him in the first place proof that he has most certainly given huge opportunities at Liverpool? As far as chances go Peanut has had plenty of them throughout his career, far too many for a player of his limited ability in my opinion, his problem has never been his lack of chances but his consistent failure to make the most of them.

Peanut than even stooped so low as to play the old nationality card and suggested that he wasn’t picked because he was English and Rafa seems to prefer foreigners instead, an accusation I seem to remember he once also levelled at Arsene Wenger. Well Peanut I think you’ll find that it’s not that Rafa or even Arsene prefer “foreigners” it’s just that they prefer players who aren’t shite, who have enough respect to turn up on time for training every day and who don’t appear in pictures in the tabloids pissed out of their minds while knocking back bottles of Jack Daniels, maybe they are both just a bit fickle like that!

Regular readers of this blog will know I was never a big fan of his, to say the least, and I was a bit surprised that we signed him in the first place but I guess he was just another one of those compromise signings that the boss had to gamble on when he was refused the cash required to sign the players at the top of his wish-list. I seem to remember at that time we were pursuing Alves and had bid a reported £10 million for him but his club wanted £12 million or so and our guys walked away. I seen that same player valued at about £25 million last season, so what a piece of business that would have been if only Parry and Co had, had enough balls to back the gaffers judgement.

So we eventually ended up with Peanut whose crosses are about as accurate as a John Terry penalty and a winger who can’t cross is about as useful as a dog who can’t bark. If that had been the only thing that was wrong with his game it could perhaps have been worked on but there were also one or two other little things we discovered about his game in his time at Anfield that made him even more of a liability on the pitch. Such as the fact that he isn’t exactly blessed with pace, his passing is almost as bad as his crossing, he can’t tackle and his goal-scoring prowess makes even Jamie Carragher look prolific, but other than that he was fine!

I wasn’t surprised that he ended up following Big Crouchy to Pompey because let’s face it, six metre Peter is the only striker tall enough to have any hope of getting up high enough to reach any of his crosses. So as far as Peanut goes it’s good riddance to bad rubbish. I’ve always thought of him as the type of person who could light up a room just by leaving it, so let’s hope his departure has a similar effect on our dressing room.

Keep the Faith

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! I don’t normally write a blog so soon after a game but before I head out to my local to celebrate our brilliant victory over the chavs today, I wanted to get my thoughts down while my mind is still fresh and clear of alcohol. Winning a game to go clear at the top of the table is great at any time but when you do it by not only beating one of your main rivals but also ending their long unbeaten home record, is just magnificent!

I think it’s fair to say that any of us would have been happy to settle for a point ahead of the game to maintain our unbeaten start to the season and to be honest I would have been only too delighted if we managed to get any kind of old flukey win. However this win was anything but that, it was a richly deserved victory and we thoroughly deserved all three points.

I hate to state the obvious, but Rafa Benitez really is a tactical genius and for my money the best manager in the world at that side of the game. As he has done in almost every game this season so far, he had his homework done and got his tactics absolutely spot on. However, no matter how brilliant a manager is he is only as good as the players he has on the pitch and our lads were fantastic today and I was proud of every single one of them.

In the last blog I said that I was a bit worried about our full-backs going into this game and I was pleased to see Aurelio coming back in at left back. He may not be the greatest in the world but he has a cool head and is very experienced in these kind of games, as was evident today. I feel a bit guilty for being critical of Arby. He had a very good game for us and gave it everything he had, not for the first time I think I’ve allowed myself to be influenced by the opinions of others and I’ve got to hold my hands up and admit I think I’ve made a bad call on that one.

It certainly hasn’t taken Dagger too long to get back into the swing of things. He had a great game in the centre of our defence alongside Carra who was an absolute rock for us once again and Pepe was as commanding as ever between the sticks. One of the most impressive things about the chavs style of play this season has been the way they have stretched teams with their attacking full-backs. Clearly this wasn’t a fact that was lost on Rafa and he used Riera and Kuyt to counter this threat. Both of them worked tirelessly on the flanks for us today and so frustrated both Bosingwa and Cole that they managed to help us relieve the pressure on our defence by giving us some handy free-kicks towards the end of the game.

Mascherano was his usual tigerish self doing the dirty work for us in the centre of midfield. Gerrard also had a great game and is really providing the team with some leadership this season. Thank God we didn’t sell Xabi Alonso in the summer as he really seems to have rediscovered the form that he hasn’t really shown for a couple of seasons. He got a bit of good fortune with the deflection on his goal but full marks to him for being in the right position to take the strike and he was very unlucky not to get a second goal when his excellent free-kick struck the post. Robbie Keane also played his part by running his socks off as the lone striker when he can’t have been fully fit and Babel also did well when he replaced him.

Overall, the hard work and character the side has shown this season has us all beaming with pride and it was immense again at the Bridge but to focus totally on that today would be to do the side an injustice. This was no smash and grab, backs to the wall victory. Much has been said about the chavs this season but we were clearly the better side, we outplayed them on the day and totally deserved all three points.

This was no rearguard action, we were on top and playing the best football for the first 20-25 minutes and then we began to defend a bit too deeply and they got on top of us for the rest of the half and I was starting to get worried. I would imagine the chavs were thinking they would just have to maintain the pressure they put on us towards the end of the first half and they would eventually force a breakthrough. But clearly Rafa was aware of this and while in the past we may have retreated into a defensive shell, there seems to be a greater belief in the side this season.

When the second half got underway we pushed out and got after them again and I think that might have actually surprised the chavs and it wasn’t long before they were forced into making some early substitutions. They might have had the lion’s share of possession in the second half but they didn’t really hurt us with it. We looked far more dangerous than they did when we attacked and we put together a few excellent passing moves that were as good as you will see anywhere.

Before the game I expected that I would have had my nails bitten off by the end but that wasn’t the case. For the first time in years I felt very relaxed watching us play against them particularly at their place because I thought we controlled the game and dictated the pace throughout. And to think we’ve now beaten both the mancs and the chavs without Torres in our team, absolutely brilliant stuff!

This excellent start we’ve made to the season has me as excited as a priest at an altar boy convention, but it’s still early days and we cannot afford to get too carried away. The team has battled away brilliantly since the start of the season and we now find ourselves at the top of the table with a little bit of breathing space over our rivals, but there’s still a long way to go. It’s been tough enough getting to the top but it’s going to be even tougher trying to stay there.

Hopefully, Torres will be back soon because we are definitely going to need him. There is going to be a few tired legs in the team after today’s game and we’ve got some tough games coming up this week at home to Pompey on Wednesday and away at Spurs, who will be a tougher prospect now that Harry Redknapp is in charge, next Saturday. So the team can’t afford to rest on their laurels and will need to remain focused.

Will we be on top of the table come next May? I don’t know, but I do know that we are on top of the pile right now and as long as it lasts, I intend to enjoy every second of it. So I’m off now as there are a few cold pints of Stella calling to me from my local and a few people I’m anxious to meet, if they have the nerve to show up!

But there’s a very happy Red in Dublin tonight and as the second best writer in the history of English literature, behind my good self of course, once wrote, “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Ok, so maybe that’s a bit dramatic but I think what he was trying to say is, if your team going to the top of the league isn’t a good enough reason for you to go out and get pissed, then you’re probably already dead!

Keep The Faith