Kenny And His Magic Wand

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1 - Match Reaction (taken from The Liverpool Way, written by my favorite writer Dave Usher).

“I don’t have a magic wand” was a regular expression used by Roy Hodgson. Well thankfully we’ve found a man who does. No Torres, no Suarez, no Carroll, but we still went to Chelsea and got three points. It’s the Kenny Dalglish effect, simple as that. In such a short space of time he’s got us believing we can achieve anything. Be honest, how many of you are thinking we might still get fourth? I know I am, and that’s 100% because of Dalglish. He’s breathed life into a club that was on it’s knees.

A month ago we were staring at the prospect of a relegation battle, and then we lost Torres. So going to a Chelsea side - including Torres - with Dirk up front on his own and not just winning but doing it in the way we did, was quite remarkable. I’m not saying for a second it was comfortable (it was only 1-0 so we could never say it was in the bag), but we did look very assured and this team is unrecognisable from the sorry bunch of individuals Kenny inherited. It’s quite a turnaround.

Whilst most observer’s focus was and understandably is still on our former number nine (more on him later), if you take that aspect out of it and just look at the actual game itself there are a lot of things for us to get excited about. That’s probably been lost on most people outside of LFC as it was all about Torres, which is understandable as it was a huge story. Of course it’s fantastic for us to have been able to put one over on him and his new club, but leaving all that emotion out of the equation and just looking at it from a football perspective you can see the huge transformation we’ve made under Kenny and Steve Clarke. There’s three main areas in which we are unrecognisable from a few weeks ago.

Firstly, tactics. Kenny (and Clarke maybe?) got it absolutely spot on, we just completely nailed it. Chelsea played three central strikers, none of whom wanted to go out wide. Anelka played deeper than the other too, but couldn’t find space and didn’t influence the game at all. He’s just not a number ten, but they are trying to shoehorn him into that role and we snuffed him out easily.

Same with Drogba, who has perhaps never been more ineffectual against us in all the years we’ve been facing him. He was so quiet, and any fears there may have been about whether a rusty Carragher would be able to cope with him proved to be completely unfounded. The vice-captain was fantastic, and his performance was all the more remarkable given he’d only returned to training the previous Monday. And what of Shevchenko, sorry I mean Torres? Well he had just two sights of goal, both due to sloppy play from us, and nothing to do with our tactics or Chelsea creating anything.

The three at the back completely nullified their forwards, the wing backs were outstanding at both ends of the pitch, and Lucas did a great job making a nuisance of himself in front of his defence. He was terrific, just as he was in the meeting between the two sides at Anfield earlier in the season. Gerrard and Meireles were both able to get forward at will to support the ever willing Kuyt, and whilst chances were at a premium we had plenty of the ball in the Chelsea half and certainly didn’t sit back until late on when we were protecting the lead. As I say, a tactical masterclass.

By the end they were reduced to having that ‘Sideshow Bob’ lookalike they bought from Benfica punting diagonal balls towards Ivanovic up front. Where’s Robert Huth when you need him, eh? Scoring twice the day before, actually. Maybe they should have spent £50m on him instead.

Secondly, style. We are playing proper football now. Passing and moving, committing men forward when we attack and trying to play our way out of trouble. It’s not vintage, but that’s because we still have players who need to be improved upon. But we try to play football now in all areas of the field, and players are encouraged to back their own ability and just get it down and play. It was great to see, but it was also the only way Chelsea were going to get anything out of the game.

The only occasions we were stretched was when we gave the ball away ourselves through over playing. For me, not since the days of Roy Evans has a Liverpool side had this philosophy. We had some great times under Houllier and Benitez, and at times both had us playing excellent stuff. By and large though, it was based on organisation and players operating within a set structure with risks at a minimum.

We still have structure, but there’s definitely more freedom within it for players. Not just in terms of committing men forward, but also of playing their way out of trouble. We almost got caught a few times by Chelsea, and there were times I found myself yelling “just get rid!!” but we didn’t. Agger, Johnson and Lucas in particular were playing a lot of football in tight spaces, but that’s a sign of the growing confidence in the side and more significantly, a sign that Kenny is encouraging them to play. It’s not perfect, we still have weaknesses that on other days will cost us, but I think back to how I felt after we lost at Blackpool a few weeks ago, and compare it to how I’m feeling now, and it’s astonishing.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, togetherness. Players are playing for eachother, and the fans are right behind them. Everyone is in it together, and that unity was cemented by what happened with Torres. His departure could have been devastating to us as a club, but instead it’s had the opposite effect. Torres wasn’t part of this new found togetherness, his mere presence threw a spanner in the works of it. We brought in two top players to replace him and the place is buzzing again.

There’s no room for sulkers and passengers in Kenny’s new Liverpool, and whilst I’m sure there are still players here who are ok with Torres, there’ll be others who aren’t and are pleased he’s gone. The way Agger un-cerimoniously planted his forearm square onto the jaw of his former team-mate suggests he may fall into the latter group, but maybe I’m reading too much into that.

I still maintain that some of these players are not good enough to take us to where we need to be, but Kenny is masking that and has got everybody playing to a higher level now than they were previously. The likes of Agger and Meireles are thriving, he’s introduced Kelly to the side and Johnson has adapted very well to playing on the left (could have conceded a daft pen though). Even Skrtel is impressing and he had a great game at the Bridge. I’m loathe to criticise anybody, but the only player I can find fault with is Maxi. Had his sloppy pass to Torres resulted in a goal, he’d have had to leave town in a hurry. The sitter he missed was horrendous as well, and I was convinced it would end up costing us. You simply can’t miss chances like that in big games, as you will almost always end up paying the price. Thankfully this time it didn’t, so no harm done.

Generally games like this are tight and chances are at a premium. Aside from the one Maxi missed, I can only think of a couple more for us. There was the goal and there was a shot by Aurelio that was saved. Chelsea had even less clear openings. Torres went through once but was denied by Carragher’s block (replays showed that it was a tame shot that appeared to be headed straight at Reina anyway) and the only other time they went close was Malouda’s shot from a tight angle that was blocked comfortably by Reina.

So whilst on the balance of play a draw would perhaps have been fair, I believe if we’d have had Carroll, Suarez or both available we’d have won more convincingly. There were numerous times we could have hit them on the break, but Dirk just doesn’t have the pace to get in behind and it made things much easier for Chelsea than they might have been. One glaring example of it came late on when Lucas yet again broke up a Chelsea attack and charged forward. He was looking for Kuyt to make a run for him in behind, but instead he ran towards him!!! Having said that, I don’t want to seem like I’m being in any way critical of Kuyt, as that’s not my intention. Honestly, I can’t fault him as I felt he did everything in his power to help us win this game.

He’s not suited to playing up top on his own, but he gives us everything he has and he more than played his part in this win. I’m just saying that with someone more suited to the role we MIGHT have won more comfortably. Who knows though, maybe we won this game because of how hard he worked, and in fairness it was his run that caused the confusion that led to Cech and Ivanovic both missing Gerrard’s cross and allowing Meireles to score. I don’t want to take anything away from him, as he was immense, but I’d drop him as soon as Suarez and Carroll are available. Sorry Dirk!

The goal was funny, as it was almost certainly a direct result of an incident in the first half when Kelly whipped a ball in and Cech and Ivanovic collided as they both went for it. The keeper flipped his lid and was yelling at the defender. They’re both a bit dopey looking, and if ever there was an Eastern European remake of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, it would probably look a lot like this. That definitely contributed to what happened later, as when Gerrard’s cross came in this time instead of both going for it they left it to eachother and neither dealt with it.

Raul actually made the finish look easy when it would have been very easy to miss, and the icing on the cake was it was right in front of the travelling Kop and occurred just a couple of minutes after Torres had been hooked. It was close to being a perfect day for us really, and we didn’t even need to bring Suarez on. As for Torres, it was a wretched day for him, culminating in being dragged off with the jeers of the away fans ringing in his ears. He’d better get used to that, as when things aren’t working out it won’t be Drogba who gets subbed and it won’t be Drogba who the fans turn on. I’m sure Fernando will score goals, he’s too good not to and against some teams Chelsea will be able to overcome the lack of balance their side has when Drogba is handicapped by having Torres alongside him (or vice versa).

Good sides will be able to nullify it though, and Kenny has given them the blueprint to do it. I don’t want to dwell too much on Torres as he belongs to our past and we are now looking like we have a promising future. That’s the irony here though, Torres had ridden out the worst of it and could have been part of a bright future under the King. Instead he chose to join Chelsea in the hope of winning something in the next couple of years whilst Chelsea are still contenders. There’s no guarantee they’ll win more than us in the next couple of years, and not too far down the line they will actually be the Chelsea Pensioners unless Abramovich throws more money at it, which is unlikely given the new rules that will come into play. When Drogba, Lampard, Anelka, Mongo etc come to the end of the road, Torres will be jumping ship again. If he hasn’t already been bombed out by then.

