The only change to the lineup was Martin Skrtel back in his place. He and Carragher did much better together this time and made a number of crucial tackles. Glen Johnson was unable to get forward much as he was having to run against Ashley Young. Insua looked a bit shaky and was also not getting forward as much which led to a cluttered midfield.

Why is it that when someone on this team makes a mistake that could be considered where it all went wrong, it’s usually Lucas? The Brazilian international did not do well in hushing his critics today when he gave up a free kick that should have been too far away too worry the Reds. Instead, Ashley Young’s shot was deflected into the net by none other than Lucas for an own goal at 34′, and it pretty much went downhill from there. There was supposed to be only one minute of added time at the end of the first half, but Aston Villa earned a corner just before it was out and ended up scoring at 47″. I thought Benitez was about to strangle the fourth official and wish he had because it would have been far more entertaining than what was happening on the field.

Andriy Voronin was brought on for Lucas at 66′, who seemed to have no problem in running off the pitch to hide, and had seemed to contribute to a better flowing attack. A pass by him setup play that led to Torres getting his head on the ball at 72′. Call me crazy, but at this point I would much rather have Voronin out there than Lucas. If this performance has not shown that the current formation will not work consistently, I don’t know what will.

It seemed that Liverpool was going to launch one of the club’s famous comebacks. The Kop had woken up and the passing was quicker and more fluid. It seemed that the addition of Voronin was just what the team needed until a harsh challenge by Gerrard led to a penalty kick being given to Aston Villa. Ashley Young calmly slotted home the final blow at 75′ with Reina diving the wrong direction. After that, the energy was gone and the players seemed resigned to dropping three points at home.

I would really have liked to seen Riera on at some point; he was named as a substitute. With Fabio Aurelio out, we are really missing a good left foot to take free kicks and corners. Ryan Babel was brought in for Benayoun at 76′ and did absolutely nothing but take wild shots that went wide whenever he got a touch on the ball. I guess he thinks to earn a position in the starting XI, he has to score.

Rafa Benitez had told Torres to stop talking to defenders and just worry about scoring. Apparently, he did not say anything about talking to the officials as #9 whined to the referee pretty much the whole match. It was just a matter of time before he was finally booked after claiming that Young was wasting time after being injured.

I had thought about an alternate title for this post. Such things sprang to mind as “Calls for Benitez’s Head in 3…2…”, or “Now Playing for Fourth.” The truth is, I am too deflated to say anything witty. This club should have won the league that season and the only thing that really changed is the absence of one player. Unfortunately, we cannot keep blaming our short comings on Alonso not being with us and cannot say that we don’t need him when we roll a team like Stoke. We have good players and should be able to cope. If they are not being used properly or are not inspired enough to play for the shirt, then that is down to the manager. I usually try to put my own feelings aside and believe in the words, “In Rafa We Trust.” After all, I’m just a guy in front of a computer. I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes or at training. However, there’s a lot going on with the team right now that is leaving me to scratch my head.

Bolton on Saturday.

While one Rafa bagged the Australian Open title, the other Rafa scored a league double against Chel$ki, a feat last achieved in 1990. After drawing way too many games, dropping points unnecessarily and culpable of not finishing off weaker opponents, the Reds finally conjured their first win in 2009 and as blasphemous as this might sound, we have that bald, yellow-card lovin’ prick Mike Riley to thank, after he sent off Frank Lampard, whom in my opinion, had an anonymous game, up till that dubious “tackle” against Xabi Alonso at the hour mark. In all honesty, Lamps doesn’t deserve the card, not that I’ve suddenly become a Chel$ki lover overnight. Instead, he could have shown it to Unabrow Bosingwa for that harsh kick to Benayoun’s lower back near the corner post, in front of the Kop and the linesman!?! Fact?

Remember August 2007? The day El-Nino opened his goal-scoring account in a Liverpool jersey, and what better way to haunt Chel$ki than to end his 8-month goal drought at Anfield with a brace in the 2nd half. Though Alex, arguably Chel$ki’s best player yesterday, managed to stop several goal attempts when all Petr Cech could do is spill the ball, Liverpool’s number 9 superbly headed in the ball from a Fabio Aurelio cross on the 89th minute. His second in the match came during injury time when Benayoun was dispossessed by Cashley, giving Torres the opportunity to slot in a rebound. Seems like all those Japanese cooking lessons are paying off.

