Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Manchester United (FA Cup)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts on the match between Liverpool and Manchester United in the FA Cup.

Hey there. It's been a while since I covered a match on here, but it's been a very busy time personally. If you didn't know by now I was on BBC1 last week, making a fool of myself on Winter Wipeout. Click here for more details, and on the top right of this page for my clip.

Back to the football! As I didn't cover it live, I just want to say how chuffed I am with the fact that Liverpool have reached their first final in five years! It's been too long! I just hope it doesn't end in heartbreak like it did five years ago, that was one of the most horrible moments as a fan for me. The atmosphere in our house of Liverpool fans was dreadful. But we're huge favourites against Cardiff and let's hope we can put a performance a team like Liverpool are expected to put on at our first venture to Wembley in 16 years!

But today? Another important cup match against another Manchester side, this time the Red Devils. It'd be some statement if we win today, taking on and beating both the top two sides in the Premier League this season. Sure we're not topping the league this year, but it's some statement, and hopefully a preview of what's to come at this club. It's early days but if we actually go all the way in the FA Cup as well as the Carling Cup, that's some progress. We can all hope and we'll find out today how possible that is!

Here are the line-ups: 

Liverpool: Reina; Kelly, Skrtel, Carragher, Agger, Jose Enrique; Maxi, Henderson, Gerrard, Downing; Carroll. Subs: Doni, Johnson, Coates, Kuyt, Adam, Shelvey, Bellamy.

Bellamy on the bench? Are you serious bro? I suppose he needed a rest. Carroll needs to be on form today at this rate. Gerrard needs to support Carroll as much as possible to get the most out of him. I'm not sure I like that decision from King Kenny but as always I trust his judgement. At least Bellamy can come on later.

Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Park, Welbeck. Subs: Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Berbatov, Chicharito, Fabio, M.Keane, Pogba.

Similarly, United haven't really put on their best strikers. Berbatov and Hernandez on the bench though, and can cause problems later on. It's a very interesting line up from both sides, almost cautious on both sides. We'll see what happens!

3' - Evra getting booed immensely by the Anfield faithful as expected! 

4' - Maxi takes a lovely shot and it tested de Gea! Corner.The corner goes over the entire box and for a goal kick.

7' - A volley from Giggs is saved comfortably by Reina. Crossed in by Evra. 

8' - Henderson whips in a dangerous cross and it bounced awkwardly for Gerrard who didn't connect well. It was a difficult ball to deal with, if he hit that clean it would have been straight in the net. 

10' - A five man defence is also another relatively negative looking decision by Kenny. That being said we're not defensive at the moment. 

13' - Carragher is actually playing as a defensive midfielder, not a CB. Happy birthday to the Liverpool legend, 34 today. 

16' - VALENCIA! Hits the post! Reina was beat, luckily for us it hit the post! Relief! 

19' - The game is level at the moment. Both sides having good chances. 

20' - GOAL! AGGER! David de Gea had no chance with that, a huge clutter of Liverpool and United players hover for the header and Agger climbed highest!

22' - De Gea is possibly injured apparently. 

23' - Gerrard takes a shot and it's over the bar. A lovely bit of movement from Carroll and Gerrard then, combining nicely. 

25' - Excellent atmosphere today, really giving Evra some stick. Even the Evra stick aside, we're really vocal and it seems to be affecting United which is good. 

27' - Kelly clears the ball nicely against Giggs, he was hurt then but has got up like a true pro. He gets applause for his nitty gritty work. 

30' - Good match so far as I said earlier. It's quite open and hopefully we'll get a second goal if it continues this way. But United are still a threat, but we're defending quite well so far. 

33' - Not much to report at the moment, it's quite open still, but neither side are looking threatening at present. 

36' - Luis Suarez chant is started by the Kop. Excellent stuff. 

37' - Wow, possession is 38%/62% in United's favour. It doesn't look that way, we're holding our own well.

38' - GOAL! Park Ji-Sung scores. Valencia gets away from Enrique, passes to Rafael who whips the ball sharply into Ji-Sung and it's a low drive to the bottom right. Enrique should have done better there, a rare error from the Spaniard. 

41' - So far Valencia has got the better of Enrique in this match. It's a bit of a concern, Enrique has dealt with the right wingers really well this season consistently, but not today. 

44' - It just feels like we're just holding in for half time now. 

45' - One minute of added time.

45+1' - Half time. 

Well this half was a gave of two halves, the first halve we looked really good, and pinned them back a few times. We got the goal we deserved, a great header from Agger. After that United crept towards us and dominated possession, they played a good passing game and eventually got the goal to equalize. It can go either way this match, or for a draw of course. I would rather us avoid the draw personally.

48' - Nothing much is happening at the moment, it's in the balance at present, we need to change this if we want a chance of winning. 

50' - Giggs was at the centre of a strong chance for United but then we cleared the ball and made our own attack! Neither side scored though. 

53' - Bellamy is warming up, hopefully he'll be on soon, I do think we need him at the moment. 

55' - The Evra boo boys are still going strong. I'm just trying to concentrate on the football now, what's past is passed.

56' - Liverpool players and fans call for Handball against Smalling but that would have been harsh. Smalling fell on the ball and his hand touched it as he fell, how was he supposed to know where it was? It's not a penalty. 

