A Big Night...

Thursday 29th April 2010
Europa League Semi Final 2nd Leg v Atletico Madrid (0-1 agg.)

This game comes at a time when Liverpool are in desperate need of something positive in order to salvage something from an otherwise frustratingly mediocre season.

On paper you might be fooled into thinking that tonights game should be a relatively straight forward European home tie against a mid-table Spanish team. However, following last weeks 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid, Liverpool return once again to the hallowed turf of Anfield to do battle in front of their adoring fans knowing that only a win will do, and more than likely a minimum 2 goal margin will be necessary to overcome the opposition.

90 minutes from another European Final. Simple as that. Isn't it?

Steven Gerrard has described it as "a night for heroes". Having lost Fernando Torres to a recurrence of the injury that has dogged his season it now seems that Dirk Kuyt and David N'Gog look set to miss the return leg at Anfield. All eyes could be on Ryan Babel. The 'enigma', the 'frustrator', the 'hero'?

After he was expected to leave the club back in january following a public outburst on Twitter, Babel has turned his own fortunes around by firstly 'clearing the air' with the boss and then concentrating on working hard to get himself back in favour and back in to the team. Having played in all of Liverpool's European ties this season, Babel is hoping that he can be the man to drive his team to victory and ultimately another European Final in Hamburg on May 12th

"Heroes", Gerrard said. Not just players. Not just stars. Heroes. Every single one of those players must go out there tonight and give everything. Everything for their club. Everything for the fans. Everything for their team mates and everything for their Manager. The reward of a UEFA Europa League Final should be enough of an incentive shouldn't it.

So who do we turn to on nights like this?

Of course every player will need to be on top form but in my opinion there are 4 key influencers;

Pepe Reina
Solid, dependable and full of confidence. 16 clean sheets in the Premier League and within a game or two of earning yet another Golden Glove award. Having already put pen to paper on a new 6 year contract, Reina has demonstrated his long term commitment to the club which will no doubt send a positive message through the squad. Some might say the next club captain, he is certainly an inspiration to the team. On nights like this I would not want any other keeper between the posts.

Jamie Carragher
The Stalwart. The heart of the defence. Arguably the ultimate defender. Never say die attitude. Would quite happily throttle the Queen if she was out of position for a corner. Gutsy, determined, passionate, solid. We need Carra on his game tonight commanding the line and once again giving his usual 110% for the team.

Steven Gerrard
Captain Fantastic. Not been at his best for large portions of the season but in recent games he has started to show some of the old spark we are used to seeing. Recently he has been back in the goals. A brace against a beleaguered Burnley side adding to his confidence. Gerrard plays a pivotal role in the heart of midfield and can strike fear into the hearts of defenders when running forward, the team will look to their captain for more inspiration tonight. We need him on form. We need his drive and determination. We need him to lead by example, and a goal or two would be most welcome.

The 12th Man
Vociferous. Passionate. Knowledgeable. Encouraging. Awesome.
Arguably the best fans in the world, the 12th man has performed magnificently at times this season and will once again be called upon to lift the players. The noise generated at Anfield on European nights is, in a word, immense. Tonight the 12th man will sing, cheer, applaud and drive the team to victory. If any Liverpool fan leaves Anfield with his/her voice still in tact then they will feel they have not done their job.

Atletico will be up for this. They are boosted by the return of their star striker Sergio Aguero whilst the confidence is high with Diego Forlan after his scruffy effort was the difference between the two sides a week ago in the Vicente Calderon.

Liverpool will also be up for this. A 1-0 deficit is certainly not insurmountable and an early goal will settle the nerves and hopefully open the flood gates to a confident and well deserved victory.

Expect the Kop to shake the rafters and cheer the team to victory. Expect a rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone to have the travelling fans left in awe of the noise and passion displayed by the home fans.

Nights like this are made for Liverpool Football Club. Liverpool Football Club is made for nights like this.

Bring it on!

YNWA

Still Dreaming.....

Just a quick follow up to my previous blog post and the possibility of us being able to grab 4th spot, there were a couple of results this weekend that didn't go exactly as we would have liked. However, a point for City and a win for Villa does not end our chances just yet.

Whilst a few are still suggesting that I am a prime candidate for a padded cell it was interesting to see that there are now also a few that are having another glance at the table.

Let me remind you that no-one predicted these results;
Spurs beating Arsenal and Chelsea back to back.
Wigan beating Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Burnley beating Man Utd and Stoke beating Arsenal.

