Firstly, allow me to apologise for the inordinate amount of time it has been before performing any sort of activity on my blog.  It has been a long, long time!  I have had some ideas for new blog entries, some serious (with a bit of my humour thrown in, don't want my readers to go and commit suicide or nowt, for instance, the Credit Crunch) some satirical (for instance, the Credit Crunch) to the downright ridiculous (for instance, the Credit Crunch).

In all seriousness, not all my blog ideas involve the credit crunch, but I may make reference to it once in a while, and for pure spite, just how useless the Government really is!

I will start, in earnest with the Summer (and January of 2009) of 2008 and the transfers both in and out (I must admit, I have copied the tables from Wikipedia, why re-invent the wheel? ):

Transfers In (source: Wikipedia)

#	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Date
27	DF	Philipp Degen	Borussia Dortmund	Free	03-07-2008
2	DF	Andrea Dossena	Udinese	£7 million	04-07-2008
1	GK	Diego Cavalieri	Palmeiras	£3 million	11-07-2008
24	FW	David N'Gog	Paris Saint-Germain	£1.5 million	24-07-2008
7	FW	Robbie Keane	Tottenham Hotspur	£19.3 million	28-07-2008
TBA	FW	Vítor Flora	Botafogo	Free	01-09-2008
42	GK	Péter Gulácsi	MTK	undisclosed	01-09-2008
11	MF	Albert Riera	Espanyol	£8 million	01-09-2008

 

Transfers Out (source: Wikipedia)

 

#	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Date
3	MF	Steve Finnan	Espanyol	Undisclosed	01-09-2008
6	DF	John Arne Riise	Roma	£4 million	01-07-2008
–	FW	Anthony Le Tallec	Le Mans	£1.1 million	02-07-2008
7	MF	Harry Kewell	Galatasaray	Free	05-07-2008
15	FW	Peter Crouch	Portsmouth	£11 million	11-07-2008
–	MF	Danny Guthrie	Newcastle United	£2.25 million	11-07-2008
–	GK	Scott Carson	West Bromwich Albion	£3.25 million	18-07-2008
7	FW	Robbie Keane	Tottenham Hotspur	£12 million	02-02-2009

 

Loaned Out (source: Wikipedia)

 

#	Pos	Player	To	Start	End
–	GK	Nikolay Mihaylov	Twente	01-07-2008	30-06-2010
–	MF	Paul Anderson	Nottingham Forest	01-07-2008	03-05-2009
44	DF	Robbie Threlfall	Hereford United	16-07-2008	02-05-2009
–	DF	Miki Roque	Cartagena	23-07-2008	10-05-2009
40	GK	David Martin	Leicester City	04-08-2008	30-06-2009
33	MF	Sebastián Leto	Olympiacos	05-08-2008	30-06-2009
10	FW	Andriy Voronin	Hertha Berlin	01-09-2008	30-06-2009

Looking at that transfer list there are a fair few names that immediately stand out for varying reasons, and we will start at the top, with Philipp Degen.  He may have been free, but through a massive amount of misfortune has probably cost the club a fortune in physiotherapy!  Not since Michael Owen and Jamie Redknapp has the club had such a good subject for the physiotherapists and club doctor to practice on.

Now, for me, Degen came with a half-decent reputation for being a good right-back, who can also play at left-back, with a fair amount of pace behind him and good at going forward.  Degen has the dubious honour of not playing in the Premier League for Liverpool and, if I am right, making two appearances on the bench for Liverpool in a Premier League match, away to West Ham and at home to Tottenham Hotspur.  In both of games he remained unused though.  I suppose Rafa thought he couldn’t afford to replace a sub with a sub knowing the minute Degen gets a sniff of a competitive matches pitch he breaks down with a serious injury.  The proverbial Mr Glass?  I don’t think so, that title still belongs to Darren Anderton I am afraid, Degen as yet has not managed that level of consistency.

Mr Degen did make one or two appearances in competitive cup matches, but, perhaps overly-inevitably seem to get injured in them.  He played two competitive matches during the whole season, 3rd round of Football League Cup against Crewe Alexandra in which he broke two ribs and punctured a lung in an unfortunate collision with Sami Hyypia!  Talk about being unlucky and injury prone, should just place a neon-flashing light above his head saying "Injury prone, tackle me and take me out the game"!  The other game was against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup in which he broke his metarsal.  Very close to the name of another bone in the foot that was made famous by a certain Mr Beckham (after which his bone made another name, Loos ).

I hope he is less injury prone in the 2009/2010 season but fear with the signing of Glen Johnson, and especially if Arbeloa stay’s, his chances may have diminished some what.  That is unless he is any good at left-back, but with Insua coming through quite nicely and Aurelio seemingly being able to string two consecutive matches together without also ending up on the physiotherapists bed it looks like his chances there could also be very limited.  Which brings me nicely onto Dossena!  Yes, he is a left-back, yes, he is a footballer, yes I think he is great, even if it was for putting the icing on the cake of the win at Old Trafford (I always want to type Old Toilet at that point but have refrained from doing so at this juncture).

Wow!  I actually mentioned a match during the season!  This match may get mentioned once or twice throughout the blog post, probably because it proved a massive point and I will use a quote I saw in the Liverpool Echo (later, when I eventually get around to talking about the actual matches throughout the season).

To be fair, I think he also looked quite good at times, and you wouldn't mess with him, he is one big man!

A name which should have worked out, but didn’t on the evidence of the fact he appears twice, is Robbie Keane.  He also appeared to have helped be the final nail in the coffin for a certain Mr Rick Parry as, apparently, Robbie was more a Rick signing as opposed to a Rafa signing.  Talk about being Rick-rolled….. I’ll get me coat .

I had high hopes for Robbie Keane, unfortunately it turned out that he just did not seem to fit in to our team.  Oh well, these things happen, especially when the CEO is more responsible for the signing than the manager.  Yes, Rafa got Robbie when he actually wanted a Gareth, of the Barry flavour (ooh, that was close to another get me coat moment)!

Ah, yes, Gareth Barry.  After what appeared to be a circus at best with how it was handled, he stated he wanted to come to Liverpool to get European football and it wasn’t about the money.  He ended up staying at Villa only for a season later to leave for Manchester City for what seems a small fortune of a wage.  Hang on!  He wants European football, and it isn’t about the money, yet leaves Villa (whom have European football) for Manchester City (who do not) with a massive increase in wage (I think it is anyways)?  What a lying little ……..!  And what a massive kick in the teeth for Aston Villa fans!  I actually feel quite sorry for them.

I am very disappointed to have seen John-Arne Riise and Steve Finnan leave but I am not the manager, and Rafa obviously has his reasons for allowing them to leave and by the looks quite possibly was right to do so.  Finnan was getting a bit old for a footballer and we needed to make some money for him, whilst Riise had what could only be described as a disastrous season the season beforehand.

I was also a bit disappointed that Peter Crouch got sold, he added something different to the rest, and at 6 foot 7 inches, you would bleeding well hope so as well!  The guy could, and can, cause absolute mayhem in the area, even though his heading was never that great!  It was his pure presence.  If I am honest, from a personal point of view, I would have preferred to have kept Crouch than to have bought Keane, I think Crouch gave us more than Keane did, an outlet, and allowed us to mix it more than with Keane, when he was here, of course.

Albert Riera was also a much needed change, until then we did not have an out-and-out left winger, someone whom would allow us to stretch the play.  I suppose we did have Harry Kewell, but he was so injury prone, and seemingly completely incapable of playing a final, that he ended up being a waste sometimes.  Kewell was capable of the sublime, however, he failed to produce on so many occasions that Rafa decided to let him go, even if it was on a free.

Kewell’s wages, by all accounts, were quite large, so when he left that got rid of a fair amount of the burden on the budget.

Back to Riera after that slight detour.  Riera also provides a fair bit of trickery which down the flanks in recent years we have struggled to find, and whilst not the fastest of players, he could beat a man, go outside or on the inside and provide that much needed width as I pointed to above.

One name you may find synonymous with the word potential that you see in the departure list is one Anthony Le Tallec.  Messrs Le Tallec and Pongolle were both brought in by Gerrard Houllier who described them as the next big things to come out of France, and whilst never living upto those reputations, both (Pongolle had gone earlier) provided their moments.

The Matches (follows below tables)

The Premier League Table (source: Wikipedia)

Liverpool Football Club 2008/2009 Results (source: Statto.com)

League Results

The Cup Matches

European Champions League

Of recent years, we have normally been very, very good in the European Champions League and this year was no exception.

Unfortunately, due to the fact we failed to finish in the top two league positions in the 2007/2008 Premier League, our season started early again, which wasn’t helped by the fact that a lot of our players had extended seasons by playing in the 2008 European Championships which, of course, included our Spanish contingent of players, Pepe Reina, Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres all of whom had the longest to play since they helped Spain win the competition. 

They (Spain) are simply awesome, despite that blip in the Confederations Cup against the USA.

It seems I have digressed a bit!  I really must try to keep track of where I am up to here!

