Torres Broke Ruud's Record On Last Day

Tottenham 0 Liverpool 2
Voronin 68, Torres 73

The last match of the 07/08 Premiership ended on a high note for Rafa Benitez's men as Liverpool won 2-0 at White Hart Lane. A game in which completes the whole league of 38 games and the result didn't have any significant effects on both teams.

Liverpool has already secured its 4th spot way back while Juande Ramos was just trying out more players to test out which are the ones who can stay in his plans next season. A Liverpool team who failed to see the likes of Peter Crouch, John Arne Riise, Harry Kewell, Jermaine Pennant and Xabi Alonso in it. These are the players who are speculated to be leaving Anfield in pretty soon.

I was switching channels in some parts during the game as there were relegation battles, title championship, all happening at the same time. 8 Live matches in Singapore led my fingers changing channels every minute or so. Having said that, I was still watching Liverpool's game.

Torres' flick on header was able to reach Voronin who didn't make any mistakes scoring past Spurs goalkeeper Cerny. Voronin scored? Well, it's not a bad effort from the 31 year old striker, but I don't wish to see him next season though.

The highlight of the game was Torres scoring his 24th goal of the season, breaking former Manchester United poacher, Ruud Van Nistelrooy record of 23 goals. What a moment for this young lad! Well done Torres! You've surpassed all expectations and he made the goal himself. Dumbed Michael Dawson, making him like a fool and eventually, being subbed out after conceding the goal.

A 2-0 win is always nice to see and it's time for holidays for some of the players while the rest will be heading to Euro 08. Captain Steven Gerrard will be resting after England couldn't make it onto the plane. We shall look forward to next season and hopefully, get what we have been waiting for.

In other news..

Manchester United is crowned champions at the JJB stadium beating Wigan 2-0 while Avam Grant's men suffered a major blow in conceding a late late equaliser against relegation warrior Bolton. Besides, Terry was stretchered off after a nasty collision with Petr Cech during the game. Not a good sign right before of the Champions League final.

Derby has the company of 2 other teams. Reading and Birmingham would be going down to the Championship next season. Unfortunately, despite these 2 teams has won convincingly last night, the damage has already been done and it's heartbreaking for the club and especially for the fans.

A season review will be coming up, and hopefully some transfers news as well.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

P.S. Due to copyrights issue, I'm not allowed to post any pictures nor videos of these football matches or players. I apologised for any inconvenience caused.

Mascherano & Torres Overcame Physical Reading

Liverpool 2 Reading 1
Mascherano 19, Torres 48 - Matejovsky 5

This man above is Javier Mascherano. The Argentinian holding mifielder who has recently signed permanently to Liverpool Football Club. His performances has been one of the most consistent in the team, breaking play, tackling in all areas of the pitch. Last night's match against Reading saw him scoring his first ever goal for the home side.

Reading scared Liverpool early in the game with a world class shot by Reading midfielder Marek Matejovsky. Those shot in which he can shoot once in his whole career with that amount of strength and accuracy. Well, I don't think any goalkeeper can save that shot.




Despite going down 1-0 at home, Liverpool played their football and Reading was fast in closing down the Reds, giving them no space. However, Mascherano was able to make space for himself, dribbling past 2 defenders and shot a beauty! Thunderbolt!

What a way to score your first goal for the team!

You truly deserve this celebration!

How can we leave Fernando Torres? He just have to be in the picture isn't it? Despite the physical Reading side, Torres punished the defenders for kicking countless times on his legs. He earned a freekick after a reckless tackle by Reading defender Liam Rosenior. He deserved a YELLOW ref!



Up step, Captain Stevie with a beautiful cross which was headed in by EL Nino! He made it so simple isn't it? His 20th league goal of the season! Well Done Fernando!

They just love hugging each other!

Liverpool's next few fixtures are the most important ones this season. Facing stiff competition with Everton on the 4th spot, it's essential for them to keep the form and winning. Manchester United next, Everton after, and Arsenal 3 times a week. What can beat that?