Now before we could go on gloating about this lucky win (yes Liverpool did play well, but c’mon who are we kidding), let’s not forget we are still trailing Manures by 2 points and the Red Devils still have a game in hand. Things are still pretty much unsettled in the dressing room. Rafa has yet not signed his new contract; Agger is not being offered any. Keane, after being repeatedly snubbed, is probably in London waiting for medical examination at the Spurs training ground, as I’m typing this. We have to face our Blueshite neighbours (AGAIN) for a FA Cup 4th round replay…please, not another draw :\

On the bright side, Chickendinner thinks Liverpool will do just fine from now on. Comments?

History repeated itself between Stoke and Liverpool, at the Britannia stadium this time. Stoke, with their stubborn defence and annoying Olympic-worthy throw-ins equipped with towels at the sidelines to wipe the ball; Liverpool, unable to get behind the generous space that Stoke’s back 4 has left behind for us to exploit, but of course, how can we rely on Kuyt to do justice for almost 60 minutes of the game.

Rafa was either a) high on his medication or b) got his head stuck among the clouds on the fact that he managed to slam S.A.F with some really impressive stats and analysis. Why he chose a 4-5-1 formation in an away game, with Kuyt as lone striker, when Torres and especially Keane has proven they could deliver the goods lately, is beyond my comprehension.

Stoke was the more dangerous side during the first half. Delap went close to scoring, but his shot hit the woodwork. Shawcross almost stole 3 points from us but his goal was ruled offside. Stoke added a lot of pressure with their incessant attackings and new signing, Etherington, who was an instant hit on the pitch and with the fans. Kuyt’s header on the 9th min was off-target, and that was probably Liverpool’s best chance in the first half.

Second half saw Liverpool sustaining most of the possessions, but with Lucas Leiva playing, it’s highly doubtful anything brilliant will come off from midfield. More so since he is quite fond of giving away silly free kicks and losing the ball. Again, not sure why Rafa decided to substitute Riera, to bring in Torres. He should have taken out Leiva or Benayoun, and get Keane in on the action as well. Gerrard almost nicked one in, but like Delap, the woodwork denied him. Wonder what Maradona thinks of our lacklustre performance :\

And so Liverpool missed another golden opportunity to go 6 points clear at the top. Fergie is probably getting a kick out of this, and let’s hope Gene Hackman does good on Super Sunday.

It was a scintillating first half at the Emirates. Samir Nasri was Arsenal’s key player, and he was responsible for that long pass to Van Persie, who brilliantly converted, almost like how Dennis Bergkamp would. The Reds answered the challenge, when appropriately, Keane, got the better of body-shop-lovin’ Djourou and slammed one past Almunia, minutes before half time. It was unfortunate that captain Cesc picked up an injury, and was unable to lead the kindergarten to victory.

Sammy Lee does well as caretaker manager, while Rafa is recuperating, though I wish he (or Rafa on the phone) had played 4-4-2, with Keane/N’gog and Kuyt in front, after the Adebayor sent-off. Not sure why Riera was substituted, I felt Babel was unnecessary for the game. Benayoun would have been a better choice.

MOTM for me would be Xabi Alonso. Premier League’s most accurate passer did everything right, created that goal for Keano while Stevie G had a poor game, and everyone else was giving away silly free kicks.

All I want for Christmas now is for Liverpool to maintain pole position.

By the way, what is wrong with our kit!? Grey top and red shorts!? Someone, please fill me in on this mismatch…

It looked as though PSV would lead at the half until a free kick taken by Lucas glanced off of Ryan Babel’s head during extra time. Liverpool came out much stronger in the second half. Robbie Keane would have probably came up with a goal if he had been playing deeper or if Babel hadn’t been a selfish prick twice in a row and passed back to Keane. To be fair, Keane had a great opportunity earlier on and passed rather than attempt a shot. He also seemed to be playing in more of an attacking midfielder role than a striker. That role did lead to him supplying David Ngog with a long pass and the young Frenchman finished beautifully. Albert Riera can also be proud of his goal that was a howler from about 25 yards out that ended up in the top left corner.

A solid performance by Liverpool. It was good, but still not great. Cavalieri did well in goal, giving Reina a much deserved night off. Steven Gerrard surely also felt fortunate to not have to see the cold wet pitch. Even though he scored a goal with a glancing header, I felt Babel was the weakest in the team. He wasted too many opportunities. Robbie Keane’s work rate seemed to emulate Dirk Kuyt who was also given the night off. Lucas showed some of the quality that Rafa is convinced he has, but still has a long way to go. I don’t see him yet as the midfielder that’s going to supply the forwards with smart passes.

