Why have you taken every bit of joy away, I used to enjoy watching Liverpool, even when we didn’t win anything, I would watch our ups and downs but always get enjoyment and always held a quiet remnant of hope for the future. But you Sir have taken it all away, you now manage (if that’s what you call it) the dullest, least footballing and most worryingly least Liverpool like non-football team I have seen in my 34 years as a fan.

You have built a team of no-hopers, you actually have done the opposite of building and demolished what little we had left, please just go and take the Americans with you.

Keith 34
Limerick, Ireland

At the moment if Rafa was to be sacked, regardless of the cost for getting rid it would put the club even deeper in crisis and I will explain why. First off all if Rafa goes, who will replace him?

A club which has no confidence, no money to spend, a boardroom which is ever changing and possibly the most hated owners in world football! With all these factors does anybody truely belive we can attract a manager of real class? Someone who can achive greater things than Benitez has?

Let’s not forget that six months ago he was the man to bring the Premier League crown back to Anfield! This term has been an absolute nightmare and maybe a change in management is the answer however if it is done midway through the season the club will have to not only try and find a new manager, who will be better than Rafa but also keep up a genuine fight for 4th spot while finding a replacement!

I personally think we should wait until end of season to decide if we need a new man in charge and act accordingly when we have the time to do so. However that is just my opinion and I would be interested to see what other you all think?

Adebayor,
Adebayor,
Adebayor,
Adeeeebayyyyyyor…

And so the fans chants go on for the Tongolose striker. Well they did until the events of this summer, Adeboyor left, went for the money at City, and then came the game against his old team, against the manager who made him what he is, against the team that gave him an opportunity when no one else was asking and against fans who sang his name with all their might.

Two moments marred the game on Saturday. Firstly the stamp on Van Persie. Disgusting. What else can one say, a nasty horrific premeditated moment.  Unnecessary and he deserves a ban. But why are we all forgetting Van Persie’s lunge? Two footed, should have been straight red.

Second point- the celebration. Oh before I carry on, what about Adebayor’s little moment by the left flank, were he must have gone past 6-7 arsenal players, with so much class and skill, almost like a young Thierry Henry….( I bet that hurts Arsenal fans). And so the celebration.  A counter attack with great speed, and who is at the end of the ball to knock it in?  The celebration was stupid but brilliant. Since he left Arsenal he has been slated, booed, criticised constantly, none more so than on Saturday were he was taunted throughout. So can we really blame him for the way he celebrated after all this? Let’s not forget Arsenal received £25 million for him, a huge profit from the £8 million they paid for him. It wasn’t as if he walked out on them after he saw his contract through. And his celebration…do arsenal fans have short memories, or do they have vision similar to Mr’ I did not see it’ Wenger, when Thierry Henry did the same thing to the Spurs fans during the North London derby, or when Ian Wright did a lap of honour at the Lane. Ok he ran more for the celebration than he did for the whole game and I appreciate it insights fan trouble, and after the recent West Ham- Milwall clash it is the last thing football needs. However, that doesn’t explain the horrific reaction of the Arsenal fans which left one steward unconscious. Are we going to ban celebrations in football because fans can’t take it, because it gets to them? I believe if fans are prepared to dish it out, then they have to be prepared to take the flack when it is directed towards them. Football is about passion, emotion, rivalry, excitement; Adebayors celebration typified all these qualities.

When Uefa resinded the ban on Eduardo, they bottled out of a huge decision. Cheating or simulating the referee has caused the game of football, so pure in its form to become tainted. Banning players for 3-4 games is the only way that teams will make sure there players do not dive. Lets be honest- managers want there players to do anything for victory, lets not be naive about that. Eduardo did dive, he won a penalty which changed the game, and Arsenal then went on to win comfortably. Celtic have to pay the price for being knocked out of the Champ league, Eduardo should be banned for 5 games to teach a lesson to him and all those that play after him, cheating in football will not be tolerated.

So where are things going wrong? Is this really the team that did the double over United and Chelsea last year?

The number one reason for the poor start was the departure of Xabi Alonso. A likeable figure in the dressing room, his loss affected team morale and on the pitch it was further noticeable. Against Tottenham Huddlestone and Palacios controlled the midfield like no one has before against Liverpool, Lucas at his best looked inept, and Mascherano showed a desire which had ‘I want to play for Barcelona’ written all over it. Against Aston Villa, it was the same, Lucas and Mascherano weren’t able to seize the game and push up, and they were playing too deep, with the attack becoming isolated.

