I think the above highlights pretty much sum it all up. Liverpool totally dominated their first home game, a stark contrast from the performance on Sunday. Glen Johnson has already shown that he is worth every penny that was spent on him. I mean really, did you see that second goal? Holy shit! Daniel Ayala was nervous, but did well in his starting debut. I cannot imagine the pressure an 18 year old would feel stepping out on the pitch at Anfield with 40,000 screaming fans.

I am not going to back off of from my previous post and say that everything is okay now. Stoke City is not a good club and should not be in the Premier League. We should not have been held goalless by them last season and it was unfortunate that it happened that way. Having the team gel together is a step in the right direction. I am going to remain skeptical about the current formation, but things are looking up. Three points is always nice to have and having four goals and a clean sheet is much better than a loss to Burnley.

Video of Rafa’s post match interview HERE at Sky Sports.

Benitez has moved swiftly to add cover to the center backs. In a shock signing, he has secured Sotirios Kyrgiakos from AEK Athens. Kyrgiakos is a 30 year old, Greek international who has had successful stints at Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt. He’s big and mean looking and that is enough for me. The first thing that people are going to say is, “oh, but he’s 30!” Who cares? He’s a defender with experience and Agger seems to be made of glass.

One final thought. The FA will apparently be writing to Rafa to ask for an explanation on his comments to journalists in his post match interview last Sunday when he said that he knew he could not get a second penalty from that particular referee and at one point had held up his glasses, humorously, to signify that the official needed them. I have a great idea. How about instead of taking action every time a manager from a club answers a question from a journalist, the FA tells journalists to stop asking stupid questions? I am really getting sick of reporters all but saying, “how was the referee?” and then the manager getting into trouble for giving an honest answer. If the FA wants so bad to keep their officials looking good, they should either A) ban that line of questioning from interviews altogether or maybe B) fix the officiating itself so that it will stop being an issue.

I also did not really understand the strategy of working out the entire club and everyone in the gift shop who happened to buy a red shirt during the preseason. While we were passing the ball around to Phil, from the concession stand, other clubs were playing serious matches with their traditional starting XI, getting ready for the start of the season. That brings us to the present day with already one loss, halfway to tying our record from last season.

The question is now whether or not the team will be able to break down the 10 man defense employed by Stoke City. Tony Pulis tends to enjoy parking the entire squad in front of the goal and praying for luck on a set piece or throw in. Don’t be surprised if we see a goalless draw. If it happens to rain on Wednesday, and I see that towel make another appearance to wipe off the ball, I might actually fly up and choke him with it.

I am going to make a crazy proposal and say that we go back to trying a 4-4-2, at least until Alberto Aquilani is fit. We desperately need Gerrard playing further back because, let’s be honest, we do not have many midfielders to spare. Seriously, what would happen right now if Javier Mascherano picked up an injury? Pull Gerrard back with Mascherano and use one of the many forwards to play–well, forward. If Rafa is hell bent on making the 4-2-3-1 work, then at least stick Benayoun behind Torres where Gerrard would be.

If we learned anything at White Hart Lane, it should be that the current system is not going to work and needs to be adjusted somewhere. You can blame some of the last sub par performance on fitness and injuries, but we should not forget that this system did not work last season either when we were without Alonso due to injuries. Injuries are again going to be an obstacle as Daniel Agger is still suffering from back problems and is at least two weeks away from being fit and Martin Skrtel is a doubt. In fact, pretty much everyone, including Skrtel’s agent, is saying that the Slovakia defender will not be ready. Still, do not be surprised if Rafa has the physio department slap a Hannibal Lecter style mask on him so that he can play.

My guess at the starting XI is that it will be much the same as we saw on Sunday with maybe Benayoun starting on the left instead of Babel. Out of the subs that were brought on during the previous match, he was the only one that really raised the question, why was he not out there to begin with? If anything this manager has shown, it is that he is stubborn when it comes to making changes. It took several seasons to drop the silly rotation policy and nearly half a season to realize that Robbie Keane was not going to work. If this is still not working by October, Aquilani should be ready to come into the fold and then we will have to wait and see how that works out. Hopefully, we will not be waiting for several months after his debut.