57' - Wellbeck completely loses Martin Kelly and is through on goal! He clips the ball round Reina and thankfully Skrtel is there to clear it!

60' - The game is definitely up for grabs, both sides look dangerous on the attack. United have the possession but we're looking good when we have the ball. It can go either way. 

62' - Double Liverpool Substitution: Jamie Carragher and Maxi come off and Dirk Kuyt and Charlie Adam. I approve of these subs personally. Maxi hasn't looked that good in honesty, Kuyt can fill that gap. Charlie Adam can link further up the pitch than Carra did. All in all two positive thinking subs.

63' - De Gea has been really poor when it comes to high balls in this match. What looked like an easy claim, de Gea fumbles it for a corner. It's something we should be taking advantage of. 

64' - Rafael gets a yellow card, Downing was through down the left and Rafael blocks him off deliberately. Free kick in a relatively dangerous area. 

66' - Gerrard takes the free kick and it's a good one, but a very good save by de Gea in the end. 

66' - Michael Carrick takes a low shot and it almost crept in! Just wide. 

69' - We're playing Wolves on Tuesday but I won't be covering that match. I have a lot of site work to do and I've covered a lot of games this season already. Next season I'll be covering certain games rather than 'as many as possible', which has been the case this season.

71' - Liverpool Substitution: Steven Gerrard comes off and Bellamy comes on in his place. Stevie looks a bit gutted as he gives Reina the captains armband, but we need another striker on the pitch if we want to win today. 

74' - This game seems destined for a draw. I have to be honest. 

75' - Manchester United Substitution: Paul Scholes comes off for Javier Hernandez. Another forward thinking sub, both sides are going for it, but it just feels like it's going for a draw.

78' - A dangerous free kick for United leads to a few half chances but no goal. 

80' - A strong few minutes of pressure from Liverpool at the moment, United defending well. 

83' - If either side are to win this it's going to be because of a mistake or a quality goal. Otherwise be prepared for two visits to Old Trafford soon. 

87' - GOAL! KUYT! Kuyt runs to the Kop in celebration! And it was Evra was in error! A Reina goal kick is headed on by Carroll and Kuyt reacts quickest and shots low to the left! 2-1! 

88' - CARROLL! It hit the crossbar! Kuyt on the volley and it's wide! Brilliant stuff from Liverpool!

89' - Manchester United Substitution: Ryan Giggs come off and Dimitar Berbatov takes his place. Gung-ho for United now.

90' -  Three minutes of added time.

90+3' - Full time! 

We beat both Manchester sides in the same week! Brilliant stuff! In the 5th round of the FA Cup, the Carling Cup final, things are great at the moment at Anfield! Surely this FA Cup win means we can have the confidence to go all the way? Let's hope so! Anfield is buzzing, I am buzzing and if you're a Liverpool fan you should be buzzing too! An assured performance today from the Reds, United had the possession but what we did with ours was enough to win today. We had the passion and the maturity to make the most of what we had and it was enough!

That's it from me today, enjoy the rest of your day!

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Live Thoughts: Chelsea vs Liverpool (Carling Cup)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts when Liverpool took on Chelsea in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup.

Hey there, welcome to another live thoughts feed. We're in the quarter finals now of the Carling Cup, and we're up against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, in a rematch from the Premier League just nine days ago. And while we won that match with a pretty damn good display, this is a different kettle of fish. I'm really looking forward to this match actually. Kenny Dalglish complained (and rightfully so) about the stupidity of us playing two high quality matches in three days. It is silly. How are they going to keep up with the integrity of the cup if they don't give the first team the chance to recuperate? It's nonsense. So we'll see a lot of youngsters today I reckon, and Andre Villas-Boas has hinted he will too. So it's going to be a very interesting match, and I can't wait to watch it. Can we win? Well we did nine days ago, but just like it was then, it's going to be very hard, and some achievement too. Let's hope we get to the semi finals!

Here are the teams:

Chelsea: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Luiz, Alex, Bertrand, Lampard, Romeu, McEachran, Malouda, Torres, Lukaku. Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Ramires, Mata, Ferreira, Kalou, Anelka.

A weakened side for Chelsea, as expected, but this team can still cause us problems if needed. Lampard, Torres and Alex are the three players in the spine of the squad that can easily cause us issues. Wary.

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Coates, Jose Enrique, Henderson, Lucas, Spearing, Maxi, Bellamy, Carroll. Subs: Doni, Suarez, Kuyt, Downing, Adam, Skrtel, Flanagan.

A strong side. Not the strongest, Suarez, Kuyt and Adam on the bench, but a lot of these players saw decent minutes on the pitch on Sunday. Lets hope fatigue doesn't hit the squad and instead we show the same form we did nine days ago! Interesting!

2' - David Luiz fell in the box and gets a yellow card for diving! Was it a dive? It was Coates in the box for the tackle. He was definitely looking for the penalty, and it looks like the ref was right.

5' - It's nice to see Bellamy back on the pitch, he just has raw pace that is hard to be equalled in our squad at the moment. While we're on the subject, my thoughts are with the family of Gary Speed, what shocking, flabbergasting news on Sunday. Such mysterious circumstances.

8' - It's also good to see Carra and Spearing getting some first team football too. Carra obviously, recovering from an injury and Spearing finding it difficult to get games this season what with the abundance of options in the centre of the pitch for us.

