Hey guys, due to some problems, I can't see my tagboard at the moment. I know some of you out there can see it, but just unfortunately, for some reason, my tagboard just can't be seen. Instead, it shown me this..
403 Forbidden
From liverpoolfc.tv,
The Liverpool skipper travelled to London with his fiancée Alex Curran to pick up the award from The Queen.
"I've played in big games with special people but I've never experienced anything like this," said the 26-year-old after the hour-long investiture.
"It's completely different nerves to football. In football I know what I'm going to do but today is a big day and a proud day for me."
Gerrard was recognised for services to football having led the Reds to Champions League and FA Cup glory in the space of 12 months.
"I think I've done well on the pitch and off," he added. "I've got a lovely family and the football is going well, I've achieved a lot but I'm still only 26 and it's early in my career. I'm hungry for more.
"Istanbul was just total amazement. To go three goals down, as the captain of the team I came out at half-time playing for respect and trying to keep the score down.
"For us to turn the game all the way around and become victorious was something we never thought possible.
"On the international front I've had the highs and the lows, but to be successful it's just about being patient."
Louis' Comments..
I'm glad for our skipper. He truly deserved it and he played both an important role in winning the Champions League and Fa Cup. To me, he's the top midfielder in the world. You can't find another player like him. He can tackle really well and his runs into the box give defenders nightmare. (Just ask Milan's Gattuso)
He's the captain of Liverpool Football Club and I believe he will be lifting more trophies for us.
Congratulations Stevie!
You'll Never Walk Alone..
Team of the day..
Reina, Riise, Agger, Carragher, Finnan, Aurelio, Sissoko, Mascherano, Gerrard MBE (captain), Bellamy, Kuyt.
Subs - Hyypia, Fowler, Pennant, Alonso, Dudek
Match Highlights..
Louis Comments..
A boring match for all. Be it, a Liverpool fan, Aston Villa supporter or even a neutral who just wanted to watch a football match. Total boreness throughout the game. Both sides didn't trouble their opposite goalkeeper much.
I was quite surprised to see Alonso on the bench in the beginning and Mascherano starting in place of him. I guess, Rafa wanted to give him a chance to prove himself. He didn't start that well, struggled with Momo in the middle and Liverpool can't get hold of the ball in the early minutes of the game.
We were passing, keep possession later in the game but we didn't do anything else. We didn't create any chances which gave Villa's defence problems. We just passing at the back, Riise to Agger, Agger to Carragher, Carragher to Finnan and back to Reina and the whole cycle again. They looked lazy and didn't have much movement in the middle.
Steven Gerrard was not performing to his best. He seems to have hurt himself during the game and didn't want to stretch to his fullest. I guess he knew himself. I was wondering, was he afraid to get injured? I didn't know, but somehow, something was amiss with our captain's performance. His passing was poor and didn't look to inspire his team-mates to play better and to be driven on.
The team wasn't playing well and I could see that the players seems to be in holiday mood. The long 2 weeks break didn't benefit them at all. The attack was disappointing, mifield was poor until Alonso came in. Defensively, we were fine. However, the overall play of the thing was extremely devastating.
Majority of the time, I was scratching my head and wondering whether Liverpool was playing football or just a routine passing training. Rafa knew that we didn't play well and said that the only positive thing was the point. I just don't understand, other teams can win without playing well, but we just can't? Rafa really needs to do something to our league form. The big question is why our performance is so poor in the league while in Europe, we seems to be another team?
Arsenal slipped and we didn't take the advantage of cutting down the gap. Yes, we cut down to one point with them having a game in hand. It's really frustrating to see us competing for just 3rd in the league while Manchester United and Chelsea are chasing for the title. Liverpool Football Club should be up there, fighting out with the best teams in England and Europe, no doubt about it. Can Rafa do it? Can our players do it? This is still a huge question mark on me.
You'll Never Walk Alone..
I've given a new look to AnfieldReds and added a banner as well. Just a simple one which includes pictures of our 2005 Champions League winning year.
Feel free to give me your comments. I accept criticism as well. ;)
Thanks guys!
You'll Never Walk Alone..
Also got this from uneditedmara's blog. Liverpool fans out there, after you read this, you will definitely smile..
