So, the Mighty (so far) Reds have played their last game of the first month of the season, and August has been better than most Augusts of late.

5 proper competitive games played, yeilding 4 wins (and a draw with Robbing Styles and his team mates). Good attacking intent has been shown in all games, with 10 goals scored (averaging 2 per game) and, despite injuries and rotation of the defence, only two goals conceded - both from penalties, and both from rather dubious awards, to a bigger or lesser degree).

Particularly refreshing is that, in the 10 goals, we already have 7 different scorers, with the fact that all 4 strikers are already off the mark particularly pleasing in an era of immense media pressure for a non scoring forward. As Rafa loves o tell us, 4 strikers scoring 15 is as good as having a front pair scoring 30 each…
All the new signings have looked impressive so far, Benayoun, Torres and Voronin all being praised by the fans and media, Babel certainly showing he has something about him (not least the way he gets his shots away fantastically quickly and accurately when a chance presents itself), and even Leto and Levia impressing in their limited time on the pitch.

Some of the arrivals from last season have also shown a step up in their game, with Arbeloa and Kuyt both showing improvement in some of the deficencies they had last season.

Even Rafa has appeared to step up his game on all sides, with his handling of the media, his attacking mentality, his more settled premier league team selections, and his use of the squad to good effect.

Indeed, the squad really does look superb, as the performance against Toulouse proved, starting, as we did, without Gerrard, Carragher, Alonso, Kewell, Torres, Voronin, Finnan, Aurelio, Pennant and Levia - it certainly shows how much strength in depth and quality exists at the club now.

All in all, then, a positive month, and a start which, hopefully, we can use as a solid foundation for a good September - a month in which fixtures against Derby, Portsmouth, Birmingham and Wigan give us a chance to continue the good work to date.

Hopefully my September review will see us all celebrating another good month of results, and our sustained title charge!

One sight that will remain with me for a while is the celebration of our 2nd goal. Torres, Voronin and the Tower of Babel together celebrating a neat move and a nice finish. There were no other Liverpool players that were playing last season there.

It was like I was watching a brand new team. Of mercenaries ? Or of new and dedicated Reds. Who knows, time will tell. But for the moment it reminded me that to footballers, the side they play on is all important. Not much else. Unless you’re Carra or a player who truly also loves their home club.

anyway, in true fashion, here’s my detailed match report.

We attacked like we were being paid handsomely to do so. We scored. They nearly did. We scored again. Sami got his nose broken, Jamie didn’t want to be left out, so got his rib broken and Momo broke his duck. 3 points - we should’ve got 3points anyway but still a relief frankly. The more we do this the more the expectation of ‘winning’ will appear and hopefully realised. The End.

well not quite..

We could’ve scored in the first 30seconds, but so could have they. We did score when Momo did what Riise ought to do and that’s keep the ball DOWN when shooting. Pleased for Momo, now destined the eternal subject of a pub trivia question “Who scored Liverpool’s 7000th League Goal”. Torres frightened the defence again. It reminds me of Owen’s first season where defences didn’t know how to play against him. Long may it stay that way.

Felt sorry for Sami - getting a good start and playing well, then that’s the Finnish nose finished.. Carra probably could do with a rest and I wish him a speedy recovery. Agger looked like he was still asleep, or playing the Irish still.. Otherwise Voronin (aka some 70’s rocker/that guy from Highlander no-one liked/Franics Rossi from Status Quo/ the 2nd henchman always to be killed in Lethal Weapon 31) and Torres had a good game for me and for once we nearly didn’t miss Stevie. Sometimes I wonder if Xabi grows in stature when he is the number 1 midfielder - his passing the crispest I’ve seen this season. Mind you, we were also rotten at times, giving the ball away like it was a ticket to a Roy Keane anger management course.

Pennant, true to his name, fluttered in the breeze - sometimes brilliant, sometimes like Lionel Richie. Hello ? keep it up son, you’re getting there.

Either way happy days from the North East. When we pick up points from that area, its a good season.

A simple thought.
All those ‘Engurland’ fans who criticise Jamie Carragher for putting Club before Country, think about this. What does it mean to support a team, where the majority of the supporters celebrate a match with distinguished opponents in the great new national stadium by booing the national anthem of that team.
By managing to spend most of the match singing along to a banal drum and brass band sponsored by a so called newspaper that spends most of its time slagging off the manager and by booing every touch and kick by not only the opposition but by your own players that you don’t like.
I’d be embarassed to play for a team let alone support one.
Club or country ? easy. I have the utmost respect for any player playing for their national team and to boo them or their national anthem is just ridiculous. The outrage expressed by England fans when some foreign fans have the temerity to comment on our team or players, is hypocritical beyond belief - but hey ho, why not try and kick their heads in. That’s a good idea. Shame on all of you small minded boo boys.

That’s me right now.