Stephen Darby, Jay Spearing, and Martin Kelly were handed debuts through substitutions. Alberto Riera, Álvaro Arbeloa, and Andrea Dossena all picked up yellows because the ref was obviously going in alphabetical order based on first names. It was a night that the younger players can definitely be proud of, but I doubt we’ll see many of them this Saturday against Hull City. Benitez will likely throw all of the experience he can into the league match because those Tigers are looking a little scary.

I’ve heard of Carragher being called man of the match as well as Lucas. My man of the match has to be Albert Riera who was consistent throughout the match and always posed a threat. It is a nice change to have so many players performing at a decent level for that choice to be a hard one.

Rafa finally learns how to pronounce ‘dilemma’, some Marseille fans are morons and clearly, we have a goal-scoring crisis

CSD was spot-on when he predicted a narrow score-line for Wednesday’s Matchday 5 encounter with French side, Olympique de Marseille. Nevertheless, this “scary” win qualifies the Reds to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League tournament for the 5th successive year – a perfect record for Benitez. Back from groin injury, Captain Fantastic showed us why he hearts scoring against Marseille with a 23rd minute emphatic header from a Xabi Alonso cross, making him joint top scorer with Barca’s Lionel Messi. Though seriously we should all give thanks to Bakari Koné for hesitating to man-mark Steven Gerrard in the penalty area.

Erik Gerets’ men won at Anfield the last time they visited, so they were probably confident of stealing a victory at our fortress again. Niang, Zubar, Taiwo and pink-lovin’ Ben Arfa came close, but all failed to beat the awesomeness, that is, Pepe Reina.

2nd half was a one-sided affair with the Ligue 1 team surging forward, hoping to level the game to at least guarantee them a UEFA cup placing, ahead of PSV Eindhoven. The introduction of Andrea Dossena to replace injured Fabio Aurelio, exposed the left flank, and the Italian proved he lacks the pace to keep up with feisty Ben Arfa, and was even guilty of making foolish tackles, that could have resulted in a penalty, if not for Portugese ref’s leniency.

Milestones

This game was Benitez’s 66th European game in charge of Liverpool and the win marks his 39th victory, equaling Bob Paisley’s record. Steven Gerrard’s cracker was his 30th goal in Europe.

Marseille fans

So some charitable Marseille fan decided to throw a lighter at Stevie G, while he was about to take a corner kick during the 1st half. That’s not cool. I don’t think Stevie was going for a smoke break either, but anyways, unlike Drogba, MBE was professional about it and chose not to retaliate.

And what’s with that poof holding up an Everton scarf?!?

Again?

News has it that Torres might be suffering from a relapse of the hamstring injury that has been plaguing him. Just when the Gernando partnership was about to take off…*sigh

Other news:
Inter lost to Panathinaikos (imagines puppet Jose going “shuttup Panathinaikos”)
Chelsea’s latest achievement: Frank Lampard sent off for 2 bookable offence. Keep it up people!

Bad news for the Reds: Another stalemate at home, when a win could have elevated us to top position, because our table neighbour, Chelsea, also suffered the same fate as us.

Good news for former Red: Danny Murphy’s 7th encounter with his former club did not turn out to be such a bad outing.

Rafa shockingly opted to start Leiva, probably intending to reserve the partnership of Monster Masch and Alonso for UCL midweek match against Marseille. Fulham, who had so far defeated London rivals Arsenal and Spurs, looked like a stronger side than the one who was struggling to extricate themselves from relegation zone last season. Plus, that former Blueshite, AJ, was being a constant pest to our back 4.

Keane should have scored at the 28th minute from a point-blank opportunity, but his rubbishness got the better of him, as usual. Kuyt was also denied at close range by Mark Schwarzer, but that’s because the goalkeeper was superb throughout the match, and as blasphemous as this sounds, he’s my MOTM. Torres razzled and dazzled but John Pantsil managed to frustrate the Spanish wind out of our KOP darling.

We need Gerrard back ASAP. Keane and Torres simply cannot play together, why doesn’t Rafa see that!?!

Honestly, I did not concentrate much on this game, because I was quite turned off from the beginning after discovering Torres is not on the starting XI. Of course, having Rob Styles refereeing the match was another bummer.

The match was a reminiscence of the previous week’s encounter with the Baggies. Liverpool was strong on the first half, and second half saw the physically-abrasive Trotters having most of the possessions and creating several good chances for themselves.

The 2 goals came from a Dirk Kuyt’s header from another sweet Fabio Aurelio’s cross on the 28th minute, and a Steven Gerrard’s diving header from a Fernando Torres assist on the 73rd minute. CSD’s favourite player is now Liverpool’s joint leading scorer in the Premier League this season alongside Liverpool’s no 9, with 5 goals apiece.