10' - A nice tussle between Martin Kelly and Ryan Bertrand ends in a Liverpool corner, which leads nowhere.

12' - The crowd is absolutely dead at the moment, apart from the Liverpool away crowd booing Torres whenever he has the ball. Stamford Bridge is awful when nothing is going on, and the crowd roars only when there's good action. Naive crowd.

14' - Chelsea starting to get a bit of possession in and around the final third. It's not leading to any major chances yet but the signs are there.

17' - There's so much talk about Carroll and Torres, it's a little frustrating. Everyone but Chelsea and Liverpool fans care about the transfer fees. Let's get something clear, it wasn't about the fees, it was about getting Torres out of Liverpool, and us making the most of a crap situation. Carroll hasn't scored many goals but I think long term he'll be okay.

20' - PENALTY! An odd situation. We break and it ends with Alex and Carroll tussling and Alex handballs, with only Carroll really claiming for it. After around ten seconds, the ref awards it and Chelsea players protest.

21' - SAVED! Carroll shoots right down the middle and Ross Turnbull saves. Awful AWFUL penalty. I didnt' trust Carroll with that, his shot isn't very clinical, I'd rather had someone likle Belammy take it. Well, that's that over. We've apparently missed three out of four penalties this season.

24' - One thing the penalty has done is liven things up. The game is a lot more open now.

27' - The game as I said is a step up in intensity than it was, both sides are going for it. Not full throttle, but definitely second or third gear.

30' - While the match has stepped up there's a lot of sloppy passing from both sides.

33' - Florent Malouda goes in the book for a tackle on Lucas.

35' - Chelsea are just starting to get on top at the moment, it's not clinical but the possession is definitely there.

38' - Both sides are trying to break the other down with no major chances. There hasn't been any clear cut chances all match, apart from the penalty save.

40' - Jose Enrique takes a shot at goal from the left wing, and it's easily saved. Nice to see us try though.

41' - Chelsea Sub: Ramires comes on for McEachran, who has been struggling for a few minutes now.

43' - Foul for Liverpool as Lukaku tackles Henderson awfully. It wasn't him that got booked, it was Bertrand that got booked. Odd. It was an awful challenge and the wrong player got booked.

45' - Three minutes of added time.

45' - LUKAKU! Just wide of the post. Best chance in the game so far. A cross is whipped from the left wing and Lukaku meets it and heads it wide. Should have done better.

45+3' - Half time.

This was a pretty dire first half. Neither side took control, neither side looked like scoring for the most part. The good news is that we're matching Chelsea all over the pitch. The bad news is that penalty miss. It was an awful miss. Carroll shouldn't be taking penalties, he doesn't look clinical in the face of the penalty box, Bellamy should have took it. Lukaku's header at the end is the best chance from open play. Those two chances aside, very little happened in terms of good attempts at goal. Let's hope for a better game in the second half, and hopefully we can show to quality in our play. We're still more than in this.

48' - Haha, odd statistic, Bosingwa has played eight times against Liverpool and has never won. Also, Kenny Dalgish has never lost as manager against Chelsea.

51' - Liverpool under a little bit of trouble, Torres dribbles the ball into the box and there's a scramble, which we eventually clear.

52' - A decent Liverpool move ends disappointingly with Bellamy trying his luck from the right wing, it goes well over and wide. The game is a lot more open at the moment, let's hope it continues this way.

54' - Chelsea free kick ends in a scramble and hits the BAR! We're saved by our post.

55' - Maxi breaks free! Bellamy to his right but Luiz intercepts. There was a good chance there that wasn't taken.

56' - Jose Enrique handballs at the corner flag and Torres protests, nothing comes of it. It was handball to be fair and it wasn't given.

57' - GOAL! MAXI! Henderson releases Bellamy on the right wing and there's loads of space in the box! He puts the ball square to Maxi who slots it in! 1-0!

60' - I was about to suggest that Suarez came on before we score, as the game was opening up and it would be a game that suits him more. But now we're ahead I think we should refrain from using him for as long as possible.

62' - GOAL! Martin Kelly! An absolutely splendid cross from a free kick by Bellamy is plonked on Kelly's head and he finally scores for the Reds! We have one step in the semi finals!

63' - Chelsea Substitutions: Anelka and Mata come on for Lukaku and Malouda. Chelsea have made all their subs.

65' - Ramires tackles Lucas badly and goes in the book.

65' - Bellamy has a shot from distance and Turnbull saves it with ease. Kelly scores for us finally. He has been scoring with some ease for England, it's about time he scored for us. He kissed the badge too. I really hope and expect big things for young Kelly's career with us. Homegrown talent.

67' - Lucas is having some problems, he tackled Mata and came off worse. I hope he's okay.

69' - Lucas came back on the pitch and then fell back down to the floor. He's really not good. It's suggested that it might be ligament due to the way he's reacted to the tackle. I certainly hope not. Either way Charlie Adam is about to replace him.

71' - Liverpool Sub: Lucas is stretchered off and Adam takes his place. I really hope it's not as bad as it looks. Lucas has been absolute boss this season, he's just Mr Consistent, a tacking and passing demon in the middle of the pitch.

