While most of the current names I saw on the pitch probably won’t grace the Anfield starting XI for the year, there were a particular player I was looking forward to watching. With 15 streams (yes, 15 streams!) on the internet covering a pre-season game, I had the chance to watch our very own Daniel Agger make his first start of the season in 10 months since a broken metatarsal all but killed his entire 07-08 season.

Agger made it through 77 minutes of football with no ill effects from the mended foot. After watching him struggle the entire year with the injury, I think I speak for most when I say that I was glad to just see him make it through one match. He looked really surprisingly good in what looked to be a 5-4-1 formation. Agger and the defensive backline held Tranmere in check for most of the match until about the 77th minute when he was substituted. It did look like it had been a while since Agger played a real match at game speed; however, regaining game speed will come as he puts a couple more friendlies under his belt.

If there was anything that shocked me a bit from the match, it would have to be Rafa’s tinkering with using three center backs during the match. I’m wondering if this could be a possible formation for the upcoming season. All in all, Liverpool’s first pre-season match of the summer got off without a hitch. The 1-0 win was nice, but seeing Agger out there was something that made me happier than anything else I saw on the day.

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.

Speaking of Blues, there’s another team just over the horizon. On April 22nd, Chelsea will once again make the trip to Anfield. The previous encounters between Chelsea and Liverpool have been somewhat–well, suicidally dull. I remember watching the 2nd leg of the semi-finals last year and at the end of the two added times and the penalty shootout, I felt drained, exhausted, dehydrated, and did not want to see another game for at least a month.

Call me crazy, but I think we’re in for a different show this time. Circumstances are different, the teams are different. Yes, the last time this season when Liverpool and Chelsea met, it was anything but exciting, but again, different circumstances. At that point, the Reds had not found their stride. Uncles Tom and George were making asses out of themselves, and Torres had not realized that all he had to do to put a ball in the back of the net was to walk by the goal.

In this first leg, we need a strong result. If we are not at least a goal up on them, we might be in trouble. Beating Chelsea at home would be very difficult. Then again, difficult does not mean impossible. The Blues could not advance last season when conditions were ideal for them. They had a happy roster and a “special” manager. Now, they have players that are vocally unhappy and holding out on signing contracts. There is also a problem developing in the keeper’s box.

My dream of a Roma/Liverpool final has been extinguished. I think it’s turning into a Man U/Liverpool nightmare. Out of the four, they’re the two clubs that have their shit together. Both are in good form and both are focused on conquering Europe. Will Man U be able to juggle winning the league with going to the Champions League final? Or, will Barcelona give up on chasing Real Madrid and focus on Europe. So many variables. I would hate to be a bookie making the odds.

And is just me, or does Avram Grant look like one of the Vogons from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?

First off, here’s what Mascherano and Sissoko both give you – steel in the midfield; tackling, breaking up the opposition’s game and, more importantly from Rafa’s point of view, swift, fairly accurate lateral passing. What they lack in vision and creativity, they make up for in their ability to change the point of attack. Say our left back has the ball but can’t see a decisive pass on, he knows that by giving it to Mascherano or Sissoko, chances are the ball will be quickly shipped to the right winger – pulling the opposition from the left to the right. The right winger can’t see anything on so he passes inside to one of the two defensive midfielders who ship across to the other wing – where the left winger/full-back should, hopefully, have more space.

This is obviously greatly simplified but you get the idea. Shifting the ball laterally keeps the opposition moving, never giving them a chance to get settled defending deep. In an ideal world, they’re pulled from right to left to right again creating space for the wingers to do their jobs, get to the byline and whip in some dangerous crosses. Or, in Riise’s case, hit it out for a goal-kick.

Now, clearly, this puts great emphasis on the wingers to do their jobs – stay wide, be confident on the ball and get it in the box.

Here’s where it went wrong on Saturday. Babel never took the ball and looked to take it forward. He always seemed to receive the ball facing towards our goal and never wanted to take responsibility and try to put a move on Ooijer. Credit to the Dutchman (Ooijer, not Babel) on this account – he always made sure Babel was closely marked but someone with the raw skills Babel has owes it to himself to at least try something.

On the other wing, Yossi Benayoun was even worse. Instead of creating space, either for himself or the other winger, by staying wide, he kept cutting in and never went down the line or let Finnan go down the line on the overlap. No, instead of playing a tactically disciplined game and sticking to the plan presumably laid out for him, he played his usual game where he roamed, pretty much, wherever he pleased.

You could see that once Kewell came on to the left wing the space opened up all over the pitch and Blackburn seemed far more stretched – both width wise and, because the players were getting tired, lengthwise. In NFL parlance, not just North-South but also East-West.

Rafa’s finding it hard to get his players do exactly what he wants them to do – perhaps he’s missing Paco’s gentle touch a little more than he expected.