A day that will never be forgotton by all Reds - April 15th.

Nothing brings people closer than a celebration or a tragedy. We celebrated league titles on open top buses through the city centre of Liverpool, and of course who can forget that chairman Mao speech by Bill Shankly after we LOST to Arsenal in the FA Cup.  And in recent times, note how scores of Liverpool fans celebrated with one another after the unforgettable 5^th European Cup win which enabled us to keep the cup, FOR GOOD!

One thing that bring more people across the globe together, is not the trophies we won, it’s not records we hold, it’s not great players we had/ have, although we cherish those, in my view, the one thing that Liverpool fans have over fans of all other clubs is a bond; a bond that started on one fateful day, 21 years ago, in Sheffield. Hillsborough is the home ground for Sheffield Wednesday and they were hosting the FA Cup semi final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The game was just 7 minutes old when a stampede at the Lepping Lanes End, caused by crowd mismanagement by the police, resulted in the match being abandoned, and 96 of our fellow fans, our brothers and sisters and uncles and aunties if you like, all Liverpool fans, gave their lives for supporting the team they have come to love and be passionate about. Yes, I am talking about Hillsborough tragedy, and it is my belief that this has brought the fans closer, especially in dealing with bad times or when the team is not doing well because what could be worse than going to watch a football match and returning in a body bag?

Having experienced that first hand, just last week, when I lost a dear aunt to cancer, I understand how the tragedy has brought the club closer, as an entity, how it has brought the fans closer, and how the club recognized the role this tragedy has in the history of our club, to the point that the eternal flames were added to the club badge. Just as how my aunt’s passing made me reflect on things I usually don’t think about and how it brought our family closer together, is how Hillsborough gives us that bond, as fans all over the world come together as one to support the club, and now today, in paying respects and mourning the 96.

Today, marks the 21^st anniversary of the tragedy and today should be the day we put aside our petty differences, our disappointments of this season, over the chase for 4^th place, over the opinion we have over our players, the manager or owners (this might be a very big ask), and remember the 96 instead.

In times like this, where everyone, especially the newer, younger fans are obsessed with supporting the fancier clubs, or the club whose strip looks nicer, or who’s on top and how we are struggling to finish 4^th, perhaps should put all that aside, at least for a couple of days, and reflect on the 96. Think of what we would do if we made that journey to Anfield, and stand in front of the Hillsborough memorial. I know what I’d do, I would put a MyRAWK T Shirt on it, and tell them that they will never walk alone, for they are our brothers and sisters, and they will forever be in our hearts. And they should be, for they are part of the history, the proud history of Liverpool Football Club.

In this day and age where so many so-called fans don’t bother learning the history of their club and some even change clubs like how they change clothes, it is important for the true supporters to instill this in our younger fans, to tell them that, Liverpool Football Club is more than the 18 league titles, 5 European Cups, 7 FA Cups, 7 League Cups, 3 UEFA Cups and 15 Charity Shield wins. Yes, we should cherish these victorious moments, moments that made supporting the club proud. It is for this same moments that drew passion from the fans and supporters, which resulted in them taking the short 63 mile trip across town to Sheffield for the match against Nottingham Forest. I am not blaming the success of the club that caused the tragedy, but that this is part of the club’s history that we should all know, embrace and understand; that Liverpool FC is not just about winning, it’s THE people’s club, no matter how much the Tesco Club down the road keep telling us that they are the people’s club. We are the ones who display the mosaics on Truth Day, where the Kop was singing nonstop for 6 minutes right after kick off, to show the world that despite whatever reported by The S*N, the 96 were the real victims of the tragedy.

Speaking about The S*N, for those who are not in the know, immediately after the tragedy, they published news reports that spread lies about the tragedy, accusing Liverpool fans of not respecting the dead, doing many despicable acts to fellow fans who were lying on the ground, dead or injured. Till today, many fans still don’t read that piece of printed processed tree bark, and I make it a point to ignore all news from the same source on the net and articles taken from it that are published in our very own The St*r. I would urge all fans to learn about the lies spread by The S*N and how the government of the day  generally laid blame on the fans despite many coming out to admit that they should take the blame for their role in the tragedy. Recently, there are more reports about Scotland Yard coming out and apologizing to the families of victims and confess their mistake in failure to control the crowd as well as using wrong tactics / method for crowd control, resulting in the tragedy.