What Fernando will quickly realise is that there’s no love for him at Chelsea. To them, he’s just another hugely expensive signing that is expected to deliver the goods. There’s no emotion invested in him, and he’ll soon find that if he doesn’t do a job they’ll be on his case in a way that he never experienced at Anfield, even in the games where he was blatantly taking the piss out of us with his lack of effort. It’s started already, he was getting ripped by Chelsea fans on phone ins and forums, and that is after just one game. I’m not even criticising Chelsea fans for that, if I wanted to criticise them I’d point to those goons who copied our ‘El Nino’ flag right down to the image of the Shankly Gates at the bottom of it. Priceless. Sums them up perfectly though, they try so hard, but they just don’t ‘get it’. I’d pity them if they weren’t so obnoxious.

No, Chelsea fans won’t show patience and understanding to Torres if he struggles early on, and in fairness why should they? They laid out £50m for an established world class striker who knows the Premier League. Those fans hated him when he was playing for us, and they won’t suddenly love him now. Oh they love the idea that they’ve taken the jewel in our crown, or at least what they thought was the jewel, but they don’t love HIM. Why would they? It’s up to him to win them over, and that may prove to be more difficult than he expected. But that’s his problem, and theirs.

I don’t hate Fernando Torres, and for a mili-second I almost felt sorry for him when I saw the forlorn look on his face as he sat on their bench watching our fans celebrating. Then I quickly snapped out of it and laughed. Not as much as I’d laugh if we made up that six point gap between us and them however. That has to be our immediate goal now. We’ve overhauled Sunderland to go to 6th place, when less than a week ago we were five points behind them. It won’t be as easy catching Chelsea and Spurs, and maybe we’re getting way ahead of ourselves.

But how nice is it to be looking up the table and seeing who we can catch rather than over our shoulders at who might go above us. It will be difficult improving on the 6th spot we currently occupy, but it’s not impossible. Not now. Not when we have Kenny and his Magic Wand.

Fernando Torres - Is This A Dagger I See Before Me

Fernando Torres’ Liverpool career was nothing if not a little Shakespearian. What promised to be a timeless love story has slowly festered into a tragic tale, with our former No.9 willingly creeping into a frilly thesp costume to cast himself as the treasonous villain of the peace.

Just like the ill-fated King Macbeth, Torres was once a great warrior of the realm, beloved by an entire Kingdom. He was furnished with riches and respected by peers and common folk alike. More importantly, he was afforded something that something that could never be bought; the unwavering love of his people. For that he would fight until the death for the crest upon his armour, of that we could be sure. Right?

Well somewhere along the way, all that changed. In the story, Macbeth encounters three witches who flatter his ego and tempt him with the riches that lay in wait upon a (supposedly) higher throne, all he needed to do was betray those who believed in him. Sure enough, he began listening to his own hype and ended up piercing the heart of a great Scottish King and his loyal subjects.

Just like the treacherous Thane of Cawdor, Fernando Torres’ heart and mind have been irrecoverably altered over the last few months. He began believing the voices, listening too keenly to all of the plaudits. Suddenly our love was unbefitting of this king in waiting, he was better than that and before we saw it coming he drove that knife through our collective hearts.

Many of us are hurting today. We feel suckered-in by his professions of love for our city and club and the thought of being taken for such a ride is what makes it so painful. It beggars belief that he could have done this had those once-cherished utterances had an ounce of truth to them.

But the jaded, self-absorbed, entitled little brat we see parading his new superior status in front of us is really not the same man who fought so valiantly and effectively for our own cause.

There’s no doubt for me that at the time Torres believed what he was saying, it’s unlikely that he lied to us, he just changed. Just like Macbeth, the witches got to him. As hard as it sounds, we shouldn’t take it personally, even while he rubs it in our face with his tactless and spiteful ‘top level’ comments.

Here’s why.

I hate to break it to you Fernando, but Macbeth’s ascension to the ‘throne’ he craved didn’t exactly work out too well for him. He became lonely, racked with guilt, riddled with paranoia and too far up shit creek to go back or go forward. A broken man, he was hunted down and slain by the sons of the King and his last words were a morbid realisation of how pointless it all was.

While the above is merely a literary metaphor, it’s true that Fernando Torres will be regretting the last few days forever. He could have been immortal, a man cherished and loved for generations; a man with a true legacy to compare with the best of them. Never again will he feel the kind of love he experienced from us, the kind of admiration that Dalglish himself, Fowler, Carragher and Hyypia can all cherish forever. They all got the meaning of that honour and the most saddening aspect of this sorry episode is that we thought he did too.

Deep down I think he probably does and he’ll come to realise that. Deep down, I don’t think he’s all of the names we’ve called him over the last 72 hours, but by the time this once respectful, hungry, brilliant young man realises the error of his ways the dye will have already been cast.

Already he’s seemingly struggling to find the words to justify why he felt compelled to toss it all aside. “Because they’re hard to play against,” he stuttered in a hastily-arranged first interview during a phone in hosted by the great Scott Minto. He could have lied and spoken of the great fans, wonderful legacy, great teammates, the prospects for the future and the fantastic stadium, but maybe he just couldn’t bring himself to do it? It’s going to be a very lonely time for you Fernando and not even £2m-a-year in image rights, more wages than JT and the odd Champions League run-out can ease that hurt.

As for us, we’re already moving on. His betrayal, The Return of The King and the intent shown by the new owners have brought us closer than we’ve been since the dust settled on the miracle of Istanbul. The mood today is one of excitement and determination. While Torres begins years of soul-searching, we’re already preparing to have the last laugh, and make no mistake, we will.

The King is dead, long live The King.

By Chris Smith

This article was published by The Liverpool Way. It was written in reaction to the Torres transfer to Chelsea.

I took it and post it here as in general it represents how I feel about this backstabbing act by a man so revered by the fans. It's a pity how Torres chose to end his journey with Liverpool in this manner.

The way Torres left Liverpool hurts, deeply. But like the article points out, amidst the hurt from his departure, so many positives are happening at the same time. Onwards & upwards, no point crying over him when Liverpool fans all over the world have so many reasons to be delighted about.

Onwards and upwards.

To Torres, I hope you will regret this for life. Thank you for the memories.

Dear Mr Hicks

continue

Tom & George Not Welcome Anywhere

Liverpool Football Club is ill. The reason? Tom Hicks and George Gillett. To read all about it, visit Spirit of Shankly (SOS) website.

Whatever your views of SOS may be, we should all put our differences aside and start to concentrate on one mighty push to oust Tom & George. It’s now crunch time. They are looking to refinance their loan and maintain their grip on Liverpool. The dateline is 6th Oct. That is only a week away. We need to make sure no one will agree to their refinancing proposal. We need to send them packing back with their tails between their legs come 6th Oct.

SOS came out with this latest initiative in their campaign to oust the Americans, Tom & George Not Welcome Anywhere. Click on the link and read about it. It’s simple yet brilliant. Please show your support to it.

Like I said, D Day is a week away. Let’s make it happen. One mighty push, hopefully the last, to oust Tom & George.

Bill Shankly - He Made The People Happy

"That I've been basically honest in a game in which it is sometimes difficult to be honest. Sometimes you‘ve got to tell a little white lie to get over a little troublesome period of time. I'd like to think that I have put more into the game than I have taken out. And that I haven‘t cheated anybody, that I've been working for people honestly all along the line, for the people of Liverpool who go to Anfield. I'd like to be recognised for trying to give them entertainment.

I'd played at Anfield and I knew the crowd was fantastic. I knew there was a public just waiting. So I fought the battles inside and outside. I was interested in only one thing, success for the club. And that meant success for the people. I wanted results for the club, for the love of the game, to make the people happy."

-Bill Shankly, when asked how he would like to be remembered-

29 September 1981 was the day Bill Shankly passed away. For those who don’t know, he is the man responsible for what Liverpool Football Club is today (before the two owners Hicks & Gillet got their fangs on the club that is). How we could use someone like him right now.

This post is my little tribute to him. A great man, the greatest ever Liverpool manager and a great servant of football in general.

Mr Bill Shankly, you made the people happy.

"I am very pleased to and proud to have been chosen as manager of Liverpool FC, a club of such potential. It is my opinion that Liverpool have a crowd of followers which rank with the greatest in the game. They deserve success and I hope, in my own small way, I am able to do something towards to help them achieve it. I make no promises except that from the moment I take over I shall put everything into the job I so willingly undertake."

-Bill Shankly to the press when he took over at Liverpool in 1959.

"Before the game, in the dressing room, Bill talked to the lads. He said, 'You've read about Anderlecht having all these internationals and how good they are. They can't play. They're rubbish. I've seen them and I'm telling you. You'll murder them, so go out there and do it.' The boys went out there and murdered them. They won 3-0. And after the game, Bill burst into the dressing room and said 'Boys, you've just beaten the greatest team in Europe."

-BOB PAISLEY on beating Anderlecht in 1964

"Its a conspiracy. A war of nerves."

-In Bucharest before an away European tie Shankly was raging because the hotel had no Coca-Cola for his players.

"Of course a player can have sexual intercourse before a match and play a blinder. But if he did it for six months, he'd be a decrepit old man. It takes the strength from the body."

-Shanks had clear ideas on sex before a game

'Ladies, tonight is your night. And if the men perform half as well as they did this afternoon, you're in for a bloody good night.'

-Bill Shankly to the wives of the players. He had phoned the players earlier asking them to refrain from sex before playing Manchester United. Liverpool won 3-0.