The fact is, there have been some very strange results this season which have taken everyone by surprise. Who's to say there aren't one or two more shock results to come between now and May 9th?

Granted, we have had a few shocking performances away from home this season, but our home form has not been too bad (perfect examples being the excellent performances against both of our arch rivals). If only our fortunes on the road could have mirrored our efforts at Anfield, we would be in contention for the title. It's also a little frustrating to see that if Chelsea are to be crowned Champions this season they will accrue no more than 86 points (our tally for last season which only saw us finish 2nd).
No point in dwelling on that statistic now though.

So to Sunday and a crucial match against Chelsea. What a dilemma, win and give ourselves a really good chance of staying in the race to steal 4th, or lose and increase Chelsea's chances of winning the title ahead of Man Utd. There are many different views on this, mine is just to enjoy the final home game of the season and to cheer the boys on. I am also hoping that we will be able to wish them luck for the Final in Hamburg next month (fingers crossed for Thursday).

But I digress. Man City play Villa and Spurs play Bolton next Saturday before we play Chelsea on the Sunday. Chelsea, incidentally, are in pretty devastating form. Case in point today - a 7-0 thrashing of Stoke, and that's not the first time they have hit 7 this season as Villa will testify to.

So, as the title of this post suggests I'm still trying to find a way to 4th. For us to stay in the race then a point a piece at Eastlands and Bolton to do us a favour at White Hart Lane would be extremely helpful and give us that extra incentive going into the Chelsea game, by which time Spurs and Villa would be on 65 points with Man City on 64. A win against Chelsea would then see us go 4th on goal difference. I also wonder what favours will be done at the Stadium of Light next Sunday. Will Bighead Bruce roll over and have his tummy tickled by Slur Alex? (hush my mouth)

We proved again today that losing Fernando Torres to injury has not necessarily meant we cannot score goals. At times it seems we lack that final punch but when Steven Gerrard is on form and with the 12th man at Anfield it doesn't seem to make that much difference. The fact is we have scored 61 goals this season, Torres has 18 Premier League goals from his 22 appearances - a remarkable return. Clearly proof that he is not our only goal scorer but if only he could have escaped injury...
Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard have chipped in with goals this season, let's hope Kuyt's calf injury that saw him taken off on 48 minutes today is not serious. Incidentally, Yossi Benayoun, who replaced Kuyt, has 6 Premier League goals to his name this campaign. A final mention for Maxi Rodriguez who chipped in with a well deserved and well taken goal today. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come, perhaps next Sunday?

4th place may not happen but at this moment in time it is a possibility and I will not give up hope at least until full time on Saturday afternoon. Final fact, 1 point from the last 2 games will all but guarantee us European football next season.

Just want to finish by giving a round of applause to the Burnley fans who cheered their team right to the final whistle even though our 4-0 victory condemned them back to the Championship after only a short stay in the Premiership.

YNWA

The Dream is still alive...... isn't it? :/

2 weeks ago I was suggesting 4th was still possible. At the time we were heavily reliant on Spurs losing to Arsenal and Chelsea whilst we had to pick up maximum points from our remaining games.  

Ok, quick progress report...

Spurs ignored the script and managed to pull out a couple of amazing victories over their London rivals - who'd have thought it?

Man City, meanwhile, were sticking 5 past Birmingham to take 4th at the time but later succumbed to yet another injury time winner against their bitter rivals, which, whilst the timing of the goal was particularly annoying, the result was actually in our favour.

These results followed our 'bore-draw' with Fulham and whilst last nights confidence boosting 3 - 0 victory over a lacklustre West Ham side kept the dream alive, it has left our chances of finishing 4th almost impossible....

....but still mathematically achievable.


The Dream

So, the Fat Lady is gargling and I'm clutching at straws with one hand...

...blindfolded...

...in a strong breeze...

Nevertheless, I thought I'd revisit the run-in again, not just to see how much of an epic task we're now facing to claim 4th but what our chances are of finishing 5th or 6th - and lets not kid ourselves, we could well struggle for one of the Europa spots let alone that final Champions League spot!

So, whilst I have absolutely no intention of sparking a debate about the pro's and con's of Liverpool perhaps not even participating in a European competition next season it is with tongue firmly in cheek that I wondered if I could conjure up a way to get us to 4th - at least on paper!