I am not asking you to become an extremist, or hate a certain people or group because of it, but because of the importance of this event to our history, to perhaps learn a bit more about it and remember that apart from the success, there are things like this that keep our feet on the ground. Also, during times like this, we could put aside how we feel about the team, the performance, the criticism of certain players, the questionable tactics by the manager, the squabbling owners, the finances and other things about the team that we care about, because 15^th April of every year, the focus should shift from the team, to the people who made the team who and what they are, the supporters.

Justice for the 96!

You’ll Never Walk Alone

Jonno ®

We’re doomed, we’re screwed, we’ve lost more games than last season, Rafa has to go, he doesn’t know what’s he doing, zonal marking is stupid, he rotates, he’s a fat Spanish waiter, Liverpool’s season is OVER etc etc…

These would be the headlines everyone sees when they open up the newspaper, any football website or any sporting website for that matter, it’ll be worst if you read news online or have them send directly to your mailbox, I bet you’ll dread opening your mailbox in the morning. The thing is we have played unacceptably poor in the past few games, maybe the whole of the season thus far, but to write off the season in October and only after 10 games in the league and 3 games in the Champions league, is laughable, stupid even. Especially if you arrive at those conclusion AFTER reading what was written in the UK press. It is well known that the press has an agenda with LFC, and generally practice lazy journalism that simply points their finger at something in order to SELL their papers, rather than offer a genuine thoughts and analysis. I will not offer the stats and related things that the journos got wrong, Paul Tomkins does that very well and I don’t want to undermine him by offering the same thing.

However, I DO have a problem with fans who believe the crap thrown at them by the press and start to believe them. It is a well known fact that Liverpool fans are generally the most knowledgeable fans in the land, whether they are OOTs (Out Of Towners) or OOCs (Out Of Country), to believe whatever the press write and demand for the manager to be sacked after 10 games in what supposed to be a the season he finally delivers is not only laughable, it also show that these fans have no football knowledge and most importantly, DO NOT understand the tradition of LFC! We don’t just sack managers, honestly, the last one was probably Graeme Souness, and that was probably “by mutual consent”.

The point I am trying to make here is, yes we have been playing poorly, and yes the result is extremely frustrating, but the big question is, is THIS the time for us to question the manager? The Team? Or this is the time we get back behind them, giving them our full support, just like how the lyrics of our proud anthem, telling the team that we are not abandoning them, that we are in this together, that we are gonna get through this, because at the end of the storm, there’s a golden sky?

I fully understand the criticism of the manager thus far, the performance, the over reliance on Gerrard – Torres axis, the sale of Alonso, the persistence on Lucas, the refusal to use potential young players that has proved themselves in the reserves, the persistent on zonal marking and a lot more. My first reaction to all these would be, “do you seriously think so, or because you read that he is a bad manager by doing all these?” If it’s the former, I would be happy to sit down and discuss, analyse and argue even on these points and why he is right and how we should put our faith behind him, but there’s a feeling that more and more fall into the category of latter, thus tarnishing the good name of fans of Liverpool, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I am a better fan because I thought of this and that, but don’t you think you should have an opinion of yourself? As the jumping on bandwagon, buying media crap is the hallmark of fans of another team that plays in red, better known as glory hunter. We know that they have at least 3 different club strips in the wardrobe, sometimes in the car, just in case they need to quickly change so that they can fit into the crowd of “winners”.

The thing is that, yes a run of 4 straight defeats would not go down well, the last time it happened was in 1987, 22 years ago, yes, it doesn’t happen to Liverpool football club a lot, but things like this do happen, if we are to turn our back because of a runs of 5 defeats when the team needs us the most, are we still fit to call ourselves fans? Or we are no different to the bandwagon jumpers, the glory hunters that we so happily call fans of other teams?