Anyways, the European Champions League got off to what I would call a reasonably shaky start from my point of view with a 1-0 aggregate win over Standard Liege, and it took extra time to do that!  Now, for me, I am afraid after this performance I was not looking forward to the season ahead (oh how first impressions do not last, these two games in comparison to the rest of the season prove that)!  I have to say, we were not very good, I will not go as far as saying woeful, I am leaving that for later on (in this section, I might add, that’s to come).

However, as soon as the qualifying stages were over (thank God!  What a relief!  It was like realising that you weren’t going to get that lobotomy after all, because trust me, watching that match is as close as I ever want to be to having one… but, worse was to come, oh God save me!) things pretty quickly picked up in the good old (new-ish?) Champions League.  We did struggle in the games against Atletico Madrid in the group stages were we could only manage 1-1 draws in both the home and away games, as it turns out though, we did not need to win them, luckily!

Of all the groups stage games, though, I must say, I expected us to find PSV the harder opponents of the other two, but Marseille gave an extremely good account of themselves.  We pretty much did as much as we needed to in those games, which is all we needed to do.  A worrying game to play, but it all turned good, but it was going to get better.

After the group stages, I must admit I was a tad worried about the draw, and whilst I got a nasty shock when it was revealed whom we got, it wasn’t as much of a shock as I suspect our illustrious opponents got when they played us.  I am, of course, talking about Real Madrid (both legs coming before a certain tiny game (nee, demolition) based at Old Trafford).

I heard a great saying, I cannot remember where it is from, but it went something along the lines of “At the Bernabeau, Real Madrid lost at chess, at Anfield, Real Madrid lost at football.”  I had the pleasure of witnessing that match, and a pleasure it was! 

The whole team ran absolute riot at Anfield (I won’t mention the game at the Bernabeau much as whilst an excellent example of how to play away from home in a cup match, it was not a great spectacle) and special mention must go to Torres.  I believe he was playing through the pain, but you couldn’t tell!

At The Bernabeau, Rafa’s meticulous tactical nous and brain came into great working as he showed how to go away to one of the most fearful and hardest grounds in World football, stifle and win.  A game we won through a goal by Yossi Benayoun in the 82nd minute.

I will say now, and probably repeat later , Rafa showed another side this season, a side to his tactics which will come into play even more in the 2009/2010 season, basically pummel the living bloody daylights out of another team!  Something which happened a fair bit throughout the 2008/2009 season.

This brings me nicely onto the 2nd leg against Real Madrid at Anfield.  Let’s put it this way, Cannavaro and Pepe probably supplied Vidic and Ferdinand with the names of some good sleep deprivation specialists for those who have issues with nightmares.  I will shy away from waxing too much lyrical on any individuals at the moment, that will come later when I attempt my player rating’s section, but oh boy, Torres!

It wasn’t only Torres though, it was the whole team, we were faster all over the pitch, stronger, sharper.  We went at them from the very first whistle.  I honestly think Real were shocked with the ferocity at which we went at them, we, after all, did not need to win this match.  I think, though, that Juande Ramos probably learnt a brilliant lesson in how to not give the opposition a good team talk, his comments after the 1st leg probably spurred Rafa into letting the players off the leash.

Not only were we off the leash though, I think we played like a pack of rabid dogs!  I must say, I was very impressed with Arjen Robben, he managed to not fall over that many times.

I really must also mention a mate of mine, who is a Manchester United fan, at this point.  He said to me that if we went at them like that at Old Trafford that they would destroy us.  Well, he was half right, we went at them and there was a destruction at Old Trafford, just not exactly how he expected.

In the end, through some absolutely tremendous football and brilliant players mixed with excellent tactics, we beat Real Madrid 4-0 on the night and 5-0 on aggregate to cruise through to the Quarter-Final.  Oh well, maybe with them spending stupid money to rebuild the Galacticos we’ll only beat them 4-0 on aggregate next season?

Ah, the Quarter-Final which turns out to be our annual meet with Chelsea.  The 1st leg at Anfield was a horrible experience, one to forget, they managed to be beat us 3-1, how I am not sure, but they did.  It all started just as the script was meant to go, with Torres giving us the lead on 6 minutes, but with some new found frailty at the back, Chelsea’s Ivanovic equalised on 39 minutes and scoring to make it 2-1 on 62 minutes before Drogba secured the win on the night (and to be fair the tie) by scoring Chelsea’s third on 67 minutes.  I must say though, that Essien played brilliantly to stifle Gerrard.  How I am not quite sure?  I know people will disagree with me on this, but I think Essien is over-rated and personally think Gerrard was having an off day.  An unfortunate time to have one, but all players do, I just thank God Gerrard does not have many of them.  Personally, the one single biggest problem in this match is the fact we had to swap Mascherano for Lucas.  Now, I am not really one for ripping into our own players, but the gap between the two is not so much a gap as a chasm!

This all help to set up a brilliant 2nd leg.  One in which we completely outplayed them but got very unlucky and ended up drawing 4-4 on the night.  Knowing that we had to pull something out of the hat, we went at them this time exactly how we went after Real at Anfield, and, again, it all started well enough.  Chelsea were shell-shocked!  How dare a team go to Stamford Bridge and have the audacity to pummel Chelsea and pull them too pieces, but that’s what happened, especially in the first half.  At the half-time whistle, we were leading 2-0 thanks to goals from Fabio Aurelio (19) and Xabi Alonso (pen 28), Stamford Bridge was hushed into a silence and the travelling Kop were singing their hearts out, as always.  The hairs were standing up on the back of my neck!  Could we really do this?  Could we really have another brilliant come back from many during the course of this season (more about the others later)?

Alas, it was not to be.  Yet again, Chelsea get lucky.  Not only due to a wicked and cruelly floated ball which caused Reina to handle the ball over his own line, but also by the fact that I have never seen any single player before Drogba (well, okay Cristiano Ronaldo) make so many miraculous recoveries from so many career ending injuries during one single match!  It was like watching miracles occur right before my eyes!  He truly is blessed!

Once Chelsea got this goal, though, they got there act together and started cheating playing more.  We were still better than them, but they were far luckier with a lot of decisions.  One of which I will get to in the minute, actually, now.  You see, Chelsea decided that they would have to get an equaliser just to make sure and that they did, by what can only be described as a thunderous shot by Alex.  My problem with this goal, if I remember rightly, is what happened in the build up.  You see, a Chelsea player, in fact I think it may have been Drogba, decided he really did not like Lucas and tried to cut him in half with his leg!  Did we get anything?  A freekick?  No, nothing, they went on to equalise!

How on Earth Drogba (or whoever) got away with that is anybodies guess?

Whilst we chased the game like possessed banshees, we played right into Chelsea’s hands by allowing them to play there natural football, sit back and play hoof ball.  Lampard scoring a goal to put them in the lead on 76 minutes, but we were not finished with Lucas equalising on the 81st minute, and then Kuyt regaining the lead on the 84th minute!  Awesome!  However, we still had to chase the game needing more goals, and whilst we went at the Chelsea backline like a bunch of Veyron’s with ever increasing ferocity, the ferocity of Chelsea’s hoof ball became ever so increasingly desperate and they eventually managed to kill the tie by Lampard getting Chelsea’s fourth goal on the night.  I was so proud of the lads.  It was hard to be annoyed, we gave such a great account of ourselves.  C’est La Vie.

One point I will make about the 2nd leg, that was all without Stevie G!  Incredible!

Whilst this was panning out, Manchester United carried on winning, beating Porto in the quarter finals despite not exactly playing brilliant football.  This setup an interesting Semi-Final against Arsenal, whilst Chelsea got the eventual winners, Barcelona!

I do have one question, we (Liverpool) go away to Real Madrid and win 1-1 yet get described as awful and boring, yet Chelsea go away to Barcelona, play even worse and more defensively and only manage a 0-0 draw yet get described as playing a brilliant tactical game by some media outlets.  Why exactly?

Even at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea played the same way and managed to even scrape a goal and then held on and held on.  With minutes ticking away, I kept thinking to myself if only Iniesta had taken a shot from outside instead of trying more and more trickery maybe Barca would have been in a better position?  And then it happened!  He shot from outside the area and scored!  Stamford Bridge hushed so much you could hear a pin drop, there was absolutely no time whatsoever for Chelsea to score another goal.

One thing I must say is Drogba’s antics at the end of that match was an absolute disgrace!  Maybe he was hard done by with some decisions, but at they say the chickens came home to roost and his reputation proceeded him and his team mates.

Arsenal had a similar problem to Barca in that they tried (as always) to walk the ball into the back of the net (unfortunately for Arsenal they have far inferior players to Barca).  This helped in them being humiliated by Manchester United.

This meant that the final was to be Barcelona versus Manchester United.  Lets make no bones about it, Manchester United played well.  Okay, they did for the first ten minutes and then Barcelona found there feet and it was hard to find the opposing team after that, with various jokes coming out afterwards, some of which I may list a little bit down below.