71' - Torres takes attempts a header and it's easily saved by Reina.

74' - Anelka has space on the outside of the penalty area! Reina runs at him, Anelka nutmegs, the Reds defence block the goal and Carragher clears. Close one!

75' - TORRES! WHAT A SAVE! Chelsea Corner and it was a fantastic effort from Torres, but it was an even better save from Reina!

78' - Liverpool Sub: Dirk Kuyt is coming on for Craig Bellamy, who has been absolutely dynamite today. Probably man of the match for me. Dirk Kuyt is coming on, who's a better defender than the Welshman.

81' - Chelsea for the past five or ten minutes have been on top but without being clinical. They haven't really took their game that much better than the first half, where as we have and got two goals as a reward. But let's not tempt fate here, if they get one goal the game would be horrible to watch for us Reds.

82' - Coates has had some praise from the commentators, and to be fair he's had his best game in a red shirt. I've been quite critical of Coates in recent Live Thoughts feeds, but the truth is that he's very young and has a lot of time to develop. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

83' - The kopites are singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" a bit too early for my liking!

84' - Chelsea fans are leaving early. Good times.

86' - Torres tries to time his run against the Liverpool defence but he's just offside.

88' - Liverpool Sub: Martin Skrtel comes on for Maxi Rodriguez. A good move by Dalglish. Maxi has been effective for the most part and his goal was very important naturally. All the subs have been used.

90' - Four minutes of added time.

90+1' - We've beaten Chelsea three times in a row since Dalglish has been in charge. Isn't it wonderful?

90+2' - Now the Reds fans are singing "You'll Never Walk Alone", now is the right time!

90+3' - Torres is offside and he attempts for goal anyway, only to put it over the bar. I can't help but laugh.

90+4' - Full time!

We're in the semi finals! It's been a long time coming but we're finally in a semi final in a competition again. Let's hope we can win the Carling Cup! We beat Chelsea to get here, surely, on our day, we can take on anyone. We haven't lost to Arsenal, Man City or Manchester United this season, we drew them all. I have a good feeling about this competition. Let's hope my gut feelings are right.

As for the performance, well, it wasn't the best, we played well enough today, where as Chelsea were dire. We had a good rally in the start of the second half, and we were suddenly two goals up. After that, well, it was a crap game again. The first half was crap, and we missed a penalty. Carroll needs to keep away from the spot kicks I'd say. Bellamy is better. Speaking of Bellamy, he's my man of the match. He was quality all night, and his second spell at Liverpool is turning out to be much more worthwhile than his first. No he's not starting every match, but when he plays he's very often effective and sticking to his purpose with a maturity and quality. That's it from me, have a good night.

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Live Thoughts: Stoke vs Liverpool (Carling Cup)

I wrote this live. Here are my unedited thoughts when Liverpool played Stoke in the Carling Cup.

Hey everyone, welcome to another one of my Live Thoughts feeds. I'm sorry I missed this weekend's action, I had family over and was occupied all day. I'm not going to be covering the weekend's action that's to come either, I'm away from Saturday to Thursday with an important trip. Where am I going? You'll find out in a few months.

Onto the football now. We were disappointing against Norwich on the weekend, and that combined with the fact that we only lost to Stoke a few weeks ago in this stadium suggests there's doubts about the outcome today. All I say is, we were on decent form not too long ago, and I personally think we're a better team than Stoke, no disrespect to them. Yes they are a very tough nut to crack, especially at home, but we can do it. Keep the faith!

Here are today's lineups: 

Stoke: Sorensen, Huth, Shawcross, Woodgate, Wilson, Shotton, Delap, Whelan, Etherington, Jones, Walters. Subs: Nash, Diao, Pennant, Upson, Crouch, Jerome, Palacios.

It's a strong lineup, especially in defence. It's not going to be easy and Jon Walters is turning into a decent player recently. Crouch, Pennant and Palacios on the bench also shows some strength in depth for Stoke. It's still a team we can beat though, if we play our game right. 

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Coates, Agger, Henderson, Lucas, Spearing, Maxi, Suarez, Carroll. Subs: Doni, Aurelio, Kuyt, Adam, Skrtel, Flanagan, Bellamy.

Who's playing at left back? Carragher? Agger? Kelly? If Kelly is playing left does that mean Carra is playing right? We'll find out soon. I think it's Kelly on the left and Agger on the right. That confusion aside, having Suarez and Carroll up front from the start is great. As much as Carroll is getting a lot of stick recently, I still want and hope that Suarez and Carroll can be a perfect match up front for Liverpool. There's no reason why they shouldn't. Let's give them our support today and hope they both have a great game!

2' - Agger is playing at left back. It's the best option I think, I still don't understand why we don't play Flanagan or Aurelio instead though.

3' - We're playing the better football at the moment. Some early pressure without any threat at the moment. 

5' - The commentator comments on us taking the Carling Cup seriously this season. We have and it's really refreshing. 

6' - Walters! That was close. He drives the ball form the corner of the left side of the penalty box and it dips just over the right side of the bar. 

8' - Suarez! Should have done better. Carroll takes a shot from distance and Thomas Sorensen  palms it low and it comes to Suarez but he shoots wide. He had more time than he thought.