The display is bad, but expected, especially after the sale of 2 vital members of the first team, Alonso and Arbeloa, many would comment that Arbeloa has been sufficiently replaced with Johnson, but Alonso’s void has not been filled, with Aquilani still out with injury. Some even blame Rafa for selling Alonso, or how he wanted to offload him last season, causing Alonso to want to leave. The thing is this, while Alonso had arguably his best season in a red shirt last season, the 3 seasons before that, he was average at best, unable to live up to his high standard of the first season where he took the league by storm, ripping the opponents apart, collecting accolades after accolades, with everyone lavishing praise on his display.

However, after that first season, Alonso’s form fluctuated between average and above average at best, and yet Rafa showed faith in him, by keep playing him, hoping that he would find his form, we know how that ended, for 3 seasons, Alonso was searching for his form and could not find it, prompting Rafa to want to cut his losses and offload him to another team, and replace him with Barry, a player that is showing good form and could play in the similar role. The move, as we know it, collapsed and Alonso remained a Liverpool player and played a blinder of a season, but that did not deter him from wanting to leave.

That gave the club no choice but to get the best price for him and replace him with a player that would see the playing style of Liverpool have a total overhaul and hopefully bring us number 19, Alberto Aquilani, much has been said about buying an injured player, but for a manager to have such faith in forking out a big sum for an injured player, he must be worth the money, however, in the mean time, the position in the team must be filled by another player, this time the unfortunate Lucas.

Many has been said about Lucas as a player, why he was played and not someone that has a similar style to Alonso, someone like Damien Plesis? A good passer of the ball, and someone who could slow the tempo down, but the thing is, do we WANT to slow the tempo down? Don’t forget, Aquilani is a running type player, so is Lucas, although not like for like, but similar in style that the rest of the team would have time to adjust to the change in playing style, thus make is much easier when Aquilani, a far superior player to Lucas come in and fit in to the team straight away. I do think that when Aquilani comes in, we will see a very different display from the team, thus far, the team is trying to make do and get the best possible from the games until we have our strongest 11.

On top of that, Rafa, who spends everyday at Melwood with the players would be able to see clearer than any of us on the potential ability of the player. And I do think by jumping on the player’s back everytime he makes a mistake is not going to help him with his confidence, rather, we should be encouraging him and ease him with the “Liverpool way” that we are so proud of. Remember Igor Biscan anyone?

Another thing that is said about Rafa is his refusal to make changes, often waiting until the 60^th minute before making any sort of change, on this, I’d like to ask, if you’re the player, would you like the manager to show faith in you for at least 60 minutes or one that would take you out when you misplace a couple of passes? It’s not an easy thing being a manager, it’s always being caught in a “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” situation. Often the 60^th minute is the time where the opposition would have a change in tactics, whether to press on or retreat in protecting what they have. Especially when they are leading, this would be the time they slow the game down and try to protect the lead. Yes, many also lament that why Rafa doesn’t go for broke like Ferguson in throwing everything we have in chasing the equalizer and subsequently the winner? My thought would be that we have a certain system of play, and this system of play has seen us breach their defence a few times but for bad finishing or good goalkeeping or pure hard luck. If the system is working, why change it? Rafa did change the system when needed, last season when we needed a win, chasing the game against Wigan, Rafa made wholesale changes which had the team effectively playing in a 4 – 2 – 4 formation, it worked then, but it would not always work, with players more than often running into each other, rather, why not change one or two players that hopefully expose certain weakness the other team has been showing while probing the same way? I am not sure of it, I am an armchair manager while Rafa gets paid thousands of pounds a week to do what he does best.

The thing that irks me the most is calling for Rafa’s head, not only that shows gross disrespect to the manager, it would throw the season off, to change a manager, the playing style would change, the players would have to change, unless one is ready to write the season off, (which after 9 premier league games and 3 CL games, borders on insane and ridiculous) the topic should not even come up at all, if one is to question Rafa’s employment with the club, it should be when there is no mathematical chance of winning anything, then perhaps a new manager could be brought in to shape the team, study what is needed before making the changes in the summer. As far as I see it, there’s still 28 games and 84 points to play, with our current 15 points, we could drop 10 points from the 84 and ended up with more points than last season and perhaps win the league. It is a possibility, yes, you can laugh at me all you want, but if we are not having faith (may it be blind faith) at this point of time, we might as well stop watching the team play and pick another sport to watch, after all, the season is only 9 games old, there’s a lot of football to be played, there’s still the African Nations Cup which will effect Chelsea’s title run in, and the Mancs is much weaker than last season, they will no doubt hit a bad patch, and Arsenal, hit and miss thus far this season. On top of that, teams like Spurs, Villa, Man City or even Sunderland would be taking points off the so called big four and make it more interesting again.

