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