On ten minutes, the reason Barca found there feet was because the brilliant Samuel Eto’o scored!  He tormented the United backline all game, but not quite as well as Torres did, then again, Torres is the best striker in Europe (if not the World) at the moment so that is hardly surprising.  Being 1-0 down does not mean any team is out of the game, but all of a sudden it was as if United’s entire gameplan had gone out of the window, but to quote Tony Barrett of the Liverpool Echo, and one of my favourite quotes, “Barcelona played United the team, not United the reputation and won with ease, just as Liverpool did at Old Trafford.”  Oh, how very, very true!

United were eventually put out of there misery by a goal from the ever-brilliant Messi who made it 2-0 on 70 minutes.  How it managed to only be 2-0 I do not know, but that’s how it finished.

Other sayings mentioned were things like, “For the first time in recent weeks, the United fans did not sing Are You Watching Merseyside? Funny that because Merseyside was watching....one of the most one-sided European Cup finals in living memory.”

If Alex Ferguson ever wants to watch a final were a team can make a massive comeback against a team with a massive reputation, I could quite happily point him to one of the best European Cup Finals ever, a certain 25th May 2005.  Unfortunately, that would mean him watching two big clubs as opposed to a big club playing his own.

Sorry, sometimes I just cannot resist the odd dig, I have Manchester United fans as mates and don’t want to upset them, much!    I am sure they do as well.  Nothing like a bit of banter.

English FA Cup

Liverpool’s involvement in the FA Cup was very short lived when we got knocked out by our illustrious neighbours, Everton.  The FA Cup campaign started well enough winning (with all due respect to them) at ease away to Preston North End, although they did give us a few heart-in-mouth moments.

Then we drew at home to Everton setting up an intriguing away leg at Goodison Park.

However, watching the replay was one of the very few moments during the 2008/2009 season that I wished I was getting a lobotomy instead, or pull my finger nails out with a pair of pliers!  How about sticking a red hot poker up a hole, I am sure that that would have been more enjoyable than watching this woeful (their you go, got the word in) excuse for a game play out to its bitter end.

Picture this, if you will, I was in a pub with a gang of Liverpool fans, we were waiting with massive anticipation at the spectacle that was about to start.  And then it started, not exactly with a bang, but more like the whimper of a fly being trod on.  Everything about the match stunk, and I mean stunk.  The football was basically non-existent, our free-flowing attack-minded football decided to meet us in the pub instead of being on the pitch with the team, and I was bu**ered if I was gonna buy it a drink.

Everton, of course, went on to be defeated finalists by Chelsea, but they knocked Manchester United with that match producing one the funniest football related sights in recent memory (press play, you know you want to)…

English League Cup

In reality, there is not much that I can say with regard to the League Cup apart from against Tottenham Hotspur I am surprised we actually turned up at all.  It didn’t look good at all in the campaign for the League Cup having struggled to defeat Crewe Alexandra (yes, Crewe!) 2-1 at Anfield.

Yet again, Liverpool FC showed that we do not like to do things the easy way!

We eventually put ourselves out of our misery by losing 4-2 away to Spurs.

I know it sound’s disrespectful, and I have always said that the League Cup is not a worthless cup, but I suppose if you are going to have a really bad game or blood some of your youngsters then the early stages of this competition is the point at which to do so.

The Premier League

A Bit Of The Media And Authorities

Right *cracks knuckles*!  It’s time for some home truth’s and it’s time to face facts.  Before I start on any mini-reviews of any games I want to get one thing off my chest, and that is the best team did not win the league!  In fact I would go as far as saying that they did not play as good football throughout the season as anyone else in the top four!  And that includes Chelsea.

No, by far the most pleasing to the eye and attack minded football was ourselves.  Also, we lost the least games and scored the most goals and had the best goal difference.  What really did not help us was the period we went through when we couldn’t win at Anfield and had a series of draws, that is when Manchester United caught us up and overtook us, although having watched them play I do wonder how.

I’ll go into how, well as I see it, and I apologise if I upset anyone in advance, but I think the authorities (the FA and Premier League) played a massive hand in it.  I watched games involving Manchester United and I have to say some of the decisions they got were at best ridiculous, no other team would have got them awarded and the only other place those sort of decisions would exist is in one of Drogba’s wet dreams!  They have always been the fave with the authorities, you just have to look at all the times Alex Ferguson has gotten away with some of the things he has done.

Let’s put it this way, Rafa’s (non) rant against Alex Ferguson was apparently going to be looked into and punished by the authorities!  Hang on!  That is nowhere near as bad as some of the stuff Ferguson has come out with in the past that has been completely overlooked.  I wonder how much of a hand David Gill (no conflict of interest there then?) had in this state of affairs?

Here is what I think, which I must say I had influenced by someone else, someone who could very well be reading this (you know who you are).  When the Premier League was due to start the authorities decided that Manchester United would be there flagship club and that they could no longer have Liverpool as the most successful club (which we still are by the way, still on our f*cking perch Alex) in England.  You only have to look at how Man United’s profit and turnover increased compared to everybody else’s the first Premier League season.  However, it does not stop there.

It is also the media.  The media have this ingrained (I won’t go as far as saying hatred) dislike for Liverpool Football Club, especially, seemingly, Sky who are so in bed with Manchester United as well it needs an X-rated certificate.  You only have to look at how the media are constantly trying to unsettle our players this summer to see that as well.  They even had a ridiculous situation were the media tried telling us that Manchester United are going to offer to buy Torres.  LOL, yeah right.  Not only that, but seemingly we are selling our entire midfield, with Alonso going to Madrid and Mascherano going to Barcelona.  Well, I don’t think they are true, but despite Rafa coming out categorically coming out and saying they are not going anywhere the media continually go on and on about it.  There is definitely something not entirely right with that situation (I mean the media coverage).

This is how I see things, I could be barking up the completely wrong tree, but as they say, opinions are like a*se holes, everyone has one!

Liverpool Football Club

We played some absolutely stunning football, with a pace, verve, strength and power not seen as consistently by any other club this season.  We showed some quite phenomenal character as well, coming back from the brink of defeat to win games and having a never say die attitude!  The Chelsea game mentioned above is a prime example of that attitude, and hopefully it will be something that we keep and improve upon next season.  Something else we need to improve upon, again as mentioned earlier, is to beat the teams who park the proverbial bus in front of the goal!

The season got off to a decent start with a 1-0 win, courtesy of that man Torres who started as he left last season by scoring in the 83rd minute, away to Sunderland.  I know people may think that winning away to Sunderland is no great shakes, but they are a very difficult team to beat especially at The Stadium Of Light.  And this was followed by a 2-1 home win against what can be classed as a bogey team in Middlesbrough, and it looked to be heading towards a defeat when Mido made it 1-0 to the visitors on 70 minutes.  This match was the beginning of showing what we were all about characteristically.  We kept going and going, until in the 85th minute Jamie Carragher scored the equaliser, although the goal had been attributed as an own goal to Pogatetz, I am sure both players would be happy for it to have been given to Carra though!   Gerrard, who else, scored the winner in the 94th minute.

The next two games were on paper toughies, with Villa away first seemingly looking to break into the top four, and they did prove a stern test as we could only manage a 0-0 draw with them.  They were very, very difficult to play against.  Considering the first eleven they could put out it is not entirely surprising.  Unfortunately for Villa, towards the end of the season they started to tire a fair bit as the squad is not as good as it needs to be so could not keep up with the top four.  It would have been interesting to see them push Arsenal all the way as I believe Arsenal where there for the picking by someone like Aston Villa.  Unfortunately for Villa, I don’t think they will be the ones to get into the top four next season, but more about that later.

The next match was a very intriguing encounter at Anfield against Manchester United.  I always get extra hyped about these games, and we had a sight of what was to come from Liverpool of the coming season.  However, at first, it did not feel like this, firstly because before the match it came to light that neither Torres or Gerrard would get to start the match, they would be on the bench.

Things then went from bad to worse as Carlos Tevez scored within 3 minutes to give Manchester United the lead.  I was very, very tempted to turn over as all the other games we played against them, despite playing the far better football in all matches, we never managed to beat them in the league.  However, I do not think anyone was prepared for what happened next.  You see, we just went up through the gears and made the champions look, well, ordinary!  Wow was my first reaction, but thought that we would still not score.  However, cometh the hour (well, 26 minutes, but what’s 34 minutes between friends?) cometh the man, and that man was Wes Brown!  Riera, who it must be said was making a rather impressive debut, forced Brown into the mistake.  Riera did show a fair bit of trickery that night, as he has done since as well, well worth the money we paid and a vastly improved player since his time at Manchester City!

Then came the second 0-0 draw of the season, at home to Stoke!  Talk about taking a turn for the worse!  However, this goes back to what I said about teams who park the bus outside the goalmouth and us having to break it down.  We are improving in this area, but we need to do better against, with all due respect, teams like Stoke, it really is as simple as that!  Not to worry though, as the month of September took a turn back to the better when we went away to Goodison Park and thanks to the ever-brilliant Torres won 2-0 with two strikes from the aforementioned sack of wonder in the 59th and 62nd minute!  It really was a hard fought game, but that is to be expected in the derby game.