All it needs is a good run a few wins together, and we shall be in it again, of course, by then, the media will be hailing the “recovery prowess” of Liverpool in hauling themselves into the league contention again, me I am simple, I just throw my support behind the team and ignored what the media says about our beloved team, after all, it is them who said that there’s “no way a team win after being 3 goals down against the best team in the world (arguably) at half time”, we all know how that ended, it is not even half time yet and we are no where near 3 nil down at the moment, so what say you?

Get behind the team in sing the loudest and chant the loudest? I know I would…

Jonno®

Fernando Torres reels away in celebration after scoring the opener. Photo © Clive Mason/Getty Images

What a night!

Suddenly we’re back in the hunt, with “only” 4 points behind the Mancs, and Chelsea, who’s sitting pretty on top, were totally ignored, how a result can change one’s perception?

Not one week ago, we were doomed, with absolutely no chance in hell to be anywhere with a sniff of the title. However, with an emphatic win over the fiercest rival, everyone’s tune suddenly changed to one that hails Rafa as the master who tamed Fergie, 3 times in a row, in the last 3 time we met, when he was said to be on the verge of being dismissed as the manager of the club, and with everyone with a passing interest in the game offering their “expert opinion” on why Rafa is not suitable for the English Game, but with a win over the Mancs, we’re suddenly on the top of the world again? How a week can change things in football and how a win can change perception of these people faster than you say “you’ll never walk alone”.

Much has been said about the win, and much has been written about the win, and much analysis and rant has been said about the win, including one inaccurate rant by Fergie in claiming that the referee was biased towards Liverpool, which was a statement made without engaging his brain to say the least. If he thinks he can just shoots his mouth off after a lost where his own team were showing none of the urgency of a team with aspirations to in a match of such magnitude.

Perhaps Fergie bought into the media stories published throughout the week about how doomed our season was and how we are a 2 man team, without Gerrard and Torres, we would struggle and have no idea how to play. Obviously he did not take into account that we ALWAYS raise our game against them and this time, Nando even took a pain killing injection before playing, which justified the risk of playing him when he opened scoring, while running Vidic ragged all match.

With this win, it would obviously do our confidence a world of good, as many would’ve noticed, that we did not turn into a bad team overnight, just a little short on confidence, which caused the slump of a run with 4 straight defeats. Rafa would never allow that to extend to 5 matches and everyone raised their game that day.

From Agger who stop one stack before starting another by bringing the ball out of defence to Kuyt who was involved with everything we throw at them to Benayoun who are coming into age lately, turning into a vital first team player from a fringe player who was on the verge of being offloaded. Perhaps Babel could learn a thing or two from Benayoun, in letting his football do all the talking rather than rapping.

So where does this win puts us? From a side with no hope of being near to number 19 to the title favourites? NOT A CHANCE, it merely puts us 3 points higher than the week before, while stopping the Mancs from taking the points, at the same time, showing the rest of the premier league on how to beat the Mancs or at least how to make them sweat by exposing Vidic’s weakness in dealing with pace, or how Ferdinand is a shadow of his former self, perhaps this is one of the best times to be playing them, before they somehow pulled themselves together and grind out results again.

Those who knows me well would know that while I enjoyed this win, especially after such a slump, but it is the games against the smaller teams that we have to be careful of, with the game against Fulham to come, we cannot afford to let the momentum to slip as this would be the best chance to start a run of victories which would put us closer to the pacesetters and eventually capitalize when they slip up, which they will.

So, perhaps it is time to stop celebrating and start planning on the next match which is against Fulham, a very good team, with a shrewd manager in Roy Hodgson in charge, bringing the best in many of the previously underperforming Fulham players.

