Poor Form Continues..

Wigan 1 Liverpool 1
Mido pen 83 - Benayoun 41

Liverpool 1 Everton 1
Gerrard 54 - Lescott 27

FA Cup

It seems to me that Liverpool is losing it, or I should say our gaffer Rafa is losing it. It's just the same old story, once again.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

2 Massive Points Lost Again..

Liverpool 1 Everton 1
Gerrard 68 - Cahill 88

A Steven Gerrard's long range effort was not good enough to give Liverpool the 3 points which we needed so much. Tim Cahill, who loves scoring against Liverpool, did the trick again, by equalising 3 minutes from time.

Conceding late goals is always disappointing and this time round, the Anfield crowd was stunned by the late equaliser as many including myself would have thought, the solitary goal by Captain Stevie would be enough to get the 3 points. Unfortunately, we are now on level points with Manchester United but they have a game in hand.

Lots of hard work and improvement to be done for Rafa as the team is getting too many draws especially at home. 8 draws this season while 5 of them are at Anfield. This is something which we need to overcome and it is very important for us to get maximum points in every game.

Yes, nobody wins the title in January however, you can lose it. Such draws will cost us many points and eventually, the rest of the team will be closing down on us. Did Rafa talk too much? Did his rage at fellow Alex Ferguson come at the wrong timing?

I do hope that we should let our feet do the talking and make sure we are within pace with the leaders. It's time to buck up Reds, before it's too late.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Quick Update..

Stoke City 0 Liverpool 0

Frustrated once again, and it's gotta be tough days ahead. With so many teams closing down and cutting the lead, I guess it's just matter of time we will lose our leadership. Failure to score is equal to failure to win.

Preston 0 Liverpool 2
Riera 25, Torres 90

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

It's FanZone Time!

Just look at Newcastle fan when Gerrard scored the 4th goal for Liverpool!



You'll Never Walk Alone..

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You'll Never Walk Alone..

Riots In St James Park

Newcastle 1 Liverpool 5
Edgar 45 - Gerrard 31,66, Hyypia 36, Babel 49, Alonso 76(pen)

Just looking the scoreline, you could see why the Anfield faithfuls are celebrating being on top of the league at the end of year 2008. Of course, we would like to celebrate back in Anfied at May. Nevertheless, this has not been happening over the years. Leading the table by the end of Christmas. No matter what, it is still an massive improvement which is the most important in football. Keep improving and never be satisfied with current glory.

The 5-1 score saw Stevie G getting 2 goals, Sami Hyypia, Ryan Babel and Alonso with a penalty at the end. Rotated by Benitez, Lucas, Babel came into the team. Alonso, Riera and Keane were all left on the bench. It was no surprise to see Rafa rotated due to the fact that it was their 2nd game in 4 days.

With swift passing by the away side, it was inevitable chances were created. Without Shay Given, Newcastle would have needed a hole to hide. Given made some fantastic saves throughout the game, did everything he could as a goalkeeper. Unfortunately for the home side, defence and midifield failed to hold on to Liverpool's waves and waves of attacks.



Stevie G just love scoring against Newcastle, don't he? These 2 goals just increased his tally against them and several assists in the bag too. Sami Hyypia also joined in the fun by heading brilliantly from the Captain's corner.

Ryan Babel, who has been disappointing this season, also added the third goal. Disgusting goal and his celebration was as if he scored a Champions League final winner. Oh well, credits to him, he was there at the right there, and reacted the quickest to tap the ball in.



Xabi Alonso came in and scored the last goal from the penalty spot. This just sumed of both teams' day and the year. A emphatic win indeed and it's definitely nice to see the team creating chances and converting them. We have to keep it going, concentrate on our matches. As long as we win, we need not care what or how other teams perform.

