Goals: Liverpool 2 v 2 Everton

All the goals from  Anfield as Liverpool drew 2 v 2 with Everton in the Merseyside derby on Sunday January 16th 2011.

1 – 0 : Meireles 29mins (LFC)

1 – 1 : Distin 46mins (Everton)

1 – 2 : Beckford 52mins (Everton)

2 – 2 : Kuyt 68mins (LFC)

Image Source: Daylife
Video Source: matchhighlight.com

Photos: Liverpool 2 v 1 Bolton Wanderers

Liverpool 2 v 1 Bolton Wanderers
Saturday January 1st 2011 - Premier League (H)

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Goals: Liverpool 2 v 1 Bolton Wanderers

All the goals from Liverpool’s 2 v 1 win over Bolton Wanderers at Anfield on Saturday January 1st 2011.

0 – 1 : Bolton (Kevin Davies 43mins)

1 – 1 : Liverpool (Fernando Torres 49mins)

2 – 1 : Liverpool (Joe Cole 90 + 2 mins)

Video Source: Matchhighlight.com
Image Source: Daylife

Liverpool v Bolton Preview

As the Liverpool players were booed off the pitch on Wednesday night after a woeful display against Wolves resulting in defeat,  it was the name of “Dalglish” that resounded from the stands, a cry for help from the Anfield idol.

Today the players take to the pitch once more  against Bolton, the King having spoken, the clubs current ambassador and head of football development asking for unity within the club. Dalglish offered his thoughts on the matter:

“Everyone - whether players, supporters, staff or whatever - has to throw everything towards the one aim and that is to get us three badly needed points from the game against Bolton today.”

“Because if everyone sticks together we’ll have a better chance of getting those three points.

“Then if we want to have a discussion after that, we can.”

“But the three points for the club is more important than any single person and how they feel.”

It is more than likely that Dalglish will get his wish, regardless of the result as when his words of wisdom are offered, there are no raised eyebrows or palms clasped to the face in anguish, just silence as people listen and more often than not hang on his every word. More than a decade out of management he maybe but respect is still very much real time.

Liverpool take to the field minus the weary Steven Gerrard, the captain taking his place on the bench alongside Jones, Cole, Babel, Kelly, Poulsen, & Kyrgiakos with Paul Konchesky removed from the firing line. Gerrard having played 90 minutes on his return from a lengthy injury layoff against Wolves saw the Bolton game come just a little too quickly to don the captains armband for a second time in a week.

Liverpool fans will take faith from a starting line up that see’s not only an increase of technical ability in the form of Fabio Aurelio and the long missing Daniel Agger return in the back four but more width in the form of Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt on the flanks with Lucas Leiva and Raul Meireles harnessing the midfield. Some natural balance restored on paper at least.

Bolton look to Elmander and Davies to lead the line and provide some combative invention to keep Skrtel and Agger on their toes, trying to find the net at Anfield for the first time since 2003. The once forbidding venue may not seem to be as strong as it once was to a number of teams including the likes of Northampton, Blackpool this season and most recently Wolves but it has not yielded a league win for a Trotters side since 1954.

While Roy Hodgson’s see’s his Liverpool career hanging by a knife edge, possibly even regardless of the result, the players will need to look to provide a performance worthy of the Liverpool shirt, they are lucky to have their shirts present as they should have been thrown to the crowd in apology on Wednesday night.

The January transfer window is now open, time will tell if it brings new arrivals or provides an insight in to the vision of John Henry and his colleagues but talent most certainly already exists within the L4 camp, they just need to believe it themselves and show it for their own pride and that of the fans, regardless if belief in the manager that selects them exists.

Expected Line Ups:

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Aurelio, Kuyt, Lucas, Meireles, Maxi, Torres, Ngog.
Subs: Jones, Gerrard, Cole, Kyrgiakos, Babel, Poulsen, Kelly.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Alonso, Moreno, Mark Davies, Muamba, Taylor, Elmander, Kevin Davies.
Subs: Bogdan, Petrov, Klasnic, Blake.

Liverpool v Bolton Confirmed Line Up

Fanzone: Barclay, Winter & Hodgson – The Z Team

An article by Taf McDonald from the Invincible Bastion. You can follow Taf on Twitter at @mcdonaldtaf

That fine purveyor of wind up Patrick Barclay was ‘at it’ again after the Wolves game. His tweet of “‘Hodgson for England’ is the new Kop wit. They might equally have tried a twist on the Brighton replay classic…” was followed by “”Stevie Gerrard, Stevie Gerrard, what a difference you have made, what a difference…”” There’s no doubting who Paddy thinks should shoulder the blame. Although it is fair to point out that he did acknowledge things hadn’t progressed as he expected under Hodgson and that Rafa was a good manager – SHOCK! There were little glimmers of sense until “But naturally I hope Roy survives. Good man, good manager. Gather he’s said sorry to fans. Tis the season for apologies, apparently.”

