Agger & Lucas Beat Crewe

Liverpool 2 Crewe 1
Agger 15, Lucas 57 - O' Connor 25

It was not telecast live in Singapore and therefore, I couldn't watch it. Goals from Daniel Agger and Lucas Levia secured a place in the next round of the Carling Cup. I've watched the highlights and I can say Agger's goal is really nice. Typical left leg of his!

Though Carling Cup is not a very important tournament, it's also a good opportunity for the rest of the team to prove their worth, especially the younger ones. I do hope to see the team go further into the tournament, allowing more players to play. Let's see who we got the next round.

Goals
Source: Kop-tv

You'll Never Walk Alone..

2 Massive Points Lost

Liverpool 0 Stoke City 0
AR Match of the Match: Arbeloa

A good time to face Stoke City, the newly promoted team from the Championship, after which we had defeated the Champions of England and Europe, Manchester United. At Anfield, Rafa fielded a strong team, showing his hunger to win as much points as possible.

Robbie Keane right behind Torres, Gerrard and Alonso in the middle. As expected, Liverpool is the team who is dominating the possession. Switching the ball from defence, spreading the ball into the wings. Just 3 minutes into the play, the home side got a freekick on the left hand side of the field, just outside the penalty box.

Looking for his 100th career goal for Liverpool, Gerrard took the freekick and it beat everyone into the goal. Gerrard celebrated as while as Anfield. Unfortunately, the referee disallowed the goal, suspisicously of offside which I have totally no idea of why. Dirk Kuyt was supposed to be culprit, but I guess the Anfield crowd were all wondering.

Well, it's part of football and Liverpool got more than enough time to kill off their opponents. Stoke City, like any other teams, they would park a huge bus in defence, working their socks off clearing balls. You can't blame them for that, it's for Rafa's men to have the ability to break down the defence.

Sadly, for this instance, Liverpool just couldn't find the net for the whole of 90 minutes. Gerrard & Co were trying and putting shots towards the goal but efforts were in vain. In order to be Champions, you gotta need to break down teams and make sure you have maximum points at home. Every point is essential and Rafa's men has lost 2 points instead of a point gained.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Gerrard's Double Spoilts Stade Velodrome's Party

Marseille 1 Liverpool 2
Cana 23 - Gerrard 26, 32 pen
AR Match of the Match: Gerrard

The Group Stages of the Champions League has started and Liverpool started its campaign against French side Marseille once again at the State Velodrome, a home ground which many sides have struggled over the years.

A 4-0 win last season is still fresh on both sides' mind and Rafa Benitez was wanting to start the campaign with 3 points. Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were back in starting line-up after being on the bench against Manchester United.

I normally records Champions League matches as it is shown at around 2.30am in the morning over here in Singapore. Due to some problems, the recorder only managed to records the second half and hence, I missed the first half where all the goals were scored.

Watched the highlights and I saw Captain Gerrard scoring a beautiful shot outside the area. A difficult ball to hit and Stevie made it looked so simple. Ryan Babel was then brought down in the penalty box after performing some nice skills in it. Gerrard made no mistakes from the spot and gave Liverpool the lead.

Liverpool have been coming back from behind these few games and that's actually a good sign. A sign of not giving up and determination to win. Still, we will have to strengthen our defence and keep a clean sheet. Pepe Reina made several great saves at the end to protect our lead.

A good start and 3 points in the bag. Let's take one game at a time.

Click to view goals!
Gerrard's First Goal
Gerrard's Penalty
Source: Kop-tv

You'll Never Wallk Alone..

FINALLYYYYY!

Liverpool 2 Manchester United 1
Brown(og) 26, Babel 77 - Tevez 4
AR Match of the Match: Mascherano

Remember this day and the picture above. This day is finallyyy here. Rafa Benitez's first LEAGUE WIN over rivals Manchester United. Goals from Brown(og) and supersub Ryan Babel sealed the fantastic win over Ferguson's men.

Where should I start? 4 years since Rafa has taken over, he haven't tasted victory before, be it home or away. 4 fucking years, for goodness sake. This 3 points has never been sweeter than before. Danny Murphy has already left Anfield for so many clubs and the Red Half of Merseyside has been swallowing all the defeats with so much pain in their throats over the last years.

Carlos Tevez's early beautiful goal was a shocker for me. It happened so fast and it just flew into the net before my ass gets warm at my seat. At the 4th minute of the game, I was thinking, "Oh my fucking god, it's going to be the same old story again." Somehow or rather, that thinking disappeared once the home side got control of the game and I could see that the Mancs couldn't handle the Kop pressure and attacks.