The month of October saw four league victories out of four games, two 3-2 wins one away to Manchester City and the other at home to Wigan Athletic.  The other two games both ended as 1-0 wins, one away to Chelsea and one at home to Portsmouth.  The Manchester City was the most exciting match of the month as despite playing some frenetic and wonderful football we managed to go into the half-time interval 2-0 down thanks to Stephen Ireland with a powerful shot and one heck of a free-kick from Garrido.

This game was the game which is a great example of our character and ability to come back from being behind.  On 55 minutes Torres equalised Patrick Berger’s record of being Liverpool’s highest scoring foreigner in the Premier League with 28 goals, and it was also Liverpool’s 1,000th goal since the Premier League was started in 1992.  A second from Torres brought the game level on 72 minutes, and then the game was won in the 90th by Liverpool’s very own Mr Duracell, Dirk Kuyt!  A wonderful, brilliant and pulsating match which showed our never-say-die attitude!

A special mention must go to the Chelsea win as it ended there unbeaten home record of 86 consecutive home matches spanning four years, thanks to an Alonso 10th minute goal!  It should have been more, but who is complaining?  I am certainly not!

The month of November was an oddity in itself.  You see, our first of our two defeats in the league came during this month in the 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.  Tottenham Hotspur had only just instilled Harry Redknapp as manager, so of course the media were all over it like an over-zealous rash about how it’s the Redknapp effect!  What utter nonsense, they were lucky and we were very unlucky!  That’s it, end of!  Kuyt gave us the lead on 3 minutes and to be quite frank, we played some of our best football in this particular match than in any other throughout the entire season!  Yet, somehow, God only knows how, we lost 2-1!  And if I am absolutely and brutally honest we were awesome, right throughout the team.  Sometimes, though, these things just happen and it is not meant to be your day.

Then came two wins, at home to West Bromwich Albion which we won 3-0.  Keane finally managing to break his League duck since his move with his first goal on 34 minutes and then his second on 44 minutes.  Arbeloa sealed the win on the 91st minute mark.  Then came a notoriously difficult game away to Bolton, although it used to be more difficult when Sam Allardyce use to use the old kick ‘em up in the air tactics consistently.  Oops, must be careful otherwise I’ll be on the receiving end of a losing-it rant from his best mate, Alex Ferguson and how I’ve gone beyond the pale, but more of rants and non-rants later!

We ended up winning the game with relative ease 2-0 thanks to goals from Kuyt and Gerrard on 27 and 73 minutes respectively.  This was followed by another 0-0 draw at home to Fulham.  I must say though that Fulham were becoming an extremely difficult team to beat during the season for all other teams.

December looked like it was going to continue the way November ended with a 0-0 draw against West Ham United at Anfield.  Again, West Ham are no mugs, but we really should have beaten them.  The team played decent enough, created enough, but just could not put the ball in the back of the net.  The month picked up, though, with a 3-1 away win at Blackburn Rovers thanks to goals from Alonso (69 minutes), Benayoun (79 minutes) and Gerrard (94 minutes), but quickly went back to drawing against both Hull City at home (2-2, Gerrard on 24 and 32 minutes) and then away to Arsenal with Keane scoring on 42 minutes.

The game against Arsenal was very pleasing as it has always been an extremely difficult place for us to visit.  Arsenal are one of the teams I also have a soft spot for, they always try to play football the nice way, although they really do need to learn how to win playing ugly, unattractive football.  Arsenal always try to, basically, walk the ball into the back of the net and sometimes that just does not work.  The European Champions League tie against Manchester United proved that.

The final two games of December, and indeed 2008, became a goal fest, as we scored eight goals in them, winning 3-0 at home against Bolton on Boxing Day, with Riera on 26 minutes and Keane scoring what was proved to be his final goals for Liverpool on 53 and 58 minutes.  Two days later was the away game against Newcastle.

Newcastle were struggling far more than expected and already in dire straits in free fall all the way to the base of the League.  It was a great shame that Newcastle got relegated, I have a bit of a soft spot for them and to see them, basically, ripped from the inside out by wrong decision after wrong decision is nothing short of criminal.

We pummelled Newcastle into the ground though, winning 5-1 at St James’ Park, thanks to goals from Gerrard (31 and 66 minutes), Hyypia (36 minutes), Babel (50 minutes) and Alonso from the penalty spot on 75 minutes.

January, though, was to prove absolutely disastrous for us, with draws away to Stoke City (0-0), at home to Everton (1-1 Gerrard on 68 minutes) and away to Wigan Athletic (1-1 Benayoun in the 41st minute).  On paper, that should have been at least six points instead of the three we got.  I say six, as I believe that Everton deserved the point.  And this is where I surprise everyone as right now I will tell you the team that most impressed me outside of Liverpool Football Club in the Premier League was most definitely Everton!

I said it would be a shock, but I have to say that this is indeed the case.  Everton managed to finish fifth in the League, ahead of Aston Villa.  Fulham could also lay claim to be the team that I am most impressed with (outside of Liverpool) as they managed to finish seventh!  Whilst Roy Hodgson has no doubt done a tremendous job by getting Fulham to where they finished, Everton, under the leadership of David Moyes, have consistently finished reasonably high up the league, even beating ourselves to fourth place in 2005.  All this done on a comparatively shoe-string budget.  Also, I have to say Everton as I am married to an Evertonian, my life would be hell if I didn’t! 

Right, where was I?  Newcastle… blah, blah, blah… Stoke… etc, etc, etc… Everton, Wigan… ah, yes got it!   February!  February was a tad more successful after how we were a parody of ourselves in January, although it does house an embarrassment!

Firstly, there was the visit to Anfield of Chelsea.  A Chelsea, who at the time was still managed by Scolari, were struggling by their own standards.  They still had this ability to dive, whinge and generally cheat their way to victory (almost as good as a certain other team, who shall remain nameless) whilst kicking other players up in the air and getting away with it!  Lampard on Alonso anyone?  Drogba on Lucas?

We started at a frantic pace and at times it was almost as if we were playing with 14 men never mind 11!  And yet again, it took a corner to Chelsea to actually remind me that Lampard was playing.  I say yet again as really, I cannot remember a game against us when he was mentioned more than a few, and sparse, times.  How on God’s green Earth he keeps getting into the England central midfield and Gerrard shifted to a different position to accommodate him is anyone’s guess!

Don’t get me wrong, Lampard when your team is doing very well will likely score you a goal, perhaps two.  However, your team has to be doing well for him to look like he is having an influence.  Now, put him into a midfield that is struggling, one that needs someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck and influence, nee change the entire makeup of the game, and watch him disappear!  On the other hand, Gerrard can, and has on many an occasion, thrived on that sort of pressure and can consistently do it.

Ever wondered why Gerrard never does as well for England?  Because he is always played out of position!  When he gets anywhere near his proper position for England he, all of a sudden and not entirely surprisingly, “wakes up”!  Something that successive England managers could do with doing!

The Chelsea game itself, how it took two very late strikes from Torres to secure victory is anyone’s guess!  I just could not, and still cannot, fathom how we weren’t not just across the horizon, but over the mountain range, across the sea, sitting on a beach with a nice Pimms in one hand and a Latte with extra shot of espresso in the other!  How?!?!  We completely dominated the entire match!  Jose Mourinho must have been laughing his socks off!  I was because I was not expecting it to be as easy as it was, even though it took two late strikes to win the match, it just did not do our performance justice at all!

Oh, and speaking of justice!  Ever heard the phrase, “Revenge is a dish best served cold”?  Well, both justice and revenge got served that night, as yet again Lampard went in on Alonso and got a straight red!  Ah!  So he was playing that night as well?  Blimey, someone should of told me!

Talking about a match packed with incident (in the entertainment stakes) and with the ability to give one’s fan’s heart attacks, the away game to Portsmouth (why did I almost type the word Prostitute?  Oops!) was just such a game!  Liverpool eventually won the match 3-2, but only after having to come from behind twice!  Why oh why do we have to do these things the hard way?  Seriously, why?  We played well enough, indeed, we played some beautiful attacking football!  However, it took a late (you guessed it) Torres strike on 92 minutes to gain the win after Aurelio (on 69 (69 and prostitute in the same paragraph, not to mention the phrase “come from behind twice!”?  I need help!) minutes) and Kuyt (85 minutes) both had to produce the equalisers!

What is this team trying to do to it’s supporters?

The next two games (and last two during the month of February) were to prove the final nail in the coffin of our title hopes, even though we never gave up and had every chance that United would manage to not cheat win a match!  The first came at Anfield when Manchester City visited and thanks to an early second half strike from ex-Liverpool player Craig Bellamy (although on the day he was Craig Bloody Bellamy ) put them in the lead for a sizeable amount of time.  It took a 78th minute strike from (nope, you didn’t guess it ) Dirk Kuyt to equalise.  It was the same old story as the other draws though!  A team comes to Anfield, parks the bus in front of the goal mouth and then hopes to get a goal!

I must say, I cannot blame them!  I, and Liverpool, cannot expect a team to come to Anfield and just roll over to let us tickle there tummies.