Make no mistake, this game is just as important as the one against Man U, if not more important, as this comes after a big win against the fiercest rival and 3 points is a paramount, anything less than that would be disaster for us.

For that, MyRAWK would be watching the Fulham game with the boys at George And The Dragon this weekend, and I hope to see each and everyone of you there, after all, if everyone goes into hiding after a run of losses (which no one should in the first place, whatever happens, we should wear the red shirt with pride), then we should come out in numbers in pushing the team through, willing the team on, leading and following the team in turning that corner and hopefully ultimately, celebrate with the team on the success that we all crave for, number 19.

Do drop by and say hi if you have yet to plan on where to watch the game as nothing beats watching the game with a bunch of hardcore reds who wants nothing but a win in every game. So, let’s stop celebrating and look forward to the next game against Fulham, maybe let’s celebrate a little more and then meet up for the Fulham match at George And The Dragon… See you there!

- Jonno -

* MyRAWK Gathering: Fulham vs Liverpool, Saturday 31st Oct. @ The George And Dragon, Bangsar Shopping Centre from 10pm onwards. Are YOU Red Enough? *

Fernando Torres, Liverpool's one-man team? Photo © BBC.co.uk

That is if you believe what you read in the papers, with most of the UK journalists adopt the lazy journalism attitude of grouping one thing with others, it is easy to see that this was not as straight forward match as it seemed, nor it was Torres who single handedly won us the match, although he had a big big say in the outcome, but Liverpool is more than a one man team, with a lot of other players pulling their weight in this match.

Boleyn Park (yes, that is the REAL name of West Ham’s home ground, Upton Park is just the commonly known name) is never an easy place to come and play. With the hammers blowing bubbles around the ground and the teams looking to play good football which can only mean entertaining game we would have at our hands. After the week that was, it’s easy to think that a corner has turned and this would be another 3 points in the bag by just turning up.

How wrong it was when reds around the world had their hearts in the mouth just after 4 minutes when the impressive Hines dispossessed Carra to go one on one with Reina, luckily for us, Hines’ brilliant shot came off the post somehow and into the hands of Reina. A warning of things to come surely. That stunned the reds into action by slowing exerting their influence in the game by slowly getting the possession and spread play while probing for opening. Zola did a good job by putting Hines on the left hand side thus nullifying out threat from Johnson and pinned Johnson back with his attacking play.

However, it was our very own left back, Insua who made the breakthrough, he won the ball near the centre circle, just what is a left back doing there is anyone’s guess, and plays in to Torres who took the ball in his stride, dropped a shoulder and ran towards the goal, faced with Tomkins, Torres feigned a few steps before sped pass him and toe poked the ball pass Robert Green for a brilliant individual goal. That was a goal out of nothing from our number 9. Just as we thought it would ease the team and settle some nerves, the Hammers soon draw level. It’s that man Hines again, who took on Carra in the penalty box, although Carra did force him wide, but his body check sent Hines sprawling in the penalty box, prompting the referee to point to the spot. After watching the reply, there was an element of dive there, but Carra shouldn’t really be complaining as the threat from Hines should’ve been dealt with early on rather than in the penalty box. Up stepped Diamanti to scuff home the penalty and ruin Reina’s hopes of marking his 150th league appearance for the club with a shut-out. The match day team kept replaying the penalty kick as apparently Diamanti’s standing foot made contact with the ball before putting it in the net which should’ve been a free kick to Liverpool, this was missed by the referee and all of the others but the commentary team, thus making it a non issue.

Normally, the goal would’ve knocked the stuffings out of the Reds, but not this team, the team kept their head down and keep plughing for an opening with some good interchange that stretched the hammers. The second goal did arrive courtesy of Kuyt’s outstretch foot off a Gerrard header from a right wing corner. Surely we would go into the break with a goal up to regroup and come out to kill the game off. Carton Cole had other ideas when he outjumped both Carra and Skrtel to head home their 2nd equalizer to spark wild celebrations amongst the Hammers when both teams go into the break level with 2 goals a piece.