Credits to all the players, they didn't give in nor give up. Sheer determination and hunger for the win were the key determinants of the game. You could see it from the players' faces. Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, the 2 most important players of Rafa's team, were sitting anxiously on the bench, couldn't wait to come on.

Brown's own goal was lucky, I have to admit. Still, we earned the luck. Pressing hard against Rio Ferdinand's defence, new signing Albert Riera had a awesome home debut, Mascherano and Alonso controlling the midfield while Kuyt and Keane worked their socks off up front. Of course, the rest of the team were heroes on this day too.

Ryan Babel got the winning goal. Mascherano and Kuyt were the creators of it. Second half performance was efficient and tactically strong which led the away side resorting to pumping high balls. Anfield erupted so was my home. You could see and feel how important was this victory to us.

Many would have argued, both goals are lucky. Well, everyone could see that the Reds dominated the match, at least the second half. We worked hard for it, we fought for it and I'm very sure every Liverpool fan was very proud on that day.



It's still early days. The season has 38 matches and we need to be consistent throughout the year. Still, beating your arch rivals is a good morale and confidence booster and let's enjoy this sweet sweet win!

Click to view goals!
Wes Brown (og)
Ryan Babel

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Hello Riera, GoodBye Finnan

The last signing for Liverpool in the summer transfer window. Finally, a winger. Hopefully, this time is a good one. Please, no more Mark Gonzalaez or Jermaine Pennant material. Albert Riera, a left winger from Spanish side, Espanyol. Well, I heard of his name during the summer holidays, when Liverpool is linked with this fellow.

Well, I guess Rafa was wanting to buy Gareth Barry, but Riera was second choice on the list. Once Barry was out of range, he proceeded on wanting this ex-Manchester City player, who played in England before. Therefore, I guess he has the experience in the league. I'm pretty excited to see what this player's left foot about. Prove your worth, Riera!



Sadly, on the other hand of the deal, long and loyal servant, Steve Finnan headed to the other direction. I guess it's time to move on for the Irishman. Oh man, this fellow above, what else can I say. Every Liverpool fan will know his contributions for the club, his unsung heroics, putting 110% in every match he played. Consistency was his best attribute and don't forget, he brought 2 other right backs straight back home, Josemi and Kromkamp.

It's probably due to his age and injuries which brought the end of his career at Anfield. His performance at the end was not up to standard, this may lead Rafa to use him as an option in the summer which indeed probably decreased the price of Riera.

Nevertheless, he's a fantastic player for us. One of the most reliable right-backs for Liverpool.

Thank you, Steve Finnan

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Dull Draw At Villa Park

Aston Villa 0 Liverpool 0
AR Man of the Match: Mascherano

A line-up recalling Mascherano and Lucas into the team, Steven Gerrard is out injured and it's interesting to see how Liverpool handled without their captain. Gareth Barry is in the Villa team, wondering why he's not wearing the red jersey after so much transfer saga during the summer. Well, I'm glad to see that he's not.

Rafa fielded a strange line-up in my opinion. With Torres alone up front, putting Robbie Keane on the left hand side of the field. Looking at that, it's very hard for the visitors to get any goals. With Keane and Kuyt's natural position of a striker, I can understand that they can't produce any type of magic or crosses of a pure winger.

Somehow, Liverpool was defensive with 3 defensive holding midfielders, Mascherano, Alonso and Lucas. I felt slightly disappointed by the outlook of the team and do think it's rather negative at Villa Park.

Liverpool didn't create much but did have plenty of possession. On several times during the match, I felt that Rafa seems to be playing safe and just wishes to get a point. Torres went injured and NGog, the new French striker came in. He was decent and had half chances here and there. Robbie Keane was then pushed behind the striker and hence, Lucas was playing on the left wing.

Goodness, it's really hard to understand how can Lucas play on the left. Come on Rafa, how do we score and challenge for the title if you continue to play such systems? Substitutions made me scratched my head too. Fabio Aurelio coming in as a left winger, replacing Dirk Kuyt. Benayoun coming in for Robbie Keane. Didn't you realise, he's replacing potential goal-scorers of the team out? When these changes were made, I knew we couldn't get the 3 points for the day. There's no much support and match winners left on the pitch.

With Chelsea dropping points with Tottenham at home, it's a good opportunity to get above them and be top of the table. Once again, Liverpool has never be able to do it, dropping points alongs with them.

The league is a long journey, still, in such a competitive league, we have to capitalise on every chance to close up or even extend leads in any parts of the season. Rafa, I've the utmost faith in you and I still believe you can be the one delivering the 19th title for us.

Up next, Manchester United.

You'll Never Walk Alone..