Fernando WHO? What went wrong?

Everyone catched it at the weekend, unmissable really, the tie between Chelsea and Liverpool and it was made more interesting with all the hype surrounding the Fernando Torres transfer. Going in to the game, both contestants had identical records of having won their last three games. Chelsea, having got through probably their worst patch of form in more than 5 years, were looking to put one over a Fernando Torres-less Liverpool. On the other side of the fence, The Merseysiders were probably distraught at losing their hitman, and were filled with anger maybe, which fueled them going into the game.

Carlo Anxious-lotti was probably just that, as he was eager to give Torres as start after less than a week at the club. It was made even more surprising after the exclusion of Florent Malouda. The Frenchman does bring some needed width to the Chelsea team and he would be sorely missed on the night. That mean that Chelsea had a three-pronged attack, the last being Anelka. The midfield and defense remained the same with David Luiz on the bench. Kenny Dalglish played his cards right by going with a five man defense with three in the centre, (Carragher, Skrtel, Agger) and Johnson resumed his role on the left with Kelly on the opposite wing. Kuyt was the lone man upfront for the Reds and the midfield was pretty much the same.

I won't waste time going through what went on the game as millions watched it. Liverpool won it, deservedly so and Chelsea were made fools really, after splashing out vast amounts of money, yet never threatening much. I'll leave it at that I think.

The surprising thing (which proved to be a masterstroke) was Luis Suarez was left on the bench. Ancelotti, the master tactician he is, failed miserably on the night. He bizarrely, couldn't come up with ideas to break into the Liverpool defense. At the start, Dalglish got one over on him by deploying three men at the back. Ancelotti knew it was not working after half an hour, yet still remained quiet. In the first half, he should've moved Essien to the right and Anelka out left. That would've at least dragged out the Liverpool centre backs. In turn, it would have enabled Torres to get in-behind the defense which did not happen all afternoon.

At half time, he didn't do anything either. He should've brought Malouda and Kalou on for Anelka and Mikel. He was missing from the game really. Defenders love having to defend players in front of them rather than behind and Sunday was a clear evidence.

An interesting statistic was that when Torres was at Atletico, they did not win any trophies. Then, he moved to Liverpool and became their best player, but again no trophies to show for it. Now, he's at Chelsea. Will history repeat itself?


Jay Jay

Aftermath of " We will win the derby because of me"

Many Liverpudlians watched the derby last night, mostly filled with hope rather than outright confidence. They went into the game with two defeats under their new manager. The starting line-ups did not bring any surprise with the exception of Jay Spearing in the middle partnering Brazilian Lucas. During the match, Raul Meireles and Dutchman, Kuyt, were switching roles to support Fernando Torres. Maxi Rodrigues was on the left. For the blue-half of Merseyside, the starters were expected bar Steven Pienaar. The South-African has been under intense speculation of swapping the Everton jersey with that of either Chelsea or Spurs. The latest reports suggest that David Moyes has indeed accepted an offer from Carlo Ancelotti's side, which only leaves personal terms to be agreed.

The game started brightly with Torres having a shot on goal after just ten seconds. Liverpool started the better, pressing the ball high up the park. The pressing game caused Everton some problems but Liverpool were not able to find the breakthrough. Their attitude though, was appllaudable. On the half hour mark, the goal arrived. Glen Johnson, deployed at left-back, strolled down the left and cut inside to deliver a cross. The ball later fell to Kuyt who forced a save out of Tim Howard, who only managed to parry the ball into Raul Meireles' direction. The Portuguese then controlled the ball immediately and drilled the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the box. Liverpool pressed on but couldn't double their advantage and that was it for the half. A couple of the Everton players were noticeably nervous as it was their first time facing the Anfield atmosphere.

Second half was a different story. After 45 seconds, Slyvain Distin put Everton level with a powerful header after a corner kick. Everton seemed to play with more endeavour after the break. Within seven minutes, Jermaine Beckford, who also scored against Manchester United last season, put Everton in front. The ball was knocked long up to Victor Anichebe who had Martin Kelly for company. There was an elbow to Kelly's head but play went on. Leon Osman did brilliantly to escape to defenders and passed the ball to Beckford. He shielded it and shot into the bottom corner. Immediately, Liverpool's players' heads dropped. They didn't give up though, and managed to get an equaliser through a Dirk Kuyt penalty.

The surprising thing was that Dalglish did not make immediate attacking changes to rescue the game after going behind. Ryan Babel and Joe Cole were left on the bench, but Jonjo Shelvy was brought on. For some reason, Dalglish seems to fancy him.

A couple of positives from the game can be taken from the game. First, the attitude of the Liverpool players was good, showing desire and heart to really have a go for the game. 'El Nino' was also playing well and could've scored.

At the end of the day though, points is what matters and they only got one out of two games. The next game coming up is against Wolverhampton. If they don't win, then Kenny Dalglish will be under tremendous pressure. That's all for today.

De-ja-vu-?

The Merseyside derby tonight is going to be a real crunching tie. Both teams are in real need of points, for very different reasons (though they're level on points, Everton being ahead on goal difference). The Toffees are unpredictable to say the least, a wayward season for David Moyes' side which hasn't been helped by injuries to key players as well as the Asian Cup. Their main man (Tim Cahill) is away on duty with The Soccerroos. Aiyegbeni Yakubu being loaned out to Leicester City was a real surprise, considering they have an injury-prone strike force. Louis Saha is sure to start for them and a David Moyes starting 11 is more often than not going to have 5 men in the centre of the park. They were impressive in their FA CUp tie against Scunthorpe. Facing Liverpool is a whole different issue, BUT this is a very sub-par Liverpool, with extremely low confidence. Liverpool on the other hand, fresh after the appointment of 'King' Kenny, (although it has already brought two defeats, mind you).

The latest I read of Liverpool was Dalglish saying " We will win the derby because of me". He reckons that his return to Anfield can give the Kop a huge push towards derby glory. It sounds like a over-confidence to me after a defeat to Blackpool. It also reminds me of the time when former manager Rafa Benitez 'guaranteed' a top-four finish last season and everyone knows where they finished then.

Kenny Dalglish should not come out saying we're going to win because of me, and if they don't, he's certainly going to have a tonne of questions to answer. His appointment as manager was not surprising but had no reason to be made.

My heart goes out to Roy Hodgson because he was never given enough time to turn things around. YES, he had bad results and signings to match it, but he hardly had full backing of the fans. Some were calling him 'ugly face', while others were chanting 'we want Rafa back', 'you're gonna get sacked in the morning', ' Kenny Dalglish as manager' and so on. I can go on and on but it ain't gonna make a difference.

I remember people saying that Leeds & Newcastle were too good to go down and look what happened. Similarities between Newcastle, especially and Liverpool is evident. At St. James', Mike Ashley appointed Alan Shearer, arguably their best player, as manager to save them from the drop. They went on a 8-game winless streak if i'm not mistaken and went down.

Now, we have Liverpool in an identical situation. Dalglish has come in, lost two games, but they played really well against United in the Cup but still lost. I just have a feeling that they have to win tonight to gather some momentum. If they lose, then Liverpool Football Club might be going down. Two defeats against your bitter rivals (United & Everton) is going to be very demoralizing and I cannot see them recovering from that.

Dark clouds in the horizon for the Kop I suppose.