The ratio of madness to seriousness is probably 60/40…

Ok 70/30…

Hmm maybe 80/20…

Ok 90/10 but I can’t be the only one trying to work out how LFC can claims 4^th spot.... can I?

Yeah ok, I probably am but so what!!

Anyway, it's very unlikely, but how cool would this situation be?

·         Spurs lose to ManUre and Citeh, beat Bolton but draw away at Burnley on the last day of the season
·         Citeh lose to the Arse, lose to Villa then beat Spurs and West Ham
·         Villa beat Hull, draw against Birmingham then beat Citeh and Blackburn
·         Liverpool, of course, win their remaining 3 games ;o)

This would then mean all 4 teams finish on 68 points with the final positions being decided on Goal Difference!

Here's a very optimistic prediction for this scenario:

	Points	Goal Diff.							Points	Goal Diff.
Spurs	64	28			LFC				59	24
Man Utd (A)	0	-2			Burnley (A)				3	+2
Bolton (H)	3	+3			Chelsea (H)				3	+1
Man City (A)	0	-1			Hull (A)				3	+2
Burnley (A)	1	+0							68	29
	68	28
Man City	62	27			Villa				58	13
Arsenal (A)	0	-2			Hull (A)				3	+2
Villa (H)	0	-1			Birmingham (H)				1	+0
Spurs (H)	3	+1			Man City (A)				3	+1
West Ham (A)	3	+2			Blackburn (H)				3	+2
	68	27							68	18
	Current Pts	Current GD	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Final Pts	Final GD
LFC	59	24	3	3	0	0	5	0	5	9	68	29
Spurs	64	28	4	1	1	2	3	3	0	4	68	28
Man City	62	27	4	2	0	2	3	3	0	6	68	27
Villa	58	13	4	3	1	0	5	0	5	10	68	18

YES! Champions League here we come!!

What are the odds on that? 

Gotta be worth a cheeky fiver?

No?

Or maybe it's time for the medication and a little lie down!!

Yeah ok, it's nice to dream eh? :D


The Reality

Whilst that chink of light is still existent I don't think we should give up, in fact some players have also been quoted as not giving up hope just yet.  I think the fact that few people believed Spurs would actually overcome Arsenal and Chelsea back to back serves as proof that you just never know what can happen.

However, the fact remains, we need to salvage whatever we can from the season.

5th or 6th is very achievable and presents the opportunity for another season in a European competition, so lets take it, even if some would suggest that the Europa League compared to the Champions League is like comparing a Capri to a Ferrari.

We must not forget that we are 180 minutes away from another European Final.

Once again we face an uphill struggle thanks to Volcano Eyjafjallajokull attempting to derail our chances by forcing the team on a 1,200 mile journey via road and rail, as a result of the, now infamous, ash cloud preventing flights. Although, fingers crossed the team may be able to fly the rest of the way tomorrow.

If away legs of a European competition weren't tough enough, ESPN and the FA thought it reasonable for us to play West Ham on Monday night before undertaking the tiring journey whilst Atletico had the pleasure of a Saturday game and therefore a full 4 days relaxation and preparation for the 1st leg on their own turf.

Nevertheless, the boys will be up for it, and to quote Yossi Benayoun "we need to try and win the game for him (Torres) and for the whole club. I think it's important to finish this disappointing season with a trophy"

As with the 1st leg against Benfica, a defeat is not the end of it, but an away goal and only a narrow margin to bring back home will inevitably set up another amazing European tie under the lights at Anfield.  We may be without our star striker but we have goals from elsewhere in our team and it is at times like these where we call upon the likes of David N'Gog and Ryan Babel to step up and prove that they deserve their place in the starting line up and they deserve to pull on that shirt.

We saw last night a glimpse of our Captain playing the pivotal role we know he can. We saw a good work rate and free flowing football.  We saw a solid defensive performance by Jamie Carragher and Sotirios Kyrgiakos with excellent marauding runs from Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger.  We saw another clean sheet from Pepe Reina, who some would argue is the best 'keeper in the Premier League (and with an unequalled 15 shut outs this season that's a fair shout). More importantly we saw goals, 3 of them, without Fernando Torres on the pitch - proof that it can be done.

True that this game was against a team fighting for their survival in the Premier League, but let that not detract from the professional way that our team went about their task. We have to take every positive we can find now and carry it into the game on Thursday night in the Vicente Calderon.