Yes, I am trying to procrastinate the next bit as thinking about it wants me to throw up!  The away game to Middlesbrough!  Hang on, won’t be a moment just have to go to the toilet…. barf…. that’s better!  Right, yes, Middlesbrough away…. hang on…. nope, swallowed it down, it’s fine.

We ended up losing this game 2-0 (and funnily enough ended up being our 2nd, and final, loss of the League season)!  How you may ask?  Well, because, quite frankly, because we were sh*t!  I cannot put it any other way and I refuse to do so.  We were utter garbage!  A disgrace.  How the hell we lost to a team that were there to be, at best, fecking cannon fodder I cannot imagine!  Well, I can!  I am not usually one for questioning Rafa and I realise that this game was sandwiched by the two games against Real Madrid, but he did get it wrong at this particular juncture.  I am just glad he learnt from it!

Losing to Middlesbrough!?  Drawing, twice, to Stoke is not as bad as that!  (All due respect, of course).

Which brings me, oddly since it’s the next calendar month, to an important month, March.  Important because it is my Birthday during March (I accept cheques, postal orders and of course, cash! *this comment is the property of “Cheeky Barstewards Inc” ), oh and a certain demolition job of a small club (just kidding, well about the small club bit, but not about the demolition).

The month started well enough, with a 2-0 home win over Sunderland thanks to strikes from N'Gog and Benayoun, 51 minutes and 65 minutes respectively.  It was around this time were we started to really go at teams, but nothing, and I mean nothing could prepare me for what was to come next!

As I said, March is my the month my Birthday falls on and all I can say is what a month to have to go to Old Trafford against an inform Manchester United (whom had a very, very stable defence at the time as well.  I emphasize the word had!).  I will start by saying that one of my friends is a Manchester United fan, and he said that if we go at them like we did against Real Madrid then they would destroy us.  Oh, how wrong he was!  How wrong he was!

I remember sitting there with a drink in one hand and valium in another (okay a drink, but hey, give me some artistic license ), nerves shot to pieces and still recovering from my Birthday a few days previous.  As you can tell, I was as nervous as nervous can be, and as I said elsewhere in this blog (which, by the looks, may never, ever end!) I get extremely agitated when these games come up.  I am like a bear with a sore head.  On pins and what not.

The thing that surprised me is the announcer had to get the crowd going!  Why?  You are against your biggest rivals, your team need all the support it can get and the announcer has to entice the home supporters into doing what they paid to do, support the team?  I have to say, I was shocked.  Either the supporters were very nervous, or, more likely, they thought the result was a forgone conclusion.  Well, it was far from that.

Carragher had to play out of position as Arbeloa had picked up an injury in warm-up, which was not the best of things to happen, this meant that Skrtel and Hyypia had to start in the centre of defence.  Now don't get me wrong, Hyypia has been a magnificent survant to the club, but he was becoming slower.  Against the pace of Ronaldo et al, I worried not only for the team, but my own, albeit fragile, sanity!

The game then kicked off, the whistle went, I almost jumped behind the couch like I was watching the worst horror film I have ever seen, and it started.  We went at them, pummelled them.  Rafa got the tactics spot on, not quite as attackingly gung-ho as against Real, but enough to really, really put the frighteners on them.  Then, against the run of play (as United were for most, if not all, of the game) the unthinkable happened.  A through ball to Park from the now departed Tevez meant Reina had to come to meet it.  Park fell, I mean was tripped , over Reina and the referee pointed to the spot.  Ronaldo stepped up, puffed his chest out like the over plucked peacock he is, and took the penalty, 1-0!

At this point, nerves had left me, I just had this sense of realisation that we were going to lose, payback for the win previous.  Especially since United's defence had kept clean sheet after clean sheet.  It was, indeed, a forgone conclusion, the United fans got it right.  Or had they?  No, not a hope in Hell my friends!

Not only did we then decide to dominate the match even more, but we pummelled and pummelled, we went gung-ho, completely.  It was exhilarating!  I was still worried, though, that we would be caught on the break, but a break that never happened, and if it did got snuffed out as quickly as it had begun!  Then, Torres made Vidic's ego hit the ground with a thump!  It was like Torres had one goal in mind, to prove that Vidic is not the best defender in the league!  All through the match Torres tormented the poor guy!  I have to say poor guy, as even, by the end, I felt sorry for him and his partner in crime, Ferdinand!

Anyways, taking the ball off Vidic (like taking candy from a baby), Torres ran through on goal, and you want a forgone conclusion? 1-1!  It did not end there before the break though, with increasing verve and confidence Liverpool continued to press, looking for the much needed second goal, which duly came when Gerrard was brought down in the area.  The same man stepped up and made it 2-1!  I could not believe my eyes!  Gerrard kissed the camera!  I kissed the TV.  I jumped around the room like a madman!

Then came the second half, and with it more of the same, Vidic got sent off, again (probably did it to get the hell out of dodge), Aurelio scored the third!  3-1!  Away to Manchester United!  WTF was going on?  It was not to end there!  You see, the much maligned Dossena came on to play at left wing, and scored the most delightful chip you saw last season!  Oh... My... God!  I kissed the TV!  I kissed anything within reaching distance 4-1!

Then I read the post-match comments... oh dear!  Ferguson thought Rafa was losing it and then comes out with "the best team lost"?  Yeah, erm, okay.  More on losing it and rants later though.

IF, and only if, it was 1-0 to Liverpool I might, just might, accept that we might not have been better, but I am sorry Ferguson.  When you lose 4-1 you are most definitely not the best team!

The goal onslaught was set to continue, and first came poor old Aston Villa!  Not content with beating Manchester United 4-1 and in the process humiliating them, we decided that Aston Villa was to be an even bigger win, 5-0 at Anfield!  Goals from Kuyt, Riera and a hat-trick from Captain Fantastic, Stevie G!

And that completed the month of March!  A month I will not forget about for a very, very long time!

The start of April was to prove a much sterner test with and away game to Fulham.  A Fulham team who beat Manchester United 2-0 only just previously.  And so it proved to be difficult.  We won by 1-0 thanks to a very last minute goal from Benayoun (his name seems to pop up a lot, of which I am pleased).

This was followed by a game which, seemingly, weeks later caused controversy, all, as it seems, instigated by Alex Ferguson, the 4-0 home win against Blackburn Rovers!  We played the game exactly as we had been lately, pace, power and quality.  Goals from Torres, 4 and 33 minutes, Agger on 83 minutes and the ever improving N’Gog on 89 minutes.  This game was particularly notable for a spectacular goal and a non-incident that was made into an incident by an ever increasingly worried Ferguson.  The goal I am talking about was by Torres, and for me it is goal of the season!  Pure brilliance and quality throughout.  I was gobsmacked.  Then again Torres has constantly impressed me, ever since he came to the Premier League.  More on players later.

I think during the whole course of the season that the time when I came to terms with us not being able to win the league was the 4-4 amazing match against Arsenal!  Again, we dominated from start to finish, and it was almost as if every shot they had they scored, or rather Arshavin did!  I know we had plenty of games left, but these draws were destroying our hopes!

We pretty much walked the final five games, but by this point it was more or less a formality, we needed Manchester United to lose two games.  Which they didn’t, but I shall get onto them later.

After the Arsenal game, even with only a slight hope, now, that we could still do it, was potentially a tough, and final match of April, visit to Hull.  I was, for some reason, expecting another 0-0 draw, instead we were treated to yet another goal-fest as we won 3-1, Alonso scoring an absolute beautiful freekick (okay, he did with the rebound ) on 45 minutes and Kuyt scoring on 63 and 89 minutes.  It turned into a relatively dirty match with Hull having Caleb Folan sent off and coming close to having one or two other players sent off.

The next game was the penultimate (and first League of May) home game of the season which saw a very struggling Newcastle United, who by this point had Alan Shearer in (whom I felt sorry for) and had been all but relegated, visit.  The game was played in decent enough spirits with Alan Shearer smiling and laughing with the Liverpool crowd over some of the chants.  It was nice to see that he still had a sense of humour even though the team that he most obviously loves was not only being hammered and given a masterclass in attack-minded football, but on the verge of relegation.  The 3-0 win for Liverpool, with goals from Benayoun (22 minutes), Kuyt (28 minutes) and, that goal machine , Lucas (87 minutes), did absolutely nothing to alleviate the inevitable outcome to Newcastle United’s season.

What must have really annoyed Alan Shearer, and the fans I would imagine, more than the complete lack of quality at times was the complete and utter lack of passion!

The next two games were both away to Westy clubs.  First came the trip to West Ham United flavoured Westy clubs and provided yet another three goal addition to the rapidly, and ever, increasing goals for tally.  Gerrard scoring two, on 2 and 38 minutes, whilst the ever-so inconsistent Babel scored the third in the 84th minute.

The next game was the last away game of the season (second to last game of the season) and saw us go to West Bromwich Albion.  West Bromwich Albion needed to win to stay in the Premier League, but even though at this point we could not win the league, we did, however, need to win to cement second place.  And win we did by 2-0, sending West Brom down to the Championship, thanks to goals from Gerrard on 28 minutes and Kuyt on 63 minutes.  The game did not have exactly the same verve and pace from ourselves, it did not need it, indeed we looked a bit flat but that was understandable after a long, emotional and arduous season with nothing to show for it despite being by far the best and most entertaining team.