One final thought and I will release you from the longest post that I have written in sometime (I might be turning into Martin, but I haven’t started quoting myself yet.) There was recently an article on Liverpool’s official site about Steven Gerrard’s “photo obsession.” In it, he describes a room in his home where he keeps all of his football accolades and memorabilia. The current prized possession is a photograph that shows the current high point of his career, the 2005 team on the podium at Instanbul after having just won the UEFA Champions League, but that is not the photo he wants.

“I’m desperate to get that photo of me with my teammates holding the Premier League trophy. I don’t want to finish my career and have to go into that room and not have that. It does play on my mind how many years I’ve left to win it. I’ve turned 29 now so I know time isn’t on my side, but it’s important I don’t get obsessed by it.

It’s great to have players in the current squad on long term deals. It’s great that Aquilani is on a 5 year deal and I think he will do well sometime during that spell, but as Gerrard pointed out, time is not on his side. Time is not on anyone’s side. Football is a very dynamic sport where injuries can take the best player in the world into an early retirement and where even in an ideal environment, a player is only at their best for a few years. Is this our year? Or, will we continue to be a club that is looking towards the future while being proud of our past? I hope something changes soon because the past is getting further and further away.

As much as I am trying to give an unbiased opinion, you have to realize this is after all a Liverpool FC blog, and so it should be another win for the REDS! Here’s why:

(Disclaimer: Pretty random, meaningless stuff ahead)

1) Aaron Lennon runs funny and Gareth Bale wears a hair pin.

2) Darren Bent and Roman Pavyluchenko cannot play off each other. So with our SOLID back 4, I’m sure we can keep a clean sheet, right Reina?

3) We’re not ARSEnal, so David Bentley won’t try that hard to score against us.

4) Heurelho Gomez is actually Paul Robinson, but with a Brazilian passport and a tan.

5) Because whether or not Torres starts, the crowd will still sing his song (“it’s random like”)

6) Stats don’t lie

7) Keano to score against his old club. Who’s with me?

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m super thrilled that we can now string together the words “league”, “leaders” and “Liverpool” in a single sentence, and I hope it stays that way for weeks to come or maybe till May 09. And why not, Crouchie gave his blessings : ))

Last time these 2 teams met at Anfield, it ended in a 1-1 draw. Fernando Torres drew first blood 4 minutes into second half, but Titus Bramble spoiled our party with his 80th minute equalizer.

This time round, there is no El Nino up front. Wigan, on the other hand, has the bulldozer from Egypt, who is on loan, and yet already joint top scorer in the league (with Nando and Defoe), and who is already likened to Alan Shearer (go figure)

And let’s not forget, we are without God….I mean Skrtel…at the back, so hopefully Rafa has enough sense to partner Carra with the D.Agger. This game will be a good test for the lads to prove that we’re not a one-man team – goals will have to come from the Keane-Kuyt partnership, or maybe Riera.

Possible formation:

Reina
Arbeloa- Agger-Carra-Aurelio
Kuyt-Alonso-Mascherano-Riera
Gerrard
Keane

Possible subs: Cavalieri, Hyppia, Dossena, Benayoun, Leiva, El-Zhar, Ngog
(Hmm, wonder where has Pennant gone to? Anyone?)

Predicted scoreline: Liverpool 3 – Wigan 2

Another last-minute goal thriller, with Gerrard, Keane and Ngog to get on the scoresheet, and Zaki, Valencia for Wigan

YNWA

Wednesday’s Matchday 2 for Liverpool will be against Dutch side, PSV Eindhoven, currently 2nd in the Dutch Eredivisie. This will be held at our fortress, so I supposed it is easy to conclude that we will win comfortably. My prediction: 3-1. It will be a Gernando show : ))

In fact I will not be surprised if PSV were to score first, just like Marseille did in Matchday 1. Our defence might be caught off-guard by the pace of the club’s top scorer this season, Ibrahim Affelay. However, knowing how much Nando loves to attack at the Kop end, El Nino will be trying to bag his first hat-trick, and who knows Dirk Kuyt might sneak one in as well.