It hasn’t helped that we have to wait upto 2 months for Aquilani to be match fit, but while we await ‘the little prince’, Gerrard should play a deeper role and gain control of the game, something that Lucas struggles to do so and push Benayoun in just behind Torres. We played this way in the second half of the Villa game, and it was effective.

Adding to Alonso’s departure Kuyt could not hit water even if he fell off a boat and Gerrard has looked lacklustre, no more so than in the Aston Villa match after which  Benitez deservedly criticised him for his poor performances, giving Gerrard a reality check.

The defence looks shaky, Skrtel hasn’t recovered from the blow he got from Carragher in the Spurs game. Were playing with 2 new wing backs, and against Tottenham I lost count the amount of times Johnson was caught out of position. It forced Carragher out wide to the right, and created space within the middle.

Zonal v man to man marking, the old debate. Aston Villa used zonal against us, and it was effective. So it is naive to lament an effective system, but Liverpool genuinely have trouble defending with it. Rafa needs to sort this out, because when Liverpool are at their best, set pieces are the only way they can be attacked

The lack of fire power upfront is worrying. So far Voronin has been coming off the bench, but personally I’ll drive him back to Berlin myself if I could. Babel hasn’t been used since his shocker at the Lane. After the Spurs game Glen Hoddle pointed out how weak Liverpool’s bench looks compared to Totenham’s, and he had a point. The first eleven is strong, but were a couple of injuries away from really struggling.

So now the positives to cheer you guys up. The number one positive is that Fernando Torres looks on form. He has scored 3 goals already, and his overall game looks really strong.

Glen Johnson is looking strong going forward, and is really adding an extra dimension to the attack. He is another option for scoring goals, something that Liverpool have been lacking after overly relying on Torres and Gerrard. He has 2 already this season, with his predecessor Arbeloa only managing 1 all last season.

The 3A’s are still all out. Agger, Aurelio and Aquilani will all have a place in the first 11. Agger will help bring the ball out from the back, someithng Liverpool are lacking since (you guessed it) Alonso’s departure. Aquilani, when fit will show why we spent 20 million on him. The team will only look stronger with these three.

Man utd aren’t looking that good either. They have been very average so far, their play is predictable, and lacking potency. Ronaldo’s loss is bigger to them than Alonso’s is to Liverpool. Nani looks no where near a Ronaldo replacement, despite the hype he is getting every time he does a stupid flick or step over. Ferguson doesn’t know his strongest 11, Carrick and Anderson don’t know whether they are coming or going. Ben Foster looks like he needs a double vodka and coke to calm his nerves.

Chelsea by far look the strongest team, playing good football with a settled team. However, it may have been a different story if Burnley or Sunderland had taken their chances. But like most teams they will face adversity, they will get injuries to their big players, and then it shall be seen if they pass the test.

This season looks fascinatingly exciting because there will be a lot of shock defeats. Going away to Fulham or at Turfmoor is no longer an easy trip. The quality this year has improved, Man city and Tottenham are a lot stronger. Arsenal look like they will be challenging this year.

At Anfield the international break will be timely for Benitez to sort out a few tactics, and allow the players to recover from the injuries. Benitez is adamant that this is the year, so write Liverpool off at your peril, there is still life in this old dog.

Worryingly though for reds fans, Liverpool put in the sort of performance that would suit a team fighting for a draw and not one pushing for their first title in 20 years, with only Lucas Leiva and Pepe Reina putting in praise worthy performances.

What was highlighted in the game against Spurs, was a small but significant lack of depth in the Liverpool team.  With Carragher, Gerrard and Torres all struggling with late fitness concerns their was nobody there to fill the gaps, so these key players had to make do.  From the off set of the game it was clear that Torres was out of sorts, a misery compounded by a knock to the ankle early on, which the Spanish Striker seemed unable to shake off. 

During the transfer window, so far, Liverpool have added Glen Johnson as a direct replacement for Alvaro Arbeloa who moved to - Real Madrid, before Xabi Alonso more recently joined him at the Bernabau – and Alberto Aquilani, replacing the aforementioned Alonso.  With the return of loaned out flop Andriy Voronin, Liverpool’s strike force, doesn’t look any better than it did last season either.