It’s not the winning really (well it is) but the fact that I really really couldn’t stand it if they beat us. It’s the boasting by Jose, the gloating by Drogba, the eating bleating of Lampard… The press pointing out gleefully our and Rafa’s failings…

No, I’m nervous today because as Kevin once said, I’d love it if we beat them.

But more importantly we can and should now. We have a team confident that we can. We are playing at ours, and that makes them nervous, and most importantly of all, we know we can beat them. They’re not untouchables. They’re not footballing gods, they’re a team of good, committed footballers.

But so are we. We are Liverpool. Walk on. And run off proud, smiling, cheering and victorious.

Luckily I live in a Chelsea-fan freezone, a blessing these days and wouldn’t have to endure the taunts of those who claim to have followed the blues since before the Shed was but a pre-pack in B&Q, but even so, I couldn’t bear it to lose to them. Not today. Not ever.

So, like watching Dr Who as a kid, I’ll be watching through nervous fingers. But knowing we can beat them fair and square.

There’s nothing more likely to bring out the child in me than a Liverpool match on a workday afternoon. The furtive sneaking from the office, the joy of the illicit pint, it takes me right back to wagging double maths on a Monday morning, although I was a vodka drinker back then…

So yesterday afternoon I settled down in the local ready to watch what may be the most important tie of the year for Liverpool FC, or at least their accountants. As the media remind us ad nauseum, failure to qualify for the league stages would have disastrous consequences for the balance sheet, not to mention the humiliation of missing the business end of the European season. So plenty at stake, an attacking lineup with Gerrard in his favoured position and even some unseasonal summer weather, sunshine no less, to savour, at least on the telly. What more could one ask for?

Well, something approaching a football match would’ve been nice. Despite their scary sounding name Toulose were a poor side. Overly defensive considering the prize on offer they struggled to mount one shot on target in a first half controlled by Liverpool. The tedium was already mounting when Rick Parfitt got onto a Crouch header and unleashed a wonderful strike into the top corner.

To be fair, the French side had a bit more of the play after the break. Elmander had a couple of half chances and will need careful supervision at Anfield but the rest of the game passed in much the same vein as the first half. Even as a fan I found myself looking at my watch with the kind of angry expression more akin to the Old Trafford moaner in chief.

I didn’t need to stick around for the post match interviews to know that Rafa would be happy to have ‘controlled the game’. I’m also not one to prize an adventurous loss over a boring win. If the end of the season sees us celebrating in Moscow I’d happily play the same match another 14 times, but next time I play truant I hope to see a better game than that one.

Over the past few seasons I’ve always felt Liverpool’s squad was strong, and that maybe all we needed was a player or two with an extra touch of class to drive us forward.
However, looking at our teams for the opening two games one of the most noticeable things has been the strength of the players left out of the starting eleven. For our game against Toulouse, our bench read: Itandje, Agger, Riise, Torres, Alonso, Kuyt, Sissoko. Jermaine Pennant had been left back home. On Saturday against Aston Villa, three of yesterday’s starters (Mascherano, Crouch and Benayoun) were left at home as we went chasing our first league win of the season.

Manchester United benefitted last season from a great injury free run for most of the season. Whether or not we now have those players with the extra bit of quality to win us the title, we look stronger than ever in terms of the ability to cope with any injury crisis that should hit, which can only be good news for the upcoming season.

Regardless of one’s love or hatred for all things Murdoch, how refreshing and lovely it was to NOT hear Andy Gray’s moaningdulcet tones on our match yesterday. Nothing to do with the choice of broadcaster but rather the man in charge of the 2nd lip mic.

Now I dislike 5:15 games. Marginally less than the 12:45 ones, but still its just not right. However he who pays the referee calls the kick off time, and so 5:15 it must be.

But thankfully now, due to competition within the broadcasters that float in space, we have other commentators and smooth Des and most importantly, not Andy Gray and his trying-to-sound-impressive-with-a-baritone-voice that isn’t. Even ALed Jones can make a game sound more interesting than him. I mean how many bloody times does Gray intone the word “FANTASTICCCCCC….” only for it not to be. Watch Des on Countdown repeats and get a new word Andy.

The SKY maybe still Gray, but there’s blue yonder from the Green Isle. Happy Days.

PS why does our away kit shorts look like we’ve ripped the arse out of them, baring red undies to one and all ?

nb this isn’t by me, rather a writer on RAWK but I feel deserves a wider audience…

“No, this letter isn’t  a critique of some clueless twerp in the Anfield Road End called Rupert, with his Soccer a.m. ‘Who are Ya ?’ mentality – painful though his presence at the match is – that would be too ironic coming from a supporter with a name like mine !

No, this little rant’s for you Mr. Murdoch.  I doubt you’ll be losing much sleep over it, but it makes me feel great to write this, so here goes.