After Liverpool’s amazing victory over AC Milan in the 2005 champions league final, may disgruntled fans of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal accused Liverpool of being lucky and undeserving winners.
After all, how could England’s 4th best team achieve such a mean feat? Manchester United could only do it once despite their decade of dominance. Chelsea’s billions and Arsenal’s pretty football haven’t been good enough either.
It must be luck, right?
I saw an interesting and compelling argument on the rivals.net web site. It went something like this….
Post #1:
Luck? Barcelona?
Post #2:
Just like all the luck we had last time eh!!
The year is 2007 and 6 year old Mong fan Chalks is talking to his Dad.
SON “Dad, my mates in school told me that Liverpool won the European Cup for the 5th time in 2005 - are they right dad?”
DAD “Yes son, it’s true, but they were dead lucky son, all the way through the tournament”
SON “Why dad?”
DAD “Well in the group stages …”
SON “What dad, did they have a team from Azerbaijan, Israel, and Ireland in their group?”
DAD “Well no, they had Monaco, Deportivo la Coruna, and Olympiakos”
SON “Well they still sound like 3 easy teams to me dad”
DAD “Actually Monaco reached the final the year before, Olympiakos had won their league 7 times out of the previous 8 seasons, and Deportivo finished above the galacticos of Real Madrid in their league”.
SON “Jeez dad, that sounds like quite a difficult group then”.
DAD “yeh I suppose your right son, but they were still lucky - it took a mishit shot by Gerrard against Olympiakos to get through”.
SON “oh is that the goal were your hero Andy Gray goes berserk shouting “you beauty, you beauty, what a hit son, what a hit!!!!”
DAD “yes son it is”
SON “oh ok. Well what happened in the last 16 dad, who did they draw?”
DAD “Bayer Leverkusen”
SON “Bayer who?”
DAD “Exactly son, but they had beaten Real Madrid 3-0 at home, and won their group that included Dinamo Kiev and Roma too.”
SON “Bloody hell dad, they sound good”.
DAD “Yes, I suppose you’re right son”
SON “So did they win on away goals or something”
DAD “errrrr, no, they won both legs 3-1 each”
SON “Oh - well, who next then dad”
DAD “Juventus”
SON “How the f#*k did they get past them Dad?”
DAD “Well they did - they won 2-1 at home, and cruised to a 0-0 away draw without Juve having hardly any chances”.
SON “Were Juve s*#t at that time - had all their decent players gone or something?”
DAD “Well actually they still had players like Del Piero, Nedved, Ibrahimovic, Thuram, and Buffon in the side. And they won Serie A a few weeks later.”
SON “wow, they beat the Italian champions elect - which p**s easy team did they get in the semi then?”
DAD “Chelsea”
SON “Chelsea - for f#*ks sake - what a p!*s easy draw - they’ve won nothing, Everton have won more than them”.
DAD “Well that season they won the Premiership and League Cup but the Red s**te didn’t let them score in 186 minutes of football”
SON “Jesus Christ - so Liverpool beat the English Champions elect too”
DAD “Yes son, they bloody well did”.
SON “So after all that I suppose all the good teams had been knocked out”
DAD “Not quite son, AC Milan awaited them in the final”
SON “No way - aren’t they the 2nd most successful team in the competition’s history”.
DAD “Yes son they are”
SON “So were Liverpool lucky because Milan had all their good players out with injuries”
DAD “No - they had Shevchenko, Crespo, Maldini, Nesta, Cafu, Kaka, Stam, Dida, Gattuso, Pirlo, and Seedorf”.
SON “Your ‘avin a laff”
DAD “It gets worse son, Milan were cruising, 3-0 up at half-time”.
SON “What happened, did they have 3 men sent off in the second half - how did Liverpool get back into the game?”
DAD “No, Milan had no men sent off, the Red sh**e scored 3 goals in 6 minutes”
SON “Against the best defence in Europe”
DAD “Yes!!!, against the best defence in Europe”
SON “So what happened next - extra time?”
DAD “Yes son, and Dudek made the luckiest save ever to stop a Shevchenko shot from a yard”
SON “Why was it lucky dad - did it hit him on the arse, nose, shoulder or something”
DAD “No son, his hand”
SON “Well aren’t goalies meant to save shots with their hands”
DAD “Yeah, but that’s besides the point”
SON “Then what”
DAD “Penalties!”