The final game of the season saw Tottenham Hotspur visit Anfield with the yo-yo man Keane in tow.  The game saw us win 3-1 thanks to Torres (31 minutes), a Hutton own goal (on 64 minutes) and Benayoun on 81 minutes.  Keane, albeit rather inevitably, did manage to score Tottenham’s goal.  Isn’t that always the way?

Speaking of Tottenham, and this is a very good example of what I was talking about when I said Manchester United get decisions other teams just, well, in a nut shell, would not.  Spurs were winning 2-0 and at the time it looked like Manchester United could not score with a £50 note in a brothel.  That was until the referee gave one of the most ridiculous decisions you would have seen last season.  Scrub that, ever!  The referee at the time almost invited a United player to just fall over in the box, and one duly did to which the referee gave a penalty.  It was never in a million years a penalty.  From that point on in the match, Spurs lost there bottle completely and United ended up winning the match.  Talk about a referee changing the entire face of the game!  I still think to this day if it wasn’t for that stupid penalty decision that Spurs would have gone on to win that match.

Another team that should have won at Old Trafford was Aston Villa, but on this occasion it was Martin O’Neill’s bottle when he lost it that lost Villa the game.  Villa were cruising at which point O’Neill changed it making defensive substitutions which allowed Manchester United to go at them.  If only Villa had managed to stay reasonably attacking, the result could have been far different and far more advantageous than it turned out.  Oh well.

 Player Rating’s

I will try my best to write up small reviews of each player, hope you are still awake enough to (put yourself through) read through it.  I will only write up about the players who have made a first-team appearance.

• Jose Manuel Reina (also known as Pepe Reina)
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Appearances: 51  Goals: 0  Total Clean Sheets: 25
• Nationality: Spanish
• Age: 26
• Well, what can be said about Pepe apart from quite simply the best goal keeper in England!  I would have to say, he, for me, is the best in Europe, and I include Casillas in that despite the fact that Iker Casillas manages to keep him out of the team.  Out of those 51 appearances made last season, 38 were made in the Premiership and out of those 25 clean sheets, 20 were kept in the Premier League!  That is an amazing statistic!  In total, Pepe managed to keep over 50% of his league games as clean sheets and almost 50% of all matches!  Outstanding.  He has amazing agility, commands his area well, his speed of thought is outstanding  as is his reading of the game.  He is also becoming a bit of a legend for his attitude with some of the things he has said this close season.
• My Rating: 8.5/10

• Diego Cavalieri
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Appearances: 4  Goals: 0  Total Clean Sheets: 1
• Nationality: Brazilian
• Age: 26
• Having not seen much of the Brazilian goalkeeper, mind you, you wouldn’t being backup for Pepe.  Managed to keep one clean sheet out of his four games, which for someone of his reputation is not that great (25% of games), but he didn’t play often enough to really decide whether he was that good or that bad, so, he gets an average rating based on what I saw.
• My Rating: 5/10

• Fabio Aurelio
• Position: Left Back
• Appearances: 33  Goals: 3
• Nationality: Brazilian
• Age: 29
• Currently, Fabio is quite possibly our very own Mr Glass.  He seems to be very injury prone (indeed, he has a lengthy lay off due to receiving an injury whilst playing with his son), but he is sublime!  He did struggle with his defending at times, he has always been very good at going forward, and his positioning sometimes found wanting, but he is extremely good at passing the ball and crossing.  He also shows that he has some pace on him as well.  He deserves a higher rating purely for that freekick against Manchester United.  However, his injuries have proved to be a bit of a hindrance. 
• My Rating: 6.5/10

• Andrea Dossena
• Position: Left Back
• Appearances: 26  Goals: 2
• Nationality: Italian
• Age: 27
• Firstly, let me say something.  If it seems his rating is a bit high for your opinion, it is because of two reasons.  The first being a beautifully chipped goal away to United, the second because the guy is massive and you wouldn’t mess with him, unless you happened to be Skrtel.  He has been much maligned for his somewhat seeming inability to defend, but he has proven himself on occasions.  He is a tad slow, but he can do the job, just not as well as what we require to push on that little bit more.  Having said that, I have seen him do a good job, and he is very strong in the tackle.  Unfortunately, he does not possess the quality of Fabio, but not many Left Backs do to be honest.  He can play left-wing, indeed some say he is better there as he does not have to defend!    Sorry Andrea!  Please don’t hurt me!
• My Rating: 6/10

• Daniel Agger
• Position: Centre Back
• Appearances: 26  Goals: 2
• Nationality: Danish
• Age: 24
• Daniel is an excellent defender.  No two ways about it.  Unfortunately, he has had his fair share of injuries this season which has meant he has not been as consistent as usual due to a relative lack of games.  By that statement, I do not mean individually, but as a pairing (Skrtel and Agger are the future partnership, no doubt about it), it takes time to get an understanding with your “partner” and nowhere on the pitch is this more apparent and necessary than in defence.  Agger has been compared to Hansen in that he is very much a ball-playing defender, with good passing and being able to bring the ball out of defence, sometimes with absolutely devastating effect.  This was non-more evident this season than when he scored against Blackburn with a 30-yard thunderbolt!  West Ham discovered in 2006 that you do not let Agger run with the ball out of defence past the half-way line and leave him space.  The minute you do, he is likely to shoot with such venom that on the off chance your goal keeper does reach it one of two things is going to happen.  Either the goal keepers hand is going to come clean off (or whatever appendage is unlucky enough to get in the way, ooh, ouch! ) or he will end up in the net with the ball.  Blackburn discovered that much themselves.  And if I am brutally honest, I was happy as Sam Allardyce is in charge of them.
• Daniel was rumoured to be very close to being sold this season, luckily that never happened and he put pen to paper on a lucrative contract which will see him stay at Liverpool until, at least, 2014.  One of the best pieces of business this season if you ask me!
• My Rating: 8/10

• Sami Hyypia
• Position: Centre Back
• Appearances: 19  Goals: 2
• Nationality: Finnish
• Age: 35
• Sami has been a great servant to the club and, I would say, this man-mountain has been one of the best defenders in the Premier League for a long while now, although the last two seasons have seen his effectiveness and usability decrease somewhat.  This is no doubt due to his age creeping up on him and, consequently, his pace being found wanting at times.  However, his second-to-none ability to read the game mixed with his vast experience and heart meant that he was hardly ever found wanting all round and this made up for his lack of pace.  He could see that, after this season in particular, that his first-team opportunities were going to diminish next season at Liverpool, so decided that it was time to leave.  Now, I couldn’t blame him at all and his loyalty to Liverpool Football Club could never be questioned, I have absolutely no doubt that other clubs would have been interested at some point or other.  He wants to carry on playing, and I can understand that, and from a personal point of view, I would not and cannot begrudge him a move.  He was asked if he wanted to stay on in a coaching capacity, but turned it down as he wants to carry on playing.  That is fair enough, and I am sure he will return when he decides to retire from playing.
• Sami played his final match against Tottenham coming on as a substitute.  It was a very emotional time for all, the crowd gave him a massive ovation and it did seem to get to him as the even the big man himself shed a tear or two.  He will be missed!
• My Rating: 7.5/10

• Alvaro Arbeloa
• Position: Right Back
• Appearances: 43  Goals: 1
• Nationality: Spanish
• Age: 26
• Arbeloa was, and I say was as I doubt he will be now Glen Johnson has signed, our first choice right back through the entirety of last season.  Not only that, but it is looking more and more likely that he will be playing his football elsewhere next season, more than likely Real Madrid , whom he started with as a youth team player in 2003.  Arbeloa has proved himself a decent enough defender and able to get forward at pace as well.  One problem, a number of occasions he has got forward and I remember screaming at the television “SHOOT!”.  He seems to have this, erm, mental block when it comes to taking a shot!  It is so frustrating, and is so reflected by the fact he only scored one goal in the entire season, despite playing 43 games!  He does go on very good overlapping runs, but his final third play can be, as I said, frustrating.
• Every now and then, he can be found wanting in his positional sense, you only have to look at the West Brom game to see exactly what Jamie Carragher thought about it!
• My Rating: 7.5/10