Meanwhile across the street another of the journo twitterati, Henry Winter was telling us “Shocking loss for #lfc & Hodgson. Experienced manager dealing with long-term probs & some of own making. If goes, Dalglish short-term option”. I manage to take Barclay as a wind up merchant, I tend to see him sat behind his laptop laughing his head off. Winter I always envisage sitting there with an evil smile on his face. That’s just my opinion, mind.

The question is though how some people remain completely out of sync with the majority. Winter talks of ‘long term problems’ and yes we’re all aware of them, but are they really that major now? Talk to others who work within the club and they’ll tell you how things have changed in a very short time under NESV. There is a shared vision coupled with a new openness, which has seen a significant bounce effect. So I think Winter is suggesting that while the fans and staff  feel more optimistic about the new ownership a dark cloud remains over the dressing room. That doesn’t make sense to me.

It became very apparent that fractures from the old regime had spread to the dressing room. I personally think that some players took advantage of the power vacuum created by the warring parties (which included Rafa Benitez). I still believe that Rafa was fighting for us, but by playing the games (while enduring a poor season by his own standards) it allowed others to de-stabilize the dressing room, to meet their own ends. So yes there were problems within the dressing room. But surely the new manager was to deal with these problems; that was the whole point of him coming in. Yet six months into Roy’s tenure and the ominous signs of slumped shoulders and disinterested looks appear worse than ever.

Henry may instead be referring to the poor squad he was left behind. It seems to be an argument, as flawed as it may be, which is bandied about fleet street all too often. Should they be placed on the market there will be plenty of interest in the likes of Reina, Johnson, Agger, Gerrard and Torres from the top European clubs while Mascherano and Aquilani had both been let go. The latter now delivering the full package for Juve after showing glimpses last season. Roy also had the opportunity to bring in some fresh quality, but wasted it by signing Poulsen, Konchesky and (possibly) Joe Cole. Rafa’s first signings for Liverpool included Alonso and Luis Garcia – quite a difference in terms of quality and most importantly value!

It’s interesting to note that sections of the media were arguing last year that off field shenanigans shouldn’t have had any affect on the on-field performances. Even at it’s most turbulent they continually argued that the team would remain in the eye of the storm with the sun shining down. Yet now the storm has dissipated to a mild bluster and the clean up operation is under way it’s to be used as an excuse for Roy?

So why does Patrick Barclay hope that Roy retains his job? Because he’s a nice guy. Oh, that’s alright then. He’s a good manager Patrick tells us. I’m not going to argue with that, but as one of the top clubs in the world don’t we deserve better than ‘good’? It is apparent to most that Roy Hodgson has struggled at any of the top clubs he has managed. He is set in his ways and his formations coupled with static tactics do not work at top clubs. At this moment we remain a top club. Maybe Winter and Barclay would like to see that change. I can see no other reason, even with it being the season for apologies and goodwill to all men, for their persistent defence of a man clearly out of his depth.

Fanzone: Roy Hodgson Will Never Understand The Liverpool Fans

An article by Jim Boardman, editor of www.anfieldroad.com, reproduced from The Telegraph on January 1st 2011. You can follow Jim on Twitter at @jimboardman

Liverpool’s results this season are now so bad that they’re being compared to the days before Bill Shankly arrived and revolutionised the club. There’s no passion from the players, but it’s hardly surprising when the manager rarely seems too concerned by defeat.

That manager, Roy Hodgson, was hardly a popular appointment, even among those supporters who wanted a change. But fans were willing to give him some time, to try and help him be a success in the job. But Roy never once tried to engage with the fans – now it seems he’s attacking them.

He acts like he’s not here for our benefit. His comments about fans not being supporters were hardly a surprise. All he seemed to do was put into words what we’d already worked out his opinion of us must be.

Compare that to Shankly, who once said: “I’d played at Anfield and I knew the crowd were fantastic. I knew there was a public just waiting. So I fought the battles inside and outside. I was interested in only one thing, success for the club. And that meant success for the people. I wanted results for the club, for the love of the game, to make the people happy.”

And it goes without saying - he made the people happy. Not only that, but his successors were in the job for the same reasons. Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish continued the success that Shankly had begun. It got to a point where fans expected at least a league title or a European Cup at the end of every season. For a long time they got exactly that.

But deep down it wasn’t the silverware that really mattered. It was the fact they were doing all they could to make us happy. And in return we did all we could to help them do that. They didn’t see themselves as better than any single fan. And they were fans like the rest of us, there’s no doubt about that. They’d never dream of dismissing our concerns or talking like our support should be something they could take for granted.

In 1989 Kenny Dalglish was there for the families, the survivors and the fans in the awful aftermath of Hillsborough. He went to funerals, he took far too much on his own shoulders until in the end he had to step down. He needed a break; he deserved some time to do his own grieving about what had happened.

Graeme Souness harmed his relationship with fans when he made a decision to sell his story to the paper we don’t buy. Roy Evans succeeded him and never once could anyone question his motives – but as a son of the bootroom that was hardly a surprise. He did all he could, and he did it for us. It just wasn’t quite enough, but he never once suggested we were wrong and he was right.