Leaders at the start of 2009, let's see where we end.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

3 Points At Home, Finally

Liverpool 3 Bolton 0
Riera 26, Keane 52, 58

Boxing day matches always proved to be crucial over the years and it's nice to see Liverpool getting the win at Anfield which they have been working on for the last few weeks. 5 draws in the last few meetings have frustrates the Anfield faithfuls. 2 goals from under-fire Robbie Keane and Spanish winger Albert Riera.

All of us were wondering whether Fernando Torres and of course, our manager, Rafa Benitez will be back for this game. Their absence has been sorely missed by all and it just pleased me seeing both up in the stands at Anfield. This shows that both are getting fit and will be back to where they should be.

Fernando Torres

Here's Rafa in all smiles!

Back to the game, like for all matches, we have to breakdown the Great Wall built by opposition who comes to Anfield. Failing to score will naturally lead to a loss or a 2 points dropped. That's why we have been drawing too much home games, we just couldn't break down the defence. Fortunately, Liverpool patience passing and width across the pitch paid dividends.



Albert Riera was the first to the ball from a Steven Gerrard's corner and toe-poked into the net. Third goal for his first season and what a signing he has been. He was menacing on the left wing, gave Bolton defenders hell of a time with his twists and turns.

Once deadlock was broken, somehow there was relief around, knowing that Bolton would have to attack, the game would open up and the home side will have more space and attack. On the 52th minute, a brilliant through pass by Stevie was well finished by Robbie Kean with his left foot. You could see the difference of Robbie after his stunner at the Emirates.



6 minutes later, this goal just proved that we do can play counter-attacking football. A corner for Bolton was well caught by Pepe Reina. A quick throw to Xabi Alonso and you could see the whole red sea was going forward. Right to Benayoun who unselfishly squared to Robbie Keane finished his second goal of the evening.

3 goals, 3 points. Top of the league. With Chelsea and Manchester United both winning, we have to make sure we remains on top. Better performance, better attacking styles, better football. We got to keep it going, St James' Park up next.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Points Shared At Emirates

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 1
VanPersie 24 - Keane 43

Normally, a point at the Emirates is a good result. However, looking at last night's circumstances and performance, I do feel disappointed that we didn't take maximum points at Arsene Wenger's backyard. With Sammy Lee standing in for Rafa, somehow, I could feel that something is missing. Rafa's presence is very important and even more especially in such a close and competitive match.

Still, the match has to go on and in just 24 minutes in the game, Robin VanPersie, had a moment of brilliance. Chested down the ball and struck an unstoppable shot past Pepe Reina. Bullet as it seemed, it was breathtaking.

Credit to Liverpool, we kept cool and maintained the shape of the team. We continued to press on and just before half time, a high ball by Daniel Agger met beautifully onto Keane's path, who didn't make any mistake with a half volley into the net. Brilliant strike! Somehow, we managed to get the equaliser which shocked the home team a while. We almost get the second just before half time, with Stevie missing a glorious chance.

I thought we could go on and get the second goal. But unfortunately, despite Arsenal having a man down, we didn't attack. Or I should say, our attacks were slow. No penetration and predictable in our plays. Was frustrated watching the players playing so cautiously instead of attacking, making use of the numerical advantage. I do not know why, is it because of Rafa's absence? Or the players were satisfied with a point?

Looking at this result, we have dropped so many points. Manchester United and Chelsea will be smiling seeing both Liverpool and Arsenal drawing. Just on our performance, you could see that we are not there yet, sadly so. It's just matter of time we would lose our leadership and end up chasing the rest.

Looks like we fans have to wait a little longer..

You'll Never Walk Alone..

2 Points Dropped... Again!

Liverpool 2 Hull City 2
Gerrard 24, 32 - McShane 12, Carragher (og)22

Once again, a disappointing draw at Anfield. What else can I say? Frustrated and many are scratching their heads, thinking whether Liverpool are title challengers material. 3rd or 4th draw at home? I don't know, I lost count. All I know all these draws are points being dropped dearly, which I pray hard, do not come back haunting right at the end.