• Jamie Carragher
• Position: Centre Back
• Appearances: 54  Goals: 0
• Nationality: English
• Age: 31
• Jamie is one of those players who is a requirement in every team.  His heart and determination is immense!  An extremely good example of this is when, despite the fact we could only get 2nd place, he absolutely, and quite rightly, flew completely off the handle at Arbeloa for not being where he was meant to be!  He never gives in and always lays himself on the line.  Carragher started life as a midfielder, but soon found that his best position was by far the centre of defence.  He can, though, and has quite often, played both right back and the left back positions, and certainly from a defensive point of view, always seemed to have excelled.  One thing I cannot understand is how he never got as many chances at International level as he should have.  For me, he has proved himself time and again that he is a better defender than either Ferdinand or John Terry, yet even Ledley King got chosen over Jamie.  I think that is what made Jamie retire from International football in the end.
• Even though Jamie is now starting to get on in footballers terms, he played more games in the red of Liverpool than any other Liverpool player, and he has proved himself, yet again to be an absolutely awesome defender who has a few more good seasons left in him yet.  However, he will not be able to keep up this number of games so may have to accept that next year he hands over the baton to Agger or Skrtel.  An unfortunate state of affairs.   One thing I will say, for an example of how Carragher knows how to play a player out of the game, you need look no further than the game against Manchester United at Anfield.  Berbatov came with a reputation almost as big as his head and ego, within the first half hour Carragher tackled him so hard that it was half-time before Berbatov landed!  From then on, he just did not want to know.  That is not the first time Carra has done this, and it won’t be the last!
• My Rating: 8.5/10

• Martin Skrtel
• Position: Centre Back
• Appearances: 30  Goals: 0
• Nationality: Slovakian
• Age: 24
• The other half of our future central defensive partnership, along with Agger, Skrtel is very quickly showing himself as being the Carragher replacement, a very tough tackler with a never-say-die attitude.  The one thing I will say is that he seems to be more comfortable on the ball than perhaps Carragher is.  Skrtel is one of those players that you just would not mess with!  Not only is the guy built like a small mountain, but he looks like he could eat you all up!  He has good pace, good reading of the game and a decent header of the ball.  He had a number of very impressive performances, against the likes of Manchester United, Everton and Marseille, but he did have a big lay off between October 2008 and December 2008 after damaging his posterior cruciate ligament against Manchester City.
• Even though he will be one half of an extremely impressive looking partnership with Agger (like garlic bread, they are the future), he partnered Jamie Carragher more, whilst Agger was dropped to the bench.  I have given Martin a high score, not because he looks like he could beat to a pulp with the soggy end of my own torn-off limbs, but because he is one truly impressive defender!
• My Rating: 8/10

• Emiliano Insua
• Position: Left Back
• Appearances: 13  Goals: 0
• Nationality: Argentinean
• Age: 20
• Insua, this season, has shown that at long last he can really make it as our left back, and since it looks like it’s possible that Dossena could be leaving and Fabio could snap at the sight of a blade of grass, Insua could play an even bigger part in our next season.  And you know what?  I would not be surprised nor worried about it at all!  The guy is good at going forward, a decent defender (and has plenty of time to improve since he is very, very young) and has bags of pace about him.  He is also very good with the ball at his feet and has a good range of passing, all these factors have been shown during the course of the season, and I can see him being a big part of the back four the coming season!
• My Rating: 7.5/10

• Stephen Darby
• Position: Right Back
• Appearances: 2  Goals: 0
• Nationality: English
• Age: 20
• Stephen Darby has played his way through the ranks and has shown himself to be a decent, for cover, right back.  His opportunities season gone were extremely limited, making only two appearances.  He did show himself in a good light though, but, obviously, did not make a big enough impact to get a steady run of games.  His opportunities this coming season look to be even bleaker with the arrival of Johnson and Arbeloa being already here, if the aforementioned stays, of course.  Darby has recently signed a three year extension to his contract, so Rafa must see something really good about him, and it’s nice to see our home grown players getting recognition.
• My Rating: 5/10

• Philipp Degen
• Position: Right Back
• Appearances: 2  Goals: 0
• Nationality: Swiss
• Age: 26
• Well, I feel quite embarrassed by this as whilst typing up my thoughts on the other right backs whom play for us, I completely forgot about our true Mr Glass, Philipp Degen!  I have also used my jokes up on Fabio so feel a bit silly re-using them, so won’t bother.  Philipp is said to possess a fair bit of pace and a good ability at going forward, well, at least going forward in an ambulance anyways.  The one thing I will say is at least we signed him on a free transfer, which softens the blow of having someone with such promise, and from what I have actually managed to see of the fella, he has that, only actually manage to play two games in a whole season.  “Stephen Darby only played two”, I hear you say.  Well yes, you are right, but a big difference is that Darby never played more through not being picked, whilst Philipp was far too busy picking what body part was going to be injured next in the five seconds between injuries that he had to choose!
• The rating I give him is more through the amount of practice he has allowed the physios to have over the season!  I do feel desperately sorry for him though.  He came with a lot of promise, hopefully he will at least get a couple more chances next season.
• My Rating: 4/10

• Martin Kelly
• Position: Centre Back
• Appearances: 1  (Huddersfield Town (Loan): 7)  Goals: 0 (Huddersfield Town: 1)
• Nationality: English
• Age: 19
• Not much I can really say about this youngster as I have not really seen him.  He only made one appearance for Liverpool before being loaned out to Huddersfield Town in March 2009, whom he made seven appearances for and scored a goal.  He has been praised for his performances there, though.  We have high hopes for this youngster, he could be a goodun!
• My Rating: 4/10

• Steven Gerrard
• Position: Midfield
• Appearances: 44  Goals: 24
• Nationality: English
• Age: 29
• Well, what can be said about Captain Fantastic that has never been said before?  When Stevie G first stepped onto the stage in 1998, you instantly knew that Liverpool had unearthed something special.  Special and important.  And amazing.  He had his troubles this season, within his private life, but he overcame this and used it as a stepping stone to drag himself to even greater heights.  His energy is fantastic, his pace vastly underrated (just watch him when he runs at players full speed, they really cannot keep up with him), his footballing brain outstanding!  Passing, shooting, heart, vision.  The ultimate midfielder, nee, scrub that, the ultimate footballer.  It is very hard to pick a game that Stevie has played in when he has been below par, the only one I can immediately think of is at home to Chelsea in the Champions League annual meet.
• What Stevie has is the prized ability, as well as all the others listed, to dictate the pace of the game.  He can also drag your team up a level or two, which he has done for Liverpool on more than one occasion.  It really, really irks me as to how successive England managers have sacrificed Stevie to accommodate a much lesser midfielder in Lampard.  Yes, Lampard is (swallow down sick as I say this) good, but he is not fit to lace Gerrard’s boots really.  You see, Lampard is very one paced and incapable of dragging a game by the scruff of the neck when your team is struggling, something Gerrard can do and then some.  Yes, Lampard is useful when your team is well on top, but stick him in a struggling midfield and watch him (or rather not watch) as he disappears, the only time getting mentioned when he takes a free kick, penalty or corner!  Yet, he always gets plaudits, it could be because he plays for Chelsea, I don’t know.
• Stevie also has a vast amount of versatility, lets not forget his first appearance for Liverpool was as a substitute for Heggem at right back.  Oh, how things change.  Gerrard has struck up an awesome and awe-inspiring partnership with Torres (quite possibly the only player in the entire league last season who could be classed in the same breath as Gerrard.  Only Messi and Kaka could be added to that list from Europe, quite possibly *whispers* Ronaldo (I feel sick!  Need my medication!) as well, but we won’t go there), they seem to have got this almost psychic link between the two of them.  It is such a pity that Stevie and Fernando were injured for long periods, although it was really pleasing that we managed to beat big teams without either Gerrard or Torres playing.
• Gerrard’s importance on and off the pitch can never be underestimated, he is a true leader, one for the kids to look upto (yes he has had an alleged incident, but for such a high profile player it is far, far less than some if not most) in how to act off the pitch and how to act on it.  His goal to game ratio is absolutely wonderful as well, with a better than 1-in-2 ratio having scored 24 goals in 44 games making him our top scorer.  One thing that Stevie has taken out of his game is the sometimes extremely rash challenges that he used to make.  Also, it looks like he really enjoys playing between midfield and attack as the link up player, so classing him as just a midfielder is not strictly right.  However, he is.
• My Rating: 9.5/10

• Dirk Kuyt
• Position: Midfield
• Appearances: 51  Goals: 15
• Nationality: Dutch
• Age: 28
• Whilst some fans do play down Kuyt as being not very good, I rate him very highly.  Yes, his goals to games ratio this season may not be as good as the likes of Gerrards (who is?) but he brings a lot more to our game than just goals.  Firstly, he has piped up with his fair share of important goals this season, for instance the game away to Manchester City, against Standard Liege and twice against Wigan Athletic in which we came back to win 3-2.  Secondly, he runs, and he runs, and he runs.  When he has finished, he runs some more.  I swear, I get tired just watching the guy for five minutes.  Any left back must look at the team sheets before the match and know he is in for a bit of a run.  This has led me to nickname him Mr Duracell.  His energy levels are fantastic, he did manage to do this for a total of 51 games throughout the season!  This mixed with his team work, his hard working attitude and his (to some, surprising) ability make him an extremely important member of the team whose contribution to the team should never be underestimated.
• I can see Kuyt remaining as our future right winger.  You would not see many wingers (even though his actual position, technically, is as a striker) track back and take his defensive duties that seriously, and still manage to run the opponents rear guard into the ground.
• My Rating: 8.5/10

