4-3 last year, 4-2 last night, it seems Reading and us have a joint agreement to play high scoring games, without neccessarily being any good … Lets be honest, the only high quality bits of last night’s game was Torres’ goals and Gerrard/Riise’s passes to him. And Benayoun’s neat run in the box.

Otherwise it wasn’t a pretty game but all the same Rafa once again demonstrated his endless capacity for the unusual by playing Torres from the start when we expected a team made up of 4 stewards, 3 tea-ladies, the under-12’s goalie (as a striker), that guy in the back row who starts the Oh When The Reds chant after 24 mins and two reserve team players.

Anyway we won, perhaps Rafa is still smarting from Burnley and the FA Cup, who knows, but I have to say its a joy watching a Liverpool striker running at defenders, not receiving the ball at his feet, back to goal.

The team played vaguely well but it was obvious the defence hadn’t been introduced. Nor the linesman to the offside rule. But on we go. Probably get Arsenal at home next…

After a disappointing draw to Brum at home, we’ve had more kneejerks than a Nazi march-past. But when is it acceptable to moan and when is it just a nonsense whinge of someone who doesn’t understand the modern game and isn’t backing the manager ?

The answer my friend isn’t blowin in the wind but used to stay in the pub. Before this marvellous world of anonymous keyboard warriors we all went down the pub and kept our opinions to our own. Liverpool fan to Liverpool fan, friend to friend and so on. All of us face to face with someone we knew - and that we thought they knew about the game or they were talking out their arse.

But now, anyone’s free to write what they think, (usually before they think to be fair) and the rest of us throw up our hands in despair.

All of us were frustrated after Saturday. Maybe the web forums need a kneejerk thread where up to 8 hours after a game, everyone inflamed with passion can spout off to their hearts content..

The problem is that, some people genuinely believe, for eg, that Rafa is wrong to rotate. And some don’t. There has to be a platform for both. Perhaps its in the language we use… “KICK RAFA OUT” is obviously shite, but “Grr fuckin’ rotation - I hate it” - is that all bad?

My personal feeling is that posts of 10 words or less should be deleted. Posts where feeling followed by opinion to back it up - better.

Who knows, who knows when is a kneejerk not a kneejerk?

Personally I trust my manager to get it right even if he winds me up sometimes. Then again, if Gerrard had been up to it, Xabi fit and others on their game, the threads’ would have been very different.

what do I know?

A strange week all in with the two performances against Pompey and Porto leaving questions galore down Anfield way:

Pompey was poor. It’s always a difficult place to visit and with it being a Saturday 12:45pm kick off following the internationals, and with Carragher, Gerrard and Finnan all struggling to make the matchday squad and Riise missing out, a point wasn’t a bad result. The press and media went to town on rotation again, ignoring the fact that Rafa rotates as much as both Ferguson and the now dearly departed Mourinho. 118 changes in 38 games in 06/07 for Rafa; 118 changes in 38 games in Ferguson winning the title in 06/07; 118 changes in 38 games in Mourinho winning the title in 05/06. Both Alonso and Sissoko has been in excellent form this season so Gerrard was no great miss, especially if you had watched his efforts v Russia for England and subsequently away to Porto. He simply doesn’t look fit after his toe injury. The only contentious choice was leaving Torres on the bench after his trip to Iceland. Probably caught a cold.

Porto was poorer. The “big guns” were back in the team. Unfortunately the kitman forgot to pack the bullets. The back four looked nervy, the midfield as if they’d never played together and the front two adrift. With the honourable exception of Kuyt the rest looked like they’d been on a week long magical mystery tour via Amsterdam, Hamburg and the side streets of Las Ramblas. It was only after Pennant’s idiotic sending off that a collective alarm call rang and the lads got down to the nitty gritty of securing a valuable point in what should be our most difficult away game.

The metatarsal injuries to Alonso and Agger prior to the game will mean they’ll both be out for 5-6 weeks. There’s plenty of cover for Alonso with Gerrard, Sissoko and Mascerano in the squad along with the young U20 Brazilian captain Lucas Leiva who may now get his chance to play a few games. Agger’s cover is a different matter - it was no secret that Rafa was desperately trying to secure another central defender this summer and the failure of Henize to secure his release to us leaves the squad threadbare at the back. Sami Hyypia will deputise admirably but there’ll be concerns over whether he can cope with two games a week at his age. Arbeloa has played at centreback for Deportivo so could theoretically step in, but after that it’s down to the youth players such as Jack Hobbs and Mikel San Jose.

Elsewhere we’ve had Big Fat Sam opening his Big Fat Mouth to spout some Big Fat Nonsense. Perhaps he’s still a little sore that he received short shrift from the Liverpool board when he made his interest in the manager’s job known on Gerrard Houllier’s departure? Or he could merely be playing the media game in an attempt to stall for time as he wonders how he can fit Michael Owen into his peculiar brand of long-ball, long-throw in football? Here’s a dreadful finish for you Mr Allardyce: 9th. Liverpool haven’t finished that low in the 45 seasons since Shankly won promotion in 1961-62. That’s the minimum target I’m setting you at the big club you’ve always yearned to manage.

I’ll be sad to see Jose Mourinho leave Chelsea. It’ll make those semi-finals so much harder for us. It wasn’t sexy football that Roman wanted, just a crowd that turned up and a tactic other than throw the big centre half up front when in need of a goal. In the end Rafa was the rock on which Jose founded.

And finally I was filled with horror when I heard that ITV had axed the British Comedy Awards today, I was looking forward to Everton sweeping the board. From the ticket fiasco prior to last night’s delayed game, through the two missed penalties one of which is just about to land in Kharkiv, having to hire in Johnny Vegas and Claire Sweeney to add some glamour, Keith Wyness asleep in the director’s box, being outplayed by nine men and Kevin Ratcliffe calling the opposition Metatarsal, I’ve not laughed as hard in years.

Who said they don’t write comedies like they used to?