SON “English teams are crap at penalties”
DAD “Not this f#*kin time they weren’t - they only missed one. And that’s how Liverpool became the luckiest team to win the European Cup”.
SON “But I bet when they brought the cup home there was hardly anyone to watch as all Liverpool fans live anywhere but Liverpool you say. How many was there, 5,000 or so?”
DAD “1 million people lined the streets”.
SON “So let’s get this straight dad - Liverpool had 3 good teams in their group, they then knocked out a team who had beaten Real Madrid 3-0, they then knocked out the future Serie A champions, then knocked out the future Premiership champions, before coming back from 3-0 down to beat the 2nd most successful club in Europe. And then the whole population of Liverpool came out to welcome them home!!!!”
DAD “That about sums it up son”
SON “Dad?”
DAD “Yes son”
SON “Can I have a Liverpool shirt for my birthday next week, and can you stop calling me Chalks - I’m Stevie from now on”
Do you still think that they were lucky?
You'll Never Walk Alone..
I got this from uneditedmara's blog, find it really interesting and funny..
In addition to Stevie and Carra being called up for the EuropeXI, Fowler and Bolo have joined the squad. Read aloud complete with Italian and Spanish accents. Don’t forget your hand gestures!
Marcelo: “Hello? Rafa?”
Rafa: “Yes, this Rafael Benitez, how may I help you?”
Marcelo: “Heeeyyyy!!! Rafa! Buddy, how are you?”
Rafa: “Sorry, Who is this?”
Marcelo: “Ah, come on, Rafa, it’s me, your buddy, Marcelo!”
Rafa: “Oh…”
Marcelo: “Well, listen, I need a favor.”
Rafa: “What can I do for you, Mr. Lippi?”
Marcelo: “Please, call me Marcelo.”
Rafa: “Okay… Marcelo.”
Marcelo: “I was wondering if I could have Xabi Alonso and Dirk Kuyt for my match tonight?”
Rafa: “Uh… I don’t know…”
Marcelo: “Oh come on, Rafa… please…”
Rafa: “Listen, Marcelo, you already have two of my best players…”
Marcelo: “Okay, well, what about that Sissoko guy?”
Rafa: “He’s not European.”
Marcelo: “Well, neither is Ronaldinho.”
Rafa: “Sorry, Marcelo, I got to go.”
Marcelo: “Listen, man, please, do you have anybody you can send? I need help bad.”
Rafa: “Well, okay, I’ll see what I can do.”Fowler playing is not really that far-fetched, I’m kind of glad for him, but Bolo? That’s a stretch, but at least he’ll get some playing time in. Well, at least I hope so.
from: liverpool.theoffside.com
You'll Never Walk Alone..
Gerrard Against Olympiakos
Gerrard Against WestHam
Xabi Alonso Against Newcastle
Xabi Alonso Against Arsenal
John Arne Riise Against Chelsea (FA CUP Semi Final)
John Arne Riise Against Manchester United
Luis Garcia Against Arsenal
Luis Garcia Against Chelsea (FA CUP Semi Final)
Peter Crouch Against Gala
Peter Crouch Against Bolton
Just browsing youtube as I came upon these videos.
Top 20 Celebrations
Top 20 Comedy Moments
Have a good laugh.. For Liverpool fans, did you see some memories back?
You'll Never Walk Alone..
Saw these videos on drogballs' blog.. Just take a look at our fans..and ANFIELD!
You'll Never Walk Alone..
Team of the day..
Reina, Arbeloa, Agger, Carragher, Finnan, Riise, Alonso, Sissoko, Gerrard MBE (c), Bellamy, Kuyt.
Subs - Aurelio, Crouch, Dudek, Hyypia, Mascherano, Pennant, Zenden
Louis' Comments..
A match to remember for long and we've beaten the holders of the Champions League, Barcelona. Over the 2 legs, we have worked real hard and are through to the CL quarter finals on away goals rule.
We started the match at a good tempo and dominated the whole of first half. Barcelona seems to be in a loss and John Arne Riise was having a great time on the left hand side.
Barcelona's defence was in a mess as we passed the ball around fluently and Riise had 2 wonderful chances on goal in the early minutes. He had a left foot effort goes wide and another against Valdes' bar.