Will Rafa would be able to overcome the tough barriers and achieve the best results over the weeks?

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Unbeaten Run Ends At Madejski Stadium

Reading 3 Liverpool 1
Hunt 17, Doyle 60, Harper 67 - Gerrard 28

A strange match indeed. I just do not know how we lost last night's game against Reading. I'm pissed, frustrated and totally clueless on Liverpool's performance. As far I'm concerned, if you ever want to CHALLENGE for the title, you have to keep winning, I'm not talking about winning it yet.

In my opinion, there are several factors which cost us the 3 points.

Rafa is main culprit.
For the first time, I seriously felt that Rafa got it all wrong. Nobody knows what's on his mind and though he always emphasized on the fact on concentrating one game at a time, I believe he didn't. He has Marseille and Manchester United game in mind. Right from the start, for every Premier League game, you have to field your best team. It's 3 POINTS my dear boss. It's not any league cup game whereby you can field your weaker players to let them gain some first team experience.



Selection of players was a big mistake. Players like Jack Hobbs, John Arne Riise and the worst player of all, Momo Sissoko shouldn't be in the game. Did Rafa underestimated Reading? I guess so. He thinks that with his weaker players, he can win? I guess he's wrong. What formation did he play? 4-3-3? I don't think Liverpool suits that formation. Reading capitalised on that weakness in the 3 man midfield. Voronin and Crouch are strikers, they aren't wingers. How do you play 4-3-3 in this way? With Momo Sissoko doing nonsense in the middle, Jack Hobbs inexperience and John Arne Riise poor form, it's no wonder Liverpool lost.

So Rafa, please, field your best team for every game and stick to the winning formation. We were playing 4-4-2 so well with the wingers threatening opposition. We have great wingers like Harry Kewell, Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel. Why aren't you using them? Keep the players fit? Come on, to keep them fit and ending up sacrificing the 3 points, I do not take that.

Referee's blindness



Andre Marriner. What a stupid decision he made for the penalty which led to Reading's first goal! I do not care whether it's the linesman or Andre himself gave the ridiculous penalty, it's totally not a penalty. Tackle outside the box, penalty given. Sometimes, it gets so unbelievable to see such decisions given when it's so obvious.

Inconsistency in his decisions. I don't know who this man is, but all I know is his SMALL mistakes in refereeing cost us big time. You may argue, it's part of the game. Yes I agree. However, when crucial decisions in which a goal is concerned, it can totally change the game. Human error? If there's humans kept making mistakes, aren't we thinking of a solution? Technology. Everyone is using it. I do not know why FOOTBALL is not using it? Rugby is using it. It's such a rough sport yet it's fair. I truly believe video technology need to be introduced in the game before more and more teams are suffering from injustice and incredible decisions given against them.

Lady's Luck was not wearing Red
Simple as that. Liverpool lacked of luck last night. Hit the post twice and it just told me that it wasn't Liverpool day. Ref decisions was poor, caused the team to be frustrated and I could see from the players' faces that they had no idea what's going on. Wrong formation, a different style and somehow, the players seemed confused.

50-50 balls were always lost. We had at least 3 penalty calls, but all were not given, while Reading had a penalty when challenge was made outside of the box. Somehow, Liverpool was meant to lose this game. Sadly so, Lady's Luck was not smiling at Anfield.



The only goal scored was by Captain Steven Gerrard. Good teamwork with the team's best players. Torres chested the ball down from Reina's kick and was lay onto Steven Gerrard's path to slot it home. It looked so simple. Somehow, at that point of time, I thought Liverpool was able to bring the game into theirs and go on winning it. I do not know why, they played worse after that.

Rafa's job is not safe just yet. In football, things can change overnight. Though I always believe in him, he must realise the fact that how important are the 3 points. Somehow, I felt he just gave up last night and sacrificed the unbeaten run. I hate to see Liverpool conceding a goal, let alone 3. Reina would be disappointed not to keep a clean sheet.