This time, it's Hull City. Phil Brown's side came with confidence, knowing the fact that they have beaten Arsenal and Tottenham at their backyards. To become title contenders, we don't care who comes to visit us, we just have to grab maximum points. Strangely, our home form ain't that consistent as expected.

Hull got 2 goals early. Credit to Paul McShane's lopping header and our Jamie Carragher's own goal. It's ridiculous to see Carragher scoring an own goal again, under that kind of circumstances. With no one pressuring him, he just turned the cross into his own net. I simply don't understand what was going on with him. As far I'm concerned, this is definitely not the first time seeing him scoring such stupid own goals.

As always this season, we will never throw in the towel just yet. Credits to the players, they did continue to pressure and kept fighting. Captain Stevie, who else? Scoring both goals, bringing the game into equality within 10 minutes. I didn't celebrate for both goals which I normally will do. I'm probably still upset with the fact we conceded 2 early goals which made our life so difficult at the end. We seems to love to play the hard way.

Second half didn't give us any winners. We failed to score the third goal and we sorely missed Fernando Torres. There were chances created but were mostly failed at the final third or ball which I felt Torres would make a difference. Credits to Hull, they defended well and was resilent.

Another 2 points dropped, once again. Somehow, the other teams drew too. Lady luck is around the corner but I'm sure we will run out of it. We have to play better and get the right results. With just a point ahead, it is still everyone's game.

Up next, Emirates.

Goals



In other news..

As I'm typing this entry, the latest news have just shown that Paul Ince, our ex-Liverpool player has been sacked as manager of Blackburn Rovers. Sad to see him being sacked so early in his mangerial career. Yes, results are bad, but somehow, it's seems like a trend of sacking managers. Unfortunately, he was not given much time and patience ran out at Blackburn. All the best, Paul Ince!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Top of Group!

PSV 1 Liverpool 3
Lazovic 37 - Babel 45, Riera 69, Ngog 78

It was not telecast live over here in Singapore, therefore I could only watch the highlights over the internet. Good goals by Babel, Riera and Ngog were enough for us to secure the top spot and this would mean that second leg of the next knock out round will be at Anfield. This is very important especially in a 2-legged knockout phase.

It's nice to see us winning even we did not field the best team, able to rest some key players and this is a big squad should be all about. Squad depth is essential especially for a long seasons with so many matches to play for.

Let's look forward who we draw next. :)

Match Highlights

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Critical Win At Ewood Park

Blackburn 1 Liverpool 3
SantaCruz 86 - Alonso 70, Benayoun 79, Gerrard 90
AR Match of the Match: Alonso

After 2 matches of home draws, Liverpool fans including myself are frustrated that we dropped 4 points in 2 games which we could have totally taken 6 instead. Leading on the top of table with just 1 point, it's very important for us to keep winning no matter what, as we know Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal would be just right behind us.

A line-up which saw Insua, Babel and Mascherano back. Dirk Kuyt was playing lone-striker, with Gerrard just playing behind. Blackburn was fast in closing down and they were fighting their lives out. Once a Liverpool player has the ball, they came flying in, without giving any chance of a second touch. The first half saw us with plenty of the ball but there were no width and penetration in our final third.

The second half was better and you could see Liverpool pressing really hard to get the most important goal of the game. Steven Gerrard was being man-marked all the time and credits to him, he managed to get rid of them, played really well in the middle. Left back, Insua had a decent game and it seemed that he could be another option for Rafa.



We got our rewards in the 70 minute. This time, Xabi Alonso scored with a brilliant pass into the goal. Placement as it seemed, you could see how intelligent Xabi is, giving Paul Robinson no chance at all.



9 minutes later, we got our second goal of the game through Yossi Benayoun. The Israel captain was showing that he could feature in Rafa's plans with a nice dribble past former Liverpool player, Stephen Warnock and finished it off in style.