"Shanks had a knack of making his players feel special. One night before a particularly big match he phoned my wife and told her to lock me away on my own all night. He said that sex was out of the question because he wanted his most vital player at his peak the next day. I felt ten feet tall, until I found the next day that Shanks had also rung up Ian St John’s and Roger Hunt’s wives and told them exactly the same thing!"

-PETER THOMPSON

"I know this is a sad occasion but I think that Dixie would be amazed to know that even in death he could draw a bigger crowd than Everton can on a Saturday afternoon."

-Attending the funeral of Everton legend Dixie Dean, Shanks was amazed by the size of the crowd outside St James' church.

"I've never seen any of the Beatles standing on the Kop and any tickets I have spare will be going to my mates on the Kop."

-Bill Shankly response to Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein's request of getting tickets for the 1965 Cup Final

"When I married Bill I married a man to whom football was a fierce passion. And it had its benefits; whenever Liverpool lost, which wasn't very often, he'd be so upset he'd come home, go straight into the kitchen and clean out the oven over and over again until it was spotless. It was the only way he knew to relieve the frustration."

-NESSIE SHANKLY

"He was infectious, got you buzzing, kept you interested in the club. Nothing else but football though. You could mention something and he’d equate it to football. You’d say something about the weather, 'Aye son, good day for skidding the ball across the grass'."

--TOMMY SMITH, LIVERPOOL 1962-1978

"We were staying and playing in Belgium one time, and this night Chris Lawler and I had gone to a casino just opposite the hotel but the rest of the lads had gone down to the village for a drink after the game. At twelve o'clock Shanks stormed into the casino and dragged us back to the hotel. We knew he was in a foul mood, and we were up in our rooms, looking down the road, when we heard the rest of them coming back.. there was Gerry Byrne, Roger Hunt, Geoff Strong, Tommy Lawrence, Gordon Milne, all singing and kicking a few beer cans along, that sort of thing.

There was a small playground in front of the hotel and they were mucking about on the swings. We knew Shanks was waiting downstairs, so we tried to tell them to quieten it a bit, but they didn't pay any attention. Too far gone for that! It was about half-past one, and they came falling into the lobby, shouting and bawling, and Shanks was so flabbergasted he didn't know what to do or where to start, and of all people he picks on Cally. 'You, Callaghan... ', he says, and you can see he's reaching for the right thing to say. 'You... I'm going to tell your wife on you!' Everybody just collapsed!"

-TOMMY SMITH

"In his retirement Shanks used to help out with the schoolboys at Everton and I'd never seen anything like it. There he was, well into his sixties, mixing it with the kids, playing his heart out and motivating his side to do the same, moaning if there was a free kick against him and shaking hands and patting lads on the back whenever his side got a goal. He was just like one of the kids himself.

He used to come to me and give me a match report afterward. He once said 'Great game today Mick. We won 19-17!' It was almost as if he were back in the school playground. Most importantly he enjoyed himself and I always got a kick when I saw that."

-MIKE LYONS, Everton captain of the 1970s

"The decades have drifted past, yet still I recall those Sunday afternoons when Nessie Shankly's kindly voice would come crackling down the line. "I'm sorry, Bill's not here," she would say. "He's over the park, playing football with the kids. When will he be back, you say? When he wins, of course." And you could hear the chuckle as she put down the telephone.

Half-an-hour later the man himself would come on, a touch breathless, to tell of his part in the nine-goal thriller and of how he had laid on the winner, with the park-keeper tapping his watch and the mothers calling them in for their tea. And then Bill Shankly would talk football. And I, the rawest of rookies, would listen, scribble and revel in the tutorial.

The results of the scribblings would appear in a weekly magazine. A senior colleague, a trusted friend of Shankly, had approached him to write a column. Bill mulled it over for a moment and then, suddenly, he beamed. 'I'll do it, on one condition,' he said. 'I don't want any payment.' We waited for an explanation.

'I had to pay a lot of tax last year,' he said. 'Next year, when I see the tax man, he'll say: 'You reckon you've declared everything, Mr Shankly, but you haven't told us what you earned from this football column. So I reckon we've got you.' And I'll say: 'I never took a bloody penny for it, so who's got who, son? Eh?' And he cackled triumphantly, as we attempted to interpret the economics of his prank."

-PATRICK COLLINS, Daily Mail reporter

"Adidas wanted to present him with a Golden Boot in recognition of what he'd done. Bob [Paisley] took the call and said, 'They want to know what shoe size you take'. Shanks shouted back, 'If it's gold, I'm a 28."

-TOMMY DOCHERTY - [Adidas wanted to honour Bill just after he had announced his retirement]

I have a few memorable personal recollections of the great man. Immediately after the never-to-be-forgotten European Cup win in Rome in 1977 Tommy Smith had his testimonial game at Anfield, which was a match between Liverpool (who had just returned from Rome to an open topped bus recepti n through the streets of
the city) and an England XI. I can’t remember the result but, because my best mate was the organiser of Smithy’s testimonial committee, I was in the directors box for the game and had access to the trophy room afterwards. Talk about a kid in a candy store!! I caressed both the League Championship trophy and the European Cup and got stuck into the scotch whilst having a conversation with Bobby Charlton (I kid you not). Eventually I saw the great man standing in a corner of the trophy room, totally alone, traditional white mac draped on his shoulders. I felt compelled to speak to him but had difficulty summoning up the bottle to do so. Eventually, after a couple more large drams I plucked up courage to pass him on my way to the toilet. “This is all down to you Mr Shankly” I blurted out. “Thank you, son” he replied. I went to the toilet and cried my eyes out. I should maybe point out that I was nearly 40 at the time so his reference to me as ‘son’ and my lachrymose reaction were indicative of the way that football transcends normal human responses.

--John Martin, a Liverpool fan

"I don't believe everything Bill tells me about his players. If they were that good, they'd not only have won the European Cup but the Ryder Cup, the Boat Race and even the Grand National!"

-JOCK STEIN, Legendary Celtic and Scotland manager

"I don't think there has ever been any character in sport with so many stories told about him like Bill Shankly. And the amazing thing about it is a lot of people don't believe that they're true, but nearly every story people tell about him is true. This is the man."

-COLIN WOOD, Daily Mail reporter when Shanks was manager

"They say he was tough, he's hard, he's ruthless. Rubbish. He's got a heart of gold, he loves the game, he loves his fans, he loves his players. He's like an old Collie dog, he doesn't like hurting his sheep. He'll drive them certainly, but bite them, never."

-JOE MERCER, Everton and Arsenal legend

"One man transformed Liverpool from a run-of-the-mill Second Division team into the greatest team in the world. That man, of course, was Bill Shankly. His philosophy was simple; If you are going to to play football, you play to win. While he was the making of Liverpool, there is no doubt that Anfield was the making of Bill Shankly. His character, his own enthusiasm, his will to win were so infectious."

-BOB PAISLEY

"My idea was to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility. Napoleon had that idea. He wanted to conquer the bloody world. I wanted Liverpool to be untouchable. My idea was to build Liverpool up and up until eventually everyone would have to submit and give in"

-Bill Shankly

You'll Never Walk Alone



**edit - Oops sorry, forgot to credit Shankly.com for all the stories & quotes. Great site, check it out.

A Shankly Tale

This is a story of Liverpool's pyramid, Bill Shankly, from the heart-warming memory of George Scott who was in the Liverpool reserve team during the 60s.

In January 1960 at the age of 15 I travelled to Liverpool from Aberdeen to sign for Bill Shankly as one of his first young players.

I remember getting off of the train at Lime Street Station and being met by Joe Fagan who was then the youth team coach. We got in a taxi and drove up the famous Scotland Road where Joe told me there was a pub on every corner and not to visit any of them ever.

We soon arrived at 258 Anfield Road where I was to share lodgings with two other apprentices, Bobby Graham and Gordon Wallace, both of whom later went on to play in the first team.

My first wage as an apprentice professional was £7.50 per week of which I gave £3.50 to my landlady for my lodgings and sent £2.00 per week home to my Mum in an envelope to help the family out. I was left with £1.50 per week which was enough in those days for a young man to have a great time for a week in Liverpool, including being able to watch the Beatles start their career playing live in the Cavern in Mathew Street.

In May 1961 outside the secretary’s office I found a complete record of the week’s wages to be paid in to Barclays Bank in Walton Vale for every player and member of staff at Anfield. Unbelievably the total wage bill for every player and all of the coaching and managerial staff in the Liverpool Football Club was five hundred and thirteen pounds, thirteen shillings, and two pence old money.

As Apprentice professionals, after cleaning the first team’s boots, painting the stands and clearing the rubbish from the Kop we used to play 5-a-sides in the car park behind the main stand every Monday morning. The opposition in these games was usually Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Ronnie Moran and Reuben Bennett.* Our side was Bobby Graham, Gordon Wallace, Tommy Smith, Chris Lawler, and me. We never ever won those games because Shanks and company would have played until dark to make sure they got the result.

One of my first memories of Bill Shankly was in January 1960 when we were standing in the centre circle on the pitch while he was showing my father and me around a rather dilapidated Anfield.* Liverpool at the time was in the second division and he had just taken over as Manager. He said that I should look around and be grateful that I had signed for the club at this time because this place was going to become a “Bastion of Invincibility and the most famous football club in the world”

My father worked at the time as a gardener for the Aberdeen City Council and during the conversation Bill asked him the question “Who are you with Mr Scott”? My Dad replied “I work for the City Mr Shankly” whereupon Bill responded by saying in his best James Cagney voice “What league do they play in?