9' - Walters again! Wide. There's a bit of frenzy in the Liverpool box and it ends with Walters on the left side of the penalty box and he shoots it wide. Very lively opening this match on both sides!

12' - Some good passing from Liverpool in the centre of the pitch. We're playing the better football now but it can still go either way based on the attempts so far. 

15' - An opening for Liverpool and we counter attack, Stoke only have two players back but Carroll couldn't control the ball in the box and it dissolves. Shame. 

17' - Carroll! A low header bounces of the ground and it goes straight to Sorensen. 

20' - Yellow card for Carragher. He fouls Etherington and walks off in a huff. 

23' - The game has slowed down a little now. We're still playing a little better than Stoke, but you just can't rule them out. Not after last time. 

25' - Carroll! Saved. A neat bit of football ends in Maxi Rodiguez being surrounded by Stoke players and he shoots, it ricochets off one of the players into the path of Carroll who shoots low and it's saved by Sorensen again.

28' - Kenwyne Jones has gone down and it looks like he's going to have to be replaced. 

29' - I tell a lie, I think he's staying on. 

31' - Tensions are rising as both teams claim fowls for separate incidents.

34' - Stoke celebrate as they head the ball into the net but the whistle blew for a foul in our box. Thank god. 

36' - Kelly! Good shot but saved. Some good attacking football all over the pitch, it ends with Kelly who takes his chance from a good 35 yards out, a low drive to the bottom right but Sorensen gets to it. 

39' - Stoke keep giving the ball away in midfield but we're just not capitalising at all. 

41' - Ryan Shawcross gets a yellow card for a tackle on Suarez.

42' - This match is very similar to the previous match at the Britannia. I don't like that feeling.

44' - GOAL! Kenwyne Jones has scored. A sloppy interception, Coates loses possession and Jon Walters storms down the Stoke right wing and cuts it back and Kenwyne Jones heads it into the bottom right corner. Against the run of play arguably. Frustrating. 

45' - Two minutes of added time. 

45+2' - Half time.

It's been a good first half if you're an unbiased fan. As the match went on we made more and more chances and played better football than Stoke. Then we had the sucker punch at the end of the half. It's very similar to the match earlier in the season when we lost here. We played very well that day but couldn't score, they got a goal and we lost. I really hope this isn't going to be the same outcome.

I don't like being negative in general, especially when it comes to the younger players, but I really don't think Coates is ready for the first team yet. He always looks nervous and concedes too easily, it's disappointingly his fault we conceded that goal, he didn't control the ball and Walters intercepted with some ease. It wasn't good. I'm not going to say "sell Coates" or anything stupid, but I do think he should go to the reserves, build his confidence from the ground, get him used to how football is played in England and then give him some game time towards the end of the season. He's not ready for the first team at all unfortunately.

45' - Liverpool Sub: Martin Skrtel is coming on for Jamie Carragher. It must be because Carra is on a yellow card. I'd rather Coates go off but hey ho. 

48' - Am I being too harsh on Coates? Comment if I am. I try to give the younger players a chance and long term I reckon he'll be a great asset. It's just too soon I think. 

51' - Free kick in a dangerous area for Stoke. Around 25 yards out, central. Spearing is the culprit. 

53' - GOAL! Suarez! Belter! The free kick is dealt with and we slowly counter attack, it ends with Spearing crossing the ball to Suarez who is on the left wing, he goes to the corner of the penalty area and bends it round the defence and into the bottom right corner! Excellent! 

54' - Well we equalised. A quality goal too. We've done more than we did last time we were at the Britannia. That's good. Let's see if we can now get a second! 

55' - Glenn Whelan has been booked for Stoke. 

57' - I forgot to mention, the Stoke fans were starting to boo Suarez in the second half, his response is his fantastic curler. Great stuff. 

58' - Jermaine Pennant is coming on for Stoke. Glad to see he's finally got a club that he seems happy with, and them in return like him.

59' - Stoke Sub: Pennant comes on for Ryan Shotton. Like for like swap. 

62' - Pennant's best moment in a Liverpool shirt? This. 

63' - Stoke Sub: Another quick sub, Cameron Jerome comes on for Matthew Etherington. 

66' - Cameron Jerome will offer more presence up front for Stoke, and with no Carra and a Sebastian Coates who's very green, that could be dangerous for us. 

69' - We could have had a free kick but the ref played on and Carroll was on his own up front, he got pushed to the right wing and we didn't really take advantage of the situation. 

72' - I'd like to hope we can score a second, I'd rather us not go to extra time if we can avoid it. 

75' - Glenn Whelan knocks Spearing over and you can argue he could have been given a second yellow. He's still on the pitch for now. 

76' - Kuyt and Bellamy are warming up. A good move if you ask me. 

77' - Shawcross and Suarez have a few words and one of the other Stoke players moves Shawcross away. That's two games now where Suarez has a sparring partner. He likes to annoy the opposition doesn't he! Just for the record I doubt Suarez said anything racist last week. 

79' - Stoke are starting to pile some pressure. There's been a lot of Rory Delap throw ins the past five minutes. 

81' - Liverpool Sub: Craig Bellamy is coming on for Maxi Rodriguez. A very good move I say. Let's hope his pace and recent goal scoring touch can continue. 

83' - BELLAMY! Hit the post and out! So close! He sets up a layoff with Carroll and shoots low and it was so close! Sorensen was beat! 