Well, Mr. Murdoch I did it. I’ve opened a beer, the rest of the crate is in the fridge and I’m all set for a start-of-season barbecue with my mates. There’ve been many such parties since I moved in here exactly 10 years ago, but this one’s not to celebrate that anniversary, nor even to celebrate the fact that 20 years ago this week me and one of those same mates were at Highbury to see the debut of Barnes, Beardsley and Aldridge… No, it’s not even to celebrate the fact that 30 years ago yesterday King Kenny signed for Liverpool …

No, it’s a FIFTEEN year thing, this little personal celebration of mine today. For the first time in 15 years I can watch league footy at home. I’ll be watching a channel called Setanta and celebrating the fact that I got through 15 years of your monopoly on live league football without  ever getting your channels, without ever paying you a penny. I’ve just raised my first glass of fine cold beer to that - and it’s not the piss that gets advertised on your channel either !

I suppose someone was always to steal our game in the nineties and gentrify and  americanise it - it was always going to happen as Britain got richer, and everything that moved was made into a privatised and commercialised commodity; football’s obvious  problems were there to be exploited by the likes of you in oh-so-many ways. Yes, someone had to do it - I was just sick that it had to be you, Rupert. You and your dynasty may be despicable, but I have to admire your nose for an opportunity. To quote this month’s When Saturday Comes magazine:

“Football is a game played by 22 men- and then Germany win. Substitute Sky in for Germany and you have a reasonable summary of televised football – until now.”

It was always scandalous that you won the monopoly so easily and so cheaply from your friends in the establishment and that it carried on so long, especially after the government got involved and at first promised to change things in 2003 – but then changed their minds - I wonder what promises you had to give Mr. Blair to survive that one, Rupert ?  You’ve had governments in your pocket (and return been in theirs) for a quarter of a century, so you thought nobody could do anything about it. Then along comes the European Commission (I’m drinking a toast to them too - oh how you must hate their inconvenient penchant for fairness and transparency eh Rup ?), and in the name of good old competition. That’s com-pet-it-ion, Rupert – surely you recognise the concept, you being the arch Thatcherite and all ? 

So suddenly you have  a rival, a company named Setanta.  Named after the boyhood title of that great hero of Irish mythology, Cúchulainn, who acquired his later name from the evil hound he slew with a hurling ball rammed down its throat – a David  and Goliath story, if you like. Well here’s one in the eye for you, Rupert, from a company that started as an upstart, showing the upstart Irish team at the 1990 Mondiali to the upstart Irish community in London. Cuchulainn’s original name was Setanta “the little one”.

“When we went international, we thought at first that we should change the name,” their joint founder Michael O’Rourke said, in an interview earlier this yaer. “But it’s part of where we came from, and we’re quite fond of it now.”

To use some appropriate broadcasting clichés they have become the dark horse of broadcasting, the minow that is now a shark, the outsider that has come from nowhere to secure some of the UK’s most coveted premium sports rights: the US PGA Tour golf, the Scottish Premier League and 46 live FA Premier League games per season, effective from today : Aston Villa v. the Mighty Reds

A toast to Setanta for having the balls ! I think I’d better crack open another bottle already …

Now I’m sure Setanta aren’t perfect - in fact some of their new employees inevitably used to work for you - and I doubt that all of the half a billion quid they’ve had to raise for their league, FA Cup and international bids has come from purer-than-pure sources, but at least they aren’t you, Mr. Murdoch !  In this case, for now at least, my enemy’s enemy is my friend. At least they haven’t built and empire based on a business plan of telling lies – constant, endless lies, to support the establishment, to play on prejudice, and to fight any restraint of the excesses of men like you.

Yes, you’ve peddled lies to support the establishment of the UK and latterly various other countries and make yourself indispensable, stories like the Hillsborough  ‘Truth’  lies, on a daily basis, for 30 years now, hiring yes-man editors like Mackezie, the arch-vermin, to do it for you. I accept that it would never have worked for the Hillsborough groups and  Liverpudlians to extend their ‘official’ boycott of the Sun to all Murdoch products, because that way the boycott would have been considerably diluted and have had far less chance of holding, but nevertheless I have long been surprised that more individual  Liverpudlians do not personally shun all things Murdoch, namely: the Times, NoTW, News International, Sky, Fox TV productions, My Space - the lot.  It seems odd, for example, that people not giving Murdoch his 40p a day for one lot of lies would subscribe to another lot for £1 a day … but there you go, people are inconsistent.

Anyway, at least some of them can fight you now by giving money to your rivals every month, and hopefully many will be cancelling their direct debit to you. Like I say, I doubt you’ll be losing any sleep. But it certainly makes me feel better and I’ll drink to that.