After a two year apprenticeship, I signed full time professional forms on my 17th birthday on October 25th 1961 and went on to make 138 appearances in the reserve team at Anfield scoring 34 goals.

Although I moved in to the first team squad, I never made my first team debut, as they only used 13 players in total that year, and the substitute rule only became effective in 1966, after I had left the club.

It was so different then from the Liverpool of the modern era. When reporters asked Bill Shankly what the team was, he used to reply “Same as last season”

During my time at Liverpool as a young player, I saw at first hand the fantastic charisma and motivational powers of Bill Shankly, and I was a witness to the authenticity of many of the stories of this amazing man that have found their way in to the folk lore of British football. I was there when he ordered the building of the famous shooting boards and sweat boxes at the Melwood training ground, where the* training and coaching methods instilled by Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley were ultimately copied all over the world.

In the 1964/65 season I ended the season at Liverpool as easily the leading goal scorer in the second team at Anfield, and the first team beat Leeds United to win the FA Cup at Wembley. This was the first time that Liverpool had ever won the Cup, and it was a fabulous occasion, and the greatest day in the clubs history at that time. I remember walking up the Wembley pitch with Bill Shankly Bob Paisley and Peter Thompson an hour and a half before the game. Bill looked at the masses of Liverpool fans behind the goal and said to Bob Paisley. “Bob we can’t lose for these fans, it is not an option” The hairs still stand up on the back of my neck today when I think about it.

I remember Ian St John’s great headed winning goal in extra time, and the winner’s reception at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. On the train journey home we drank champagne from the FA Cup, and once we passed Crewe you could not see the buildings for flags and bunting. When we arrived at Lime Street station there must have been over 500,000 people in the streets as we made our way to the town hall for the official reception.

I stood behind Shankly on the town hall balcony as he made his speech to the thousands of supporters congested in to Water Street below, and it was absolutely electrifying. At the time I was in digs with the great Liverpool winger Peter Thompson and when we eventually got home to our digs that evening I found a letter from the club waiting for me from Mr Shankly. I opened it thinking that I had been permanently promoted to the first team squad and that 1966 would be my big breakthrough year. I was brought right back to reality when I saw that the letter stated that at a board meeting of the Directors of Liverpool FC it had been decided to place me on the transfer list.

On the Monday morning I went in to see the great man as I was very upset. He then proceeded to make the most wonderful sacking any manager has ever implemented.

He said to me “George son there are five good reasons why you should leave Anfield now.” I was puzzled and asked what they were. “Callaghan, Hunt, St John, Smith, and Thompson” he replied “The first team forward line, they are all internationals”.

I was in tears by now, and it was then that he showed his motivational powers, humanity and greatness when he said the words I will never forget. “George son always remember that at this moment in history you are the twelfth best player in the world” When I asked what he meant by this outrageous statement he replied “The first team here at Anfield son is the greatest team in the world and you are the leading goal scorer in the reserves. I have sold you to Aberdeen go back home and prove me right”

As I was leaving his office very upset, he made his final comment. ”Son remember this, you were one of the first players to come here and sign for me so I want you to think of yourself like the foundation stone of the Liverpool Cathedral.* “Nobody ever sees it but it has to be there otherwise the cathedral does not get built”

He also gave me a written reference that day which is still my proudest possession and which says the following.

"Dear People

George Scott played for my football club for five years from 1960 to 1965 and during that time he caused no trouble to anybody.

I would stake my life on his character.

*
Bill Shankly"

(Signed in red ink)

The old Olivetti typewriter he used to type the reference is still on display in the Liverpool FC museum today.

I had never earned more than £45.00 per week at Anfield despite having been on the verge of the first team but I received a signing on fee of £1,000 on returning to Aberdeen in 1965 at a time when a new Mini cost £534 (I know that because I bought one for cash and drove it out of the showroom).

Aberdeen were my home town club that I had supported since childhood, and I scored on my debut and got rave reviews when we beat Glasgow Rangers 2.0 in front of 28,000 fans. There were nine full Scottish internationals in the Rangers team that day including the Rangers and Scotland captain John Greig. I remember putting the ball through Greig’s legs and hearing his Glaswegian accent following me and requesting in very basic terms the name of the hospital I would prefer to wake up in if I ever did it again.

I thought I was really on the way to justifying Bill Shankly’s faith in my ability and at last making the breakthrough to the big time. Unfortunately the difference between success and failure in football can sometimes be wafer thin, and after just half a dozen games in the first team at Aberdeen I suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury and was released at the end of the season in May 1966. After starting the season with such high hopes I was out of work at the age of 21 having left school at fifteen years of age, with nothing to fall back on and having no qualifications other than football.

After being released by Aberdeen at the end of that 1965 season I returned to Liverpool to live with my girlfriend’s family and spent many weeks training on my own to regain my fitness. I got a job for a few months in Crawford’s, a biscuit factory, throwing ropes round pallets of biscuits and loading them on to wagons. The factory workers were brilliant, wanting to hear stories about the great Bill Shankly. Then in June 1966, I received a call from a representative of the South African Premier League club Port Elizabeth City FC, telling me I had been recommended to them by Bill Shankly.

Thanks again to the great man’s recommendation another £1,000 signing on fee came my way and my wife Carole and I got married on July 30th 1966 (the same day that England won the World Cup) and flew to South Africa on 8th August 1966 to join Port Elizabeth FC. When my wife and I arrived in Port Elizabeth just after England had won the 1966 World Cup, South Africa was in the grip of the Apartheid regime, and Nelson Mandela had just begun his “Long road to Freedom, by being incarcerated in Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town. Today Nelson Mandela has completed that long walk to freedom and South Africa has been transformed into the rainbow nation that will host the 2010 World Cup.

At Port Elizabeth we won the 1967 South African Premier League title, and Bill wrote to me in South Africa a number of times. One of his letters that I still have today, sent me the best wishes of everyone at Anfield and ended with the words “By the way we are still winning the five a side games in the car park, how could we lose with five referees in our team”

In 1968 I received a visit in Port Elizabeth from the then Chairman of Liverpool FC Mr Sydney Reakes who conveyed the best wishes of Bill Shankly and all of the staff at Liverpool FC to me and he told me that if I returned to the UK he was confident that Bill would fix me up with a club in England. Remembering the words of Mr Reakes that Bill would help me on my return I nervously went to Anfield in October 1968 to try to see him.

I saw Roger Hunt in the car park as I approached the player’s entrance and Roger said Bill was in his office and would be delighted to see me. You just couldn’t do this today.

When I entered the Anfield Stadium and made my way down to Bill’s office I heard his unmistakable Jimmy Cagney staccato voice chatting to a reporter but as soon as Bill saw me the reporter was immediately dismissed and Bill invited me in to his office. The conversation went like this. “Mr Reakes tells me your team have won the championship and you have set South Africa alight scoring goals for fun, so what are your plans George?” I said that I was married and that I had a young son who was barely four months old and I wanted to return to play in the UK.

“Where do you want to play son”? Said Bill. I replied “How about Arsenal boss” Bill replied “I tell you what son, how about Tranmere Rovers” He then picked up the phone and phoned David Russell who was then the manager of Tranmere Rovers and he said in his inimitable Shankly way.

*“I have a boy here just come back from South Africa where he was the leading scorer in their Premier League and he was the best player ever to play for my reserve team”

Within five minutes, and on Shankly’s word the Tranmere Rovers Manager at the time David Russell, had committed himself to giving me a month’s trial at Tranmere Rovers on 1st team wages. When I went over that afternoon to Prenton Park Mr Russell said to me “I hope you can play son.” Without having seen me play and purely on Shankly’s word he put me in the first team in Alan King’s testimonial game at Prenton Park against Derby County who were the English League Champions of the day managed by Brian Clough and containing names like Archie Gemmell, Peter Shilton, Kevin Hector, Alan Hinton, Alan Durban John O’Hare and Dave Mackay. I played regularly in the Tranmere Rovers first team over the next two seasons but more importantly I was able to settle back into the UK with my wife and begin to build a future successful family and business life back on Merseyside.

Open Letter to Mr Owen

Hi there Mr Owen,

How are you? How did you enjoy your summer holiday? Holiday is over right? I mean, pre-season is starting soon and most players are already backed with their team doing their fitness right now.

I wonder where did you go for your holiday this summer. Some exotic island maybe? Or probably you went to one of those fitness farms as you were just recovering from your injury? I’m probably far off here. Maybe you didn’t travel anywhere at all. Maybe you just spent time at home with your gorgeous wife and your beautiful kid instead. And golfing. Or maybe, yeah I think this was it, you ‘spent’ time with your race horses, one of your biggest passions, right?


I’m just playing the guessing game here. There are 1001 things you could have done and 1001 places you could have gone to during your holiday. Anything is possible, because you are Michael Owen. You have the name and you certainly have the money. You could even go to space I think, had you really wanted to.