84' - GOAL! Suarez! A brace! The ball is headed back to Henderson who whips in a lovely sharp cross from the right and it's a perfect header for Suarez from the left, straight into the net! Great stuff and it looks like we're in the quarter finals!

87' - Peter Crouch is about to come on. His best Liverpool moment? This.

87' - Stoke Sub: Kenwyne Jones is off and Crouch is on. All Stoke's subs are used.

87' - Liverpool Sub: Dirk Kuyt is coming on for the man of the match, Luis Suarez. Of course, he's taking his time to come off. Good times!

89' - There's a huge scramble in the Liverpool box and Crouch scores but he was offside. Very confusing then, so many bodies. 

90' - Four minutes of added time. Yellow card for Robert Huth. 

90+2' - Despite Stoke's dominance since the second goal, we have a moment of attacking football and both Agger and Kelly were high up the pitch. It was good but concerning due to the fact that we need to be careful for the next two mintes. 

90+3' - Nice to see Suarez having a laugh and joke on the subs bench. He usually sulks when he's taken off. I love that guy. 

90+4' - One last Rory Delap throw goes for a goal kick and it's full time!

We're in the quarter finals! All thanks to a certain Uruguayan menace! This is a great result, to go to Stoke, where we earlier lost a few weeks ago, and come back from behind. It's a fantastic result. Stoke played very well today for most of the match and gave us a game. We were definitely the better side though, and if it wasn't for that man, we wouldn't have won. Seven goals to his name now. Luis Suarez is turning into a new Kop hero and I'm so happy he's playing for us rather than against us. That's all from me, as I said, I won't be covering this weekend's game as I'm away, but I should be back the week after. Have a good night.

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Live Thoughts: Stoke vs Liverpool (Premier League)

After two weeks of internationals we're back with Liverpool on this site. I've done a lot of live thoughts recently, for both Liverpool and England. It's a lot of fun actually, I enjoy doing it. And it gives me more to talk about football wise on this site, because the other three topics I also talk about (music, games and wrestling) have far more content on here. So we all win (I hope!)

So yeah, we'll be hoping for three more points against Stoke today, to keep the pressure on both the Manchester clubs for as long as possible. Let's hope we can match our previous performances before the international break, as there's always the risk we won't.

So will the two new boys start today, Craig Bellamy and Sebastian Coates? We'll have to see. Gerrard won't be involved unfortunately, but next weeks looks optimistic.

Here are the teams:

Stoke: Begovic, Huth, Shawcross, Upson, Wilson, Pennant, Whitehead, Delap, Etherington, Walters, Crouch. Subs: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shotton, Whelan, Palacios, Jones, Jerome.


Stoke are stronger now than they ever been in their latest run in the Premier League, and at home they'll be difficult. But if we continue our form from two weeks ago we should be able to get three points.


Liverpool: Reina, Skrtel, Agger, Carragher, Enrique, Henderson, Downing, Lucas, Adam, Suarez, Kuyt. Subs: Doni, Johnson, Coates, Maxi, Spearing, Carroll, Bellamy.

Hmm... interesting line up in the back with Enrique rumoured to be on the right and Skrtel on the left. We'll see after kick off what happens. Still Carroll is on the bench, but our attacking force was great in our last match with Kuyt, Suarez and Downing so long may it continue.

3' - Suarez with a decent effort with a header from a Charlie Adam cross.

6' - We're causing some problems early on which is great, it's what we want to do away from home more often.

8' - Foul on Peter Crouch by Martin Skrtel, who is playing at right back from what I can tell.

9' - Carragher is bleeding. He's taken off but comes back on shortly. 

12' - The game has slowed down slightly due to the injury on Carra.

13' - Etherington takes a shot that Reina comfortably saves.

16' - Liverpool corner. It's our second so far. We cause a bit of menace in the box that ends with Kuyt taking a shot that goes for a throw in. Good play. 

19' - Penalty! Stoke have a penalty! It was Jamie Carragher. He tugs 
Jon Walters down in the penalty box. He does it all the time frustratingly. Right decision.

20' - GOAL! Jon Walters takes the penalty comfortably down the middle of the box. We're one behind.

22' - They're showing the replay over and over again and
there's a possible claim that Walters put pressure on Carragher first, but the fact that Carra tugged him down is unjustified. I'm an unbiased Liverpool fan and I'm not going to say Stoke didn't deserve the penalty. They did. It was against the run of play though.

24' - Suarez! Lovely block by Ryan Shawcross. That was a real chance. Made from Henderson on the right flank and crosses it to Suarez on the left of the penalty box.

25' - Possession is 50%/50% at the moment. It feels it too, both sides have made decent chances.

26' - Yeah it's Enrique on the left and Skrtel on the right. I'm still not sure about Skrtel being on the side of the defence, I'd rather Carra persevere and just do it for a few games.

29' - Stoke starting to take control now. There was some lovely movement outside our box by Walters, Pennant and Crouch. They didn't break through however. 

32' - Nothing really to report at the moment. Things have calmed down again.

33' - The crowd are preparing for a Rory Delap throw in a dangerous area. Nothing comes of it. 

34' - Skrtel! Over the bar. Lovely movement from Kuyt and Suarez who have combined nicely a few times today, but Skrtel hits it over the bar and falls over. He looks okay though.