So, with straight swaps in defense and midfield, and general lack of enhancement anywhere on the pitch, can anyone say that Liverpool look more likely to win the title this year than they did last season? 

The answer is…not conclusive.

Although the team is no better than last year, provided that Aquilani can do a reasonable job in filling Alonso’s boots in central midfield, Liverpools greatest asset could be not any expansion of quality in their own team, but the diminished quality of their main rivals Manchester United, who lost both Christiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez this summer, which over the course of the season is bound to take some toll on the champions. 

Liverpool no doubt have a team which is capable of taking the league challenge further than they have for a long time, as they proved last season, finishing second, mainly due to poor home draws against lower placed opposition.  Key to their hopes is the fitness of Gerrard and Torres, who’s devastating partnership could be the difference in the title race.

With Chelsea starting again under a new coach, who may or may not be a hit success with his curiously outdated looking “diamond” formation and Arsenal’s shrinking pool of experienced talent working in their favour, Liverpool could find themselves in a handsome position to beat United to title number 19 and back to the top.

But, then of course there is the big-spending, blue half of Manchester to consider…which is another story altogether.

So far pre-season looks like this: played 5, won 2, drawn 1, lost 2. Although winning breeds confidence, they say results don’t matter, its about performances apparently. If I saw one then I would feel reassured, if I saw the team gel, if I knew how we would play with Johnson- at right back, left back, or in the hole? If only Alonso was still here (Alonso’s loss is huge, possibly enough to pull Liverpool out of the championship race. The team’s record without him in the side is frightening) If only Lucas could step up to fill Alonso’s boots….. If only we had confidence to know that Alonso’s replacement Aquilani wouldn’t be a £20 million flop with his injury record (How can you pass a medical if you’re out for 2 months?).

Are Liverpool expecting too much from Aquilani? Italian players have hardly been a big hit in the premiership, the physical ability of the English game will probably mean he would be bullied to the ground. If he is out for 2 months, and it takes him 2 months to get used to playing in the team and the style of the league, then that leaves us to December and the title race could all be over.

Teams are built from the back (sorry Man City/Mark Hughes) but there are only 3 centre backs at the club after Sami Hypia said goodbye. Both Skrtel and Agger are out injured; have had little time to get back into form before it all kicks off again and worse still Carra limped off in the defeat to Athletico Madrid.

My biggest question for this season is whether Torres will remain fit. He has had a summer of football with the Confederations Cup, and after his injury plagued season last year, are being naive to think that he will last the season without a further injury? And so what if Torres gets injured? Are Voronin and Ngog good enough to step in? The answer is NO. No chance. They both are light years away from Torres. Without another quality striker, Liverpool’s attack looks impotent if either Torres or Gerard, who has had his fair share of injuries, gets injured.

Will Babel be another miss this season? Will Kuyt start scoring? Is Insua good enough to be Left back? Will Reira finally show me why Benitez and the Spanish national team coach have faith in him? Will Benayoun show the same level of consistency?

So many questions, yet so few answers. With only a week left before Liverpool travel down to White Hart lane for their premiership opener, you can see why the Anfield devotees seem bemused by the goings on at the club. 19 years and waiting, last time Liverpool won the league title back in 1990, Cliff Richard was Christmas number one with Saviours day, it will definitely be that come May 19^th if Liverpool lift the Premiership.

New signing Glen Johnson will provide Liverpool with additional width down the right and his penetrative attacking threat will offer Torres and Gerrard improved supply, and Liverpool will be more able to break teams down, a quality that they found difficult at times last season.