For me, life is as usual. Actually right now it’s a bit boring to be honest because, yeah you’ve guessed it, it is the off season. No football, nothing really to look forward to. The closest I can get to football is by reading all the transfer gossips. Also I keep looking out for your news, keeping an eye on your next step and secretly hoping you would come back to Liverpool. Yes, Liverpool. I’m a big fan of Liverpool Football Club, Mr Owen. I’m obsessed about the club.

Do you know how I started supporting Liverpool? Well I have always told people I’m a fan of Liverpool since as far as I can remember. But I was one of those glory hunters then. I don’t know much about the team at all, but I wanted to be associated with them because at that time they were very successful. And I mean VERY SUCCESSFUL. (Of course you know all about it). But you know what made me a real fan? It was the 1996 FA Cup final, Liverpool vs Man Utd. We lost 0-1 in that game. I’m not going to go into the details, but the unfortunate way Liverpool lost that game made me a real fan.

But still after that game, I was nowhere near as big of a fan as I am now. It took another factor that elevated my interest to Liverpool Football Club to a near obsession. Took me another factor that made me learned everything there is to learn about the club. The tradition, the history, the success, the failure. I read up and learned all that. And that factor was you, Mr Owen. You made me the fan that I am today. My obsession with Liverpool Football Club started with you.

Like I said, after that game I started to learn more about the club. I took more interest, and that was when I learned about you. A young player making waves in the reserve team. Everyone spoke highly of you. At that time all the experts said you were the next big thing. At that time you broke every scoring record there were to break on the reserve level. Naturally I got very excited. A young player from Liverpool’s own academy on the verge of breaking through, to continue the tradition of the club in having great players playing for the team. People were dead certain you were going to take the world by storm.

And you proved them right. You took the world by storm. Just minutes into your debut you scored what would be your trademark goal - playing off defenders’ shoulder and using your perfect timing, anticipation and pace to break free from your marker and calmly slot the ball home. You announced your arrival perfectly to the world in that debut game against Wimbledon. 1997, the year a young 17 year old Michael Owen made his debut for Liverpool.

From then on you never looked back. After an excellent first full season with Liverpool, you went to the world cup and scored THAT goal. THAT goal everybody still talks about till this day. You became the most feared striker in the world. And I was really proud of you, a product of Liverpool Youth Academy. I was really, really honoured to be supporting you, to cheer for every goal you scored. At that time I was convinced you were going to play for Liverpool until you retire. At that time I cannot imagine Liverpool without you. To me, you were almost as big as the team itself.

And your personality, you were the perfect model pro. You conducted yourself perfectly on and off the pitch. People called you Mr Clean, to reflect your professionalism. In short, you were almost ‘unreal’. One of the best football players in the world with the best attitude; humble and down to earth. Like I said, you were almost unreal.

That doesn’t mean you didn’t face any problems though. Like any other mortals, you too had to face your fair share of crisis and controversies. Human nature right, we like to create heroes and then destroy them. Your style of play and your injury problems became the focus of the world. Critics said time and again you were too one dimensional. Every mistake you made on the pitch got pounced on. And I defended you time and again.

When you won the prestigious Ballon d’Or in 2001, I was so happy for you. You were officially the best player in Europe that year. How cool was that? That shut up a lot of critics didn’t it? And every time you got your injury, especially when it was your hamstring, they say you were finish. And again I defended you every time, and of course you came back with style after each injury. Way to show it to them, Mr Owen!

You gave me so many great memories, so, so many. The FA Cup final against Arsenal for instance, when you scored both goals to win the cup. I will never ever forget that. There are many more great memories from you, Mr Owen, too many to list them all here. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Mr Owen. You were my hero.

And because you were the hero I used to look up to, today is so hard for me. Because you were my hero, I’m feeling deeply betrayed by the news I heard today. How could you?

I think every Liverpool fan thought you were going to stay with Liverpool forever. When you ditched Liverpool to sign for Real Madrid, there was this unbelievable outrage against you. They called you a traitor. They called you Judas. But not me Mr Owen. I was on your side. I defended you. Make no mistake, you leaving Liverpool devastated me. But still I defended you. I told everyone you were entitled to look after yourself, that you were entitled to go pursue your ambition because Liverpool quite frankly couldn’t fulfill the ambition that you had. I said you didn’t owe the club anything because you have given so much. In fact I felt you have given the club and the fans more than they deserved, so no one can question your decision to leave Liverpool.

Even with the way you left Liverpool, the coldness in the way you make the move to Real Madrid, still I defended you.

When things didn’t go to plan for you at Madrid, the fans that you left ridiculed you. They said that’s what you get for leaving Liverpool. “Suits him right, the Judas!” Still, I defended you.

When Liverpool won the Champions League on that glorious night in Istanbul, the fans mocked you by chanting “Michael where were you in Istanbul?”. Every time I heard that I always snap back “Get off his back, I have no doubt he was cheering for us because he is one of us.” I defended you.

When you chose freaking Newcastle over us they all say you were a money grabbing bastard, that you never cared about Liverpool. You only cared about yourself. “See, didn’t I tell you, he is nothing but a selfish bastard who only cares about money.” You practically spat on our faces, Mr Owen, when you chose Newcastle instead of coming back to us. But still, I defended you.

When Newcastle got relegated, again the insults they directed towards you were thick and fast. They laughed at you, Mr Owen, and still I defended you! After all that you’ve done, I still defended you.

From the height of that treble season you had with us, winning Ballon d’Or, you are now a has been out of contract who got relegated, who is the butt of jokes, who lost all the ability that once made you the most feared striker in the world. Who lost all the respects that you had. AND STILL I DEFENDED YOU!

But no more Mr Owen. Enough is enough. Your latest betrayal is too much for me to take. How could you?! Man Utd? How could you even consider this? Doesn’t Liverpool mean anything to you? You use to wear Liverpool’s jersey and kissed the club crest proudly; didn’t that mean anything to you? You really are the money grabbing cold bastard people were talking about. And to think that I’ve defended you all the time before this. You make me sick, Mr Owen! From now on I couldn’t care less about you. From now on I will never wish you well anymore.

At the time I’m writing this, your move to Man Utd is still pending the medical. But whatever happens in the next few hours, either you pass or fail the medical, either you officially become a Man Utd player or not, you are already tainted.

The bridge is burned, Mr Owen.

Liverpool vs Wigan

Final score : 3-2
Scorer : Kuyt-2x, Riera (Liv), Amir Zaki (Wigan)
Red Card : Valencia (Wigan)
Man of the match : Dirk Kuyt

Never in my wildest dream had I thought I would see Liverpool under Rafa Benitez playing with only two defenders. Well it happened in this game, be it after Wigan were down to 10 men, but it happened and it worked!

Another comeback victory, another Kuyt winner in the dying minute, and I’m absolutely loving it right now.

Daniel Agger made his first appearance in the league this season and while overall he did ok, the rustiness was clear for all to see. He missed tackles, failed to get the ball off the opponents lots of times, he messed up the offside trap once and of course that horrible error that gifted Wigan their first goal. But he made up for it with that wonderful run, beating his man and a perfect assist for Kuyt for the equaliser. I felt sorry for him after the error because the last thing he needed was just that, stupid error that will take away his confidence in his league comeback. But he reacted well and I’m so pleased for him. He is a good player, an important one and I’m sure he will be back to his best with the run of games he will play. I just hope Rafa won’t be too harsh and drop him after this.

Kuyt played upfront in the absence of Torres and he played very well. He could have had a hattrick if not for the fine saves by Kirkland. As well as he played, I have no doubt he will return to the right side when Torres came back. I hope he will take it well because based on his performance in this game he certainly deserves to play up front. However the team is more important than a player and I’m sure he won’t make an issue when he is asked to play on the right.

We are leaking goals at the moment and when the halftime finished at 1-2, I fear we have used up all or our luck for the season. Surely we can’t stage another comeback? But we did and big pats on the back for the whole team including Rafa. He subbed off both of the fullbacks and replaced them with attacking players. Of course the sending off helped, a lot, but it was really pleasing to see Rafa took real initiatives to win the game. When we were chasing the game we were actually playing 2-4-4! Well done Rafa.

However we need to be careful, we need to stop conceding goals. We can’t keep producing gritty comebacks; sooner or later we won’t be able to win games after going behind. The laws of average guaranteed that. I’m sure Carra and Agger will get used to play with one another soon and I hope they will produce the partnership that worked so well before Agger got injured. I want them to be the first choice partnership because for me, as well as Skrtle has been playing, Carra-Agger partnership is better.

Riere scored his first goal, and he deserved it too as he has been playing well since his debut. Gerrard put on a real mature performance, he really is becoming a real wonderful player, realising his potential as the best central midfield around. Alonso also continued his good form without being spectacular and Keane is still trying too hard, I think. He needs to relax more.

Only 1 player I’m worried about, Dossena. I had such a high hope for him when he signed but right now he is looking like the weak link of the team. And he is fat too! Losing a few kilos will do him a lot of good.

Special mention to Amir Zaki, he really is some player! I’m not just talking about that goal he scored (beautiful wonderful second goal), but also how hard he worked for the team. He pressed the defenders all the time and just never stopped running. Definitely the signing of the season.