Blackburn gave a scare with a goal back by Santa Cruz. Poor defending and concentration showed by the defence and there was no wonder Pepe Reina was furious concededing the goal. Rafa's men managed to held on, kept the ball and Stevie G added one more at the end, killing off any hopes of comeback from Paul Ince's men.

With the rest of the Big 4 winning, we have to keep up the pace and concentrate on the staying on top. Consistency is the key if we wishes to challenge for the title. On the other note, I do hope Blackburn would give Paul Ince more time to prove himself. I do hope to see our ex Liverpool player doing well in his managerial career, but of course, not against us.

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Fernando Torres vs Hank

Want to see our number 9 against the Hank? Take a look!



Looks like Torres is having fun!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Quick Update of Last 2 Matches

Liverpool 0 West Ham 0

A disappointing result and we lost a great chance going 3 points clear on top of the table. Failure to score, take chances and hence, frustration builds in more while the West Ham defence gained confidence in defence. There was no penetration towards goal and it couldn't help but feeling the pain of losing the chance of able to pounce on the loss of Chelsea against Arsenal. Nevertheless, like our King Kenny has said, let's just enjoy being on top.

Liverpool 1 Marseille 0
Gerrard 23

A Steven Gerrard header was good enough to settle for 3 points which led Liverpool to qualify for the last 16. Not the best and convincing performance but the result was the most important. 3 points in the bag, with one more game to go. The last game will then determine who will lead the group.

Goal

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Gerrard Clay The Pigeon!

Saw this on Adidas. You gotta see how our Captain strikes the ball! Brilliant!



Play With More Power..

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Fulham Frustrates Reds At Anfield

Liverpool 0 Fulham 0
AR Man of the Match: Torres

A must win game at home against highly determined Fulham turned out to be a disappointing and frustrating draw. With Captain Steven Gerrard out due to injury, Rafa has somehow decided to play Lucas with Mascherano in the middle, leaving Alonso on the bench. I'm sure many Liverpool fans like myself are wondering why is Xabi not playing.

With no play makers in the team, it's not surprising to see that Liverpool didn't dominate the game which they should have. Lucas and Mascherano are both defensive minded players while Fernando Torres was working very hard alone to get the goal which the home side needed desperately.

Robbie Keane had a glorious chance to give us the lead, but somehow, his finishing were questionable at times. I just felt that we couldn't afford to miss chances when there is one coming. That miss proved so crucial which saw Liverpool losing 2 points instead of gaining one.

The only positive thing we can think of from this result is probably both Chelsea and Manchester United were held to goalless draws too. This weekend results just remained as it is at the top. Level on points with Chelsea which everyone felt that we could have taken over the pole position should we got the 3 points.

Gutted of not able to take maximum points, we have to move on to the next match and this time, we need to do that.

Highlights

You'll Never Walk Alone..

2 Headers Gave Reds Win

Bolton 0 Liverpool 2
Kuyt 28, Gerrard 73
AR Match of the Match: Alonso

Oh well, when there's a photo of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres celebrating together, I just couldn't help uploading. Oh yes, back to main topic. Away at the Reebok stadium, a 2-0 win is always good enough. 2 headers from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard gave the away side 3 points.

With Arbeloa suspended with 5 yellows cards, Carragher was switched to right back while Sami Hyypia was in the centre of defence with Daniel Agger. The centre back pairing had a horrendous performance in midweek's League Cup clash. Fortunately, for this game, they managed to keep a clean sheet.



As expected, Liverpool dominating the game with master midfielder Alonso spraying passes around. In 28th minute, once again, Flying Dutchman Dirk Kuyt scoring a brilliant header from Aurelio cross. A curling cross from the Brazilian left-back was well-executed by Kuyt's stunning head. He's been red hot form for Rafa and keeping the right midfield slot exclusively.

Chances came flooding with Robbie Keane missing the first. Somehow, it worried a little due to the fact that we couldn't score the second goal to kill off the game. Bolton came out attacking in the second half and gave Pepe Reina a few scares. Liverpool fans were reminded of the same situation not long ago against Spurs, in which we had a lead and we couldn't find the second goal. We lost the game in the end.