I'm afraid Rafa's plan may backfire. Marseille game is a must win. What if they don't? Meeting League Champions Manchester United the following league game, will Liverpool beat them? We have to treat every game like a final. Win it.

The American bosses are watching and they are the ones who decide on Rafa's fate. Unfortunately, as Liverpool fans, we can't expect too much due to the fact that normally the disappointment would be bigger.

All I can do now is to wait and see..

You'll Never Walk Alone..

READING 1 LIVERPOOL 2

Team of the day..
Reina, Arbeloa, Hyypia, Carragher, Finnan, Gonzalez, Sissoko, Mascherano, Gerrard MBE (captain), Crouch, Bellamy.
Subs - Dudek, Kuyt, Pennant, Agger, Riise

Match Highlights..

Reading 1-2 Liverpool Goals
Uploaded by redhalfofmerseyside

Louis' Comments..

It wasn't the best performance by Liverpool and to be frank, I was getting frustrated times and times again during the game.

Both teams didn't really settled down in the first half and it was pretty messy at times. Liverpool didn't control the game and passing was poor especially the mifield and the attack. Reading was closing down really hard and fast on us and credit to them, they seems to show more hunger and determination on the field.

Even so, we managed to get in front. A quick counter-attack from a Reading corner and Arbeloa brought on the ball all the way from defence. A one-two with Crouch and he was away with a cool finish into the Reading's net. A good goal and that's the first goal for our January signing. He has done pretty well since coming here. Keep it going!



The match was boring and wasn't pretty. The ball seems to be hovered around the field and even though we had the lead, we didn't create much and I could sense that the team didn't really have the hunger to fight.

I was switching channels and I didn't realise the match started in the second half. By the time I switched over, Reading equalised. I didn't really notice what really happened, however, I believe Reading deserves the goal.

At that point, I could see that Liverpool had a slight change in their play. They showed a little more urgency and was passing the ball more often. Dirk Kuyt was brought in and he did play quite well upon coming in. As usual, his non-stop running and work rate was brilliant. Fortunately, his efforts were paid off.



Pennant dribbled down the right flank on the 86th minute and the substitute delivered a perfect cross for Kuyt to head it in the winner. Finally, Dirk Kuyt scores! It's been sometime since he celebrated a goal. He's been very wasteful in past matches and being a striker, I believe you must know how to put the ball into the net. I do hope this goal can boost his confidence.

I was quite disappointed with Mark Gonzalez's performance. He has not been playing well for us, at least for Liverpool's standards. No doubt, he has great pace which is an great asset. However, I believe such speed is nothing when you can't contribute much in the overall game. His dribbling, crossing and control were very disappointing. He also has the great tenancy to lose the ball.



He's been in England for quite some time and it's fair enough to say that he has sufficient time to adapt to English football, which apparently, he is not showing that. Rafa Benitez has always giving him chances and chances again and spent so much time signing for him. I truly believe that he needs to improve on his overall performance and play like a left winger.

Another player which disappoints me is Momo Sissoko. Everyone knows how poor his passing is. Last night's match was just one of the matches which proves that fact. He's a good player. His tackling, strength and presence in the mifield do help Liverpool. However, if you can't pass properly, you can't play football. His form recently isn't the best and you could see that he gives away silly fouls and loses possession easily as well. Yes, it's very frustrating to see him playing like this.

I do like him as a player. I like tackling, his strength and his long legs. However, if Momo continues to play like this, I'm afraid that he will not be playing as often as before. With Alonso and Mascherano playing so well together and Gerrard as well, it's highly competitive in the middle of the field.

It wasn't the best performance by Liverpool. Was lethargic and lazy on the ball. However, when a team is in good form, sometimes in football, when you are not playing well, we still can win. And we did.

Back to Anfield this coming Wednesday against PSV. We have to go into the semi-finals!

You'll Never Walk Alone..