The other ‘piece’ is Gerrard and Torres staying fit. The pair were voted in the top 6 players of the world in the recent FIFA awards. When they play together Liverpool will win more often than not. Last season Liverpool remained unbeaten in the 12 games they both started together, winning 9 of them. They’re link up play, quality, ability to change a game and immense talent puts the pair as undoubtedly the most feared front two in the Premiership, if not in Europe. It was disappointing for Liverpool that they were unable to play the two together last year. This season if both remain injury free, then most Premier League defenders will be having sleepless nights.

these pieces be enough to crown Liverpool, the most successful club in the history of British football, Premiership champions in 2010? It should be enough considering their main rivals Manchester United have lost 2 of its attacking threats and the other two in the ‘Big Four’ haven’t strengthened their teams, with Chelsea struggling to keep there captain and Arsenal losing Kolo Toure and striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

Everything seems so simple now. Puzzle completed, is it time to relax and enjoy pre-season? Well it was until Real Madrid came knocking for Xabi Alonso. Alonso was arguably Liverpool’s best player last season, his loss will be like losing the picture for jigsaw, the guidance is lost (I’m keeping the jigsaw theme!). He is Irreplaceable. The special thing about Alonso is the simplicity of his play. The constant passing, receive and pass, receive and pass, all game. 2 yards passes. 50 yards passes. Both with incredible accuracy. His pass completion rate is one of the best in the Premiership.

Alongside Mascherano who is a master at breaking up play, Alonso is perfect in collecting the ball and keeping the play flowing. He has the ability to take control of the game with his ball distribution out wide, or to the front two. He is a goal threat with his shooting, and he is able to start the play from the back; gone are the days of the pre-Alonso era under Gérard Houllier when all Liverpool played was ‘route one’ football.

 The Liverpool team is set up around Alonso’s ball distribution. The structure of the team will be damaged without a suitable replacement, and with only 3-4 weeks left it will be too late to reconstruct the team. If it results in Gerrard dropping back to play in midfield, then we will lose out on his link up play with Torres. Also it has to be questioned how much of the reported transfer fee will go to Benitez for further transfers (so is it a football decision or business decision?) and how much to the £ 350 million debt ridden owners.

The fact that he wasn’t willing to insult the fans by handing in a transfer request shows the strength of his loyalty and respect for the club. Whatever happens, his goal from the half way line against Luton town, his sublime passes and the part he played in that one night in Istanbul means that he will never be forgotten among Liverpool folklore.

If he stays then the Premiership is surely coming back to merseyside; if he leaves Liverpool will struggle to finish in the top 3. When it comes to May will we be listening to the fans screaming out ‘we are the champions’ or James Morrison’s lamenting ’the pieces don’t fit anymore’ to an empty Anfield?

Is that unfair on Barry? A respected individual within the game of football, a player who was a modern day legend at the Villa. You would think he is a player who puts football first, a player who money doesn’t mean much to. But did Barry let himself down, and the thousands that supported him over the past 12 years when he moved to the riches of City, for ‘a new challenge’.

At Liverpool he could of had Champions league football; which would have provided him with opportunities and experiences that will improve his ability as a player. He would have played in front of an highly demanding crowd which would have further improved these. Benitez’s level of pursuit in him last year shows how much he thought of him, which at the end came to the demise of his relationship with Xabi Alonso.

He had already broken in the England team, and what better to cement his place by linking up with his international colleague, Steven Gerrard at club level. The understanding those two would have developed would have helped at the World Cup.

It is this desire for money that fans, hit by the current economic crisis, have huge anger towards. Selling Barry a year later cost Aston Villa 6 million pounds by rejecting Liverpool’s £18 million bid last summer (a year later they remained 6^th, with only 2 more points), and keeping a player who didn’t want to be there. When Barry left he received a golden handshake of 2 million pounds in loyalty bonuses (maybe that is why he was reluctant to hand in a transfer request last summer), and signed a £130,000 a week contract with City.

So was Man City a better move than Liverpool? Barry’s camp will say that leading up to the World Cup it is crucial that he plays regularly, at Liverpool he wasn’t guaranteed that. Also, is the challenge of taking Manchester City into the Champion’s League more than trying to take Liverpool to the Premier league title? It is exciting times at Eastlands, but with their constant inability to attract major players, how easy would it be to take them the next step up? How long will it be before Man city take over one of the big four? 2-3 years? By then Barry will be into his 30’s, and past his best, and probably transfer listed, his position taken up by the latest hotshot who will probably be attracted by half a million pounds a week contract( Such is the ridiculous going on’s in football at the moment). So Barry may actually never play in the Champions League…..

I guess the attraction for playing at Liverpool, cheered by the Kop, the special European nights, the glorious history; the ambitious future wasn’t worth 40,000 less in wages a week.