Wigan played really well. Shame that the sending off robbed them of all 3 points. Oh well, that’s football for you, sometimes things go against you, sometimes they go for you. One thing for sure, it luck in football has its own way of balancing things out. We are enjoying good lucks at the moment but bad lucks will come our way. I just hope when the time comes we will be good enough handle it…….

Man City vs Liverpool

Result : 2-3
Scorer : Ireland, Garrido (Man City); Torres-2x, Kuyt (Liverpool)
Red Card : Zabaleta (Man City)
Man of the Match : Arbeloa

Have I told anyone lately how much I love football? Well here it is, I FUCKING LOVE FOOTBALL! Multiply that by 10 and you will get how much I love Liverpool!

What a game it was. Two goals down at half time, we managed to score three after the break to win the game. A shade of Istanbul there. Many people were saying that the sending off of Zabaleta was the reason for the comeback; I’m not having that, we were flying in the second half from the word go, we would have won it regardless of the red card.

I’ve been saying how right now I’m happy with the passing and movement of the team as a whole, and how Riera is giving us the width we so lacking before, and those two factors combined to give us a well deserved win in this match. Another big plus, we were suddenly dangerous in our corners (starting from the PSV game actually). Obviously the lads have been working on it in training and they were well rewarded when Torres scored from one of it. Well done boys, well done Rafa!

Rafa again got it absolutely spot on in this game. We started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation which gave us so many wins towards the end of last season. Keane was sacrificed for The Chief, and Torres played upfront alone with Gerrard supporting him. The Rafa haters took no time at all to use that as a stick to beat Rafa. ‘oh his changing things again’, ‘oh how can he left Keane on the bench after Keane scored in the last game’, ‘Rafa the Tinkerman is back’.

Well they can shove their ‘expert views’ up their asses because they are shit. It was the correct decision and we controlled the match from the start. We created chances but failed to take advantage of it. That’s the problem with Liverpool. We are not ruthless enough and we need to have our back to the wall before we can see some urgency in our play. Couple that with our bad defending on the day, Man City managed to score two goals. It has got nothing to do with Rafa changing the formation. When we signed Keane people were complaining that it will ruined our 4-2-3-1 formation, now we have people complaining when Rafa play that formation again? Rubbish!

For me it was necessary to play that formation in this game to contain Man City attacking threat. Right now I don’t mind either 4-4-2 or 4-3-2-1 because we always need to adapt to the games we are playing. I won’t complain as long as Rafa used the right players for the formations and not asking players to play outside their normal position. We have the players to play both ways, and we have the ‘know how’ too amongst the players.

Rafa also got the subs right. It was Benayoun, a sub on the day, who made that good run and cross for the winner. So again, shove your negative comments up your asses!

I have a couple of concerns on the game though; one, we looked a bit tired. Legs looked heavy, the tempo of the game was slower and the running & pressing were not as normal. We can’t possibly be tired this early in the season. Maybe the Euro did take a lot out of the players. For whatever reason, it is worrying because our plays depend on hard running, closing down and pressing. We need everyone to be on top of their fitness.

Another thing, I’m worried about Torres. I thought he was going to hit the ground running in this game but in truth he was awful especially in the first half. His controls weren’t as good and he got bundled off the ball too easily for my liking. He did improve in the second half however and scored two goals to get us back in the game but he was still far from his best. He scores goals when he is not playing well, just imagine what he will be like when he is truly in top form. Scary!

Again, the goals weren’t spectacular in this game and that pleased me to no end. All the goals were scored by the strikers, from inside the box, feeding of good delivery into the box. That showed the team is playing really well at the moment. When your strikers score tap-ins, it means the whole team is functioning as it should.

I’m so pleased to award Arbeloa the man of the match. He improved big time since the start of the season. I have never doubted his defensive quality, it was his contribution on the attack as a fullback that worried me. Now however, he really has shown he can help with the attack. He overlapped all the time, hugged the touchline to give us width and put in good crosses as well for the strikers to feed. It was his overlapping run off the ball and his cross that made the first goal for Torres. I’m just so happy with the way he’s playing right now. He truly deserved the man of the match.

Gerrard was a bit subdued, as were Torres and The Chief. But the rest of the team played well, and Riera and Alonso were excellent. For Reina, he had absolutely no chance on the first goal but I think he should have done better on the second. It was a good strike from the freekick but Reina kind of encouraged Zabaleta to go for it as his positioning was bad. I’m not going to give Reina too much slack as he won us games before. No one is perfect.

Next weekend is the international football break and that sucks. We are flying at the moment and international football often put a halt to our good form. Hope it won’t happen this time around and we will continue where we left. We have a really good team, playing good quality football, and I couldn’t be happier right now…

Liverpool vs PSV

Result : 3-1
Scorer : Kuyt, Keane, Gerrard (Liv); Danny Koevermans (PSV)
Man of the Match : Gerrard

Had anyone written a script exactly like this match, the script would be rejected because it would be deemed unreal and too glorified. Liverpool passing were excellent in a match that saw the long awaited goal for a big signing striker finally over and the captain of the team managed to reach the 100 goal landmark by scoring in front of the Kop End with an absolute wonder strike.

A lot of people were hoping for all those things to happen, but no one dared to expect it for real. But all that really happened, it was an excellent team performance by Liverpool and for me, even though I’m fully aware that it was a Champions League match, the performance brought genuine hope of us challenging for the league title, at last!

On paper we played 4-4-2 but to me it looked like we played 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard playing in the center midfield with Alonso. Rafa made only one change from the Everton game with Aurelio in for Dossena. I just have to stress what a big plus that was. Rafa is rotating far less this season and that shows just how settled the team is at the moment and how Rafa right now knows his best line up and has high confidence on the players. I’m very happy about it indeed!

After the big win against Everton on Saturday, I was a bit worried about the possibility of the players being tired and therefore won’t be able to play well. However the players proved me wrong and everything that I wasn’t happy about before seemed to improve a lot. While we weren’t exactly Arsenal, the passing was outstanding and the movements were terrific. The triangles, one-twos and the pass & move were all there. For some reason there were extra zests and higher tempo in our passing. The players looked like they have more believe in each other now. Even in defense they passed the ball around, something that I never expected from Liverpool even in my wildest dream. I can’t and won’t ask for more.

Now lets talk about Keane’s first goal for Liverpool, the goal that everyone has been waiting for. It was a long wait, 10 games to be exact, but it was worth the wait because there were so many positives in that goal. One, it was a proper striker’s goal, where a great move by the team finished off by a striker waiting inside the box. It wasn’t a wonder strike from outside the box and he didn’t dribble pass a gazillion players to score. It was done with good anticipation, positioning and instinct, everything a good striker should have. Two, it showed improved understanding between Keane & Torres partnership. Torres did well on the right flank and instinctively whipped an excellent ball into the box for his strike partner to score. They are learning each other movement well. Three, the goal showed great wing play, good width in our team. In fact, our width was excellent through out that game and that goal was like the exclamation point to that fact. We seriously lacked width in the team since forever so it was really good to see that we can stretch teams like that.

Just to point one undeniable fact, I predicted that Keane will score his first goal in either this match or the Man City match, so give me a big pat on the back because Nostradamus would have been impressed with me!

Now on to our captain marvel, Steven Gerrard. He has now scored 100 times for Liverpool, and he is still only 28, an amazing feat for a MIDFIELDER who earlier in his career started as a DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER, and also a few times played as a RIGHT BACK! And to score that 100th goal with his trademark thunderbolt in front of the Kop End was just remarkable. Only Superman can do what he has done for Liverpool. He was my man of the match for that game and I gave it to him not just because of the goal, but because his overall performance. His passing was phenomenal last night, it was his best passing game in a long time.

Gerrard, together with Kuyt, Arbeloa, Carra, Reina and Alonso are at the top of their game at the moment. Add that with the signs of improvement to the partnership of Keane and Torres, the season set to be a really good one for Liverpool. I just hope that the optimism that I have right now won’t be dashed again. I do realize that PSV were woeful and I just might be a tad carried away with things but God, please let this be the season I’ve been waiting for….

Bring on Man City!

**Special mention to PSV young striker, Nordin Amrabat. His attitude and enthusiasm for the game was a joy to watch. Keep it up and he will be some player very soon…

The Season So Far

Football fans are fickle. That’s the general view shared by many, including myself, and that means admitting that I myself am fickle. Our views change all the time depending on the current situation of our teams. In a space of one week a manager, from the eyes of the fans, can change from having god like status to the absolute clueless moron. Knee jerk reactions are often the problem for the fickle minds. We will tend to say bad things right after the team loss a game. And when we won, we tend to get way ahead of ourselves, getting excited over nothing. That’s why I have learned not to say anything immediately after a game. I will always give it sometime to cool down from watching a match.

However being fickle is still a problem so I feel it will be interesting to put my views on the record from time to time so I can re-read it and have a laugh at myself. So this is what I’m doing now. I’m going to give my assessment on the team so far.

The season is still very young, just six games played so anything can happen. In general I’m happy with how things are going but I’m keeping my feet firmly on the ground because I realise it will only takes one game to change everything.

One thing that I’m definitely happy about the season so far is the fact that Rafa is sticking to his best team most of the time. He rotated less this season and that is always a good sign as it shows that he now knows his best team and has more confidence on his players.