36' - Matthew Ethertington is down. It was the Skrtel shot. He tackled Skrtel while he was shooting and they must have clipped somehow. He's been arguably their best player today so far. 

38' - Charlie Adam whips a lovely cross to Jose Enrique who apparently hand balls for a foul. He protests and gets a talking to. The Stoke fans boo as he doesn't get yellow carded. 

40' - We're trying to score before half time now and Suarez is trying really hard to break the defence.

43' - Shawcross! Just over. Walters earns a corner for Stoke and Shawcross almost scores.

45' - Two minutes of added time.

45+2' - Full time. We're still in this game but Stoke have held their own quite well today and are 1-0 up. They're not going to make it easy for us to equalise, never mind win. We need to be more inventive in the second half, not that we haven't looked good, but their strength have matched our ability that's all. Fingers crossed for a better performance second half.

46' - Difficult start to the second half so far. We have the ball but we can barely get into their half of the pitch. Not good. 

49' - Same as above really at the moment, apart from we're slowly getting more in their half. There's a lot of throw ins at the moment. No progress.

50' - Corner for Stoke. We finally started to break through their defence then they get the ball and storm through for a counter attack. 

51' - Nothing comes of it and we attempt a counter attack but the ball from Adam to Suarez was just too long and it goes for a throw in.

52' - A bit better by Liverpool now. We're moving the ball a lot better. 

55' - The possession is still predominantly in our favour but we're just finding it difficult to penetrate past Stoke. Very little has happened. 

57' - That was good then. Adam cuts the ball to the left wing where Enrique storms down. He whips in a cross to Suarez but he can't control it and it's a goal kick. 

59' - Foul by Henderson. That was a little nasty, although it didn't look intentional. Free kick to Stoke from around 45 yards, slightly to the left. 

61' - HENDERSON AND ADAM! FIVE shots between them! Henderson counter attacked the free kick and was free to storm down the pitch, he tries to score past Begovic, and again, and again. It goes to Adam who tries twice himself. Absolutely incredible defending by Begovic, by the third or fourth shots the defenders block the shots. Amazing.

62' - The game has just been ripped open now, we're not letting those misses phase us, we're bombing forward with purpose now.

63' - Henderson in space... he skies it. Literally. The Stoke defender started to close him down and it put him off.

64' - Stoke Sub: Robert Huth is off for Wilkinson.

65' - Adam from long range... not sure if that was a cross or a shot as Suarez was there. Begovic saves comfortably anyway. 

67' - Double Liverpool Sub: Andy Carroll and Craig Bellamy come on for Dirk Kuyt and Jordan Henderson. Bellamy on his second debut for the club. 

68' - Stoke Sub: Kenwyne Jones comes on for Matthew Etherington.

68' - Crouch! Blocked by Carragher and Reina saves. I don't think he's scored against us since he left, which is good obviously. 

69' - Downing! Saved by Begovic. A cross from the left and Downing from the right with a clean header. 

70' - Stoke Sub: Rory Delap for Wilson Palacios. That's all three Stoke subs used now. 

71' - Bellamy seems to be playing on the left wing and Downing has gone to the right. 

74' - Downing and Suarez combine in the middle of the pitch into the box but there's just too many bodies for Suarez to get a shot.

75' - We're definitely on top at the moment, but with no goal to show for it. 

75' - Corner. We're dancing around the Stoke players but we just can't score! Kudos to Stoke though, they have defended for 75 minutes perfectly so far.

76' - The corner has been delayed as Jon Walters has gone down with cramp. 

77' - Now the corner needs be retaken due to interference in the box. The second corner leads to nothing. 

78' - Suarez looking slightly tired now but he runs on and takes a relatively wild shot that goes only just wide. It was a decent effort in the end. 

80' - The match has stopped again as Wilkinson has a bleeding nose.

80' - Liverpool Sub: Martin Skrtel comes off and Glen Johnson comes on. It's nice to see Johnson come back from injury. 

83' - Corner. Downing whips a cross from the right for Suarez but Shawcross heads it for a corner.

83' - Downing! Over the bar. His shot was from the corner of the right hand side of the box.

86' - So much pressure on Stoke's defence, they keep kicking it for a throw in. Not long left. 

87' - Bellamy! Side netting. Downing crosses deep again and Bellamy heads it cleanly into the side netting. 

88' - The match got a bit hot for a moment with a few players from both sides arguing. 

90' - Corner. Suarez and Downing combine very well again and earn us a corner. Adam's corner misses everyone. 

90+1' - There was an appeal for handball by Suarez. When he hit the shot in the box before the corner it appears to hit Matthew Upson's hand. I think deflection more than anything though. FIVE minutes of stoppage time.

90+2' - The ball goes to Begovic and Lucas runs into him with minimum contact as he's trying to slow down. Begovic goes down like a sack of spuds. Pathetic. 

90+3' - Suarez! What a miss. Begovic clears the ball badly with his fist and Suarez hits the ball wide of the post. 

90+5' - Full time.