Even Gerard Houllier understood how important and integral to Liverpool FC the fans really are.

When thousands of fans marched in support of Rafael Benítez, angered by stories that the previous owners were about to sack him, the bond was perhaps more visible than it had been since Dalglish left.

We support the club, not the manager. But the manager will get support by default if we feel he’s fighting for the good of the club, that he’s giving his all.

There’s never once been that feeling about Roy Hodgson. From day one he seems to have been more focussed on blowing his own trumpet and blaming others than on fighting for the club the supporters hold so dear.

He doesn’t get us, he never will. We need someone who can, someone who will.

Spurs v Liverpool Confirmed Line Up

The Liverpool FC line up v Spurs for the Premier League fixture at White Hart Lane on Sunday November 28th  2010, has been confirmed as follows:

Starting 11:
Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Konchesky, Lucas, Meireles, Rodriguez, Kuyt, Ngog, Torres

Subs:
Jones, Cole, Kyrgiakos, Aurelio, Babel, Pouslen, Jovanovic

Spurs v Liverpool Preview

Liverpool head off to White Hart Lane for their next Premier League encounter, 3 points separating them from ‘Arry’s Boys in the table where they sit 9th and 6th respectively behind a top four that are starting to pull away from the chasing pack.

The Reds haven’t travelled well under the guidance of Roy Hodgson, whose away statistics throughout his career are best left to one side and looked at only when your optimism is at its highest. Liverpool take advantage of no midweek fixture to tire them in the run up to this game, while Spurs 3-0 home win in the Champions League over Werder Bremen may keep confidence levels at a premium but previous league fixtures after European jaunts have seen his side look both jaded and disorganised at times.

Roy Hodgson takes his side to London minus influential captain Steven Gerrard, still missing following a hamstring tear on England duty, he misses out along with young midfielder Jay Spearing (ankle) and Daniel Agger who is still troubled by a long term calf injury. The added week of rest has seen the Liverpool manager once again be able to call upon the services of Joe Cole, who continues to search for a run of form following his free transfer arrival in the summer and he maybe provided with the opportunity from the bench to trouble his former West Ham mentor Harry Redknapp. Lucas Leiva also returns to the squad after seeing out his one match ban following a late sending off against Stoke and the Brazillian will hope that he secures a place alongside Raul Meireles in central midfield at the expense of Christian Poulsen who came back in to the side to face West Ham.

The injury front is a little more unkind to Spurs though as they are still troubled by the longer term absences of Dawson (knee), Huddlestone (ankle), O’Hara (Back), King (groin) and Woodgate (Groin/Pelvis).  They also have minor complications with Jenas (calf) and Dos Santos (abdominal strain) but despite the ankle injury sustained by heavily influential Dutchman Van Der Vaart, he is expected to be available to face fellow countryman Dirk Kuyt.

The last two clashes of the sides at the Lane have seen Spurs come away with all 3 points and 2-1 victories, a statistic Hodgson will be hoping third time lucky can rectify. Despite conceding the first goal in eight of their last 11 Premier League outings, Tottenham look for their third victory in a row for the first time this season after emerging triumphant over both Blackburn and local rivals Arsenal in recent encounters.

Liverpool have seen four wins, a draw and a defeat from their last 6 ventures in the Premier League and despite the heavy criticism that seems to be never than more than a step behind Roy Hodgson, it is form that is only surpassed by league leaders Manchester United leading up to this weekends fixtures.  Liverpool will also take some heart from the fact that Spurs have only once managed to keep a clean sheet against them in the last 15 clashes between the sides in all competitions. The subject of clean sheets is one also on the agenda of Liverpool’s Spanish keeper Pepe Reina, who is just one more shut out away from 100 clean sheets for the club in just 196 appearances. A record that he will take from another player with an allegiance to both sides in the form of Ray Clemence, who took 217 matches to meet the same milestone in his time in L4.

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Poll: Is The EPL Evolving?

Liverpool’s problems in recent months, even years, have been very well documented but is unrest and off field problems and failings at the leading Premier League sides the cause of a much closer EPL end to end or has competition just stepped up across the board?

Manchester United’s finances continue to come under scrutiny while Wayne Rooney thought he wanted pastures new, across the City at Eastlands Manchester City’s star studded squad looks set for a January sale as Mancini continues to play too much of a defensive card with his attacking talent for many a fans liking.

In London we have seen at Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti show his dissatisfaction and surprise at Ray Wilkins removed from the club at and Arnessen confirmed his resignation for the end of the season this morning. Add in Arsenal still searching for a stronger spine to the team and Spurs feeling the new effects of how a Champions League campaign can impact your Premier League form and the so called lower sides in England’s top flights have found more than a few things in their favour at times.

Or are the likes of Stoke, Blackburn, Bolton, Birmingham and those also freshly promoted just a lot better than many give them credit for?

You decide.

VOTE HERE!