• Yossi Benayoun
• Position: Midfield
• Appearances: 42  Goals: 9
• Nationality: Israeli
• Age: 29
• Yossi is one of those players whom seem to be not as good as they actually are.  It is hard to explain, he is very, very good and a hardworker, but he seems to be, at times, a bit light weight.  That was until this season.  This season he has improved no end, managing to score some vital goals (not least the last minute, last ditch winner against Fulham), seems to be stronger on and off the ball, and he also adds that extra bit of skill to the team.  I suppose he is a bit like Luis Garcia.  Unpredictable in a very good way.  I am personally glad he will be here still next season.  He could play a very big and important part.
• My Rating: 7.5/10

• Albert Riera
• Position: Midfield
• Appearances: 40  Goals: 5
• Nationality: Spanish
• Age: 27
• It has been said that the one thing that we have missed in recent years is an out-and-out winger, and whilst Pennant was signed exactly for that purpose he flattered to deceive unfortunately, Riera it could be said is the first we have had in a while.  Babel can also play in that position, however it is said that it is not his favoured position.  Riera can run at players, go outside or cut inwards and has a reasonably powerful shot on him.  He also has a fair amount of trickery in him, and whilst he may not score that many goals (5 in 40 appearances last season), the fact that he can stretch the play helps the rest of the team no end.  An excellent, and long needed, acquisition.
• Doubts remained over him as people remember a rather unsuccessful loan period at Manchester City, but the player we bought is an entirely different player to the one that City loaned.
• My Rating: 7.5/10

• Xabi Alonso
• Position: Midfield
• Appearances: 47  Goals: 4
• Nationality: Spanish
• Age: 27
• Xabi is one of those players who seem to have this natural ability to just have space and time on the ball.  When he doesn’t he has this ability to make it so difficult to get the ball off that the opposition player often ends up with at least a yellow.  Xabi is not very fast, but what he does possess is an exquisite range of passing.  He was very influential for us this season alongside Mascherano and Stevie G.  Unfortunately, it looks like he could be going to Real Madrid, but I hope and pray to God that that is just paper talk and just part of the media dislike towards Liverpool.
• Xabi, after the previous two seasons of relative averageness, really picked himself up for this season, I think this is because he thinks he had a point to prove to Rafa after Rafa tried to bring in Gareth Barry.  Now, if that is the case, here is my take on it.  If a player needs the threat of losing his place in the team to pick himself up and play the way he can truly play, then (and I know people will disagree with me on this) really he needs to leave!  If he can play like that, then he should try to play like that all the time no matter what.  Also, whilst I don’t want him to go, quite obviously, if he wants to then as long as we get a good price then we should let him.
• Xabi’s contribution to the team this season has been phenomenal and any youngster can look at him as an example of not only on-the-field midlfield play, but also off the field conduct.  He epitomises the professional football player and how they should behave in public.  To be honest though, it is only the odd Liverpool player who has shown themselves as misfit’s.
• My Rating: 8/10

• Ryan Babel
• Position: Midfield
• Appearances: 42  Goals: 4
• Nationality: Dutch
• Age: 22
• I have listed Ryan as being a midfielder, and whilst this is obviously where Rafa see’s him, as a left winger/left midfielder, Ryan states that his best position is up-front.  Now, whilst this is indeed possible, so is Dirk’s, but you never hear him complain about playing on the right-wing.  Sometimes you just have to “suck it up” and get on with the job you are tasked to do without question.  I have also listed him has having 42 appearances, this is indeed true, however a fair number of these are when he has came on as a substitute.  You know, Ryan had a good season previous, but for some reason, despite scoring a few vital goals this season, he has never really fulfilled his potential.  It was touch and go at first whether he would be leaving this summer, but it looks like he is not.  Personally, I am glad that he is not leaving, he has bags of potential and ability.  Ryan just needs to pull his socks up and play like we know he can.
• My Rating: 6.5/10

• Lucas Leiva
• Position: Midfield
• Appearances: 39  Goals: 3
• Nationality: Brazilian
• Age: 22
• Lucas normally comes on as a replacement for Mascherano, and lets not make any bones about it, whilst Lucas may not be as bad as some supporters make him out to be, he is most definitely not Mascherano.  Not many are!  During the first period of this season Lucas struggled and struggled desperately.  So much so, that at one point our own supporters were booing him.  Now I, personally, find this sort of behaviour deplorable and disgraceful, we are Liverpool supporters and better than that!  When one our own is struggling, he needs encouragement not vilification!  During the course of the season, Lucas did get better and better and he had a pretty awesome game away to Chelsea (despite being chopped in half by Drogba) in the Champions League Quarter Final.  He also had an absolutely brilliant game in December 2008 when Liverpool beat Newcastle 5-0!  However, his sending off against Everton in the FA Cup tie, which we lost, compounded his unpopularity amongst us fans, we still should not boo the poor guy though!  The potential he has got, once he gets used to the Premier League more, is there for all to see and I hope he does pull through for us.  Despite everything, he is always a willing participant and at least he can hold his head up high for his efforts, which is more than can be said for the people who boo him!
• Rafa got so fed up that he ended up having to actively defend him, against his own fans, it is just not on.  When he pulls on the red shirt he is one of us, whether we like it or not, for God’s sake treat him like it, give him the encouragement and stop acting more like a fecking lynch mob!  Yes, after the match has ended, by all means go onto forums and the like and criticise his performance (if he deserves it), but on the pitch support the fella!  You never know, it may just have a positive effect on his performance.
• You know, I am not going to be objective about his score, I am going to use some emotion as I feel sorry for him, you do not get to be Brazilian U-21 Captain and a full international for nothing!  Don’t like the score, tough, he is getting a relatively high score purely because he is always a willing participant despite some of the vitriolic chants/booing from his own fans!
• My Rating: 7/10

A master stroke was to bring out an almost dossier of all the times Ferguson/Man Utd have gotten away with things that quite simply other manager's/team's just would not!  Anyways, I will quote the News BBC Site.  Have a read, it's funny and contains some bitter home truths.....

Not only about how they get away with things, on and off the pitch, but also the comments about fixtures.  We have all been there, yet it's always United who are worse off, right?

Benitez lays into rival Ferguson

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has launched a furious attack on Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson. Benitez claims that Ferguson is "the only manager who will not be punished" for verbally attacking referees. "We had a Respect campaign meeting and I said forget it, because Mr Ferguson is killing the referees," said Benitez. Benitez was responding to Ferguson's midweek comment that nerves might ruin Liverpool's title bid, before issuing his tirade against the United boss. Ferguson, who was given a two-game touchline ban and fined £10,000 in November for remonstrating with referee Mike Dean, had his pre-match news conference before Benitez's and was unable to immediately reply. Benitez's extraordinary outburst came after a journalist asked Benitez for his response to Ferguson suggesting that Premier League leaders Liverpool might get nervous in the run-in. "I was surprised by what has been said, but maybe they (Manchester United) are nervous because we are at the top of the table," added Benitez. The Spaniard then pulled out a sheet of paper and read out a list of accusations about Ferguson's conduct regarding referees, the respect campaign and fixture lists. The Respect campaign is the FA's programme of activities to combat unacceptable behaviour in the game at every level, both on the pitch and from the sidelines, which began in August last year. "I want to talk about facts," said Benitez. "I want to be clear, I do not want to play mind games too early, although they seem to want to start. "During the Respect campaign - and this is a fact - Mr Ferguson was charged by the FA for improper conduct after comments made about Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett. "He was not punished. He is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished for these things. "How can you talk about the Respect campaign and yet criticise the referee every single week? "We know what happens every time we go to Old Trafford and the United staff. They are always going man-to-man with the referees, especially at half-time when they walk close to the referees and they are talking and talking. "All managers need to know is that only Mr Ferguson can talk about the fixtures, can talk about referees - and nothing happens. "We need to know that I am talking about facts, not my impression. There are things that everyone can see every single week. "To complain and to always have an advantage is not fair." Benitez also heavily criticised Ferguson's complaints over supposed favouritism over fixtures. "Two years ago we had a lot of early kick-offs away on Saturdays when United were playing on Sundays. And we didn't say anything," said the Reds boss. "Now he is complaining about everything, that everybody is against United. But the second half of the season will see them playing at home against all the teams at the top of the table, it is a fantastic advantage. "At Christmas, United played on the 29th and the rest of the teams played on the 28th. We were away against Newcastle two days after playing Bolton. They were playing about 40 hours later, but they were not complaining then. "If he wants to talk about fixtures, and have a level playing field, there are two options if we don't want more problems with fixtures. "One is the same as in Spain, the draw for the first part of the league is known, everyone knows which weekend. In the second half everyone plays the opposite, so you all know. "Sky and Setanta have the right to choose their games and it will be the same for everyone. So Mr Ferguson will not be complaining about fixtures and a campaign against United. "Or there is another option. That Mr Ferguson organises the fixtures in his office and sends it to us and everyone will know and cannot complain. That is simple." Meanwhile, Benitez has also revealed his disappointment that negotiations over a new contract are progressing slowly. "My agent has not yet received any documents, and he is a little disappointed," said the former Valencia boss. "But OK, we will see what happens. I do not want to say too much at the moment."

News BBC - Rafa Tells It How It Is Linky Doodle Doo