Once again Rob Styles smeared himself with controversies, but fortunately we were not so much on the receiving end of his collections of really rubbish decision. He denied a Gary Cahill equalizing header before the first half ended, claiming that Reina had been obstructed by Kevin Nolan.

Rafa’s team selection was pretty quirky. First off, he did not start Torres! That was a huge WTF to me. Stephen Darby was on the bench, so Rafa is probably on some kind of experimental drug. Then again, can’t quite blame Manager of the Month for having limited options at right-back. Arbeloa was suspended, while Degen is forever injured.

Other interesting incidents in the match: Daniel Agger lost a tooth, and the pitch was horrible, everyone had to slip up at least once.

What could have happened?

It could have been a many more goals-to nil scoreline, if Torres had started the game. Nando had come close several times and had even squandered one in front of goal (so did Keano and Riera), but had he been allowed to start, I’m sure he could have netted some.

Skysport’s MOTM was Dirk Kuyt, granted that he have been on faya lately! Liverpoolfc.tv chose Xabi Alonso for his midfield masterclass performance.

My MOTM would have to be Pepe Reina. He saved Liverpool’s blushes by thwarting several close calls from Matt Taylor and Kevin Davies. Ricardo Gardner could have beaten Reina a couple of times, but in the end, it’s another clean sheet, brought to you by our very own shot-stopper.

It was business as usual for our men in Red, as they wrapped up this late-kickoff match with a 3-nil victory over newly-promoted, West Brom Albion. Now unlike Stoke, West Brom actually took the game to Liverpool, and looked like the more promising side in the first 20 minutes.

However they lost confidence after Robbie Keane broke his league duck when he drove home a slick through-ball from Captain Fantastic in the 34th minute. The last time the Irishman scored in the Premier League was against Reading last season.

And the Liverpool no 7 didn’t just stop there. 3 minutes from half-time, Fabio Aurelio sends a long pass to Keane who smashes it past former Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson.

While the 1st half was a one-sided affair, West Brom managed to stifle the Reds in the 2nd half, and we were unable to convert, even after the introduction of Fernando Torres (yay he’s back). It almost looked like a boring end to the 2nd half, until the most unlikeliest person added the icing on the cake in the 90th minute with a top-corner goal. Kudos to Alvaro Arbeloa…he deserves to score after all his hard work as a full-back.

This marks Rafael Benitez’s 150th triumph as a Liverpool boss, (and coincidentally Rafa is being offered a new contract). Because Pepe Reina kept a cleansheet, West Brom has not been able to score against us for the past 23 years, and additionally, they have not yet won at Anfield in 41 years.

MOTM: Keano! He actually looked like he’s enjoying himself. It’ll only be a matter of time before he starts becoming a goal scoring machine. Loved that no-look backpass in the 24th minute.

If we hadn’t scored, I would probably started off by saying Liverpool was shite. Nando’s former club outplayed us, and though we had most of the possessions in the 2nd half, we were not able to find the net. And this, despite 2nd-choice goalkeeper, Leo Franco, spilling the ball on several occasions.

Robbie Keane proved once again he is pretty much ineffective as a lone striker and has not yet tuned in to the same frequency as the rest of the squad. Even the commentator mentioned that he “tries too hard”.

The 1st half was mostly played in the midfield, both teams giving away the ball recklessly. We had several close calls, as early as the 1st minute into the game, and on the 15th, when Xabi Alonso’s long cross to Keane was met by a volley which then miss the back of the net.

Atletico had their chances too in the 1st half, when Simao was unmarked in front of Reina, but ballooned the ball way off the post. It was captain Maxi Rodriquez who converted for the Spanish team in the 37th minute, after a sublime pass from Antonio Lopez on the right wing.

There was a couple of hand ball claims in the 2nd half. Ref Hansson just couldn’t give 2.5 shites about them. Dejected Rafa Benitez seemed to be running out of options when he surprisingly called upon the services of David N’gog, whom I might add, looked more at ease in his striker role, than the Irishman.

Man of the match for me would have to be Steven Gerrard, if not Daniel Agger. Despite losing steam in the later part of the 2nd half, he kept pressing on and had several good shots on goal, notably one on the 70th minute after a link-up with Keane. Captain Fantastic once again saved the game for us : ))

Interestingly enough, Liverpool has not won against a Spanish club from their past 5 encounters in Anfield, so this is kinda, sorta a good draw for the Reds. LFC just needs one more victory to qualify into the knockout rounds.