My annoyance isn’t that he said no to Liverpool. My frustration is directed towards the hideous changes in the game of football, where players no longer move for ‘football reasons’. Ok, money is important in life, but is there really a difference between 90,000 a week or 130,000 a week? Some would argue just to walk past that historic trophy cabinet everyday is worth 40,000 a week; mind you it takes a week to walk around. Maybe there was another reason, he realised he didn’t have the bottle to face the huge expectations expected at Liverpool, maybe he was scared of being another Robbie Keane, so perhaps he has to commended for being honest to himself.

Where should I start? I mean all summer United have been talking about Benzema, Villa even Tevez, and in the end they bring a 29 year old who is more interested in his horses at Chester races than football , whose best days are well behind him and who has had more injuries than a gulf war hero.

Hull City and Stoke were fighting out for his signature after reading the 32 page glossy brochure that Owen’s team had produced, which sums up the level of interest in him. No other manager was prepared to give him a chance, and with his recent record who can blame them. His inability to perform in a Newcastle team, despite continuous support from a good friend as manager (Alan Shearer) cost Newcastle their Premier League status. The relegation struggle was the perfect platform for Owen to show his worth, and without any injuries, he was given a good length of games. Instead, what the struggle did show was his weaknesses as a player and how he has declined since he was named European player of the year in 2001. With a game built on pace and little else, then it is vulnerable to aging. He has found it very difficult to get into good positions; he has little body strength, and doesn’t have technical ability to play in a deeper role to accommodate for the loss of pace. Did he justify his £110, 000 a week salary? For 79 appearences over 4 years? £300 000 a game from a financially struggling club? Daylight robbery to me.

It is hard to see where he will fit in. Berbatov and Rooney could play as a front two, or Fergie could go for a front two and one playing just behind. Or maybe he will be a new‘super sub’. Ferguson plays a never say die, fight till the end mentality, and the number of goals United have got at the death is a testimony to his ethos. He used Tevez towards the end in such a role, although bench warming wasn’t something that Tevez was used to when he was playing at Boca juniors or Corinthians.

And what for player loyalty? A player who started of at age 14 at Liverpool, worshipped by so many fans dating back to his debut goal against Wimbledon back in 1997.

Memorabilia collected over years and years, sticking up and supporting him through his injuries, all the standing ovations, the tears when he broke our heart and left for Madrid, the continuous arguments with united fans arguing that he is a better player than Van Nistelroy. And what do they get for it? Him raising the United scarf aloft, next he’ll be kissing the badge, and then bowing down to the Sir Matt Busby statue? It was rumoured that after his last visit to Anfield, he received such an abusive reception that Gerrard mentioned Owen had tears in his eyes on the pitch and was inconsolable afterwards. I don’t condone fan abuse, but if he was inconsolable then, well his next visit to Anfield will not be too pretty.

Carlos Tevez refused to go to Liverpool this summer as a result of this intense rivalry, Michael Owen could and should have done the same, especially after coming through the system at Anfield and living in the North West and knowing what the rivalry is all about.

On paper United can’t lose with the signing. He is a free agent, one of the poorly paid players at the club. Everything else is a bonus for United. If he does remain fit and gets a few games then he has the chance to cement a place in the England World cup squad. Although, right now his priority couldn’t be further away from that; he has to cement a place in the ‘I’ve played more than 20 games this season’ group. I can’t see him succeed, but Owen will always say form is temporary, class is permanent.

His attacking threat down the right hand side of the pitch offers Liverpool a new mode of attack. Alvaro Arbeloa never had the quality to provide such a threat, and his link up play with Dirk Kuyt was predictable at times. Johnson can be used as a right winger, a role which he exceeded in the second half of the season at Portsmouth, providing better service for Torres. His position as a right back is questioned by his defensive frailties, although Benitez is hoping that he can develop his defensive abilities, someone who has this much quality can be a top class defender.

With the world cup arriving at the end of next season, Johnson has a real chance with his performances for Liverpool to cement a permanent space in Capello’s 11. It will be a big year for him and a big year for Liverpool, hoping they can finally win the long awaited title.

Liverpool were very close last year. Johnson will be an improvement to the team and add an extra attacking threat, which has been lacking at times. Providing they keep their key players, the first eleven at Anfield will be as strong as you will see anywhere in the premiership.