I'm going to do this by breaking it down to three areas;

Defense
This is the one area in which I have a full confidence on. The central defenders that we have in the squad are just superb. Right now the first choice is Carra and Skrtle, and rightly so I think. They are forming good understanding and have so far played really well. Waiting for the chance to play are Hyypia and Agger, two players who would walk into any side in the world. So great strength in depth there.

The fullbacks are doing well too. Arbeloa has been in good form of late, not just defending but also reliable going forward. Rafa will never play expensive, gung-ho type of football so Arbeloa is really suited to our style of play. If he is injured, Carra can take his place on the right with either Hyypia or Agger taking the place in the center. No problem at all. I’m also content with our left side with Dossena and Aurelio playing well. Even Agger can play there if he was needed.

Then we have Reina between the post. He is becoming one of the world’s best goalkeeper, his form this season suggested that. Many Liverpool fans have been saying he is the best in the business for quite sometime now and it’s proving to be right. His understudy, Cavalieri, the Brazilian, is the best reserve goalkeeper we have in a long time. So again, no worries there.

Midfield
In my opinion, Gerrard is playing his best football in his career at the moment. I’m not going to go in details of what I think of him, I already did that in my Everton match report. He has been superb this season, that is as far as I’ll go here. Then we have The Chief and Alonso competing for a place along side Gerrard in the heart of the midfield. Both have been playing well and I have no problem with whomever Rafa chooses to play, but for me when we play against the obviously weaker teams we have to play Alonso as he can offer more in attacking sense compared to The Chief.

The new guy, Riera is proving to be a good buy. He is giving us genuine width on the left, something we have been severely lacking in recent times. He got a good cross in him with good touch and technique. The jury is still out on him as it is still early days of his career playing for Liverpool but I’m definitely happy with him so far. On the right we have Pennant who can do the same job Riera is doing on the left. However he is very inconsistent and Rafa seems determine to offload him, that is clear with him not getting any playing time. Pennant is playing well for the reserve though and maybe, just maybe, with him playing late on in the Everton game Rafa is starting to give him another chance.

Then we have the three youngsters who are the fringe players for the squad. Elzhar, Plessis and Lucas can all come in to the squad and do decent jobs. But I want to see more from Lucas who has been poor when he played so far. Voted the best player in the Brazilian league has got to mean something, unfortunately I still don’t see anything special in him.

Forwards
This area has been the problem this season. Who would have thought that? Torres and Keane are taking forever to click as a partnership. Keane is just trying too hard for his own good, I think. He should relax more and I’m sure the goals will come. Torres scored two in the Everton match but in truth he has been poor. Hopefully things will pick up soon. Keane supplied the assist for Torres in the first goal in that Everton game so finger crossed that will give their partnership a boost it needed.

Ryan Babel has so much potential in him so I don’t understand why he can’t play well when he starts a game. He is direct with explosive pace and shot but we mostly see that when he started from the bench only. If he continued the trend he will remain forever as a super-sub. That would be a pity as he has what it takes to be one of the world’s best strikers.

Now one striker I’m happy about is Dirk Kuyt. I’m not his biggest fan. I do acknowledge the work he puts in for the team but I wanted more from him as a striker. Now, I’m seeing his true worth. He is just excellent on the right in a 4-2-3-1 formation. At the end of last season Torres described him as ‘spectacular’ and at that time I thought Torres was just being nice. Not now though, Dirk Kuyt is spectacular and I’m not surprised if he is the first name Rafa put in on the team sheet every week.

Well looking at my assessment above will make you think that everything is rosy for Liverpool but I’m still not happy with the passing and movement of the team in general. Sometimes I just wonder what they do in training because the basic pass and move is very poor. We should be doing better in that aspect, we certainly have the players to do so. Another thing that bugs me is the fact that we are so poor in dead ball situation. Our corners in particular are atrocious. How hard is it for a professional footballer to take decent corners? Surely we don’t need Gerrard to take it all the time as he is wasted not being in the penalty box or at on the edge of it looking to score from the delivery. It is mind boggling really. Rafa, please sort it out as soon as possible.

We have a tough week ahead, a Champions League game in midweek against PSV and a tough away league game on the weekend at Man City. Man City are flying right now with the two new recruits, Robinho and Wright Philips scoring and in good forms. Even without the two new players they have a good team with Jo and Petrov impress me the most.

I expect nothing less then a win against PSV as it will be a home game. It’s the Man City game that worries me. Playing in the league away after a Champions League game is always tricky. Hope we can register another win to follow up on the great victory against Everton.

Like I said in the Everton report, we have been picking up points and playing fairly well without the strikers getting in full gears. So I’m excited to think how well we can play if the strikers were back to their best.

Torres showed sign of his old self already and hopefully he won’t look back now. I’m going to put my neck on the line and say Keane with the help of Torres will score in one of our next two games. I have a really good feeling on this.

Can't wait for Thursday!

Everton vs Liverpool

Result : 0 – 2
Scorer : Torres (2)
Red card : Tim Cahil
Man of the match : Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is a Superman. He is the only player in the world who can be the hard man, as well as the heart of the team. No one works harder than him and at the same time supply the creative spark. He is good with the ball at his feet, pass really well, good dribbler, the best tackler around, got brilliant football brain, explosive shot, very good header, has perfect technique, good pace, amazing energy and stamina, good strength, moves well off the ball; HE CAN DO ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!

Why oh why am I drooling over Gerrard tonight? He played better at Marsille and I didn’t even pick him as the man of the match for that game! Well tonight he gave the perfect captain performance. It was a derby game and for a local lad like him it was very easy to lose his head but he didn’t. If anyone remembered last season in this fixture he was subbed off by Rafa because according to Rafa, he played too much with his heart. That didn’t happen tonight. It was more amazing when you consider that he was looking for his 100th goal for Liverpool. To reach that landmark in the most famous of derby would be one great story to tell his grandchildren, but he didn’t go for that glory. Instead he absolutely played for the team and gave a real captain performance. Well done Stevie!

Obviously I picked Gerrard as the man of the match. He was just superb. One particular incident in the game that explains why I liken him to Superman was when he ran forward with the ball skipping past a few players. He was then tripped and lost his balance but seeing he wasn’t getting the foul, as he was falling over he tried to thread the ball to Torres I think it was. But the pass got cut off and Everton broke forward quickly with their danger man Cahil on the ball. This was where Gerrard showed his Superman effort. Most players would have had their hands in the air, staying on the ground complaining to the referee about not getting the foul. Not him. He got up from just a few yards away from Everton’s penalty box, out-ran everyone to get to a few yards away from Liverpool’s penalty box, got the tackle in on Cahil, won the ball and ultimately stopped a very promising break for Everton. Amazing!

Ok enough about him, I’m not gay enough to dedicate the whole match report to him.

I’m not sure in what formation we played in. Was it 4-2-3-1? What made me confused was the absence of The Chief. Playing that formation without him, and then pairing Gerrard and Alonso in the middle was very unlike Rafa. I didn’t watch the pre-show so I’m not sure what happened. Was he injured? Or did Rafa really choose not to play him? Kuyt and Riera played way too forward for the formation to be a flat 4-4-2. If it was indeed a 4-2-3-1, Rafa deserved a big pat on his back because it was a very big and brave decision and he got it spot on. We controlled the match form the word go.

Though we had all the possession in the first half, the game remained scoreless at halftime. I was worried because noticeably there was a shade of the Stoke game in the first half; lion share of possession with no real meaningful chance created.

But it all changed soon enough in the second half and the man responsible for it was no other than Torres. He is back. It hasn’t been the best of times for Liverpool’s strikers, Torres included. We wasted a lot of chances this season and the strikers were to blame. But he scored, finishing off a great move with a well-taken volley. The relief on his face was clear for everyone to see, big pressure of his shoulder, and from that moment on, the old Torres was back. Suddenly he looked comfortable on the ball, running at defenders, with good close control. Confidence is key to every player in particular young player like him and that goal gave him his confidence back. Sure enough few minutes after scoring the first, he scored another one. Then he scored his third only for the goal to be disallowed by the referee for a non-existing foul. It was a bad call and Torres was denied a hattrick by that bad call. But the important thing is he got his confidence back and we will see the best of him from now on, I’m sure of it.

Another important thing to note is how good our central defense is this season. Carra and Skrtle hardly put a foot wrong since the start of the season. One look at the bench and we can see the imperious Hyypia and the excellent Agger just waiting to be given the chance to play. Carra, Skrtle, Hyypia and Agger; how many teams can boast talents like that in their squad?

We have been picking up points without the strikers playing well, but now with Torres and Keane look to have developed better understanding, exciting times are just around the corner. It is a good season so far, and we have a really good squad right now. I don’t think we are good enough to win the league yet but we should certainly put up a better challenge for the league with the players that we have.

I think the next league game is Chelsea and we will see just how good the team actually is in that game.

Liverpool vs Crewe Alexandra

Liverpool played Crewe in the third round of Carling Cup. I didn't watch the game so I'll use the match report written by Dave Usher, the owner/founder (or whatever you call them) of the best Liverpool FC independent website, The Liverpool Way.

Dave Usher is an excellent writer by the way....