Both teams came out more cautiously in the 2nd half, careful not hand initiative to the opposition. Chances were few and far between with both teams more keen to prob and draw the other out of their position. Benayoun went on one mazy run that was reminiscent of Diego Maradona’s 1986 goal against England but could not find the space to get the shot off and eventually was dispossessed.

As if right on cue, Rafa took off Kuyt for Babel in the 60th minute to give the Dutch youngster some game time and yet another opportunity to prove his worth. Babel’s introduction injected much needed pace into Liverpool’s attack with his direct running and pace. It was one such move where Glen Johnson’s shot was charged down and passed to Babel on the right who sent in a beautifully weighted cross for El Nino to attack and put us up for the 3rd time in the match. The away support was still bouncing when the Hammers, determined to come back for the 3rd time almost breached the Red’s defence before Reina again pulled off some world class saves to keep us in the match.

Aurelio got some game time to add into his rehabilitation and work towards match fitness, he’d have a battle in his hands with the ever improving Insua who showed maturity beyond his years when given the opportunity to show us what he’s made off.

The Reds then slowed the pace down to close out the game in a professional manner to see out our 4th victory of the season to go to 3rd in the league table.

Post match analysis:

The reason we are conceding so many goals is that the 2 DMs are playing much further up the field, with 2 runners in Lucas and Mascherano, as compared to a runner in Mascherano and a “sitter” in Alonso who’d mope up should the players got pass Mascherano in a formation that was essentially 4 – 1 – 1 – 2 – 1 – 1 ( if you understand that). I am not saying that Alonso’s departure would cause our downfall, but with the team so used to getting protection from him, it will take a while before the team would get used to the new way of playing, with the defence playing a little higher than normal. My guess would be that with Agger’s return, he’s slowly blood into the side to be paired with Skrtel with Carra perhaps being rotated to give the team much needed freshness come the business end. With Aquilani to come in and the team slowly click inot gear, we have to take full advantage before facing up to Chelsea away on 4th of October and the Mancs at home about 5 weeks from now.

Whatever it is, the season is only 6 matches old, there’s still 32 matches and 96 points to play for. Logic would tell us that we could afford to drop 10 points and still end up with 98 points and win the league (12 that we have now and 86 from the remaining matches), so all this talk about our challenge being ended without the season starting properly is bollocks in my eyes. For me, we’ll only really see the credentials of a team come Christmas time and then see how the team kicks off from there. For now till then, let’s enjoy the matches, one game at a time, just like how we should be.

Written by  Jonno

Alberto Aquilani. Photo © Getty Images.

“We have the best midfield in the world, we have Xabi Alonso, Momo Sissoko, Gerrard and Mascheranooooo, ooo… Wo ooo ooo  oo oo…” My favourite Liverpool song, before the Torres Bounce that is.

If you look closely, we have sold Momo and Xabi already, but does that mean we no longer have the best midfield in the World?

I think not, I reckon the midfield is actually stronger after the 2 years after the song was somehow coined after the 2007 Champions League final in which we lost to AC Milan. Look at that midfield, it’s full of graters and not enough crafters who could turn the game with a bit of skills, a turn and run, backheel, quick one – two or other things that made us love the game so much.

With the new look midfield, I think we have added players with craft into the mix to complement the graft of Mascherano and Gerrard in Albert Riera, signed last year and Alberto Aquilani, our new signing this year. (Isn’t it a coincidence that both our crafty midfielders are called Albert?)

Last week, I wrote about how I wanted Joe Cole to replace Xabi for he could run with the ball, skillful and had an eye for goal, it seemed that Rafa has gone one better by signing Alberto Aquilani.

I must admit I do not know a lot about him, apart from he played from Roma, and was a Roma fan, broke into the side at about the same time as De Rossi, while De Rossi has progressed into the player he is today, Aquilani somehow stagnated, no thanks to his injury worries.