These are 2 great chances and I was beginning to afraid when Liverpool was missing chances and chances again. Victor Valdes had made a double saves from Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt, on the rebound of Riise's diving header, Barcelona's captain, Puyol was able to clear from the line.
Momo Sissoko who played an important role in the mifield in spoiling Barcelona's play with his tackling and strength, almost got his name on the score sheet for the first time. He has yet to score for Liverpool. Valdes had a poor kick and the ball went straight to our Malian mifielder who didn't hesitate and had a crack towards goal. The ball flew high and hit against the bar again! DAMN! My hands is on my head again! I really thought the ball was going in.
These are crucial chances which we should have scored. We can't keep missing chances and has to be more clinical. This game was similiar to Manchester United's game and I was afraid the result would turn out to be this. We domninated the game and had so many chances, had so many corners and shots on target, but we just failed to get the ball in the net. That's something which I'm worried about our Liverpool team now.
Nevertheless, our Match of the Match is no doubt our unsung hero, Jamie Carragher. Over the 2 legs, he commanded the defence really well and didn't put any foot wrong. It's just awesome to see him playing. He gives you the assurance and Carragher is everywhere in the defence, making sure that our ball won't be in our net. Steve Finnan was great as well. Steady in defence and made some crucial interventions in the penalty area.
Barcelona managed to score one through Ediur Gudjohnsen and the last 20 minutes was pretty nervy for us. We didn't panicked and managed to held on till the final whistle. Phew! The feeling was great when the ref blew the whistle.
It's a great achievement to beat the holders out and the best team in the world. The players knew that they have done a great job. Somehow, I thought that the damage was already done at the Nou Camp for Barcelona. I was delighted to see that we played as a team and unit. Totally disciplined and tactically, we have the best manager in Europe. Rafa Benitez always have faith in his tactics and he is not afraid of applying the same tactics against ManUtd and then to Barcelona again.
As usual, the fans were awesome. The whole stadium was singing and singing. From kick-off up till the end, the fans didn't stop cheering and supporting us. It's a great atmosphere and you could only find this at one place..
Team of the day..
Reina, Riise, Agger, Carragher, Finnan, Gonzalez, Sissoko, Alonso, Gerrard MBE (captain), Bellamy, Kuyt.
Subs - Hyypia, Aurelio, Pennant, Crouch, Dudek
Louis' Comments..
A match which I was devastated after watching the game. I was away on a chalet hence, watching the game outside with my friends at a nearby restaurant aka pub. A game which I was really looking forward to and I was wearing our jersey while watching.
I guess we started as underdogs as Man Utd is the on form team and just look at the standings of the league, you could see the difference. Liverpool started playing not too bad and were passing fluently. However, there isn't much penetration during attacks and although we have lots of shots and corners, we didn't much chances.
Bellamy was good at his runs behind defenders and we had a open goal chance created by him, but unfortunately, Kuyt was slow in tapping the ball into the goal. It's a crucial chance as at that moment, we really needed to score and put pressure on them.
John Arne Riise had a freekick just outside the penalty area and the ball was just wide of Van der saar's right hand post. I was almost off the seat when I saw his shot heading towards to the goal.
It's a tight game and Manchester United was dangerous on their counter attacks. Ronaldo had quick feet and whenever he's on the run, you could sense danger to the Liverpoool's defence and goal. Credit to our defenders, we didn't give much chances to them and were fast closing down on them.
Peter Crouch was brought in and he had a great chance right at the end. Kuyt managed to cross a ball from the right and Crouch was quick in chesting it down and make a shot. Van der saar was in full stretch and make a magnificent save. Awesome goalkeeping. I was already off my seat and had my hands on my head.
At that moment, I had a wierd feeling as we started to miss chances like this. In football, if you miss chances, especially crucial ones in crucial moments, it will cost you. Sadly, ManUtd managed to score one in the 91st minute despite having Paul Scholes sent off. A freekick from the left and John O Shea managed to whack into the goal after some pinball in the penalty box.
KO! The game is over. ManUtd is so lucky in this game and I truly thought that we deserved at least a point. It seems like ManUtd always have the edge over us and for this time, it was no exception. Frustrated and pissed, but this is football. It's not the first time we had to suffer such bitter disappointments.