Torres came in and his pace upfront was threatening to Bolton's defenders. Without any doubt and luckily for us, his cross was headed in by Captain Steven Gerrard, scoring the second goal we desperately needed. We just love to see both of them celebrating isn't it? :)

With 2 goals cushion, it killed Bolton of any hopes in the game. We had many chances from Torres and Lucas to get the third, but luckily, at that time, we could afford to miss chances. 3 points in the bag.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Awful Defending Ends Carling Cup Run

Tottenham 4 Liverpool 2
Pavlyuchenko 38, 53, Campbell 42, 45 - Plessis 49, Hyypia 63

Conceding 3 goals within 6 minutes? It's probably something we seldom see in Rafa Benitez's team. Defending was woeful which allowed Tottenham to end Liverpool's Carling Cup run early. Defenders which include Dossena, Degen, Hyypia and Agger, were terribly poor in almost everything. Marking, positioning and heading first ball upon crosses.

We didn't threaten the goal in the first 45 minutes at all and we were already 3 goals down at half-time. The first attack got us a goal right after half time with Plessis scoring a header from a Babel's corner. When there was a little hope of a comeback, our defence went AWOL again and conceded another.

Failing to defend properly and losing control in mifield were just sucide in any football matches. Liverpool were just a perfect example of it. Despite Hyypia adding another header to make the scores look less thrashing, it's just somehow tells me that it's a game for players to prove themselves and improve their fitness.

It's always feels bad to lose a game, but well, it's only Carling Cup! I remember Rafa saying this phrase few years back when he was criticised of losing out in this cup tournament too. "I didn't come to England to win the Carling Cup!"

Bolton up next!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Summary of Last Week Matches

Just a quick summary on each of the games played last week. Starting from the latest.

8 Nov'08

Liverpool 3 WBA 0
Keane 34, 43 Arbeloa 90

A double from Robbie Keane and rare goal from Arbeloa gave Liverpool a comfortable win at Anfield. I did not managed to get to watch the match myself but watching the highlights showed that the home side controlled the match and it's a good to win after suffering its first defeat against Spurs last weekend.

Goals

4 Nov'08

Liverpool 1 Atletico Madrid 1
Gerrard 90 - Maxi Rodriguez 38

Liverpool had a late lucky penalty against the Spanish side. Steven Gerrard got the penalty practically on the last minute of the game while Atletico Madrid was denied a victory at Anfield. Liverpool didn't play that well, but nevertheless, it's an important point and Stevie is the one who scored the deciding penalty, once again.

Goals

1 Nov'08

Tottenham 2 Liverpool 1
Carragher (og) 68, Pavlyuchenko 90 - Kuyt 3

The first defeat in the league which I felt pretty unjust and left wondering on how earth we manage to lose after dominating. Dirk Kuyt's early strike was brilliant. For long periods of the game, we threatened the goal and hit the post twice. I guess we need some luck for that. We lost control of the game and somehow, Carragher's own goal changed the complex of the game. These things happen in football, Harry Redknapp's men got the late winner right at the end unfortunately.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Busy Schedule!

Sincere apologises for the lack of updates. I've been busy recently and will continue to be in the upcoming weeks or even months. I will update matches when opportunity arises.

Recent form dropped a little against Spurs and Athletico Madrid. But on the whole, results are pretty okay. We need to keep holding on and produce results week in week out. *Fingers crossed*
Come on Rafa and Co!

You'll Never Walk Alone..

Gerrard's Penalty Enough For 3 Points

Liverpool 1 Portsmouth 0
Gerrard pen 75

Match was not telecast over here in Singapore. A Steven Gerrard's penalty was good enough for Liverpool to get the 3 valuable points. Gotta keep getting results even if the team is not playing well. White Hart Lane is next.

Goals

You'll Never Walk Alone..