However, from what I saw, from youtube, I know it is not the best indicator of a player’s ability, but in the absence of other more concrete evidence, it’s the next best thing, plus I couldn’t be arsed to look and then sit through all the matches he has played in, no time for that, he is just the player we need, and very similar to my idea of getting Joe Cole (shows why I am a couch manager that rants while Rafa sit on the dugout during matches). Aquilani looked very versatile, he could pass the ball long, and at the same time, he could run with the ball, beat players and most importantly, has a ferocious shot. Many who saw the same youtube video commented that perhaps Rafa bought the wrong player, as his style is more similar to that of Gerrard’s rather than the calm and assuring style of Xabi. My question is this, who is to say that they couldn’t work? The answer would most likely point to the failure of Gerrard and Lampard in the England set up, where they failed to reproduce their club form in the international stage. One thing one must remember when making this comparison is that it is very different scenario, and most importantly, there’s no Mascherano sitting behind the duo, chasing, hassling, tackling and breaking up play. Instead, it is Gerrard who’s doing all that, while Fat Frank hopes his shots will be deflected in.

The thing is this, I think it is fantastic that we got a player like that, one that could pass, shoot and at the same time run with the ball, as I reckon our style of play is due for a big change. It showed in our pre season games, where Lucas got more game time than Xabi, Lucas is also a different type of player to Xabi, I’d say more similar to Gerrard and Aquilani, without the ferocious shot, but he keeps it tidy and when needed, could and would pop up in the penalty box to have a pot shot at goal, something Xabi doesn’t do as much, always hanging around the centre circle in case the ball broke back to him.

One of the big criticism that we have is that we are too reliant on Gerrard and Torres to score the goals while the rest doesn’t chip in as much, certainly our midfield did not chip in as much as we would’ve preferred, especially Xabi, it is unthinkable someone with his range of passing and shot only has 3 goals last season. With the acquisition of Aquilani, hopefully that will change as I think once he settles into the game and the way we play, he’d be able to chip in his fair share of goals. Don’t forget, he is in double figures constantly for Roma (when he plays), that could only be good for the team.

On top of that, his ability on the ball is not to be discounted as most Italians would have skills to burn, one that could see them beat a player or two to start an attack before finishing the move themselves. This is exactly what we need in the team, especially against teams who come and park the bus at Anfield, we all cry out for Xabi when that happen, but if and when he lofts the ball towards the danger areas, it would give them time to reorganize or opportunity to win the ball in the air. With a player that likes to play on the ground and with such quick feet, it would be another challenge for the opposition as they would HAVE to mark him, thus taking the players towards us, forcing them to come forward a little instead of constantly retreating, waiting for the high ball or long ball. They know if they do not deal with it further up the field, we would come close to the penalty box and slice them open with a bit of skill from Aquilani or anyone, worst still, there will be players lining up to take long shots, this would eventually crack their defence. For him to do that, he can play in Gerrard’s position or just behind Gerrard, where he could really play between the lines, making it hard for the opposition to pick up and those deep runs from the midfield to meet a cross or follow up a spilled shot.

Another thing many lament about is his injury record and the fact that he would not be starting the new season right away, I beg to differ, it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise, Aquilani would have more time to get used to his team mate, more time to learn about the way the game is played here and most importantly build up his strength and gel with the team, then we might just see him start with a bang in the league when he starts playing. Plus, he would not have played that many games and wouldn’t be as tired come the business end of the season where a crafty player that is not as fatigue as the rest would be a big big ace to have.

Lastly, I don’t think anyone thought of this yet, Gerrard will be 30 next May and with the careers of top players starting to wind down after they turn 32, Aquilani will be 27, arguably in his peak, who is to say we would not have a readymade player who can step into Gerrard’s shoes when he decided to hang up his boots? In that sense we would be killing 2 birds with 1 stone and with Lucas waiting in the wings and improving every year, it can only be good to the team, I for one is quietly confident that this team will be the one who’d dominate English football for years to come.

Jonno ®

Xabi Alonso. Image © Liverpoolfc.tv

The saga that started last year when Rafa tried to offload Xabi to Juventus and then Arsenal before failing to land Barry means we are privileged to witness his finest season in a red shirt. As the season comes to close, rumours refuse to go away about Real Madrid wants to sign him and with him being non committal, it just heightens the possibility of him leaving.

To many, it is unthinkable that we’d lose such a talent, someone who could pass the ball 50 yards to the winger or striker’s foot, or how about the 2 goals from inside our half with both feet for each goals?