My thoughts? For ninety five minutes Stoke defended world class today. They were absolutely solid in the back throughout the match. We did everything we could to score today. Could we have done better? Well not scoring suggests so. But Liverpool played with some swagger today, not as much as a couple of weeks ago, but it was still a decent attacking performance, particularly the second half. But it was Stoke today. They were excellent. That five shots at goal in 15 seconds was the story of the game for me. They just were absolutely boss. They will be hard to beat this season, especially at home. Unfortunately we have lost our first match of the season now. And it's a reality check for those Liverpool fans who think we can go all the way to win the league. I don't think we're good enough. But let's try to concentrate on making sure we can pick ourselves up from this defeat, we did play quite well. Fingers crossed it can be a small blip and we can continue to play well, and get some results. That's all from me. Take care.

Q&A with Johnny Mercyside: Part 2

Hey everyone, once in a while I'll do these lazy posts where I'll talk about myself rather than about music or games or whatever. These questions are from my Formspring account, which you can find here if you want to follow me. Here are twenty questions and answers for you that I answered some time ago (although if the answer is different from when I was asked at the time, I'll amend it here).

Q: If you had to cook dinner for someone tonight, what would you make?

A: Probably a pasta bake, I'm not a good cook but I can make that meal.

Q: What's the most unselfish thing you've ever done?

A: I don't really know, I don't go incredibly out of my way to help someone, that's not to say I'm selfish, but nothing stands out as really unselfish. I do small things to many people to help them.

Q: Do you have any scars on your body? If so, how'd you get them?

A: I have a few small scars but the one big scar I have is on my wrist, when my good friend Matt and I were playing wrestling next to a window in high school. He pretended to throw me into the window but I actually went wrist first into the window and have a weird insect shaped slit down my wrist, thats about 3 inches long.

Q: What was the worst movie you've ever seen? From start to finish?

A: Probably Cabin Fever. It was just dire, in my opinion. No shocks, crap gore, crap storyline, awful ending, stereotypical characters, lazy film making. Yet it was a minor success.

Q: Would you rather work at a large company or a small one?

A: There are pros and cons to both, and as stupid as it is, I don't really care as long as they pay well. I hate saying it but it's too important to get good money over job satisfaction in this financial climate.

Q: What's the longest you've ever gone without a bath or shower?

A: Probably a week or something. I think I went a week when we had no hot water, not sure.

Q: If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be?

A: Tough one, I'm going with Chris Jericho, Trent Reznor and Jamie Carragher.

Q: Where's your favorite place to buy clothes?

A: Primark, because it's the cheapest.

Q: Do you believe in life after death?

A: It's quite difficult to talk about it, but most of the time I think not.

Q: What do you think was the greatest invention in your lifetime?

A: The evolution of video games.

Q: If you could look like anybody, who would it be?

A: I'm not really sure, I dont really aspire to look like anyone in particular. Of course I'd like to look different, but not like someone in particular.

Q: What was the best concert you went to?

A: I have a joint favourite, seeing Nine Inch Nails the first time, and seeing Muse in Dublin. I cant possibly choose between them, but they were both epic.

Q: What's the origin of your name?

A: My first name? Well my father and my grandfather are both called John, so you could argue I'm John III.

My surname is more complex. This is actually my third surname. My birth name was John Geary, and my father decided to look into the roots of the Geary family crest and found out that the Geary's were actually the O'Gara's, and the O'Gara family crest roots back to a surname called O'Gadhra. I and the rest of my family left my dad seven years ago, and I'm currently using my mothers maiden name, which is Harper. I hope not to change my surname again.

Q: What did you eat for breakfast today?

A: I only really have breakfast on the weekend, I usually get up and go straight to work on a weekday. On a weekend I usually have bacon and egg butties. They're the best.

Q: Do you believe there's intelligent life on other planets?

A: Maybe very very far away there is intelligent life on it, but it's probably too far away for us to track down in some time. There are almost infinite different type of chemical and atomic reactions that there's bound to be something with the right things in the right place elsewhere in the universe. It can't just be here, in such a vast amount of space.

Q: Where would you like to spend your retirement?

A: I don't really know, it's at least 40 years away, I don't know what type of person I'll be then. Would I still like playing video games?

Q: Do you believe in fate?

A: It depends what mood I'm in. When I'm being realistic I don't, but if something very weird happens then I have a more open minded view to the idea.

Q: What's your earliest memory?

A: I remember being in bed with my mum and dad when I was very very young. Properly however, I remember my dad breaking his vinyls and shouting at me when I kept playing with them.

Q: If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

A: I can change my name to whatever I want to. If I wanted to, I would, I've done it enough times.  

Q: If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?

A: Money. Money is the worst thing around at the moment, it ruins everything. We should go back to old fashion trading, a lot of different parts of the world resource efficiently in many important materials. We can trade fairly without money.

And there you go. A little insight to what type of person I am and my views on things. Just in case you missed it earlier you can follow me and ask me questions on my Formspring here.

I'll be back on Tuesday to start a new monthly series. You saw me cover the Naughties in music for the past six months. I found the whole thing to be a great experience yet it took way too long. So I've decided to start going backwards even further, into the nineties. So I'm starting with 1999, and it'll just be a one day one article quick review of my thoughts on the year 1999, unbiased and biased. I hope you'll enjoy this dramatically shorter version of what we just went through for six months. I'm hoping as I said to do one year every month, so naturally the start of September I'll do the same format but for the year 1998. Have a good night.