Of course it’s just a coincidence that the era of your monopoly of the televised game coincided with that of the Manchester United PLC on the pitch, but it made such symbolic sense when you tried to buy them a few years back and link your two evil empires together into one great malignant entity … so I just can’t help associating you together. Sky loves Man U … because real football, of course, began in 1992 …and I hate you both.  Now that your monopoly has ended I just feel …well I’ve made it clear what I feel - this could the beginning of a whole new era on and off the pitch! There’s even a new LFC TV channel to help Setanta in its rivalry with Sky, and it seems like one more step in us catching back up with the Mancs…

So Setanta has finally motivated me to get cable (I live in an area with no digital coverage) so it’s brought with it all the freeview  TV channels & digital radio reception,  and I’m in love with it all right away ! Can’t wait for the LFC TV channel to start, and to be able to watch and analyse all the Reds’ games the day after… with Serie A thrown in too …and all of that for £8 a month if you’re already a Virgin customer (yes Mr. Murdoch, I hate you that much you’ve turned me into a salesman for your rivals).

Could this be a new dawn, along with the new dawns of hope offered by the new signings, the new youth policy, the new ground  and  the new efforts to improve atmosphere on the Kop ? I certainly hope so ! I’ve not been so excited about a new season since I was a kid. Now I’ve just got to try not to drink all the beer before my mates get here …”

Nige

Not since 2002/03 have we won the first match of the season when we’re away.

So three points from today’s start of the long long Tour De PremierShip (seems to be starting earlier and earlier each year) was imperative. And also crucial if we are to keep the Benitez-baiters at the door.

“Ooh no excuses for Rafa anymore” they cry. As if he’s been shit up til now…Well ‘excuse’ me - this guy has brought us 2 Champions League finals in 3 years, and an FA Cup so far in his shortish reign.

But the reign from Spain as they say… It is about time Liverpool made a real and proper effort to win the league, or at least finish within El Hadj Diouf distance of the team that finished first..

So to Villa, a potentially tricky game if O’Neill’s motivational magic was still in operation. But Villa fans are in two minds about their signings, and sure enough Luke Young was the only one who looked really hot today for them. And perhaps Taylor, the replacement Goalie as they couldn’t count on Carson being as we’d lent him.

Plus Ca Change is the way some would sum up the match. We should’ve won it 4-1, but we didn’t. So to all appearances are Liverpool in the same position ? Not taking chances, not finishing teams off ? Still a bit shaky inbetween defence and midfield ? and so forth ?

Well yes and no. For me, the exciting news was the ease at which the young matador, Torres el toro fitted into the side. He didn’t let himself be pushed around and wave his hands all upset when he was repeatedly fouled, no, he showed some real class, definite pace, AND the willingness to run at defenders with the ball. My god, one of our strikers doing that ?

Anyway, as ever Dirk’s non stop running caused our first goal, looking more like Fairclough every day, Kuyt chased the ball to flick it back in, only for Laursen to score his finest flick shot ever. In his own goal.

They got a soft penalty, Riise ran around a lot. Arbeloa had a mixed game for me, Carragher or Gerrard deserved man of the match, Carra losing it for the handball, and Gerrard winning it for bending like Beckham. Just cos we’ve got US owners, doesn’t mean Gerrard has to play like a player in the MSL but he’s welcome to repeat that feat…

Babel looked terrific, real imagination and well, just, different stuff. The kind of thing Luis would do, only Babel’s about 90mph faster.

But he also missed an easy shot, so all in all a good start, but not perfect. Voronin ran his stout legs off too, and it’ll be nice to see them gel together as the season goes on.

Pennant needs to show pennance for being petulant and needs to learn to cross the ball to one of us, but otherwise he and Finnan worked well together.

3 points and happy days - already we’re better off than last season, and as a bonus ball we don’t have Neil Warnock whinging on post match. But we do have O’Nearly… oh well… Off to Toulouse. To win.

So, that’s pre-season over, we went through our preperations unbeaten, and still managed to avoid winning two trophies (well, one trophy, and some kind of strange porcelain thing that wouldn’t have looked out of place had Hugh Scully been fawning over it).

More importantly, we go into the season with a full week to prepare, no injuries (tonights game was not a final, so I think when Harry went off it was tactical, not the compulsory final injury). The team, based on the most recent evidence, seems to have a bit of fire in their belly, and all the new players have had a decent amount of minutes and time to settle in. All new signings have, in fits and starts and in varying degrees, impressed, and not one looks, at this very early stage, like a bad signing.

We have quite possibly the best fist team, and the best squad overall, that we’ve had for almost twenty years, a great manager, and an encourging sense of positivity surrounds the entire club. Big money is being spent (though the net spend is in line with, or lower, than previous years), and a big stadium on the way. The big players have all been tied to long term contracts, and the fans have big hopes.

Expectactions will, of course, be high - we’re LFC, and they always are - but whatever happens, I’m just glad it’s football time again!

Let’s finally get that number 19!