With stories about him handing in a transfer request, many have resorted to losing him, and began the process of fighting, arguing and justifying on the replacement of Xabi, lately the stories of Lee Cattermole, or as I prefer to call him, Clatter – more and Michael Turner being touted as the 2 players Rafa intend to spend the money on.

Then there’s this story about Rafa trying to get David Villa, which means only one thing, Gerrard back in midfield, which also mean breaking one of the most fruitful partnership in world football.

To me, while Turner and Clatter – more, sorry, Cattermole are good players, they are not what we require, we need someone who can pick up the ball and do what Xabi does, which many hope Aquilani is capable of, he might be good, but Italians tend not to do well in the EPL (still not used to the term BPL), with Zola the only exception), which begs the question, WHO then we should look at?

There is one player though, he’s 27, proven in the league, English, played in all the big games, world cup, Champions League, won the title and heck, he even scored against us a few times. The player I am talking about is Joe Cole, why he is not in the starting lineup of Chelsea, is something only Carlo Ancelotti can answer, but to me, he’ll be the perfect person to replace Xabi.

Joe Cole - the answer?

Lining up alongside Javier, slightly forward, just behind Gerrard, he would be able to do the same thing that Xabi does, the only difference is that Xabi passes there, and he’ll bring the ball there, himself! and the same time carving out chances for himself or team mates. Many would argue that he is not consistent enough, but he is, and if he is allowed to express himself, play the way he knows, being creative and hurt the opposition where it hurts.

For ages we have been crying out for someone like him, not less when we were drawing games at home and everyone was praying for Xabi to recover from his injury quickly. Joe Cole can do the same thing, but only more, he’d attract attention to himself, thus freeing up space to the others to exploit and do the damage, he can also dribble his way out of trouble for he is the most creative English player the EPL has seen since Gazza. Playing alongside Javier will also be good as Joe Cole has a reputation of not tracking back, but does Charlie Ronaldo track back? What about Robinho? Or Kaka? Or Messi? I am not saying that he is in the same league of those players, but the thing is that creative players do what they do best, create, and with a good DM alongside them, it’ll be godsend as they would not have to worry if they lose the ball. It would allow them to flourish, to help to the cause.

I have been thinking that since Xabi is going, why not replace him with someone who can dribble? Someone who can bring the ball up and cause havoc with it, while the ball is glued to his feet? That would change our way of playing a bit and certainly offers another option where we would be able to open up the opposition’s defence more. While Xabi passes it long, Joe Cole could bring it up there and perhaps do more.

Think about it, Javier mopping up, passing to Cole who beat 2 or 3 players before passing to either Gerrard or Torres to finish the move. That would be a sight to behold. And how many of you would pay money to see that? It’s clearly that he’ll be a bit part player with Fat Frank hogging the limelight at Chelski alongside Ballack and Mikel, now with the rumours of Andrea Pirlo wanting to join them, surely he’ll be a bit part player at best, or an impact sub. Why settle for that when he can have the centre stage at Anfield where he’ll be loved, and most importantly, appreciated.

He has been the most creative English player for years, but failed to live up to the hype because time and again managers tried to drum into him that he needs to cut out the fancy Dan stuff, but it is the fancy Dan stuff that beats the player, carve up an opening in tight matches where teams park their bus in their penalty box, as seen with many team do at Anfield.

The only thing is that whether Chelski would let him go, and whether the board would sanction such a move and more importantly, does Rafa rate him as the replacement for Xabi? I think a bid of between 15 – 18 Million should get him, a much better player than Clatter – more, and one that would not need bedding in and go straight into the first team. He could be as important a signing to us as Eric Cantona or Charlie Ronaldo to the Mancs.

So highly I rate him that I would go on and say we would be able to do the League and CL double if we get him and keep them injury free. Now we need to get this across to Rafa and hopefully he listens, so anyone with Rafa benitez in his facebook, please PM him and inform him of that. Just don’t give him the number 7 shirt – I think it’s jinxed. Give it to a kid, where they’d play without pressure, or best, retire it, that one, is for another day.

Jonno ®