Liverpool looks to be the stronger team on paper, winning all our matches against PSV during the previous 4 encounters. But if PSV had learnt a thing or two from Stoke, they will need to park their team bus in front of the goal post, in order to stifle us at home turf.

Anyway, let’s hope this will be a major goal galore for the Reds.
YNWA.

There’s four matches in the season that are important. Two are with Man Utd (who the f*ck?). The other two are with Everton. Apparently, they think since they happen to share the same city that they are in the same “league” as us. Jamie Carragher grew up an Everton supporter and he doesn’t even like you guys anymore so what does that say about you?

Last season at Goodison Park saw Steven Gerrard being pulled off for playing with too much passion. The gamble paid off for Rafa and the Reds walked away with a win. Will this season be as fortunate? Well, hell yeah. We’ve got our big bag of strikers that are realizing they have to score some goals soon before they get rotated out.

You want predictions? Torres will score, I will throw beer all over the living room in celebration (at 7am). Gerrard scores because even if it’s a crappy shot, he will fucking WILL the ball into the net. Again.. much beer thrown in celebration, security deposit lost. And then… I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Keane grabs his first with some cheeky flick.

Final score: 3-0. We’re pissed about Stoke.

I was going to write about how Stoke City shouldn’t be taken lightly and how they are capable of scoring goals, but that’s really just “duh” statements for any team in the league. That’s probably why they put teams in the same league, because they’re capable of competing with each other. What a novel idea…

I do believe that this will be Stoke’s first opportunity this season to visit a big four team’s home and get annihilated by them. Annihilated might be a bit strong. I’m looking for a score of 3-1. They seem like sneaky bastards that’ll catch our back four sleeping at some point, but don’t expect much more than one goal.

Before meeting Chelsea on Tuesday, the Reds shall face the other other club from London, Fulham. I’m expecting an exciting match, well played by both sides that’ll–oh, Christ! I can’t do this. They are, for lack of better words, fucking terrible. I hope Torres gets another hat trick. Benitez is not taking the club lightly, saying that it’s a must win to secure fourth position.

If you look at the upcoming schedule, Liverpool’s isn’t exactly horrible. There’s Fulham this week, then Birmingham, and Man City. Everton have it much worse. They play Chelsea, then Aston Villa, and Arsenal. Now, who has a worse schedule than Everton? Chelsea.

The Blues are going to have to make a choice. With the problems on and off the field with players, I do not think that Avram Grant has the resources to chase the league title as well as the Champions League. After playing Everton, his side will have to face Man United as well as a team from Newcastle that, with the exception of the Pompey game, have figured out that the ball goes between the posts.

I hope that Rafa does what we’ve hated him for all season and saves the big guns for Tuesday. What would be even better would be to use them against Fulham and pull them off early, but he’s never done that, so why start now? I’m anxious to see how each club’s strategies unfold but right now, I say advantage Liverpool.

As far as injuries go, Torres should be fit for the match. Tim Cahill will more than likely be out for the rest of the season for Everton and they will also probably be missing Andy Johnson. Mascherano will definitely miss this match, serving a suspension for his red card debacle last week. Hopefully, this will be the only match he has to miss.

Coming off of a routing by Man Yoo, LFC will be looking to redeem themselves and the derby at Anfield is the perfect place. All pressure will be on Everton who trail the Reds by 2 points on the table. If they somehow manage to pull off a win, their hopes of the Champions League next season will be kept alive. This seems unlikely though because if they couldn’t win when Liverpool were struggling earlier this season at home, they definitely will not get the job done at an away game. This is the match that Everton do not want to play.

Fernando Torres has been named Barclays Player of the Month for February. Don’t be surprised if he takes the award again in March. Sure his goals are costing us a few bucks, but it’s so worth it!

I think this will be a match where everyone on the Newcastle side, including the coaching staff, trainers, and bus driver, will try to shutdown Torres. This will give opportunities to Babel, Kuyt, and Gerrard to score a few. But considering the strength of Newcastle’s defense, Torres may just run right through them.

Crystal Ball predicts LFC 20 – 0 Newcastle