Scorer(s) – Daniel Agger, Lucas
Half Time - 0-0
Venue - Anfield
Date - Sat 20 September 2008
Star Man – Sami Hyypia

We won. That’s about the only good thing I can say after this. Next year when the auto-cup scheme form comes through the post, I may well just leave the ‘League Cup’ box blank. I’ve been in two minds over going to these games anyway, as I’d rather not give the leeches that own our club any more money than I have to, but against my better judgement I ticked that box that said ‘League Cup’ so I’m stuck with it for this season.

Given the performance I witnessed last night I can’t see me having to fork out too much more, as the first decent side we get will beat us if Rafa keeps picking that team.

The performance was poor, but in all honesty I expected no less when I saw the line up that had been picked. It looked unbalanced, and lacking in goalscoring options. Daniel Agger opened the scoring, and a look through that side tells you that he was always likely to be one of our best hopes for a goal. He might be a centre half, but he does get goals. Apart from Babel, Agger and Sami would have been our most likely goalscorers when you look at that starting eleven.

I reckon Rafa had the same concerns I did, which was why he made sure he had Alonso, Keane and Torres on the bench in case things went wrong. He knew there was a good chance they wouldn’t get the job done so he made sure he had his insurance policy on the bench. The fact we had to put Torres on with 25 minutes left says it all. Keane would have had 20 minutes as well had Degen not gotten injured, and the only surprise for me is that Gerrard wasn’t on the bench as well.

I know some people view it as a cardinal sin to mention Arsenal and their youngsters, but I look at what they did last night, and I compare it to the fucking dross that I saw at Anfield, and it depresses the fuck out of me. I had a quick look on the forum and saw some people getting tetchy because others were asking how come Arsenal can not only give their kids a run out, but they can go on to put six goals past a Championship team.

It’s a valid question though. Rafa has spent a fortune on bringing in youngsters from all over the globe. In addition to that, we have a group of players who won the youth cup back to back, and who last year won the national reserve title. Yet the sum total of all that is that only Insua, N’Gog, Plessis and the oldest ‘youngster’ in town Nabil El Zhar were involved last night.

Jay Spearing and Stephen Darby should go in today and ask to be put on the transfer list. That’s not being knee jerk or melodramatic, they really should do. Having done so well in pre-season, the reality of their situation must surely have hit home now. If they can’t get in an 18 man squad when we’re playing a League One side at Anfield in the League Cup, then they are never going to chance here and they should stop kidding themselves that they might do. Get out lads, get out while you still can as you deserve better than this.

I remember Rafa campaigning to be allowed seven subs, his argument being that it would allow him the opportunity to put a couple of youngsters on the bench. I said at the time that even if he was allowed seven subs the young lads wouldn’t feature and it’s been proved right, as apart from the Liege game when Spearing was named on the bench (due to the absence of Lucas and Mascherano and serious doubts about whether Gerrard would be able to get through the game before he underwent surgery), none of the reserve squad have even had a sniff of a Premiership or Champions League squad.

However, Rafa outdid himself last night. Crewe at home, League Cup, seven subs named and the likes of Spearing, Pacheco, Darby, Kelly and San Jose still miss out. Seriously, what’s the point of them being here? At Arsenal, 16 and 17 year olds get their chance. At Liverpool, even 19 and 20 year olds are still deemed too young. I can see the logic behind the starting eleven, and a case can be made to justify every one of them getting a start ahead of any of the youngsters.

I’d like to have seen more of the kids in the side, but I understand that people like Hyypia, Agger, Pennant, Lucas and Babel needed a game. So as much as I’d have loved to see some of the lads get a game I’m not criticising Rafa for the team he picked. It’s the subs bench that really angered me.

Selecting Keane, Torres and Alonso on the bench was definitely an insurance policy in case we needed a cavalry charge late on, but having Carragher, Skrtel and Dossena on the bench smacked of just wanting to avoid giving any of the reserve squad a chance. It’s an absolute fucking joke. Did we really need to have Carragher AND Skrtel? There was no way in a million years Skrtel was ever going to get on that pitch unless two of the back four were injured. Could Darby and San Jose not have taken Skrtel or Dossena’s place on the bench?

Surely Jay Spearing was worth at least a place on the bench? A strong case could even be made for him starting, as based on what he showed in pre-season he would probably have given us more than either of Plessis and Lucas did. Plessis is a completely defensive type of player. He doesn’t have any attacking qualities whatsoever. He’s good at what he does, which is keep it simple and protect the defence, but did we really need that against Crewe? Damian looks to have gone backwards to me since making such an impressive debut at Arsenal. Hanging around town with Charles Itandje doesn’t seem to be doing him any good.

As for Lucas, don’t let that winning goal mask how mediocre he was. Those at the game will know, but with this match not being televised it’s easy for people to think he must have done ok seeing as how he scored. He didn’t. He was hardly involved, and contributed very little of note other than a few decent tackles (some of which were him winning it back after he’d lost it through poor play) and the goal.

Credit where it’s due, he made a good run into the box for the goal even if he did get a bit lucky with the header, which appeared to hit a defender and loop over the keeper. But come on, this lad is the former Brazilian player of the year, he’s a current Brazil international and he’s meant to be a potentially great player. You’d think he’d have shown us something by now. He really hasn’t though.

If he didn’t have such an impressive pedigree, everyone would be wondering just what the fuck he does and why the hell we spent £6m on him. As it is, there are plenty who do think that but there are still others giving him the benefit of the doubt. There comes a point where the argument ‘he was the best player in Brazil and he’s in their national squad, he must have something’ starts to sound a little hollow. The word ‘Kleberson’ springs to mind.

Lucas really needs to up his game and show us exactly why he was so highly regarded, because up to now he just hasn’t done it, and last night he didn’t look any better than the two lads who were in the middle of the park for Crewe.

The other big disappointment for me was Babel. He says he’s a striker, but whenever he’s played up front he’s been woeful. Had he performed, then we would have won this game at a canter because he could have destroyed Crewe on his own. The game would have been easier for N’Gog too had Babel offered more of a threat. I felt sorry for N’Gog, as he got no service whatsoever and struggled to get into the game.

He looked promising in pre-season and scored a couple of very good goals, but since then he’s shown very little. I’m struggling to think of anything he actually did against Crewe, I can barely remember him having a kick.

As for Babel, he may well be the most frustrating player we’ve ever had. I can’t work out if he’s a potential superstar, or just a Ronny Rosenthal type supersub. The evidence so far points to the latter, I just hope he can prove otherwise.

The only players to come out of it with any credit were Hyypia and Agger at the back, the returning Pennant on the wing, and the keeper who did nothing wrong. Actually you can add Degen to that, as I liked some of the things I saw from him and I feel extremely sorry for him after that horrible injury he suffered.

Given his track record, I expected the Swiss full back to spend a fair proportion of this season on the sidelines with various injuries, and when he picked up a groin injury in pre-season I thought ‘here we go, another Aurelio’. It would be really harsh however, to use this latest injury as a stick to beat him with, as it could have happened to anybody.

He had a few unconvincing moments defensively, but what I liked about him was how keen he was to go on the overlap. Any time Pennant was running forward with the ball, Degen would run flat out to try and overtake him and make an overlapping run. Arbeloa for example would be hanging back in support, and only when the winger stops would he then make an overlapping run. Degen was like a fucking madman though trying to get ahead of the ball, not always with the best of results but that is to be expected as his team-mates need to get used to how he plays and vice versa.

I liked his enthusiasm, and it’s a shame he’s picked up what looks like a serious injury that will keep him out for a while. It may open the door for Darby to play in the next round, but I take no pleasure in that and feel genuinely sorry for Degen as he showed enough against Crewe to make me think he might have been an asset in those games at Anfield when teams park the bus.

Pennant was excellent in the first half, and was clearly determined to take his chance with both hands. He was direct, he got some good crosses in and he even managed a shot, which isn’t like him. I’m a fan of Pennant’s, and I still think he’s the best option we have the right wing, especially in a 4-4-2. I’d like to think he’s played his way back into contention, but time will tell. He faded a bit in the second half, understandable given the lack of football he’s had in the last couple of months, but he still managed to create the winning goal and almost had another assist when Torres met his cross with a header that was well saved by the keeper.

Cavalieri had very little to do, and had no chance with the goal he conceded. In fact, he’d made a brilliant save to keep out the initial header from Zola – unmarked from the corner kick – and was very unlucky that the ball fell at the feet of O’Connor. The goal was against the run of play, but you always get the feeling we can let one in from a set-piece, no matter who we are playing.

Crewe never looked like scoring in open play, at least not until the last five minutes when they began to throw some men forward and had two great chances to equalise. By and large, we controlled possession and were comfortable at the back, but their keeper had very little to do and that is unacceptable. It was a poor performance, and it’s a good job we weren’t playing stronger opposition.

Hyypia was my star man due to Pennant fading a bit late on. Sami was just imperious, and won everything all night. Agger was flawless too, and scored a brilliant goal. He’s got a fantastic shot on him has Daniel, and if he’s in the side I’d let him have first crack at any free-kick we have on the edge of the box. The problem of course is getting into the side, as that’s proving to be difficult at the moment. His chance will come though, and when he gets in he’ll take some shifting.

Team: Cavalieri; Degen (Carragher), Hyypia, Agger, Insua; Pennant, Plessis, Lucas, El Zhar (Keane); Babel, N’Gog (Torres):